Since I wasn't a Saint, I decided to become a cook at the Royal Palace!

Chapter 01: The beginning of the end

---The end always comes so suddenly

"Ugh! Isn't she getting fat again?"

A high school boy purposely raised his voice as he picked up a soccer ball.
Beyond the line that marks the end of the schoolyard, there was a girl nearly out of sight that was going home.

"Oh! My! Is it even possible! ... She's already a pig! What would she become if she gets fatter?"

Through the wire mesh, a classmate, who saw the girl going home said, and they laughed out loud one more time when they saw more clearly her appearance, which was not flattering and not very stylish.

"But isn't there a rumor that she was a very beautiful girl in junior high school?"

"Yes, yes! Naoya even confessed to her, didn't you know?"
"What?? Don't you tell me! Seriously? ... I mean, that is a scam, a scam! Poor Naoya"
"Yeah, I'm not sure he regrets it now but what to do..." he said, frowning as he threw up the ball again.
"If she would still be a beautiful girl, he might have been called a rejected but brave man. However, the reality is very different now."
"It is must be a black mark on his history now. Hahaha!"
"I can hear you." Rina muttered, seemingly unconcerned.

She didn't say it anything because she knew they were right about that her weight wasn't the same as before, but this change wasn't because of stress for keeping a perfect appearance that leaded to a distorted view of herself, a broken heart or something like that, as everybody seemed to think when they saw her.

She used to be a healthy girl, it's true.
Rina used to love cooking delicious and healthy for her family....
But before she knew, the only way she found to stop the pain she felt, as if running away from her past, was eating... overeating.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

That day, it suddenly happened....
It happened on the way back home from a family trip to a near beach to celebrate my High School entrance.

".... Sis, are you listening?"

I heard my brother's slightly sulky voice coming from next to me.

"Maybe I was a little asleep." I said with a smile.

Thanks to my brother's urging, I was playing in the sea all the morning, so my body was still a bit dull.

"...."

My brother, who puffed out his cheeks and sulked because of what I said, was so cute ...

He said, "I've had to be dragging you around all the day .... and playing in the sea by myself, I'm so tired. Ufff! And it is you the one sleeping?"

My mother, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car, looked a little troubled to him and said, "I don't know what should we cook today... Kids, what would you two like?"

"...ummmm...well, make some omelets with rice when we get home, okay?"

"..."

I giggled at my brother's serious gaze, as if they were discussing a dead of life matter.

"How much do you love omelet-rice...?"

I want to pat my brother head who was asking for omelet-rice... Is he so cute, isn't he?.

"Aah!　Look, big sister, it's a car with no roof!"

When I looked at the bridge that cross over the river, a white car with loud music playing, was driving on the left side of the road.

"It's...cool."

My father, who was driving, said.

"Hey!　Let's borrow a car like that someday! We'll ride it next time we come to the beach!"

My brother said, sounding aroused - "Even if we can't afford to buy it, it's possible to borrow it for a day or two, right?".
My little brother was happy with the thought of doing that, like going in some kind of epic adventure.

"Oh, that's nice. And wouldn't it feel nice to drive in the road next to the ocean with the dawn as background? Mmm, so magic"

My mother was not very convinced before but after seeing my little brother expression, decided to play along.

That was when my father voice echoed in the car.

---what-!

A violent shock.... A frenetic movement.....
I didn't know what had happened.
The only thing I knew was there was one red car...
I wondered why we were so close wit---
The next thing I knew, was that my body--- I was assaulted by an intense pain and feeling of suffocation.

---Air. I need air

Water creeped into my mouth.

So I finally realized that I had fallen into the river.

I struggled, desperately seeking air, and stepped out of the broken window. Up and up and up, trying to reach that light....

So, I notice.... My family was still in the car........ My brother was trying reach his hand out to me...........

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

One day....
Several days after.....
I finally escaped the pain and suffering I was feeling and woke up.....
The unfamiliar white curtains were fluttering and blowing in the wind.
Yes, it wasn't a house, it was a hospital room.
Then I realized.
The fact that I don't have a family to laugh with anymore....

My father liked to have a night out with the alcoholic beverages I would make.

My mother would eat anything and everything of what I prepare and say that it's delicious.

My brother was particularly fond of the omelet rice, which I often made at his insistence.

　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

---Brrr.

A cool breeze brushed against her cheek.
Before Rina knew it, she had stopped walking.

"I still feel like my family is here."

"Will my family come to pick me up someday? Why I'm the only one left?"

"Hey I did a great job surviving, didn't I?"

"Can I go there now...?"

Rina touched her own cheek as if wanting to think they were answering to her.

"..."

A warm light spread out in front of her, gently enveloping Rina.

"Yes!　It's the light... Thanks! We'll be happy together again! It will bring my happiness back."

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Somehow ...it was the beginning of the "Calling" of happiness for her.