Chapter 12: How to Begin a New Life

The next morning.

It was already well into the day by the time Hikari Mikoto—with her silver hair sticking out in all directions—came down into the living room, still dark with the curtains drawn.

“Mornin’, Yousuke… fwaaaahhh…”

“You’re as bad with mornings as ever.”

“Pretty much~. Probably even worse now that I’m a vampire.”

Well, I’d known her long enough to expect this. Her habit of sleeping in until the absolute last minute wasn’t anything new. Back in elementary school, I used to stop by her house just to make sure she didn’t show up late.

And besides, this was her first morning back in this world. A little extra sleep wasn’t going to hurt anyone.

“You’re still an early bird though, huh?”

“Yeah, though there’s not much reason to be anymore… it’s just habit at this point.”

“…Makes sense.”

For the record, I’d woken up before six.

After that, I’d taken care of breakfast and handled the basic house chores.

Whenever I mentioned my morning routine to someone, they’d tease me about how “weirdly wholesome” it was for a high schooler, but…

Considering my leg injury, sprinting to catch a train wasn’t an option. And I didn’t want to trouble Mom by having her drive me every morning either.

So over time, I’d built a habit of starting everything early.

Which is why, as always, I was in charge of making breakfast. Forcing Mom to match my schedule just felt wrong.

“By the way, where’s Youko-san?”

“She left early—had some kind of community meeting. Said it was about ‘a suspicious figure in a black cloak’ being seen around. …Pretty sure she means you. Something like this happened before, so I guess she’s extra on guard now.”

“Ugh… I thought I wasn’t standing out that much. Maybe it’s ‘cause I was wandering around near the apartment building…”

…This place really is like a village in that way.

The local community’s pretty tightly knit, so rumors tend to spread fast.

Which means we’ll probably need to come up with a public excuse for Hikari’s presence sooner or later.

That thought in the back of my mind, I gestured for her to sit and said,

“She’ll be back soon, I think. Anyway, eat your breakfast. I want to finish the dishes before it piles up.”

Then I turned and headed for the kitchen.


I guess you’d call it brunch?

As she took a bite of the late-morning breakfast that was creeping toward lunchtime, Hikari’s hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.

Then, eyes shining with emotion, she let out a shout.

“Mmm! A Japanese morning just isn’t complete without rice and miso soup!”

Her tone was so over-the-top, I couldn’t help but blink.

“…Didn’t you say almost the exact same thing yesterday? Is washoku really that moving to you?”

My dad traveled around the world constantly, but even when he came back, he never said anything that dramatic.

According to him: “I like foreign food just fine, so I’ve got no complaints. The only real hardship when it comes to meals is not being able to eat Youko’s cooking.”

Which is why Hikari’s reaction felt like such a rare case—and why I found myself weirdly curious.

“Of course it is! The food over there was awful! Sure, there were monsters everywhere, but the real nightmare was the food. There were barely any dishes to choose from… and they didn’t even have the idea of dashi or umami! That stuff is totally basic here!”

“R-Right…”

…Looks like I accidentally hit a nerve with our ex-hero from another world.

Hikari was practically baring her fangs, ranting with full intensity.

Not that it stopped her from eating. Even as she complained, her chopsticks kept moving smoothly, and she chewed without making a sound—impressively efficient.

“That’s why I made it my mission—as a hero… no, as someone from another world—to spread the gospel of good food! I tried to teach people, but no one understood, and I didn’t even know how to explain it… I mean, the food I came up with tasted okay, but emotionally it was just… rough, you know?”

“I-I get it… Like when someone tried to recreate nikujaga, maybe.”

It reminded me of a story: apparently, nikujaga was first made when someone who’d tasted beef stew overseas wanted to recreate it in Japan, so they asked a chef to wing it from memory.

When you think about it like that, Hikari’s feelings made sense.

Even if something’s tasty, it’s still not the same as the real thing. And when you’re homesick, “close enough” just doesn’t cut it.

“But honestly… wasn’t part of the problem you? You’re kind of useless at housework.”

Ugh… I do regret not paying attention in home economics class more than ever now…! But I still managed to open a ‘Hero-approved’ restaurant in the capital, so that counts as success, right?!”

“Huh… You really had a whole business going, huh?”

Just as we wrapped up our little chat and the rice bowls were empty…

…we heard the front door open.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Yousuke. Oh, you’re awake too, Hikari-kun.”

“Morning, Youko-san.”

It was Mom. She stepped into the room holding a small bundle of A4-size envelopes.

“You were gone a while for just a community meeting. What’s all that?”

“Hehehe… That’s a surprise for later. You’ll see.”

“…?”

“…?”

She dodged the question with a teasing smile, leaving Hikari and me exchanging puzzled looks.

Clearly, she wasn’t in on it either.

Before we could press her, Mom snapped her fingers and said brightly:

“Well then! Now that Hikari-kun’s finished eating, it’s time to go get your essentials for your new life!”

Comments (3)

Please login or sign up to post a comment.

Share Chapter