PERSONA 4 MYSTERIOUS MIST

Voicing one's feelings

Yui descended the stairs of their home early that morning, sleep was still filling her eyes as she clutched the muscles of her forehead, failing to suppress the yawn rising up the end of her throat. The light seeping into the kitchen and the living room, while Yu and Nanako were preparing breakfast. The rice was steamed and evenly distributed to three dishes, a small bowl of miso soup accompanied each one of them, as well as a slab of grilled fish. The sound of sizzling oil gradually calming down, accompanied by the water flowing from the faucet told Yui all she needed to know about the minutes that had passed before she woke up, another sound she could hear was the chirping of early morning birds through the open windows and glass doors, along with the sound of the TV displaying a weather forecast report on how a sunny weather was expected for the coming week. As soon as Nanako saw her by the stairs, she cheerfully ran up to her, going " good morning, big sis! ". Yui only replied half-heartedly, before glaring at her older cousin.

" that's not fair, I wanted to prepare the breakfast today! "

" if you want to race me to making breakfast, why don't you just set an alarm to wake up early? " Yu said, while bringing the dishes to the small wooden table in the living room

" because... because I... !!! " Yui quickly followed him with what she could grab of dishes " because I don't want to wake Nanako up too early! "

" girl, let's be real here " Yu said as he stood up " I'm not sure when she does exactly , but Nanako wakes up earlier than both of us "

" I... I just want to see daddy off when he goes to work " Nanako replied with her fingers poking each other timidly

" so even this morning, she woke up early? " Yui's eyes veered between the timid Nanako, to Yu shrugging them off, back to Nanako who was wondering if she did something wrong. Yui crouched in front of the little girl and said with an encouraging smile "that's great, Nanako, I'm so proud of you. That being said, try not to push yourself too hard "

" Nanako sleeps early, so waking up early is not a problem! " she replied with an adorable earnest in her eyes

" that's great, Nanako " Yu said gently, while patting his little cousin on the head, before looking at Yui with a knowing smile " we should learn a thing or two from you, right? "

" uh huh... sure... " Yui grumbled as she sat with her cousins for breakfast

" if it makes you feel better, you can prepare dinner for us "

" oh yes! I'd love to eat big sis's cooking, too! " Yui was about to proclaim that she didn't care about who cooks when, but Nanako's excitement beat her to it, and she decided to agree to that offer after all.

The three cousins sat down, having breakfast while watching TV. Nanako was immediately amazed by the delicious food that Yu had cooked, especially when she had spent her life either with omelets or cheese for breakfast. The rice was soft against their teeth and warm to their tongue and stomach, just what they needed in the early morning, the grilled fish and miso soup provided richness to the otherwise unremarkable taste of the rice. To Nanako, the previously monochromatic breakfast was now a rainbow of flavors, she voiced her admiration for it with every bite. Eventually, the two cousins realized Yui was growing more disgruntled to be left out of preparing breakfast, so they agreed to let her prepare dinner instead. In the meantime, the weather forecast came to an abrupt halt by the news. The reporter displayed an announcement from a famous idol who was announcing that she was going on a hiatus. Yu thought it was weird that the announcement was recorded, as in she did not appear in an interview to announce it.

" Rise Kujikawa? " Yui muttered as she watched the screen " never heard of her "

" what ? She's a famous singer, I'm surprised you didn't hear of her when she's your age " Yu asked her, thinking maybe you'll find someone else to be jealous of and leave me alone