Volume 12 Prologue (1/2)
Prologue
Today, Kusanagi G.o.dou got up at 6 A.M. in the morning.
Already accustomed since childhood to a routine of ”early to bed, early to
rise,” getting out of bed this early was no particular challenge.
Seeing as the day was the fifteenth, December was already halfway
through and the chilly morning air was quite unbearable. Nevertheless,
G.o.dou mustered his spirit to ignore the cold and threw open the blankets.
Next was a contest of speed. G.o.dou hastily changed and got dressed.
Fastening his jogging training wear, he slid his door open to enter the
hallway.
His little sister s.h.i.+zuka should still be asleep in the adjacent room. Taking
care to avoid making noise, G.o.dou made his way to the bathroom
downstairs to freshen up and make himself presentable. Then he went to
the kitchen for a gla.s.s of water before heading to the entrance.
After putting on his running shoes, G.o.dou took off.
The surroundings were still very dark because the sun rose quite late this
time of the year. Even so, the sky would brighten up during his daily
jogging routine.
Looking up at the sky, very few clouds could be seen. Today was
apparently going to be a comfortable clear winter day.
”Well, let's get started.”
After sufficient stretching, G.o.dou muttered to himself, his breath white
against the cold winter air.
Starting off with a slow jog, he gradually picked up the pace.
Originally an athlete and presently still leading a life requiring physical
exertion, G.o.dou had never made an explicit decision to train his stamina.
Oh well, this was purely explained by his disposition towards an active
lifestyle.
Thus, he went jogging today as usual, adhering to his routine as if were his
daily homework.
G.o.dou decided on a suitable path as he jogged. After his jogging took him
beyond the shopping street at Area 3 of Nezu, he would head towards
Kototoi Bridge. Continuing further all the way to Ueno Park might not be a
bad idea either.
Seeing as it was a midwinter morning, the weather was naturally very cold.
But regardless, the body warmed up rapidly anyway.
For G.o.dou who was already well accustomed to this, the icy and refres.h.i.+ng
air felt rather comfortable instead.
”Running every morning sure can put a person in a good mood. There is
the fresh air and no people around to get in my way.”
After muttering to himself, G.o.dou went ”Huh?” with uncertainty.
Come to think of it, his recent jogging had all taken place during night or
dusk. Because he needed to complete a daily task that had evolved into
something like routine business, time had to be taken out of his mornings...
”But today, I went jogging like this...”
G.o.dou continued running with a brisk tempo, deciding to ignore this doubt.
If he could not recall what it was, then it probably was not very important in
the first place.
The Kusanagi residence was an ancient wooden house and former
second-hand bookstore.
Having returned home, G.o.dou was pa.s.sing by the kitchen when he
discovered his sister.
”Yo.”
”You're supposed to say good morning, Onii-chan.”
”We've been siblings for more than a decade, so this is good enough.”
This was G.o.dou's first conversation with his little sister this morning, taking
place as she stood wide awake before the gas stove, preparing the miso
soup.
Today was s.h.i.+zuka's turn for cooking duties. The little sister, a third year
middle schooler who attended Jounan Academy together with G.o.dou, was
currently tasting the miso soup using a small dish. She made a suffering
expression.
”Hmm...”
”It tastes bad?”
”Of course not. Simply dissolving miso paste in boiling water is enough to
achieve this taste. But compared to what Grandpa makes, it is rather bad.”
”From the fact that he prepares the soup stock by simmering dried bonito
fish, you can already tell how particular he is about paying attention to
details.”
Right now, s.h.i.+zuka was using miso stock manufactured by a major brand.
On the other hand, Grandpa Kusanagi Ichirou, the one who usually took on
all cooking duties, was a proponent of white miso. Furthermore, he
frequently used hand-made miso of exquisite quality that was sent by a
”friendly lady” who resided in s.h.i.+nshuu or somewhere like that.