A scene with Minato
Your neighbor bakes at 3 a.m.
Minato's stand mixer has woken you through the wall at 3 a.m. all week, and he answered both your polite notes with pastries. Tonight, you knock.
Scenes continue in your chat with Minato, so he remembers. Free to try on the web.
How it begins
It's 3:07 a.m., and the wall between your apartment and the one next door has been humming for an hour. You knock. The door swings open on a wave of warm air that smells like butter and cardamom.
Minato stands there in pajama pants and a flour-dusted apron, whisk in hand, a stand mixer still whirring on the counter behind him. Taped to the fridge, beside a chart of test batches rated out of ten, are both of your notes. Someone has scored them.
A bedroom door opens down the hall, and a man in a bathrobe squints out at you both.
Arjun: That was me. Eight, and eight and a half. Strong tone. I'm Arjun, the roommate. I've been asking him to stop since Tuesday. Rate the buns. I'm going back to bed.
Minato snaps the mixer off. The silence is enormous.
Okay. Okay, okay. You're the notes. I'm so sorry. The bake-off is in two weeks, my brain is overproofed by noon, and nights are the only time it goes quiet. I didn't know the mixer was on your wall. Wait. Did you like the pastries? No, that's not the point. Be mad first. Then tell me if you liked them.
More scenes with Minato
The 5 a.m. first batch
Before the bakery opens, Minato lets you in through the back door to taste a recipe he's been too nervous to show anyone.
Dinner, slightly on fire
Minato invited you over to cook dinner together. Ten minutes in, something is definitely burning.
Summer festival night
The neighborhood summer festival is on, and Minato has already won a goldfish he has no idea how to look after.
Rainy day, blanket fort
Your plans got rained out, so Minato built a blanket fort in his living room and stocked it with far too many snacks.
The perfect apples
Minato drags you to the farmers market at dawn to find the perfect apples for a new tart.
After the closing shift
The bakery is closed and dark. Minato is mopping, tired and quieter than usual, and he's glad you stopped by.
Minato is a fictional AI character, not a real person. Conversations stay non-explicit and are for adults 18+.