"Can you hand me that big shiny metal stick?" Haruka asked, extending her hand. Asami picked up the shiny metal stick, not quite sure what it was actually called. It was heavy, but she handed it over to her papa. She got closer and tried to stand on her toes to see better. Haruka-papa was doing some repairs to her car's engine, or that's what she had said. Asami wasn't sure what the engine was. Papa said it was the thing that made the car go "vroom vroom".
"Give me the smaller metal stick," Haruka said now. She waited, but Asami didn't hand her anything.
"Asami?" Haruka asked, finally looking up from the car. She looked around and saw Michiru standing by the door, holding Asami in her arms.
"You know she's not allowed in the garage, love," Michiru explained.
"She was just helping me by handing out tools. Nothing too dangerous," Haruka said. Asami nodded in agreement. She was really good at handing out things.
"There are plenty of dangerous objects here. Children are curious, you never know when she will decide to test out the drill," Michiru said. Haruka sighed.
"Fine. I'll finish here alone then. I'll miss my little helper," she said and smiled at Asami. Michiru shook her head and and walked out of the garage, taking Asami with her. Asami was confused. If she didn't even know what the drill was, how was she supposed to test it out?
"Stick?" Asami asked, offering her mama a bright red lipstick.
"No, sweetheart, I won't be wearing any lipstick today," Michiru explained. Asami watched in amazement as mama applied something called mascara on her face.
"Me too," Asami said. Michiru turned to look at her and smiled.
"I'll put some lipstick on you, all right?" she offered and took the lipstick from Asami. With her left hand she held Asami's head still while applying the lipstick with her right.
"There you go. Why don't you go play with Hotaru? Mama needs to finish her make up alone," Michiru said. Asami pouted. She wanted to help mama with the make up.
"Go on. I'm almost done," Michiru said, leaning down to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek.
"Asami, let Hotaru do her homework. You can play with her later," Setsuna said.
"It's okay, mama, she's helping me," Hotaru explained. Setsuna turned to look at the girls. Asami was placing stickers all over Hotaru's notebook.
"Sweetheart, how about you put those on some other paper instead? They're very pretty, but Hotaru's teacher might not like them," Setsuna said as she rushed over to take Hotaru's notebook away from Asami. The small girl waited until her mama gave her a new piece of paper to put the stickers on. She would leave it between the pages of Hotaru's book – a real book with lots of words – so that she'd have something pretty to look at when she was not at home.
"Help?" Asami asked and tugged her mama's skirt.
"All right. Come on," Setsuna said and picked up the cutting board. She moved it from the counter to the dining table and sat down on one of the chairs. Asami climbed up to sit in her lap, and Setsuna took her hand into hers.
"Remember to keep your other hand under the table," Setsuna reminded her as she picked up the knife. Asami got to hold the knife as mama guided her hand. Together they cut the vegetables into small pieces. Asami was excited. She never got to use a knife. Maybe one day she would be allowed to use one on her own. That would be very exciting.