Hello, lovelies. Here I am typing this up in the middle of a hurricane, because I love you guys and I want you to have the option of reading this delightful little piece of who-knows-what that was spawned from the combined imaginations of my best friend and me. And now, I shall let you loose in the lands of sunshine and daisies, because I do believe that all of you know that I only own this nice little pile of eraser shavings.
Nagihiko glanced at the clock, wishing that the ticking hands would move slower. He dreaded the idea of going home right now; for once, he wished that Tadase's incessant rambling would go on longer. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and before he knew it, the time had come for him to pack up his things and begin the slow walk home.
Or at least, that would have been the case if he hadn't been so obvious with his displeasure.
"Nagi!" Yaya cried. "Why do you look so sad?"
Nagihiko winced, noticing the curious looks of his fellow Guardians. Amu and Yaya were staring in concern, as was Tadase; even Rima's expressionless face could not conceal the inquisitive spark in her eyes.
"It's nothing," the long haired boy tried to assure his friends. "It's just… my mom has been working me pretty hard with dancing and all. I'm a bit tired, that's all."
For a brief moment, it seemed as if the others had believed his little lie, but just then Rhythm decided to float over from the Guardian Character's dollhouse. Nagihiko groaned in exasperation as Rhythm, like always, charged in without thinking:
"Nagi, it's not cool to lie to your friends!" the little blue Character grinned, giving his owner two thumbs up. Turning to everyone else, he continued, "Nagi is just upset that his dad has come to visit from Europe. The two have never really gotten along, because Mr. Nagi's Dad is a bit… quirky."
Nagihiko watched in horror as Amu and Yaya's eyes began to sparkle in excitement.
"Nagihiko, your dad is visiting?" Amu said enthusiastically. "Why didn't you say so?"
"Yeah!" Yaya agreed. "We want to meet him!"
Desperately, Nagihiko looked to Tadase and Rima for assistance, but Tadase seemed to be oblivious to his discomfort and Rima, of course, only wanted to cause him more.
"Yes, Nagihiko," the little blond girl said softly, stepping closer as an angelic smile hid her scheming intent. "I want to meet your father, too. Can't we please go over to your house?"
"I agree," Tadase piped up. "Besides, it's an excellent opportunity to learn more about Fujisaki-kun. We never do hear much about your family life; I'm quite interested."
Defeated, Nagihiko gathered his belongings and motioned for the others to follow him. During the fifteen minute walk to the Fujisaki mansion, Yaya was spouting out ridiculous assumptions about Mr. Fujisaki, and Nagihiko could not bear to tell her that she was horribly wrong. But it didn't matter. She would find out soon enough.
Opening the double doors that led into the main hallway, Nagihiko's mind was cluttered with unanswered questions about what was to come. It wasn't unlikely that his father's unusual behavior would disturb his friends, and knowing a certain blond girl, the entire school would know by sunset. He dejectedly blew a strand of violet hair out of his face as he prepared for his life to spiral downhill.
And spiral downhill it did, for at that very moment his beloved mother rounded the corner and spotted the five students standing awkwardly in the doorway.
"Oh, Nagihiko, you're home!" Mrs. Fujisaki smiled warmly. "And you've brought your friends along, too. What's the occasion?"
Amu gave a rather exaggerated bow. "Ah- Mrs. Fujisaki! We heard that Nagihiko's father was visiting, so we wanted to-"
"-meet him?" the older woman cut in, the corners of her lips twitching upwards, almost as if she was amused at the thought of her husband meeting her son's friends. "Of course. Nagihiko, he's in the backyard. The usual spot."
Nagihiko nodded reluctantly before turning to the other four.
"Well... come on, then. Let's get this over with."
Curious as to why Nagihiko was so hesitant to let them meet his father, Tadase, Amu, Yaya and Rima followed close behind him as he led them through the winding hallways of the Fujisaki mansion to the delicate wooden doors that opened into the large backyard garden.
A garden that consisted entirely of daisies.
"Woah," was the only sound uttered from the mouths of four utterly confused elementary school students.
There were thousands of the small flowers, spreading out from beneath their feet across the wide property all the way to the low stone wall that separated them from the outside world. Dirt paths twisted and turned throughout, wide enough for one person, maybe two, to walk along. Right in the center of the expanse of flowers, however, was a massive daisy that stood at least six feet tall and as wide as a fully grown man.
Of course, that might have been because it was a fully grown man.
Mr. Fujisaki stared at them curiously, his green spandex jumpsuit hugging all the wrong places. There was a huge circle of artificial daisy petals stuck onto the hood of the jumpsuit, which clung to his head, ending at his forehead at the top and between his neck and chin at the bottom. He was, to put it simply, a human daisy.
The older violet haired man's eyes lit up.
"Nagihiko-chan~! You brought your friends!" he squealed, clapping his hands together giddily. "Now we can all do the Dance of the Daisy!"
They were all beginning to reconsider their decision to meet the older Fujisaki. Desperately, they turned to Nagihiko for an explanation, or, preferably, a method of escape. Nagihiko only looked at them grimly.
"A woman dancing is like a flower," he quoted miserably.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Fujisaki giggled as she watched the five teenagers being unceremoniously shoved into matching daisy suits. When she had said that a woman dancing was like a flower, she hadn't expected her husband to take it so seriously. He promptly decided that the men of the Fujisaki family would no longer be raised as a female; no, they would be raised as daisies! It was ridiculous, of course. It would only cause embarrassment.
She didn't regret it one bit.
Chocolate pudding is evil. You think it's in your mouth and then it turns out that it's really in your eye.