Our Mask [Shinso Hitoshi X Reader]

Chapter 18 - Real Talk

Hitoshi volunteered to walk you to Aimi's house but you explained to him that showing his face to her on her birthday, especially with the conversation you were planning to have with her, wouldn't be the best idea. You were hesistant to even schedule the talk in such a meaningful day for her but your neighbor insisted that the sooner the better.

That was what led you to stand in front of Aimi's door with a horribly frosted cake in your hands. You still remembered the fit of laughter Hitoshi had when he saw it. You had sent him a photo of it and he called you just to laugh. It looks like you tried to eat it, was what he said. It was easy for you to get back at him though, since when you asked him to come over he did so immediately, and you smeared the remaining frosting on his forehead. It wasn't enough to make him stop teasing--if anything, it was worse with him seeing the actual cake.

You took a deep breath and mustered a smile.

"Here goes nothing."

You rang the doorbell to her house and after a minute of waiting, the door opened to reveal a cheery Aimi. It had been a while since you last saw her and you'd left on weird terms so you were very happy with the apparent change of mood.

"(Name)!!I feel like we haven't talked in forever. How are you??Come in!!", you laughed at the way she jumped up and down and you did as she said, setting down the box of cake on the dinner table. She poked her head out behind you as she followed and looked at the box curiously. You were looking at her through your peripherals, trying to pinpoint any resentment leftover from your last talk, but you found nothing. She looked as happy as ever.

"Ooouuu, is that my gift?", she asked with stars in her eyes. You nodded with a smile and uncovered the top so the cake was in full view. Unlike Hitoshi, she didn't judge your creation at all and instead gasped in excitement. She started fetching plates and forks for the two of you without addressing your horrible job with the frosting.

"It looks so good,(Name),thank you sooo much. You do too much for me."

Yeah, apparently it's a problem.

You didn't say that out loud. Instead you returned her smile and had the first taste of what you baked--this whole time, a small voice inside your head was trying to convince you that you messed the proportion up and had made you hesistant but it was actually pleasantly wrong. The cake was awesome, so you made yourself a mental note to bake more often for yourself and maybe even Hitoshi if he apologized for this morning.

There it is again.

No matter what kinds of irrelevant thoughts you were having or the lack of correlation with Hitoshi, he always popped up in your mind. You couldn't forget about him for longer than a few minutes and you were starting to feel like an obsessed schoolgirl. It was getting a little more serious everyday but you wanted to be present in this moment so you ignored the growing interest for today.

"Let's just enjoy your cake, Mimi", you diverted the conversation gently. There was no need to bring the conversation up so soon. Aimi began talking about the gifts she received from other people and you listened respectfully despite your mind being elsewhere.

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"So then, she finally told him she was pregnant, and the dude freaked out so hard. He asked her if she was sure it was his and they got into a whole other fight because he was calling her unfaithful, and just to make him mad, she lied and said she was cheating",she rambled on about the latest drama she watched. You had to admit, the shows she watched were always fun to hear about, and you gasped.

"No way!!That's so dumb, how does she expect him to stay and support her after?!?"

"That's where it gets better!!He refuses to pay child support so she takes him to court and the judge tells him he now has the legal responsibility of paying for child support. So the dude is pissed off after the hearing and when they get out of the courthouse, he keys her car and dissapears for good!!We won't know where he is until the next season but all the theories point to Canada."