Little Choices

[Cheese]

Aiko had never thought she'd be quite this domestic. Getting up after dawn, putting on a pot of coffee, and even fixing a simple breakfast of eggs, toast, and bacon to further coax the still-sleeping boy from his bed. As many times as she had sworn she was not going to be one of those mothers that cooked and cleaned for her son, sometimes Aiko found herself doing it anyway... a breakfast here, a dinner there, perhaps a lunch if she got bored.

The fact of the matter was, she had planned out this particular day for her and Yuu to go out and spend some quality time together. No missions, no academy classes, just Aiko and her son out on the town. It had been on her internal calendar for what felt like weeks now, between her slowly-forming team of trainable genin and a few missions here and there.

The kunoichi left the kitchen to poke her head around the doorframe to Yuu's room, knocking on the slightly-open door to rouse the boy from slumber. "Rise and shine, kiddo! I made breakfast, so you'd best come grab a plate before it's all gone," she said in a sing-song voice. Thankfully he was normally easier to wake up than she was... at least, when she wasn't on some sort of mission. So, trusting that Yuu would be right on her heels, Aiko turned and made her way back toward the kitchen to check on that coffee.

[Punslinger]

The shuffling sound of unenthusiastic footsteps in the hall behind her ended with two arms wrapped around her waist and a face buried in her side, less a show of affection than a silent request for guidance to a chair, and perhaps something to take off the morning's chill.

Only last year he hadn't been up to her waist yet, but he was definitely going into another growth spurt if his appetite meant anything. His first words of the morning drifted up through her night-gown.

“Mrrwgphmphsm.”

[Cheese]

"Good morning to you, too, sweetheart," was Aiko's reply, complete with a fond hair ruffle. The duo reached the kitchen and she unwound his arms from her waist to steer him into the chair with a full plate already in front of it. If she didn't, she knew she'd have a leech in the form of a growing boy hanging on to her until he finished waking up, and she wanted to enjoy her cup of coffee without worrying about whether or not she would accidentally hit her son with a single movement.

So, with Yuu mostly sitting up at the table, Aiko fixed her coffee just the way she liked it and joined him, sliding into the chair across from him and wrapping her hands around the warm mug. It was times like these, quiet breakfasts with just the two of them, that Aiko knew she would cherish forever. It only cemented the fact that keeping Yuu was the best decision of her life.

[Punslinger]

Still somewhere between the sincerity of stupor and feigning it, Yuu's head loomed close to the surface of the table, snagging a piece of bacon from the side of his plate while his arms remained wrapped around his legs, tucked underneath his tunic in his chair. Still careful to eat over his plate, the boy's bangs hung low over his face, obscuring his eyes so that all that remained of his expression was a contented quarter-smile and the sound of crunching.

Presently a hand snaked out of a long sleeve just long enough to take a gulp of goat milk and insert a piece of toast into Yuu's mouth, where a more melodious symphony of crunches resumed.

[Cheese]

Aiko sipped at her coffee, enjoying the quiet of early morning. While she still missed the sounds of the forest, the sounds of nature slipping through the window, she had long gotten used to the hustle and bustle of the village. Even now, she could hear voices calling out cheerfully to friends, small strains of conversation drifting up.

"Once you finish eating, go get dressed. We've got a big day ahead of us," she said, setting her mug carefully on the table and pushing herself to her feet. "And don't forget to put your dishes in the sink."

She knew she didn't really have to remind him - Yuu had never been a particularly difficult child, after all. But then again, she had had help from Asaru in raising the boy, and Asaru had more than enough experience dealing with difficult children at the academy.

[Punslinger]

With an ease that came only from repetition and not willpower, the boy shuffled to the sink with his dishes, pumping the handle several times on the spigot until a satisfactory amount of water spilled over them before beginning the arduous journey back to his room.
Thankfully, the sounds of the street outside weren't lost on him either, and from down the block a group of street performers could be heard tuning up before starting their first performance; spring came late to the village in the clouds, and on what promised to be the first sunny day in a while there were likely to be many such artisans out to take advantage of the increased street traffic.

With the sound of the kokyu to lift his mood (and his eyes behind his bangs), Yuu was able to shimmy into his tunic and pants, and wander down the hallway in a reasonable amount of time before Aiko had cause to come in after him. Back at the sink, he briefly wet his hands, scrubbed his face and dried it with the nearby handtowel before looking expectantly up at his mother, still in her nightgown. Yuu was very fond of proving points without making extended debate, and this exemplified the trend.

[Cheese]

Aiko watched as Yuu did as she asked, starting with the dishes and continuing back to his room to get dressed. The woman herself lingered, inhaling the strong aroma of her coffee and letting its heat seep through the mug to warm her hands. Her son would, of course, be ready before her, but as she was the adult here, it didn't much matter. He wouldn't leave without her, after all.

And, sure enough, a fully dressed Yuu came back into the kitchen and even washed his face. Aiko laughed quietly and ruffled his hair before pushing herself to her feet. "Sometimes I think you take after Asa too much," she teased lightly, and left her coffee on the table to go change out of her nightgown into something more decent.

Though, truth be told, with the kunoichi's penchant for revealing clothing, it wasn't much more so. Since she wasn't planning on any training, Aiko forwent her headband and kunai pouches (though they were mostly for show, anyway). In fact, she went simple - something easy to move in, of course, because she was a shinobi even today - and changed into shorts and a tank-top. The top was, of course, green, though with Kumo's crest in silver on the front.

Once she returned to the kitchen, Aiko picked up her coffee and drained it, placing it in the sink and rinsing it out.

"Let's get going then, shall we?"