Chapter 7

"Take a deep breath, Mio. Humans can't reboot, but we can calm down with deep breaths. Now, breathe in—"

"Su—choke, choke—"

Damn, the gas hadn't fully cleared yet.

Tears streamed down Mio's eyes as she coughed from the smell of the chemicals.

"Adding insult to injury, huh..."

"Wah, waaah—"

"Oh, please don't cry. Look, I have pudding. Pudding."

"Pudding—"

"You like it, right? Pudding."

"Like... But you can't eat sweets before dinner. Let's eat dinner first."

"Good job for holding back!"

I realized early on that my mental age drops when I'm tired from work, but it seems to be a reaction to psychological stress.

Naked and running around, but the flying black demon just grazed her by three centimeters. The overwhelming fear had turned Mio into a little girl more than ever before.

"I'm hungry..."

"You're right. We'll clean up the room later, but let's have dinner first."

The living room had become a battlefield with the scars of destruction, but ironically, the kitchen and bedroom where G appeared were almost untouched. It shouldn't affect our daily life until tomorrow.

I dressed Mio in a chocolate-colored sweatshirt, had her sit at the dining table, and served her miso soup and white rice before putting the frying pan on the stove.

"Freshly cooked ginger pork is the best, after all."

"I know—"

For the ginger pork, I used thin slices of pork. They absorb the sauce well and go great with white rice, but they cool down quickly. The sizzling, tender fat is the charm of ginger pork, but this is also its fatal flaw.

From the moment it's cooked, it rapidly loses its deliciousness. I have one answer to this problem.

"Prepare everything on the table and eat it right after it's cooked!"

"Sizzle!"

I added a special sauce made from store-bought sauce, sake, extra ginger, and a little mayonnaise. I marinated the pork in the slightly cloudy liquid and placed it in a large frying pan. Instantly, the neatly arranged slices of meat sizzled and danced, releasing their juices.

The thin slices of pork cooked in an instant. I immediately flipped them with chopsticks.

And then.

"The finishing touch!"

I poured the marinade over the meat.

The aroma of the heated soy sauce and sugar couldn't be contained by the exhaust fan. The kitchen was quickly enveloped in a mouthwatering scent.

"Ah—"

A melting voice came from behind me.

"Okay, now!"

I took the frying pan off the heat and brought it to the table.

I placed the sizzling ginger pork on a round plate in the center.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

"Okay, okay, okay, okay!"

Without being urged by Mio, I rushed back to the kitchen and placed the empty frying pan on a trivet.

I turned back to the table. Sitting in a wooden chair, I joined hands with Mio.

"Let's eat!"

The ginger pork at its peak. I first tasted its sublime flavor during my student days.

A senior at my part-time job said,

"You don't know real ginger pork."

He made this ginger pork, and it was amazing.

I took one bite and reacted like a character in a manga, "Mmm, so good!!" and became his disciple to learn the recipe.

It doesn't use any special ingredients or tools. Just precise measurements and meticulous time management.

That's all it takes to surpass everything. At least, I don't know of any better ginger pork.

"Good, it's been a while since I made it, but it turned out well."

Of course, taste is subjective. Even if it's delicious to me, I wasn't sure if Mio would like it. "Mmm, so good!!" She seems to like it.

"Delicious, really delicious, Mr. Matsutomo!"

"Chew well."

"Delicious, really delicious. So delicious."

"Hey, don't eat too fast, it's bad manners."

"Delicious, delicious."

Oh no, Mio's vocabulary is dying.

"Really delicious."

Indeed, I think today's ginger pork is a masterpiece. Maybe the gap from my previous job was bridged by the determination to cook for Mio. I wonder if such a thing is possible, but it is, so there's nothing I can do.

Fact is stranger than fable, they say.

"But, having dinner together is really nice. I've realized that this week."

"Sure is."

Mio is a bit petite but eats a full serving. Watching her eat the ginger pork with a "hmm, hmm" is really rewarding.

"Today is the end of the first week of cooking dinner. Which one did you like the most, Mio?"

"This one!"

She pointed to the ginger pork.

"Is that so? I'm glad."

Incidentally, I've been asking the same question every day and getting the same answer.

What is this routine?

I'm not sure if I should be happy, but Mio, who has almost finished her portion, is already thinking about after dinner.

"Hey, hey, after dinner and pudding, let's play Uno."

"Uno. That's nostalgic."

You bought a game you can't play alone.

"Mr. Matsutomo, did you know? You're not supposed to stack Draw Two cards and pass them to the next person."

"Really? I didn't know that."

I remember talking about this with a junior at my previous job when I was trying to escape the heavy workload. The section chief, who was losing his hair, interrupted before I could hear the whole thing, but that's what it was about.

I wonder how he's doing. He was smart but inflexible.

"Let's play by that rule."

"I'm a bit concerned, but you said we have to get up early tomorrow. We... no, black... the labor accident made us eat dinner late, so let's go to bed right after the bath."

"Aww—"

"No 'aww.'"

"Ooh—"

"No 'ooh.'"

"Kaa—"

"Kii—"

"Kuu—"

"Kee—"

"Koo—"

"Okay, you laughed, so you lose. Go take a bath quietly."

There's no such brain-melting game, but in this kind of situation, the one who says it wins. Even though Mio looks dissatisfied, she can't argue back. She clapped her hands as if she had an idea.

"Then let's take a bath together!"

"No way."

That would make me lose my mind.

If I lost my mind with the current Mio, I feel like I'd end up with a lifelong fetish.

"Boo—"

"Eating pork doesn't turn you into a pig. Come on, let's clean up."

"Okay."

She'll probably suggest we sleep together after the bath. I should go back to my room and get to bed early before that happens. I need to recover my strength for next week, when I have to restore the living room from its ruined state.

Thus, the long night came to an end, and my first week at the new job concluded.

Tomorrow is a day off, but what should I do?

"Good job for holding back!" was inspired by the Seibu Railway's Ko-Pen-chan advertisement.

Thank you to everyone who provided the idea.

Also, I ranked 14th on the overall ranking on June 13th. Thank you!