EXCERPTS FOR EVERYONE

Mealtimes were busy. Well, as busy as you could get having at least 12 mouths to feed. 13 maybe, but who was counting? "Can I have some more tofu"? Miko squeaked, her mouth packed to exploding with bits of blanched broccoli and chewed beef pieces. "Sure", Taro purred, flicking his chopsticks into the hot plate and putting a few creamy yellow slices into Miko's bowl. "Here ya go, kiddo". Ichika just smiled wanely, hiding it behind her hand under the pretense of wiping her mouth. With her family, it wasn't uncommon for her, her brothers and their parents to eat together, and she was more than happy to do the same with the Ultra Brothers and Leo Brothers, of whom were fine with it. It beat serving her ex-husband and in-laws anyways, since they always ranted about her 'bad' cooking, and it always ended with her dishes being thrown or just outright rejected. To have someone ravenously eating whatever she cooked was a godsend. "Boop", Seven teased, dabbing a pat of gravy on Lalia's nose. "I got your snoot". "Bleh bleh bleh bleh", Lalia answered, licking the gravy off her nose with her squishy grey tongue. "I still love my snoot". "Once we leave Earth, we'll be damned if we can ever find a home-cooked dish like yours, Ichika", Shin mused as he washed down the food with gulps of green tea. "I'm serious, you really do take the trouble to do all this, thanks. It means a lot to us, particularly me and Lalia". "Its no trouble", the lady in question purred, rubbing the young Ultragirl's head affectionately. "I like cooking, and watching people eat what I've cooked. I find it satisfying". "No s**t. You're a good cook", Seven grumbled through a mouthful of sprouts. "Honestly, I get my hands on Endo and I'm gonna lob it in his face like 'lookit buddy, you just underestimated your wife'. Heh heh. Bastard". "Some people don't learn, but hell, this is good", Taro's reply was muffled by his stuffed mouth, prompting a chuckle from Ichika when she saw how poofy his cheeks were now. "Not to mention you're flexible", Jack murmured, his yellow eyes narrowed as if speaking hurt him on a physical level. "Many who have cooked for me have called me picky for refusing to eat meat...but you were accomodating". "Well guys, I got my skills from my mom, and she's a decent cook herself", Ichika explained, hiding her flushed cheeks with her sleeve. "Two of my five older brothers were allergic to soybeans, and another one of them was just irritated by the feel of broccoli in his mouth. My mom used to make alternatives for them and even my dad understood, so he wouldn't be mad at my brother for not eating broccoli. My mom used to tell me 'being a good cook means understanding who you're cooking for and accomodating them accordingly'". "Your mum's got a good head on her shoulders. I'll give her that", Seven huffed, taking a bite out of a tofu slice. "There are too many people who think allergies and food aversions are fake". "They're idiots", Ace snorted indignantly, flicking a piece of succulent beef into Zoffy's plate, who in turn passed it to Ichika. "I'm no doctor, but I don't need a medical degree to know that any prank to do with eating can be lethal". "And outright fatal or a form of abuse if said offender is a parent", Zoffy countered, wetting his throat before continuing. "Taro's mother had to testify for a divorce case once". "Why"? Ichika asked. "I know what you're thinking. Actually, she was there to back up the evidence presented", Taro clarified, setting his bowl down. "This madwoman of a wife was accusing her husband of trying to take away their daughter, and the poor man was appealing for custody. We already had several cases of abuse reported by him regarding his wife, so my mom busted out their daughter's medical records". "Well, what did they find"? Ichika asked. "Not only had that b***h failed to actually be a parent to her daughter, but the X-rays provided showed that she hadn't been feeding her daughter right", Ace added. "She had started her daughter on solid food too early, which in turn led to early celiacs", Jack murmured, the look on his face becoming one of pure disdain as he spoke. "Even after being strictly warned by the doctor not to feed her daughter anything with gluten in it, she just ignored the warning and did it anyways, refusing to acknowledge when her daughter was in pain despite it being obvious that her bowels were inflamed and just brushing it off as attention seeking". Ichika could barely hold back a gasp at that. How could a mother be so callous as to how sick her daughter was? "Of course, b***h got what she deserved. The kid's with her dad now. Hopefully HE has enough common sense to know what the actual f**k an allergy is", Seven finished. "That's one of our problems now", Zoffy murmured quietly. "Many are becoming disinterested in science, especially the basics, which is dangerous because these are the kind of cases this callousness leads to. Couple that with Internet crap and yes, its quite the shitshow". "Thankfully, however, not all of us are on the idea of having kids, so that's a temporary solution", Shin whispered so the girls wouldn't hear them. "But right now efforts are being made to teach others about allergies and other kinds of dietary restrictions so that incident won't repeat itself". "Its mighty stupid if you ask me", Seven grumbled sharply. "Like, your kid says their throat itches after they've eaten something and it doesn't set off any red flags? How dumb do you have to be just to, I don't know, think that's normal"!? "You'd be surprised at what kind of things people can pass off as normal", Lalia muttered thickly. "Kinda like dad here". "I assure you, I had no ulterior motives"! Shin answered, holding his hands up in defence, just as the phone rang. "I'll get it", Leo drawled, getting up and walking over to where the landline was and picking it up. "Astra, there's another carton of juice in the fridge's lower drawer. Bring it here please", Ichika told the young Ultraman, who silently nodded in reply and got up, heading to the fridge. "Isn't the carton in the cooler"? Seven asked. "I just said that to buy us some time", Ichika murmured, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Because I have something to discuss with you guys". "What is it"? Ace asked. "Do you know what day is it next week"? she hissed. "Sunday"? Taro answered lazily, prompting Seven to flick his forehead. "Ow"! "Its Leo's and Astra's birthday next Wednesday"! Miko and Lalia both mewed. "The girls, Shin and I were planning to do a surprise birthday party for them", Ichika continued, shushing the girls gently so neither Astra nor Leo would hear them. "We're going to do it at the park. I need your help with some things though". "And what might that be"? Zoffy asked. "Well, for starters, I need you guys to keep our two birthday princes busy with stuff out of the house up until their special day", Ichika explained, showing them a list written down on notepad paper. "And the rest of it I'll tell you later, because I think our time's up now". They parted just as Leo and Astra returned to the table, the latter with a very perplexed 'you lied' look on his face as he set the carton down on the table, while the former had a grave look as if somebody had just died. "Who was that on the phone"? Taro asked. "Gen and our cap's slick-ass ex-boyfriend", Leo murmured, sitting down and pouring Astra a glass of juice before doing it himself. "MAC's got two Kaiju on their radar". Ichika was about to take a sip of juice, but the moment she heard the word 'monster' her hand went slack and it was only a swift grab from Shin that saved the glass and its contents from crashing to the floor. Another Kaiju? It hadn't even been a week since the previous one and now two had appeared? What? Was there some kind of weird-ass magnet drawing every single Kaiju to Earth now? "Not that I could hear Gen saying much with that furball blathering in the background, but technically, its a Seijin and a Kaiju", Leo clarified, taking a sip of the pale yellow liquid in his glass to steady his nerves. "But according to him, the Seijin is one of his own kind". This time Ichika actually felt like she was going to faint. Another Alien Magma showing up? Damn, this was getting interesting. "Look, before anything else, is anyone dead yet"? Seven asked. "No but someone will be if he doesn't start spitting straight facts", Leo grumbled sharply. "I say we head over to MAC's headquarters right away. God knows what that furball has in his head, but it better be worth skipping brunch". "You do know we're going to have the same thing for dinner, right"? Ichika reminded him as she started to clear the table with Shin. The rest of the team headed upstairs to grab their gear while Shin loaded the dishwasher and Ichika helped the girls pack up on stuff to take with them to HQ. She then quickly texted her friend and stuffed a bag full of mineral water bottles, protein bars, a thermal blanket, glow sticks and a portable radio. This was going to be one heck of a day.