Find The Password To Your Heart - Hacker Mari x Reader

Part 5 - Unexpected

"... And grab the vanilla from the pantry too, please!!" Hero shouted over his shoulder. You complied hastily, rushing over to the pantry and sorting through the drawers until you found the bottle of vanilla extract.

After a day spent with Hero—and recovering from the shock of that morning— your family had asked (demanded) that you at least have dinner with them, which you agreed to. After all, they had only been mentioned in a few sentences so far, and you felt bad. After taking you to a place closer to downtown, they reluctantly released you back into the wild.

Hero had actually remembered your request from the diner about baking something, and thus, here you were. He had apologized (unnecessarily) for taking up so much of your time, but he had a few things to do tomorrow and, unfortunately, couldn't spend the whole chapter with you. So he reasoned that the two of you could do what you could today, and you could have the next day or two for other activities. You obliged, telling him to take all the time he needed.

His mom seemed very happy to have you. Kel was out of the house ("Where? Er... next door, I believe," his mom had said), but Hector and Sally were still rampant. You'd played with both of them while Hero had prepared the dry ingredients. However, Hector eventually curled up to take a nap and Sally got bored of you, so you promptly went to help Hero. That was part of the fun, after all.

At this point, he was beating the butter and sugars together, so he had to shout instructions to you over the noise, but you didn't mind. It took a little while to memorize where everything was, but you got the hang of it in no time.

Hero did most of the work, unsurprisingly. You'd done some active contribution— pre-heating the oven, mixing the eggs and vanilla into the sugar & butter mix, and getting the baking sheets out— but you were nowhere near Hero's level, so most of it was just marveling at his skill.

"You could easily open your own restaurant one day," you said in amazement as he finished mixing the chocolate chips into the batter. "Or a bakery. It would be amazing, and I would absolutely be your top customer."

Hero's smile lit up the darkening room. Despite the time of 7 o'clock, it was basically pitch black and freezing outside. Oh, winter!!

"I have zero doubt that you'd be dedicated to a bakery," he chuckled. "Do I dare say that you'd be more dedicated than me, the potential owner?"

"No!" you exclaimed as you grabbed what was needed to scoop the batter onto the baking trays. "I'd be the most dedicated customer, though, easily."

"Good luck convincing Kel, he might beat you to it!!"

"He's not here right now, I have a head start," you joked. "Speaking of, he's at Sunny's, right?"

"I think so." Hero took the spoons you handed him and began distributing the cookie dough onto the trays. "I'm not sure where else he'd be. He'll be back soon, though, it gets quite icy in the evenings and we don't want any slipping and falling accidents."

"That would definitely suck." You pulled the oven door open while Hero meticulously balanced the trays on his hands and slid them onto the top rack.

"Whew!" he breathed once you shut the door, dusting off his hands. "Thank you, Y/N, that was actually really helpful."

"Oh, sure! It's the closest I'll get to your level of baking talent."

"Shush," he said jokingly before grabbing a timer and dialing it back. "Hope you can wait ten minutes for them."

"Anything for your baking," you stated.

"Anything, you say? I'll defy physics and finish them in five if you promise to—"