One hand emerged from the bundle of blankets to hit the off button on the alarm that blared precisely at six a.m.. Brigitte threw the blanket aside with a groan and stretched. Normally she was more of a morning person, but staying out later than normal for a work night made her still tired.

Shuffling her way to the bathroom and Brigitte did her morning routine. Pulling her hair into her usual ponytail after getting dressed in her work shirt and red overalls. She stepped out of her room to be greeted by Sushi, who rubbed against her ankles and mewed loudly.

“Morning, you’ll get breakfast soon.” Brigitte chuckled and pet Sushi. From the snoring coming from the room next door, Hana and Lucio were back. Thinking that instead of bugging them, she would just leave a note on the fridge.

Making sure Sushi had enough water and food, Brigitte made breakfast for herself. Noticing how low they were running on some things, she would need to go by the store after her shift. She quickly put some toast in the toaster while the eggs fried. Then the sound of her ringtone went off from her pocket. Still cooking, she pulled her phone out, and it said ‘Mama’. Brigitte smiled and answered, putting it on the counter in speaker mode. “Hi Mama.”

The voice of Ingrid Lindholm on the other end was soft and friendly. “Morning sweetheart. How are you? I hope I didn’t disturb you too early.”

“No, I was just making breakfast before I head out to work so I have a little time.” Brigitte said, moving the plate of food and her phone to sit down. “As for how I’m doing pretty good. The job is a lot of fun. Living here with Hana and Lucio has certainly been an adventure. Oh, and over the weekend I’ll get to go to an exclusive concert that Lucio and Hana got me a ticket to.”

“That sounds fun. Who is the one singing?”

Brigitte swallowed a few bites. “It’s a classical piano concert and his name is Shimada. Apparently, he’s really famous around here, even though I’ve never heard of him. Then again, I was never good at keeping track of this stuff.”

“Sounds lovely though and I hope you have fun.” Ingrid said with a chuckle. 

“How are you and pappa?” Brigitte asked, eating some toast.

“Your pappa is back here in Sweden for a few weeks before he’ll head off to America for an engineer contract. Meanwhile, I’ve been planning some bake sales for the local church to supply some charities.” Ingrid replied before there were a few mumbles in the background. “Well, it seems my ride is here and I have to go. I just wanted to see how my baby girl was doing. Call when you can, I’d love to hear about that concert. Also expect something in the mail soon.”

“I will mama, you be safe and I’ll tell you all about the concert on Sunday. Love you.” 

“Love you too.”

Brigitte put away her phone into her pocket once the call ended. Noticing the time, Brigitte quickly finished what remained of her food, pet Sushi and left a note on the fridge for her roommates. Then grabbed her bag and went out the door.

Maybe she’d be able to grab a quick mocha coffee from her favorite vendor on the way.

--------- 

Hanzo woke up to something wet against his face. Opening one of his eyes to see Yomi trying to wake him up with kisses. “Morning to you too, boy.”

Yomi started bouncing all over the bed while Ama snuggled under Hanzo’s arm, whining because she was trying to sleep. She yawned and then licked at Hanzo’s chin before getting off the bed to shake. 

“And morning to you, my lady.” Hanzo chuckled and got out of bed to stretch, then opened the door for the dogs. “I’m going to take my shower. You two can head out for breakfast first.”

Yomi excitedly ran out, but Ama nudged Hanzo’s hand lovingly before heading out with her brother. After they left the room, Hanzo shut the door again. Looking over at the clock to see it was half past ten a.m., surprised to see that he actually slept in pretty late. He went to his closet to grab a long sleeve blue sweater and a pair of black slacks, placing them neatly on the bed.

Stripping his night clothes off and pulling his hair out of the ponytail, Hanzo walked into the bathroom. First, he dealt with some business before looking over himself in the mirror. His long black hair was a mess from sleeping and his goatee needed a good trim. He’d deal with the beard later. Taking a few extra minutes, he brushed his teeth to get the taste of morning breath out. Then Hanzo got into the large shower. Reaching down, he turned the knob for the hot water on and just let it run down his body, giving off a sigh of relief.

Later, Hanzo stepped out of the shower and onto the tiled floor. Grabbing a towel to wrap it loosely around his waist before pulling another one to dry his hair. Then quickly trimmed his beard until it satisfied him. Hanzo threw the material around his waist into the hamper and walked back into his room. He put on the pants he laid out before while finishing up the last of drying his hair before sliding the sweater over his head. Taking about an hour to get cleaned up.

Picking up his phone from nightstand to check for messages. Three new notifications popped up. 

First was a short one from Genji, stating he was having a ‘sleepover’ with a friend. That made him roll his eyes and sigh, since he knew all too well what that entailed. Thankfully, the picture attached was just a group selfie of his brother Lucio and Hana at the club.

The second one was from Lucio asking to contact him when he was free to discuss the new CD deal. Hanzo remembered he forgot to contact Lucio on the flight back. Quickly, he sent a message.

‘Apologies for not contacting you sooner. I think Friday afternoon should be good enough unless something happens. If all else fails, we can schedule at the after party. Inform me on what location would be better to meet up.’

He hit send before moving on to the last message and it made him chuckle quietly as he made his way to the kitchen, where a familiar voice hummed a tune. Standing in the kitchen making an omelet was an older, tall Japanese woman, dressed in a button down blouse and slacks.  

Hanzo smiled, going over to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Aunt Akari, I see you made yourself at home. ”

“Awh, it seems you decided to finally join us for breakfast, well by now it’s more like lunch. Your children already wolfed down their food and now want yours.” Akari retorted, her faint British accent coming out with a smile, and patted his cheek gently. “How is one of my favorite nephews?”

Hanzo chuckled before heading to the fridge to grab some cranberry juice as the dogs hovered around him. Giving them both scratches behind the ears. “Refreshed, it was good to sleep in for once.” 

“Your tour was quite a lengthy one this time. Excuse me for not being there more, being your manager and all.” Akari said, putting one of the finished omelets on a plate and placing it on the island counter. “At least you’ll have a few days off to relax and get to enjoy one of my mother’s famous omelets. Sit and eat.”

“Well, you helped set up everything ahead of time, and it went smoothly. Besides, they were all in concert halls, either family owned or sponsored. So I could handle it.” Hanzo took his drink and sat on the bar stool in front of the meal provided. “Itadakimasu.” 

“I know.” Akari waited for him to eat some before talking up again. “I take your brother is having one of his ‘outings’.”

Hanzo snorted slightly. “Yes, and is having a ‘sleepover’. He invited me to Lucio’s club to celebrate last night, but I didn’t feel like joining. I probably would have been left to be uncomfortable with that noise while he chased after women. I love my brother, but I wish he would stop philandering about.”

“Genji has the looks. People find him attractive and the Shimada name attached. At least he hasn’t gotten into any scandals yet.” Akari said, cleaning up after her cooking. “Either way, I’ve set everything up for Saturday. The concert seats are all filled. Also, there will be about twenty-three guests at the after party.”

“Who are the extra three? Usually it’s only set to twenty for family and regulars.” Hanzo raised an eyebrow. 

“Dr. Zeiglar requested a plus one. Mr. dos Santos requested two, for his girlfriend Miss Song and for another friend. I figured that would be reasonable. Is that a problem?” Akari looked at him over her tablet.

“No, no just curious.” Hanzo waved it off and continued eating. Though he wondered who the other guest Lucio would bring other than Hana.

“One last thing for now. Mr. dos Santos contacted me about a meeting as soon as you were available. I said that we can arrange it later.”

“I sent him a text not too long ago that Friday afternoon would suffice on my end.” Hanzo replied, picking up his empty plate to put in the dishwasher.

“Alright.” Akari made a note on her tablet, then smiled. “Have you started on composing new songs yet? I know that was always one of your favorite things to do.”

“I’ve written a few concept ideas but haven’t fleshed them out. Is the music hall free this evening? I would like to get a feel for playing the piano there again as practice.” Hanzo said. It wasn’t a lie that he had some basic ideas written up, but the creativity was being hindered by a dry spell he’d been going through for a while now.

“Should be, besides the usual workers. They cleared the week out for your arrival, so go as much as you like.” Akari mentioned.

“Is everyone going the extra mile for this?” Hanzo asked, going over to pick up his coat and the dog leashes which the dogs immediately reacted to.

“Well, you are a big name in our world, so some paths are going to be cleared automatically.” Akari put her tablet away.

Hanzo sighed as he attached the leashes to the collars of Ama and Yomi. “At least I can still have some breathing room and walk outside without everyone noticing who I am.”

She felt for her nephew, being a part of a family that was always in a spotlight of some sort. Knowing it could be a drain for anyone, especially someone that got it at a young age and being the heir to said family. At least he could still have some of his privacy. 

“Cherish that. Anyway, if you are going to walk the dogs, may I join you? I could use the fresh air.” Akari grabbed her jacket and purse.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind the company.” Hanzo’s smile returned a little. “I’ll treat us to some coffee too.”