A Second Chance At Love
Chapter I.
(Disclaimer: I Do not own Clannad. All rights reserved to KEY, and any other companies affiliated in the production of Clannad)
"Your teacher comes back today, correct?" I ask my daughter, Ushio, who seemed to be having trouble grasping rice with her chop sticks. "Here you go." I pick the clump of rice up, and held it up to her mouth. "Mmm it's good!" She says smiling back at me.
She is adorable. A spitting image of her mother. She has short brown hair, beautiful brown eyes, and a smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts. In fact, she had done the same for me. I was lost for a quite a long time. Mourning over her mother's, Nagisa's, death. I was living the same life as my father. Drinking, and gambling my life away in an attempt to stop the pain and bad memories from returning. In the wake of it all I lost my friends, the Furukawa's, and even my own daughter's companionship. Before, I couldn't even look at my daughter. She looked so much like her mother; that even attempting to do so would cause me great pain. Now she's all I care about. I love to see her face, I love to see her smile, and most of all, I love to see her happy. Ushio, my little angel.
"Is your teacher coming back from her trip today?" I asked again.
"Ya" Ushio retorts back to me.
"Let's leave earlier today so I can introduce myself ok?"
"Okay" She nods.
After breakfast, I help Ushio get ready for school. I dress her in a blue school uniform with white trimming, tie her hair with a ribbon, and place a white and blue hat on the top of her head.
"Ok Ushio, are you ready to go to school?" I ask.
"Yeah!" She responds back to me; waiving a fist in the air enthusiastically.
"Ushio, say "good-bye" to mommy."
"Good-bye mommy" She say's as she bows in respect to her mother.
She begins to walk out the door, and I follow to lock the door behind her. "Good-bye Nagisa, see you soon." I mummer under my breath; smiling at her picture as I slowly close the door.
"Ushio! Wait for me it's dangerous out here!" I chase after her as she walks toward the direction of the school. When I catch up, Ushio takes my hand and we begin our trek. In a few short minutes we arrive at the entrance.
As we enter the school gates, a feeling of mixed emotions begin to stir up inside of me. Feelings of nervousness, happiness, and even a hint of regret. This is the first day I will be dropping off Ushio at school, and fufilling another duty as a parent. It's been a learning experience for me the past couple of days. I have been out of my daughter's life up until now, so I wasn't very knowledgeable when it came to being a father.
As we walk to the front of the school, Ushio releases my hand and yells "Stew!" I turn to see what all the excitement is about.
To my surprise, I see a huge, furry, brown boar with black strips.
'What is that thing?' I think to myself.
"Wait a minute... It couldn't be...? Is that..."
"Hello, you must be Ushio-chan's father."
'That voice... it's so familiar.' I turn slowly to greet it.
"Y-you!" I said in surprise.
"I'm Ushio's teacher, Kyou Fujibayashi. Pleased to meet you."
She smiles, and then bows.
Still shocked I try to recollect myself and attempt to return her respect. "ohh! Yes, the pleasure is mine!" I bow nervously.
The teacher lifts her head in response. She smiles, and then begins to snicker. Soon her snickering forms into an outburst of laughter.
"Huh?" I looked up puzzled.
"This is the first time I've ever seen you make that face!" She says as she continues to laugh hysterically.
"Why you!" I retort back in nervous frustration.
"You Should have known it was me the moment you saw Botan.
Perhaps you've forgotten me already Mr. Okazaki?" Kyou say's with a smile.
"So that really is Botan."
"Ushio-chan, to tell you the truth, your daddy and I went to school together"
"She was pretty violent back then. She used to bully your poor daddy all through high school." I say with a smirk.
"Hey!" Kyou objects. "Stop corrupting your adorable child's head with lies!"
"She was also a good friend of your Mommy's. Did you know that Ushio?"
The child shakes her head in astonishment.
"Sanae-san foretold that you'd be taking care of Ushio on your own eventually. Until that day I was told to keep everything a secret."
"Ahh I see. Sanae told you that, huh?" I say; finally coming to the realization of what the Furukawa's had done for me.
Sanae Furukawa was Nagais's mother, my in-law, and my daughter's grandmother. She was a beautiful woman, often mistaken to be Nagisa's older sister. She had the same amber colored eyes as her daughter, and long silky brown hair; which she kept tied up in the back. She was always so nice to me, and accepted me as her son. Her and old man Akio, her husband, even went as far as to let me live with them to get away from my situation back home. They took care of me, Nagisa, and even Ushio when I wouldn't have anything to do with her. Now I find out that they even set up the trip to bring me and my daughter together. There seems to be no end to their love and kindness.
As Ushio played with Botan, Kyou and I took a seat on a bench. We began to talk about how life had been treating us over the past few years we'd been apart. "Fate is strange huh?" the teacher says.
"Whoever thought that I'd end up being your daughter's teacher?"
"Kyou, I'm sorry I must have made you worry about me all this time."
She shakes her head.
"I understand. You've been through a lot. It must have been hard."
"Yeah." I reply with a small hint of sorrow in my voice.
"You know, all your old friends are worried sick about you. Ryou, Kotomi, Tomoyo, Youhei, and I were all planning to stop by your place when we got together over New Years awhile back. However, we were afraid you'd just turn us away." Kyou said in a saddened manner.
"I'm sorry..." my spirit began to sink down into the dark depths of depression, and regret.
" But this means that everything's settled, right? All the loose ends?"
Kyou tried to encouraged me with a smile.
"Yeah." I said with reassurance. "How's my daughter doing by the way? Is she getting along with all of the other kids?"
"She's a really good girl. Not cynical like someone I know."
She answered jokingly looking back at me; clearly satisfied with her snappy remark. "She is a lot more rambunctious then her mother was. If I don't keep a careful eye on her she will run off on her own, and get into anything that grabs her attention. I don't like to play favorites with my students, however I knew she was yours and I couldn't help but take care of her as if she were my own."
I could sense the strong feelings of affection she had for Ushio, and all her students alike. She really did enjoy her job, and she clearly had a soft spot for my daughter.
"Thank you for taking care of her while she's at school. It really means a lot to me." I thank her for all shes done.
"It was no trouble at all." She says accepting thanks.
"Well I best get going now. I'll leave Ushio with you."
"Alright, if you ever need any help feel free to call me. I'm sure being a single parent is hard, so I'll assist you in anyway I can."
"Yeah, I'll be relying on you, Miss Fujibayashi." I say with a heartfelt smile. We booth let out a small chuckle.
"Ushio-chan! Your father is heading off to work!"
Ushio slides down Botan's back, and runs to me with her arms spread wide.I get down on one knee and open my arms to embrace her."Have a good day, Papa!" Ushio says looking up at me with her heart warming smile.
"Yeah, off I go." I smile back, and release her so she may get to class. As I walk towards the exit I see them waving me good-bye. I happily return the gesture, and continue on my way.
As I walked to work a feeling began rush through me. It was the feeling of nostalgia. It had been 5 long years since I'd last spoken to Kyou. It felt refreshing to have a conversation with her again. During my senior year of high school I would eat lunch with her and her twin sister Ryou. I looked forward to lunch everyday during those times. Kyou was a great cook. And ohhh man her pork cutlets were heavenly. However, I never realized how much I enjoyed their company; especially Kyou's. Now that I think about it, Kyou was quite the character. She was always, rowdy, rash, demented, and even scary at times; yet she wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. It's funny thinking about it now. 'Kyou? A kindergarten teacher?' But when you get to know her you begin to realize who she really is. She is a very kind, caring, and understanding person; even though she may not have admitted to it back then. I stop to let out a chuckle. " Kyou Fujibayashi, your something else." I smile, and continue walking.