The disappearance of the mouse had upset my younger brother greatly, But like most young children his emotions were unstable, and soon after being soothed by my mother he was asleep on the mattress next to me.
His soft breathing lulled me into a meditative state,
[I guess brothers can be cute when they are like this.]
Her brother had the same brown hair like her father, and in general, looked more like her father. Although, he did have Kotori's mother's eyes.
In this time period, her mother had begun to prepare dinner with a small pot. It seemed she was making a thin congee filled with mostly vegetables. There was a little salt added as well. Although the congress was simple, there must have been a little ginger inside because it greatly warmed Kotori's stomach and she was grateful for eating anything at all.
Incidentally, her brother had already woken up was eating with her as well. He seemed to pick at his food while avoiding the major chunks of vegetables that were in it. It was a funny sight watching him balance a small wooden bowl in stubby fingers and use the utensils.
"Ryuji eat your vegetables" Her mother chided
"Don't wanna" Ryuji said
Her mother flashed him a sharp glare "Don't make me force it down your throat"
"Eep!" Ryuji yelped and began to obediently eat his vegetables.
Kotori seeing the scene was reminiscing
[Ah reminds me of my old mother]
When she was younger, like most children Kotori also hated vegetables. She had never really grown out of her dislike of them but was at least able to eat them to not look childish. Kotori was through and through a carnivore and thus still felt a bit of longing towards meat right now. The image of a hamburger steak flashed in her mind. Though she was aware that it was unlikely she was even going to get it. She tried to ask anyway
"Hey Mama, When do we get to eat meat"
"Meat? How do you know about that" Her mother said surprised "Kotori-chan you're too young to eat it"
"What do you mean! I'm already old enough to eat on my own"
Kotori was confused by what kind of crazy world meant that a 5-year-old couldn't eat meat.
"Hush, You'll be able to eat meat soon enough when you find a nice man to marry, or when you become 16"
It was through this conversation that Kotori realized that meat was a rare commodity for commoners. It seemed like it was something prepared for only the most important occasions of a peasant's life. Like coming of age or marriage
[Though 16 to be considered an adult? that seems a little young.]
In the world Kotori had come from, people became legal adults at 18 years of age.
Kotori thought it was weird until she considered the fact, that in this world, it was likely that people needed to come of age faster especially with higher mortality rates.
[Curse you, Gabriel!]
Once again, she was stuck with the reality of how utterly hopeless her life was.
She quickly finished her food and set the bowl down. Everybody else had also finished eating. And seemed to be waiting for something to happen
Her father pulled out a small reed flute and began to play it. Surprisingly, Kotori realized that her father was quite good at it. Her father's hands which were thick and calloused from farmwork deftly played a small tune on the small reed flute.
He played light and jovial melody which made the heavy atmosphere of the small house seemed to light up.
[So we at least have some entertainment]
"What song is that papa?" She asked
Sato Hikki looked at his cute daughter "Oh I don't know"
"What?!?" Kotori looked at her father in amazement "Who taught you?"
Her mother butted in
"Kotori-chan didn't we tell you that your father was once accepted to train at the royal music academy," Her mother said
"Well I was only there for a couple of years since I couldn't pay tuition," her father said smiling sheepishly
"As for the song," her father replied "I just make them up as I go"
It was then Kotori realized her father was actually a bonafide musical genius. Being able to simply make up a song on the fly was something that normal musicians would not be able to do.
"Can you teach me!" She asked excitedly
Kotori, in truth, had always wanted to learn an instrument but had never gotten the chance to. She saw this as an opportunity to finally do something she always wanted to in her past life. She was excited to learn from somebody like her father who was a musical genius.
"Of course," Her father said, Sato Hikki was a man who couldn't deny a request like that from his smiling daughter
"Your father even performs for Count Derkin sometimes," her mother said
"Count Derkin?" Kotori said confused
"I guess you've never met him before," her father said "Don't worry Count Derkin is a nice man, his taxes are fair and he rarely bothers the peasants. Although, I'm not sure you want to meet him"
[I see so this world is under some kind of feudal system]
Kotori wondered why her father showed hesitancy toward letting her see the Count especially when he just described the Count as a nice man.
Her father played a few more tunes
He kept playing until eventually, her brother interrupted him
"Papa, play the one!"
Her father who was still in the middle of a song stopped playing, lowering his flute. He asked "Ryuji you aren't tired of that song yet? you ask me to play it every time"
"It's my favorite. I want to hear it again!" her bother said
Her father sighed and then smiled. He picked up his flute and began playing a different song. This one was much different than the others, it almost seemed to hum in the air.
[Hmm? What's this]
Kotori knew something was immediately different and once her father finished the tune she quickly asked him
"Hey papa what was that," she asked
"Ah, that was a song with magic," Kotori thought back to her father's status. He did indeed have some mana. Although, it didn't seem like much.
"Can you teach me that?" She asked,
"Well," her father said, "it's not something you can learn really easily. It took me two years at the academy to just do that little"
Kotori was saddened it seemed like she would be stuck playing normal tunes unless she put in a large amount of effort and she wasn't sure she could be that dedicated.
Her father played a few more tunes after that.
Although, it seemed that playing the short song infused with mana had made him quite tired and soon he stopped. Afterward, everybody piled onto the same straw mat to settle down for the night. It seemed that this was a culture where everybody slept together instead of separately.
[Not that there was any space to sleep separately in this small cramped house anyway.]
As Kotori laid on the mat she wondered as to what the next day would hold and how she would possibly make back her karma. The magical song gave her much excitement and made her want to see more of the world.