Chapter 182

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Has Something Changed? (7)

[The broadcast has ended.]

“…Phew.”

Finally, the stream was over. As soon as I closed it out, I breathed a sigh of relief, brushing a hand across my chest. Trying to calm down the chat after my little slip of the tongue really took the wind out of me. Thanks to that, any lingering sleepiness had vanished. It felt like I could pull another all-nighter if I wanted to.

But then I glanced over at Koyuki, sleeping soundly right next to me. She must have found it pretty noisy, yet she was still in a deep sleep without so much as a twitch. I leaned over to gently brush the hair from her face. Part of me wanted to move her somewhere more comfortable, but I wasn’t confident I could do that without waking her up—so I decided to let her be.

“…Maybe I’ll cook something for everyone.”

Toya and Inari must be sleeping as well. If they were awake, there’s no way it’d be this quiet. Still, I should probably check just to be sure.

“Toya, Inari, you two still asleep—?”
“…”
“…Yep, definitely asleep.”

I cracked the door open and peeked inside. There were Toya and Inari, fast asleep. Seeing them so silent was actually kind of novel; awake, they tended to bicker non-stop.

And now… they were hugging each other in their sleep.

“Ehehe, Nacchan…”
“Nacchan, c’mere…”
“…”

Nope, I didn’t see anything. Not a thing.
Both of them must’ve been half-dreaming about me, of all people. I quickly averted my gaze, already picturing the kind of chaos that might happen once they woke up.

—

“Hmm, what should I cook…?”

I had no idea when the three of them might wake up. Anything that would get cold and lose its flavor was out. I needed something you could eat any time. …Oh, I know.

Kimbap.

It’s a bit more work than it looks, but it’s a nice, straightforward meal—easy to eat whenever. I hadn’t made it in this (smaller) body for quite a while, though, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out.

“Last time, my grip strength was so weak the rolls fell apart…”

I shuddered remembering that day. Just thinking of all those torn, sorry-looking rolls made me want to apologize to the kimbap itself. But hey, I’m definitely healthier than before—Version 2, if you will. Sure, I didn’t get any taller, but I’d like to think my muscle strength has significantly improved from back then.

“Heh-heh, hm-hmm~♪”

Tying my long hair back into one ponytail, I hummed a little tune and headed to the kitchen. Usually, I leave it down, so feeling it bounce behind my neck felt fresh and light.

“Glad we have all the ingredients.”

Apparently, Toya stocked the fridge with things that matched my tastes; it felt a lot like when I lived in Korea. I found ham, carrots, cucumbers, pickled radish, and tuna. I rummaged around to see if there was anything else I could add, but we hadn’t gone grocery shopping in a while, so that was it. A bit sad about the lack of burdock root, but oh well.

Before long, I was rolling kimbap. Squeezing the rice and fillings extra carefully, I was relieved to see it wasn’t splitting open like the last time. Guess I really have gotten stronger. My forearms started to cramp from using so much grip strength, but I pushed through it, determined to finish.

Some time later:

“Yeoreumaaa…”
“Wah, Toya!?”

A sudden voice behind me made me jump, and my eyes went wide. Why do Toya and Koyuki both like sneaking up on me so quietly? If I hadn’t recognized Toya, I might have smacked her with the kimbap in my hand. It probably wouldn’t hurt, but it’d definitely kill the mood.

“You’re making food?”
“Yeah… More importantly, did you sleep well? A-Are you okay waking up?”
“…”

That last bit must’ve hit a nerve, because Toya’s expression briefly turned murderous—as if she was ready to tear someone, specifically Inari, limb from limb. That’s what they get for sharing a bed, I guess. Maybe they’d both planned on sleeping with Koyuki in the middle, but Koyuki got up first, leaving the two of them alone. Yikes.

“Can I have an end piece?”
“Sure, say ‘ahh’.”
“Ahh~♪”

Toya was obviously starving, so she wanted the end bit of the roll. The edges are a rare treat—only two per roll—but I had no problem handing them over to her. I picked one up with my gloved hand and popped it into Toya’s mouth. I wasn’t totally sure how it tasted; it was fine for me, but would she like it?

“Mmm, delicious~♬”
“So it’s good? Thank goodness.”
“I want to eat your cooking every day, Yeoreum~”
“…That might be a bit much.”

Just making these kimbap had me aching all over, so the thought of cooking daily was daunting. Still, the motherly part of me was happy to see her enjoying it. Toya grabbed the other end piece and happily gobbled it down. She looked so content; it really did feel like caring for my own kid.

“By the way, what about Inari? Still asleep?”
“Yep. She’s sleeping so hard she was drooling everywhere.”
“Oh, dear…”

I couldn’t help noticing the drool stain on Toya’s pajama sleeve. So Inari had a drooly dream, huh?

“Guess I should wake her up. Want to do it, or should I? You could start eating, and I’ll—”
“I’ll do it. If you go in there, she might cling to you and never let you leave.”
“It’s not that bad…”

Well, maybe it is. I nodded—Inari was indeed the type to grab onto me. Koyuki might be okay, but with Inari, it seemed probable. So Toya would wake up Inari, while I’d handle Koyuki…

Creak—

“…I’m awake.”
“Oh, I was just about to go get you.”
“I figured. That’s why I got up… haaaahm…”

In the end, Koyuki made it out to the living room before I could go get her. Maybe it was some twin telepathy that woke her up. One down, one to go. She plopped down at the table and immediately started dozing off again. While she sat there, Toya and I headed to Inari’s room.

“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I mean… just… wow.”

Inari was wrapped up like a mummy from head to toe in her blankets. I looked at Toya, who just shrugged.

“Inari, Inari~”
“Mmm… Nacchan…”
“Wow, even in your sleep, you’re calling my name that much? You must really like me.”

I tried whispering in her ear and shaking her a bit, but she stayed dead to the world. So what could we do to wake her?

“Talking to her won’t help.”
“W-wait—!”

Toya raised her fist over Inari’s head. No actual force behind it except gravity, but still—it was about to land. I reached out in a panic, but Toya’s fist made contact far sooner than my hand could stop her.

Thwack—

“Gyaaah!?”
“Ohh…”

Ouch. I felt a phantom pain just watching. Trapped in that blanket cocoon, Inari squirmed around, unable to clutch her now-throbbing head. I couldn’t help but reach out and rub it for her.

“What the heck, you dumb Toya!!”
“Well, it’s your fault for sleeping so long, dummy Inari.”
“Grr, if Nacchan weren’t here to soothe me, you’d be dead, you hear!?”
“Whatever. You look ridiculous all tied up like that—there’s nothing scary about you.”

She really did look ridiculous—like a caterpillar angrily wiggling around.

“All right, calm down, both of you. We’ve got breakfast—or lunch, I guess—ready.”
“Heh-heh, Nacchan made lunch… heehee…”
“Mhm, I made it, so come eat. By the way… how do we get you out of this thing? Toya?”

I started tugging on the blanket, but Toya had done quite the job tying her up. Impressive skill, in its own way. Toya just pursed her lips and started undoing the swaddled blanket.

“There, let’s go eat. Koyuki’s already waiting at the table.”

Well, “waiting” might be a stretch—more like snoozing in place. But at least the meal was ready, and all four of us could (eventually) gather around to eat.

Fables