Three Days?

“I see, let’s go then,” Adam said slipping into the black overcoat.

Watching him walk towards the door made Ai tilt her head, where were they going? Did he change the process from what she knew or something like that? And noticing her confusion he explained.

“We don’t need to make a contract for that, it is a simple recipe that can be achieved by normal humans, though it will have calories mind you.” Adam chuckled watching her pout at the end. As an Idol, she loved the calorie-free food that he made as it was tasty and filling.

Regarding the recipe, he was even planning on releasing this in Ai’s world later on when he opened that café she talked about, so charging for it with a contract was just useless—and not worth anything. As for the other complications, they would have to wait a while before he could deal with them.

“Adam…” He looked over at the mention of his name when he was opening the door. Ai hadn’t left the couch yet, more like she couldn’t. There was something of importance that needed to be addressed here.

“Why are we leaving? I didn’t even have a chance to try these pastries!” Ai exclaimed teary-eyed.

She was holding back on this as the topic was serious, but here he was ready to just leave without letting her have a taste. It has been a while since Ai had proper food, and anything sweet was out of the question under the Drillmaster Ichigo. As annoying as the thought was, she missed the lenient Miyako so much at that moment. Whatever may be going on between them, at least her late-night ice-creams and snacks were never confiscated before.

So, now given the chance to soothe her cravings without worrying about the calorie intake, Ai wouldn’t let it go for anything. To the unassuming eye, it might seem like this was the reason she came to the shop, but be that as it may…

“I suppose, I’ll have a few as well.” Ignoring those doe eyes was too tough for him. Ai’s face lit up and she dove right in. The first bite was heavenly, and it only got better.

There were no signs of stopping even after a few platters were gone like the breeze, she tried out different variety of desserts(macrons, donuts, and other baked/fried goods that she hadn’t before) even getting some savory snacks in between to reset her pallet.

“Mister you are the best~! Teach me how to make those too.” Now with a satisfied look on her face, Ai was back in her apartment. If not for Adam stopping her, she might’ve stayed for another hour or so.

“First let’s deal with the cake, you can think about the rest later.” He said.

Just mastering the cake will take time, not to mention the other recipes that gave him tons of trouble—just like every recipe he had learned due to his below-average cooking skills—but some were exceptionally difficult even for skilled chefs.

But he did not doubt that Ai would be unable to learn them, at the end of the day the drive to not give up was more important than talent and resources. Thinking about this a question roused up in his mind.

“What led you to do this?” He was perplexed about what could make her use the shop’s card just to learn about baking a cake. It seemed too much if he had to give his two cents, but then again this was Ai. So, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was a trivial matter.

“Hmm? Why do I feel like you are thinking something rude about me?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Not really.” He shrugged. There was no knowing how her intuition got this strong all of a sudden, but he didn’t see her eccentric behavior in a bad light at the very least.

“Suspicious…” Ai closed in to see any cracks in his mask but found none and gave up swiftly.

“So, will you tell me or not?” She smiled at his curiosity. But rather than running around the topic Ai decided to talk about it, as it was important.

“Recently, I heard the kids talk about cakes when I sneaked up on them,” Ai did this rather often because one time she heard them talk about how much they liked her—both as their mother and as an idol/actor.

Even if the two didn’t hide their affection one bit—especially Ruby—hearing it when she wasn’t present in the room brought her a new level of happiness and satisfaction. Since then she often found herself listening to them secretly before bedtime when she came back after a bath.

“Aqua said that he really liked the cakes you made, and I thought that Ruby would say the same. But she said that she would like to eat a cake I—her mama— made as it would be tastier, and then Aqua also agreed.” Ai’s smile was uncontrollable, understandably happy to hear that her kids would prefer her handmade cake then what Adam made—when she herself knew how good the taste was.

It made her feel proud of how much they loved her, but then realization struck her. She has never made a cake for them. And hearing about this, Ai couldn’t look the other way and let those two down. So, she devised her plan, those lovely kids would get the best handmade cake no matter what.

“I want to surprise them with a cake for their birthday. So, I want it to be the best cake they ever have.” Since they have eaten his cakes, it would only be possible for her to achieve that by learning from him and surpassing him. As ridiculous as that sounded, she could see the possibility.

“I see, I’ll teach you about the chocolate and strawberry cake first then. Just know that I am very strict while teaching.” He took cooking seriously, and it extended to teaching as well but that was what she needed.

“I will do my best.” Ai was getting pumped up.

This was her chance to impress the children even more. Not only was she a top-class idol and actress, but she could bake the best cake and make delicious food(according to the kids and Adam). Wasn’t she just perfect?

He shook his head watching Ai lost in her world, she was probably looking on smugly at the awed expressions of her kids in her daydream. But another thing that caught his attention was the empty house, it was afternoon on a weekday so the kids should be in school. Then what about Ai and her manager? Shouldn’t they be on set? And if she was here where were the other two? (Ichigo and Miyako or at least one is always present at the house aside from night time)

‘I shouldn’t ask about that I suppose.’ Knowing what was going on, he decided to bury it in his mind for now. That is when Ai came out of her imagination and dropped the bomb.

“The kids will be turning 6 in three days, I am so excited.” Adam turned to her in surprise.

“Just three days?”

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