Kuroneko's stomach gnawed at her as she fixed dinner for her little sisters. The enticing smells of the food as they grilled and boiled on the stove tempting her; however she remained resolute and refused to partake of their food.
It had been several months since the Gokou family had moved from their house into a small apartment in another city. Her father had gotten a new, better paying job, and living in an apartment had reduced their expenses, so things were looking up for them; however they had yet to remove the shackles of living on a strict budget. Both of their parents still had to work, leaving Kuroneko/Ruri the sole caretaker of her little sisters, and with their appetites perking up lately it was only made harder.
Hinata, the middle sister, had gotten rather greedy lately, but Ruri knew it was the result of both a growth spurt and becoming a member of the school track team, bot of which demanded an increase in fuel for her young and growing body. Tamaki, the youngest and being the innocent, impressionable child she was, was simply imitating her older sibling, increasing her food intake in an attempt to assimilate Hinata's new eating habits.
With the financial strain of the moving expenses, new school expenses, and numerous other money sinks, their current budget for food was incredibly tight. To save her family the financial strain and still provide enough food for her little sisters, she decided to opt herself out of the food supply, eating only at breakfast, having a light snack before bed, and eating at whatever meals her parents happened to be present for. After two weeks of this though her stomach had become extremely irritable, growling and rumbling constantly throughout the day, even just after eating breakfast. It made things awkward in school when they would be listing to a lecture of doing a quiz and the silence would be broken by noises emanating from Ruri's irritable gut.
"Dinner's ready!", she called.
Instantly the smaller girls stampeded into the bathroom to wash up and Ruri barely had time to place the food on the table before they arrived and shouted "Itadakimas" and dug in.
"Don't eat to fast", she chided her young charges.
Hinata grinned sheepishly while Tamaki simply obeyed.
Ruri sighed and simply returned to the kitchen to start cleaning up the mess from cooking, and by the time she finished those the dishes from dinner would be finished.
Another irritable growl from her stomach reminded her of her pressing issue. For two weeks she had been at this, and it was starting to create negative effects on her. Her stamina was so low that she could barely get through PE during school, and traveling to Akihabara and searching for a rare figurine had almost been to much for her. She couldn't keep this up much longer. If she did, she would worry her parents and her attempted contribution to helping her family would fall flat, forcing her to postpone her allowance as an alternative, something she needed for her hobby.
There was a gentle tug at her apron and she looked down to see Tamaki standing there holding up her dishes.
"I cleaned my plate", she stated proudly.
Ruri smiled and accepted the dishes before patting her on the head. "You're a good girl for bringing your dishes too."
Tamaki was an exceptionally well behaved child, impressionable and naive yes, but well behaved and well meaning. Tamaki always brought her dishes to the sink when she was finished, something the older Hinata rarely did, so Ruri was always sure to praise the younger girl for it.
"Aren't you going to eat Nee-san?" Tamaki asked her.
Ruri turned her face away and replied: "No, i'm fine Tamaki."
The little girl frowned. "But I never see you eat."
"I eat with everyone at breakfast."
"But that's it", Tamaki protested. "Aren't you hungry Nee-san?"
Ruri smiled at her concern and kneeled to down to pet her on the head.
"I'm your big sister" Ruri told her, "and my job is to make sure you and Hinata have as much to eat as you need."
Tamaki pouted. "But that's not fair."
Ruri sighed, but held her smile. "It's all part of being a big sister. It's about being responsible and setting an example for you two."
Tamaki looked sad. "Being a big sister is hard."
Ruri let out a little laugh and pulled her baby sister into a hug. "Yes it is, but it's worth it when you have a good girl like you."
Ruri was happy when the praise managed to elicit a giggle from Tamaki.
"Can you promise me something then Nee-san?"
"What's that?"
"Promise me that when things are better you'll eat lots, and lots, and lots, and lots."
Ruri laughed again, but she understood what Tamaki was trying to say, and as if to agree, her stomach had remained obediently silent during this warm sibling exchange.
"I promise Tamaki." The two girls hooked their pinkies together, sealing the deal and Tamaki ran off to play, leaving Ruri alone again with the dishes, but no longer in the dour mood she had been.
Tamaki somehow always managed to make her feel better.
With Tamaki gone however, her stomach resumed its complaining.
'You on the other hand-'
Ruri knew now that she had no choice. If she was going to avoid serious problems in the near future she would have to take care of her stomach soon.
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