Three Misfits, One Kotatsu of Light

Gen Matsuda

They are finally here—do not embarrass me, okay, Mama?

Shequita Matsuda

I will try not to speak English and scare them off, baby.

Kintsugi Tachibana

Your hallway smells like soy sauce and fish. I approve.

Oyuki Hedyia

I brought Hana-chan… is that okay?

Gen Matsuda

She can have her own cushion! Everyone gets a cushion!

Shequita Matsuda

See that spotted one? Gen calls him Admiral Navy-Blue.

Oyuki Hedyia

He looks like a ghost in a castle… pretty.

Gen Matsuda

Do not you dare name him Sadako, Oyuki!

Kintsugi Tachibana

Carrots are chaos. Order demands they stay on the plate.

Gen Matsuda

It is lunch, not a garden invasion!

Shequita Matsuda

Want me to swap yours for pear slices, sweetie?

Oyuki Hedyia

Number five… the ghost of the equation haunts the denominator…

Kintsugi Tachibana

It is just long division. Exorcise it with subtraction.

Gen Matsuda

I am subtracting my will to live here.

Shequita Matsuda

Say friendship!

Gen Matsuda

MAMA, NOT WHILE I AM BEING HAUNTED BY MATH—

Kintsugi Tachibana

Chaos tastes like pear.

Gen Matsuda

If x plus seven equals ghosts, I'm burning every textbook.

Shequita Matsuda

Try reading the word problem like it's a magical-girl spell. "Transformation sequence: subtract the monsters first."

Oyuki Hedyia

Your accent sounds like cotton candy… cute.

Kintsugi Tachibana

Cotton candy can't divide fractions.

Shequita Matsuda

My husband says the same—calls it my "California charm." He married me for the accent and my peach cobbler.

Gen Matsuda

I'd trade ten accents for one correct answer.

Kintsugi Tachibana

New strategy: isolate x like it's a rogue spirit. Trap it.

Oyuki Hedyia

I'll be the shrine maiden sealing the spirit…

Shequita Matsuda

Flip the view—sometimes the ghost is just the answer wearing a mask.

Gen Matsuda

It's… it's nine! The ghost was nine the whole time!

Oyuki Hedyia

The spirit reveals itself…

Kintsugi Tachibana

Order restored—using vegetable wand.

Shequita Matsuda

Accents and algebra: both require confidence.

Gen Matsuda

MAMA, DID YOU JUST TURN MY MATH INTO A MAGICAL-GIRL FINISHER?!