Though it had been an extremely turbulent day, the soldiers managed to reign in the insanity revolving around the six Ms and swiftly explained and taught them how to eat using cutlery like human beings. None of the soldiers had ever imagined that a day would come when they needed to teach a group of 18 years old boys how to eat with chopsticks and the uses of western cutlery. It was simply ridiculous.

And so very pitiful.

“Listen up, you six!” started Ikusaki, carrying on his hands two large bowls with food, one filled right to the brim with yakisoba and the other with fried rice. “Since you were so damn insistent on eating Japanese food, all five of us went out of our way to cook for you. Be thankful for it and don’t leave even one crumb behind!”

“You’re being too aggressive, Shouichi,” chuckled Eki, also carrying two trays to the large table they managed to arrange in area 51 so they could have dinner together – the way things were moving towards, it almost seemed a modern representation of the last supper, only this time it was for six individuals that were possibly to be executed by the military world. The two trays held karaage and tonkatsu in the largest and an assortment of gyoza with different fillings on the smaller. “You’re going to ruin the mood.”

“Well excuse me if I’m not in the best of moods right now,” grumbled Ikusaki, rolling his eyes around as he put the two bowls down on the table and started undoing the apron tied around his torso. “They’re going to— Tsk! I’m gonna get the rest of the food...”

Sighing softly, Eki also settled the two trays on the table and took his apron off of his body, folding it and then putting it on the back of the chair that had been assigned to him. It was as he was doing such that he caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. “M2, it’s not time to eat yet. No sneaking around trying to steal food.”

“Ehh... But I’m hungry...” complained M2, readily withdrawing his hand from the karaage tray and leading his thumb towards his mouth. He started nibbling at the tip of his finger while hungrily keeping his eyes on the large amount of food on top of the table – never had he seen so much food in front of him and most of the things there, he didn’t even know the name of. Then again, all that he needed to know was that he wanted to eat them and as soon as possible.

“Just hold on a couple more of minutes, okay?” requested Eki, giving a quick smile to M2 as he sat down on his seat. “Do you guys know what you’re about to eat?”

The way the Ms exchanged lost glances between themselves, all of them already sat down on the table, was more than answer enough for Eki.

“Okay, so following the Japanese tradition, we don’t have first course, second course or anything along those lines,” started explaining Eki, quickly running his eyes through the contents of the table to find the easiest way to explain everything to the uneducated-in-the-ways-of-human-society group. “The basic staple food in Japan is rice. We pretty much eat rice in all of our meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

“Won’t you get tired of eating the same thing every day?” pointed out M3, stretching his arms over his head as he released a large yawn.

“Once you get to eat it, you’ll figure it out yourself,” shortly answered Eki, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. “Together with rice, we also eat a lot of miso soup, which we can get in different types and combinations. You already have the bowls with miso in front of you. Then, the rest of the meal is what usually changes. We have different main dishes with rice, meat, fish and noodles, as well as side dishes revolving around vegetables and other products, like tofu, for example.”

“All of that sounds extremely troublesome and a complete waste of time,” said M4, quickly turning his head away from the table. “The time all of you soldiers used to prepare the meal, you could have used it for more productive matters.”

“What can be more productive than to certify yourself that your body is all fuelled up and ready to continue moving around?” interrupted Mizusaki, coming inside of the room while also carrying two trays – one featuring a bowl with Nikujaga on top and the other with rice balls of several different fillings. “We’re not like you guys, who can spend long periods without eating. For us humans to stay healthy, we require at least three meals a day.”

“Weaklings...” softly scoffed M5, a sneer on his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his back on the backrest of his seat.

“Cooking may be a waste of time for you, but it’s necessary for us,” added Ikusaki, carrying a large pot filled with piping hot rice and putting it on top of a side table with a loud thud. “And it can be a good hobby, too, if you do it well.”

“Or if you have the perpetual appetite of a starving wolf~” teased Mizusaki, giving a pointed look at Ikusaki as he took his seat on the table.

“Shut it! It’s not like I get fat for eating a lot of food!” roared Ikusaki, dropping his body down on his seat and crossing his arms over his chest as he sulked at Mizusaki’s remarks.

“That’s a mystery of nature in itself, to be honest,” said Miue, carrying a single large tray in his hands that held several small bowls and plates with different side dishes, such as tsukudani, sunomono, boiled squid with miso vinaigrette and several other pickled vegetables.

“Since it’s not like he uses his brain enough to burn all of that food,” added Murayama, also carrying a tray with him, though this one was filled with several traditional Japanese sweets, such as dango, kompeito, manju, mochi and melon pan. These had been the only dishes that they hadn’t cooked from scratch and simply acquired through the military base’s food supply.

“Why is everybody ganging up on me today...?” grumbled Ikusaki, his pouting expression showing even more in his features.

At least you don’t have the Ms potentially ganging up on you, Ikusaki, inwardly mumbled Murayama as he awkwardly sat down on his seat and felt the intense glare M1 was throwing at him.

“So, shall we get dinner started?” inquired Murayama after having cleared his throat. “I can see that there are some quite excited to eat Japanese food and I would prefer not to have to clean drool out of the floor.”

“Sorry...” apologized M2, quickly wiping with the back of his hand the trickle of saliva going down his chin and starting to drip down on top of the table.

“Anyway,” continued Murayama, rolling his eyes around as he ignored Mizusaki’s soft snickering. “Dig in already. And like Ikusaki said, not even a single crumb is to be left behind! Food supplies are stable right now but who knows for how long that will continue. We can’t waste food!”

“Thank you for the meal!” said the soldiers in unison as they took hold of their chopsticks and were readying themselves to start eating the quite luxurious banquet in front of them.

“Come on, you say it too,” insisted Miue, receiving a bowl filled with piping hot rice from Eki, who had been left in charge of serving rice to everyone. “It’s rude to not give your thanks towards the food that you’re going to eat, especially if it’s given to you by others.”

“T-Thank you for the meal...” awkwardly mumbled the Ms, some taking a hold of their chopsticks, others also receiving a rice bowl from Eki.