Setting Out

Kirigo woke up to the sun shining through his blinds. He could smell tea being made and hear his mom and dad moving around in the shop downstairs. He sat up slowly rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hand before stretching and hopping up onto his feet. He walked lazily to his dresser where he pulled open a drawer to reveal the unkempt shirts inside. Kirigo pulled out one of his shirts and pulled it over his head, then opened the next drawer and pulled out a pair of shorts and socks and pulled them on. He drug his fingers through his hair as he walked over to the mirror, pulling all the knots out that had formed while he slept, and looked at what he'd thrown together for the day. He had on a gray shirt, short sleeve, with a simple drawing of a cat on it that said "Whatever" at the top and "Feed Me" underneath and a pair of cargo shorts that he was debating grabbing a belt to keep around his waist. He looked down at his feet and scrunched his brow. Why don't my socks match? Mom buys everybody a different kind, what's the point if she's going to keep mixing them up? Whatever. He took off the sock that he believed belonged to his dad, and tossed it on the pile of dirty clothes he had in his corner, then grabbed one of his own and slipped it over his foot. Kirigo walked out of his room and down the stairs to the first level of the building which held the shop his family ran and their kitchen. Going into the kitchen Kirigo knelt at the table, his mom walked over and poured him a cup of tea, he bowed his head and gratitude and picked it up slowly, blowing it some before beginning to take a sip. As he lowered his cup his dad took a seat to his right. He looked tired, but happy. His mom and dad worked long hours at the shop to keep their heads above water, something Kirigo hoped he could fix one day. He was used to never having much, not happy, but content. He hoped one day he could at least send enough money back to let his parents take a vacation sometime. He needed to let them know of his plans to enroll but he was nervous. He knew they wouldn’t like the idea of him putting himself in danger like that. As far as he knew no one in his family had ever been a shinobi. Which it wasn’t like he knew much anyway, he’d never met any other member of his family and his parents never mentioned anything about their past. Anytime he asked they just changed the subject but he didn’t really care anyways. He had himself to worry about today. He had to tell them. Kirigo lifted his cup of tea again, slowly, taking a long drink, before sitting the cup down and clearing his throat, “Mom, Dad I want to join the Ninja Academy…” He could hear his moms steps stop suddenly behind him as the words lingered in the air. The lines in his dads face seemed to deepen suddenly as if he’d aged at just the mention of his son becoming a shinobi. The silence felt like it was stretching on for an eternity. Kirigo let his gaze fall from his father’s face down to the table. When he looked at his hand he realized he was gripping the cup in his hands fairly hard. He relaxed his grip and pulled his arms back folding his hands under the table. He couldn't stand the silence anymore so he continued, “I want to earn enough money that you guys don't have to work so hard anymore. And explore the world, learn about all the amazing stuff out there, and all the different techniques the different villages use. I know you guys have done everything you can to support me and keep me happy, and I don't want you to think I'm not grateful. That's why I need to go, to show you exactly how grateful I am of everything you've done for me.” His words were low and steady as he spoke, barely above a whisper, but he knew it was enough to be heard in the silence of the room, and kept his eyes on his cup of tea as he spoke, watching as the steam rising from it slowed to a stop with its cooling. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He hadn't heard his mom move but he knew from the gentle touch it was her. His body relaxed , as if she'd pulled all his stress away with just a touch, and he took a deep breath letting it out slowly. He looked up and met his moms eyes. He could see that a couple tears had escaped her eyes, but she was still smiling.
“I can’t speak for your dad but I'm sure he agrees with me. We support you in whatever choices you make. We believe we've raised you right and you're smart enough to make your own decisions. We would never do anything to slow you down or keep you from accomplishing any goal you set for yourself.” She reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes with her free hand, the smile on her face widening. Kirigo smiled back and lowered his gaze to meet his dad’s. The lines had cleared and his dad’s smile matched his mom’s, both of them beaming with pride in their son. Of course he was. His dads real worry would have been how his mom took the news.  
“I agree completely,” his dad said with a chuckle, “I only ask that you make sure this is what you want. And that you're doing it for the right reasons. If you're worried about us there's no reason for it. We’re holding up just fine here in this rundown shop. It's not the best life but it gets us by and it always provides enough to keep you smiling. So, if you're only doing this to send us money and ease our burdens you might as well stay right here where it's safe and start sweeping floors. But, I believe you when you say you also want to explore. In fact I'm pretty sure that's your main motivation.”
“That's true Kirigo,” his mom said, “No offense, but you've always been more focused on yourself. I'm pretty sure your curiosity is what's driving this little train of yours more than your compassion. This won't be like studying at home though, no holding yourself up in your rooms for days and trying to skip meals. You'll need to keep your strength up and it'll be your own responsibility to do that. I won't be out there with you to drag you out of a book and make you eat something. You can't get distracted like that in the field.” She lifted her hand from his shoulder and walked over to stand beside his dad. “Mostly we just want you to be happy and safe though. So if you're going to do this make sure you stay in touch with us once you start heading out on missions don't have us sitting here worried sick.”
Kirigo couldn't help but notice they talked as if they had experience. His parents were no Shinobi though. Not as far as he knew anyways. Thinking back though he's never bothered to ask what they'd done before he's been born. He always just assumed the shop was their entire lives. They'd never really bothered to talk about it either, almost as if their lives hadn't begun until he was born. Now that he thought of it he didn't even know how his parents had met. How long had they been together? How old were they? Had they ever even celebrated one of their birthdays…?
“Well if you're gonna sign up you might as well go ahead and get an early start.” His dad's words broke him from his train of thought. “Like your mom said though you'll have to start watching out for yourself once you set out on your journey. Make sure you make plenty of friends but be sure not to be a burden on them.”
“Yeah you're right dad.” Kirigo said, standing up from the table and turning to head to the door. “I'm going to go ahead and head to the academy. Maybe I'll meet somebody with something cool they can teach me. I'll see you guys later tonight.” With that Kirigo opened the door to his home and stepped out into the misty streets of Kiri heading to the Academy. Ready to begin his journey.

[EXIT]

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