Team Harmonize
"So, what did you learn today?" Amy asked as she set me down.
I rubbed my face with my arm while shielding my plate. Amy's hand was still hovering dangerously close to it.
"Okay, okay. I won't eat it."
"Really?" I glared at her suspiciously.
She let out a soft chuckle and sat down next to me.
"I heard you learned all sorts of things from Rain?"
"Yes. It was incredibly tough training," I nodded, stuffing a piece of pork cutlet into my mouth. The anxiety of having my food stolen instantly melted away, replaced by pure bliss.
"And Shine trained with Victor?"
"Yeah."
Right, Shine. I lowered the fork I was holding in my mouth and turned to her. "Shine, what did you learn from Victor?"
"Stuff."
I wanted a more detailed explanation, but Shine didn't say another word. The last strand of spaghetti vanished into her mouth. She flicked her tongue out, trying to lick the red sauce smeared all over her lips. Watching this, Amy pulled a tissue from the dispenser on the table and wiped Shine's mouth.
"Mmmph..."
"Hold still."
Shine shook her head from side to side in protest, but there was no escaping Amy's grasp. Once Shine's mouth was completely clean, Amy planted a loud, wet kiss on her cheek.
"Mm." Shine rubbed her cheeks and lowered her head.
"Shall we head out if everyone's done?" Amy asked, looking around at us. I shoved the last piece of pork cutlet into my mouth and nodded. Victor and Rain had also completely cleared their plates.
"Jeff can't go yet."
"Huh?"
"We still have training left to do," Rain said, picking up her plate as she stood. My face fell, but I nodded miserably. Since I hadn't finished the training quota she'd set for today, we had agreed to do the rest after dinner. But...
I grabbed Amy's arm. "Amy..." I wondered if I really had to go this far, but my body, which had just endured a grueling workout, was screaming for rest. My limbs felt like lead; I knew the moment I washed up and hit the bed, I'd pass out instantly.
"What is it?"
"I want to stop for today."
"Jeff, shouldn't you be asking Rain, not me?" Amy replied, shaking her head. A wave of realization washed over me, and I nodded. Because Amy seemed like the boss of everyone, I had naturally turned to her first.
"Um, Rain?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we skip the rest of today's training?"
"Hmm..." Rain set her plate down and crossed her arms. I stared imploringly at the little chick as she pondered deeply. Tilting her head as she met my desperate gaze, she finally gave in.
"Fine. Since it's the first day, we'll call it here."
"Yay!" I immediately threw my arms up in celebration. The dinosaur hood on my head slipped off, sending my white hair dancing in all directions. This was great. No more grueling training. I rushed over to Rain and gave her a tight hug. Startled, her arms flailed in the air for a moment, but she soon giggled and hugged me back. She was wearing her fluffy pajamas, so hugging her felt incredibly cozy.
After our satisfying meal, we returned to our room. Victor went back to his own quarters, but Rain tagged along with us.
"Nn-ggh!" Once inside, Amy stretched to loosen up her stiff muscles, her long limbs extending fully. I watched her with envy. If I were that tall, I wouldn't need a step stool just to brush my teeth. I didn't think I'd ever used one in the past, but now, the stool had become an all-too-familiar part of my life.
"Mm."
"Jeff." While I was lost in thought, Shine took my hand and led me to the table. Rain, Shine, and me—the three of us sat around it. I looked back at Amy with anticipation. Noticing my gaze, Amy smiled softly and headed to the refrigerator. She pulled out various fruits: bananas, apples, and pears. And then, the dreaded broccoli. I loved sweet fruits, but I absolutely hated the broccoli she brought out last. It tasted awful.
A moment later, Amy set a plate of neatly sliced fruit in front of us. She then handed each of us a fork.
"What is this?"
"It's a bear-paw fork." It was a truly bizarre-looking utensil. Shaped like sharp bear claws, it nevertheless performed its duty perfectly. A bear claw stabbed an apple slice, which was promptly guided into the mouth of the Shine-dinosaur. I toyed with the strange fork before skewering a banana.
"Rain, how is Jeff's condition?"
"Everything's fine, but she severely lacks muscle." At Rain's words, I squeezed my own arm. Beneath the dinosaur pajamas, my arm felt incredibly thin. I really didn't have any muscle.
"Should we adjust her diet?"
"Yeah. I think that would be best for now."
"Really?" Overhearing their conversation, I bounced in my seat with excitement and drummed on the table. *Thump, thump!* My short dinosaur arms danced joyfully.
"I think we should increase her chicken breast intake."
I liked chicken breast. It was dry, but it wouldn't be a problem if I drizzled it with the pork cutlet sauce I'd secretly swiped from the cafeteria. The chef we'd befriended a while back always handed us whatever we needed whenever Shine and I visited.
"Then we should probably reduce the proportion of vegetables."
I wanted to feed those tasteless weeds to Jean's rabbit. Regardless, having fewer greens and more meat in my lunchbox was a wonderful development.
"Are you that happy?"
"Yes!" I nodded vigorously at Amy's question. I was in a fantastic mood.
"Me too. I hate weeds." Shine, who usually ate her lunchbox without complaint, chimed in.
"Alright, I'll pack plenty of meat for you too, Shine."
"So you hated vegetables too, Shine."
"If Jeff hates them, I hate them too."
"Then, what about the things I like...?"
"I like them too." After answering my question, Shine began aggressively stabbing and eating apples with her bear-paw fork. I felt Rain's strange gaze on us. She looked back and forth between Shine and me, then suddenly flinched when she noticed me watching her, quickly stuffing her mouth with bananas. Her puffed-up cheeks twitched. I couldn't let myself lose. I used my bear-claw fork to furiously stab and eat the kiwi slices. After a frantic eating frenzy, the fruit plate was soon empty. Shine, Rain, and I warily eyed one another. With the fruit gone, only the broccoli remained. No one at this table liked broccoli.
"Why don't you eat it, Rain?"
"I think it's only right that I, as the oldest, yield to you guys."
"No way. Rain looks the youngest."
"I am not! I'm an adult!" Shine started bickering with Rain. Judging by appearances alone, there didn't seem to be much of an age gap between them. Letting out a small sigh, I skewered a piece of broccoli with my bear-claw fork.
"Let's eat one each first." There were five pieces of broccoli left in total. "We'll eat one each, and then play rock-paper-scissors. The winner doesn't have to eat the rest."
"Fine."
"Okay."
They both nodded, satisfied with my proposal. The three of us popped a piece of broccoli into our mouths at the same time. The bizarre texture was one thing, but the smell was truly unbearable. Shine, Rain, and I all chewed with miserable, tearful faces.
"Finished?"
"Yeah."
A strange tension filled the air. There were three pieces of broccoli left. Only the winner of this match could escape the green menace.
"Rock..." At my cue, everyone readied their hands. I immediately channeled my ability. *Crackle!* A faint sound buzzed in my ears as a wide electromagnetic field expanded, covering the entire table. Now that I had learned how to utilize my powers from Victor, I was confident I could beat anyone in the world at rock-paper-scissors.
"Paper..." The tension reached its peak. The three of us exchanged glances. Shine, me, and Rain. Swallowing hard, I gave the final signal.
"Scissors!" Our hands thrust forward. The electromagnetic field I'd deployed read Shine's and Rain's movements. Rain's movement registered first—she was throwing rock. My body reacted instantly to the signals sent in increments of 0.01 seconds. In a three-way game of rock-paper-scissors, you're guaranteed to win if you just counter one person. I targeted Rain. Alright, bring it on, Rain. You're eating that broccoli. Her tiny, clenched fist shot forward. In a fraction of a second, my hand unfurled into paper—the perfect counter to rock. Just as I was certain of my victory, my eyes met Shine's. She was smiling. Smiling? In this split second? A brief silence. In that fleeting moment, my vision flickered. As if a sudden blackout had hit, the entire world plunged into pitch blackness before instantly snapping back to light.
"Huh?" I blinked. Both Rain and I had thrown paper.
"I win." Rain and I turned our heads at the same time toward Shine, who was sitting next to me. She had thrown scissors—the winning counter to paper.
"Uh..." I nodded hesitantly. Either way, I had lost. I hadn't been able to read Shine's movements, but since she possessed the same abilities as me, she was probably capable of reacting even faster than I could.
"Wait, did I lose?" Rain stared at her hand in disbelief. "Why did I throw paper?" Clenching her fist tightly, she looked utterly bewildered. I let out a sigh and reached out with my fork to stab a piece of broccoli. The dull squish of the fork sinking into it made me dread the texture that would soon fill my mouth.
"You have to eat it too, Rain."
"Oh... right." Rain accepted her defeat. Since the two of us had lost, we had to eat the broccoli. Shine, the victor, crossed her arms with a mysterious smile, thoroughly enjoying our misery.
"Hurry up and eat."
"Okay..." Rain and I popped the broccoli into our mouths with gloomy expressions. It tasted absolutely dreadful.
"Are you all finished?"
"Yes," I replied. Amy, who had been typing away on her laptop at a small desk, asked us. Her gaze swept over the table. "Take the empty plate to the sink, and then all of you go brush your teeth."
"Okay~" Holding the large plate with both hands, I hopped down from my chair. I almost tripped over the long dinosaur tail hanging off the back of my pajamas, but fortunately, I managed to keep my balance. Stupid tail. I gave the tail a firm stomp before heading to the sink. Why did we even have to brush our teeth? With how advanced science was, shouldn't there be some kind of pill that cleans your mouth in one go? All the products currently on the market had such mediocre results.
"Today is strawberry-flavored toothpaste." The three of us headed to the bathroom and grabbed our toothbrushes. Pink toothpaste was squeezed onto our cute, colorful toothbrushes. After squeezing some out for the other two, I turned around and gave my toothpaste a quick lick. It was sweet enough to pass as candy. The toothpaste was actually quite delicious. But I couldn't swallow it. The last time I had squeezed a mouthful of chocolate-flavored toothpaste and eaten it, Amy had scolded me terribly. Summoning superhuman self-control, I put the strawberry toothpaste back in its place.