--- One Monday Morning -- 603 -- Yoroiden Samurai Troopers ---
The buzzer went off at 5:10, as it did every morning. This was normal. However, that was the only normal thing about 5:10.
At 5:13, the buzzer went off again. This time, she actually woke with it. Her bleary, crusted eyes blinked once, took in the time (now 5:15), and she rolled over and woke her husband.
Hitaru realized what time it was and rushed off to the shower, mumbling goodbye as he went.
She stood up and followed, this time heading to Jun's room. She pounded on the door and shouted his name. Within a few tries, her son stood and opened the door.
"You're going to be late," she told him as he dashed off to the laundry room to find his clothes.
Chagrined, Cho realized that she probably wouldn't be showering until after she'd made sure Jun got to the subway in time. So she headed downstairs to make breakfast, which consisted of coffee and rice cereal.
No sugar for Jun, she reminded herself as soon as she reached the kitchen. He has math first today.
"Mom!" Jun shouted. "Mom, I can't find my tooth brush!"
"It's in the bathroom, dear," she called back, pouring herself a cup of coffee and staring at the clock on the counter. It was already 5:25.
She stood and drank the coffee, breathing the scent in deeply. Truly, one of the greatest Western inventions ever.
"Mom!" Jun shouted.
"Cho!" Hitaru shouted.
"I can't find my Science project! And where did you put my math workbook?"
"Cho, we're out of toilet paper!"
"Don't worry, Hitaru-San, I'll buy some more today. Just... go without for now. Jun, your science project is in the office and the math workbook is wherever you had it last."
She took the watering can off the kitchen counter and filled it with water, then watered her plants. Hitaru had given her those plants for their first anniversary. They were her favorite gifts.
Riceball mewed and jumped up onto the windowsill beside her.
"Hello, Riceball." She cooed. "Are you hungry?" She picked the white furball by the neck, noting that his fur had gotten coarse again, and deposited him on the floor. She kicked a pair of socks out of her way as she poured cat chow into Riceball's bowl.
"Mom, I still can't find my math notebook!" Jun wailed. "I had it in the den..."
"Stop, Jun, you'll wake the neighbors." A glance at another clock (When did we get so many clocks in this house? She wondered) revealed the time to be 5:45. Hitaru needed to be leaving right about now, and Jun would need to leave in about ten minutes, at the latest.
What a morning to be completely discombobulated.
She dashed into the den, pulled the math workbook out from the place where Jun had shoved it in between the television console and the wall, handed it to Jun, and set him to finding his backback.
The front door slamed as Hitaru walked out, and Cho took another sip of her coffee.
"Mom! I found my backpack!" Jun called from upstairs.
"Good, I'll walk you to the train station!" She shouted back.
The coffee got dumped into the sink as she grabbed her purse, her housekeys, and all but grabbed Jun up by the lopp on his backpack and threw him out the front door.
"You can wear your house shoes to the station and put your outside shoes on in the train, okay? Make sure to put your houseshoes in your backpack!"
She looked at her empty left hand. Where in the hell did my coffee go?