Chapter Twenty-Five: Invitations to Problems

I groaned as I rolled over to 'snooze' the alarm on my phone. Even though I had slept pretty well, I was so exhausted by last night's events that I still woke up feeling groggy.

I was jarred awake by my alarm again and quickly rolled over again to grab my phone, only to groan again when I saw that I was receiving a call; I really needed to change either my alarm or my default ringtone. I groaned yet again when I saw who was calling. "This is Okazaki; 'morning, Kappei."

"Yeah…good morning." He sounded tired as well. "Listen; I know it's kinda early, but I was hoping to catch you before work."

"Well, you caught me," I said with a tired chuckle. "I can talk, but it'll take me a minute or two before I start making sense. What's up?" I had a feeling that I knew what he was calling about, but I didn't want to guess wrong.

I heard a heavy sigh from the other end. "First, I think I need to apologize; Ryou was right about Mika having a crush on a guy, but we didn't know…"

"Yeah... I hear you."

"Did you know?"

"No, I didn't," I replied as I slapped my cheek a couple of times to speed up the waking-up process. "I had my suspicions and Kyou told me about hers, but I didn't know for sure until last night."

"I see, got it." A beat, then: "Hold on; did you say that Kyou said something about it?"

"Yeah, she told me about it a while back. I take it she didn't say anything to you."

"Nah, but some things are starting to make sense now."

"What do you mean?"

Another pause. "Well…to get the easy stuff out of the way; Mika's been floating around the way kids do when they like somebody. She's talked about you a lot, sure, but I figured that was because she'd been helping you out and was excited about…well, being able to help you out."

"Yeah, I get it."

"Anyway, something about the way Kyou'd been looking at her told me that she was thinking about something. Looking back, I don't why I didn't ask her about it."

I imagined Ushio being in a similar situation, and how I'd feel about it. "Maybe you didn't want to know 'cause you'd be uncomfortable with the answer?"

He barked a laugh. "Yeah, could be. Anyway, I'm really sorry I didn't catch it sooner."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "Did she tell you about last night?"

"After she got home, yeah. She told her mom and I about what she said to you and…I tell you, we were both floored. Not just that she confessed to you, but that she told us about it."

"She seemed pretty bold to me after she…said what she did."

"Just so we're on the same page: Mika told us that she confessed to you and then said she'd work to earn your….your…"

"…affection," I finished for him; I could tell he was uncomfortable with the topic as well. "Yeah, after Ushio went down to congratulate Kyou for Pastor Ashton's marriage proposal, your daught-…Mika hugged me from behind and told me that she thought she…" Man, this was awkward. "…loved me."

"Yeah…" he said, noticeably subdued. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," I said, finally feeling awake. "So, what do you want to do about it?"

He sighed heavily. "I'm not sure, to be honest. I don't want to punish her for falling in love, but… I don't want her around you if she's going to make you uncomfortable."

"Thanks; I appreciate that." I gave myself a moment to think; what would the pastor tell me in a situation like this? "Maybe…Maybe you should ask her to come straight home after school for the time being. To give everyone a chance to cool off."

"That sounds good; I could have her come home after club."

I blinked. "Club? Don't you mean the student council?"

"No, I mean club; she rejoined the Volleyball Club about…a week ago? Yeah, that sounds about right."

"She did, huh? Well, good for her," I said, feeling a smile start to spread. "She told me that she missed it, and I think I tried encouraging her to go back since she loved it so much."

"Yeah, that sounds like you," he laughed.

"Anyway, I'm sorry but I've got to go," I said as I glanced at the clock. "I gotta be at work in about an hour and a half. I can't take calls while working, but if you text me what you decide to do I'll make sure to check my phone for your message."

"Got it. Thanks, Okazaki."

"No problem. Hey, listen…" I gave myself a moment to think of how to phrase what I wanted to say. "I'm really sorry if I've done anything to encourage her...this way."

Another heavy sigh. "You're a great guy, Okazaki, and I think she…fell for you because of that."

"Thanks, but I'm still sorry things worked out the way they did," I said with another glance at the clock. "If there's something I can do to help…repulse her, just let me know."

"Repulse her…" he echoed, laughing loudly. "Sure, if I think of something I'll let you know. Have a good day at work, man!"

"Thanks, you too."

"Later!"

I breathed a sigh of relief as I ended the call and put the phone down. "That went a lot better than I thought it would," I murmured as I headed out of my room.

I ran into my daughter in the hallway. "Oh, there you are!" she chirped as she came out of the bathroom. "I was starting to worry!"

"I got an unexpected call," I told her.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I replied. "I just-"

*knock knock knock*

We exchanged a look of surprise. "I'll get it," I told her. "Go ahead and finish getting ready for school."

"Okay," she said, then turned and skipped down the hall to her room.

I smiled at her antics as I headed to the front door. I opened the door and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Good morning, Okazaki-sama!" Mika stood on my front porch with her hands behind her back, wearing her school uniform, and I noticed that she had her hair down instead of up in its usual twintails. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

"I…wouldn't know," I said. "I haven't been outside yet."

She giggled before bringing one of her hands from behind her back to pat at her hair. "Do you like my new hairstyle?"

Being a guy, my eye for detail in regards to female fashion was nonexistent. "Uh…."

"Ah! Mika-senpai! Good morning!" Ushio interrupted as she popped up next to me, saving me from having to answer.

"Good morning, Ushio-san," the older girl replied with a small bow.

"Are you here so we can walk to school together?"

Mika flinched just slightly, and I realized that she likely hadn't thought of that. "W-Well, sure!"

"Great!" Ushio chirped. "Just give me a couple of minutes and I'll be ready!"

As Ushio ran off to finish getting ready, I looked back to Mika and noticed that she still had her twintails but she hadn't used all of her hair; instead she had used a couple of small white ribbons to make two thinner tails out of a couple of locks from around the top of her head. Something about the placement of the ribbons made me feel nostalgic for some reason.

She must have caught me looking, because she gave me what appeared to be a knowing smile. "So, what do you think? Do you like it?"

"It's…nice," I managed to lamely reply.

"Thank you," she blushed. "I want to look more adult, but I'm not quite ready to give up the twintails. I thought this would be a good compromise."

"I think I understand."

"Besides," she said, reaching up to touch one of the ribbons, "having these makes me think of both Mom and Aunt Kyou."

I blinked. "Yeah, I think I get it; your mom has a ribbon on one side, and Kyou has it on the other, except theirs are on the sides where yours are more toward the top."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "I'd look pretty silly having my tails coming straight out of the sides, so this works. Anyway, I really didn't stop by to show you my hair; I came by to give you this," she said as she brought her other hand from behind her back; in it she held a brown paper bag.

"What's this?" I asked as I accepted the bag that she was nearly pushing into my chest.

"Y-Your lunch for today," she said with a shy smile.

"My lunch?" Was she serious? "Mika-san-"

"Please call me 'Mika'."

"Mika-san," I emphasized, hopefully letting her know that I wasn't going to be pushed around like that, "you already make dinner for me even though you don't have to. Besides, do your parents know that you did this?"

"Nope!" she replied with a bright smile.

I thought for a moment, then sighed. "Look, I appreciate you thinking of me, but I don't think that it's right for you to use your family's resources on me like this without talking to them first."

"Ooo, good point," she said as her expression turned concerned. "Well, they already know that I'm pursuing you so it shouldn't be a surprise…"

I swallowed hard, feeling a little intimidated by her openness.

"…but I see what you mean; I don't pay for any of the food, so I should ask them."

"S-Sure."

She looked up at me with an affectionate smile that seriously creeped me out. "Thank you, Okazaki-sama; I guess I was so caught up in wanting to take care of you that I didn't think things through. I'll make sure to apologize to my parents and then ask for their permission properly."

"S-Sounds like a plan," I replied as I tried to hold her gaze; I would not lose to a teenager!

"Anyway, I hope you enjoy your lunch, and I really hope that my mistake hasn't spoiled it for you."

"Thank you," I said, not sure what else to say.

Fortunately, I was saved again by Ushio. "I'm ready!" she exclaimed, sounding slightly out-of-breath. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's okay," Mika replied gently. "Your dad and I have been talking, so I really wasn't waiting."

"Good," my daughter said as she worked on putting her shoes on, and a moment later she was finished. "Ready to go!"

"Have a good day, sweetie," I said as I kissed her on the forehead, partly relieved for the distraction from our guest.

"You too, Daddy," she said before giving me a peck on the cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," I replied. "See you later."

As Ushio passed through the doorway outside, I looked over at Mika to bid her farewell and was slightly alarmed to see her looking at me with what appeared to be a lost expression, her mouth opening and closing as though she wanted to say something.

"Have a good day, Mika-san," I said as politely as I could. "Do your best."

"Th-Thank you, you too," she replied, still looking subdued.

As the girls headed away from the apartment I shut the door and beelined it to my phone with the intent to calling Kappei…until I remembered the time. "Damn; I don't have time for a phone call and I don't know if he'll answer." I then blinked as I remembered that I could receive texts. I'd never sent one, but knew my phone could receive them. If it could receive, then… I quickly found the text app and scanned the screen to figure out how to send one. "This looks like a microphone…" I muttered as I tapped one of the many on-screen buttons. I heard a chirp at the same time I saw a message on the screen prompting me to say something. "Um…hello?" I tried, and as few second later I saw 'Hello' appear in what I assumed was a text box.

It took a little more work, but I finally got a message sent to Kappei: "Mika stopped by this morning and gave me a lunch she made from your stuff. She's going to apologize to you for not asking. Just thought you should know."

"I guess I'd have to learn about this stuff eventually," I grunted as I tapped the 'Send' button; the technology had been around for years, but I was apparently too old-fashioned to learn about it before. "I just hope I sent it to the right person." I set the phone back down and worked on getting ready for work.

An hour later I was slipping on my shoes when my phone made the sound that told me I'd received a text, so I quickly pulled it out of my inside coat pocket. Sure enough, it was a reply from Kappei: "Got it. Thanks for the heads-up. Sorry for the trouble. We'll talk to her."

I was tempted to reply with 'Please don't punish her' but I figured that'd be stepping on their parental toes, so I decided against it as I headed out the door to work.

Fortunately, the first part of my workday wasn't as exciting as my morning had been; other than getting a text from Kappei letting me know that he'd told his daughter to go home after club things were pretty normal, and lunch arrived before I knew it.

"Brown-bagging it today, Okazaki?" my boss said as I retrieved my lunch from my desk drawer.

"Yeah," I said, hoping he wouldn't ask where it came from.

"Ah, it must be nice, having a sweet daughter who'll make lunches for her 'daddy'," he sighed. "All my wife could pop out were three boys."

I resisted the urge to point out the genetic side of things; namely, that the sperm was the big variable. "It must be rough," I replied as sympathetically as I could.

"I manage…somehow," he whined melodramatically. "Okazaki; would you be willing to part with some of your home-made lunch?"

Of course I felt the pressure of a request from my boss, but… "I'm sorry, chief; I feel like I'd be dishonoring her intentions if I shared it with others. She made it specifically for me, after all."

"Ah, part of your recovery?"

"That's my understanding," I replied honestly. It actually wasn't far from the truth; Mika had changed my menu to reflect my dietary needs due to my surgery, and it wasn't unreasonable to assume that she made my lunch with that in mind. Of course, my boss didn't need to know about all that. "More protein and stuff to help rebuild tendons and muscles."

"Jeez, Okazaki," I heard one of my other coworkers gag from a nearby desk. "Ease off the medical stuff, would you? I'm trying to eat, here."

"Sorry," I said sheepishly as my boss laughed.

"Well, you enjoy that," he said, lifting a hand as he started to walk away. "And make sure to thank your daughter for taking such good care of her dad, eh?"

"Y-Yeah…" I said as I reflexively thought of my not-so-mysterious benefactor. "I-I'll do that." As he disappeared into his office I opened the top of the bag and peered inside to find several small, lidded containers, and I started pulling them out to set on my desk. Somewhere along the way I pulled out a set of chopsticks as well; they looked like nice ones, like those found in the nicer restaurants. "She thought of everything, didn't she?" I mused.

I then worked on opening the containers to find rice, vegetables…and pork cutlets. "Mika…" I sighed, "…what am I going to do with you?" I figured that I knew what her answer to that particular question would be, but the rhetorical question still seemed fitting.

I sighed again as I pressed my hands together. "Thanks for-" I cut myself off, my hands lowering to my desk as an image of Kyou praying at Ushio's grad party came to mind. I had been using that phrase for years; of course; that's just what we Japanese did, right? But who was I thanking? Mika? She prepared the food, but she didn't buy the ingredients. Ryou and Kappei? They bought the ingredients, but hadn't made them themselves.

I finally shook my head, filing the thoughts away for later as I put my hands together. "Thanks for the food."

My lunchtime thoughts continued to bug me as I headed home from work. "Great; first Mika, and now this," I grumbled. "Can't I just eat lunch in peace?"

My mood lifted as I entered the apartment to the delicious smell of food cooking. "I'm home. Hey, that smells great!" I said as I changed my shoes. Then I headed to the kitchen area and poked my head around the corner. "Thanks for your hard work, Ushi…oh."

"Thank you," she said shyly as she stirred the contents of a pot. "But Mika-senpai is the one doing most of the work; I'm just helping."

"Good afternoon, Okazaki-sama!" Mika greeted, and from her posture she appeared to be chopping vegetables. "I'm sorry, but I won't be able to stay long; Dad wanted me to come home right after club, so I'll do as much as I can before I have to leave. Ushio-san can take over after that."

"Y-Yeah…" I said lamely. "Aren't you worried about getting in trouble for not going straight home?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head as she moved the chopped-up vegetables to a pot. "Dad said that since he told me about it so suddenly that I could stop by long enough to start the meal prep."

"O-Okay…" I said lamely.

She gave me a mischievous smile before turning back to the cutting board. "Aren't you going to ask me about club?"

Of course, Kappei had already told me about her rejoining the club, but apparently she didn't know that, so… "S-Sure… What about club?" I ad-libbed. "Are you back in the Volleyball Club, then?"

"Yup!" she chirped. "I started up again about a week ago."

"What about the Student Council?"

She turned around fully and gave me a sly grin. "I told them that unless they wanted to lose the sole member of their Disciplinary Committee that they'd need to let me have the time to do what I love."

"Good for you," I said, feeling a warm smile spread across my face in spite of my discomfort. "Couldn't they kick you out, though?"

"They could," she admitted as she turned back to the counter. "They won't, though; they'd have to get someone else to fill the position, and no one else wants to do it."

"Mika-senpai…" Ushio giggled.

I couldn't help but chuckle myself. "Well, good for you; I'm glad you're able to do something you enjoy."

"Thank you," she replied with a duck of her head.

A few minutes later, we saw her off at the front door. "Thank you for tutoring me, senpai," Ushio said as Mika stood on our front porch. "I feel like I learned a lot."

"I'm glad if I helped," she replied with a gentle smile which then shifted to an expression of discomfort. "Are…Would you two be available on Thursday night at six?"

My daughter and I looked t each other before I spoke. "Well…you know that's our usual dinner time. Why? What's going on?"

"I have a game on Thursday," she explained. "My parents will be there, but I'd like it if the two of you could attend as well."

"Oh, I'd love to go!" Ushio gushed as she grabbed onto my arm. "Oh, could we go, Daddy? With everything senpai's done for us, we should go and support her!"

Damn if my kid didn't have a point. "I…suppose," I said, unable to think of any reasonable way out of it. Finally, I sighed. "We'll be there. We'll figure something out for dinner, since I'm assuming you won't be coming over."

"Oh, that's right!" she exclaimed, her hands flying to her mouth. "I'm sorry; I should have told you sooner!"

"Don't worry about it," I said, lifting a hand. "Like I said; we'll figure something out."

"O-Okay."

"You'd better get going," I told her, nodding past her. "I don't want you getting in trouble."

"Okay," she repeated, this time with a smile. "Thank you. Have a good day Okazaki-sama, Ushio-san."

"See you tomorrow, senpai!" Ushio called with a wave as her senior headed away from our home. Once Mika's form disappeared around the corner, she then turned to me. "Daddy, is there something you need to tell me?"

I blinked, surprised by the sudden question. "Me? Tell you something? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

"Not this time," she said with an impish smile and a shake of her head. "Mika-senpai told me all about it already, you know."

I tried to keep the shock from my expression as I tried to distract myself by quickly texting Kappei about his daughter's departure. "Wh-What did she tell you?"

She giggled behind her hand as she headed to the kotatsu. "That she confessed to you last night."

My jaw hit the floor, figuratively speaking. "Sh-She did?"

A nod. "She told me about it while we were working on dinner, before you got home."

"What did she tell you?" I repeated as I took my place at the kotatsu.

"How she confessed to you and how kind you were when you turned her down."

"Huh…"

"And she told me that she wasn't giving up, that she would work hard to make you like her," she finished.

"Ushio, no one can make another person like them."

"I know," she said. "It's just the way we talk in high school, I guess."

"Doesn't that bother you, though? Having someone two years older than you pursuing your dad?"

She sighed as her eyes lost focus. "If it were anyone else, I'd say 'yeah'. But…Mika-senpai seems so much older than eighteen."

"She's definitely not thirty-six, though," I quipped.

"I know that," she giggled. "And I haven't forgotten what Ashton-sensei said about maturity… It's just…" She sighed, apparently unsure how to finish her thought. "If you two started dating, I'd be moved out before you'd want to get married."

My jaw hit the floor for the second time. "U-Ushio, are you serious? Are you seriously suggesting that I date your schoolmate? What about your mom?"

"She's gone, Daddy," Ushio said softly as she rested a hand on my arm, "and I never knew her, so I can't miss her like you do. Yeah, I wish she had lived to be my mom now, but that's not how things turned out."

I sighed; she had a point, but… "I think I understand, but that doesn't change that I'm twice her age."

"Only until her next birthday," she countered, letting her hand drop from my arm. "After that it's just eighteen years apart. It might seem like a long time right now, but what about when you're, like, sixty or something?"

"Forty-two," I calculated reflexively. Then, it occurred to me: "Ushio? Have you been talking to Kyou about this?"

"No," she replied with a puzzled expression. "I only found out today. I mean, I kinda thought Mika-senpai liked you, but I figured I was seeing things wrong. I'm only sixteen, after all," she finished with a giggle.

"Are you saying you'd be okay with me dating Mika?"

"I want you to be happy," she said with an earnest expression. "And even I can see that she makes you happy."

"Huh?"

"And even before she told me about her confession I could tell that she cared about you. Are you saying you couldn't tell?"

I had to think for a minute. "I…No, I didn't. I guess I was so caught up in my stuff that it never really occurred to me."

"Well, she does," Ushio declared with a knowing smile. "She talks about you at school, she's studied nutrition to make sure you get the nutrients you need to heal…" She raised her hands in a shrug. "It's like you're her world now."

I sat in mute shock; she really thought about me that much… "Why…?" I asked, more to myself than to anyone.

"She loves you," Ushio said simply. "That's what she said, right?"

"Well, yeah…"

"So, it's not that hard; she loves you and is showing it. What are you going to do…Daddy?"

After dinner I ignored my daughter's sly smile as I grabbed my phone and headed to my room. The moment I shut the door behind me I pulled up Kappei's number and called it.

"Hey Okazaki, this is Kappei."

"Hey, Kappei. Listen, Mika just invited Ushio and I to her volleyball match on Thursday."

"I figured she would."

"The problem is…I couldn't think of any way to get out of it."

"Grow some balls, man!" he laughed. "Seriously, though; Ryou and I will be there along with Kyou and her fiancé, so she shouldn't have much of a chance to do anything funny, if that's what you're worried about."

I sighed. "To be honest, I'm partly worried about this situation damaging our friendship. Between you and me, I mean."

"We're fine," he said reassuringly. "I know what my daughter's like, even though this kinda threw us a curveball. I also know you well enough; you're an honorable man, Okazaki."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks; I guess I needed to hear that."

"No problem!" An uncomfortable pause. "Look, as long as you don't try to lead her on, you won't have any problems from me or my wife."

"Understood. Thanks."

"You're welcome! By the way, you wanna join us for dinner after the match? We're celebrating her return to the Volleyball Club. Our treat."

I smirked. "I always make it a policy to accept free food."

"Thought you might," he chuckled. "Look, I just want to say one more thing about my daughter and then be done with it for now."

"Okay."

"Her mother and I will talk to her about her choices, but we're not going to tell her to leave you alone. She's an adult, so we're more in a…jeez, what did Ryou call it? That's right; we're more like advisors at this point. We'll still tell her what we think of her problems and choices, but at this point it's less about telling her what to do and more about helping her through her thoughts." A pause. "Did that make sense?"

"Yeah; it's basically my job to tell her to leave me alone."

"That's right!" he said good-naturedly. "Seriously, though; we'll make sure she's thought this through so she isn't needlessly harassing you or something."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome! Anything else?"

"No, I think that's it," I sighed.

"Well, see you Thursday then! And, uh…good luck!"

"Thanks," I snorted. "See you later."

I ended the call and tossed my phone onto the nearest cushion. While part of me was dreading Thursday night…a small part of me was unexpectedly looking forward to it.