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The morning after their second arduous battle against Salmonriver Bonithunnus XIII…

It was normal to wake up at the time one was accustomed to, even when sleeping late, so Kou found herself awake moments before the alarm in her NLD went off. She looked around and noticed that Hinagiku and Miyuki’s futons were empty, making her wonder where those two girls had gone, before realizing she also had something to do.

“Ah… I need to prepare breakfast…”

Muttering to herself, Kou carefully slipped out of her futon and went to change, being careful to not wake up anyone who was still sleeping. She rubbed her eyes as she went downstairs to the kitchen, and then noticed that someone had gotten there ahead of her.

“…Huh, mom?”
“Oh, is that you Kou? Good morning.”

Kou asked in a confused voice, and her mother turned around to greet her with a smile, taking a break from chopping blanched spinach leaves. Somehow, that made Kou feel a bit awkward and avert her eyes.

“It’s so rare for you to prepare breakfast… You should just go rest, I’m sure you’re tired from work.”
“Hahah, I’m not sure I should be doing that when my daughter’s friends are staying over.”
“Hmmm… Ah, let me help you though. You haven’t started preparing the miso soup, right?”
“Mm… Well, you can do that then.”

After her mother nodded with a smile, Kou started by washing her hands with soap.

“By the way, mom, do you know where Hinagiku and Miyuki are?”
“Ahh, if you mean the two younglings, then just turn that way.”

Amari pointed…to the wall, or rather somewhere past the wall. Kou could obviously not see anything there, but when she listened attentively, she heard a familiar melody coming from that direction.

“…Radio calisthenics?”
“Oh, so you can hear it. Yes, they actually did that yesterday too. Sora took them to the park to join the other elementary and middle schoolers doing that.”
“Ahh, that brings back memories…actually, it was just last year that I did that too.”

It had become customary for kids to exercise together like that during summer break, and it was something that had started even before Sora was a kid.

Kou had also done that, and she remembered fondly how she never wanted to miss an attendance mark. But that aside, it was time to focus on preparing breakfast. Amari had cut fish to pieces, likely amberjack, and was steaming them lightly, while also having a pot with some sauce being reduced in it. Looking through it, Kou assumed she was making amberjack teriyaki.

Kou went to get her apron, then finely chopped the daikon and carrots that were there, and put them in a pot together with a soup packet.

“Anyway, like I was saying…being able to cook alongside my daughter like this is actually quite fun.”

All of a sudden, Amari stopped humming and said that, which caught Kou off-guard.

“…Is it?”
“Yes, it is. It also allows us to share a moment without much getting in the way.”
“Hmmm…”

Kou did not really get what Amari was trying to say, so she just tilted her head a bit, wondering if maybe it was something she would only understand once she became a parent herself. Still pondering about that, Kou checked whether the pan was hot enough.

“By the way…”

Meanwhile, Amari was taking out the fish from the steamer and patting it dry before throwing it in starch. Her voice rang more serious now, so Kou instinctively stood up straight and listened.

“Sora told me about yesterday, something about you getting dangerously close to abusing your strength? I guess it’s about time I start training you.”
“Then…”
“Yes, we’ll start tomorrow morning, around an hour earlier than right now. It might be a bit early, so I hope you don’t mind?”

Seeing her mother looking straight at her made Kou slightly nervous, but she still nodded in agreement.

◇◇◇

By the time Sora came back with Hinagiku and Miyuki, who had gotten to really wake up doing exercise, the other friends also woke up and got dressed.

Kou told them that she would go wash her face real quick, and when she came back, she saw that the sauce had already thickened enough and Amari was starting to get the plates ready, which Kou would then carry to the table.

“Woahh… I wasn’t expecting an elaborate breakfast like this… Ms. Amari, Kou, you have my respect!”
“Prez, you’re exaggerating too much, it’s nothing so crazy.”
“Hahah…I mean, in this day and age, there aren’t many households remaining who still take the time to cook like this.”

Kasumi was looking at her plate with twinkling eyes, praising Kou and Amari’s cooking.

The breakfast consisted of freshly cooked white rice, amberjack teriyaki which had a hint of ginger, and a dressing of spinach and sesame. Kou had also made some additions herself, fluffy rolled omelettes with scallions, and miso soup with carrots and daikon.

And since Kou was still on her journey to conquer her trauma, she had asked Amari to serve her one piece of amberjack teriyaki as well, which Kou would fight against to complete her daily quota.

In modern times, most families would just mix some supplement powder with milk and drink that for breakfast, so everyone at the table was impressed that they were having a proper meal here.

And so, once everyone was seated and ready, they began eating.

Kou watched with a gentle smile as Hinagiku and Miyuki excitedly picked up pieces of amberjack teriyaki with their chopsticks, then took a sip of her miso soup.

“Kou, what are we going to do today?”

After breaking off a mouth-sized piece of her egg omelette and then wiggling in delight at the taste, Hijiri asked that, making Kou put down her bowl of miso soup to think of a response.

“Today…hmmm, it seems they’re still pretty pressed for time, so I was thinking of helping out in the dungeon too, but before that…”
“You’re thinking of Rouge?”
“Yeah. I’ll probably stop by the castle first, I also obtained a nice item after all. That’d be fine, right?”

Kou decided to check what the rest thought.

“Of course, I don’t mind.”
“I was also curious to see how they’re doing, so I don’t mind~”
“I’ve been wanting to see how Lyco is doing myself.”
“Same here. I wonder what Hina is up to.”

Everyone was on board, and no one was against the idea.

“Alright, then we’ll go see them together after breakfast~”
“ “ “Yeahh!” ” ”

Hijiri’s voice was oddly relaxed as she said that, but everyone replied with a lot of energy.

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