A Shopping Trip

Shioko awoke with a yawn, pulling off her covers and rubbing her eyes to wipe the sleep from her eyes. Her complexion had taken a drastic turn for the better after a good night's rest, her black bags reduced in severity and her body and mind feeling far more refreshed than before.

"Um... my bed feels so soft..."

She looked around for a clock, finding one at her bedside table. Her sleepy eyes took several moments to focus on the numbers, and when she did, she felt her heart stop.

"Oh, damn it!"

She sloppily dressed herself in her suit, hastily walking down the stairs to the living room and finding her colleague Okano Aomi sipping coffee calmly at the dining area. Actually, what was she doing here in her house, and why was she so calm and collected, drinking coffee without a care in the world?

"Come on, Aomi, it's 9:30! We're late for work!" Shioko shouted.

Aomi simply laughed mirthfully, then turned to face Shioko with an amused expression.

"You're surprisingly forgetful, aren't you Shioko?" Aomi said, "Today's the start of your day-off!"

Shioko's brain took a moment to reboot, trying to recall what Aomi said, and she instantly plopped her ass on the nearby couch once she realised the truth of her words.

"Uh, to think I'd actually forget that..." Shioko mumbled.

"You've always been a real workhorse back then, and you never liked taking a break even when your health was at risk, you know," Aomi pointed out smilingly, "Anyway, at least you look properly awake now. Want me to prepare breakfast for you?"

"...Sure," Shioko said.

It was the first time in her life since reaching adulthood that Shioko ever felt uncertain of herself, and it was an alien feeling she quickly grew to dislike. Never had she ever had an off day, save perhaps when she fell sick from overwork or incredible stress and even then, she was raring to get back to her office out of her drive to succeed and advance herself in the law enforcement. Being able to freely kick back and relax was the absolute last thing on her mind, and now that she could, she felt as if she was floating in mud.

Shrugging to herself, she went back upstairs, changed out of her work attire and turned on the shower, relishing the feel of hot water on her skin.

"And why am I here in Aomi's house again?" She muttered to herself, "Ah, that's right; my old house was to be demolished."

Not long after Watase Ichibei's reported ****, Shioko received a call from the landlord of her apartment block that the property was to be acquired by a development company and demolished before being redeveloped in accordance with local development guidelines. As a result, she and all other tenants living in the block would have to vacate and find somewhere else to live.

For Shioko, money was not an issue, but when she broke the news to Aomi and Danjuro...

"Please, come live with us! I don't want you to feel lonely all the time, and you definitely need someone to help you with meals and laundry!"

A bouncing Danjuro was happily running in circles around Shioko, making her dizzy.

"It's fine, Danjuro, I don't want to impose on you," Shioko waved off, "I can take care of myself."

"Really? Did you forget all the times we came to visit you at your old place?" Danjuro pointed out, "How messy and unkempt it was?"

Shioko felt extremely uncomfortable, and she averted her eyes while sweating heavily.

"I-It's not that messy..."

"It stank like a pigsty."

Shioko felt an arrow pierce her heart at Danjuro's blunt remark, which hurt far more than the few times she suffered gunshot and knife wounds in the line of duty.

"Your meals are primarily cup noodles, spam, fried eggs and takeout meals."

"Hrk!"

"You've worn the same shirts for several days in a row, which are starting to smell funky."

"Agh!"

"And why are you not eating fresh fruits and vegetables alongside your meals, or even better, why are you drinking so much coffee like a camel drinks water?"

Shioko felt herself cry crocodile tears at Danjuro's words, and the worst part is that she absolutely could not find any flaw or mistake in his words.

"If you live with us at my house, you'll have to help with caring for my sisters, but I can also guarantee you some nice homecooked meals and your laundry being washed every day. How about that? I'm sure it's many times better than your current living conditions."

Shioko wanted to cry even more at Danjuro's honesty, trying very hard to not scold and educate him about the importance of exercising tact in conversation. She desperately looked to Aomi, hoping to find help, only to see her shaking her head with an expression that said: 'Sorry, you're on your own for this.'

"...Alright," Shioko relented, "I'll move in with you."

"Yay!" Danjuro pumped a fist in the air, celebrating his triumph, "Now I get to spend even more time with Aunt Shioko!"

'...Well, as long as he's happy, I guess this is fine...'

She turned off the shower and patted herself dry, before brushing her teeth. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her eyes as baggy as always and her complexion slightly pale.

'Have I always been this pale? Then again, I've heard plenty of people call me that at work.'

She put on a singlet and a pair of shorts, sloppy-looking compared to her neat, crisp work appearance, and made her way to the dining area where Aomi and Danjuro were cooking breakfast. Smelling the savory aroma, Shioko felt her appetite being whetted and her tummy rumbling with anticipation - all foreign sensations.

'How long has it been since I last looked forward to a meal?'

She absentmindedly poured herself a cup of water and greedily gulped it down, before taking her seat at the dining table. Looking around, she found the Okano house to be a typical Japanese household; simple, austere yet tasteful decoration, suitably furnished with standard amenities not unlike her old home, but far cleaner and more welcoming.

It was a homely house, an abode for the weary to rest their bones after a long, soul-grinding day at work. Her home, on the other hand, was like a beggar's tent, filthy from years of neglect.

She then saw mother and son place plates and cutlery on the table, and her plate contained a piping hot fluffy omelet with savory brown Hayashi sauce [1] on top.

"Itadakimasu," The Okanos incanted, before digging in.

Shioko nabbed a good chunk of omelet and rice inside along with the sauce, and putting it into her mouth, she was hit with a generous punch of flavour she never got from all those meals she ate at restaurants and cafes, or all the bento boxes she brought with her to work. It was a simple, homely flavour, and while not that outstanding, it felt incredibly warm.

She subconsciously let out a sigh of appreciation, and in no time at all, she devoured every last morsel.

"Thank you for the meal," Shioko said, "It was nice."

"Glad to hear that!" Danjuro said, "Anyway, why not help me with shopping, Aunt Shioko?"

"M-Me? I don't know a thing about grocery shopping, to be honest," Shioko said worriedly.

"It's alright! I'll guide you through the whole process!" Danjuro said confidently.

"I'm sorry to foister this on you, Shioko-san, but I really have to look after my baby girls today," Aomi apologised, "I'd take them to the daycare centre, but it seems they've temporarily closed for repairs."

Shioko awkwardly scratched her head, then relented.

"I'll help," She said.

And Danjuro seemed to beam brighter than before.

_'I hope it's not that hard...'- - - - - -

_

Shioko's arms strained under the sheer weight of her baggage, and Danjuro's enormous list seemed to only be halfway done.

"Uh, Danjuro," She asked.

"Yes, Aunt Shioko?" Danjuro said.

"D-Do we really need this many groceries?" She weakly asked, her mouth twitching, "I mean, we're only cooking three meals a day, right?"

"It's not just ingredients we need to buy, Aunt Shioko," Danjuro pointed out, "There's large oil bottles to buy, laundry detergent, coffee packets, aromatics like garlic, ginger and onion, not to mention milk powder, and they all need to last the week. You'd be surprised at how much groceries we can consume in just one week."

Shioko could not understand for the life of her, always being away from home for extended periods of time.

"T-Then what else do we need to buy?" She asked, silently praying for a lessened load.

"Oh yeah! We also need to buy some more shampoo and soap for the bathroom, facial cleansers and oils, beauty masks, and then there's tissue paper, wet wipes..."

Shioko instantly regretted opening her mouth, not that Danjuro was to blame.

'Fuck me...'

The silver lining to this was her driver's license and meticulously maintained SUV, a navy-blue Toyota that now served as a baggage mule. Once they packed everything in the car boot and buckled up, they drove off.

"By the way, I thought you'd be cooking lunch today, just saying," Said Shioko, "Didn't expect you'd buy three bentos instead."

"Well, we buy a lot, and as you saw it took us three hours," Danjuro explained, "Cooking lunch at this time's just not ideal, so we have packed bentos instead."

"Makes sense," Shioko nodded, "So afterwards, you're prepping dinner?"

"Yup! And tonight's dinner is going to be ginger pork [2] and vegetable stir-fry!" Danjuro declared, "I guarantee you're in for a treat!"

"I'll hold you to that," Shioko smiled slightly.

[1] Hayashi Sauce - A demi-glace sauce usually made with beef, onions and button mushrooms along with red wine and tomato sauce. Preferably taken with rice. A yoshoku or Western-styled dish originating from the Meiji Restoration.

[2] Ginger Pork - Also known as Shogayaki, it is the second-most popular pork dish in Japan behind tonkatsu. Thinly sliced tender pork is marinated and stir-fried, then briefly braised in a sauce made of soy sauce, mirin, sake and ginger.