I: Bringing Your (Friend's) Kid to Work!

Mornings for the Okazaki family were rather lively.

Nagisa was always the first one up, as she took it upon herself to make breakfast for everyone. It wasn't a designated duty, as Tomoya had offered many times to make it instead, but his wife insisted. Cooking meals for her family was something that she enjoyed and took pride over.

After Nagisa, little Ushio was up, hurrying into the kitchen to help her mother. One would think that a five year old would wake up much later than she did, but it was rather difficult to sleep in due to the amount of noise her mother made in the kitchen. The humming of The Big Dango Family could always heard, along with the clanking noise of the pots and pans as she hurried about the kitchen. These noises would draw Ushio from her sleep, but she didn't mind much. It meant that she could help her mother in the kitchen, after all!

Tomoya, unfortunately, was always the last one up. His job demanded a lot of energy, so by the time he got home he was about ready to pass out from exhaustion. Ushio usually woke him up when breakfast was ready by jumping onto his sleeping form, startling the poor man out of his mind.

Once everyone was awake, they would eat breakfast together happily and ask each other what they planned to do that day or how they slept. The leisure of breakfast depended on the day, though. Weekends seemed to be the only time they could eat together and enjoy each other's company without rushing, since Tomoya had shorter hours and Nagisa didn't have to come into work until Monday.

Weekdays, however, were another matter.

Ushio sighed, watching her parents hurry about the house in their attempts to get ready for work. Weekdays were always like this, but since it was summer, things were different. Nagisa had taken a summer job at the community center, which involved teaching the local kids about drama and theater. It was a job she looked forward to each day, despite her somewhat lacking knowledge in the field. Still, the kids loved her, and she wasn't that bad at acting either. However, her new job demanded her to come in earlier than her job at the restaurant did, meaning that she had to hurry right after breakfast and bring Ushio to the Furukawa bakery, where she would be taken care of until the late afternoon.

She didn't mind going to see her grandparents, but they had work as well, so she often found herself bored. To keep herself busy, she would usually go up into Nagisa's old room and look at her old pictures, but that was beginning to get old as well. What Ushio wanted was something new. Something different.

Turning away from the television, Ushio noticed Tomoya was on his way out. Almost time for her to go, too, then.

"Papa! Hugs!'

Tomoya paused and laughed, nodding. How could he forget? He hurried over to Ushio and gave her a hug, followed by a kiss on the forehead. "Papa will be picking you up from Akki's place, alright? When I see you, I expect one of your big monster hugs, so don't let me down!"

Ushio smiled and nodded. "Okay, Papa! Did you give Mama a goodbye hug?"

"Of course I did, silly. Now, Papa has to go, or he'll be late for work!" With a smile, Tomoya stood up and made his way towards the door. He turned the knob and opened it, only to have a familiar figure crash to the ground before him.

Ushio's eyes lit up. Perhaps this was her chance to break routine! "Uncle Sunohara!"

Sunohara groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. He had been leaning against the door in hopes of being able to eavesdrop on Tomoya and Nagisa being all lovey-dovey, but obviously he didn't get to hear much. Plus all he got out of it was pain. "Oi, Okazaki, what's the big deal? I just came by to see how everyone's doing, but you're on your way out already! Is this the way you treat your best friend? Huh?" Of course, he was making it into a bigger deal than it was, but that was just the way he was about things. Tomoya decided that, rather than argue about his sudden morning intrusion, he would have a little fun.

"...Who are you?"

"You know who it is, you jerk..!"

With a sigh, Sunohara stood up, pouting. He was carrying a rather large bag in one hand, and a briefcase in the other. Despite how impressive the suit looked, Tomoya just couldn't get used to the idea of his goofball friend being serious about life. The suit looked more like a clown suit than anything, really.

Ushio hurried up to him and latched onto his leg, hoping that it would help convince him to take her along with him. "Uncle Sunohara! Take me with you!"

"E-Eh? Ushio?" Sunohara looked down in confusion. "I can't take you! You're not my kid!"

Ushio shook her head and clung to his leg tightly, resulting in Sunohara letting out a yelp of surprise.. He tried to pull away, but with his arms full, it was proving to be a difficult task. "Okazaki! Control your kid!"

"I have to go to work," Tomoya said with a breezy smile, waving to them both and closing the door behind him.

"O-OKAZAKI, COME BACK!"

At that, Nagisa emerged from the bedroom, a look of surprise on her face. "Sunohara? I knew I heard you! What brings you here?" She smiled warmly at her friend and went up to him, bowing her head slightly in greeting. Taking notice of the large plastic bag, she frowned slightly. "What is that? Is it for work?"

"Ah, kind of. It's one of those "Bring Your Kid to Work" things today, and since I don't have a kid, I was saddled with buying breakfast for some people. Sucks, huh?"

Nagisa couldn't help but giggle. "Sounds like a fun sort of day, though."

Ushio continued to cling to Sunohara's leg, determined to go with him. "I can go with you, Uncle Sunohara! I want to go with you! Take me with you!"

Sunohara would have jumped up in surprise, but Ushio kept him grounded, so he merely stumbled a bit. "Ushio, that'd be great, but scary Papa Okazaki will kill me if I take you with me! I think I'd like to live a bit longer, first! Besides, if he kills me, I'll never meet my future wife!"

"Actually," Nagisa said thoughtfully, "I think you should take Ushio to work with you."

The former-blonde looked at his friend with a look of confusion. After all, he had been expecting her to put her foot down and claim that it was not safe, or at least point out that he would not be a suitable guardian for Ushio. Yet she was actually trusting him? He shook his head. "Wait, what?"

"Take Ushio with you," Nagisa said with a warm smile, "I think that she really wants to go with you, and it'd be a good experience for you. Sunohara, you can take Ushio, but remember to keep an eye on her. I'll talk to Tomoya and my parents, so don't worry."

Sunohara paused for a moment, looking at Nagisa with disbelief. She was entrusting him with her precious child? Looking back down at Ushio, Sunohara couldn't help but feel his heart melt at the sight of the girl's eyes lit up with hope. She really, really wanted to go with him... He wasn't sure if he was up for babysitting, but Ushio was really hoping for this. Plus, it would give him less to do at work today. Heh... And maybe he'd find some hot single mother...

"You can count on me, Nagisa! I'll take good care of her!"

Nagisa frowned slightly. "Please do. I trust you, but if anything does happen to her..."

He grinned. "No worries, I'm the best uncle in the world, remember?"

Sunohara, carrying the two bags still, walked alongside Ushio, who had her little backpack of supplies with her. It was filled with snacks, crayons, and coloring books, but she had packed her secret weapon in case of an emergency. Her trusty magic wand! It was a craft that Kyou had taught her class to make one day, but Ushio kept it, believing in it's powers.

"Hey, Uncle Sunohara?"

"Eh? What is it, Ushio?"

"What aren't you married?"

Sunohara could feel a poison arrow shoot straight through his heart at the question. "Oh, um, you see... I'm too charming for girls! They find me too handsome, so they fear rejection! Alas, my beauty is a curse." Laughing nervously, he couldn't help but wonder if Tomoya had talked about his single status in front of her. Or worse—he trained her to ask him that question!

Ushio nodded, feeling touched by his story. "It's okay! I can make your wishes come true with my magic wand!" She pumped her fists into the air, jumping up with excitement. It was all up to her! Her beloved uncle would soon find happiness, and she would help! "I will find Uncle Sunohara a wife and a baby! Then you can be a Papa like mine!"

"You kids sure are active these days," the young man sighed, smiling a bit. Mei used to be just like that, but now that she was in high school... He grimaced at the thought of her boy crazy nature. What was so great about guys? Wasn't he a prime example of how bad guys were? Sighing, Sunohara continued his walk with Ushio, wondering how everything would go at work. Ushio skipped along beside him, giggling at her plans.

"So how's your kid, Okazaki?"

Tomoya glanced over at Yoshino, managing to hold back a chuckle of amusement. "Ushio's doing great. Off to her grandparents' bakery again today, but I get to pick her up this time. Maybe the next time I have a day off, I'll bring her by work again. You guys sure do seem to enjoy her company."

Yoshino couldn't help but smile a bit at the idea. After all, he did love kids. Hopefully one day, he would have a child of his own, and he could be a father just like Tomoya and some of his other co-workers. Then his kid could have play dates with Ushio and the others... Realizing he was getting ahead of himself again, he shook the thoughts away and nodded, trying to maintain his aloof nature. "Ushio is like the princess of the place, to be honest. She lights up the office. I think Matsu was thinking about bringing in his kid sometime, too, so Ushio will have someone to play with."

"Matsu's boy? Sure, as long as he doesn't try to make any moves," Tomoya joked. Yoshino couldn't help but chuckle at the idea.

"Well, knowing how Matsu is, who knows?"

Suddenly, Tomoya's cell phone began to ring. It was a cheap phone, nothing like the fancier ones that most people had these days, but as long as he could make and receive calls it was fine. Reaching down into his pocket, he flipped open the phone, only to see that Nagisa had left him a text message.

"Your wife?" Yoshino asked, turning the van around the corner and parking. The power line they were assigned to was right beside them. "I'll go get started. Don't take too long and hurry up, understand?"

"Yes, I'll be right out. Hope everything is alright... She doesn't usually text unless she doesn't have time to call."

He opened the message:

"Tomoya! Sorry to bother you at work, but you don't need to pick Ushio up from the bakery today. I let Sunohara take her to work with him! (w) It's one of those days when you take your kid to work, so I thought it would be good fun for them both! Just letting you know. Love, Nagisa. 3"

Tomoya stared at the screen blankly, drawing the attention of Yoshino as he began to get out of the car. "Is everything alright? Did something happen?"

The father's eye twitched. "Sunohara has Ushio for the day..."

Sunohara? Yoshino thought for a moment, only to have the mental image of the blonde teen jump through his mind, along with his idiotic laugh. Of course, he had met with Sunohara recently, and knew he no longer acted exactly like that, but... "I'm sure it'll be fine. He's grown up a bit, too, although he's still an idiot."

"That better be the case," Tomoya muttered.