Yui Yuigahama walked into the classroom, carrying two cake boxes, and greeted the already-seated Izumi Kotomi and her friends with a smile, "Good morning, Kato-san, Yukinoshita-san, Izumi-san. I brought these for you to try."
The two cake boxes, stamped with the logo of the Dango Cake Shop, piqued the curiosity of everyone, making them wonder what kind of cakes were inside.
Although Kotomi already knew that the Dango Cake Shop was owned by Yui's mother, she decided to play along and feign ignorance. "Oh! It's from the Dango Cake Shop! My sister bought cakes from this shop before, and they were really good. Do you like cakes from Dango Cake Shop too, Yui-san?"
Hearing Kotomi's praise for the cake shop, Yui's face lit up with a shy smile. "The Dango Cake Shop is actually run by my mom. If you like the cakes, you're always welco to co by."
"That's so amazing, Yui-san! I'm so jealous. Your mom owns a cake shop, so you must get to eat delicious cakes all the ti!" Kotomi said in an envious tone, as if she had just found out.
"Haha, I used to think the sa way. But there was one ti when my mom was working on a new cake recipe, and I ended up eating nothing but cake for all three als that day—I was so sick of it by the end," Yui laughed.
Yukinoshita Yukino opened one of the cake boxes, revealing a yogurt cheese mousse cake inside. "It's a mousse cake. Can I have a piece now?"
"Of course, go ahead! Do you like mousse cake, Yukinoshita-san?" Yui asked with a smile.
Yukino nodded, taking a piece of the mousse cake and gently biting into it. "This mousse cake is delicious. Your mother is really skilled at making cakes, Yui-san."
"Your taste is just like my sister's. She also loves mousse cake," Yui remarked.
"Do you have a sister, Yui-san?" Kotomi asked curiously upon hearing about Yui's sibling.
"Mm-hmm, I have a much younger sister. She just started kindergarten this year. Her na is Yuihara Yuigahama,. My mom usually runs the cake shop by herself, but I help out during holidays. Yuihara loves sneaking bites of the cakes while we're working," Yui explained with a fond smile.
"Does your father help with the cake shop?" Yukino asked.
At the ntion of her father, Yui's expression dimd slightly. She let out a dry laugh before answering, "My father passed away in a car accident five years ago."
"I'm sorry," Yukino apologized softly.
"It's okay. It's been years now. My mom always says that we can't stay sad forever—we have to keep going, for ourselves and for those we love," Yui replied, waving her hand as if to brush away the sorrow. She then encouraged the others, "Kato-san, Izumi-san, you should try so too. I brought two cakes—one is the yogurt mousse, and the other is a chocolate chiffon cake."
"Then I won't hold back," Kotomi said, picking up a slice of the mousse cake.
As for the chocolate chiffon cake...
Though it looked delicious, Kotomi couldn't bring herself to eat it. She had never liked chocolate. She had hoped that after reincarnating, her tastes might change, but to her dismay, she still disliked chocolate as much as she did in her past life.
No matter how good the chocolate was supposed to be, all Kotomi could taste was bitterness.
People always said chocolate was sweet and smooth, but to Kotomi, it was just bitter, like dicine. It made her wonder more than once if there was sothing wrong with her taste buds.
Yuigahama's chocolate chiffon cake certainly looked appetizing, but it was a sha she just couldn't enjoy chocolate.
"Kotomi-san, aren't you going to try the chiffon cake?" Yui asked, noticing that Kotomi had only been eating the mousse cake.
Kotomi smiled apologetically and admitted, "Yui-san, the chiffon cake your mom made looks really delicious, but I don't really like chocolate."
"You don't like chocolate, Kotomi-san? Then next ti, I'll bring a different flavor of chiffon cake for you to try—maybe matcha, orange, or lemon."
"I'd love to try the orange one! I'm planning to buy an orange chiffon cake from your mom's shop this afternoon."
"Thank you in advance for your patronage~" Yui replied with a playful tone.
As the ti for class drew near, the four of them quickly divided the remaining cake and finished eating before the bell rang.
If it were any other class, they might not have been in such a hurry. They might have even snuck bites during the lesson.
But today, the first period was math with Nakamori-sensei.
In her previous life, math was absolute torture for Kotomi. In fact, any science-related subject was a challenge for her.
She would try her best to listen and understand, but most of the ti, she couldn't grasp what the teacher was explaining, nor could she make sense of the numbers and symbols on the board.
Back in elentary school, she could still improve her math grades by practicing lots of exercises. But by the ti she reached middle and high school, it beca clear that math was either sothing you got, or you didn't. No matter how much effort you put into it, so people just couldn't wrap their heads around it. Even private tutoring might not make much of a difference. This was especially true in high school, where teachers often advised students with poor math skills to choose humanities over sciences.
In her previous life, Kotomi had been one of those students who just didn't get math. She wasn't unintelligent, but she just couldn't grasp mathematical concepts. So, when she had to choose her subjects in high school, she went with humanities.
But in this life, thanks to the learning ability granted by the God-Level Heroine System, Kotomi could now breeze through any academic challenge, whether it was science or humanities. This left her with much more free ti to devote to her creative pursuits without worrying about her studies.
"Kotomi-san, can you solve this problem?" Nakamori-sensei asked, calling on her during class.
Kotomi, who was now quite used to being called on, stood up confidently and accurately walked the class through the solution to the problem on the board.
After she finished, Nakamori-sensei nodded with satisfaction and even smiled—a rare occurrence. "Very good, Kotomi-san. It seems you've mastered the common problem-solving approach for this type of question. Let show you another thod that might be useful for more advanced problems. This approach can simplify your work, especially when dealing with additional questions on exams."
After explaining the new thod, Nakamori-sensei wrote a supplentary problem on the board and asked Kotomi to solve it.
Kotomi, playing along, pretended to think for a few minutes before correctly solving the problem using the new thod Nakamori-sensei had just taught.
"Perfect answer, well done! Please take your seat," Nakamori-sensei said, clearly pleased that Kotomi had so quickly grasped the new technique.
Seeing a student like Kotomi, Nakamori-sensei thought to herself, She's a natural for mathematics. When it cos ti to choose subjects, I must persuade her to pick sciences. A student with potential like hers needs to be nurtured!
But Kotomi herself wasn't thinking about this at all. After returning to her seat, she resud sketching in her notebook.
As she continued her doodles, her pencil suddenly paused. She then began writing down so dialogue for the opening of her manga.
"Cutting trees… can earn you 60,000 yen a month, right?"
"That kidney I sold… brought in 1.2 million yen."
"My right eye… 300,000 yen."
"How much did I get for selling my testicle? I think it wasn't even 100,000 yen…"
"The remaining debt is… 38.04 million yen."
"Woof!"
"Pochita~ I know what we have to do! Let's cut it up!"
"Hunting demons nets you around 300,000 yen. Yep, being a devil hunter is the best gig out there."
Just to survive—
A dark hero's tale that will shake the world—begins!
Kotomi smiled to herself. She had decided that her first manga would be Chainsaw Man.
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