Love, Cookies, and Sunshine

"Saeki Hinata, huh?" Chisaki strides forward, almost skipping as she does. It's quite unbefitting of the situation we're in. The entire hallway is dark, except for the dim illuminations of the lights. The walls are pink, but worn and torn in some areas. The wooden floorboards have holes in it - though oddly enough, I can't seem to really fall through. The entire setup looks like a creepy horror film where there would be some kind of sick chase, but Chisaki confidently walks forwards anyways.

"Well, don't you worry , because you're safe with me. I won't do anything strange to you." Chisaki stops, turns around, and leans towards me with a mischievous smirk. "At least, probably not." I chuckle at her joke.

"Am I?" I say, somewhat relieved, yet on edge at the same time. Chisaki doesn't seem like a bad person. She seems pretty playful honestly. There's a few red flags going off in the back of my mind, but in the real world way, not in the whatever-the-fuck-this-game-world-is way.

We continue walking in the creepy hallway as rattle off more questions. It basically confirms a lot of what I know. I'm in a game (somehow), and the place I was at was one of the rendered areas.

"You might have started on the edges, honestly." Chisaki says. "Good thing I found you quickly. There's a lot of unstable areas in this game like that. The NPCs might have glitched out due to a new presence. Might be the fact that you're not assigned a role yet."

"I...I see." I pause. "Why did you save me, exactly?"

"Because I felt like it. Do you need a reason to do anything?"

"I...I guess you're right." She confidently strides ahead as I follow behind. It's a pretty badass attitude, honestly. How do I even keep up with that? "Hey, can those NPCs uh..." I trail off.

"If you're worried about them coming after us, don't worry. Most NPCs in stable areas aren't hostile like them. And anyways, they aren't capable of leaving their preassigned areas. Not like me. I'm an independent being." Chisaki wheels around once more and leans her upper body towards me. 

She really likes doing that, huh? It's actually pretty endearing. 

"You seem like you've been here a long time. Are you a human or..."

"Technically, you can say I'm an NPC as well. But I'm not some thoughtless automaton like those things, so I'd like to call myself a character." She shrugs. "Ah, here we are." Chisaki says as we arrive at door. "Portal shortcut."

The door is plain, yes, but what stands out is how pristine it looks despite the rest of the hallway looking decayed. She puts her hand to the door, and then, from underneath, I can see rays of light shining through.

"Well? You coming?" She asks, looking back at me.

I take her offer.

***

It's warm. And bright. Soft rays of light illuminate the cozy room I've stepped into. There's a small houseplant on the desk, which houses a neatly organized pink gaming computer. It's similar to the model I have, but a lot less chaotic and neatly organized.

Yet, to call the room "neat" is only a technicality. It's actually quite rather full. I'm surprised at how neatly she can organize her room despite the overwhelming sea of pet food and what appears to be other animal care products. And there it is, when looking closely at the other end of the bedroom, are cages filled with mostly rats, but also mice, hamsters, and other household rodents. There are also a few tanks with lizards, frogs, axolotls, fish, and tortoises.

It almost feels like a petstore.

"See these?" Chisaki looks at me and gives me another smug smile. "These are my pets. I particularly like keeping pet rats, but I like having a wide range of animals. They keep me company. I wish the game had the code for dogs or cats, but for some reason, they don't have any of those..." She shakes her head. "I hope you're not afraid of rodents or reptiles, because I keep a lot of these." She closes her eyes, content. "And I presume you're not afraid of fish or amphibians. "

"Oh, of course not! I actually like animals. I've always wanted to keep a few, but my apartment doesn't allow for any."

"Yeah. I...I know." She walks out to the pets and looks down at them, but there's a slightly guilty look on her face. "I uh...I'm aware of the rules of your apartment." She looks at me with a slightly pouty, almost guilty expression.

"Oh, do you-"

"So...I might have access to your apartment cameras." She looks to the side. "And your microphones. And uh, a lot of stuff beyond that. It's surprising how much you can learn with internet access and the right passwords, you know?"

Wha-what? Wait, what? 

"I'm sorry." Chisaki says, looking downwards. "That's...kind of weird, isn't it? But being trapped in a game like this it's uh...really the only way to keep myself entertained. It's just...so mind-numbingly lonely here." She walks over and grasps my hands. "Truth is, when I saw you back there, I was happy to have a partner I could talk to." She looks up at me.

I...can't really do anything against those puppy eyes, can I?

Screw it, I don't care if she's spying on me. What do I have to hide from a girl like this anyways?

"Partners, huh? You and me?" I shake my head. "You give me too much credit. I'm not...that exciting of a person. I'm just a dead end nobody dreaming delusions." Chisaki shakes her head.

"That's not true." She says, genuine concern suddenly shadowing her face. She reaches over and cups my face. "You're genuine, and resilient. I've seen your streams and videos. All of them. And I might be biased, but I think you easily deserve more than you have now."

"Thank you..." I croak.

Really Hinata? There's a girl in front of you who's looking at you like a human being for the first time and that's all you can say? Sure, she's probably a computer or something, but come on, you-

"You don't need to say anything." Chisaki says. "You're always cleaning up everyone's messes." A bitter look clouds her face. "No one ever acknowledges you, or thanks you, or praises you for anything you do. It's sick." She grinds her teeth, looking away from me. "It's not fair."

I look down and away from her. I'm not going to start crying in front of her. Noticing this, Chisaki shifts gears.

"Well, nevermind. We don't need to talk about those losers, do we? I want this place to be a sanctuary for you Hinata." She gives me another smile, but it's not the playful smile like before, but something...warmer. 

It feels familiar, honestly.

"Uh, let me see. What's something...less depressing?" Chisaki looks away and thinks to herself for a minute.

"Oh, I know! I'll make you cookies!" She gives me a smile. "You like cookies, right? Everyone likes cookies. Just stay right here. I'll show you the rest of my house, but you should rest a little. Besides, I should probably do a little cleaning before I show you around." She blushes.

"Uh...sure. What, is there underwear slung up on the couch?" I banter, trying my best not sound like I was about to cry just earlier.

"You jerk!" She says, laughing. "A girl should have her secrets, you know?" Her expression softens. "Well, just wait right here, okay? The bathroom is behind you, feel free to use it. If you have any questions, I'm always here to listen." She starts to head out the door. "If you ever need someone to talk to..." She looks at me with that beautiful warm smile again. "...I'm always here to listen. Okay?"

I simply nod, and the door closes, but not before Chisaki gives me a wink.

Wow.

A few minutes pass as I take my time to acquaint myself with the room and bathroom. As I sit on the couch, I realize just how warm this place is.

Almost too warm. Not that the temperature is wrong, but that it's a little too cozy. I'm pretty sure it's for the lizards, but man. I can smell the cookies from the kitchen, and it makes me even more drowsy. 

My eyelids feel droopy.

Oh man...

"Boo!" A voice shouts into my ear, and I instinctively jerk back. Did I fall asleep? I must have. When I look over, I can see Chisaki laughing.

"You're so defenseless Hinata. Just sleeping in the chair like that. If you were any more oblivious I could just gobble you up." She gives me a proud, smug grin as she sits down beside me. "Well, regardless. I made you cookies." Chisaki slams the plate down on the table. "Boom."

"T-thanks." I tell her as I take a bite. It's looks like a typical chocolate chip cookie on the outside, but she's tossed in coconuts and oatmeal as well as chocolate. It tastes good.

Reminds me of the cookies my mom used to make. Dad loved them.

It was this exact pattern. Mom's family cookies, learned from grandma, apparently.

Did...dad code this into the game?

"Hey, you wanted to explore the rest of my house, right?" She interrupts, cutting me off. "Well, I just got done cleaning up. So?" She looks at me, expectantly.

Ah well, I guess cookie recipes can wait. This is more important, probably.

***

"Of course there's a lot of stuff to do around here." Chisaki says as I look around the living room. There are bowls of fruit sitting next to all manner of electronics. "We've got just about everything you can think of beyond those doors." She gestures to the front door of the house. "There's even a self-updating combat zone where you can fight NPCs. Though, I wouldn't say being in here is exactly boring either."

"A combat zone, huh?" I take a look at a bookshelf. They look like a fun read. "Like a first person shooter, but in real life? Wait, that would just be a real warzone..."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, I'm not really a gun person though. I prefer to fight...a bit more up close and personal." She says as we walk into the kitchen, which seems to double as a dining area. "I know you like firearms though, and I've always needed someone to cover me while I carve up some bozos. So-"

"Hey, what's that door?" I ask Chisaki. There's a cold steel door down a hallway I didn't notice at first - the same type of door that would appear in my apartment. It's a faded green, almost a little out of place in a house like Chisaki's.

"Oh, that?" Chisaki fidgets. "That's nothing. Just a basement." She puts my hand on my shoulder as I begin to head for it. "Let's...not visit that, shall we? Plenty more fun things to do." She leads me back to the TV, which we had glided over previously. "Oh, I know! Want to watch TV? We can also play video games on it, if you'd like."

"Huh? Sure." I give the door one final look before watching Chisaki turn on the TV.

"I know what kinds of shows you like, Hi~na~ta." She says, slurring my name as she says. She picks up a cookie and eats it while flipping through the tv channels. Eventually, we land on a sci-fi movie I've seen before. 

"Wow, I didn't know they had movies like this," I say. I'd have preferred to watch something new to be honest, but given the strange circumstances I'm in, this is actually rather nostalgic. "You know I like-" Just before I can finish, Chisaki's phone (or what I assume is one) vibrates, and she takes it out of her pocket. She looks over the message, brow furrowed. "...Chisaki, you okay?"

"There's a problem with the combat zone today. Sigh, I wanted to go out for some exercise with you after the movie." She shakes her head, but smiles anyways. "Well, it looks like I have to go out for a mission. It's nothing too difficult, and I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Darn, not watching with me?"

"Part 2's better anyways. And I've seen this movie more times than I'd want to admit."

"That makes the two of us then." 

"Sigh, it seems the world is insistent on pulling us apart during our time together." She shakes her head. "Don't go anywhere, okay? Just one hour."

"Come on, what do you take me for? I got it." 

"Good." Chisaki says as she looks at me, proudly. "I'll teach you more about this place once I get back then." She turns for the front door, then looks back at me. "Wait for me here, okay?"

The door shuts.

I take another bite out of the cookie as I watch the movie, and suddenly, a strange feeling overcomes me. I thought it was kind of cute that she knew an old family recipe at first, but now that I'm alone, and knowing that she knows a lot of my internet browsing preferences, I feel like something is off.

I get up and head for the strange green door.

Fuck it, one little sweep won't hurt, right?