"Yesterday, multiple cities witnessed deep-purple light flashing across the sky, while the dark clouds over City C vanished instantly. Next, we'll ask a meteorological expert to explain this phenomenon."
Meteorological expert: "Regarding that deep-purple light, I don't think it looked as good as blue, because blue is my favorite color..."
"Okay. Throw the expert out."
"..."
Tatsumaki turned off the television and took the toothbrush out of her mouth.
Her original plan had been to observe Yimi for a few days and send her to school once she was sure there was no danger.
But now she wanted to send Yimi to school immediately. Right this second.
Following her gaze, Yimi was lying upside down on the sofa with her legs propped over the backrest, playing her handheld console in a baffling position.
This opponent called "Easy CPU" actually had some skill. Yimi had needed several tries before she finally beat it.
Only when Tatsumaki came out of the bathroom did Yimi sit up normally. "Didn't you say, you'd buy me a new game console?"
"What, one isn't enough for you?"
Yesterday had already driven Tatsumaki crazy. Even after she bought a new bed, Yimi still crawled under her blankets.
"If there's another one, we can play together."
Yimi had discovered something called multiplayer. The System no longer taught her swear words, but it still explained simple terms like this.
"I'm very busy. Where would I find time to play games with you?" Tatsumaki made the box Yimi had opened float into the air.
Yimi hurriedly hugged her arm. "Don't throw it away."
"What? Is there still something inside?"
"Mm."
Yimi took a sheet of Bubble Wrap from the box. This was her bonus toy.
What a child.
Tatsumaki walked to the full-length mirror, tugged her pants down slightly to check, and saw that the red marks were already gone. Her recovery really was quite good.
She casually handed Yimi some spending money. "Order delivery for lunch yourself. The numbers are all written on the table."
"Head pat." Yimi leaned her head over for Tatsumaki to pet, offering it as payment for the spending money.
"Now you're acting spoiled?"
Tatsumaki reached out and patted her head, then changed back into that witch-and-qipao hybrid outfit and flew away.
Why was she wearing that outfit again?
Yimi thought back. From beginning to end, she had only ever seen Tatsumaki wear three outfits. The other two were casual clothes and pajamas. That was normal enough, since they had not spent many days together, but even a young kitten thought normal people should not wear clothes like that all the time.
Putting down the game console, Yimi pattered into Tatsumaki's bedroom. When she opened the wardrobe, she found an entire row of identical black outfits slit all the way up to the waist.
Could she not afford any other clothes?
Yimi closed the wardrobe and flew out the window just like Tatsumaki. Tatsumaki had lost the key to this home long ago.
Tatsumaki was a total dumbass, but at least she had bought Yimi shoes.
Without checking a map or asking for directions, Yimi relied entirely on her EX-rank Luck to wander straight to the store she wanted and slapped her spending money onto the counter.
"I want to buy, fabric."
The shopkeeper rubbed her hands together. "Oh my, are you running an errand for your parents? How impressive. What kind do you need? Did Mom and Dad tell you the measurements?"
"This one, and this one, then this one, and lace trim. Measurements..." Yimi chose black and white because those were her own two colors.
"Sorry, little one, but you don't quite have enough money. Why don't you go home and talk to your family about bringing a little more?"
"This is all I have."
Tatsumaki had only given her enough money for lunch.
Asuna had taught Yimi how to choose colors and judge the quality of fabric. The materials Yimi liked were all quite good.
"Mm."
For humans, hunting meant going to work and earning the money they needed to live.
Yimi had little understanding of prices. Earlier in this world, she had spent all her time living with Fubuki in a place where the cost of living was not especially high.
If she used Famine's power, the transaction would be forcibly completed in whatever way she considered fair.
"Little one, you've picked some of the most expensive materials. Why not ask your guardian to come over? It would be better to have an adult choose this kind of thing."
Yimi gripped the edge of the counter and looked up into the gently smiling shopkeeper's eyes. Then she moved her hand away and chose not to use the ability.
* * *
"Why have there been so few monsters lately?"
Muttering to herself, Tatsumaki flew home through the window and immediately saw a mess that made her blood pressure spike.
Uncleaned fabric scraps were everywhere. She had no idea what that damn brat had cut up, but in any case, Tatsumaki was beginning to understand why raising a child was bad for the heart.
She flexed her fingers as if preparing a slap and used psychokinesis to lift the scraps from the floor, only to discover a genuinely pretty little dress among them.
It was a cute Black-and-White Dress, the highest-level piece Yimi could make. With the help of SAO Adaptive Power, it was not actually that difficult. A dress that would normally take multiple stages of work could be made using only needle, thread, and her two hands.
"Welcome home." Yimi greeted her the way Fubuki had taught her, staring fixedly at Tatsumaki.
"Don't tell me you made this." Tatsumaki waved the Black-and-White Dress in her hand.
"This is for you to wear. And yesterday's underwear too."
There was no need to worry about sizing. In a game, as long as the size was roughly right, it would somehow fit once worn.
"No way I'm wearing it." Tatsumaki put the dress down with obvious distaste.
She was twenty-eight years old. How could she possibly wear a little-girl-style dress like this?
"You know needlework too? Fubuki didn't teach you, right?" Fubuki always bought designer brands when she shopped. She definitely would not have learned to make clothes herself.
"Asuna taught me."
Tatsumaki did not recognize the name, but that did not stop her from thinking of the half of a corpse she had dug out from beneath the rubble when they first met.
She stretched like a cat and looked for the remote so she could check the latest news as usual, only to discover that the television was already on and playing a currently popular anime.
Child-Raising Blood Pressure Spike Number Two: "You've got a game console and you're still hogging the TV. Seriously, you should hurry up and go to school."
Yimi's ears drooped. "The game console, I pawned it."
"Pawned what?"
"I didn't have enough money for the cloth. She said I could leave something with her first and get it back when I had enough money to pay for the cloth." Yimi had wanted to leave the pot with her, but the shopkeeper would not take it.
At first the shopkeeper had said even a key would work as collateral, but Tatsumaki had never given Yimi a key to the apartment. Yimi had also been carried away in the middle of the night and had not brought the key to Fubuki's home.
Tatsumaki turned into a crude doodle version of herself and pointed at Yimi contemptuously. "Are you an idiot? I've never bought fabric, but that game console could probably buy a hundred pieces of cloth!"
"She said she'd give it back."
"And you believe her just because she said so? Hurry up and get it back, idiot! Kids are kids. How can you be this stupid?" Tatsumaki rummaged through her wallet.
"I made you pretty clothes and you're still calling me stupid, you stinky small fry!" Yimi wasn't going to let that insult slide.
"What did you say? I gave you spending money too!"
The shopkeeper was a good person. Yimi got the game console back.
* * *
The next day.
Tatsumaki, who had not received a call in quite some time, muttered in confusion, "There really have been a lot fewer monsters. Well, I guess that's a good thing. At least I'll have time to handle my own business."
Child Emperor happened to pass by and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Little Tatsumaki? Is today some special day? Why are you dressed so nicely?"
"I can dress like this if I want! What's it got to do with you, shorty?!"
"..."