Chapter 33: The Bear Eats on the Go

Chapter 33:
The Bear Eats on the Go

 

TIERMINA WAS HEALTHY. It might even be safe to say she’d made a complete recovery. She and Gentz ended up following through on their engagement. They were looking for a house where the four of them could live together. Tiermina’s was too small, and apparently Gentz had been living in a squalid little bachelor pad.

For whatever reason, Fina and Shuri had decided to crash at the bear house.

“Uhh, so, why’re the two of you here?”

“Mr. Gentz—I mean our dad and mom need some time alone—that’s what we think.”

Were those really the thoughts of a ten-year-old girl?

“Are we being a bother?”

“It’s fine, but it’s important for all four of you to be together.”

“We’ll live together once we find a house, so it’ll work out.”

“But why are you studying?” I asked. Shuri was practicing her alphabet in my living room.

“My mom taught me how to read, but she couldn’t teach Shuri while she was sick, and I needed to do the housework and make money.”

They called it studying, but it boiled down to looking at characters written on dirty paper. They didn’t have anything to write with, much less paper to practice on. All they were doing was memorizing the letters by sight.

“In that case, how about we go get you some proper study materials?”

“Huh?”

“If you study like that, it’ll take you a while to learn anything.”

“But…”

I knew exactly what Fina was thinking. “Don’t worry about the money. It’ll be a present to celebrate the wedding.”

“But it’s Mom who’s getting married.”

“Don’t sweat the details.”

I left with the two of them in tow. They held hands, sticking close to each other. They were good siblings.

We hit up the bookstore first. “Excuse me!” I called out to the old lady who ran the place.

“What is it? I can hear you just fine without all that shouting.”

“Excuse me, but do you have picture books for kids? We’d like to study the alphabet.”

“Let’s see now, I’ve got this, this, and that.”

She brought out three picture books and something that looked like a chart. I decided to buy it all.

Next, we popped down to the general store to pick up some basic writing implements. This left us peckish, so I decided to get something at the stands in the plaza. When we got there, delicious smells wafted to us from the various stalls. The stall nearest the entrance was selling kebabs, or something approximate. They smelled great.

“Three for me, mister.”

“Oh, if it isn’t the bear girl! Three, was it? Here you go! Thanks for everything.”

He handed me three skewers. I stuck one in my mouth and gave the other two to Fina and Shuri.

“Thank you very much.”

“Thank you.”

I scanned the stands for more succulent prey.

“Bear girl! How’d you like some vegetable soup?” I heard someone cry from a nearby stall. Steam rose from a giant pot; again, the smell woke something animal in me.

“Sure. I guess I’ll take three.”

“Come again!”

He served up warm veggie soup in wooden containers we’d have to return. I took the soup and handed it to the girls.

“Bear girl, how does bread with your soup sound?”

“That’s no fair. Bear girl, how about our barbeque?”

All around us, the stand owners leapt into their hard-sell routine.

“How about our fresh-squeezed juice?” A woman selling a baffling selection of fruit juice joined the fray.

“I feel kind of like bread today, so I’ll take three small ones.”

“Right, thank you.”

The man from the first stall handed me my order, thanking me profusely for my patronage, and I apologized to the others.

“I’ll come buy stuff from you next time.”

“It’s fine.”

“You’d better!”

I accepted the bread and went around greeting the stands around me, then sat at an empty bench nearby.

It might just have been because I’d been eating on the go there a lot lately, but I’d gotten to know the people at the stands. I’m sure the bear outfit had something to do with it, but the number of people who would call out to me while I walked around the plaza increased by the day.

As much as I appreciated all the attention, my plaza visits were becoming enough of a habit to make me worry about my weight. I tried pinching my belly through the bear suit. Sure would be nice if I’d had a skill that kept me from getting fat.

“Let’s chow down.”

“Thank you, Yuna.”

“Thank you.”

Shuri mimicked her sister and thanked me. They were both so cute! We took our time eating our soup and bread together.

It was hearty soup, more veggie than broth. The ingredients in this world were pretty similar to the ones in Japan. There were carrots, daikon, cabbage, cucumbers, and other veggies that I only caught glimpses of but tasted familiar enough, but the things that were important to me as a Japanese person—rice, soy sauce, and miso—were nowhere to be seen. I longed for ramen and noodles. It looked like they had flour. Maybe, I thought, they at least have udon somewhere?

At any rate, it was delicious enough. After we ate, we decided to go back to the bear house to study. Later, Tiermina and Gentz would find out that I’d taken them out to eat and I’d get in trouble for making the kids miss out on the dinner they’d prepared.

Beware overeating when dining on the go.

They still thanked me for the study supplies, though.