Habit; 36

"I brought you flowers, Subaru-kun."

He turns to the stove.

"No thank you for the gift? You're losing your manners."

"I burned the rice," he says.

"And?"

"I don't usually burn the rice. I shouldn't burn the rice."

I wonder, briefly, whether rice means something to him. I remember it's all he eats, though I pretend not to know. "And?"

More silence.

"Okay, let me guess. It was the only food in the house."

He shrugs.

"You know, you can't sustain yourself on rice alone."

"It works."

"Come on, I'll buy you dinner."

He shrugs again and leaves the stove.