"Hello Mister~! How have you been?" Hoshino Ai was standing in front of him with a smile that could light up the darkest of rooms.
Watching the one he was going to visit appear in front of him, Adam was more than a little perplexed regarding a few things but decided to leave the curious thought in his mind for another time.
His eyes searched for anything that could help him determine the purpose of this visit. The violet sundress looked rather new with a design that was easy on the eyes, matching earrings, and white heels on her feet, even her hair was nicely done as if she just stepped out of a salon. This made him cross his arms, there was nothing—no signs of anything happening, so the question roiled his mind.
"What happened?" He asked. But watching his serious look Ai broke into laughter.
"Come on, why do you think I am here because I am in trouble?" She struck his shoulder playfully, but he didn't budge. Considering someone was at his doorstep, it was natural to come to that conclusion.
After all, this door only appeared in front of women who were troubled, and if they used the card after knowing how this shop operated it would be better to think that way to save himself from some awkward conversations.
Although there have been a few exceptions to this case so far, but comparing them to others—relatively normal people—would be stupidity, or so he thought because for him Ai was counted among the normal category.
"I just felt like visiting you, so I came." She smiled but that distraction didn't work.
"Come on, let's go to the couch," He turned shaking his head as Ai followed him with a small smile.
It was tough for her to be upfront sometimes, especially in matters such as these. But to her relief, she wasn't the only one who felt that way in this room. Sitting down on the couch opposite to him a platter of her favorite pastries appeared on the table between them, neatly placed next to a cup of tea.
Normally, she would be ecstatic and eat them straight away, but it would be put on a halt for today as there was an important topic to discuss. And with the teacup in hand, he was waiting for her to speak.
After a minute of silence in which she gathered her thoughts, her melodious voice rang into the room, revealing why she was there.
"So… can you teach me how to bake a cake?"
.
.
.
Not a single word was spoken for the next few minutes as her words hung into the air; eventually, Ai couldn't help but look away for various reasons.
"That stare hurts you know?" She said.
Obviously, it wasn't the best reason to use the card, but whether this was a foolish choice or not mattered how one approached it. And Adam decided to go the logical route for now.
"So, what type of cake do you want to learn about? Ones that are just tasty, or the ones that are tasty and can do pretty much anything you want it to do?" He asked placing the empty teacup on the table.
"I am now curious about the second one now, what can it do?" Ai's curiosity was piqued by the interesting topic that was brought up.
"Like I said, anything. It can give them pleasant dreams that they wouldn't want to wake up from or give them nightmares they wouldn't be able to wake up from. It can make them hallucinate or make them obedient to you if you want, and if you want them to die it can do that as well… The list goes on." And this was just the tip of the iceberg, in essence, Adam had a cake for everything.
The reason for this vast repertoire was the minor changes between recipes that produced different effects, making it easier for him to gain multiple of them. Many of which have never been used a second time, and some still exist in concept alone.
"Whoa! I thought that you could only make different flavors of cakes. But I didn't expect there to be so many types…!" Ai's eyes shined when suddenly the lightbulb went up in her mind, if there was a cake for everything then…
"Are there cakes that can… like make someone fall in love with the one who made it?"
That would seriously be a problematic cake—or a dream cake depending on who speaks of it—but many things were more troublesome, and it wasn't like they didn't exist.
"There surely is," He said remembering the recipe and the problems that came with it.
The cake itself worked just fine, Adam had tested it on the leaders of two enemy countries. They both hated the other on an unnatural level—as the propaganda of each country raised their children, especially royals that way—but now they left behind hundreds of children. All he had to do was forc-teach one of them to make the cake, and have the other eat it. That is how he tested the recipe, and the next thing he did was run away because the two started their violent mating session, and he had no interest in watching.
He couldn't kill them for doing that in front of him, as he was the reason for that. So, he just never looked back, not towards them and neither the recipe.
Later when he heard about the countries, they had formed an alliance that lasted a thousand years, and it all started with those two mortal enemies that were unlucky enough to be the perfect labrats for him. With this he saved millions of lives, stabilizing the lives of the common populace, helping in the birth of the greatest Queen that the Continent has seen, who later solved many problems that plagued the land, all of which he had no intention of doing.
"So… have you made it for someone before?" She asked and Adam shook his head, personally he had never done something like that. Will it work? Yes. But he didn't want it to be that way as it would defeat the purpose.
"I rarely make food that has such effects. Like the platter in front of you, it is something that requires no such thing as magic or special ingredients, aside from the fact that your calorie intake is zero—which is more of a spell than an effect born through cooking—basically, it is just normal food made with the same things you have in your kitchen." He explained.
"Hmm, I feel like you are missing a big opportunity you know?" Ai said taking a sip of the jasmine tea.
The taste on her tongue and the warmness that spread through her body, it was tough to imagine that this could be achieved with human hands. Because of his powers, one would be inclined to believe that he used them while cooking, but he didn't and it was still so captivating.
"Really? What would you do with it then?" His question brought her thoughts to a stop.
Was he talking about the Love Cake? If she could make it, how would she use it? That was indeed his question. And it was something Ai was not prepared for, if she could make a cake that would make someone fall in love with her, who would she feed it to? Well, the answer to that was rather obvious.
"Why would I need it? Everyone is totally in love with me already~!" The confident smirk and the wink drew her point in, "If they aren't in love with me then it is only a matter of time before they fall~."
It was rather bad that very few people could refute her claim, even if it was a hyperbole. The Idol Hoshino Ai captivated many people with her aura, whether they were her fans or not was irrelevant.
'If I could make that cake for someone then…' But that wasn't the real Hoshino Ai, so that answer also wasn't.
"So, which one is it?" He asked ending the abrupt silence that took over the room.
"I want to make the cake that you always make, I really love that one," Ai said. The route was already chosen when she used the card, there was no backing down now.
"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.