Alright, it's a short-ish chapter, and the transition is somewhat messy. I was so mentally blocked and occupied with immigration applications and job searching (especially in a foreign country) it took a while to actually get the words flowing. I forced myself to write the last five days so I could get into the flow of it and not be distracted. It worked for me at least. But, I'm glad to say that with this chapter, it should bring the end of this prequel arc. The following chapters onward will march into canon territory of the Mother's Rosario arc, and our main characters should finally get to meet and interact with the other main casts. I really look forward to getting to the meat and juice of this whole story that 5 years in the making is building up to, and hopefully bring about a satisfying conclusion to this story.

FFN has been acting up in the last few months, with the latest problem being the email notification problem. It's kinda annoying, and I worry if the site will hold in the future, but due to it, I have thankfully backed up this story in my hard drive, and then another back up of that backup in my external drive. I would post this on AO3 at some point, but I will probably leave that to when I finish off the story and rewrite the old chapters.

Once again, thank you for all the continued support, favorites, follows, reviews, or even a community listing. The first time ever I've had one. Once again, if you like the story, feel free to let me know by any means you find comfortable. Or just read the story is enough, making your experience entertaining is good enough for me!

Chapter 19: A Ticket to Childhood

We stayed for an hour more catching up. I was eager to see Sara's parents too, but my mother realized we were running late.

"Hirano, let's go. We need to pass by the supermarket before heading back."

"Yes mother." I nodded, beginning the painstaking process of lifting me into my wheelchair again. This time though, Sara was comfortable enough to help out.

"Thank you, mother, Sara." I leaned my head forward slightly, as my mother weaved my fingers between the joystick.

"No problem." She smiled. "Amari-san, it's nice to see you again...umm...take care. I hope all the best for you. Hopefully I'll see you again."

"Hopefully." I returned her smile. Hope is what I am running on at this point. "Have a good rest of your day."

After leaving Sara's house, we wandered around to a couple more destination, headed to the supermarket, before coming back just in time for me to witness the wearied sun blaze spilling onto the scenery. Greeting me at the door was Yuina. It seemed like her class for the day finally finished.

"You two had a good walk?" She asked.

My mother nodded, while I only raised an eyebrow. It took a second before she realized what she just said.

"Really nice walk I'd say, from the courtyard into the house. Really feels like I can run a full-course marathon tomorrow." I threw my salt-infused sarcasm at my little sister.

"Tomorrow, not now?" She bounced it back, though her face really indicated otherwise.

"Yes, I have dinner. You shouldn't miss a good dinner."

Yuina rolled her eyes, letting us through.

I rejoined with Nariko shortly after, who would go through her checklist for me in case something was wrong. There was nothing, so we considered it an 'uneventful break'.

While I waited for my mother to prepare us her dinner, I only just now noticed something curious lying on the wall shelf beneath the TV. A game box, not for an actual CD, as we use embedded flash drive now, symbolic of an era's past. I couldn't see the cover well, but the color scheme was green and red. I was pretty sure that was ALO, but I wanted to confirm, so I slugged over to the shelf. Yup, it was.

There's only one person in this household who might be into this VR stuff, and it's definitely not my mother, although it would have been hilarious otherwise. That person came out just in time to see me looking at the box.

"I never knew you got into ALO." I said.

"Really? Everybody's into it nowadays, even you." Yuina replied. "I wanted to try it out for myself."

"So, what's the verdict?" My body leaned as I looked up at her.

"It's pretty good. I'll probably play it more often once school is over."

"Ahh." I let out a pleasant hum. "You want some tips?"

She thought for a bit.

"Sure." She replied, plainly and coolly, went into her room to get her laptop. It technically would be better if I could log in using her Amusphere to check personally, as I hated the web UI, but this was my little sister. I would not stoop into degeneracy for this.

After her credentials were entered, her profile showed up, along with her avatar. It was...something.

A salamander. Her hair was just wild. Dragon-ball level wild. I even questioned my game knowledge if this was even possible in-game, but apparently it was.

She laid the laptop on my, pun very much not intended, lap and I moved my fingers onto it to go through the details. The highest weapon skill level she had was ironically not a weapon skill at all, but rather martial arts (or unarmed). Her second highest was two-handed weapons, to which she went with a giant hammer. Like...just, I guessed at least she didn't go with a scythe.

Her armor was the most normal part of it. She went light, just like me, but that's because she opted to play this meme unarmed build with no shield, it made sense to go with more mobility. She had yet to have the armor that most mobility-build Salamanders on the forum like to tout, but that's pretty late game.

The potions, spells and skills were also weird. She had a lot of potions that buff the damage of the first attack, spells that doubles the damage of the first unarmed hit, or skills that were exclusively, or almost exclusively single-hits. Along with that were a lot of self-attack buffs. They were all low-tier stuffs, because...well...why would you bank so much on the first attack of combat that you could easily miss or be blocked, but this was apparently how she went for it. A pro player would probably have a stroke seeing this, but I had to give respect to her for actually leaning hard into this absolute joke of a build.

"I don't think I have to much to say. It's perfect." I concluded.

"Really? I thought you'd be a lot more critical." Yuina replied

"Why do you think I would?" I raised an eyebrow. Admittedly, I might have been that before.

"I dunno. My friends always freak out when they see what I went for. The same way they did with using light mode on Concord."

"Ya know what, don't listen to them haters. Do whatever you want."

Going for drip and having fun is the best policy. I sure tried it, it was worth it.

Later that night, I returned to my smartphone full of notification. A lot of it seemed to be coming from my school mailbox. I initially dismissed it as much because a lot of it were just the school's weekly news letters or my Art department's event announcement/updates. Yes, I am that crazy to leave notifications on. But then my messaging app was also displaying new message notification, the latest one being Satsuki.

Sitting up and with shaky thumbs, I swiped the screen up - passcode no longer practical for someone like me – then clicked on the app. Satsuki's messages popped up one by one.

'Hey. Did you hear the news?'

'You got second place!'

'Congrats!'

Second place? Was it the annual exhibition?

I scrolled through the rest of the messages, all coming from other acquaintances of mine in university, like old professors, a couple of classmates here and there, all saying something along the above lines. It was when I loaded the message by Mr. Hirotaka. I had him on contact for class stuff, but he knew I was participating in that exhibition.

'Good morning, Hirano-kun. I hope you're enjoying your break.'

'I see your work has been given second place in the annual exhibition for young talents.'

'I have no other words to say than congratulations.'

'Your hard work is finally getting paid off.'

Straight and on point. That's professor Hirotaka.

It took a bit for me to go through the messages and thanked them all, but when I was finished, I loosened and let my body fell back onto my bed. The flickering light outside in my garden was turned off, the swan of night gently nested. Nariko was in the shower. She should be back any moment now to get me ready for bed, but until then, I was embraced by silence, in perhaps the most comforting moment of solitude I ever had.

The next morning, I was so eager. I wanted to let mother and Yuina about my achievement. Maybe this would be the tipping point to convince my mother.

"Hirano, come here."

Instead, the moment I rolled wheels out of my room, I was called. She was kneeling by a suitcase packed with food, clothes and what seemed to be herbal medicine.

"So this is the clothes for winter. I bought them a bit loose for you so you're comfortable." She pointed. "You can wear the sweaters outside these. They keep your body temperature warm. While these pants are for snow and rainy days, ok?"

"Uhh…" I didn't get to finish my sentence, before she continued.

"This is a balm. I got them from a friend of mine." She took out a small vial the height of my index finger and the thickness of my thumb from the suitcase. "It's really good when you're sick or you have any aches. Just rub some on and it'll sooth your pain."

"Mother…"

"I bought you some dried squids." She continued, as if in her own world. "Green tea, matcha, chocolate cookies, peanuts, all your favorites."

"Mother." I raised my voice, startling her a bit. "This is something you should talk to Nariko about."

"Oh, right…" Her voice was saddened. It made me feel a little bit guilty, even though everything I said was true. Even with these clothes, food and medicine, this would soon not be something I could actually use by myself anymore. Nariko would be the one who should vet this. Especially the medicine and the food, as some of it could potentially be choking hazards.

"Don't worry, mother. I like all of these. I just don't want them to be wasted somehow." I reassured. I felt like it was necessary.

Mother nodded, and just went into my room, where Nariko was.

That's when it dawned on me. Neither my success nor my potential would have been able convince her anyway. She was actually worried for my well-being.

She always had an over-worrying tendency, my ALS diagnosis simply hadn't made that any easier. All that nagging for me to come back wasn't because she didn't believe in me. In her eyes, I was still her little baby.

For a while, I sat in my wheelchair silently. Yuina came out shortly after.

"Morning big brother." She yawned.

"Morning Yuina. You don't have class?" I asked her.

"I was allowed to leave early. It's physics for the last two periods."

"You were allowed. Why, if you don't mind?"

"The teacher knew I'd breeze through the lecture, and, well, I told her you were visiting, so she just let me off for the day."

Not unexpected. She went to a middle school and high school combined institution from the big city, and the teachers there had a rather lax attitude as most of the students there were studying remotely. A little bit collegiate, if you ask me. She chose that instead of the one I went to because we all figured it would be a waste of her talent, and it seemed like this wasn't that much better.

"That's a lot of stuff for you to bring back. Or rather for Nariko to bring back." She looked over the two open suitcases. It looked quite heavy.

"Yeah, I've been wondering how to. Nariko's all by herself, I can't do anything with these." I said. "I might need to call on a helper."

"You're leaving tomorrow. That might be too late." She offered. "I can always come with you."

"If only that doesn't interfere with your schedule. You're a busy student."

"Ehh." Yuina shrugged. "It's very forgettable, and easily relearned. It's easy to miss out on making memories, however."

"Alright. Please accompany me then."

It's a mature viewpoint for her age. I respected that.

Speaking of making memories…

"It's my last day here. Do you mind doing me a favor?" I asked her.

"What?"

"I want you to take mother out somewhere for a little bit…"

Yuina raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean exactly?"

"It's a little surprise, I would call it..."

I never talked to my father. I only knew him through photos and stories. He was a good man, my mother reassured me, but she said he wasn't dead. I didn't know whether to trust her or not, but my mother never seemed like the one who would work day and night for a paycheck to raise the both of us. I still didn't know the full truth of it, but all I knew was that my mother had always been there emotionally for me and Yuina. She taught us manners, cooked for us three meals a day, taught us how to cook three meals a day, did her best to help with schoolwork (mostly me), and most recently helped us with career path, although that one was a bumpy ride. One could say that my highly-praised cooking skills were hers to bestow, though I would not dare to compare myself to a mother's cooking.

She once said that my happiness was her greatest joy, and...well...things hadn't turned out the way she wanted. It wasn't just tough for me, and now looking back with a bit of a clearer mentality, I could see that on her face. No mother should have to bury their child. But I was still here. I was almost certainly going to go into the grave before her, but in the short time I still had left, I wanted to show her that in my heart, I was happy.

Yuina had taken mother out shopping. She said she was looking for a new sneakers for playing badminton and school supplies. In the meantime, I got Nariko to help dress me up as formally as possible before taking me out on a similar shopping spree, but for some cooking ingredients. I already had the ingredients needed in mind, so it didn't take long to just grab the stuff and leave.

The next step in our plan was to create a menu.

"I'd like to put meat stuffed tomatoes in there too. Chinese-styled scrambled eggs with tomatoes. And...we do have some pineapples right?"

"Uhh, yes." Nariko answered after having looked at our fridge.

"Stir-fry pineapple beef then."

"Alright...those are actually quite simple to make." Nariko headed over and wrote it onto a piece of paper, making use as much of her cursive skill. "Are you sure this is good enough for the meal?"

"Yeah, I like it simple." For two reasons. One, it's easier to make for me. I would be the one making them today. Nariko would be helping, Yuina too, but I will be the chef for the day. My mobility would make anything more complicated to be a lot more difficult and time-consuming.

And two, these were the food she usually made for us. I didn't want it to be some fancy recipe. It was a celebration of what she did to raise me. But I also had my own personal touch I'd like to add to differentiate. An artist I am, a carbon copy was the furthest thing I wanted.

"Is that it for the main course?" She asked, I nodded. "Let's move on to drinks then."

This one I didn't bother with anything fancy. Just tea or soda worked. Once I was done, Nariko put the white sheet into a binder we found. It was an amateurish attempt at a menu, but it was fine. It had its charm. And for something I came up with on the same day, it was surprising it went relatively smoothly.

Nariko rolled me to the living room. Now it was just waiting for Yuina and mother to return.

"I never thought that the cursive class I took back in high school would actually be useful." Nariko sat down.

"Turns out our grumpy homeroom teachers were right all along." I chuckled. "I bet one day, that will come in handy for me too yeah?"

"With you, who knows?" She shrugged, looking over at the table ornamented with a plastic lily flower made of Lego. (we didn't like to plug actual flowers from our garden). "Reminds me of my own home too."

"Oh yeah, how is Mr. Harayate?" I looked over to Nariko.

"The old man's doing alright, though he's starting to forget stuff." She said. "He could be saying stuff fifteen minutes ago and he'd ask about it again."

"It wears on everybody, huh?" I bit my lips. Not that I know much about it myself. "Are you going to leave to take care of him?"

"Not right now. We'll have to see." She replied. At first, I thought she was just talking about me, but she continued. "He's fine with my older sister at the moment, but at some point, I'll have to have to quit my job for a few years and take over for her."

Nariko's not an ordinary nurse. She works as a palliative care nurse, which means each of her client would most likely last only a few years. It would be a bit easier for her to just hop off a bit early if she felt like the time was coming.

"Maybe I'll do something like this too when I visit home." She said.

"When that happens, can I be your chef?" I joked.

"You know what, you'll have to prove that to me." Nariko took it as a challenge. Alright, challenge accepted.

Within the hour, I heard the clacking sound of the door latches.

"I'm home!" Yuina's voice came from outside. Both came in shortly thereafter.

"Hirano, what are you doing? Where are you going?" My mother was understandably confused by my choice of outfit, before she looked over the dinner table. "What's all this?"

"Mother, for tonight, I will be your chef." I declared.

"You'll be my chef? A-Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. You've done this for me for years, mother." I pleaded. "Let me do it for you tonight, just once."

Meanwhile, Yuina snuck into her room and emerged from it wearing a maid outfit.

"You have a maid outfit?" I asked.

"School festivals." She replied. "People looove this for some weird reasons."

"I thought you study online?"

"Yeah, but doesn't mean I'll never drag myself there."

This wasn't part of the plan, but I guessed it fits. Seeing that my mother had a growing pleasant smile on her face, it worked out.

"Good evening, ma'am." Yuina crossed her arms and bowed in front of my mother, pretending she was a customer. A customer of honor she was for sure. "Your table is ready. Right this way please."

"Thank you, miss." My mother played along, sitting at the table.

"Here is your menu, ma'am. May I start going through the selections for you to choose?"

Mother nodded. Yuina opened the binder and began introducing the meals I put in there. I was a bit surprised seeing her presentation. I never showed or discussed any of this with her. She was improvising, and pretty damn good at it too.

"As for drinks, we don't have much to offer unfortunately, but our iced tea are of course a timeless refreshment I recommend." Yuina finished her impromptu speech. "Now, I may take your orders whenever you're ready."

"Thank you very much. I think…" My mother looked over the menu a few times. "May I have...the fried spring roll, the stuffed meat tomatoes,...and the scrambled eggs? Drinks is just iced tea."

"Alright. One fried spring roll, one stuffed meat tomatoes, one scrambled egg and one iced tea." Yuina took the menu from her, and that was my cue. I turned my wheelchair around and headed into the kitchen to prepare.

In the kitchen, I was raised onto my feet, put on an apron, my body leaned onto the counter for support as I began mixing the grounded meat. Yuina would cut the tomatoes, meanwhile Nariko would help me with the heavy lifting, like doing the actual mixing to my instructions, while I tossed in the spices and herbs of my choosing. Once the mixing was finished, we got to sculpting those meatballs and stuff it into the tomatoes, me doing three times fewer than Nariko; my hands dragging the grounded meat from the bowl and splattering it on the cutting board.

The hardest part was with the pan. Nariko helped me with applying the oil, heating up the pan and keeping the pan upright, because on my end, I had to help my dominant hand carrying the tongs onto the pan. Putting the stuffed tomatoes was down to Yuina, as it was way too dangerous for me to just toss it in with hot cooking oil inside. I waited, dragged the tongs, and flipped each and every tomato after a minute or two on the pan. I told either Nariko or Yuina to retrieve which tomato I considered done and wanted out of the pan.

The process was pretty much repeated for the spring rolls, albeit the meat was rolled into a leaf instead of stuffed in a tomato, something I mostly instructed, though I was able to perform some of it myself, just a few I was proud to put my name on.

Now the eggs. This one I was rather excited for.

This dish was my favorite. I had it after a long day at school. I had it when I didn't know what to make. I had it even after I left home. A stressful day at school all of a sudden wasn't that bad when you have good food in your stomach made by someone who loved you very much. And here I was, in that role myself.

Some of the eggs were spilled a bit onto the counter as I clumsily drop-cracked the egg a little too hard, but it was no big deal, as I was helped to let the rest fall into the bowl. My hand slowly nicked my hand up and down, left and right to cut the chinense (much easier to do than onions), all of which were then tossed into the bowl and mixed. Once again, the pan was quickly cleansed and readied with oil. Nariko carefully poured the mixture into the pan, Yuina put in the tomatoes, while I, the artist, did the adjustment.

The spatula moved across the pan stiffly, as I stirred and folded the eggs, a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper, and a couple of herbal leaves here and there, as I watched them slowly set, and felt the tender pat transferring through the spatula. The scent of the egg, fresh out of pan, was soothing, warm, exactly how I would sit awaiting my meal back then. I hoped mother could feel the same thing.

It took us a little bit, over an hour in fact, to finish the three dishes, as it was not just for mother but for all three of us, and I wasn't exactly the most speedy of the bunch. The stuffed tomatoes were getting a bit lukewarm as Nariko brought it out, but my mother sat waiting with patience nonetheless.

"Happy evening, mother." I said as the plate was set before her. Both Yuina and Nariko took another minute to grab the utensils and the drinks, while I sat in my wheelchair.

I could see my mother's eyes delight in her gaze. When the two took their seat, we all collectively let my mother took the first bite.

"I humbly receive."

Her finger wrapped around the spoon, shoveling a small part of the golden eggs into her rice bowl, and then to her mouth with a pair of chopsticks. I could see the lines on her face softening the moment she closed her lips. Her eyes closed, her movements slow.

My heart raced for a second, but then she looked up at me, her eyes glistening with tears that she quickly blinked away.

"How does it taste, mother?" Yuina asked what I was dying to ask.

Mother let out a gentle sigh. "It tastes just like how grandmother used to make it…"

"This was what she used to make for me when I was younger. I'd come home to this after a day at school."

A lump formed in my throat. Our grandmother passed away long before I was even born. She must have not tasted it in decades.

"You've brought back those evenings for me today." She put her bowls down and crossed the table to give me a tight hug. "Thank you so much, sweetheart."

My own voice was also breaking.

"I'm glad you like it, mama."

I had made this meal to hope to make her evening special. I wanted to show her my appreciation for all that she did for me, but I ended up discovering something even more beautiful than that.

"Alright, guys. Eat up to your heart's content!"

We indulged in our simple but comforting meal, three generations of love embodied. By the day after tomorrow, I would return to my normal busy schedule, schools would continue the week after, and I would walk towards an uncertain future, but today, I got to lay flowers to the past I might never see again. And it felt so good to do it before I go.