Breakfast in the Multiverse

When Chi-Chi's cooking training program reached its sixth session in Universe 6, Mount Paozu received a formal invitation from the Universe 6 Saiyan base. The invitation was printed on exceptionally thick, ivory handmade paper, its seal stamped with the red wax emblem of the Universe 6 Saiyan Royal Family—Caulifla had specifically explained that she had made the seal herself by punching a copper plate with her fist, so the edges were a little crooked, but it was absolutely authentic. The invitation was simple: the full set of culinary training facilities at the Universe 6 Saiyan base had been completed, and Ms. Chi-Chi was invited to attend the opening ceremony as chief instructor and oversee the final assessment for the sixth training session. A note was appended beneath it: Please also bring the tempura dipping sauce recipe. The last version got soaked when Kale accidentally spilled water on it.

Chi-Chi was chopping pork ribs in the kitchen when she received the invitation, her cleaver producing a steady, forceful thud-thud against the cutting board. She set down the knife, wiped her hands on her apron, and read the invitation three times. Then she looked up at Son Goku and Ji Ming, who were seated at the dining table waiting for their meal, and said in a tone as calm as if she were commenting on the pleasant weather, "I'm going to Universe 6 on business for about a week. I've already cooked your meals and frozen them in batches. The paper on the refrigerator door lists the reheating order for each day. Vegeta's ribs are separately stored on the second shelf of the freezer, so don't let your father steal them. Piccolo's pumpkin cakes are sealed in plastic wrap in the fridge. Tell him to come get them himself, and don't let Krillin swipe them again."

Ji Ming put down his chopsticks and looked at her. Tiny bits of meat splashed up from the ribs clung to strands of Chi-Chi's hair, while the soy sauce stain on her apron—the one that would not wash out—was from making braised pork last month. He nodded. "I'll take you to the wormhole station."

"No need. Bulma sent a car." Chi-Chi untied her apron and hung it on the hook behind the door, then pulled a bulging travel bag from the cabinet. Along with her lesson plans and a change of clothes, it was stuffed with several large jars of sauces she had made herself, intended for Caulifla and Kale. Son Goku came over and hoisted the bag onto his shoulder, bending down to give her a quick peck on the forehead. Ji Ming stood at the courtyard gate and watched the aircraft's exhaust trail shrink in the morning light.

On the first day Chi-Chi was away, everything at Mount Paozu ran normally. Son Goku's breakfast was reheated strictly according to Meal One's instructions on the refrigerator door. Ji Ming double-checked the power setting and heating time, and nothing burned. Lunch was Meal Two, dinner was Meal Three, and when Krillin and Android 18 came over to freeload, they helped wash the used dishes. When Piccolo came for his pumpkin cakes that evening, he stared for several seconds at the handwritten line addressed to Vegeta on the refrigerator door. Then he counted six pumpkin cakes out of his own box and placed them beside Vegeta's container of ribs. Ji Ming was pouring tea when he saw it. He said nothing, only refilled the teapot with hot water. After dinner, Vegeta emerged from the Gravity Chamber and noticed the pumpkin cakes. He paused, then expressionlessly put the lid back on the container and returned it to the fridge. While flipping through his notebook in the living room, Ji Ming caught sight of Vegeta adding another note to the ribs container. It had three words written on it.

On the second day Chi-Chi was away, Ji Ming got up and went to the kitchen to heat breakfast as usual, only to find someone already at the stove. Son Goku wore an apron—Chi-Chi's spare one, blue with tiny flowers and too short on him—and was carefully turning a thick omelet in a frying pan with a spatula. Ji Ming leaned against the doorframe and watched for a while before walking in, taking the spatula from his hand, and lowering the heat a little. The omelet ultimately failed to roll up, but apart from slightly burnt edges, the flavor was right. The two sat in the yard, earnestly eating their respective failures, when Krillin happened to arrive with some fish he had just caught. Son Goku sternly lectured him, "Don't think you can treat a spatula casually just because it seems easy."

On the third day Chi-Chi was away, Vegeta spent too long in the Gravity Chamber and came out with a scrape on his arm. Bulma happened to arrive with blueprints for a new batch of Gravity Chamber parts as Ji Ming fetched the first-aid kit. Seeing Vegeta's injury, she said nothing, merely opened the kit and pushed it in front of him. Vegeta wiped the wound with an alcohol pad himself, then put on a bandage crookedly twice. Bulma watched from the side with an extremely entertaining expression before finally helping him press down the lifted corner.

On the fourth day Chi-Chi was away, Caulifla called by video. She said the final assessment had passed, her excitement in the video like someone who had just learned a new ultimate move. Kale stood behind her holding a freshly engraved Outstanding Student badge and bowed toward the camera. Caulifla eagerly added that braised pork was currently the most popular dish among the Saiyans at the base, now tied with tempura for the highest order rate in the cafeteria. Leaning against the kitchen doorframe with the communicator in hand, Ji Ming listened while casually removing the rice bowl from the nearby rack—the one Son Goku had chipped last time he dropped it.

On the fifth day Chi-Chi was away, Ji Ming woke to find the kitchen packed with people. Krillin and Tien Shinhan had apparently arranged to come over early that morning and were working together on breakfast at the stove. Krillin was several levels more skilled than Son Goku at frying eggs, while Tien Shinhan used the precise perspective of his three eyes to flip the cooked salmon slices in perfect sync, arranging plate after plate with neat precision. A new note had appeared beside the reheating schedule on the refrigerator door, added by Piccolo the night before. Ji Ming leaned closer for a look. Beside Chi-Chi's densely written list was a neatly labeled Planet Namek translation—a special anti-Krillin-pumpkin-theft edition.

The evening Chi-Chi returned, Mount Paozu received its first light snowfall of winter. When she stepped off the aircraft with her luggage, she carried an additional bulging cloth bundle that she had not had when she left. Inside were homemade Universe 6 Saiyan jam from Caulifla and grass-rope coasters handwoven by Kale. The moment she entered, she noticed that the cluster of notes on the refrigerator door had grown by at least five, that the stove was cleaner than before she had left, and that the only chipped rice bowl in the cupboard was gone—Ji Ming had picked up a replacement while returning from West City. Standing in the kitchen, Chi-Chi took in each of those changes one by one, then looked at everyone gathered around the dining table. Suddenly, she smiled. Her eyes were faintly red, but she said nothing.

Dinner was steamed dumplings made by Chi-Chi with newly arrived organic flour from Universe 6. The filling was pork and napa cabbage with a little dried shrimp, while the dipping sauce contained shredded ginger and aged black vinegar. When the steamer lid was lifted, the entire house filled with white mist. Heat rose to the rafters and blurred the bulb above the dining table into a warm yellow glow. Vegeta's bowl, as always, had several extra pieces of special garlic ribs. Piccolo's pumpkin dumplings waited quietly in their dedicated steamer tier. Krillin swiftly snatched the last fried shrimp, only for Android 18 to deftly intercept it with her chopsticks and place it back in Ji Ming's bowl. Ji Ming moved aside the dumplings and, sure enough, found two tempura shrimp resting at the bottom of his bowl. He picked one up and bit into it. The batter was still crisp, and the shrimp was still sweet and fresh. Outside, the snow fell softly. The golden light of Kami's Lookout glimmered through the thin curtain of snow, while white smoke drifted from Mount Paozu's chimney and dissolved into the evening dusk.