A Day for the Sakaki-Kaguras
Author's Note: Wrote this idea up on an impulse; basically we take a look into Sakaki, Kagura, and their daughter's everyday life. Today, the parents decide to take Kaida to work for the first time ever. Soon they discover that both jobs and a child can be quite a handful at the same time…
"Kaida, honey, wake up…"
Kaida opened her eyes to see Kagura smiling down at her. Her mother then picked her up from her bed.
"Come on, let's wake Sakaki," she said as they now left the room.
In another, just across the hall, they saw a large bed where they could make out a misshapen form under the pale pink covers. Kagura chuckled; setting down Kaida then she went over to the window.
"Nngh…" groaned the sleeping woman as the blinds were opened, letting the morning sun fall on her face.
"Rise and shine; its morning!" Kagura grinned as she shook her partner's shoulders.
"It's too early for me," Sakaki muttered as she rolled over.
"Psh! It is not," Kagura put her hands on her hips then pulled at the sheets, but Sakaki remained firm. "Look, it's great for a walk!"
"No thanks," Sakaki mumbled then she hid herself under the blankets.
Kagura just sighed, shaking her head. What am I going to do with you?
"Fine," she leant down, stroking her lover's face. "Just don't sleep in too late, all right?"
"Nnh…" was her reply.
"Remember what happened last time," Kagura reminded.
She then went over to the closet, pulling on a teal sports jacket and pants over her tank top and shorts. She returned to the main room to find Kaida now brushing Mayaa with a hairbrush that belonged to Sakaki. The cat was content, purring. Kagura smiled at the cute sight and walked over to the bed where they sat.
"Kaida, say good bye to Sakaki," she said as she picked up the girl and held her toward the now sitting up parent.
After rubbing her tired eyes, Sakaki gave her daughter a brief, light kiss and waved them goodbye.
Once outside in the crisp air, Kagura inhaled and sighed.
"Nothing like a cool breeze to get your pep up, right?" she grinned as they walked down the dirt road.
Kaida said nothing, only munching on a toast splattered with strawberry jelly. Only did she look up when she noticed that her mom had led her past a fork in the road. Down that fork was where her mom always dropped her off at her grandpa's home every day she had work. Yet, instead, they did not go down that path…
"Hmm?" she glanced back incredulously.
"Ah, that's right Kaida," Kagura smiled. "Today is a special day; today you'll be going to work with us, won't that be fun?"
Kaida returned a small smile.
"That's my girl," Kagura chuckled, ruffling her daughter's cat-eared hat.
…At School…
There were so many people!
Kaida clung close to her mother's legs nervously as the crowd of students and teachers moved about. She then looked up at the large flat-topped building ahead.
This place is so big…
"Know this place, Kaida?" Kagura said softly. "This is the same high school I went to a long time ago; it's also where I first met Sakaki."
She then looked down at her.
"One day, you'll be going to that school too, I guarantee it!"
Kaida simply nodded.
"Aw, she's so cute!"
"She really does look just like you, Miss Kagura!"
"Look at her adorable hat!"
Kaida hid behind her mom's legs as three school girls fawned over her, chattering excitedly.
"She is sure shy!" commented one of them.
"Well, that's Kaida," Kagura sighed softly, resting a comforting hand on her child's back. "You girls better get running to your homerooms."
"Right Miss Kagura!" they all nodded and left hurriedly. "See you later at gym!"
"Later!" Kagura called out after them then turned to Kaida. "There's nothing to be nervous of, everybody's really nice around here."
No reply was made so they entered the lounge where Kagura showed her to a familiar friend.
"Kaida, this is Osaka," she pointed to the woman sitting nearby in a swivel chair. "We went to this school together, now we teach here together too."
"Ah, Kagura, I'm called Miss Kasuga here," she corrected.
"Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting," Kagura mumbled shyly with a blush.
"Ah, it's all right!" Osaka smiled then looked down at Kaida. "So this must be Kaida, nice to see that she's out of the photo frame."
"Right…" Kagura had a photo of her daughter lying in her workspace along with photos of her and Sakaki. "You're interesting as always…"
Kaida looked up at Osaka then hugged her mom tighter around the waist.
"Ah, she sure sticks to you!" the spacey teacher said.
"It's all new to her, she'll get used to it," Kagura replied then looked up at the clock overhead. "Shouldn't you be getting to your class?"
"AH MY GAWD!" Osaka jumped off her chair and ran out of the room. "Thanks for the reminder Kagura!"
Kagura shook her head, chuckling then knelt down to Kaida. "That happens every day, who knows what she would do without me around?"
She checked her watch.
"We'd better get ready for gym class," she said. "That's when you get to watch your mom in action!"
Once again, Kaida cowered behind her mom as more teenagers fussed over her. Kagura happened to teach P.E. class for both girls and boys, for the first period it was the girls.
"Ah, girls, this is Kaida," Kagura introduced her. "She'll be helping me teach gym today."
She pulled her whistle out and held it out to Kaida. "Give it a tweet and we can get started."
Kaida responded with a feeble squeak and the class began.
Gym activities came and went as Kaida sat on the sidelines, sitting in the grass while her mother taught. Right now it was dodge ball time and she wasn't paying much attention, only distractively picking at the ground.
Then a flash of bright yellow caught her eye and she looked up to see a pretty butterfly fluttering along the breeze. She awed at it as it danced in air before her. Then it began to drift away and she got up to follow it. Transfixed, she became completely oblivious of her surroundings and did not notice she was walking straight into the boys' dodge ball game.
However her mother noticed and she yelled out in panic, running after her.
"Kaida! Kaida!" she frantically called her daughter's name as she entered the fray, forgetting to blow her whistle and call it quits.
So as a result, she ended up being pelted hard with rubber balls while she tried to catch her child.
Finally she caught up only after being bruised in many places, grabbing a hold of Kaida as she grabbed her butterfly. Kagura then stood, blowing her whistle.
"Class is…" she announced only to be cut short by a ball to her head.
Dizzily, she added: "…Dismissed…"
Lunch arrived and Kagura was only too glad to be back in the teacher's lounge, resting her bruised body against her table while Kaida sat on the floor, doodling on some blank papers.
The nearby phone rang and Kagura picked it up; it was Sakaki on the other end.
"Oh, hey Sakaki…"
Meanwhile her mother talked on, Kaida put down her markers and reached into her pants pockets. She took something out, clutching it tightly then released her hand gently, to reveal a rather beaten up, but very much alive butterfly. It flapped its wings weakly at first then began to increase in speed and soon the butterfly was up in air, freely moving about. Kaida stared up at it and watched it leave through the ajar door which had been opened to just a crack.
"Butterfly?" she called out quietly then followed, pushing the door open. She looked around then made her way down the corridor.
"…Right, hope you get here soon, all right, bye, love you Sakaki," Kagura nodded then made a kiss and returned the phone to its receiver.
"Kaida…" she smiled as she turned around…only to see that her daughter was missing. "Kaida?"
She looked under her desk and around the room. As she did, she sighted the wide open doorway and gasped. "KAIDA!"
Her child…all alone and lost in a large building filled with lot of people…this could turn out to be bad!
She scrambled out into the hallways, screaming her child's name.
As Kagura turned the school upside down in her search, Kaida stumbled into a classroom while she followed the butterfly's trail.
Osaka happened to be the teacher in this very class. She was in middle of a lecture when the butterfly came into sight. She came short, staring at the fluttering insect blankly. The students looked on curiously.
What had just come over their teacher?
Then Kaida appeared and all the girls in the room awed at her.
The girl did not hear them, only pointing up at the butterfly. "Butterfly."
Osaka snapped out of her trance then looked down at her.
"Hello Kaida," she greeted her. "You must be as smart as Chiyo if you're here."
She then turned to her class. "I believe we have a new transfer student, meet Kaida!"
She brought her arm forward as if expecting an applause which the class reluctantly broke into. Was this a joke?
Just then Kagura burst in, falling against at the door frame as she gasped for air.
"Oh Kaida!" she cried out and stepped in, taking her daughter into her arms. "Thank God you're all right!"
As Kaida struggled to reach out for the butterfly, Kagura stood and bowed to Osaka. "Thanks so much for finding her, Osaka."
"It was no problem," she replied, clearly showing she didn't even know what she was being thanked for, she thought it would be nice to just reply politely.
Kagura and Kaida left the class and Osaka turned around, raising her head in thought.
"Leavin' already," she said. "That Kaida must be smarter than Chiyo."
She pointed to her chin as she mused. "Is it the hat?"
As soon as they arrived back to the lounge, Sakaki dropped by. She was now in a red top and black skirt with her white vet coat uniform on.
Kagura handed over Kaida to her.
"I hope you have a better time with her," she sighed.
"Mm?" Sakaki raised her eyebrows curiously.
…At the Clinic…
Sakaki's workplace was much further from their home so she had to drive over there to arrive on time, taking the black minivan of hers.
When she reached her destination, she looked into the overview mirror to see that Kaida had fallen asleep in the backseat. She smiled softly at this and climbed out to take her out.
Surely she can't be too much trouble…
She carried her napping daughter into the animal clinic where she was met by the barking of the dogs and the receptionist calling patients in.
"Oh, welcome back Dr. Sakaki," the receptionist greeted her. "Who's the little girl?"
"My daughter," was Sakaki's simple reply.
As they talked about something related to the pets, Kaida begin waking up to the commotion. Her eyes widened when she saw dogs of all sorts and sizes, yapping and pacing about the waiting room.
"Puppy…" she whispered.
Then her parent brought her into the back where they stepped into one of the rooms used for check-ups. Sakaki then put her down and pointed for her to stay in place. "Be good while Sakaki does her job, okay?"
Kaida nodded.
"Good girl," Sakaki smiled, petting her daughter's cap. "I'll let you pet some of the animals if they're good."
This caused Kaida to break into one of her rare big smiles.
Then an owner with a tabby cat patient came in and Sakaki went to work. While her daughter fidgeted in a corner, she checked the cat over and saw it was in fit condition. All she needed was to check the teeth and she was done.
"Hold on, this will be fine," Sakaki reassured as she lifted the cat's head and spread its jaws open.
Suddenly it gave a hiss and bit down on Sakaki's fingers. She winced with pain while the owner cried out: "No, bad kitty!"
As this scene was happening, Kaida looked to the side and saw a beagle dog pass by the open door. Intrigued, she got up and left the room.
Finally, Sakaki pried free from the cat's bite trap and noticed that the girl was gone.
"Kaida?"
Kaida was now in a new room where she could see more dogs resting in their cages. Upon seeing her, they began barking excitedly, wagging their tails.
"P-Puppy…" Kaida blushed as she walked over to them.
She reached her hand into one of the cages where inside, a terrier licked it happily. Kaida giggled. She looked around and noticed a box of milk-bone treats atop a table.
She pointed at it silently; the terrier wiggled even more, barking louder.
With some difficulty, Kaida reached for the box and in turn fell down with its contents spilling onto her. She did not mind, only carrying the box over to the terrier where it received a piece. Kaida then looked up at the other dogs that were whimpering for their own as well.
'I wonder if I could let them out...'
Sakaki walked along the halls, keeping an eye out for Kaida. 'I wonder where she went…'
She stopped in tracks when she heard some loud rumbling from around the corner.
'What on earth could that be?'
She got her answer when the stampede of dogs made their appearance, heading straight for her.
"GYAHHH!" she yelled out, waving her hands. "Stay, dogs, stay!"
Instead they ran over her and all over the clinic, leaving the surprised nurses and other vets to round them up.
As the dust cleared, Kaida reappeared, munching on a milk-bone treat as she walked over to her paw-printed parent.
"Cookie?" she held it out to her.
Sakaki moaned weakly.
After the dog fiasco had been cleared and solved, Sakaki and Kaida could return home now.
While her daughter fell asleep on the ride again, Sakaki just sighed then smiled.
They could never blame her; she was just a child after all.
Yet, when they were finally home and Kaida tucked away; the couple sat together in the living room. Kagura with an ice pack to her forehead and Sakaki tending to her cuts, they both agreed on one thing.
"Let's just leave her at my Dad's from now on," Kagura groaned. "Lord knows how he can control that wandering pup …"