Of Cats and Crows (Sugawara Koushi)

Kinder Craze

The apartment had become cozier as the two found more things to decorate with. They had put up some fairy lights in the living room and bought new curtains that allowed some natural light to pass through in the mornings. Mitsumi had scored and found some small wooden shelves to hang on the white walls. Several pictures sat on them as well as different decorative sayings. Aunt Nami really did outdo herself in the basic aesthetics department. And Mitsumi couldn't stop finding stuff to add to it all.

Mitsumi rolled out of bed for her morning jog. She changed into some leggings and a workout shirt before dragging herself to the living room. The burst of orange from the sunrise lit up the living room.

"Morning, love." She yawned and sat on the ground to stretch.

Suga joined her in stretching. It was their morning routine. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I want more sleep though." Mitsumi yawned again. She could never be fully rested no matter how much sleep she got or how well she slept. "I'm glad we don't have evening practice today. We have conditioning at the stadium and Emiko is going to kill me today." She was dreading what her athletic trainer had in store for her.

He got up and held his hand out to her. "Well, she better not kill you because you have to come in for career day." Suga pulled Mitsumi up to her feet and gave her a kiss. "I'm looking forward to what you have to say, Sparks."

Mitsumi chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It isn't anything you don't know already." She gave him a proper good morning kiss and smiled. She had been looking forward to meeting his class all week.

Their morning jog was uneventful. They saw some of their teammates and other friends along the route. At one point, they came across a group of high school athletes doing their own team conditioning and they whistled and waved.

It was Mitsumi's turn to cook up some breakfast. So, she fried up some omelets and rice while he showered. She popped the miso soup leftover from dinner the night before and served it up.

Suga would be at the school for the entire day. Something he hadn't done since the start of the semester. He wore a white short-sleeved dress shirt and the tie she got him in Russia with grey dress pants. "Chie, should I bring a grey or tan sweater?" He said holding up his options.

"Tan!" Mitsumi smiled seeing that he is wearing her gift to him. "Breakfast is ready, so eat up."

Normally, they would both already be out the door. They would be training with their teams. It was these slower mornings that she really enjoyed. Even if they both still had to go to work. Although Sugawara was in the classroom for credit, he still called it going to work. He took a seat and ate while she changed into her JNT wear.

She tossed her packed gym bag into the genkan and then took a seat to eat. "Are you sure it's okay for me just to show up in this?" Mitsumi didn't want to come off as unprofessional. Plus she didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention.

"You'll be fine. It is what you wear to work." Suga washed his dish and set it on the drying rack. "You'll probably make some of the other parents jealous that you get to wear such comfortable clothing to your job." He winked at her as he dried his hands off. "Have fun at the stadium."

Mitsumi walked him to the door and kissed him goodbye. She had a couple of hours before she had to be anywhere. Normally, she'd be rushing to the practice rooms after the gym. But, because there were no classes, she decided that one day off from music would be okay. Even Mei and Hironori were taking the day off. So, she didn't feel too guilty.

...

The train station was fairly empty now that the peak commuting hours were over. Mitsumi had her track jacket in her bag since it was hot out. Today was a rare occasion where she decided to listen to a playlist other than all of her school music. She had some of her friends add their favorite songs to a playlist. And most of them had very good tastes.