The eyes of Tamura Akiko are blessed.
Some lovingly reference ginko leaves, chrysanthemums; others bitterly reference topaz.
She thinks of lemon macrons and the glow of a lamp, as childish as she is.
Her fiance references the rising sun, amber, a...
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"Akiko-san, Akiko-san! Have you heard?"
Said physician turns to look down at the three girls, mid walk down the hallway to the medical ward. Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho have a light blush on their face and sparkles dancing around them, and Akiko can only wonder what's gotten the girls to be so happy.
"Tanjirou-san can do the full concentration breathing all the time now!" Kiyo bursts out, and Akiko widens her eyes in surprise.
"Really now?"
"Mhm!" Naho this time, "he broke the big gourd!"
"Th- The big gourd?!" Akiko stumbles, and Sumi helps Akiko stay standing. Akiko can only break the small gourds at the moment, and she's been at it for quite a while...
"We're on our way to make him some rice balls to congratulate him! Would you like to join?" Sumi then asks, and Akiko trips over her feet again. Kiyo has to help her this time.
Akiko looks at the girls warily, "Me? I don't know how to cook..."
Naho giggles before she pushes her from behind, Kiyo and Sumi dragging her an arm each.
"That's alright! Food from a loved one always tastes better, so we'll teach you!"
It takes.... A whole day.
Akiko's never cooked in her life before, and her respect for Kanon grows immensely. The rice is always either under or over cooked, and Akiko isn't used to the hot rice and drops it out of pure reaction.
She'd never add in enough salt and it'd turn out bland, and to counter this she accidentally added toomuch salt and drank a few glasses of water to rid the taste from her mouth.
The girls thought that Akiko's rice balls would end up bigger than their's since her hands are bigger, but Akiko ends up making rather small rice balls. That,s and they're of various sizes. But she completes them, and the girls finish by adding the plum on the back.
Akiko can hear the crickets chirping outside, and the air is humid so she continues to sweat at night. Sumi, Naho, and Kiyo give her a thumbs up and she leaves the room with her tray of rice balls and a glass of water.
She quietly knocks on the door of the medical ward before peeking her head in, "Tanjirou? Are you still awake?"
He's not.
Tanjirou is completely knocked out, performing the full concentration breathing in his sleep and allowing his body to finally rest.
Akiko can't be all to upset, really. It's the dead of night and Tanjirou's already eaten dinner. He's been working hard the past couple of days, and Akiko would rather he sleep than have to subject himself to eat her awful cooking.
She sighs, standing by his bedside with the tray of rice balls. There's no other choice for her but to take them back to the kitchen and eat them in pity, else they go bad.
