Gimai Seikatsu

I heard a sound that pulled me out of my dream and back to reality in my dark room. The alarm I had set earlier was ringing. I hurriedly stopped it and turned on the lights inside my room. The legs I stretched out beyond my blanket immediately felt cold. It was currently 4 am during the mid-winter season. It was still two more hours until the sun would start to rise. However, we had to meet up at Narita Airport at 7 am. In other words, we had to leave the house at 5, or we wouldn’t make it in time.

That being said… Man, it’s cold. Since I set the alarm early enough to give myself a reasonable buffer, I can just take my time and—My thoughts were interrupted as someone hammered on my door. It was my old man asking “You awake in there?” which made me gasp. That was close. I almost fell asleep again.

“I’m awake!” I responded.

I jumped up from my bed and started changing. I barged inside the bathroom to wash my face, only to almost bump into Ayase-san. She had already finished her makeup and everything, as you’d expect of her. We exchanged quick greetings and passed each other. I finished washing my face and brushing my teeth in about five minutes. We seated ourselves at the dining table at around half past 4 am, perfectly on schedule. Akiko-san, who had come home not too long ago, was still wearing her work clothes as she prepared breakfast for us.

“Shouldn’t you be getting some sleep, Mom?” Ayase-san asked, but Akiko-san just returned a smile.

“It’s no problem. I can get enough sleep after I see you two off. I actually left work earlier than usual because I wanted to see you one last time before I don’t get to see you again the next three days,” she said and pushed a large plate our way.

On top of it were ten rice balls, all wrapped with seaweed.

“Here you go. I figured something simple to eat would be best, so I went with rice balls. They’re packed full of delicious goodness. I’ll get out the miso soup, too.”

“Thanks a lot.”