Of Cats and Crows (Sugawara Koushi)

New Starts

The mornings were always rough in the Sugawara household. It almost always started with Chie groaning as if she were in pain when the alarm went off and Koushi getting a face full of the pillow she shoves aside in bed. He would then reach over to the nightstand and silence the alarm, knowing that it wasn't enough to get his wife out of bed. Koushi would slide out of bed and do the one thing that he knew would wake her up, yank the covers off. Despite routines and schedules being incredibly important to Chie, she hated getting the new day started.

"Sparks, time to get up." He called out to her as he gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. For as much as he wanted her to sleep all day, they both had a packed schedule. Koushi had to get ready to go to work. It was a big day where the kids would be releasing the butterflies they hatched recently. But first, the young couple had to go on their morning jog. He had kept a goal to stay in shape even after graduating from college and retiring from sports. And it really helped that he lived with a professional athlete.

Chie slowly dragged herself out of the comfort of her bed. "Morning." She yawned and stretched her arms up as she got up. Her bones slowly cracked to life as she began to move around. Despite being married for a couple of months now, Koushi still found the noises slightly disturbing. She groggily wandered over to him and gave him a hug and a kiss. "Today is Butterfly Day, right?" She yawned as she rummaged around their dresser drawers for some workout clothes. "Hey, where's my running shorts?"

It was clear her night's rest wasn't very restful when he noticed her rummaging through his drawers and not hers. "It is Butterfly Day." Koushi smiled a bit at her half-awake antics. He moved her hands to the closed set of drawers. "And wrong drawers, Sparks." He then disappeared into the bathroom to rinse his face off and change into his running gear.

Their morning jogs were always uneventful. They would run around the neighborhood for a good hour before returning home to prepare for the rest of the day. Chie cooked breakfast and put their lunches together while he showered and dressed to go to work for the day. It wasn't never anything super fancy, but it was at least nutritious. They would join each other for the meal before she would kiss him goodbye for the day at the door and tidy up the house.

There was still a couple of hours until she had to leave for the stadium. Right now, she was training for the upcoming Volleyball League Nations tournament. It was yet another normal pre-tournament training season. After coming off of a super successful V.League season, she was hoping the world stage would be just as amazing this year. But for now, she tended to her small garden of flowers in the backyard as she listened to some of the music she was working on with Mei for an upcoming recital series.

Graduation had given her some of the free time she had been praying for as a student. Although the lack of a completely stacked schedule felt alarming. Sure, she would get busy, but it wasn't the student hustle. And so, she had began to submit online auditions for graduate programs. Chie highly doubted that she would get accepted into anything. It was a miracle she even made it into an undergraduate program. Koushi had no idea about this. Because if she did make it in, she wanted it to be a surprise. Although he did know about her interests in continuing her education.

Chie glanced over at the calendar in the entrance way of their home. Decisions should be coming soon. She slipped on her sandals and walked out front to her mailbox. Her emerald eyes opened in shock as she saw the stack of mail. She had gotten so busy the past few days that she had forgotten to check it. Koushi seemed to let it slip through his mind as well. There was still time for her to sort through it before she had to leave. So there was plenty of time for her to take care of the mundane task.

Most of the mail was just junk mail. Jiji, her cat plopped his fluffy body down into her lap as she sat on the floor. The poor cat was startled when his owner suddenly flinched when her eyes came across three familiar looking logos. Chie had applied to three programs: Nihon University, Tokyo College of the Arts (Geida), and Tokyo University. She immediately grabbed her phone and dialed Saki's number. Her best friend immediately picked up the request for a video call.