Takumi pressed a hand to her back, feeling her tiny heartbeat calm against his. He wasn't used to sleeping on hard surfaces, but tonight, the floor didn't matter.
Tomorrow, he had many ways to create a bed for them, personally he wasn't too keen on sleeping on the floor again.
But tonight, he could just sit, just watch her sleep, and finally let himself relax. The tree hut wasn't just wood and rope.
It was safety, hope, a small piece of home carved out in a world that didn't care whether he lived or died.
And for the first time since... waking up in this world… Takumi Fujikawa felt like he could do this.
Not just survive.
He could build a life and protect his daughter.
These were his thoughts as he drifted off, subconsciously still patting Mio.
Hours later, Takumi woke up with a stiff neck, a sore back, and the absolute certainty that he was never sleeping on bare wood again.
He looked out the window, it was still foggy and dark he was sure he had worken up between the hours of 4 and 5 am.
There was no need to wake Mio up, he needed her to get her sleep in if he wanted her to be her energetic self in the morning.
He got up and stretched, his body felt as though it was run over by a car, over and over again.
"Damn, I've never missed my bed this much in my life.."
He walked to the window, at least he could stare at the horizon before he got to work when it got brighter.
[Ding!]
[Ding!]
[This is not a drill!]
[The Queen has arrived]
-_-
Takumi frozed then looked outside, was something going on? The place was completely quiet with no soul in sight.
So where was the damn queen that had arrived?
[-_-]
[Over here buddy]
Takumi blinked, raising a brow and then slowly..very slowly..he turned his head.
Floating beside him, at perfect eye level, was a peach.
A literal peach.
A peach with a tiny leaf like a cowlick, rosy cheeks, and the most unimpressed expression he'd ever seen on a fruit.
Takumi stared in shock like he had seen a ghost.
And the peach stared back, with the same unimpressed expression.
"…what the hell?!"
The peach drifted a little closer as Takumi stepped back, he was still in shock but he knew how cranky kids who didn't get their sleep in were so he could only quietly step back.
[Hello, Takumi. Good morning. Momo is pleased to finally make your acquaintance.]
Takumi slammed his back into the wall so fast the thud echoed through the entire hut.
"WHAT—WHAT IS THIS?! WHY IS THERE TALKING PRODUCE IN MY FACE?!"
He slapped a hand over his mouth, panicked, and immediately looked toward the pallet where Mio was knocked out, drooling peacefully.
Thank god. She was still asleep.
Takumi turned back to the… the thing.
"What are you? I know I'm not supposed to be shocked with all that's happened but geez.."
The peach twirled slowly in place, as if doing a lazy spin on purpose.
[Momo is a peach..]
-_-
"…Yes, I can see that, any other useful information?"
[Momo is a capable peach]
Pfft!
Takumi cackled, this was the most absurd thing he had heard since he got here.
"Capable of what? Giving me vitamin C?"
If the peach had hands, she would've put them on her hips.
[Unnecessary hostility detected. Stress level mildly elevated. Momo recommends deep breathing.]
Takumi dragged a hand down his face.
"Oh god. I've finally snapped. The floor broke me, that's why I'm hallucinating or maybe I'm still dreaming?"
[Misdiagnosis. Momo is real. Please refrain from attempting to eat me.]
Takumi froze again.
"Why the hell would I eat you?!"
[Momo is adorable. It has been statistically proven that adorable things are at risk around stressed humans.]
Takumi just stared at her.
"Okay… okay. Fine." He shut his eyes, inhaled, exhaled, mentally reset himself. "Explain. Slowly. Use small words. I'm running on four hours of floor sleep."
Momo floated higher, proud as a peach could be.
[Momo is your Life Support Assistance System—LSAS. Installed at birth, finally activated due to accumulated survival parameters.]
Takumi blinked.
"My… my birth? You mean—?"
[Your body's birth. Not your past life's. No the integration is thoroughly complete. Congratulations.]
"…Great. So I died, reincarnated, and now I have a system. If you think about it, that's the typical isekai trope sequence, at least it wasn't some cooking anime with a suspiciously handsome beast companion.."
[Momo is glad host is adapting.]
"I am, that's how you survive.." Takumi replied, he was currently in a different world, so he had to adapt fast if he wanted to survive.
But talking to a fruit at dawn wasn't how he planned to start his day.
"Alright. What exactly do you do?"
Momo's leaf perked up proudly.
[Momo assists in: survival, building, organizing tasks, in-world terrain, monitoring your condition, monitoring Mio's condition, and providing craft knowledge once you learn something. There are other assisting modules as well.]
[Momo cannot: fight, create some specific weapons, use magic, bring the dead back to life, or fix your questionable life choices.]
"…Was that last one necessary?"
[Yes.]
Takumi rubbed his temples. He took another breath, this was good. Having a system would make his life easier so he didn't really have an complaints.
Except how randomly it appeared!
"Your skills are really lame but I guess I don't need some OP system in a world like this..."
[-_-]
[You look down on it, until you actually need it. Humans are such fickle creatures..]
-_-
"Sounds like a skill issue, don't whine about it, it's okay to not be an OP system.."
-_-!!!!
[Momo is an OP system!! I was even nice enough to prepare your To-do list for the day]
-_-
"I didn't ask you to do that, there's nothing OP about that, sorry if I bruised your precious ego"
-_-
A screen popped up.
[Recommended Tasks for Today:]
"I didn't—"
[1. Build water-carrying bamboo lines (for bathing/drinking)
2. Hygiene supplies, based on Takumi's existing knowledge e.g Soap
3. Repair and create clothing for Mio
4. Design sleeping platforms ("beds") so he stops suffering on the floor
5. Check on settlement relations. Visit at least 5 friends, jokes on you if you have none.
6. Explore the terrain. You must know your way around.
7. Eat something first (her little face turned stern) ]
-_-
"…This is a lot."
[You can do it.]
[Momo believes in you. Besides you were already planning to do this, I merely added 5,6, and 7]
-_-
Takumi turned to the window, he could do most, like repair some of Mio's clothes, he also needed utensils, Mio needed to bathe warm water in the morning, and warm food in the morning as well.
He could make utensils using clay, then heat it up, this way they could at least have some decent amount of plates, bowls and other utensils and cooking equipments.
[That's a good idea, but where would you find clay in a place like this?]
-_-
Takumi gave a Momo a blank look, wasn't she a system? He didn't believe for one bit that she didn't know the terrain of this place.
"Okay let's assume you don't know it, clay can be find in riverbanks, slopes, dry lake beds or areas with slow moving water. I can check our river for any sign of clay, that's the only known location for me right now.."