Family Business

Chapter 7 - An afternoon with Eri

Kai had taken Izumi on a tour of the entire main building, pausing to let her take in the frankly gorgeous garden in the back. It had an impressive koi pond with a wisteria tree growing next to it, while on the opposing side - after a large expanse of grass - there stood a large (likely ancient) sakura tree. Adding in the japanese quince bushes and flowerbeds around the outskirts of the garden and Izumi was certain this area was a sight to behold in spring.

She also knew where Kai, Eri, and Hari's rooms were now. Though she had yet to see inside the latter's out of the three. Yet.

Before she knew it Hari had returned to grab Kai for business work apparently, based on his wording. Izumi had apparently guessed wrong about the brunette's career. Looks like germophobe was the proper answer all along about the mask and gloves. At that realization all she could think about her new boss' personality quirk was 'cute'. As the pair left the single father added absentmindedly that the teen was free to explore the house to her heart's content and reminded his daughter to do her homework.

Left alone the girls looked at each other. Before the silence could stretch too long Izumi asked "You want to do homework together? If we get it out of the way now we'll have the rest of the night to have fun."

Eri's resulting smile was heart melting.

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Izumi was impressed at how advanced the 5 year old's schoolwork was. Though, upon asking why she was less surprised. Eri had mentioned before that her dad was teaching her, but the greenette never put two and two together to realize the man personally home-schooled his daughter because her quirk made "normal" school... difficult.

By the time they'd both finished it was close to dinner.

"How long do you think your dad will be gone for?" Izumi asked as she packed their work away.

Eri hummed "A while. Definitely after dark. Why?"

The elder girl checked her cell phone's clock again before she replied "It's close to dinner. I was wondering if I'd need to cook, and apparently the answer is yes." As she made her way to the kitchen she tied up her hair in a bun, turning to the child in her care as she surveyed what she had to work with. "How good are you with spicy food?"

"I've never eaten it before. Is it good?"

"Very. But it's better to work your way up to spicier foods than jump straight in." the teen put some rice in the rice cooker and grabbed some ingredients that seemed random to Eri, who watched the greenette eagerly. "What're you making?"

"Curry and rice. Not too spicy for now, just enough to have a bit of a kick." As she diced the meat and vegetables carefully under the girl's enthralled gaze she added "If you want I can teach you a little cooking later. Mostly bentos and other simple things, but-"

"Yes please!" Eri yelled, cutting her off "I wanna learn! It looks fun!"

Izumi chuckled, smiling fondly as she saw her younger self in the white haired girl's exuberance. She was about Eri's age when she'd said those exact words to her mother and Auntie Mitsuki. The parallels made her flush a little. 'Here I am comparing mine and Eri's relationship to mine with my mother. I shouldn't like that as much as I do."

But as she watched the child take a bite of her dinner, eyes sparkling with awe that food could be so tasty when it's just spicy enough to make your mouth tingle, she couldn't bring herself to care that she treated the girl like a daughter. It was just what felt right.

After dinner Izumi put the leftovers away and ran after Eri, chasing her through the massive building in a makeshift game. She didn't have much experience with games, and neither did the 5 year old, so they made due with whatever popped in their minds until their seemingly infinite wells of energy ran low. By then the sun was setting, but they still had time to burn before Kai came back. So, for the second time that day, Izumi's mind flashed to something she'd done with her family.

It was late. Izumi should have been asleep ages ago, but her mind was working too much for her to actually sleep.

The toddler got up to get herself a glass of water, careful to be quiet so she didn't wake her parents, only to see a faint light from the living room. Curiosity peaked, she moved to check why and saw her father sprawled lazily across the sofa. His dark eyes looked just as tired as her own as they scanned the people on screen - heroes and villains on the news - before flitting to a notebook by his hand on the arm of the sofa.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked as she climbed into his lap, earning a chuckle.

"You're supposed to be asleep."

She shrugged "Can't. Brain's too busy."

The man ran his fingers through her short green hair, as messy and full of curls as his own, a smile on his face. "Sorry. Looks like you take after me in that department. Want to know how I get tired?"

"Hmm?"

"I put on the news and use it to analyze the quirks I see." the black-haired man held up his full notebook "It's a hobby I started a long time ago that I can't seem to shake. Want to help?"

"Sure!"

They spent ages it felt like watching hero fights and compiling info together. Most of the time Inko would wake up to find them both passed out together on the sofa, notebooks full of quirk details on the floor nearby. It was one of the few memories of her father Izumi remembered with crystal clarity.

"Want to help me with a hobby of mine?" Izumi asked as he pulled out her newest notebook, sitting on the couch and turning on the tv.

Eri's excitement was palpable.