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A shrill, slightly metallic sound blared in the darkness. It cut through the air, making it hard to even think as she slowly reached her hand out.
Tomoko groaned lowly to herself, groping around the table with one eye cracking open. Pressing the snooze button, she turned back over for a bit. It was way too goddamn early to be getting anywhere out of bed- she was comfortable inside, and she thought that she remembered getting up from a good dream! Or at the very least, an interesting one. Slowly drifting back off, she was about to plunge back into the welcoming darkness of sleep when the alarm rang again, jolting her awake for the second time.
She really needed to get that damn alarm clock switched out with something a little less obnoxious. Even if it made getting to the school on time easy- it wasn’t making Tomoko’s awakenings any easier, that was for certain.
Shutting off the alarm, she threw the covers back and made her way to her bathroom, hissing slightly under her breath as her feet met the cold tile. Right. Right, she had slippers back by the bed, and she forgot them. Dammit. She really needed to invest in a second coffee machine just for her room or something- see if that would make things any easier.
After going back and grabbing her slippers, she went through the usual morning routine- shower, hair, clothes, headband… No need for makeup then, since if she did it it would probably get ruined while eating. It was a pretty unremarkable morning, in all respects. It only began to become odd when she walked to the kitchen, prepared to carry the usual routine into making breakfast, and saw Josuke already slipping some shoes on. Hair done, school uniform on- usually her kid was a little too lazy to be doing all of that this early…
“Josuke,” She called, pausing in the hallway towards the front, “have you eaten anything yet? Or are you really just going to go storming out without sustenance?”
“It’s fine mom,” He said, glancing back at her with a strange smile. “I’ll just grab something with Koichi and Okuyasu! We were going to meet up anyway…”
Her brows furrowed. “Are you sure? We still have whipped cream left over from last night, so I was going to try my hand at some crepes-”
“No no, there’s no need- I gotta get going here, alright?” Josuke said, rubbing the back of his neck. Tomoko’s brows furrowed- it wasn’t usual for Josuke to do that either… Even if it had been a little bit since they sat down to breakfast together, she doubted that he was starting to become against the idea of it- so something must have been happening today that was unusual.
She knew it wasn’t her place to pry, though.
As Tomoko told Josuke, “Alright,” she felt a strange sensation coming from her gut. Maybe it was simply intuition .
“I’ll see you later than. Don’t get into any trouble, you hear?” Tomoko tried to sound lighthearted so that her son didn’t have to see that she might have been worried. Better to let him focus on what he wouldn’t say than to hound him on it- he was getting to the age where that tended to be the case.
“I won’t, I won’t! Promise.” Josuke said. He opened the door and paused. Without turning back, he said quickly, “I love you.” before letting it swing shut behind him. Tomoko blinked in response. Well, what the hell brought that on? He didn’t even stick around so she could tell her she loved him too! It was like he was preparing to go off to face the end of the world or something. Then again, she supposed, it might very well have felt like the end of the world- it wasn’t as if her kid had much experience, young as he was.
She’ll leave him to it, for now. But she’d ask later. It was better than letting him go on like that, fighting for himself with whatever was to blame for this… Or maybe fighting with himself...
Strangely, her appetite was gone, so she decided to just make herself some coffee while listening to what the radio announcer had to say. Watching the coffee slowly drip down, she leaned against the counter as the chipper voice said, “And in addition to this wonderful weather we’re having, we’re happy to announce the winner of our radio contest! One mister Tsukishima has won tickets to what’s sure to be the best trip of his life … ”
Bringing the cup of black coffee unthinkingly to her lips, Tomoko wondered why this seemed so oddly familiar… then the bitter taste of the coffee brought her back to reality and she quickly went to add some damn sugar, to get the taste out of her mouth.
After that, it was back to the normal routine of life- makeup, grabbing curriculums, turning off the radio, shoes, car keys… Ah, she’d almost forgotten her wallet! How odd. She slipped it into her pocket and started out of the house, thinking to herself that today was just full of oddities. It was just one of those days, she supposed, as she slipped into her car and turned on the ignition.
It was a new thing- something she’d saved up a lot of money for! Even the clock on the radio was digital, with numbers reading 7:45. She was early, but she guessed that it wouldn’t hurt to be- fewer people on the roads, after all.
It was with this logic that Tomoko started to drive. When she got onto the main road, she heard the fast-paced roar of an oncoming motorcycle far too late- it was already beginning to speed through the passenger doors of the backseat.
Darkness overtook her vision before she could even scream.
A shrill, slightly metallic sound blared in the darkness. It cut through the air, making it hard to even think as she slowly reached her hand out.
Tomoko groaned lowly to herself, groping around the table with one eye cracking open. Pressing the snooze button, she turned back over for a bit. It was way too goddamn early to be getting anywhere out of bed- she was comfortable inside, and she thought that she remembered getting up from a good dream! Or at the very least, an interesting one. Slowly drifting back off, she was about to plunge back into the welcoming darkness of sleep when the alarm hissed out again, sounding like the wonky rewinding of a VHS tape. It jolted her awake, yet again.
She really needed to get that damn alarm clock switched out with something a little less obnoxious. Even if it made getting to the school on time easy- it wasn’t making Tomoko’s awakenings any easier, that was for certain.
Shutting off the alarm, she threw the covers back and slowly trudged slowly on the carpeted floor of her bedroom, trying to make it through to her bathroom.
Tomoko made her way to her bathroom, hissing slightly under her breath as her feet met the cold tile. Right. Her slippers- the fuzzy ones with the awful, tacky rhinestone pattern that Josuke had gotten her a year or two ago- Dammit. She left it near the bed. What was it about mornings with her brain half asleep? She really needed to invest in a second coffee machine just for her room or something- see if that would make things any easier.
At the very least, it would make it easier on her memory .
After going back and grabbing her slippers, she made it through the icy tundra of her own freezing bathroom and into the equally icy blizzard of the goddamn shower, since the pipes hadn’t warmed up enough. She guessed that was the tragedy of being a teacher- not being able to afford an all-new pipe system so she could get hot water in a reasonable amount of time…
The shower was usually the longest part of her morning- mostly because Tomoko sort of had a tendency to space out for a bit and let her thought process wander, the same way that many people did. Mostly, she was still feeling drowsy, and wasn’t looking forward to dragging herself to the kitchen to slave away on the stove, making something labor intensive… Though… now that she thought about it, didn’t she buy a pack of pre-made crepes a while ago?
After she left the shower, it was the usual morning routine- hair, clothes, headband… No need for makeup then, since if she did it it would probably get ruined while eating. It was a pretty unremarkable morning, in all respects. It only began to become odd when she walked to the kitchen, prepared to carry the usual routine into making breakfast, and saw Josuke already slipping some shoes on. Hair done, school uniform on- usually her kid was a little too lazy to be doing all of that this early. It used to make things a hell to time... back at the old house, that is, when they’d had to share a bathroom. Tomoko thought briefly to herself that she was unusually scattered today.
“ Josuke, ” She called, pausing in the hallway towards the front, “have you eaten anything yet? Or are you really just going to go storming out without sustenance?”
“It’s fine mom,” He said, glancing back at her with a strange smile. As if only that would communicate that Tomoko didn’t need to worry- worry about what? “I’ll just grab something with Koichi and Okuyasu! We were going to meet up anyway…”
Her brows furrowed. “Are you sure? We still have whipped cream left over from last night, so I was going to try my hand at some crepes-”
“No no, there’s no need- I gotta get going here, alright?” Josuke said, rubbing the back of his neck. Tomoko’s brows furrowed- she knew it wasn’t usual for Josuke to do that either… Even if it had been a little bit since they sat down to breakfast together, she doubted that he was starting to become against the idea of it- so something must have been happening today that was unusual. Just how much can your friends handle? How much can you handle?
She knew it wasn’t her place to pry, though. At least not yet. She’d mother him a bit later.
As Tomoko told Josuke, “Alright,” she felt a strange sensation coming from her gut. Maybe it was simply intuition. Maybe it was a simple differentiation of wants and needs- or maybe it was the sense that she needed to say something.
“I’ll see you later than. Don’t get into any trouble, you hear?” Tomoko tried to sound lighthearted so that her son didn’t have to see that she might have been worried. Better to let him focus on what he wouldn’t say than to hound him on it- he was getting to the age where that tended to be the case.
“I won’t, I won’t! Promise.” Josuke said. He opened the door and paused. Without turning back, he said quickly, “I love you.” before letting it swing shut behind him.
Tomoko stood, staring at the door. The way he’d said that… Josuke had said that as if this was it as if this was his one last time. ..
She’ll leave him to it, for now. But she’d ask later. It was better than letting him go on like that, fighting for himself with whatever was to blame for this… Or maybe fighting with himself...
Strangely, her appetite was gone, so she decided to just make herself some coffee while listening to what the radio announcer had to say. Watching the coffee slowly drip down, she leaned against the counter as the chipper voice said, “And in addition to this wonderful weather we’re having, we’re happy to announce the winner of our radio contest! One mister Tsukishima has won tickets to what’s sure to be the best trip of his life … ”
Bringing the cup of black coffee unthinkingly to her lips, Tomoko wondered why this seemed so oddly familiar… then the bitter taste of the coffee brought her back to reality and she quickly went to add some damn sugar, to get the taste out of her mouth.
After that, it was back to the normal routine of life- makeup, grabbing curriculums, turning off the radio, shoes, car keys… Ah, she’d almost forgotten her wallet! How odd. She slipped it into her pocket and started out of the house, thinking to herself that today something was wrong. It was just one of those days, she supposed, as she slipped into her car and turned on the ignition.
It was a new thing- something she’d saved up a lot of money for! Even the clock on the radio was digital, with numbers reading 7:45. She was early, but she guessed that it wouldn’t hurt to be- fewer people on the roads, after all.
It was with this logic that Tomoko started to drive. When she got onto the main road, she heard the fast-paced roar of an oncoming motorcycle far too late- it was already beginning to speed through the passenger doors of the backseat.
Darkness overtook her vision before she could even scream.
A shrill, slightly metallic sound blared in the darkness.
Tomoko groaned lowly to herself. She tried to go back to sleep, but the snooze button couldn’t keep the alarm silenced for long. She tried to drag herself to the bathroom but forgot her slippers by the bed.
After going back and grabbing her slippers, she went through the usual morning routine. It was a pretty unremarkable morning, in all respects.
Josuke was already about to leave. That was wrong. It wasn’t the usual behavior for him. She was right in worrying.
“Josuke,” She called, pausing in the hallway towards the front, “have you eaten anything yet? Or are you really just going to go storming out without sustenance?”
“It’s fine mom,” He said, glancing back at her with a strange smile. He tried to hide it from her. She knew he was trying to protect her from something. But what? “I’ll just grab something with Koichi and Okuyasu! We were going to meet up anyway…”
Her brows furrowed. “Are you sure? We still have whipped cream left over from last night, so I was going to try my hand at some crepes-”
“No no, there’s no need- I gotta get going here, alright?” Josuke said.
She knew it wasn’t her place to pry, though. She should have said something.
As Tomoko told Josuke, “Alright,” she felt a strange sensation coming from her gut. Maybe it was simply intuition. Maybe she was starting to realize what was happening.
“I’ll see you later then. Don’t get into any trouble, you hear?” Tomoko said, trying to stay chipper. It was hard.
“I won’t, I won’t! Promise.” Josuke said. He opened the door and paused. It was hard to stay happy when her child was so obviously hurting. Without turning back, he said quickly, “I love you.”
Tomoko stood and watched the door swing closed like she had done thousands of times before. Whatever was bothering Josuke, it must have been important. Maybe she should have pried a bit more, she thought, moving to make herself coffee.
The radio host droned on like forever and always, and she stared at her cup, thinking. Her mouth was filled with bitter coffee as she was taking the moment to ponder. She was just going to have to find some way to help...
If only she could shake this feeling of deja vu…
Then maybe she could save her son- and know that he needed to be saved at all.