Private Like Mother, Like Son

[Kaji Hirohito]

As the sun set, the sky lit up a beautiful shade of orange before fading over the horizon. There was an obvious shift in temperature from the comfy warmth of day, to the crisp and cold night air. Though it was a weekend, Kaji had done his best to help at his mother's store. It was after closing time, and Kaji had stayed around to help his mother lock up so that they could walk home together. But something was bothering him, and no matter how hard he tried to bury it, it still rose to the forefront of his mind. Like a recording of the past, Kaji replayed what had happened earlier that day.
There was a customer in desparate need, searching for a specific medicine. The one he was looking for had unfortunately been out of stock for quite for some time, and the herb used in making the medicine in question was exceptionally rare. The man begged and pleaded, insisting that we were the only shop for miles that had even heard of the ingredient. And if he didn't get it soon, he would have to spend an exorbitant amount of money to contract a mission from the shinobi. Yua was not interested in arguing with the old man, but before she could dismiss him, Kaji stepped in. He declared that they would get him the medicine he needed and that he would do it himself. By the time Yua had managed to regain control of the situation, he had already made several promises to the old man. Promises she knew he couldn't keep. But that didn't stop her from pulling Kaji to the side and scolding him relentlessly as soon as the old man had left.
The thoughts still fresh on his mind he decided to continue their conversation from closing time. "Why can't I help? I'm grown up now, you can't just say that I'll understand when I'm older anymore!" , he said. "No means no." , Yua sighed loudly, "I don't know why you keep insisting on going out there, it's not safe.". "So? I'm a shinobi now, I can handle anything!" , he stated confidently. "That's not how that works." , Yua snapped, "Fist of all you're not a shinobi yet, you're an academy student." "But-" , Kaji tried to interject. "Second of all, I don't have the time to go out there with you, and there's no way I'm letting you go by yourself." , She continued, paying no mind, but before she could add to her thoughts Kaji continued the arguement, "But mom you're the one who's always telling me that a good shinobi takes responsibility!". However, She was no longer in the mood to continue, "Enough, after dinner we're going straight to bed, you have school tomorrow mister." , she finished. "That's not fair!" , he said hoping to push the issue further, but he found his mother to be unwilling to even talk to him.
Dinner was quiet and tense, and the family went to bed without the usual bedtime routine or kiss goodnight. It seemed that she was really mad at him this time.

 

[Kaji Hirohito]

Kaji couldn't sleep. No matter how many times he thought it over in his head, it just didn't make sense. A good person helps people, even when they aren't required to. And a good ninja should, by comparison, do the right thing even if it's not the mission. His mind just kept going, so he snuck out of bed and decided that, he would do something about it. Whether she liked it or not, he was going to find these herbs and prove his mother wrong.
After all, she had always told him stories in the letters she sent ever since he was little. Stories where she had survived and succeeded against impossible odds. So why couldn't he?
He packed his things in the dark, using the mirror on his dresser to reflect the moonlight into his room so he could see. Taking care not to let the trench knives that he had received for his 12th birthday drop to the floor. Once he had staged his gear under the edge of his bed, he snuck quietly from his room. Kaji waited for what felt like an hour, until he could finally hear the peaceful deep breaths of sleep echoing from his mother's room. Then he moved stealthily into the kitchen. Grabbing what he could, he retrieved the supplies to pack enough food for three days. Which he stored in his gear pack, and carefully returned the rest.
The plan was simple, his mother woke up every day at 5:45 am and takes 30 minutes to herself before coming to wake him up at 6:15. So, if he sacrificed a few hours of sleep to wake up at 3:30 am, he could be ready and out the door by 4 giving him over an hour to make his move. Satisfied, he set the alarm clock his grandfather gave him, and placed it under his pillow to stifle the noise before falling fast asleep.

To be continued....

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