Simple Moments

Breakfast

The loud blare of Jiyu's alarm rang as she slowly awoke from sleep. She groaned as she haphazardly reached towards her phone, fumbling with her password as she eventually turned off the alarm. Pushing her legs off the bed, Jiyu took a second to take a deep breath and stretch her arms.

"Why do I even bother getting up this early?" She mumbled.

She looked towards her mother, who lay beside her in the same bed, slumbering as deeply as if nothing had changed. Jiyu sighed and decided to let her rest for a while longer.

From there, she went through the motions: brushed her teeth, changed into sweats and a tank top, and took off her silk cap to replace it with her signature pink headband. With her coziest clothes on, Jiyu was ready to start the day.

She walked into the living room where her childhood best friend Sabburah was already awake with a video game controller in her hands and scrunched up on the couch with her lively brown eyes staring aggressively at the TV. She seemed to be focused upon whatever cutscene was currently playing in her game.

"Morning, Sab," Jiyu greeted. No response. Sabburah was too deep into the gameplay to register outside forces for now.

Jiyu sighed and headed over to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for two. Knowing her video game-loving friend, she woke up without eating breakfast just to get back to playing. The plot for this one must be particularly interesting, considering she never liked to wake up this early. Upon a quick glance at the inside of the fridge, Jiyu decided that simple omelets with turkey slices would suffice.

Taking out the eggs and cheese in the fridge, she got to work making enough for the two. With practiced ease, she proceeded to make the dish and had just finished Sabburah's portion when the person in question finally spoke.

"Hey hey, Jiyu. Up early as usual," Sabburah greeted, now having paused the game to turn around and face her best friend.

"Of course," Jiyu replied, walking around the counter to pass Sabburah her plate. "I KNOW you didn't eat breakfast so here."

As if on cue, Sabburah's stomach grumbles angrily, demanding that it be fed. Sabburah herself smiled guiltily as she accepted the omelet.

"Thank you.. I just got really sucked into this game. I had to force myself to go to bed last night, but I couldn't fall asleep properly so I ended up getting up early to see it through."

A light blush flushed over Jiyu's face at Sabburah's smile.

"Y-Yeah, figured. Let me finish up my omelet, and I'll come watch you play," Jiyu quickly turned back around to the kitchen to hide her face as she said this, not wanting Sabburah to see her reaction to something as simple as her smile.

"Okay! I can wait for you then," Sabburah replied as she continued to dig into her omelet.

It didn't take long for Jiyu to finish up hers and placed the dirty pan into the sink to be cleaned later before joining Sabburah on the couch with her omelet. Sabburah herself had finished her breakfast at that point, leaving the empty plate on the floor closest to the couch she sat upon.

"Thanks for the food! It was delicious, as usual." Sabburah complimented, stomach satiated and herself ready to get back to the game.

"I'm glad you liked it," Jiyu responded, a hint of a smile on her lips as she began to feed upon her omelet. With food still in her mouth, she asked, "What's this game about?"

This sparked an excitement in Sabburah that was all too familiar as she gave a quick summary of the plot. It was a gruesome game about a girl who was searching for her best friend, and along the way, had to mutilate herself to solve puzzles in order to do so. While Jiyu wasn't the biggest fan of what seemed like such an emotionally heavy game, Sabburah loved games that made you feel.

Sabburah scuttled closer to Jiyu on the couch and resumed her gameplay, quickly losing herself into the world the game had built. Meanwhile, Jiyu's mind was half intrigued by the game and half-aware of Sabburah's closeness. This prompted her to quickly finish her food and place it on the floor in much the same manner Sabburah had before laying down on Sabburah's lap. Heat once again flew to her cheeks upon doing so, not that it was noticed, of course.

They stayed in that position for an hour or so until the door to one of the other bedrooms opened. Out emerged Sabburah's mother and father, fully clothed yet still hadn't rid the sleep from their eyes.

"Morning," Jiyu greeted.

"Morning," Sabburah's mom said, a gentle ring to her voice that was always comforting to hear. Sabburah's dad gave a noise of acknowledgment as he went straight to the kitchen to make his usual pot of coffee. Upon realizing that her parents were up and about, Sabburah made out a quiet noise of discontent before exiting the game, turning off her console, and going back to her room to change out of her hoodie and leggings into something more proper. Jiyu sighed as well, having had to get up from the couch as well to wake up her mother. Jiyu wasn't the kind of person to have regrets or look back on things too deeply, but in her heart of hearts, she wished: 'I wish I could have simple moments like that forever.'