Routine. [I]

"Good morning!" An unfamiliar voice woke me up from my short slumber. It felt like barely any time had passed. The me who slept at 2 at night opened my eyes to the window that still showed the dark sky.

"What are you on about? There's no way that it's morning right now? It looks like it's barely past 3."

"It is 4." The voice replied. It wasn't Mom's voice. Was I home? No, my bed was way fluffier than what I was sleeping on right now. But it was somewhat like home. So maybe my neurons might be firing up wrong.

"Who even are-" Wait I wasn't home! I left yesterday for the new place. So it had to be- "Oh, Oba-chan!" I shot up from the warm embrace of the futon.

"Yep, it is me."

"Why did you take the trouble of coming all the way up here to wake me up? You should have just shouted my name and I would have been up!" Going up the stairs at that age? Must've been brutal.

"No no… I couldn't do that." She replied modestly. Her face was perennially clad with a smile.

Nonetheless, instead of her taking the effort I should have had the Drudge do it for me.

"Oi, Yuuno why didn't you wa-" There was no futon next to mine.

"Yuuno-chan is already downstairs."

That made sense.

Now back to the main topic.

"I see… Umm… Is it alright if I ask why you woke me up this early or rather… this late at night?" If this was a one-time thing then fine, but if this was the norm, I was in for an annoying ride.

The old woman put a wider smile on her face.

"This is the countryside. If you don't wake up now, you don't wake up at all!" Wow, what an ominous thing to say with such a kind smile. "Now! Follow me for breakfast!" She got up from kneeling beside me and started to walk down the stairs.

I, being in pain from the 2 hours of sleep I got, listlessly walked down the stairs behind her.

Let the records show that I wanted to sleep. And that it wasn't that I was scared of her but I was so moved by the brilliant smile that I followed her.

As I went down the stairs I encountered another victim seated on the dining table.

A black-haired girl rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning Luha." I yawned.

"Oh, you're ah- Mao-kun. Good morning?" She yawned back. Was she really that tired? I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. Kids have some demanding sleep schedules.

Even I looked less tired than her after having slept for 2 hours. All she did was sleep yesterday.

Inside, I found this slightly unfair. And cursed Yuuno for having me wake up that late and not telling me about the morning routine.

In my mind I said. 'Curse you Yuuno.' She was now cursed.

"You can take a seat, I'll get you some breakfast." Obaa-chan-san pulled the chair for me and I complied.

The table looked rather old. Sure it wasn't as luxurious or extravagant as the one back at the castle. But that comparison was stupid in itself.

It was like comparing the body proportions of 2d girls with 3d ones. Both had a different set of boxes they had to check. Of course, generally, 2d was better, but 3d had its charms too.

This house would be 3d in that comparison, being slightly worse but still charming compared to our 2d palace... which was almost unreal.

I couldn't have thought up a more construed analogy.

{a/n: These characters believe they live in a 3d space. They don't. But they'll never know that... shhh.}

Seconds later, a plate that can only be called a feast arrived at the table. I lost my appetite looking at the thing that should have satiated it. Everything looked good but you don't climb Mount Everest on a casual trek. You will never understand how much rice there was in this one bowl.

"Are we supposed to eat all of thi-"

"Have a great meal! You kids need a good meal to grow up well!" The old woman was really not giving us any room. "Not to mention, you are going to need it."

"What did yo-"

"Oh dear look at what time it is! I need to get stuff ready!" She waddled off quickly.

I started eating to fulfil my hunger. Just because it was too much I wouldn't eat it. At best I might leave some, but I doubt my consciousness would allow me to do that. So I just ate and ate.

Rice, fish, and soup. The quintessential breakfast. Not a breakfast that I had often. Quintessential nonetheless.

Usually, we would settle for some buttered toast and jam… but the food I had in front of me went into my mouth almost by nature. I would say that it was because of the Japanese in my bones, but Mom was French and Dad Hawaiin.

Of course, their heritage never showed since they travelled all around the world and rarely ever lived in their own land. But if you checked them on ancestry.com that was the result you would get.

Enough about them, back to the feast.

As the food went down something became abundantly clear. It was different from anything I had ever considered home cuisine. Dad's food was like the one you'd get at a restaurant. Perfect down to the grains.

The meal presented to me had plenty of imperfections. Some burns here and there. Over seasoned in some dishes, under in others. The recipes were obviously tweaked too.

But it felt homely.

I ended up eating the whole thing in one sitting.

The meal that felt like Mount Everest at the first sight was nothing more than a little hill that rolled over a plain.

"Are you done too?" I looked at Luha and she nodded enthusiastically. Guess the meal woke her up.

"You can take the dog for a walk now that you're done!" Obaa-chan shouted from the bathroom.

She was like a manager who knew exactly what we had to do before we even did it.

"I'll get on it then." I replied. I had some energy in me now. "Where's Clintarou?" I asked Luha.

"He's asleep in the room."

"Hehehe…" Time to annoy that little gremlin.

###

Waking the dog and seeing him annoyed was fun. Walking him? Not so much.

"SLOW DOWN!" I yelled at the dog as he dragged me along the long path that lead through the fields. There were trees on either side. And beyond the trees there were fields. Paths over the other side of the fields with trees on either side of those paths as well.

This whole place was like a maze.

There was a house every 500 metres or so and a singly path that went down the entire road.

The sun wasn't out, the road wasn't paved. We jogged down the ragged dusty path till the horizon.

"WO!F! WO#F!" Clintarou barked before stopping.

He found a single light pole put up next to a farm.

"Finally… Couldn't you have just shit anywhere though? It isn't like you need a pole to take a shit on. Plus if you do need long objects erected off the ground, you could just use the trees. Why defile someone's pole." Really... what was I doing talking to a dog?

Was my head still not all there yet?

"WO@F?" Clintarou turned his head.

"Just do it. Just take a shit."

"W(&F!"

And so he did. He shat and he peed. And then I cleaned.

I wasn't sure why I cleaned… Especially considering the fact that his defecation would just be manure, but I did anyway. I felt bad for the pole.

After that, we headed back.

It didn't dawn on me yesterday how excessively long this whole thing was. We went on for at least an hour. An hour that at least seemed twice its length. Turns out dragging an exhausted dog along as a 7-year-old was tiring.

By the time I arrived, I was sweating, broken, and hungry again.

I did not know how but all the food in my body had dissipated. Almost like it wasn't Clintarou but me who took a shit out on the farm.

"Mao-kun!" The old lady shouted from the kitchen.

'What now?'

"Take a shower, lighten yourself, and then come back on the table. I made some snacks!"

"Oh Lord and saviour, I thank thee."

She really knew how to take care of people.

The dump was heavy. The shower was refreshing. I took a cold shower of my own volition for the first time. And the snack was an apple.

"You can sit outside and watch the morning as you eat this." Obaa-chan patted my back. "Let's go. Let's go."

And I got dragged along her pace yet again.

Outside, there was a fresh-looking Luha sitting on a bench.

"She was the one who cut these apples. I taught her how to make a nice rabbit-shaped one. By the time she leaves, I'll turn this one into the perfect girl… Just you wait." Much like the old woman's appearance, her ideology was a little dated. I wouldn't blame her though, I'm sure that was how she was raised.

Luha didn't seem to mind either. She just smiled shyly as her achievement was brought to light.

Needless to say, it was cold outside in January. But there was some heating magic in and around the porch so the chill that should have run down my spine was now a tiny bead of sweat instead.

The dog also came outside and sat down.

There were two fields where I believe crops rotated biannually. One was vacant and one was bursting with a bunch of harvestable tomatoes.

On one field, an old man was picking some tomatoes and spreading some powder.

On the other, a girl was breaking the ground with a hoe.

"I wanted to turn that doll into a perfect girl too… But this is how she turned out. Honestly, this is nice too. She is like a knight." Obaa-chan put an apple in her mouth and we watched the field together being completely unproductive.

The clock turned to ten.