Pork Miso Soup. The Taste of My Mother’s Memories
“Kaito, the pork soup your mother makes uses only onions, pork belly, and pork loin.”
“Really? No carrots, burdock root, or taro? What else was there… oh, konjac? One time I had dinner at a friend’s house, and their soup had all that stuff in it.”
“That’s probably the typical kind of pork soup. But at your mother’s family home, it was just onions and pork. That’s all. Even with just that, it’s plenty delicious, right?”
Ahh… the one I was about to make now was Kaito’s mother’s recipe from my previous life.
That was the taste of our home.
“Young Master, what’s wrong? It seems to sting your eyes quite a bit. Are you alright?”
“Marle, thanks. I’m fine.”
“Alright, Gordon, could you put all of this into the pot with the pork from earlier?”
“All of this? Won’t it make the soup bitter? Will it be drinkable?”
Hey, hey.
“This Nadansousou becomes sweet when you cook it.”
“Alright then… but where does Young Master keep getting this knowledge from?”
Hey, don’t doubt me. It’s fine.
“It’s a revelation from the Goddess of Ikaruda.”
Come on, Gordon, Marle, Sebas… stop bowing and praying.
Actually, Sebas, what about your job? There’s nothing for you to do in the kitchen, right?
“Sebas, don’t you have work to do?”
“What are you saying, Young Master? I have the very important duty of taste-testing.”
Sebas… he hadn’t taken his eyes off the pork soup for a while now.
What’s with that look? You’re staring at it like a hunter watching its prey.
Yeah, I know that look.
You’re planning to snatch it again like earlier, aren’t you? Not happening this time!
“Papa was calling for you earlier, Sebas. Shouldn’t you go?”
Whoosh! Ah~ he disappeared.
… Wait, he’s already back?! That was fast. Still ridiculously fast as ever.
“Young Master, Master says he did not call for me. I understand, you know. Leaving someone out is no good. Are you planning not to let me eat? If you don’t let me eat, I’ll cry.”
I do not want to see a grown man crying!
“Fine, Sebas. Just one sip.”
What’s with that end-of-the-world expression? Seriously.
But this is punishment for stealing my fish soup earlier. One sip, that’s all you get.
Alright, how will it turn out?
Onions, onions~♪
“Gordon, aren’t the Nadansousou turning translucent by now?”
“Yes, they have turned translucent.”
“Then I’ll add the miso. I’ll do it. Pass me the ladle.”
Yeah… about like this, maybe?
It’s done. It’s done! Pork miso soup!
Time for a taste test. Taste test!
“It’s so delicious! The richness of the pork and the sweetness of the Nadansousou together, this is the best!”
“““That good?”””
Hey, the three of you, stop staring at the soup like it’s prey.
Hey! Don’t start fighting over it!
“Gordon, Marle, try a taste. Sebas only gets one sip.”
Nope, don’t give me that wounded look, Sebas.
Gordon, Marle… see? It’s delicious, right?
“““Mmm… so good.”””
“Young Master, what’s wrong?”
I was happy. It tasted unbelievably good.
Ah… it was Kaasan’s flavor.
So nostalgic.
“Thank you very much for the meal. Young Master, it was truly delicious.”
Marle gently hugged me as I kept crying.
I remembered my father and mother from my previous life. My siblings too.
When I thought about how I’d never see them again, the tears just wouldn’t stop.
The reality that I would never again drink the pork soup my mom made felt like it was crushing me.
I want to see them again.
Holding back that feeling, I clung to Marle.
“Kaasan’s pork soup is really delicious.”
The words I never managed to say when I was Kaito…
The regret of not telling her stayed behind in my heart.
What do you think about this chapter?
