Episode 3

SPICE OF LIFE is the third episode of the Buddy Daddies anime series.

Synopsis
They had discovered Miri's mother's location. Kazuki developed affection towards Miri while they were living together, but he did decide to let her go, claiming that he was not the best candidate to nurture a child.

Kazuki and Rei take Miri to her mother's town on the morning of their separation, where she is nonchalantly excited to be able to eat her mama's hamburger steak again. Kazuki speaks with Miri's mother, who cannot ignore the fact that her life is in disarray. Meanwhile, Rei, who was playing with Miri at the park, has a flashback to his own childhood.

Introduction
Rei's younger self was filthy and sprawled on the floor. His current dream features someone he calls as "Father" as well as a dead dog next to him. He awakens when he heard Miri's voice calling him to breakfast, as well as Miri's sudden jump on his stomach jolted him alive.

While eating, Kazuki discussed his plans for the day, which included going to Kyutaro to get the information he had gathered about Miri's mother. Miri approached Kazuki after a few moments to disturb him, and Kazuki chastised Miri's cheekiness, resulting the two to play on the banana he was trying to bait on to stop disturbing them talking. While the two are giggling, Rei noticed that his friend appeared to be emotionally invested in the child already, prompting him to inquire whether Kazuki was certain of returning the child to her mother.

Plot
Kyutaro's approach to Kazuki was a little gloomy due to a recent failure mission. At the same time, he hands over the information he gathered about the "doll present" that Atsushi Hayami left behind, prompting Kazuki to flee before he is caught by Kyutaro.

Miri digs up dirt in the playground and forms it into a circle, while Kazuki and Rei sit on a bench and contemplate about Miri's mother's whereabouts. Miri approached them while they were conversing, giving Kazuki a piece of soil she had scooped and was about to force him to eat it when a vendor came outside the playground selling some sweet potatoes. Rei lost the game of rock, paper, scissors over who would buy the food Miri wanted.

When a local child protection squad officer approaches Miri, who is alone on the swing while calling out for Rei, who is merely sitting on the bench staring at her blankly, the person asks who she's with and was about to point Rei out, but Rei indicated that he is not Miri's father. When Kazuki arrives, she refuses to call him Papa, as instructed. On the way home, he explains that in some situations, calling him or Rei as her Papa is acceptable.

Miri went to Rei's room to surprise him because she didn't want to sleep alone, but instead found Rei sleeping in his bathtub. While trying to play with Rei for a while, she tries forcing him to smile, but he says he wasn't raised that way until she finally falls asleep in the tub, forcing Rei to exit.

Miri is being driven back to her mother's current location by Kazuki and Rei. When they arrive in the accurate city, Kazuki goes ahead to inspect the mother's workplace first, leaving Rei and Miri alone in the car, where Miri was throwing tantrums because she was bored and wanted to go swinging. Based on the information he received from Kyutaro, Kazuki then arrives at the Snack Stardust, the precise location where Miri's mother is working, and discovers Miri's mother practicing inside the club. While Kazuki tries to approach Miri's mother for a question, Misaki is slapped in the face by a man her age, presumably her boyfriend/bar manager. Kazuki, who is trying to help, easily gains the upper hand, causing the man to flee the bar.

Miri coerces Rei into taking her to a nearby park. Miri is having a great time as the two of them play on the playground's swings and slides. When the two take a seat on a nearby bench, Rei inquires as to why Miri refers to Kazuki as "Papa," to which she replies that a "Papa" is "the person who saves you when you're in trouble!" However, this is in stark contrast to his previous experiences. While pondering the child's words, he had a flashback to a cruel and unusual punishment he had withstood from his own father in the name of training, before noticing he had lost Miri.

Misaki began by asking what Kazuki anticipated from her while the two sat at the bar counter having a drink. Kazuki mentions Miri, which leads her to believe that Kazuki is one of Atsushi's goons, but Kazuki quickly denies. She then indicated that she and her daughter, Miri, are no longer anything to one another after hearing how he had found Miri and taken her in. Miri's mother discloses that she is not interested in caring for a child, which upsets Kazuki. She warns Kazuki that his manner of thinking will cause people to be hurt, prompting a flashback in Kazuki's mind to a terrible explosion from something like a car accident. While Misaki was still upset about her conversation with Kazuki, he leaves the bar after leaving his business card on the counter table.

Rei searches for Miri throughout the park, eventually pinpointing her conversing with a couple of police officers who believe she's lost because she doesn't seem to know where she came from. He takes into account letting them take her in, not until Miri cries out for help as she shouts “Papa”. As a result, a flashback from his younger self, who was heavily trained by his own father appears, prompting Rei to present himself to the police as Miri's Papa, which baffles and delights Miri, who runs into his arms as Rei says they ought to go home.

Rei wonders what's next after meeting with Kazuki, who appeared to be down for some reason. Kazuki stated they should grab dinner on the way home, affirming it will be a dinner for three. When the three of them returned home, Kazuki prepared hamburger steak for Miri and Rei, possibly the same hamburger steak that Misaki used to prepare for Miri, which certainly made the two enjoy the most of, leading Miri to indicate its way more delicious than Kazuki's hamburger steak.

Post Credit
Miri insists that they all sleep together that night, despite Kazuki's objections and Rei's concerns. Cut to them all crammed into one small bed, Miri happily sleeping and Kazuki uncomfortably pushed by Miri. He motions for Rei to move, but Rei is sound asleep.