Takechiyo is poisoned

Takechiyo is my one-year-old daughter. It is a nickname my husband gave her, saying, 'She has a hairstyle like a samurai child from the Edo period.'

If this child is Takechiyo, then I suppose I am 'Kasuga no Tsubone'—or rather, 'Sazanami no Tsubone' (Lady Ripple).

Wait,
but if that were the case, I would be a wet nurse.

However, since 'Kasuga no Tsubone' is said to have poured more love into 'Takechiyo'—the future third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu—than his own mother did, I will settle for 'Sazanami no Tsubone'.

My mother-in-law, who lives with us, made 'okra paste' for my daughter.

Boiling fresh, pesticide-free okra from the prefecture, cutting off the heads and tails, and blending them in a mixer creates a sticky, vibrant green mass.

As an okra lover, I find this irresistible.

Despite being so gooey, there is a crisp texture within the intensified stickiness. Once you start eating it, you cannot stop.

It tastes a bit grassy when eaten plain, but that can be masked with noodle soup base.

It is delicious on chilled tofu and also great in rolled omelets.
According to my mother-in-law, it is also good in miso soup.

And so, my daughter's baby food transformed into "adult snacks," but at first, she would eat it properly whenever I served it.

The photo below is from the other day's lunch.

That moss-like thing in the right corner of the plate is it. I wonder when it started. When did my daughter stop eating it? What's on the white rice is my father-in-law's homemade salmon flakes with whitebait.

Well, my daughter, now known as Takechiyo-sama, took one look at the okra paste, stood defiantly right in front of me, and leaned back,

"You should eat it yourself."

She pointed at my face as if to say exactly that.

As a "Lady of the Ripples" who loves okra, I had a desperate desire for Takechiyo-sama to please, please eat this exquisite okra paste.

I call myself the "Lady of the Ripples" like Kasuga no Tsubone, but I am her actual mother, not a wet nurse.

Takechiyo-sama, still standing defiantly, put her small hands together in front of her chest in a perfunctory manner, and barely saying "itadakimasu," she began her meal.

Even when I scooped up that vibrant green thing with a wooden child's spoon and held it in front of her face, she shook her head, kept her small mouth pressed into a straight line, and refused to open it.

It was a huge difference from when she had the white rice with the whitebait and salmon flakes earlier. Back then, she was like,

"Oh! This is it, this is it!"

(Translation) "Food!"

He let out a cry of joy and, like a baby bird, opened his mouth wide, didn't he?

Takechiyo-sama was eating while standing in the middle of the reception room. Before long, he began his usual 'play-eating.' No sooner had he taken a mouthful of white rice topped with whitebait and salmon flakes than he ran toward the kitchen.

Sazanami no Tsubone had an idea.

She scooped a small amount of okra paste with a spoon and covered it with white rice to hide it. It looked just like the usual white rice. That green color was nowhere to be seen.

Alright, this will work!

With conviction, she brought the spoon to the mouth of the returning Takechiyo-sama. Without a hint of suspicion, Takechiyo-sama gobbled up the white rice with his baby-bird mouth.

At that very moment.

A wrinkle formed between the brows of his adorable face. Then, his eyes and mouth scrunched up tightly toward his cute button nose.

This was truly a face like someone who had bitten into a bitter bug.

Takechiyo cast a stern gaze upon the convinced Lady Sazanami.

"What is this! Did you poison this, you villain!"

(Translation) "Nooo!"

"Oh my, that is absolutely not the case."

(Translation) "Oh, little girl, it didn't taste good, did it?"

Ignoring Lady Sazanami as she feigned panic, Takechiyo spat out the sticky green substance mixed into the white rice in his mouth.

"I am terribly sorry. I will never do such a thing again, so please, I beg of you, forgive me."

(Translation) "I'm sorry, little girl, I won't do it again."

Pretending to be terrified, Lady Sazanami wiped up the substance that had spilled onto the floor with tissue paper.

Takechiyo just stared at her as she did so.

Having finished the white rice on his plate, Takechiyo immediately took the empty plate to the kitchen. Then, he pointed at the rice tub.

"Bring me a refill."

(Translation) "Ugh, ugh!"

Thus, white rice was placed on the plate once again. Of course, it was properly topped with whitebait and salmon flakes as well.

Lord Takechiyo was eating the white rice diligently, at the same speed as before. Then, he snatched the spoon that 'Sazanami no Tsubone' was holding.

"Give that spoon to me."

(Translation) "Ah!"

Lord Takechiyo was eating while spilling bits of white rice all over the floor.

"Lord Takechiyo, it would be better if you sat down..."

(Translation) "Little girl, sit down, poof!"

"Hey, be quiet!"

(Translation) "No!" (shakes head vigorously from side to side)

Then, he threw the spoon onto the floor and ran to the kitchen. At that moment, Lord Takechiyo's presence vanished.

The following is the inner voice of 'Sazanami no Tsubone'.

Lord Takechiyo, is it really alright for you to eat this much from the morning? I, Sazanami, am worried.

(Translation) Girl, you're eating a bit too much today, aren't you?

From the morning, you've had a banana, rice crackers, rice porridge, and you're even eating bread from Starbucks... I wonder if it's okay to eat this much.

In an instant, "Sazanami no Tsubone" wiped the spoon that had fallen to the floor with a wet tissue, and as soon as she scooped up some white rice with it, she popped it into her mouth.

Oh, delicious. One more bite.

The moment she stuffed the white rice into her cheeks again.

Feeling an unsettling gaze, she turned around.

Who goes there!

Could it be...

An assassin sent by O-e!

"You there, what are you doing?"

(Translation) "Baa, baa, baa!"
(Shaking his head and stamping his feet)

The source of the gaze was Takechiyo himself.

He had been watching the entire time as Sazanami no Tsubone snuck food from between the diaper pail and the playpen.

Takechiyo came trotting over, looking just like an official who had come to arrest a criminal.

"I am so sorry, Takechiyo-sama! Nami was just taste-testing to make sure there was no danger to you!"

(Translation) "I'm sorry, little girl. It was just a moment of weakness... It was so delicious, I couldn't help myself."

Takechiyo turned an even sterner gaze toward Sazanami no Tsubone.

"Never again... I will never do it again! Please, I beg your forgiveness!"

(Translation) "I won't do it again, little girl. I'm sorry."

Lord Takechiyo began to "play with his food" again, but every so often, he would peek at "Sazanami no Tsubone" from that spot.

"You, you haven't been up to any mischief, have you?"

(Translation) "Heh heh."
(She grins as if to say she sees right through everything.)

"Eek! Heavens no, Lord Takechiyo! I, Sazanami no Tsubone, swear on Lord Ieyasu that I am innocent."

(Translation) "It's alright, little girl. Trust your mother."

After eating a bowl of white rice, Takechiyo finally let his guard down regarding the 'Lady of the Ripples'.

"Hey, hey, Ripples! I'm over here."

(Translation: "Peek-a-boo!" (A smile of satisfaction))

Afterward, he hid himself in that spot, begged the 'Lady of the Ripples' to play "peek-a-boo!" with him, and they played together.

"Lord Takechiyo, do you like this place?"

(Translation: "Peek-a-boo!")
(A mother laughing hysterically)

Lord Takechiyo, no, my daughter.

Even if you don't become Shogun, will you one day eat okra happily with me?