"I'm home..."
The Nohara family's front door opened, and a weak, exhausted voice drifted in from outside.
"It's supposed to be 'I'm back,'" Misae corrected from the kitchen. She stuck her head out, took one look at Shin-chan covered in dirt, and jumped in surprise. "Oh my gosh, how did you end up like that?"
For once, Shin-chan didn't charge straight for the snacks. Instead, he slowly shuffled over to the dining table, plopped into a chair, and collapsed face-first onto it.
"Mom."
"What is it?"
"I'm tired."
Misae walked over and touched his forehead. "Was training that hard?"
Shin-chan buried his face in his arms and muttered, "That thick-eyebrowed guy made me do handstands, push-ups, frog jumps, tree climbing, and kept talking about youth and limits. I'm totally wiped out."
Misae couldn't help laughing. "Well, training your body is a good thing, isn't it?"
"No." Shin-chan lifted his head with a very serious expression. "Mom, let me tell you, being a kid is really troublesome. I can't refuse people at all."
"Hm?"
"If you promise someone something, you have to do it, or they'll feel sad." Shin-chan sighed. "But if I do it, then I'm the one who ends up really tired."
Misae froze for a second.
"So... you promised them you'd keep training with them?"
Shin-chan nodded. "When Guy cries, he looks so pitiful. I just couldn't bring myself to say no."
Looking at her son's dirty little face, Misae suddenly felt warmth rise in her chest.
This kid might fool around all the time, but when it really mattered, he was actually pretty dependable.
"Shin-chan, wait here."
Misae turned and went into the kitchen. When she came back out, she was carrying a plate.
The plate was piled high with chocolate sticks.
Shin-chan's eyes lit up instantly. "Chocolate sticks!"
"Today was your first day of school, so I was already planning to celebrate for you." Misae set the plate down in front of him. "And now you get an extra reward too, because you kept your promise."
Shin-chan stared at the chocolate sticks, practically drooling.
"And there's more." Misae went back into the kitchen again and came out carrying dish after dish—fried shrimp, hamburger steak, miso soup, rice—until the whole table was full.
"Whoa!" Shin-chan's eyes went round. "What kind of day is it today?"
"We're celebrating your first day of school, of course." Misae sat down and smiled at him. "Even though your dad's away on a mission, we should still celebrate properly."
Shin-chan picked up his chopsticks, looked at the feast on the table, and suddenly asked, "Mom, when's Dad coming back?"
"Probably in a few days." Misae patted his head. "Why? Missing him?"
Shin-chan thought about it. "Not really. I just want him to see that I did push-ups today."
Misae couldn't help laughing. "When your dad gets back, you can put on a demonstration for him."
"Okay!" Shin-chan stuffed a fried shrimp into his mouth in one bite. "Mmm, so good."
"Slow down. No one's going to steal it from you."
Shin-chan devoured everything, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's.
Outside the window, the moon rose.
Night in Konoha was quiet and warm.
Early the next morning.
Misae was busy in the kitchen, cracking eggs while glancing at the clock on the wall every so often.
6:50.
She set down her chopsticks, wiped her hands, and headed toward the bedroom.
Yesterday, Shin-chan had gone off training with that Might Duy guy and come back filthy from head to toe. He'd seemed energetic enough during dinner, but this morning, he was definitely going to be sore all over and unable to get up.
Thinking that, Misae pushed open the bedroom door.
A little lump bulged under the blankets, slowly wriggling.
"Shin-chan?" she called tentatively.
"Mmm..." came a muffled reply from under the blanket.
"You're awake?"
"Mmm..."
Misae walked over and yanked the blanket off in one go.
Shin-chan was curled up like a shrimp, eyes squeezed shut, a familiar strand of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth—exactly the same as yesterday morning.
"Shin-chan, wake up." Misae gave him a nudge.
"Mmm... five more minutes..."
"Don't you feel sore?"
Shin-chan cracked one eye open and looked at her blearily. "Sore? What sore?"
"You trained for so long yesterday. Don't your arms and legs hurt?"
Shin-chan blinked, as if only just now processing the question. Slowly, he sat up, stretched, rolled his shoulders, and kicked out his legs a couple of times.
The movements were smooth. His expression stayed calm.
Misae watched him nervously. "Well?"
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it, then yawned. "Nope, doesn't hurt."
"What?"
"I'm just sleepy." After saying that, Shin-chan started burrowing back under the blanket. "Mom, five more minutes."
Misae grabbed the back of his collar in one swift motion. "No. Get up!"
"Wow, so violent."
"Quit talking back!"
"But I'm really sleepy."
A vein popped on Misae's forehead. "I'm counting to three. One, two—"
Shin-chan didn't move. He even closed his eyes again.
"Three!"
Misae hauled him right out of bed by the back of his shirt like an unruly kitten.
Shin-chan dangled in midair, eyes still closed. "Mom, if you keep holding me like this, I can still sleep."
"You need to wake up properly."
Misae set him down on the floor. Shin-chan stood there for two seconds, and then his body slowly began to tilt sideways.
Just as he was about to flop right back onto the floor, Misae caught him.
"Nohara Shinnosuke!"
"Yes?"
"Are you getting up or not?!"
Shin-chan opened his eyes and looked innocent. "I am getting up. My body just doesn't want to."
Misae took a deep breath.
This familiar conversation. This familiar scene. This familiar spike in blood pressure.
Five minutes later, Shin-chan had managed to put on his red shirt and yellow shorts—except both were on backwards.
Misae turned them around and dressed him properly all over again.
Another five minutes later, Shin-chan had brushed his teeth—though there was still a blob of toothpaste foam hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Misae wiped it off with a towel.
Five minutes after that, Shin-chan had washed his face—though there was foam splattered all over the mirror.
Misae couldn't even be bothered to wipe it down anymore.
"Alright, breakfast!" Misae pushed Shin-chan toward the dining table.
Shin-chan sat down, looked at the eggs, bread, and milk in front of him, and suddenly asked, "Mom, are there any bell peppers today?"
"Why would there be bell peppers for breakfast?"
"Good." Shin-chan relaxed and started eating.
Misae watched him from the side, the more she looked, the more unbelievable it seemed. The kid had trained that hard yesterday, and yet today he was still lively and bouncing around.
"Shin-chan, you really don't hurt anywhere?" Misae couldn't help asking again.
With his mouth full of rice, Shin-chan mumbled, "Mmm... nope... just sleepy..."
"How is that possible? You did so much exercise yesterday."
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought for a moment, then swallowed the food in his mouth. "Maybe it's because I'm not made out of muscles?"
"Then what are you made out of?"
"I'm made out of chocolate sticks."
Misae's mouth twitched. For a moment, she genuinely had no idea how to respond.
~~~
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