Sitting at our porch, Cene and I simply stared at the men as they kept working on the house all day. It was already late into the afternoon, and since Lem's head was practically out for the count from Command buffing them all day, they had to stop relying on his Iro Ability, lest he actually fell unconscious from exhaustion.

"You guys need a hand?" I asked offhandedly.

"Yeah, convert to Yellow and take turns with me." He shot back immediately.

"You know Yellow is the only one you can't convert to, right?" Uncle laughed, "It's a blessing you get at birth."

"More like a curse! Why the hell did I get it?"

Iro Abilities change with the current philosophy of the Beholder. In other words, what you seek in life is reflected in your Eyes. Most people in the world are born with Green Iros because of this, which is explained with kids being naturally curious about the world around them. It's only when they're around 5 or 6 do they realize they've already found out enough, so they convert to another one. Yellow Iros, like mom and Lem, are seldom unsuccessful in life. Like a literal blessing given at birth: "You're good at leading people, charismatic, have the ability to change the unchangeable", basically an instant win card drawn at the moment of birth. That being the case, the drawback is that they will never convert to another Iro, as if the Gods tried a cheap attempt to balance it out.

"I'd gladly convert to help you out if I could." I hollered from the porch, "But for now, the best I can do is get you some lemonade or something."

"That'll do."

"Me too, me too!" Cene piped up, "I want one too, sis!"

"Heh, got it. Big sis is on the case!"

Walking over and into the kitchen, I had neglected to realize that we were all out of lemons. Well, that's not entirely true since we did have one, but that was barely even enough for just one person, let alone three. This put me in a bit of a dilemma. A really selfish dilemma, mind you, but a dilemma nonetheless—You see, I REALLY wanted a lemonade to stave away this heat as well. If only I hadn't said anything before, then I could've just made it for myself and Cene say we're out if Lem ever asked, but since I specially went to make some AFTER asking if he wanted some, then it'd just end up like I asked to drink it in front of him. Again, if we were in Simpleton, I could play it off for the laughs, but if people from home saw me do that, I'd be in for a huge lecture. What to do...

"Sigh..." I disinterestedly stared at the three empty glasses in front of me, with the singular lemon placed neatly in front.

"You trying to make a ritual with that?" Auntie Eleanor heard my plea for help and offered to lend a hand.

"If only, but I just don't know what to do with this." I explained, "I need to somehow make three lemonades with just one lemon."

"Then use one half of the lemon for one glass and the other for the second and third." She happily smirked, as if cracking a sacred code all by herself.

"That'd just make all three drinks way too diluted." I refuted, "It's summer, so we're all dying from the Sun here, and the lemon juices really help out with that."

"Ah, one for you and one for Cene, so is the third one for Lem?" She realized, "But isn't he the one working his butt off outside though? Why not just give him and Cene the lemonade, and you get water?"

"Auntie, do you even realize how stupid of an idea that is?"

"Ehh, stupid?" She yelped, "But Issei and I always give up stuff for each other. Like, let's see—I gave up my cake because he looked like he was really enjoying it, he gave up on spending money for the things he liked in favor of buying our engagement ring, I gave Othelia my spot next to him in bed, since I knew it'd be tough for him to spoon two people at once, he gave up going back to his own world to stay here..."

Where do I even start with this... Sigh, for starters, that may work for you two since you're lovers and all, but Lem's just a simple friend. You can't expect me to give up this much just to give to a friend, right? Also, why the hell are you telling a 14 year old girl about your spooning escapades? Regardless, both of those points pale in comparison to the third and final one...

"Wow, did you ever complete a fair trade in this relationship?"

"Huh?"

"He gave up his entire world while you returned the favor with some cake?" I furrowed my brows, "That doesn't sound fair."

"I never said what type of cake..." She muttered

"What type...? N-Never mind." I sensed danger and dropped the matter, "In any case, that just means we're both equally selfish, so you have to understand what I'm saying here. I want lemonade for me, but it'd be rude to not give him some as well now that I've announced I'll be making it for him. Cene will be getting his no matter what, that's non-negotiable."

"Hm. Well, best of luck in figuring it out." She shrugged before walking away.

"Hey, where you going!? Help me out here!"

"I dunno~, I did just get called selfish and stupid and all, so..."

"Get back here!" I shouted, "Grahh!"

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Okay, in hindsight, offending the person who offered their helping hand to you probably wasn't a smart play at all. Still, it's her loss, because... Well, uhh... B-Because I said so! Damn, I've been here for way too long, it doesn't take anyone this much time just to make some lemonade.

"But maybe if I make it all in one glass and just pour out thirds into the other two...?" I muttered to myself.

"There's my babygirl!" Mom was the next contestant to join the stage, "What's up, making lemonade?"

"Yeah, but it's really tough with just one lemon." I sulked.

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"Why not go to the store and buy some more, then?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm definitely not walking all the way there again just for some lemons in this scorching heat." I shook my head violently, "I need a solution here and now."

"Hmm, then just make some for you and Lemmy." She smiled, "You already bought Cene his apple juice, so it'd be unfair if he got a second drink while one of you died of thirst."

Mother, you're choosing a random guy over your toddler son here. What's going on with her, did she get hit with heatstroke? How can she even fathom such an irredeemable idea in that head of hers?

"Quit looking at me like that, Nel." She sighed, "I'm just using absurd logic to counter absurd logic."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means this entire issue is something you've blown way out of proportion." She shook her head, "He's out here working all day with the very person who beat him up over a misunderstanding, all without giving a single complaint. The boy's a smart and reliable one, in spite of how he was as a tyke, and yet you're sitting in the shade and thinking only about yourself?"

Hey, I didn't asked to get chewed out, you know. In fact, every time I asked if they needed help, they would just shake their heads and decline. I'm being courteous here, it's their fault for not telling me exactly what they want! Seriously, why do I always gotta be the one getting attacked here?

"...I'm thinking of Cene too." I grumped.

"Of course you are." She sighed before telling me a story, "You know, back when your father and I were still in Great Hiana, doing sparring practice and fighting the opposing gangs, it's obvious that we would eventually get pretty tired too, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I guess...?"

"But our rations wouldn't always be enough for everyone to get a good meal in." She continued, "It was a pretty bad life, looking back. Our food for that week was divided equally among hundreds of gang members, and the amount was decided by how we did our jobs—Fighting rival gangs, helping the people in our turf, signing off deals with friendly gangs..."

"You've told me these stories hundred of times, mama." I chuckled, "But right now we're just talking about lemonad-"

"Sometimes, our lunch would look like this." She grabbed the lemon from the counter, "Heh, well, not literally, but the caloric intake was around that much."

"Yeah, so you'd..."

"I'd suffer." She stopped me, "I'd suffer in hunger, knowing full well I had to endure until the next week on this alone, doing my daily tasks without anyone to complain to."

"...But you survived." I added.

"I survived because of only one person sneaking in his own rations after lunch hours." She smiled warmly, "Sharing food was only allowed in times when we could afford it, such as victory feasts and the like. Back then, I didn't even question where he got the bagged food from. He just stayed back after Ed, my brother and I left and said he'd join us later. Around half an hour later and I see him secretly call me to a darker alleyway, handing me the food with a smile as his own stomach grumbled. "You're super thin, plus I'm not hungry." He would say."

Ah, she's reminiscing about hers and dad's youth again. These two, will they ever run out of stories to tell? Every time I think I've heard it all, they always surprise me with just one more.

"He fell unconscious in battle that day." She said all of a sudden.

"Huh?" I fretted, "T-Then what...?"

"We won, obviously." She smirked, "But from then on I made him promise me to never put himself before me. Though, that obviously never stopped him."

"Dad..." I looked down, "I guess boys are just blockheads like that."

"Maybe, but I will tell you one thing." She gave me a light hug, "I'll never forget the contents of the food that day, no matter how unremarkable they were—It was porridge with a single drop of lemon."

"Lemon?"

"Yep, and no matter how much I resented myself for practically being the reason for his embarrassing fall that day..." She handed me the lemon with a smile, "I can tell you with certainty that the food I ate that day was the tastiest porridge I had ever eaten, so even though "one was enough", the second serving had meant the world to me."

"...Thanks mama, I think I get it."

"Good, I'm happy when I get to teach you to be a good person." She put both hands on her hips and proudly puffed out her chest, "It's my duty, after all!"

Leaving the room after having done her duty or whatever, she had finally given me the proper answer to my issue. In truth, this was probably the only normal answer anyways, but I was pretty close to going with a selfish option instead. How rude of me, I should've known better...

"Hey guys, lemonade's here!" I hollered for Lem to join Cene and me under the front porch's shade.

"I thought you fell asleep." He jokingly mocked my tardiness.

"Yeah, sis took a weally long time!" Cene stuck his little hands out to take his glass.

"Still, thanks for this." Lem smiled, his tired Eyes practically glued to the glass in my hands.

"Ah, sis, you didn't put sugalr in thi-Unf!" Cene accidentally tripped me up as he spun around, causing me to shake the glass up.

Dammit, Cene, you-!? Crap, I can't blame him, it was technically my fault for forgetting he hates bitter lemonade... But what do I do now? The lemonade is about to splash out of the glass, and if I don't stop it, then Lem's gonna end up without anything to drink! Gotta think fast...!

"Mnf!" I quickly put my lips to the glass, sipping a bit off the top so it doesn't spill over, "Whoa, nice save, me! Careful Cene, that could've been bad."

"...."

"Here Lem, your lemonade without any spillage!" I smugly handed it to him.

"No thanks, you can drink it all." He handed it right back without looking me in the Eyes.

Ehhh? After all that, he just doesn't want it anymore? What an ass! I'm never making anything for him again, seriously!