Rie "steals" Yuta"s pancake and takes a bite, thinking that he didn"t see her.
"There"s no such thing as honor in my mother"s bones," Yuta grumbles while eating.
"Who is Honor?" Rie rolls her eyes. "Can he give you money? Can that person make you pancakes?"
Kiyohira gapes at Rie. What is she teaching their son? Is this why Yuta is different?
"You should ask first before taking something from my plate." Yuta fakes annoyance on his face. He can tell that his mother is picking on him, though he can"t tell the reason why. "My father is honorable. He will give me money and make me pancakes."
Rie glares at her son. "My son doesn"t have loyalty in his bones. He only got pancakes and honey in them. He"s easily bribed by pancakes and money."
"Who is Loyalty? She"s the one who steals my pancakes shamelessly. She doesn"t know that she"s cute when she"s jealous. Since she steals my food, she has to eat more." Yuta stuffs her mouth with a slice of pancakes. "Don"t be jealous, Mother. I love you more than anyone in the world."
Satisfied, Rie nods at him. Her heart is relieved. Her little soldier hasn"t changed the division.
"I also love father." Yuta takes a piece of pancake toward his neglected father. Kiyohira eats it with a smile. "Don"t feel down, Father. I will love you more when you give me a sister. Father should keep honor among men and keep his words."
"I will work hard on fulfilling that wish," Kiyohira replies without hesitance. He will start working as soon as they go back home. This place has only one bedroom and he hasn"t forgotten that Rie"s loud. He doesn"t think that the walls are soundproof.
Rie chokes on the pancakes, coughing violently. She forgot about that wish. Kiyohira picks up the gla.s.s of water instantly and takes her to her mouth. While drinking the water, her gaze meets Kiyohira"s. She doesn"t know why she"s feeling her face burn. She used to be the bold one who shamelessly asked him to sleep with her.
He sees her face turning red. He"s worried that her trauma is back. What triggered her now? "Do you feel sick? Have you been taking your medications?"
"No." She wipes her mouth nervously and tells him, "I don"t need to take medications. I am all better."
Kiyohira lets out a breath of relief. "You should eat slowly. Food isn"t running away."
"There are foods that can run away." Rie scratches her nose and looks another way. They have decided to be together. They are also married. They even have a child. She doesn"t know how to be a good wife. Kiyohira is already an expert at being a husband.
How does she love him the way a wife should? Who should she ask? She doesn"t have married female friends. She should ask in the forums.
"What type of food runs away?" Kiyohira can"t understand her random utterances. Is she joking? Maybe it"s a puzzle.
"The type with legs," Rie replies awkwardly. She scans his face. Will it feel the same if she kisses him? It"s been such a long time. Will he feel the same? She realizes that she"s looking forward to fulfilling her son"s wish. Pervert woman! Yuta is here. She shouldn"t have these thoughts.
"Pancakes have no legs." Kiyohira can"t guess what"s going inside his wife"s head. Otherwise, he would have shaken his head at her. "Give me the name of the food with legs. I am curious how they will taste."
Rie purses her lips. Why did she talk about food with legs? This is too embarra.s.sing. The idiot doesn"t understand her words either. Can"t he tell that she was flirting?
He has never seen a cooked meal that ran away from him. He furrows his brows. "Crabs?"
"Crabs, your head!" Rie snaps.
Yuta sees his mother"s blus.h.i.+ng face and his father"s puzzled expression. Are they always out of wavelength? Why is he still here and listening to this talk? His mother doesn"t think that he can understand the meaning of her words.
This is awkward for him.
He pretends to yawn to excuse himself from this situation that is growing more uncomfortable by minutes for him. "I am sleepy."
Not waiting for their response, he flees from the dinner table to the bedroom and shuts it.
Seeing his son fleeing, a thought occurs to Kiyohira. He turns his face to his wife. "Do you like crabs?"
She sighs. "I like crabs with three legs."
"Okay, Yuta and I will eat the other five of them."
In some matters, she hasn"t changed at all.
"Guess what? You can eat all of them. Yuta dislikes crabs and I like Takoyaki more." She is barely resisting the urge to smack this man"s head. Why does he keep talking about foods with legs?
"But you just said that you like crabs with three legs." Solemnly, he takes her hands and looks into her furious eyes. "Among the three legs of the crabs, which leg do you like more?"
Why is he obsessed with crabs and the legs? "All are the same to me."
He leans closer and questions her in a voice low enough for only her to hear. How can he forget that there is a little man in the house?
"Are you sure that your favorite food is not the third leg of the crab?"
"..." He"s been pretending to not understand.
"You didn"t eat the third leg for five years. Poor you must be starving."
"Too bad that the location is not suitable." He whispers to her ear. "The third leg really wants to get eaten dry by you."
This sly crab!
"After we go back home, the crab will let you eat as much as you want." He grips her waist and pulls her closer. "The crab wants to see how many times you can eat the third leg."