Shun returned to his hut, just as it was getting dark, when he entered he found his little brother Jiro throwing a tantrum as usual, while Aiko was cooking soup with the leftovers from the other day.
When Jiro saw Shun he jumped towards him hugging him.
"Nii-san, you finally came back, I was getting bored already" Jiro says with a pout while being attached to Shun's leg.
"As energetic as ever, Jiro" Shun replies while shaking his hair.
"Welcome home Shun-kun" Aiko turns around to welcome Shun warmly.
"Mother, I'm back" Shun shakes off the little parasite and hugs his mother.
While hugging her son, Aiko checked if Shun was hurt anywhere.
"Good, good you don't have any injuries, and from your smile, it looks like you had good luck today" Aiko says to Shun as she smiles.
Before Shun can answer Jiro interrupts him.
"Nii-san, what are those things you brought, a gift for me?" he says as I try to pull out one of the coats that were in a bag.
"Yes little Jiro take and find out for yourself" Shun smiles and hands him one of the bags.
Jiro quickly takes the bag out of his hands and opens it like a beast that didn't eat for days. When he sees that it's clothes, all his illusion is gone and he's left with a disappointed face.
"Ni-san..."
"Hahaha, now you can go study quietly and not worry about the cold" Shun said while laughing at his brother's misfortune.
"..." Jiro.
In the wasteland there was only one school that opened only 3 days a week, this was not free, so Shun made an effort to be able to pay for it every month so that his brother would have a better future. Only Jiro hated going to school.
"Shun-kun don't tease Jiro-chan" Aiko scolded.
"Just a little joke mother, I bought one for you too" Shun replied as he handed her the other coat.
"You should wear it Shun-kun, you go out hunting since early in the morning when it's very cold" Aiko said worriedly.
"It's okay mother, I have another one for me so you wear it, your clothes are also very old" Shun refuted as he showed her the other bag.
Aiko was surprised that Shun bought something for himself since she always had to insist he buy things for himself too and not everything for her and Jiro.
Still, she didn't ask and accepted the gift happily.
"Okay, thank you Shun-kun, dinner will be ready in a while, so set the table" Aiko said happily.
"Yes mother, I also bought some meat, can you add it to the stew?" asked Shun.
"Oh, today's haul was really good. Yes, let me have the meat cof...I got it Shun-kun" Aiko nodded as she grabbed the meat and prepared to cook it with the stew.
Shun looked worriedly at Aiko, sighed, and went to put his things down and then prepare the table, meanwhile, little Jiro was asking him how today's hunt went.
"Nii-san what animal did you hunt today? Come on tell me" Jiro asked while hurrying Shun.
"Calm down Jiro, today I hunted a sparrow about 30kg, with a big beak that can tear a tree-like paper" Shun said bragging and lying in some parts.
Shun continued to tell him everything he experienced today, Jiro was dumbfounded and with a look of total admiration for his older brother.
Obviously with a few lies here and there, making the story more epic than what it was really like waiting 6 hours to catch a sparrow.
Meanwhile, Aiko finished cooking and had to take care of setting the table as Shun was fully engaged in telling the story of his adventure to his little brother, while he was listening attentively.
Aiko saw this and smiled and thought:
*After all he is still just a 12-year-old boy* After thinking this she became sad and blamed herself for her futility of leaving everything in the hands of her son.
After that, the family of three, had a merry dinner since they hadn't eaten meat in a long time. They chatted and laughed as they feasted.
It was already late at night and they went to sleep, Shun was going to return with his night watch, but Aiko ordered him to sleep.
"Shun-kun sleep, you need it" Aiko ordered.
"But mother your condition-" When Shun was about to answer he was interrupted.
"I'm fine, thanks to the meat you brought I got better, I can stand guard for today, just leave it to me" Aiko said as she smiled at him and stroked Shun's hair.
"Okay but anything wakes me up and I'll stand guard" Shun said with a worried smile.
Shun before going to sleep, he saved the bellys he earned today, with what he had already saved earlier, which made a total of 1,280 bellys, only about 720 bellys were left to hire a doctor and have him cure his mother.
With a couple of successful days of hunting, he can be done in about 2 or 3 days. And if he gets another sparrow in a day he would be done, but Shun knows he wouldn't be so lucky again.
Then the two boys went to sleep, while Aiko stood guard with a knife in her hand. Even so, Shun was never completely asleep, although if someone were to see him it would look like he was in a fifth sleep, he can still react to an attack.
He achieved this state after so many years without being able to sleep peacefully, since everything depended on him and many times he had to stand guard while Aiko and Jiro slept, he does not know that this is a much greater power, which he developed instinctively.