The curtain was abruptly swept aside, allowing the harsh, far-too-bright daylight to dance across my face. I groaned in response, pulling my blanket over my head in an attempt to block out the intense sunbeams.
"Now, now, Chika-chan, it's almost noon. You need to wake up," my mom said.
I cautiously lifted the blanket, lazily glancing at the woman denying me my slumber. "What day izzit?" I groused out.
"Sunday. April third. It doesn't matter. Get up," she insisted.
"Fine, but please move the curtain back so I can adjust to the lighting."
Mom snorted. "Do it yourself, Chika."
I grumbled. "Why do I have to get up? School doesn't start until the twelfth. I'm tired. What's so important that it can't wait a few hours?" I sat up, using my hands to cover my eyes.
She chuckled— a recently-developed habit. "Well, you haven't eaten at all today—"
That was enough to get me out of my futon. The promise of food was far more tempting than the sleep my mother would not permit me to have. Besides, I'd slept for almost fourteen hours, and I hadn't eaten in almost sixteen.
I was up on my feet in about three seconds, and I headed right past my mother, toward the kitchen.
"We need to get you back into a regular sleep schedule before school starts. It's your third year of high school, Chika, aren't you excited?"
"Yeah, I suppose…," I replied. It was an outright lie. I couldn't care less about my last year of high school. It was more trouble than it was worth, really. College applications, entrance exams, yadda yadda yadda. It was a bit of a moot point, considering I didn't even know what I wanted to do with my life yet. Picking a university at which to study would be an unwelcome challenge. It would have been much simpler if I could just stay where I was.
"You don't sound very excited. Is something wrong?" she asked as I made my way over to the refrigerator.
I turned my head and faked a smile. "No, mom, nothing's wrong, I just woke up, that's all." Another lie. I turned back to the fridge and frowned as I pulled out a can of TaP soda. I much preferred Dr. Salt NEO.
"You got any plans for today?"
"I do now, there's hardly anything in the fridge," I deadpanned. I'd need to make a trip to the shopping district. No, on second thought, screw that. If I went to Junes instead, I'd only need to make one trip.
Then again, a steak bowl from Aiya sounded really good…
"Good, you need to get out of the house more," my mom proclaimed. I froze. That was familiar to the point where it was practically code.
"You aren't doing this for my well-being, you're kicking me out so you can spend time with your boyfriend, aren't you?" I accused. She chuckled- again.
"I was wondering how long it'd take you to catch on. How much money do you think you'll need for groceries?"
I contemplated this. I figured I probably shouldn't spend more than ten thousand yen on groceries, and I added a thousand for a meal at Aiya. Then I rounded up for some spending money. "I shouldn't need more than fifteen thousand yen."
My mom chuckled again, and pulled out thirty thousand yen. Strange, she didn't usually give me more than what I asked for. Hell, she usually gave me less. But I wasn't going to complain.
"Thanks, mom! I'm gonna go get ready to go and call Hajime-chan and Hideki-chan to see if they want to come shopping with me," I smiled, genuinely this time, and turned toward my room.
"Shopping? You do understand that they're boys, right Chika-chan?" Mom called after me mirthfully. I laughed, and ignored her as I cheerfully got ready.
AN: First, I'd like to say I just picked random numbers for the cash amount, so if it doesn't make sense, that's why. I don't know the conversions from dollars to yen, and I'm admittedly lazy. I might go back and change it later.
EDIT: I changed the amounts so they should make a little more sense. Ten thousand yen is about $134 in U.S. currency. Fifteen thousand yen is about $196.51, and thirty thousand would be twice as much, so about $393.01. Damn, I wish my mom gave me that kind of spending money...
Also, yeah, I know it's kinda short, and boring. I haven't really gotten into it yet. When I write, I tend to think ahead of myself, and I end up writing parts that are going to take a while to get to, and then getting there is awkward. However, I'm almost to the good stuff, so please be patient, and I'll try to have the next chapter up within a week or so. Thank you!
-Blaziken837
