Chapter 117: The Bear Heads to the Large Bear House

Chapter 117:
The Bear Heads to the Large Bear House

 

FINA AND SHURI were savoring Deigha’s cooking, and Deigha and Anz were happily watching as they did.

“Yuna, it’s so yummy!”

“Mmhm! Yum!”

“Nothing a cook loves to hear more than that, let me tell ya,” said Deigha, looking satisfied.

“Now, Ms. Yuna,” said Anz, “what were the ingredients that you wanted that you mentioned earlier?”

“Bamboo shoots.”

“Bamboo shoots?”

“From, uh…from bamboo?” Deigha interjected, looking interested.

“Yeah, that’s the one. I saw some when I wandered around the seaport last time, so I came by to gather it. Since I haven’t really seen any around Crimonia, I hoped to eat some fresh bamboo shoots. I’ve got rice too, so I was really hoping to make bamboo shoot rice,” I explained.

Anz tilted her head quizzically. “Ms. Yuna, by bamboo, you do mean those green, hard things that are empty inside, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Do you really eat things as hard as that?”

Ohhh. She didn’t know what bamboo looked like before it grew out of the ground. Apparently, no one bothered to check by digging them out. Yeah, I wouldn’t have tried digging the shoots up either if I hadn’t known they were edible. “No, not bamboo. I mean bamboo shoots. You know, before it’s fully grown.”

“Can you really eat something like that?”

“Yep. It’s good. You can cook it with rice, boil it and eat it plain, or sauté it up with other stuff.”

“Are you really sure it tastes good?”

“Dead sure. It’s delicious.”

“All right then, it’s settled,” Deigha blurted. “I’m going with you!”

“Dad?!”

“A cook like me had no clue about such a tasty ingredient, and so close by! What else am I supposed to do besides collect it? If I’d known about it when that whole kraken business started up, we could’ve used that to make food.”

Oh, wow. Yeah, they might have fared a little better foodwise if bamboo shoots were common knowledge.

“In that case,” said Anz, “I’d also like to accompany you to collect bamboo shoots.”

“You can’t. I’m going. As a cook, I simply cannot forgive myself for not knowing such a delectable ingredient was right here beneath our feet. I’m going alone this time, and I’m not giving this opportunity up—not even to my own daughter. Miss, that fine by you?”

I shrugged. “Sure, but don’t get in a fight about it.” I really didn’t want to cause a family feud over bamboo shoots, of all things.

“But Dad, what are we going to do about the meals for the inn?”

“You’re trying to become a cook, too, aren’t you? You should be able to hold the fort even if I’m gone for a day.” It was a good point. Anz didn’t have a retort, and that was that…but it wasn’t as though it’d take a whole day to dig up some bamboo shoots.

I remembered a TV show I’d seen that featured bamboo shoots. They said digging the shoots up in the morning was best—it made them taste delicious and smell wonderful. When the sun hit them, that brought out the bitterness, so it was a matter of trying to beat the afternoon heat when you dug them up. You needed to get it done before noon.

“We’re going right in the morning with the sunrise to collect the shoots,” I said, “so it won’t take a whole day.”

“You really go that early in the morning?” Deigha marveled.

“If you want the shoots to be tasty, yep.”

“In that case, Anz, I’ll help you prep for the morning so you can try serving breakfast on your own. You’re going to open shop at her place, after all.”

“Ugh, Dad, that’s no fair. I can’t say no when you put it that way,” groaned Anz. “Ms. Yuna, please take me with you next time.”

I made that promise, no problem.

“All right then,” said Deigha, flexing absently, “is there anything we need in order to get these bamboo shoots?”

“We need to dig them out of the ground, so a hoe would be great. If you just want to watch though, I’ll dig them out with magic.”

“No, no! Just like I told Anz, this is for the experience. I’ll try digging them up myself.”

As I talked things over with Deigha and Anz, the lodgers who’d finished their work came back. They looked surprised when they saw how I dressed, and I was in no mood to deal with that, so we headed back to the bear house.

I arranged to meet Deigha tomorrow at sunrise beside the village entrance, and then the kids and I were off.

 

We got back to the bear house where we were staying, and the kids got a better look at it now.

“Yuna, it’s so big,” said Fina.

“A big bear!”

Those were the first things that came out of Fina and Shuri’s mouths at the sight of a four-story bear house.

“But why is it so large?” asked Fina.

“I want to bring the orphans by to see the ocean sometime, so I needed the rooms to be big.”

“You’re so kind, Yuna. I feel a little guilty that you only brought us when the orphans are the ones really doing the work, but you really were thinking of everyone.”

“My reasoning wasn’t that noble,” I said. “Everyone’s working hard, so it’s really more like…a corporate outing—no, an employee appreciation trip.”

“An employee appreciation trip?”

“Yeah, it’s a trip for me to thank everyone for their work.”

“Why are you trying to thank us though, Yuna?” Fina asked, looking perplexed.

“Everyone’s been looking after the birds, and they’ve been working at my shop, right?”

Fina shook her head. “No, it’s because of you that we have work at all. We can eat full meals, too, and have a warm place to sleep. If they couldn’t work there, they wouldn’t have food or a place to sleep. Me, my mom, and all the orphans are grateful that you let us work.”

Hmm, I just couldn’t explain why I was thanking her. Maybe it was a cultural difference? It was hard to explain. As far as Fina was concerned, she didn’t think they needed to be thanked after already being provided a job, money, food, and a place to sleep. I guess it was a matter of having different perspectives as someone who grew up in Japan versus Fina, who’d grown up in this alternate world.

“Nice of you to say, but I want to thank you and so I’m going to do it.” I gave Fina a pat on the head. “Well then, how about we get in real quick? Looks like Shuri really wants to.”

She was already running around in front of the bear house.

 

With Shuri running along beside us, looking stoked out of her mind, we headed in and I gave an explanation of the first-floor rooms. “If you need to use the bathroom or want water, those are on the first floor, so use them whenever.”

Fina and Shuri seemed to enjoy looking into the rooms. “It’s so big!”

Well, the first floor was big enough for all the orphans to eat together…although the fridge was totally empty still. Next, I directed the two to their room.

“Yuna,” asked Fina, “what’s on the second floor?”

“Just big rooms. We’re not using those this time around, so don’t worry about it.” We went past the rooms on the second floor and I showed them to the quarters and guest rooms up on the third floor.

“You two use this room.”

“It’s so big!” Shuri cooed.

(I made each of the third-floor rooms large.)

“Do we sleep here?” asked Fina. We were the only ones here, so I picked this one for them. “Where will you sleep, Yuna?”

“I’ll be next door.” I moved over to my room; it had a big bed, a table, and a chair. I carried over the stuff that I bought at Crimonia with my transport gate a little while ago. Also, the bear transport gate happened to be connected with an internal door to the adjacent room. I mean, I wasn’t about to keep the gate out there where just anyone could see it.

 

“All right,” I said, clapping my hands, “tomorrow is an early day, so let’s take baths and sleep early.”

“We’re sleeping already?”

“You two have got to be tired, right? Plus, tomorrow’s really an early day. If you oversleep, I’m leaving you behind.”

We ended up heading to the bathroom on the fourth floor. The bathroom was split up properly into boy’s and girl’s sides— I’d even written out “Men” and “Women” on each of the cloth doorway curtains, which I had made in Crimonia. I brushed aside the curtain that said “Women” as I headed into the changing room.

“This is where we take off our clothes. The bath is in the back.”

The two of them put their clothes into the clothes bins that were set up and headed to the bath. I also took off my bear clothes and followed them.

Shuri pitter-pattered over. “Whoa! It’s big. I can see outside too. But… Yuna, there isn’t any hot water in the bath.”

Oh, right. Oops. Nobody was using it, after all, and I’d just only come back. I headed over to the bear statues where the hot water spouted out and turned the mana gem that the bear had its paw on. Water came pouring out of the bear’s mouth, and I did the same to the bear on the other side.

How long would it take for the water to fill up? Well, it wasn’t like I could stand there naked the whole time, so I decided we could wash up first. “Make sure you wash yourselves and your hair before you get in.” Hopefully the bath would fill up by the time we finished rinsing off.

“Shuri,” said Fina, “don’t just look outside. You need to wash up.” She pulled Shuri, who stared the window, by the hand and brought her to the washing area.

I adjusted the temperature of the water coming out of the bear’s mouth and then also headed over. While I was scrubbing myself down, Fina and Shuri came by.

“What’s up?”

“Your hair is so long and pretty, Yuna.”

“Pretty Yuna!”

They both touched my hair. “It’s just long here, guys. It’s not a big deal.”

“I’ll wash your hair.”

“Me too!”

“I’m fine. I can do it myself.” I had a relationship with this hair of mine for many years; I could wash it on my own.

“Yeah, but you’re always taking care of us. There isn’t much I can do for you, so I want to do this. Just tell me if I’m getting in your way.” Argh, Fina looked at me with such innocent eyes. They were cleansing to my muddied heart. I don’t think anybody could say no to eyes like that.

“Okay, then, can I trust my hair to you two?”

“Yes!”

“Uh-huh!”

They both sat down close together behind me and washed my hair with scrupulous care.

“How long does it take for hair to grow this long?” Fina asked.

Good question. I didn’t have an answer, because I rarely even thought about it. I didn’t care how it looked, so it just kept growing.

Fina touched her own hair. “Maybe I’ll grow my hair as long as yours.”

“I wanna grow mine too!” Shuri raised up her hands and proclaimed.

“If you guys want, sure, but it’s a pain to take care of.” As we talked, we finished washing up and headed to the bath.

“Yuna, it’s only half full.” Or even less, now that I looked at it. But considering how big the bath was, I guess we could get by just stretching out in it? Fina and Shuri laid down in it and sunk far enough into the water. I thought that wouldn’t work for me since I was bigger than them, but there was enough water to cover me when I was lying down too.

I stretched out my legs and let myself sink until my shoulders were submerged. Stretching out your legs in the bath…now that’s the stuff. Fina and Shuri seemed to be relishing the bath too. Baths really were the pinnacle of human culture, weren’t they?

Shuri would look outside and play with the bear statue by sticking her hand in its mouth as the water came out. Me, I was just lounging in the water with an empty head until, eventually, Shuri blurted out that she was getting out.

“Sis, it’s hot.” Shuri’s face was bright red.

“Yuna, is it okay if we get out first?”

“Fine by me. I’ve left the dryer around, so make sure you dry your hair off fully.”

“Okay.”

Fina pulled Shuri up by the hand and out of the bathroom. After I soaked in the bath for a while longer, I also got out. When I got into the changing room, Fina was in the middle of drying Shuri’s hair. Shuri seemed barely awake.

“Okay, you’re good,” said Fina.

Shuri rubbed her eyes. She sure was sleepy. “Thanks, sis.”

Beside her, Fina started drying her own hair.

I dried myself off, changed into my white bear clothes and, just as I was drying off my hair, which was longer than my hips, Fina came up to me.

“Yuna, can we go back to the room before you?”

Shuri was about to doze off behind Fina. She was full of energy just a little bit ago, but now she looked tuckered out. “Sure. Make sure you keep warm when you sleep. We’re waking up early.”

“Yeah. Good night.”

“Night, Yuna.”

“Night.”

Fina took Shuri by the hand and pulled her out of the changing room. I dried my hair off alone then headed back to my room.

A beautiful night sky greeted me through the window glass, wonderful and somehow unexpected in the way these things always are. It made me grateful I’d come here to this other world. Otherwise I bet I would’ve been a hermit in my original world.

I hadn’t looked out the window much back then.

The night wind chilled the few droplets on me from the bath, and I decided I’d summon my bears to help me sleep—we were heading out early, after all. Burrowing into bed, I whispered a goodnight that the two in the other room couldn’t hear, gave my bears a hug, and fell asleep under that sky of possibilities.