Mr. Koiwai comes to a stand still, watching Yotsuba just crack up with laughter as she stands in the midst of the typhoon, waiting for someone to open the front gate of the Ayase's residance.
He stares at her in complete wonder, him under his umbrella, her bubbling over with happiness as the harsh winds cause her to stumble about, the cold rain drinching her to the bone.
He thinks to himself, with a tender envy, 'This girl...able to see the beautiful in all this ugly...like this weather.' With that, he removes the umbrella from himself and folds in the hood, clutching the finished product in a fist.
Blinking quickly against the sadness-stricken sky, Yotsuba watches her daddy tilt back his head and raise his arms to the storm, so she mimics him, seeing that it is okay to be silly- even in a dangerous situation. The lightning dances momentarily across the sky, followed by a rolling grumble of thunder.
Just then, the door opens and out rings Mrs. Ayase's voice over the storm. "Hey! What are you two doing?" she shouts.
"Hm?" Mr. Koiwai notices the door is opened, so he snatches Yotsuba up from around her waist, carrying her sideways, and runs inside.
"Goodness!" exclaims Mrs. Ayase, stepping aside.
Standing just inside the house, his back to the door, the man watches the water drip drip drip all over the floor. "S-sorry..." he says quietly. "Yotsuba really wanted to come see you, but she decided not to bring her rain coat."
"Oh..." says Mrs. Ayase, not fully understanding how that is a proper excuse for them both to be soaking wet. "I see..." Yotsuba gives her 'mommy' a big smile.
"We can come back another time-" starts the man.
But the woman waves a hand dismissively. "Oh no, it's all right!"
"But she's all wet-"
"We have towels." replies Mrs. Ayase, shrugging. "I'm sure we can round up a pair of clothes for her to change in to..."
"You're...you're too kind..." Mr. Koiwai bows. "You always have a welcoming heart, no matter what state my child arrives at your door." He turns to Yotsuba and plants a firm hand over her head. "You be a good girl for Mom, all right? No funny business. If they tell you to do something, then do it. If they tell you not to do something, then don't. Understand?"
Yotsuba merely nods, then tugs away from his hand.
He gives her head a disciplinary shake. "Hello? Are you listening?" he asks, his eyes narrowing.
"Gaah!" she yells, jerking even more. "Yes! Yes sir! I get it!"
Mr. Koiwai releases her, so Yotsuba runs over and stands behind Mrs. Ayase, clutching at the end of her shirt. He sighs, then smiles at Mrs. Ayase. "If she becomes a problem, please call me, and I will pick her up at once."
The woman nods. "Be careful on your way back..." she says.
"Thank you." The man leaves, opening his umbrella once he's outside, then he rushes back to his house. Once inside, and his soggy shoes are ripped from his red, unhappy feet, Mr. Koiwai drags himself over to the bathroom and dries his hair off with a towel, then removes his shirt and pants. He checks himself in the mirror, then scrubs the water out of his hair manually for a minute or two, then combs it down until it looks presentable. After this, he grabs a new shirt and slips it over his shivering form, slings a towel over his shoulders, and wanders into the living room.
"Hmmm..." he mumbles, feeling electric due to the brewing storm. He looks out the window, hearing the great droplets crash against the glass with the force of a million rocks being thrown by strong children. The wind cuts into the rain, sending it rippling over the earth in unpredictable patterns. "It's getting stronger and stronger." he observes anxiously. All at once, something outside catches his attention and he cannot breathe, but his heart is send dropping into a well of panic.
Yotsuba, her eyes wide, her mouth open in unheard screaming, is being carried away as she clings desperately to an umbrella, skidding across the road.
Mr. Koiwai finds himself bolting out from the front door in his boxers, sprinting barefooted down the wet, slippery asphalt. But through this wicked weather he spies the oldest Ayase girl, Asagi, chasing after Yotsuba ahead of him.
Feeling more relieved, the man calls out to her various instructions: "Tell Yotsuba to let go! Tell her to let go on the umbrella!"
After a long while of confused holloring between booms of thunder and startling flashes of lightning, the eldest girl and Mr. Koiwai manage to secure the child by merely taking hold of either hand and hiding themselves under the dome of a bus-stop.
Panting, each with their own difficulties and fears slowly being soothed, the trio look at one another and begin laughing.
Yotsuba is the first to speak. "Did you see that?!" she cries. "Fuuka was right!"
"What did she tell you?" asks Mr. Koiwai, glancing at Asagi.
The eldest girl blushes, or perhapse it is only the cold turning her cheeks red. "Fuuka said that Yotsuba would be blown away if she went outside with an umbrella..." Asagi looks down at the girl, "I suppose she wanted to go try it out for herself." She looks back at Mr. Koiwai. "I could have said something to stop her, but..."
"So you think it was your fault?" asks Mr. Koiwai.
Asagi bows. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine." he waves his hands apologetically. "I should have expected something like this to happen. I'm just glad nobody was hurt."
By now, the trio are huddling close, hand in hand with Yotsuba, walking back towards the Ayase residance, the rain pouring continously over them.
But Asagi seems uncertain- that she is to blame for the girl running out to test the theory of 'being blown away by the wind.' As she walks swiftly along, shivering, her eyebrows knit together, it is clear that she is mentally scolding herself.
"Hey."
Asagi looks at him, wide-eyed.
Mr. Koiwai smiles at the young woman. "No worries."
Asagi smiles, then looks at the girl as she squeezes her hand.
"Don mai!" Tells Yotsuba. "Don mai!"
With their rain-soaked clothes weighing them down, Mr. Koiwai joins his daughter, grinning at the eldest girl. "Don mai!"
"Be happy~" adds the child.
-End