Chapter 10 – The Secret Cheesecake Girl
Hiro's POV
Don't Eat Ass In The Halls!
Don't Eat Ass In The Halls!
Don't Eat Ass In The Halls!
Don't Eat Ass…
*CLICK*
"Aoi…no."
"Oh, come on, Hiro!" Aoi whined after I stopped this video that was playing on YouTube. "It's about time our doujin have some humor in them."
"This isn't humor. This is straight up "what the hell did I just watch?" from that side of YouTube nobody wants to go to."
"Hey, this is WAY better than that YouTube Kids crap!"
"Yes…but Baldi twerking down an empty hallway chanting "Don't Eat Ass In The Halls!" is completely immature."
"Hmph. You just don't get it, Hiro. This came from Sakurako's recommendation and is freaking comedy gold."
"And here I thought Yui and Ayano had crappy tastes in humor…" I mumbled to myself.
July had just begun for us Nanamori students. Aoi and I were meeting up at my house making plans for our next doujin. We haven't made one since last year. So, with us making the Doujin Club this year, we planned to make as much as we can this year.
…
But with Aoi's questionable tastes in humor, I don't think we'll get past one.
"I can agree on having more humor in our works…but can we think of stuff that won't get us suspended?"
"Fine, fine." Aoi said as she laid back on the floor. "So, what's your idea of humor?"
"Oh, uh…I'm not really into humor as much as, say…fantasy."
"Fantasy? That's a pretty broad genre, Hiro. That alone has so many sub-genres that people lost count of them."
"I know, but…just the fact that you're reading about the protagonist's life in a fictitious world…whether it be one filled with magic or an alternate Japan that's so advanced that they have mechs piloted by high schoolers. Reading all of those stories makes me desire to have a life like that. Instead of this stereotypical lesbian romance life we sit in the background for."
"Wow, Hiro…I never knew that about you." Aoi said in shock.
"It's nothing but a dream. So, I don't talk about it much."
"Huh…"
…
…
…
"Can this dream involve people warning others not to eat ass in the halls?"
"Oh, my God, Aoi! Will you just drop that already?!" I yelled in an annoyed fit.
"Come on, Hiro! We need to give ourselves a main theme and I think stuff like that is PERFECT for us! Do you know how many people will go "WTF?!" after we put stuff out like that?!"
"I think that whenever you come up with another "get rich quick" scheme…" I gained a sweatdrop.
"Well, how else are we supposed to pay for supplies?"
"*sigh* This is getting nowhere. I need a break." I then got up from my spot on the floor and headed out of my room. "I'm going to go feed Shiro."
"Feed Shiro…you know, that sounds weird no matter how many times you say it."
"He's my pet, Aoi. I treat him no less than a dog or a cat."
"But Shiro's not a dog or a cat. He's…THE GIANT ENEMY SPIDER!" Aoi then started beatboxing (or "spitting bars", as she calls it) the theme that played during that one video she showed me once because it reminded her of Shiro.
It wasn't funny then and it's not funny now.
"Stop using an outdated meme to describe my spider." I retorted with a colossal sweatdrop.
"*sigh* Fine, whatever. Just don't take long." With her joke not going anywhere, Aoi went back to the laptop and continued playing the Baldi video from earlier.
BITCH! Running through the halls slow down shouting noises that sound like…
"FUCK YOU BALDI!"
BITCH! Running through the halls slow down shouting noises that sound like…
"FUCK YOU BALDI!"
BITCH! Running through the halls slow down shouting noises that sound like…
"FUCK YOU BALDI!"
BITCH! Running through the halls slow down shouting noises that sound like…
"FUCK YOU BALDI!"
Sometimes I wonder when exactly did she become so vulgar… I thought to myself with a huge mental sweatdrop.
I went to my backyard carrying a full bucket of dead insects…looking around for my dearest pet spider.
…
Now, you're probably thinking "why am I looking for my pet spider OUTSIDE?", right? Well…there's a pretty good and very logical reason for that.
"Shiro! Lunch time!"
…
"Shiro?"
…
"*sigh* I hope he didn't get out again. The old man down the street has been on my ass about it lately…"
*RUSTLE*
"Huh?"
*RUSTLE*
*RUSTLE* *RUSTLE*
"*spider noise*"
After a few more rustles in the grass, out came Shiro. My pure white, blue-eyed, four-legged, 8.1kg (or 18lbs) pet spider.
…
…
…
Yeah…Shiro's not a normal spider.
You see…back in elementary school, I wanted a pet so badly because everyone else had one. And my parents agreed that if my grades were good, I would get one.
Long story short, the goal was achieved. And I was able to finally gain a pet of my own.
So, at the pet store, which had a bunch of dogs, cats, birds, fishes, and other common pets, I laid eyes on this one spider…and instantly fell in love with it.
My parents, though…they weren't too keen on the idea of their daughter having a spider for a pet. Especially after hearing the shop owner say that he had no idea what species the spider was…or where it even came from.
But I was dead set on having it. And I wasn't taking "no" for an answer. So, my parents gave in. And we took the spider home…where I gave him the name Shiro.
I loved and cared for Shiro as much as anyone else would do for a dog or cat. And Shiro showed the same towards me.
…
H-He also grew…a-a lot. More than a normal spider would.
It was definitely weird. But as a 6th grader in elementary school, I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until my first year of middle school that I became curious as to what kind of spider Shiro actually is.
And after a good month or two of searching and researching all across different pet stores and websites…I had found a blog post from an old science professor that finally gave me an answer.
Shiro…is what's known as a Viral Spider. The rarest species of spiders out there. With the official count of them being less than 100. It also stated that Viral Spiders are known to grow as big as a domestic cat. So, that truly explained Shiro's insane size.
It was definitely mind-blowing to learn that I had a rare spider as a pet. But it didn't make me love Shiro any less than I do now. In fact…I would say that increased my love for him. Since he's rare, I gotta do my very best to take extra care of him.
Rather not be partially responsible for the extinction of an entire species…
"Wow…you were really hungry today, were you?" I said as I watched Shiro eat his lunch.
"*spider noise*"
"*giggle* Well, then…eat as much as you like."
"Hey, Hiro."
"Oh. Chinatsu." I said as I noticed my pink-haired classmate on the other side of my fence.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Just feeding Shiro. He's eating a lot today. Say hi to Chinatsu, Shiro."
"*spider noise*"
"N…Nice to see you too, Shiro." Chinatsu replied with a huge sweatdrop.
Everyone else is creeped out by Shiro's size. And well…Shiro, as a whole. Especially Yui. I heard that she's afraid of spiders and thus has NOT come over to meet Shiro. And she never will, actually.
It kinda sucks, honestly. I've always wanted everyone to appreciate the joyful mysterious nature of spiders. But I guess that's crossing the line for some people.
I can kind of understand it. I do have the exact same fear for eels…
"So, what brings you here, Chinatsu?" I asked. "Want to borrow another manga volume?"
"Well, no. Maybe later, though. My real reason is that I was hoping you could help me with something."
"Help you? With what?"
"W-Well…" Chinatsu blushed a little. "…i-it's kind of embarrassing. You mind if we go inside first?"
"Uh…sure. Aoi's here, though. If that's too much for you…"
"N-no, no, no. it's fine. Maybe I could use her help, too…"
Chinatsu's definitely acting weird. I guess she's still emotionally scarred from Akari's injury. Even though it was well over a month ago…
"Well…okay, then. Whatever it is, I'm sure I can help you out, Chinatsu."
"*sigh* Thanks a bunch, Hiro. I truly owe you one."
"Come on, Shiro. Let's get you ready for a nap."
"*spider noise*"
"H-He's taking a nap?" Chinatsu asked.
"Viral Spiders require at least one nap a day during their early years. It keeps their skin healthy and helps with their evolution."
"E-Evolution?! What is he, a freaking Pokémon?! Wh-What does he even "evolve" into, anyway?!"
"I…don't know, actually. The blogpost where I got the info from said that there's never been an official documentation of an evolved Viral Spider. Probably because they're so rare to come across."
"*sigh* I just don't understand how you cannot find any of this unnerving, Hiro…" Chinatsu said with a sweatdrop.
After putting Shiro down for his daily nap, I brought Chinatsu up to my room where Aoi was still watching a bunch of meme videos. And while this one was less inappropriate than the Baldi one…
"Yar-Har-Fiddle-dee-dee
Being a pirate is alright with me!
Do what you want cause a pirate is free,
YOU ARE A PIRATE!"
…it was still stupid, nonetheless.
"Aoi…knock it off." I said to her.
"Ah, come on, Hiro. You know you can't deny it…you're definitely a pirate!"
"No, I'm not a pirate. And get your foot off of my homework!"
"Alright, alright. Fine, geez." Aoi then sat back down in her spot. "Oh, hey, Chinatsu. Whatcha doing here?"
"I'm asking Hiro for a favor. Hope I'm not getting in the way of…wh-whatever it is that you're doing."
"Ah, it's fine. I was bored as hell, anyway. I could use some nonsense in my day."
"D-Don't just assume that it's nonsense!"
"Please…with the stuff the 8 of you get into on a regular basis, it's morally correct to assume that it's nonsense."
"She has a point." I added.
"Ugh! Look, it's not nonsense, okay?! In fact, it's pretty normal! Even by this series' standards."
"Okay…then what is it?" Aoi asked.
"W-Well, it's…" Chinatsu then went silent as a faint blush came on her face. Going by what I know about her, seeing her blush like that is a rare sight. So, whatever it is must be very personal to her.
"I…I-I want to…b-bake a cake."
…
…
…
"What?" We both asked in confusion.
Not what I had in mind when thinking "personal"…
"I-I said I want to bake a cake."
"N-No, we heard what you said." I spoke. "But why?"
"Oh, I get it now." Aoi said. "This is just another attempt to win Yui over with your obsessive flirting."
"I-It's not obsessive! I'm really trying my best! She's just so damn dense that…" Chinatsu then took a deep breath and calmed down a bit before continuing. "…That's not even the reason, anyway."
"Then what is the reason?"
"W-Well…it's…i-it's for Akari."
"Akari?" I asked.
"What, do you have feelings for her now?" Aoi asked.
"N-No, damnit! She's just a friend!" And Chinatsu's blush came back again.
"You sure about that~?"
*BONK*
"Knock it off." I said after hitting Aoi in the head.
"*sigh* Look…since Akari's birthday is coming up, I want to give her something that will at least cheer her up from what she's been dealing with this past month. So, I figured that making her favorite cake would suffice enough. THAT'S why I'm doing it."
"I see…well, that's a really nice gift idea, Chinatsu. Though…I'm not sure why you're asking me for help."
"Well, don't you know a thing or two about making cakes? I mean, your family owns a pastry shop, right?"
And by hearing that, my eyes widened with so much shock that they almost popped out of socket.
"H-How…H-How do you know that?! I've never told anyone that except…" I then went silent as a thought came to mind. "Aoi~…"
"I-I didn't tell her!" Aoi yelled in a panic. "I know good and hell well you wanted to keep that a secret!"
"Well, if you didn't then who did?!"
"It was the teachers."
"Huh?" I turned back to Chinatsu.
"One of the teachers had ordered a cake for some kind of party and said that it was the best cake she's ever had. I overheard her saying that it was from a place called Takaoka Treat House. And then I connected it to your last name and…"
"*sigh* O-Okay, I think I get it now." I said with an exasperated look.
Looking back at it, one of the addresses did look familiar…
So, for some context to this…yes, my family runs a pastry shop here in town. It's one of the best shops in the country and its popularity increases nearly every day.
The reason I don't bring it up is because…I'm not really into the sweets-making business. My real goal is to be a manga artist. Which is also why I make doujins with Aoi.
But…my parents (especially my dad) don't feel the same way about my dream career. And would rather have me take over the family business when I'm older.
It's an argument I don't like to talk about. And there are days where I just suck it up and do some work there to make extra money. But one of these days, they're going to have to accept my dream.
I'm not afraid to go out alone if I have to.
"Look, Chinatsu. I know you need help, but…I just don't want to be bothered with making sweets."
"B-But Hiro, please! I really want to make Akari happy with this cake! Surely, it'll cheer her up!"
"Isn't Sachiko in the Baking Club? Why didn't you ask her?"
"You really think I'm going to rely on the girl who blew up multiple ovens because she didn't know what baking soda was?"
"O-Oh, yeah…that did happen." I gained a huge sweatdrop.
"Why give her a cake, anyway?" Aoi asked. "Isn't her family already planning on getting her one?"
"Pretty sure they are. But…" Chinatsu went silent again. "…*sigh* I'm just trying to become a better person, okay?"
"Better person?" Neither of us understood what she meant by that.
"I've been taking into thought what Kyoko said last week. About how we need to fix our own lives before we can help Akari with hers. And well…I really have been a bad friend to her recently. S-So…"
"So, you figured that giving her a cake would be a first step to redeem yourself." I said. "Am I right?"
"Y-Yeah. Pr-Pretty much."
To be honest, I've been thinking about what Kyoko said, too. Fixing our own lives…stop living in this "happy go lily" world we've gotten used to…it all sounds easy on paper. But when you actually think about it, where do you even begin?
I mean…I'm not really a remarkable character. I only made two cameo appearances throughout the entire series. And that's not even including the whole "Reset!" situation.
So, where do I start when it comes to fixing my life? I just don't get it…
…
…
…
"What's Akari favorite cake?" I suddenly asked.
"Huh? O-Oh, it's…cheesecake. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake."
"Holy crap~. That sounds delicious~." Aoi said as her mouth began to water.
…
"*sigh* Fine…I'll help you out, Chinatsu." I said after giving it a long thought.
"YES! Thank you SO much, Hiro! Seriously, I TOTALLY owe you for this!"
"I'll make sure you keep that promise."
Well, if I'm going to start somewhere. I might as well start here…
After getting the ingredients necessary (one of the only benefits of your family owning a pastry shop), the three of us were in my kitchen preparing to make this Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake for Akari.
…
N…Now that I think about it more, it DOES sound delicious. Akari's got some impressive tastes in sweets.
"Alright." I said with little to no enthusiasm. "Let's hurry and get this over with. Did you bring the recipe with you, Chinatsu?"
"Yeah, I did." Chinatsu went silent for a bit. "B-But, um…there's something you should know first."
"What is it?"
"I'm…not the best at cooking."
"Well, that's totally normal." Aoi said. "Hell, I can't cook a damn thing. The closest I came was finally getting instant ramen right."
"You just kept forgetting to put water in…" I said with a sweatdrop.
"Well, you see…I'm like…REALLY bad." Chinatsu said. "As in…I'm not allowed to make anything at my house."
"How can anyone be THAT bad?"
"Well…" Chinatsu then took out her phone and showed us a picture she had. And just a 5-second look has guaranteed that I'll be getting nightmares of it for weeks.
"H-Holy crap. What in the…" I said in disbelief.
"TH-THE FUCK IS THAT?!" While Aoi shouted with all the fear she had.
"M-My attempt at making the cake myself." Chinatsu said with tons of shame. "It…didn't go so well."
"To say that it "didn't go so well" is the understatement of the entire Heisei Period."
"Now, I'm REALLY starting to question why you chose a cake of all things for a birthday present." I added.
"L-Look, what's done is done!" Chinatsu yelled with a faint blush as she put her phone away. "I've learned from my mistakes and now I'm hoping that I can get better here. So, let's get started already."
"Fine, fine. So, the first thing is to…"
The rest of the day was met with multiple moments of trial and error. When Chinatsu said that she wasn't good at cooking, she REALLY meant it. So many times we had to start over because she did things like freeze the cookie dough for too long, forgetting to spray the pan with cooking spray, overmixing the batter, and nearly burning the whole damn thing to a crisp.
She definitely makes Sachiko's constant mishaps look like common mistakes…
But now, after attempt number…I-I actually lost count…the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake was finally done. And I gave Chinatsu a cake box from the shop so she could carry it home with her.
Pray to GOD that she doesn't drop it along the way…
"Wow…it looks SO good!" Chinatsu cheered. "Thanks again, Hiro! Akari's totally going to love this!"
"Here's hoping to that." I replied. "Maybe this cake will cheer her up a little. I do miss her old cheery self."
"Don't we all. Well, I'm going to get this home. See you guys at school tomorrow."
"See ya." We both said as we watched Chinatsu walk excitedly home with Akari's birthday cheesecake in hand.
Seriously, God…PLEASE don't let her drop it!
"Well…that ended up taking the entire day." Aoi said. "Didn't even get a chance to start on the doujin right, Hiro?"
…
"Hiro?"
…
"Hello! Hiro!"
…
…
…
"Hey, Aoi…how do you really fix your life?" I asked after a moment's silence.
"Huh? Where's that coming from?"
"Well…remember what Kyoko said last week? About fixing the flaws in our lives and to stop living in that "slice-of-life" delusion? The fact that Chinatsu's doing it by being a better friend towards Akari…it makes me wonder how the hell can I do such a thing, you know?"
"Oh. That." Aoi then went silent for a bit. "I…kinda get what you mean."
"Y-You do?"
"I mean…it totally hurts your pride to admit that you have problems with the way you live. But once you gain the metaphorical balls to do so…"
Metaphorical balls? I gained a mental sweatdrop.
"…You still don't know what to do about it. I mean, honestly…I've been stuck on the idea ever since."
"R-Really?" I asked in shock. "Y-You want to change, too?"
"I know. Shocking, right?" Aoi replied with a semi-embarrassed look on her face. "But the more I thought about it…being a background cameo character whose only notable trait is wanting to make money doesn't really get you far in life."
"I see…"
Another result of the "Reset!" situation…
"So…if you had a clear mind set on it…what would you want to do with your life?" I asked.
"Well…"
"*spider noise*"
"Oh, Shiro!" I cheered once I saw him crawling up to us. "You sure took a long nap today. Was it good?"
"*spider noise*"
"*sigh* Geez, Shiro. I was about to reveal an important part of my life. Way to be a life-blocker."
"What does that even mean?" I gained a sweatdrop. Then turned to Shiro and gained an even weirder thought.
…
"Hey, Shiro. What are your ideals on life?"
"Y-You're asking Shiro?" Aoi asked with a baffled-as-hell look on her face. "H-Hiro…he's a spider."
"A rare species of spider. He may know stuff us humans have never figured out for CENTURIES. It's worth a shot, I think."
"You're overhyping a spider, Hiro…" Aoi said with a sweatdrop.
"Oh, whatever." I then got onto the ground and looked at Shiro face-to-face. "So, Shiro…what do you think?"
…
…
…
Now, before you all go and ask "what the hell are you doing? Have you lost your mind?", I really didn't expect Shiro to answer my question. In fact, I really didn't expect him to say anything. I mean…he's a spider. No matter how rare he is, spiders just don't talk.
"Hi…ro…"
"H-Huh?"
Or…so I thought.
"Hi…Hiro…"
"D…D-Did Shiro just talk?!" Aoi asked in shock. "A-And said your NAME?!"
"Sh-Shiro…" I said. Also in disbelief.
"Hiro…important…life…me…"
"I-I'm your most ideal thing in your life?" Hearing that made me form a few tears. Granted, it would've been sweeter if those words came from a boy I liked…but hearing it from my favorite pet spider is good enough for me.
"*giggle* Thank you, Shiro." I said as I petted him. "That was really sweet to hear."
"H-Hiro, you don't find any of this WEIRD?" Aoi asked. "I mean…Shiro just TALKED! A SPIDER is freaking talking!"
"Well…yeah. It is a bit weird. The blogpost never mentioned anything about Viral Spiders talking. Maybe it's something not even that professor guy ever found out…"
"It's truly insane just how calm you are about this, Hiro." Aoi gained a huge sweatdrop.
"But what does it matter, anyway? Regardless of if Shiro can talk or not, I still love him all the same. Ain't that right, my little Shiro~?"
"Hiro…love…"
"*sigh* Whatever makes you happy, Hiro."
…
Now…despite Aoi saying that and Shiro talking for the first time ever…I still wasn't all that happy. The question from earlier was still running through my mind. And I still don't know what to do in order to answer such a question.
Fixing my life…
…
Well, if I want advice, I could try asking him…
Author's Note: An average day for Hiro ends up with her wondering how she can improve her life…and a rare talking spider. At least the latter isn't such a big deal for her.
Sorry for the long gap between chapters. Finishing another story and real-life issues kept me busy. Mainly the latter. But I'm going to try to start doing more than one update for a chapter. Just so that the story could be decent enough to leave alone for a while if needed.
Thanks for reading. Later.