For the Ghost Hunt Weekend Exchange 2018. It is kind of a secret-Santa thing on Tumblr - check out Ghost Hunt HQ for more info!

For: samantha-girlscout

By: RaisedonRadio [roseandradio]

Original prompt: 'I'd like to receive something focusing kind of more of the group family dynamic? It can be between just a few of them, or all of them, and in whatever situation, but I'm kind of in a wholesome mood.'

Title: Miso Soup and Breadcrumbs

Summary: The first morning on the mountain.

Timeline: Before the Forgotten Children Case / Word Count: 1350

Masako was woken up by pleasant smells of breakfast cooking. She rolled over and surveyed the room. It always took her a moment to remember where she was when she slept in a strange place. The food smelled like home, but there were bird sounds outside, and a gentle breeze moved through the trees. No traffic, no hum of the city in the summer. The quiet of the countryside had grown on her since staying at the Yoshimi home. She had needed to return to the city for a recording when the guys had still been in the hospital, and the very air there made her head ache.

The countryside didn't make the world any more peaceful, though. There had been serious problems at the last house, and there were dark undercurrents outside this cabin as well. She wanted to drift off to sleep again, but the voices in the kitchen wouldn't let her. Masako got up and shuffled to the kitchen doorway.

"Naru and Lin-san will say they don't want anything anyway," Mai said. The front door was open and she was sitting on the stoop.

"Can you ask them anyway? You have nothing to lose," Ayako said. Ayako had on an apron patterned with flowers. Masako had to wonder if she had it packed with her. They had been lucky the cabin had been stocked with some basic pots and pans. Masako and Mai had been concerned they would only be able to make their meals over a campfire — though Yasuhara had seemed excited over the prospect.

Mai mumbled, "I do."

"What?" Ayako's tone said she had heard Mai clearly.

Mai flinched. "Naru's going to say something mean again! Why can't you go?"

There was a pot steaming on the stove, and Ayako stopped stirring. She raised the ladle, her attitude menacing. "Then do you want to cook instead?"

There was silence from Mai. She finally said, "I can't."

Ayako nodded. "Just go. I'm worried they didn't eat last night, too."

"Okay." Mai stood up and slumped away without turning around.

Masako started to back up into the bedroom again.

"Masako."

Caught.

Ayako continued, "Do you think you can stir this for me?"

Masako entered the kitchen in the same slumped manner that Mai had left it. She went to take the ladle from Ayako, who proceeded to direct her to the sink to wash her hands first. Masako felt her ears redden. She knew that.

There was miso soup in the pot, and Masako diligently stirred, though she had the feeling it really didn't need her help at this point. In fact, it really didn't look like Ayako needed her help at all. The meal was mostly set out. Next to the rice, there was a loaf of bread. Masako couldn't remember if it had been on Ayako's shopping list. She wondered if Takigawa had bought it. Or maybe John.

"Where did you learn to cook?" Masako asked. "Didn't you have servants for that?"

Ayako paused in chopping a stack of green onions. "We did, but we had a cook during my teenage years that encouraged me to help. She told me the last thing I would want to happen is end up in college without knowing how to even boil water." Her knife moved through the green onions again. "I balked, at first. Just because I could, I guess. I wanted my nails to look nice, I didn't want to smear my makeup in a hot sweaty kitchen. But when I would come home before dinner, there would be a little chore she suddenly needed help with. Stirring a pot. Retrieving a spice. Slicing a vegetable. When I realized my mother hated the time I was spending there with a servant - well, that sealed the deal. And she was much too good a chef for my mother to get rid of her just to spite me."

Ayako swept the pile of green onions into a bowl. "So, what about you? How did you not learn how to cook?"

"My manager reprimanded my mom for allowing me to wash dishes," Masako said. "Something about ruining my hands for a recording. Then I wasn't allowed into the kitchen again. My mother sometimes overreacts like that."

"Sounds like you need a new manager."

Masako had thought she was going to say it sounded like she needed a new mother. She smiled slightly at the thought. "She's my aunt. My mother's younger sister."

Ayako shook her head slightly. "I stand by what I said."

Masako wanted to say something sharp back — how dare you, you don't know me or my family — but she realized that was exactly the problem Mai had been struggling with. Nobody really knew each other. How had they managed to work together so closely for all this time? Was it really all going to fall apart when Naru and Lin left?

Ayako came over and examined the pot. "That looks good. You should go get ready for breakfast before the guys arrive." She glanced at Masako. "If you need anything to wear, don't hesitate to go through my bags."

"Okay," Masako said. She stepped aside and watched Ayako fiddle with the setup of the small table. Ayako was muttering something about maybe they should eat outside. Masako didn't really see her as a mother figure, or the big sister that Mai did. Masako saw Ayako like the aunt Kimiko never had been. Someone who actually took care of you, and didn't hold back if she saw a problem with something.

Masako stopped in the doorway to the bedroom. "Ayako? How did you get what you want, even if your parents disagreed?"

"How so?" Ayako said. She had been in the process of untying her apron, and she looked up at Masako expectantly.

"My father still thinks I'm making everything up when I'm talking to spirits. My mother hates that I became a celebrity and wishes I had done something sensible with my life, and I'm not even an adult. My aunt just uses me since she couldn't become famous herself."

Ayako pulled the apron off and set it on the counter. "Well, I think you misunderstand. I don't have it much different from you. My parents never believed me about being a Miko. They still don't. They just see me as a failure who shows up occasionally when she needs money. I couldn't change what they thought of me, since each person wanted something different." She shrugged. "I hope that makes sense. I've never been good at giving pep talks."

"Yes. Yes, it does." Masako could hear voices approaching the cabin. "Do you think you could… let me help in the kitchen later?"

Ayako nodded, and Masako scurried into the bedroom to get dressed.

Takigawa's voice carried into the cabin. "That smells good."

"No thanks to you," Ayako called back. "Help me carry these dishes out, there will be more room outside."

Masako had chosen a kimono from her bag, and bumped into Mai on her way out of the bedroom.

"Oh, I thought you might still be sleeping," Mai said. She grinned. Her eyes were red rimmed.

"Ayako didn't let me," Masako said. "You okay? Is Naru and Lin-san coming to eat?"

"Ah, no," Mai said. "I mean, yeah, I'm fine. They just haven't changed a bit."

"Good morning girls," Yasuhara said. He was looking around the cabin, which Masako doubted looked any different from the one he was staying in. His movements were stilted since his stay in the hospital. He gave off the feeling that he was concerned he was going to crack a rib again if he moved too fast.

Ayako came in, finger pointed at Yasuhara. "Quit acting like you broke an ankle. Take the plates outside."

Yasuhara bowed his head too deeply. "Yes ma'am."

He leaned over and stage whispered to Mai and Masako, "If she is too much for you two, there is room in our cabin."

Mai smiled, more genuinely than before. "I don't think John will allow that."

"Yeah, maybe." Yasuhara waved a hand in dismissal. "Just like he wouldn't let me drink with Takigawa last night." He picked up the plates, and the girls followed him outside.