Lesson Learned

This was...nice.

"Mitsuko?"

Mitsuko buried her face in her pillow as she stirred, snoring loudly.

A hand gently shook her shoulder. "Mitsuko?"

"Uh..." She groaned, stirring as she pulled the pillow closer to her body like a comforting.

Then the hand shook her harder. "Wake up! There's something important you need to!"

She scrunched her face up tight as she started to wake up groggily. "Ehh?"

Then there was a loud sigh and a bright light was turned on.

"Ah!" She cringed away and shut her eyes tighter. "Mmmf." It hurt when she blinked her eyes open gradually, the light from her room insufferable.

Almost as insufferable as the bright smile on her dad's face as he bent down in front of her; he was already dressed for work like always. "There's a Conjunction of the Moon and Venus in two hours," he told her in a voice which was too fresh for—she blearily looked at her alarm clock—3 am.

It was 3 am?!

"Go away..." She mumbled turning over so she could bury her face in her pillow.

"Mitsuko, this is a special event, look sharp!" Her dad gently tugged on her shoulder to try to turn her around. "Your brother is already awake and getting ready—you need to hurry so we can set up the telescope."

"Fuck off, dad!" She swore into her pillow.

"...Mitsuko." Dad's voice darkened, making her tense. "Get out of bed. Now."

She shivered despite her best efforts, but then quickly felt a spark of annoyance, turning around to glare at him. "Why?!"

His face smoothed out, the darkness fading quickly. "...Because I want to spend time with you and your brother."

That threw her off, making her scowl in annoyance when she felt her chest tighten from guilt.

Her glare intensified. "...Fine," she spat out, before plopping her head back in the pillow. "Leave me alone and I'll be down in twenty minutes..." she mumbled sourly.

"That's the spirit!" He ruffled her hair in what she assumed was a fond gesture. "We'll be waiting in the garage—make sure you bring a coat."

And with that, he was out of her door, deliberately leaving the light on like the prick he was.

***

By the time she dragged herself downstairs, it was thirty minutes later, not twenty.

She grumbled, walking down the steps in a large blue hoodie and leggings, a thick set of boot slippers on her feet while she held her pillow close like a teddy.

True to his word, he and Gakushuu were already downstairs, both dressed more presentable than her.

Her brother was dressed in a thick coat, holding a large telescope case and looked amused when he saw her.

"Why are you carrying a pillow?" dad asked, raising an eyebrow.

She gritted her teeth. "Because it's three in the morning!"

"03:35 actually," dad responded curtly, opening the car with his keys. "Come along then."

"Where are we even going?" Mitsuko dragged her feet as she wandered to the car. "If you're gonna kill us, can you wait until we've at least eaten first?"

Dad sighed from the front seat. "If I was going to murder you I wouldn't be so obvious, Mitsuko."

She rolled her eyes and got in the backseat with her brother, grimacing when the telescope nudged into her side.