The Chatty Set Meal, the Enlightened Egg.

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00_ The Meddlesome Egg

I never imagined that an egg would know all the answers—.
With my feet held by the ghost of my mother, I had only been thinking about escaping from the cage that was Mizutama-tei, so honestly, I didn't care about the answers. As long as I could just escape from here.

— This is not where I belong.

A voice echoed in the corner of my mind. To drown out the voice in my head, I chanted a wish loudly within my heart.

(Please make the place next to Tatsuya where I belong.)

The sound of the bell at the shrine melted into the humid blue sky of the rainy season. A gust of wind blew through. The lukewarm, humid air clung to my skin. It felt strangely unpleasant, so I glared at the sky. My dark brown ponytail and black apron fluttered softly.

Praying to the gods is pathetic. Like curry stuck to the bottom of a pot, my feelings of love are scorched and won't float to the surface. Without any good ideas, I'm praying to the gods again today, just like every other day.

"Good morning, Kana-chan."
I heard Aunt Yamamoto's voice from behind me.
"Good morning, Auntie."

Moving her plump body leisurely, my aunt approached me.
"Kana-chan, did you hear?"
She turned a surprisingly sharp gaze toward me. I guessed the reason for her stern look was that matter.

"You mean the story about that real estate agent?"
"Yes, that's the one. The developer planning to develop the entire Homusubi-cho area. It takes a real eccentric to want to buy up such a peaceful place. Apparently, they already went to Mr. Nguyen's convenience store in the second block, but he chased them away by saying, 'I don't understand Japanese.'"
"Mr. Nguyen is fluent in Japanese, though."
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"I know, right? Mr. Nguyen is just the best."
My aunt also beamed.

The word 'buyout' flickered in my mind.

I love Mizutama-tei. I don't dislike cooking or serving customers. In fact, I think it suits me.

But—,

Approaching thirty, my heart was wavering. Like a lost child, I was shrinking away, waiting for someone to take my hand. When I heard the rumors of the buyout, I even held a faint hope that perhaps the real estate agent might take me somewhere else.

Days spent making set meals in a set rotation. The taste of the food I make in the kitchen, which still holds the scent of my mother, is, of course, passed down from her. Although it was my decision to take over the kitchen of Mizutama-tei after my mother passed away, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was living within her phantom. I don't want to become my mother. It's not too late to savor miso soup deeply when I'm older. Isn't challenging oneself with exciting flavors a privilege of the young?

"The real estate agent is a tall man with a mean look in his eyes, like a fox. More importantly, I saw laundry hanging out when I passed by Mizutama-tei; you should bring that in right away. It's definitely going to rain today."
"Really?"

My aunt looked up at the sky and took a deep breath.
I also looked up at the sky. The blue sky stretched across the entire expanse. The air was lukewarm, but there was no sign of rain. It would be more accurate to call it perfect laundry weather.

"The weather forecast said it would be sunny all day, though."

My aunt held up one index finger. She shook it back and forth in front of her face.
"My intuition is always right. You should trust me."
"Okay. I'll make sure to bring it in."

Although I nodded, I left the laundry out after I got home. I wasn't naive enough to trust my aunt's intuition. The wet laundry fluttered in the wind.

I retied my apron, telling myself that today's prep work came first.

Seasonal vegetables are essential. I prepared long-lasting pickles of myoga ginger and paprika, along with pumpkin salad. I also filled plenty of tupperware with simmered eggplant. When summer vegetables first appear, the greengrocer is so colorful it's a treat for the eyes. I seasoned the fried chicken and prepped the rice. On days with good weather, the customers come in good numbers. I prep a little extra. This, too, is something I learned from my mother.

After finishing the prep work, I made breakfast with yesterday's leftovers.

I heated up some frozen rice in the microwave. I put the leftover braised pork belly from the pot on the stove. The cooking liquid sizzled, and bits of the pork that had fallen apart danced in the pot. I cracked a raw egg into it. The egg turned cloudy white. "It's ready to eat," a voice said from the egg.

I wonder when I first realized it was strange to hear voices from food. The first time I heard a voice was when I was three years old. It was when I was helping my mother peel hard-boiled eggs.

"Kana-chan, peel it nicely, okay?"
"Yeah. Leave it to me."
I spoke to the hard-boiled egg. My mother, who heard me, asked me about it.

"Kana, by any chance, can you hear the voices of food?"
"Yeah."
"That's wonderful. It's proof that you'll be a great cook."

My mother said it so matter-of-factly that I never doubted I would become a wonderful cook.

It happened when I was in the fourth grade of elementary school. During a class where we presented our dreams, I proudly announced my special ability. "You're lying about hearing food talk, right?" my classmates laughed out loud. My small voice saying, "I really can hear them," was drowned out by their laughter. Cutting through the laughter, Tatsuya's bright voice rang out in the classroom.

"It's not weird at all. It's cool, having a special ability. Besides, everyone, have you ever eaten it? The fried chicken at Mizutama-tei is seriously delicious."

Tatsuya's smile hasn't changed since then. It's dog-like, friendly, and his scrunched-up smile is adorable.

It's a strange ability, but hearing the voices of food is surprisingly convenient. It's limited to when I'm cooking. Thanks to that, I can boil eggs to my preference every single time without even checking the time. It's one of my specialties.

"It's time for soft-boiled, now."

Hearing the egg's signal, I turned off the heat. I scooped the warmed rice into a bowl and poured the braised pork and its liquid over it.
Spoon in my right hand, bowl in my left. My stomach let out a loud growl.

"Itadakimasu!"

I opened my mouth wide and stuffed my face with the sauce-drenched pork bowl. The melt-in-your-mouth pork and the rice soaked in sauce were incredibly delicious. About halfway through, I broke the soft-boiled egg with my spoon. The levee of egg white broke, and the yellow yolk flooded the rice like an avalanche. I praised myself, thinking this is what perfection is. The firm texture of the egg white and the rich yolk elevated the pork bowl to a high-class dish in an instant.

My mouth was suddenly filled with happiness. The thing that broke that happiness was the shop door. It rattled rudely, bang, bang.
"It's not opening time yet."
Unconsciously, I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

I dropped my spoon into the bowl and stood up.
Is it that real estate agent again?

I squinted and stared at the other side of the frosted glass sliding door. The other side of the glass looked bright.

For a moment, a man in a suit stopped in front of the shop. My heart hammered. But then, the man in the suit turned ninety degrees and walked away from the shop in a hurry. I had a question mark over my head. I forced open the door, which had suddenly become difficult to slide lately, with all my might.

"Ugh! This is the worst!"

Rain began to fall from the blue sky. Large drops of rain hit the concrete.
"You've got to be kidding me? Auntie's intuition was right! A sunshower, huh? This is the worst. The laundry and the sheets are definitely going to be soaked."

I let my shoulders slump heavily.
I have no choice but to redo the laundry. This low mood of mine cannot be recovered by something as simple as a soft-boiled egg on a pork belly rice bowl. I need honey-drenched pancakes to make me happy. Not my mother's recipe, but my own special one.

At that moment, goosebumps crept up from my feet. An unidentifiable, lukewarm body temperature clung to my legs.

The Talkative Set Meal, the Enlightened Egg. Table of Contents

00_The Meddlesome Egg
01_The Downpour of Fried Chicken
02_The In-Love Fried Chicken
03_The Lively Sardines in Tomato Sauce
04_The Mature Lasagna
05_The Bewildered Rice Ball
06_The Stout Snap Peas
07_The Wavering Grilled Salmon
08_The Composed Snap Peas
09_The Disenchanted Salisbury Steak
10_The Laughing Salisbury Steak
11_The Agitated Kitsune Udon
12_The Frustrating Dashi Broth
13_The Skittish Craft Beer
14_The Sudden Turn of Events Inari Sushi
15_The Mismatched Pancakes
16_The Unbelievable Miso Soup
17_The Sudden Development Pancakes
18_The Serious Inari Sushi
19_The Foggy Botamochi
20_The Cheerful Summer Vegetable Tonjiru
21_The Glamorous Pancakes
22_The Agitated Fried Chicken
23_The Like-Minded Fried Chicken
24_The Windy Botamochi
25_The Dashing Somen Noodles
26_The Well-Up Craft Beer
27_The Unpromised Pancakes
28_The Reminiscent Candy Apple
Final Episode_The Enlightened Egg

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