For as long as I can remember, I have always thought of opening my eyes in the morning as a hassle—as something I despise with all my being.

Not in a sense similar to that of a kid who refuses to wake up to go to school, though. It isn't even the action of waking up in and of itself that I hate. What I hate is the meaning that it carries.

I've got no good memory of ever being glad of waking up. For me, welcoming a new day in the morning has always meant waking up once again to the reality I despise—a disappointing, depressive, painful, and harsh reality. With no redeeming qualities, there was no incentive that made getting out of bed in the morning any easier. There were times in which I simply thought that it would be better to cease to exist rather than facing reality one more time.

Or well, that was before... you appeared in my life.

Lying awake in bed, I slowly place my hand on the small cheek of the girl in front of me. The little girl with short hair that was as dark as night sleeps peacefully as I gently caress her cute face. To me, she seems to be the splitting image of an angel.

My angel... I can't help but smile as I slowly move my hand from her cheek to her hair. I gently comb her silky hair with my hand over and over again, of course while trying my best not to wake her up.

"...Ngh...?" Oops, I failed. Even though I really was trying my best to let her sleep a bit more, my girl slowly half-opens her drowsy eyes. Her purple, amethyst-like eyes meet my own, causing me to smile unconsciously.

"...Ma...ma?" she says as she rubs her eyes cutely.

"Fufufu...yup, Mama's here, so sleep a bit more, baby. It's still pretty early." I readjust the blankets over her so only her head is peeking out from under the cover, and pat her side. Then, I pull her closer in a hug and begin stroking her hair, letting it flow through between my fingers.

It was something I remember my mom did for me when she wanted to put me to sleep.

"...M...m? ......O...kay..." The amethyst eyes that were lovingly looking at me just now return to their hiding spot behind her eyelids. A smile spreads through her face as she moves closer to me, grabbing my free hand from under the covers and holding it close to her.

Fufufu, my girl's such a cutie...

This lovely girl sleeping in bed next to me is Sora—Sora Saeki. As you may have noticed from our small interaction just now, she is my one and precious daughter; my reason for living, you could say. Even now that she's asleep, I can't help but smile whenever I look at her.

"Haha, maybe I love you a bit too much..."

"...M...m..." Ah, I should shut up, or I'll wake her up again...

Planning to retreat a bit more to the side of the bed, I move slightly away from her, but the moment I do, I feel her hand pulling at my finger from under the covers. She slowly moves closer to me and ends up with her face snuggled up into my chest.

I was planning to get up to make breakfast, but...

I gently caress Sora's head. The sound of her peaceful breaths make me feel strangely comfortable. My eyes slowly begin to feel heavy, and a wave of drowsiness suddenly dawns upon me.

...Well...I guess there's nothing wrong with me sleeping a bit more...

This is the daily routine in the Saeki household. Every morning, Sora and I laze around in bed, sleeping or cuddling, until either one of us gets hungry, after which we get up so I can prepare some breakfast. That breakfast then officially marks the start of our day.

But we can't do that today, because today is Sora's first day at nursery school! And so with that in mind, I reluctantly get up from the bed—being careful not to wake Sora up—and make my way downstairs to start making breakfast.

"Some scrambled eggs would be fine, right?" I nod at my own words as I get ready.

"Okay. Hair up? Check. Apron? Check. Eggs? Check. Mommy mode? Check...what am I even saying." Joking with myself here and there, I finish cooking a couple of minutes later. Scrambled eggs don't take much time to make, after all.

I leave the kitchen to make my way upstairs to wake up the little angel sleeping on my bed, but after leaving the kitchen, a small voice calls out to me from the first step of the staircase.

"...Mama?" Wearing her bunny-stamped onesie and with half her face covered by her hair, my girl shyly gives the last step to reach the floor. She scratches her eyes with the back of her hand as I move toward her.

"Ah, you're up?" I say as I kneel in front of her. "I was about to go and wake you up, did you sleep well?"

"Nn." Sora nods her head with a smile as she tries to take her hair off her face.

Her hair is heavy just like mine, so every morning, rather than getting up crazily like normal bed hair, her hair always ends up all over her face. She has it cut out quite short, but even then her bangs are quite long, which annoys her every morning.

She doesn't say it outloud, but I know that's the case. Because moms know everything about their kids!

"That's good." I push Sora's hair off her face, either brushing it to the side or pushing it behind her ears. She giggles happily as I do so.

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"Come sit down. Breakfast's ready. Ah, wait, before that. Won't there be a morning kiss for Mommy today?" I turn my face to the side and playfully tap my index finger on my cheek.

"Nn. *Mwah*!" Sora smiles and nods with her sleepy eyes for a second before standing on her toes and giving me a peck on the cheek.

Ah, I'm healed!

I pat her head and stand back up, feeling refreshed and a hundred times happier than before. These types of small things are truly what makes my day every day.

"'Kay, let's—hm? What's up?" My girl grabs the hem of my pants as I try to walk off toward the kitchen to serve our breakfast. I tilt my head to the side in confusion while she stares straight up at me.

"Sora...also wants a kiss..."

Kyaaaaa! Cutie! I wanna eat you up!

"Ah! How could I forget about that! Come here, baby! *Mwah* *Mwah* *Mwah*!"

"Hehehe!" Sora laughs heartily as I deliver my super special morning kiss storm to her cheeks. Holy crap what's up with that super cringeworthy name I just came up with, it gave me chills.......I'll just stop thinking about it. Yup, that's the right choice.

"*Mwah*!" I give Sora the last kiss of my super spec...ahem, of my morning kiss streak and scoop her up into my arms.

"?! Ehehe!" She seems a bit surprised for a second when I lift her up from the ground, but she quickly forgets it and happily buries her face in my chest. It's at times like these that make me glad that I have an ample bosom. It may sound like a stupid reason to be thankful, but how can you blame me?! It's a beautiful scene!

I smile at Sora before making my way to the dining table. It wasn't anything too big or too special, just a regular wooden table with just enough space for three, maybe four people to eat comfortably.

I gently sit Sora down on one of the chairs, most specifically on one that has a big cushion on its seat. Needless to say, it's to help Sora reach the table easier. Though I'm sure it'd be fun seeing her cutely move her arms around while trying to reach the table, I'm not cruel nor selfish enough to do that.

Once I see her comfortably seated on her throne, I tell the princess to wait as I go to the kitchen to get breakfast served. It only took me a couple of minutes to get everything ready; already-served plates, milk-filled plastic cups, and cutlery, everything was set.

"Now, let's dig in." I smile as I pick up my fork from the table and start eating. Sora nods at me before doing the same with her spoon. "I made it with love, so let's make sure to leave our plates spot clean, 'kay?"

"Nn!" My girl nods with her eyes sparkling and her mouth already filled with the product of my cooking.

I say that, but I am probably the one who's gonna have more trouble doing it...

Don't get me wrong, it's not like my cooking is bad...I think. Anyway, the thing is that I am a biiiiit allergic to eggs—they make my stomach hurt real bad. Like, right now, I'm only three bites in and my stomach is already starting to complain.

"*Munch* *munch* Hehe!" But look at that! How can I prioritize my feelings when Sora likes it so much! Looking at her happy face while eating is more than enough to heal my upset stomach!

"*Munch* *Munch*...Hm? Mama?" Ah, look at me, was I staring too much?

"Hehe, sorry, sorry, it's just that you're too cute!" I smile at Sora before turning my eyes toward my plate.

"Geez! Mama has to eat lots to grow big and strong!" Kyaaaa~! How can a pouting face be so cute!

"Hahaha, I don't think Mama will be growing any more. It's Sora who needs to eat lots and lots to grow big!" I slightly stand up from my chair, leaning on the table as I rub her hair with a smile.

"Hehehe, okay! Sora will eat lots!" She giggles a bit before returning to her meal. Today will be an exhausting day, so it's important to eat breakfast properly in order to be full of energy.

"Are you happy? Today's your first day at nursery school, you know?"

"Hm... Nn. Sora is happy... but it's also scary."

"Hmm? Scary? Why is it scary?"

"Because it's the first day, Sora doesn't know how it is...it's scary." She looks nervous, spinning her plastic fork on her plate with a somewhat sullen expression..

"Hmm... I see...."

Haaah, what am I supposed to say now? I've never been the best at giving motivational speeches. It's my job as her mother to calm her worries, right? I know that, but... I'm awful at it!

Even if she is getting close to the four years old mark, I'm still new at this! I'm not even that mature and old myself, either! The odds are against me!

"Well, baby...it's okay to be scared. Mama is always scared when she starts something new."

"...Really?"

"Yup. Really, really scared. But that doesn't mean it's okay to give up just because of that." ...I feel as if I'm just saying rubbish, but she is seriously paying so much attention...

"Give it a try. If it's still scary after you try, I'll be here to give you lots and lots of hugs and kisses until you aren't scared anymore." Did I do good? I think I evaded the crisis. Parenting is really hard... although I know I probably haven't reached the toughest part yet.

"Nn..." Wawawawa, why doesn't she look convinced?! Did I mess up somewhere?! How?! When?! Why?!

"A-Ah, but of course, even if you aren't scared, that doesn't mean Mama won't give you lots of hugs and kisses, okay?!" Nonono, but now I really am just saying nonsense, right?! Shouldn't I just shut up?!

"Hehehe! Nn! Mama, I wuv you!" Phew, safe. Not that it was an actual crisis...maybe.

"I wuv you too, baby!" When she acts like this, I really just want to jump over the table and hug her! But that's no good! We're in the middle of breakfast! Get a hold of yourself!

...Don't look at me like that.

I know I'm no good... and that I'm stupid for acting like this. Though I would appreciate it if you wouldn't judge me without knowing a single thing about me.

Hmm? You're saying that it's my fault you don't know a thing about me? Good point.

Now that I think about it, I haven't even introduced myself, have I? Hmm. How strange. Aren't main characters supposed to be introduced in, like, the first five lines of the story?

Oh well, whatever.

My name is Sakura, I'm 18 years old. Nice to meet you.

I have black hair and red eyes, and started changing diapers when I was 14. I'm sure you think I'm irresponsible, doing such things when I was just a kid myself—trust me, I've heard a hell lot of that up to this point—but even if that's the case, I can proudly say I have no regrets.

I have this cute little mommy's girl here with me, I graduated from highschool with no problems and am about to enter college, and I don't really have any money issues. You could say I'm living my life to the best I can.

Disappointed? Did you expect something more dramatic? Like how I had to quit highschool in order to find a job to raise her, or how my parents kicked me out of home or something like that? Yeah, no.

I was lucky enough to avoid falling in those situations. Like, extremely lucky. Like, "holy fuck how did this even work out?" levels of luck. There have been many times along the road where, had something gone slightly different, I would've ended up like the protagonist of a tragic opera.

Yikes, that's a scary line of thought. I'll just leave it at that.

"Mama~! I'm done!"

"Okay... ah. You have a bit of..." She has a bit of egg on her cheek. I stand up and gently move it away with my finger.

"There, all clean!"

"Ehehe... Thank you!" Waaah, are you trying to kill me with that smile?! Be careful with that! You're going to cause me to have a cutesy overdose one of these days...

"I'm done too." I look at my empty plate for a second before standing up and picking it up. I also pick Sora's up and take them to the sink.

"'Kay, let's go upstairs to get you ready. We can't be late today!" I go back and pick Sora up from her chair with a hug.

"Nn!" She nods and smiles as she hugs me back.

Now's the time for us to get ready. Go upstairs, brush our teeth, take a bath, get dressed up, and then... we'll be headed to the battlefield!

To the nursery school!