As I make my way back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, I hear someone coming down the stairs. By the somewhat clumsy, inconsistent rhythm, I can tell who it is before they even set foot in the room. "Wow, you're surprisingly quick today." I remark, as a girl in a dress and an oversized sweater comes stumbling in. Her long brown hair is fairly unkempt and her round glasses are sitting askew on her nose. "Good… Morning… *yawn*. Am I in time for… food?" She says, scratching her head, trying to make her hair looks somewhat presentable. She is clearly still half asleep, but it seems she couldn't resist the delicious scent of this morning's cooking. "Well, we haven't started with breakfast yet, so you can help me carry stuff over there." I reply cheerily. She grumbles as I hand her a box of cereal and a pack of yogurt. I hear her complain under her breath. "Stupid…. Make me do work… such a good morning too… Hate you." "Love you too." I say as she makes her way to the large table set up in the other room.
More footsteps can be heard on the stairs, much more erratically this time. Whoever it is, is clearly taking the stairs two or three steps at a time. Almost slamming into the door, Emi nose-dived into the kitchen, almost falling over for the second time this morning. Nia's cat ears prick up as she looks to the fallen girl. "Oi, you bettah watch yaself. I don't wanna have me breakfest all over the floor again." she says, annoyance evident in her voice. "Yeah, yeah, sorry. I'll be more careful in future." she says as she gets up. Emi has changed into her more normal outfit. It's warm, so she's just wearing a small green dress and a white shirt alongside some beige shorts. She also exchanged her blades for some more natural looking prostethics. "You say that every time this happens." I interject as I take her aside. In the hallway, I grab Emi lightly by the shoulder. "You really gotta be more careful, can't have your legs falling off. Those things are pretty fragile and it takes forever to get them fixed. You know, I can't drive you to the hospital, right?" Emi looks me in the eyes and I swear I could see a playful spark in there. "I knooooooww." She says with a smirk. "I'll be more careful. Plus, Fuuka can keep an eye on me…. Usually." As she says this, Emi hops up and places a quick smooch on my cheek. While I stand there, stunned by Emi's actions, she goes to the dining room, giving me a little wink before she disappears from sight.
I slap my face with both hands in an attempt to compose myself. I return to the kitchen as Nia is cleaning up the counter-top. "You need some help cleaning up?" "Nah, I got it." Nia says as her ears twitch slightly. As I notice this, I instinctively look at the door to the stairway. I would have missed the girl arriving in the kitchen. I find myself staring into a pair of serious deep red eyes. Before me stands a girl with long, black hair tied back into two unreasonably long pig tails. She's wearing a neat red blouse with a darker blue undershirt and red knee-high socks. She straightens out her black skirt with a neutral expression as she quietly closes the door. "Morning." She says curtly. "Morning, Maki. Had a good warm-up today?" I ask. She waits a moment before answering, seemingly unnerved by my question. She looks from the door to Nia to me and then to the floor. "It was... good." She says, still looking at the floor. "You like to keep in shape. Seems kinda weird, considering your job." I say with a slight chuckle. She looks at me and I could swear I saw a flash of anger in her eyes. "You really underestimate how tough these kids are to manage." She says, straightening up and trying to walk past "Anyway, I need to have breakfast, I've got to be at the school a bit earlier today." She says quickly, firmly closing out the conversation and trying walk past me. "Oh, okay." I say as I step back, realizing that I may have offended her. "Are ye comin' or are we gunna have to start without ye?" Someone yells from the dining room. I hadn't realized that Nia was done cooking while I was talking to Maki. "Coming." I say
Breakfast goes by fairly normal. Emi almost chokes on an egg as she tried to speak while eating, causing an uncontrollable coughing fit. That little incident aside, it is very nice and cosy. "Thanks for the food. It was great" I say once everyone has finished.
As we get to cleaning up, I grab my lunch and stuff it into my backpack. "Well, have a good day." I wave off all the girl that are staying home for today. After putting on my coat and checking my pockets for all their necessities, I unlock the backdoor and head for the garage to grab my bike. After leaving the house, I walk with Fuuka and Emi to the bus stop near my house, bike in hand. Fuuka is talking my ear off about this new project she's working on with her classmates. I try to follow along with her explanations but it's all very technical and most of it goes over my head. Still, I enjoy listening to her talk about her passions. As we reach the bus stop, we part ways for the day. I get on my bike and start cycling towards the factory where I work. I arrive well on time, greet my co-workers and start changing into my work clothes. "Today is just another day, time to get to work. This house doesn't pay for itself." I think to myself.
The bell rings, signalling the end of the workday. I'm tired, but fulfilled. I got a lot of work done today, which is good, because we're behind schedule again. But none of that matters now. Now it's time to head home and forget all about work. After changing back into my normal clothes, I check my phone and see that Fuuka has messaged me. "I'll be there at 16:45. Emi will be late again." It reads. Glancing at the clock in the corner of the screen, it's 16:30. Nodding to myself, I start making my way toward the bus stop.
After waiting for a bit, the bus arrives and Fuuka gets off, greeting me with a little smile as the scanner bleeps, signalling she has checked out properly. I greet her with a smile "How was school today?" I ask, interested. "Oh well, I had a lot of lectures today. She lets out a long sigh, clearly tired. "We discussed circuit boards, different types of electrical circuits and math today." "Sounds rough." I say "Well, there will be time to relax when you get home, right?" I try to lift her mood. "Actually, I got a lot of homework to still do tonight. Exam week is coming up again and I need to study." She says, looking down at the tiles of the sidewalk. She doesn't seem unhappy or sad, just taking it all in. Fuuka gets like that sometimes, she seems like she's running around in her own head, thinking of everything all at once. We walk home, side-by-side.
As I put away my bike and Fuuka opens the backdoor, we both notice that there is no-one in the backroom. I go to hang up my coat and take a quick peek into the kitchen. "Hmm... I believe someone should be cooking here." I remark to nobody in particular. Fuuka walks past me and goes to bring her schoolbag upstairs. "Mind checking in on Mumei for me? I believe it was her job today." I ask her. Fuuka gives me a nod before disappearing upstairs. I walk over to the fridge and look over the food we have stored there, trying to figure out
After a few moments, Mumei comes barrelling down the stairs and stumbles into the kitchen. "Sorry, sorry. I completely forgot." She says as she comes to a clumsy standstill. I look up from the fridge and sigh lightly. "It's okay. I know it's difficult for you to remember these things." I say, trying not to sound condescending. "Did you have any ideas for dinner yet? Could I maybe help with something?" She tilts her head for a moment and raises a single finger to her mouth. "Uhhhhm... I hadn't really thought about it yet. I guess it depends on what we have." She says eventually. "As long as we don't make rice, right?" I smile at her jokingly. She looks at me and gives me a pout in return. "Hey, that was only one time. You don't have to keep bringing it up. I can also let you make dinner by yourself, you know." "I'm sorry. Couldn't resist." I say, holding up my hands in apology. "So, it seems we're running low again. Someone is gonna have to do the shopping tomorrow. But for today, I think we can manage some mashed potatoes with bacon." I say looking over the fridge once more. "Sounds like a plan." Mumei cheers as she moves to grab a cutting board and a potato peeler. I walk over to the side of the fridge and take off a sticky note from the block attached there. I write 'Grocery Shopping' on it and put it on the door leading to the hallway.