♥Futarigurashi♥Kotarou lives Alone♥

Chapter 09 - Ups and downs of life

"Hi-hi~!" Ruri greeted the lady who opened the door. She had crumbs on her face.

"Lady Ruri, when you are going to someone's house, you should introduce yourself, thank them for inviting you, and then give the gift...you shouldn't eat the gift that's for your guest.

"Huh? Ah." Ruri just realized she ate the cookies that were supposed to be for Kakeru's parents! She ate it all! How did 'I'll just take one cookie' become eating the whole box?! 

Kotarou's going to their classmate's home to play. Yamamoto Kakeru was their classmate in the star class. He invited Kotarou at first but Ruri tagged along because she said she wanted to play out too. 

In Japan, it's normal for kids as young as Kotarou and Ruri to go out on their own to play at nearby places. Some parents even let their children run errands for them and encourage them to take transportations on their own. The teaching of independence beginning at a very young age often shock those who come from the west. For children like Kotarou and Ruri, it's normal.

"Ah! Kotarou! You even brought Ruri! Hello!" Kakeru was happy to see not one but two classmates of his coming to his place to play. He couldn't wait to show them his Tonosaman stuffed bear sumo version! He's certain Ruri will like it too! Not only that, they will have a lot of games to play! "Yoshida-san, make sure to make more snacks. Ruri eats a lot." 

"Hee-hee~." Ruri didn't deny that at all. 

"Yoshida-san...???" Kotarou was confused. The lady who opened the door for them was not the mother? The lady was not Kakeru's mother. Yoshida's the maid the Yamamoto family hired to take care of their son while the parents were out working.

"Wow~! Sumo Tonosaman~!" Ruri hugged the sumo version of the Tonosaman plushie, "Hee~ so cute!" 

Kotarou leaned over to Kakeru and whispered to him, "Sir Kakeru, I highly suggest not to wash the plushie from now on." 

"Kotarou, I was just about to tell you the same thing. That plushie is now a family heirloom." Kakeru said that with such a serious face; a girl hugged his plushie...! It's a treasure now! He will pass that on to his children and tell them a cute girl in the same kindergarten class touched it! "Ah. Yoshida-san~!" He called the maid over for something as trivial as spilling juice to his hoodie. Not only that, a lot of things he could have done himself like charging his game, getting another glass of juice, getting more snacks, and even getting changed...all done by the maid.

"Tonight's dinner will be curry and rice." Yoshida said to the children. 

"Yay~! I need to call Nee-chan and tell her dinner is sorted out!" She took out her smartphone and she called Rio with it. 

Kotarou was happy about dinner being sorted and he get to eat dinner with his friends...but he couldn't help but think Kakeru was too spoiled and too independent on Yoshida. He should do something about it for Kakeru's good. 

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And so a few days later, Kotarou suggested they go to a pond to catch crayfish. Kakeru didn't do bad considering he's a beginner. He managed to catch two crayfish all by himself without Kotarou physically helping him. What's more amazing was Ruri catching a crayfish with her bare hands, which scared Kakeru a little but at the same time made him admire her a little more. 

And now they're back home and in Kotarou's room. They're cooking the crayfish to go with miso soup. They're not using the crayfish caught today though; crayfish need at least two days to purge out all the mud while soaked in tap water so Kotarou already have three crayfish ready to be cooked since they've gone through the soaking process already.