Okay, the title for this chapter is for two reasons. The second half of the chapter is the first reason, but the other is very dear to my heart. When I was in fourth grade, I read a book called Eggs by Jerry Spinelli, which I love very much. So it's really been a while, but parts of it are still quite fresh in my mind. If you haven't read it, I recommend doing so. If you have, yay, something to bond over. But you know... that book makes me feel incredibly warm inside, so if you decide to read it, have fun, and I hope you feel the love it showed me.

~

He worked hard for the rest of the year, alongside his friends in the year below him, Kyouka and Kenji, and the two in the year below them, Kyūsaku and Elise. Then at the end of third year, he bid them farewell and went home, his mother to be waiting for him at the front door with a brown, white, and gold envelope.

"Mom, is it..?" he asked hopefully, eyes lighting up at the smile that curved her lips.

"Yes sweetheart. Come inside, let's open it, yeah?"

He couldn't hide the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Yeah," he said, latching onto her arm in a happy hug.

"Sit, sit," she grinned, ruffling his hair. "Take the envelope and open it."

"I know, I know!" he said, hands shaking as he smiled both nervously and ecstatically.

Then he opened it, holding his breath as his eyes scanned the paper.

"MOM! OH MY GOD MOM! I DID IT! I GOT IN!" he said, waving his arms around in pure joy.

"I knew you would, kiddo," she said, engulfing him in a warm hug. "You're amazing, and I'm so proud of you."

Tears started falling as he buried his face in her shoulder.

"Thank you so much for always believing in me. You're the best, mom. The best, the best, the best. I love you so much."

"I love you too," she said, burying one hand in his hair and simply holding him, and they stood there in each other's arms for a few more minutes, enjoying the peace, and celebrating the accomplishment.

Then they had an idea at the same time.

"We should go out to eat!"

"Where though?" she asked.

"The Indian place nearby?"

"I like Indian food, but the owner's an old asshat, so no."

"Italian."

"Not really feeling it."

"American breakfast for lunch!"

"Perfect, where are the keys?"

"Uhhh..."

"Hm, where did I leave them?"

"Oh, here!"

He tosses the keys at her as they run for the door, following her out and hopping in the passenger side as she turns the key in the ignition. They take off, and halfway down the street, Karma remembers something.

"Seatbelts. We don't have our seatbelts on, Mom."

"Oop, you're right," she said, tugging hers down as he did the same.

A few minutes later, they were pulling into the parking lot.

"We made it!" they said, high-fiving each other before getting out of the car.

"Can I drive back?" he asked.

"Sure thing, baby," his mom said, ruffling his hair. "Now, what do you want to eat?"

Then his stomach grumbled at the same time as hers, and they glanced at each other before peals of laughter overtook them.

"I don't think our stomachs care, so long as we get fed," he joked, to which she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Why my shoulder?" he laughed again.

"You'll be taller than me pretty soon," she said. "Might as well enjoy this while I can."

"Haha, alright mom. Now can we find somewhere to sit?" he asked with a content, playful smile on his face.

"Yeah," she laughed quietly.

"So what do you want?" she asked him.

"Pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs."

"Same, but my eggs are fried."

"No!" he whined.

"Fried eggs are better!"

"No, it's obviously scrambled!" he argued, chuckling at this argument that had been going on for three years.

"How?!" she laughed. "Literally no! Scrambled eggs are fine, but fried eggs are superior!"

"No way! Scrambled eggs are better!"

"How?!"

"How do I even explain something like that?"

"Because they're not!"

"Well how are fried eggs superior, then?!" he fired back cleverly.

"Because I said so, and I'm omnipotent, so I win!" she laughed.

"Scrambled," the old lady at the table next to them giggled.

"Fried for me," laughed her wife.

"No egg," someone chimed in from across the restaurant.

"Yeah, none."

"Fried!" someone else shouted.

"Fried," another person said

"Scrambled."

"Like your thoughts, my love. Anyway, fried."

Everybody in the restaurant was soon chiming in, and the employees either looked confused, or embraced the chaos with a laugh and their own preference, only adding to the hilarity of the situation.

Eventually the manager came out and told them her preference, and through her own laughter, asked them to calm down a bit before they got a noise complaint. The lively chatter quieted down a little, and people left as they finished their food. The two old women sitting next to Karma and his mom left after each giving him and his mom a hug, laughing about how they 'hadn't had this much fun in a restaurant in ages'.

Then a new couple, a man and woman who appeared to be in their mid-twenties walked in, and didn't know what to say when everybody in the restaurant simultaneously asked them how they like their eggs, then burst into tears of laughter.

"Scrambled," the lady said, and half the people in the restaurant erupted in cheers and laughter. 

Then her boyfriend said "Fried," and the other half of the people clapped and laughed, and the two were immediately welcomed into the restaurant and the game.

As people left, they were given hearty goodbyes, and as more entered, they were given the question. When Karma left with his mom, a cheer went up, and they waved goodbye through wide smiles and a fit of laughter. As promised, Karma got to drive home, and the minute they got there, they had the last hug of the day before simply going to bed in their clothes. And they both smelled like eggs.