Odd-looking Egg

Chapter 2

"What the fuck…"

As much as Himiko would've wanted to reprimand Misato for her language, time stood perfectly still. The mother and daughter were still dumbfounded, staring at the huge egg that was before them. It sat comfortably on Himiko's right palm like a prop of some sort. It spanned at least half a feet and weighed a couple of kilograms, the mother observed. Its shell had the same texture as that of an average chicken egg though it did not seem that fragile. As Himiko felt it on her palms, this egg seemed tougher than it looks and there was no telling how much force they needed to break it.

"What could've laid it?" Misato inquired. "A bird? A reptile? A giant insect?!" She strutted around her mother's hold of it and, a bit hesitantly at first, touched the shell with her fingers.

"Ah, it's warm!" she exclaims, retracting her touch.

Oh… It is warm. Now that you mentioned it. Himiko almost didn't notice since she carried the odd-looking egg. It was still warm. Which made the situation weirder than it already was.

So this was laid by some creature just a few moments ago… The creature from the bushes!

She immediately looks around them, scanning their surroundings for any anomalies that may catch her eye. She glanced at the bushes, and then at the shed, and then at a group of elderly people walking away from the temple. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for the peculiar grey egg she held on to.

"Mom," Misato grabbed her free hand, a smile starting to form on her face. She excitedly clutches on to the hand like a child and spoke, "Let's bring that home! We don't know what it is now but what if it hatches? What if it's a dragon or a legendary creature?! I wanna know what's inside!" she beams and jumps up a few times, her toothy grin never fading away. "This is exciting, Mom!"

As a mother, Himiko weighed the decision in her head as quickly as she could. What with her thrilled daughter already jumping up and down like she was an elementary student at a pet shop. The young mother tried her best to look like she was deciding on the matter like a grown up, yet deep inside, her daughter had stirred up a new wave of excitement and curiosity when she brought up the possibility of the egg hatching. Yeah, what exactly is inside this thing…

"Can we keep it, Mom? Please? Pretty please?!" her daughter was now back to being her peppy and childish self. "I promise I'm gonna be its owner. I'll feed it, clean it, go out with it. Just please let me have it!"

Ever since the beginning, the Bakugo household never opted to adopt a pet. It was a strict rule that was established at the time their eldest child Nobuhiko had seen the neighboring dog loitering outside their house. When he asked his father why they didn't have one in their house, he was met with a frustrated explanation of how "you children are already a handful. We're not having a pet inside this house as long as you two brats don't learn to behave! Is that clear?!"

How would Katsuki take this… Then again, it isn't exactly a pet. Himiko reasoned with herself, a thin smirk tugging on her lips. This is just an egg we found here in Mount Takao. What's the harm in it?

"Okay, Misato. Your mother has decided and will now issue her statement," she jokingly declares, closing her eyes and putting up her free hand as if to swear.

"We're keeping this egg!"

The crowds of people have started to increase at Yakuoin Temple. The silent atmosphere of the shrine had been broken as more and more people lined up to give their praises to the kami. Chatters were heard here and there while a father and his son were busy looking for their two other relatives.

"Sorry we're late!"

It was the youngest child Misato clasping her two hands in front of her brother while she smiled apologetically. The said brother put up an annoyed scowl on his face as he lightly chopped his sister's head.

"What took you so long, doofus? Got lost again?" Nobuhiko scolded and his sister only smiled wider.

"Sorta? Guess you could say that," she cheerfully replies causing her brother to get more irritated.

"The hell's wrong with you? See, this is why I don't like being with you in crowded places. You're such an airhead," he retorts. Their fight was halted by their mother arriving behind Misato, hugging a medium-sized eco bag firmly with her arms. This immediately catches the boy's attention.

"Now, now, Nobu. That's no way to talk to your sister," she began but the boy still focused on the aforementioned bag that wasn't there before they separated.

"Mom, what's that in the bag?" he curiously probes.

"Oh, this?" His mother smiles sweetly and reassuringly before she hands the bag to him. "You could say it's a late birthday gift for your sister. We found it near the bushes over there. Here, take a look for yourself."

At that instant, their father Katsuki approached them just when Nobuhiko was already taking the bag from his mother. He eyes each of them before staring at the suspicious item being exchanged and decides to confront his wife.

"Hon, what is that?" he asks in a monotonous yet authoritative tone. This causes his wife's sweet smile to evolve into a full smirk as she tilts her head a little and answers him,

"Oh, you'll see what it is."

And behold, already resting on Nobuhiko's palm was the football-sized egg the mother and daughter have decided to keep. If the egg had emotions, one could say that it was beaming with pride as it stood in front of the teen boy with all its glory. Both father and son were at a lost for words when they saw what the girls had in store for them.

"Tada! It's an enormous egg me and Mom found. We don't know what's inside of it and if it's ever going to hatch. But we're taking it home with us to find out!" Misato explained, flailing both her arms in the air in joy.

Nobuhiko was still silently observing the object in his hand. It looked like an oversized chicken egg for him but he was so sure that oversized chickens did not exist in this universe, except if they were a villain or a hero, of course. But whoever left this egg in this area must've been an idiot, he thought. A very clumsy and unsuspecting idiot. Because just the mere fact that this egg was already in their possession must've meant that that person, or creature, wasn't capable of safeguarding their egg at all.

With a sigh, the boy set all these thoughts aside and lightly tapped his index finger on the egg's shell.

"HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

In a split second, his sister Misato took the egg from his hand and hugged it near her chest.

"What the—"

"Don't harm her! What did Gudetama ever do to you?!" his sister exclaimed in rage as she also took the eco bag from his hands.

"What the fuck? Gudetama?!" he repeated, his irritation coming back in waves while his sister's free hand began to spark small explosions. "I wasn't doing anything to that damn egg!"

"Yes, you were!" his sister accused. "You were tapping her. She could crack before she hatches and you'd be a murderer by then!"

"You're fucking retarded!"

"Oh, yeah?! Well, you're an abortionist!"

As the sibling rivalry escalated, some onlookers briskly walked away from the scene and tried their best to ignore it. The name calling caught the attention of some temple devotees who were praying for a prosperous season. Their peace was long gone as the words "fucking retarded" and "abortionist" melded with their own personal prayers.

"YOU BRATS SHOULD SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Their father Katsuki bellowed, his deep voice demanding order from his two children. They stopped bickering immediately and stared straight at the ground. Their father tries to look each of them in the eye before sighing. "The nerve you two have," He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Sometimes I wish I didn't teach you both how to speak. Fucking hell."

At this, an elderly woman quickly finishes her prayer in front of the shrine and scornfully looks at the rowdy family nearby.

After the quick but violent exchanges that happened, their mother Himiko felt like sighing all the breath that was inside her lungs. She knew her husband, her son, and her daughter by heart and that gave her the reassurance that, as much as they argue and shout at each other, they still treat each other like family. Well, a rather strange family, that is. She notices the onlookers judging them from afar and yet, she just smiled sweetly at them. Sweetly with an inner rage, of course.

Stop judging my family, you fucking hypocrites. You're no better. She held that thought on her mind as she kept smiling.

After a while, Katsuki turned around and got ready to hike back. He throws his backpack on his shoulders and calls out to his family.

"Let's head back. Bring that damn egg if you want. But if it hatches into one of you fucking rascals, we're throwing it out," he ordered, pointing his finger at his two children. The said children opened their mouths in surprise before exchanging glances and looking at their father again.

"We're keeping it?!"

"But you always say, 'No pets!'"

The two teens were making sure their father was actually agreeing with them. Even their mother couldn't believe what she was hearing. Though she silently understood that even her husband was curious about the whole egg situation. He wouldn't admit it, of course. But he was just as intrigued as the three of them were.

"Yeah, yeah. Now let's go before I change my mind! Hurry up!" Katsuki was exasperated as he began walking down a slope. And all of a sudden, their kids were back to being the best of friends, due to the victory they had against their father. They exchanged smirks as they followed him down the trail back to the jump-off. Their mother watched their figures before following suit.

Kami-sama, whatever it was that you gave us today, I hope it makes our family happier.