KERRRRRRRRRRRRAAACK!! KABOOOOOOM!!
Joe and Nekosa both looked up from Nekosa's book to the window. And in that very instant, it began down pouring.
"Woah…" Joe said in awe. He looked up at the clock on the wall. It was close to 4. Sakaki would be walking home soon… home in that torrential downpour that was outside.
Joe suddenly wished he had bought a car… and it would probably be better for when Sakaki would go into labor too…
Joe reached out for the phone, and dialed.
"Hey, Chiyo, it's me, Joe. Do you have a car? … you don't? Um…do you possibly know someone that does? … well, I kind of need someone to go and pick up Tanaka… yeah, she's still at work, but it's almost quittin' time for her… ok…thank you so much, Chiyo. Bye!"
Joe hung up the phone with a slight smile. Chiyo would be calling up Nyamo, who could give a ride to Sakaki.
"Ok, Nekosa. Your mom will be home soon." Joe said, patting Nekosa on the head, before going back to their bookreading.
"Um…Otousan?" Nekosa asked.
"Yes, Nekosa?"
"How did you and Okaasan meet?" Nekosa asked.
…
Now we change over to the Aida-Kagura household.
Kaorin and Kagura are snuggled up on the couch, as the credits of the movie they were watching scroll. Koharu sits there across from them, rather bored with the movie.
"I'm going upstairs to play some video games." Koharu said, jumping down, and going upstairs to her parents' room.
"Kay. Have fun!" Kaorin said.
Once they heard Koharu walk upstairs, the two started snuggling a bit closer…they stared into each other's eyes…
Meanwhile, Koharu headed for the gaming system. As she was about to turn it on, thunder and lightning cracked again, and she heard something drop behind her.
She whipped around to see her parents' clothes closet, slightly open. With her child curiosity perked, she slowly walked towards the door, and opened it all the way.
It was there that she saw a white binder on the floor. Guessing that this was what fell, she reached down and grabbed it.
Now, her conscience told her to put it back. But her curiosity wondered what was inside.
Koharu opened the binder.
Inside were pictures. Koharu breathed a sigh of relief. It was only a photo album.
But it was weird… some of these first pictures were not of either her Kaori-kaa-san, nor her Natsuko-mama…but rather Nekosa's mother…much younger looking, too…
Koharu closed the closet, and decided to go back downstairs, binder underneath her arm.
…
Over in the Takino-Mizuhara residence, Yomi and Koyomiko watched the rain outside.
"Poor Tomo…" Yomi mumbled. "She's been having to stay and fill out paperwork…that boss of hers is relentless…"
Koyomiko watched the rain as it poured and poured and poured…
"Kaa-san…is Mama gonna be home soon?" Koyomiko asked.
Yomi sighed. Every time Tomo stayed late at work, Koyomiko always asked about her.
"Koyomiko, Mama had to stay late again…" Yomi said.
Suddenly, the door to the house slammed open.
KERRRRRRRRRRRRAAACK!! KABOOOOOOM!!
"Hehe…the lightning gives good added effect…" Tomo said, panting heavily in the doorway.
"MAMA!!" Koyomiko said happily, running up and giving Tomo a hug. "Mama…you're all wet."
"Please don't tell me you ran home in the rain…" Yomi said in her usual responsible tone. "You're pregnant. It wouldn't be healthy for the baby if you ended up getting sick."
"Yeah, w-w-well, I had to g-g-get away from my b-b-b-boss…" Tomo said, giving a shivering wildcat grin.
Yomi sighed heavily. "C'mon, let's get you changed out…"
Tomo and Yomi went upstairs to their room while Koyomiko waited patiently downstairs. A few moments later, the two parents came back down. Tomo had a new change of clothes, and was wrapped in a blanket.
Tomo sat down on the couch while Yomi went into the kitchen.
"Mama, are you still cold?" Koyomiko asked, getting up and walking over to Tomo.
"A l-little bit…you wanna help Mama warm up?" Tomo asked.
Koyomiko nodded. Tomo then opened up the blanket, and Koyomiko got up on the couch, and gave Tomo a hug.
Wrapping the blanket around Koyomiko's body, Tomo felt the warmth of Koyomiko's body almost instantly.
"Awww…now that's sweet." Yomi said as she came back, holding three cups of hot chocolate.
Setting them down on the table in front of them, Yomi sat down next to Tomo and Koyomiko.
"Well…it helped me warm up." Tomo said with a slightly sheepish grin, as she let Koyomiko go out of the hug and blanket, then re-wrapping the blanket around herself, got the hot chocolate, and drank a little bit.
"Thanks, Yomi." Tomo said, setting the cup back down, and laying back on the couch.
"Your welcome." Yomi said, lying back, and wrapping one arm around Tomo. "Wouldn't want you or the baby getting cold."
"Mama?" Koyomiko asked.
"What is it, Koyomiko?"
"That one guy…who held me captive…and…" Koyomiko shivered a bit. "…made me watch that movie… Why did he do it?"
…
Back at the Sakaki household…
Joe looked over at Nekosa. A moment passed, before Joe closed Nekosa's book, and sat back.
"Well…" Joe began. "I guess it all started way back in college…"
Nekosa sat down, her full attention on Joe.
"…I was at MIT, or Massachusetts Institute for Technology. I was the only one on the campus who knew Japanese well enough to welcome a new student. I was actually set to finish college, but the school principal asked if it would be ok for me to possibly stay, and welcome this newcomer."
"Was it Okaasan?" Nekosa asked.
"No…the newcomer was Chiyo." Joe replied with a smile. "But…throughout the 4 years that Chiyo was in college, I worked, finding my career, and Chiyo helped me get some friends. At the end of the four years…Chiyo said she was going back to Japan… and after she left…I felt a slight chill…because I was leaving the one real friend I had gotten in years. So…I followed Chiyo to Japan."
"And that's where you met Okaasan, right?" Nekosa asked.
"Yeah…that's where I met your Okaasan." Joe said with a grin, placing one hand on Nekosa's head. "And I fell in love with her almost within a few minutes…though, I was far too shy to admit it…I had never fallen in love before that."
"Oh…so then what happened?" Nekosa asked.
"After a very nice trip to Chiyo's beach house…your Okaasan was arrested." Joe said.
"Arrested?" Nekosa asked, cutely tilting her head to one side in confusion.
"It means that she was gonna be locked up with the bad guys in prison." Joe said.
"What?! Why?!" Nekosa asked in shock.
Her answer jumped up onto the couch, and mewed.
"That's right, Mayaa…because of you." Joe said, petting Mayaa.
"Mayaa? Why Mayaa?" Nekosa asked.
"Mayaa is an endangered species. It means that there are very few Mayaa's left in the world. And keeping Mayaa was against the law." Joe said.
"So what happened next?" Nekosa asked, staying entranced like this was a story.
"Well…I helped your Okaasan stay out of prison…but she lost her job in the process, and got mad at me." Joe said. This one particular memory always made him sad, because it was the one point in which Sakaki could have walked out of his life forever. "But…thanks to a person with at least a slight bit of heart…we built that vet office for your Okaasan…and after that…she and I were dating."
"What's dating?" Nekosa asked.
Joe thought for a moment. "It's what adults do before they marry. It's like…finding out if the person you're dating is right for you."
"Right for you?" Nekosa asked in confusion.
"You'll understand when you're older." Joe replied with a smile.
…
Aida-Kagura household…
"Kaori-kaa-san!" Koharu called out, as she marched her way back down the stairs.
Kaorin and Kagura sat straight up, looking rather embarrassed, but feeling thankful that Koharu hadn't caught them making out.
Koharu made her way to the front of the couch, and showed the binder.
"Why do you have pictures of Nekosa's Okaasan in here?" Koharu asked.
Kaorin gave a slightly panicked look over to Kagura.
Kagura looked harshly at Kaorin for a moment, before giving a small smile, and holding up her hand, showing the wedding ring.
"You see this ring, Kaorin?" Kagura said, her small smile getting slightly bigger with each passing moment. "This is to show that we'll love each other to the very end. That's what this shows."
Kaorin giggled. "Haha…I get it. Very funny, Kagura."
Kaorin took the book, and opened it up to the very first page, which had some of the very first pictures Kaorin had taken of Sakaki (at Chiyo's beach house).
"Well, Koharu…" Kaorin began. "To tell the truth… I wasn't actually in love with your Natsuko-mama to start. I was actually in love with Nekosa's mother, called Sakaki-san. I believed her to be so beautiful…and so cool."
"And in all truth…I wasn't really in to your Kaori-kaa-san to start either." Kagura said.
"You loved Osaka-sempai first, didn't you?" Koharu asked with a big grin.
Kagura almost fell off the couch. Kaorin spent the next minute laughing whole-heartedly.
"No…" Kagura said after Kaorin composed herself. "I was actually into guys at first."
"Natsuko-mama!!" Koharu gasped.
"Well…she did learn her lesson, Koharu." Kaorin said sullenly.
"The first guy I dated…he…was an Olympic swimmer…a German Olympic swimmer…" Kagura said.
"Say…do you still remember any German at all?" Kaorin asked.
"I probably do." Kagura replied, though she was still a bit sullen. "But…anyway, Koharu… I only dated him because I wanted to get back at Yukari for making fun of my English, so I went out and learned German."
"And as it turns out…she didn't even know that the guy was using steroids." Kaorin said.
"Steroids? What are steroids?" Koharu asked.
"It's something that's really, really bad. It's an awful drug." Kagura said.
"What happened?" Koharu asked with severe interest.
"I…was attacked when I told him he had to stop using 'em." Kagura said. "He…almost killed me…"
"But…you see, the girl I was first interested in…Sakaki-san…started going out with Joe…I felt so heartbroken…but I still felt compelled to help your Natsuko-mama. I was lucky that I was going to your Natsuko-mama's house at the time…And the two of us together defeated this guy." Kaorin finished.
"Woah!! Awesome!!" Koharu said in admiration. "So…what happened to him?"
"He died." Kagura said.
"Oh…you killed him?" Koharu asked.
"No…" Kagura responded. "…at first, I thought I did. But it turns out he died of a steroid-induced heart attack."
Koharu was silent. She had never heard this part of her parents' lives before.
Kagura and Kaorin were silent as well. They had never told this part of their lives to Koharu before. They had left it that way on purpose…
Finally, Koharu couldn't take it anymore. She went up, and she hugged Kaorin tightly.
"I'm glad you two are together now." Koharu said.
This put a small smile on Kaorin and Kagura's faces.
"Us too, Koharu…" Kaorin said quietly. "Us too."
Koharu would give a hug to Kagura next, before grabbing the white binder, and taking it back upstairs.
"Those were the days, huh?" Kagura said. "When we really weren't worried about crushes, and who we were dating…"
"Well, maybe not you." Kaorin said with a giggle.
Koharu would return the white binder to where she found it, now having a greater understanding of her parents' pasts. Yet still…it made her look up to them more…
It also gave her good reason to dislike guys more…
…
Takino-Mizuhara residence…
Tomo went silent. Yomi had a slight frown on her face.
"You don't have to tell her if you don't want to…" Yomi whispered in Tomo's ear.
"No…" Tomo said, that unusual seriousness in her voice. "She needs to know."
Tomo turned her body to face Koyomiko. Koyomiko looked up at Tomo, and Tomo instantly felt like this was going to be the hardest thing she was going to have to do.
"K-Koyomiko…" Tomo tried swallowing to calm herself down. "Th-that guy…he was…"
Tomo mauled everything over in her head. Koyomiko could hate her for the rest of her life…yet Koyomiko asked…maybe she could lie…no, because if Koyomiko found out the truth, she'd hate her more…
"Koyomiko…he was…" Tomo swallowed again. "…my ex-boyfriend."
Tomo shut her eyes tightly, and waited. So did Koyomiko. While Tomo waited for the storm of anger and fury of her daughter, Koyomiko instead waited for a bit more of a filling answer.
"That's it?" Koyomiko asked.
Tomo nodded ever so slowly, keeping her eyes shut.
"So…why would Mama's ex-boyfriend torture me?" Koyomiko asked.
"Because…he was a jerk… I don't know why I dated him in the first place…" Tomo growled.
"Because your Mama was being your Mama." Yomi said with a slight smirk. "She jumped into the relationship because everyone else was getting boyfriends at that time, and she didn't want to be left behind."
"Silly Mama." Koyomiko said with a smile.
Tomo smiled. Typical Yomi, always managing to pull Tomo out of whatever trouble she got herself into…
"But of course… she never knew this guy before she started dating him… even I didn't know he'd be THAT much of a jerk" Yomi said.
"What about you, Kaa-san? Don't you have any ex-boyfriends?" Koyomiko asked.
"Nah. Your Kaa-san never found a date before she found me. I was perfect for her." Tomo said with a wildcat grin.
Yomi gave a small smile. It was actually Tomo that came running to her in her time of need, but Koyomiko didn't really need to know that…
"Yup! Mama and Kaa-san are perfect for each other!" Koyomiko said with a big smile.
Koyomiko gave a hug to Tomo. "I'm glad Mama and Kaa-san are together now."
Tomo gave a hug back. "Me too, Koyomiko…me too."
Yomi waited for a second before hugging them both. "And I'm happy to have the both of you."
Tomo felt happy inside, too. She had a family who loved her, and would take care of her. It only took the actions of a jerkwad to help her realize it…
…
Author's notes: Yeah, a generally sweet one-shot for my one-year anniversary fic. It has the kids asking about the past, the past of the Azu-girls before they met them.
If you're wondering why I didn't have Pan, Arata, and Osaka in this, it's because whenever I put them in, Osaka would always end up going on a tangent, with Arata following, and it seemed like the sweetness of the fic was lost.
Anyway, I would like to again thank all of those that have read and reviewed throughout the year that I have been producing ADR, and all of my other fics, and I hope to continue this fic (and many others) for another year!!
-JBK2K1