The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window into the Nohara Family's kitchen.
Misae was making breakfast. The bacon in the frying pan sizzled with grease. When it was almost done, she turned her head toward the bedroom and called out, "Shin-chan, time to get up—"
Hiroshi sat at the table, holding a newspaper printed with Anomaly wanted posters issued by the Hero Association. He looked up at his wife and said, "Shin-chan was delivering supplies to the neighbors yesterday and got home very late. Let him sleep a little longer."
Misae nodded and put the cooked bacon and eggs onto plates.
Recently, the entire country, even the whole world, was under lockdown. Many daily necessities, especially food, were being distributed door-to-door by Hero Association's personnel.
And their son was one of them.
Misae couldn't help sighing, "Shin-chan has really grown up."
That kid who used to stay in bed every morning, fall asleep halfway through brushing his teeth, and need to poop just when it was time to go out for the school bus... now he left before dawn every day to deliver supplies door-to-door.
"You raised him well."
Hiroshi hugged his wife, whose figure had noticeably plumped up. An ambiguous atmosphere filled the air. The middle-aged couple's faces grew closer and closer.
"Oh~ Misae~ Oh~ Honey~ Mwah mwah mwah mwah!"
The couple stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.
Shin-chan had somehow already sat down at the table, holding a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, leaning forward with his lips pursed out, mimicking their earlier actions, complete with a series of embarrassing sound effects.
Hiroshi and Misae's faces turned red simultaneously, from the base of their necks to the tips of their ears. They shouted in unison, "Don't imitate adults!"
"Why are you up so early?"
Misae's voice carried a hint of surprise.
Shin-chan wolfed down the bacon and eggs on his plate in a few bites, downed his glass of milk, and wiped his mouth. "Mom, Dad, give me your fingernails later. I need to go to the Hero Association."
Himawari walked down the stairs, her hair a messy bird's nest. She yawned and asked, "What do you need fingernails for?"
Shin-chan explained something called a [Vivre Card].
People who officially joined the Hero Association received various benefits. One of them was the ability to bring their family members' fingernails to have Vegapunk help make a Vivre Card, so they could always check on their family's safety and location.
Because after the Hero Association was established, Anomalies with good brains often wanted to take revenge on Heroes by kidnapping their families to threaten them.
Hadn't the Anomalized Shinichi used Mouri Kogoro to threaten Ran back then?
Shin-chan hadn't paid much attention to these things before. But when the dangerous Anomaly Association suddenly appeared, he remembered that it was necessary to get some insurance for his family.
After hearing this, Misae grabbed Shin-chan's temples with both hands and twisted them back and forth.
"You think of something this important just now?"
She strongly suspected that if it weren't for the Anomaly Association, this kid would probably never do this.
Hiroshi quickly stopped his wife. "Shin-chan has grown up. He actually knows how to care about his family."
Shin-chan rubbed his temples, red from his mother's twisting, and commented, "Dad, don't make it sound like I don't usually care about you."
Himawari also rarely praised her brother. "Brother, if you can't find a girlfriend in the future, you can use me as practice."
Before Shin-chan could be moved, Himawari quickly added, "Hand over all your salary to me. You have to come home right after work. And you pay for everything when we go out."
Shin-chan's face darkened. He suddenly felt that dating wasn't so appealing after all.
Shin-chan left the house with his parents' and sister's fingernails. Walking into the yard, he passed by Shiro's doghouse. Shiro was lying at the entrance, sunbathing.
Shin-chan crouched down, grabbed Shiro's paw, and muttered to himself, "I'll make one for Shiro too."
"Woof?"
Shiro, full of question marks, tilted his head and looked at this unreliable owner, wondering what he was up to now.
Hero Association Headquarters, Technology Research Department.
The automatic door opened. A faint smell of disinfectant lingered in the air.
"Yo, Shin-chan's here!"
A short-haired beauty came up to greet him. She wore a white, tight-fitting tech suit, a bright smile on her face.
One of Vegapunk's satellites... Lilith.
"Lilith-nee!"
Shin-chan's eyes lit up. He spread his arms and lunged forward for a hug.
"Shin-chan, although she looks like a big sister on the outside, her mind is actually a genuine old man, you know."
Kazama stood up from a chair behind him, his expression helpless.
Shin-chan's enthusiasm instantly cooled. He looked at Kazama speechlessly. "Kazama-kun, you really know how to kill the mood."
Kazama rolled his eyes, took a piece of fingernail wrapped in tissue from his pocket, and handed it to Lilith. "Miss Lilith, we'll trouble you for the Vivre Card."
Shin-chan also took a few fingernails from his pocket and handed them to Lilith, casually teasing Kazama, "Kazama-kun, did you forget to make Vivre Cards for your family too?"
"Of course not. Do you think I'm like you?"
Kazama said crossly. "My father just got back recently. I brought his fingernails over."
Most of the time, Kazama's father was away on business trips around the world. After hearing about the Anomaly Association recently, Kazama's mother told him to hurry back to the Nishikawa Nation to take shelter.
After his father returned, the first thing Kazama did was bring his fingernails to make a Vivre Card.
Shin-chan looked shocked. "Kazama, you actually have a father too?"
Kazama's face flushed red.
'Damn it. I really wanted to punch him.'
"Okay, wait for a moment."
Lilith smiled slightly and took the fingernails to go find Vegapunk.
Just then, the automatic door opened again.
Masao walked in from outside. He greeted Shin-chan and Kazama first, then took a wad of tissue from his pocket and handed it to Lilith. "Miss Lilith, I'm entrusting you with my father's Vivre Card."
Lilith opened the tissue... wrapped inside wasn't a fingernail, but a tooth.
Masao scratched his head and smiled. "My dad just trimmed his fingernails a couple of days ago, and the new ones haven't grown in yet. He happened to have a tooth pulled yesterday, so I just brought that."
Kazama raised an eyebrow. "Teeth work too?"
"It's fine, as long as there are bloodline factors."
Lilith explained. "In the past, you could only make Vivre Cards with fingernails. But as Vegapunk-sama's technology has advanced, any part of the target's body can be used. Fingernails, hair, or teeth, it's all fine."