Hey everyone! Hope you're having a cool summer vacation if you get one. I give you the Summer job, Daycare style. It's a short one.


28th SCENT: PART TIME WORK

August 1st. Monday...

Yu needed a summer job.

There was no avoiding that simple fact.

His wallet weighed significantly less than it should at this point in the year, and only one thing demanded so much of his funds—ok make that six—and they were all his friends. He hadn't intended to pay for anyone but himself for a year, and although the others were capable of paying for themselves, he'd bought the occasional round of beef sticks at Junes, many nights of dinner ingredients, and bowls of nikudon at Aiya's.

That Rainy Day special of theirs still kicked his ass, but someday he would finish it. ...Someday. It had become a race between himself and Kanji as to who would clean their bowl first. More training, diligence, and courage was needed to attain this goal. That, and his account couldn't handle many more attempts.

Add that to purchasing items to help the fox demon integrate into society, and it all culminated into an empty wallet. Of course, the Hanamuras took care of Yosuke's needs once he moved in with them. Regardless, he'd taken trips during those two months to the giant department store with a stow-away fox in his school bag in order to buy plushies with removable clothing the tiny demon liked to create his first wardrobe. The plushies were donated, though the fox and Nanako kept some.

Although those times were over, it still took out a chunk of change he hadn't budgeted for. Hence, Yu needed to recoup his losses with a summer job.

He'd been out getting some fresh air the day after the festival when he'd passed by the Inaba Daycare Center. The small, two storied older building smiled in bright primary colors behind a fenced-in play yard, and held a 'help wanted' sign placed neatly in the middle of a cheerful blue window frame. Figuring the knowledge he might gain here would help him better connect with Nanako, working here part time could be useful.

He walked inside to be instantly greeted by a cacophony of squeals, screams, crying, and noise, ...and applied. To his shock, they hired him immediately based on his living situation with his little cousin. According to the head assistant, Mrs. Nakajima, no one else wanted the job. Yu thanked her, and left to prepare for his new title of 'daycare assistant' the next day.


August 15th. Monday...

A week later, and three days into part time work, Yu quickly adapted to being a mobile piece of climbing equipment for the children. He'd carried them asleep to the mats for nap time, caught many items thrown his direction, and endangered his shins while breaking up fights –particularly between Yuuta, a smaller boy, and Sosuke, a kid with short reddish-brown hair in the same cut as Naoto's.

Naptime for the third day finally arrived. He sank heavily into a too-small bright yellow plastic chair and exhaled, draping his arms across his raised knees. The height of the furniture and toys here would be perfect for the animal demons in their native form. Perhaps he could bring Nanako and Yosuke here to play after hours. After a second enjoying the blessed silence, he moved to the small kitchen, and cracked open the tab on a cold Cielo mist with a sharp 'ksst!'

"Yu?" Someone small tugged on his off-white apron.

He glanced down at the little dark-haired girl. The pink dress she wore was her favorite, or so he guessed since he'd seen her in it every day. "Akane? You should be taking a nap with the others."

"My head hurts," she mumbled.

He set the soda on the counter and knelt down to place his hand against her forehead. It was far warmer than it should be. He wet a washcloth under cold water in the sink, wrung it out, and placed it against her head. "Hold this here. I'll call your mom."

Akane shuffled over to wrap her arms around his leg, forgetting about the cold compress.

For some reason, this little girl had become enamored of him since day 1. She followed him like a puppy, did everything he asked of her –like cleaning up her toys, or sharing, and often asked him to paint with water colors with her. She was one of the more obedient and mature pre-schoolers. In that way, she reminded him of Nanako. They weren't too far from the hospital. He could carry her there faster than waiting for her mother to arrive.

Thankfully, Mrs. Nakajima agreed to his idea. She made the call to Akane's mother while he left with the little girl clinging to his neck as though he were a source of life support. In a way, he was. She was five years old, and trusted him completely.

He explained what happened to one of the nurses, and Akane was soon taken in to the care of professionals. Moments later, Akane's mother rushed in. She thanked him for being so diligent and watchful, bowed in respect, and hurried in to be with her daughter.

Satisfied that Akane would be fine, he thanked the nurse as per societal standards of polite behavior.

The nurse slid up close, smiling behind vixen eyes. "My, you're a cutie. Would you like to study with me? Perhaps a subject that they don't teach in school, if you catch my drift..."

He caught it, all right, though still managed to say, "What do you mean?" like a fool.

She turned her devil eyes up to him, though what he saw in them was a world-weariness and loneliness despite the purr in her words. "What do you say you and me go hit the town, huh?"

"Uh," he stepped back, unprepared for her straight-forward attention. "Maybe some other time."

She slipped her business card into his pocket and stepped back. "Suit yourself, handsome. Call me for anything." Though the curve in her painted lips remained, all tigress intrigue in her voice gave in to a deeper fatigue.

Yu wished her a pleasant day and quickly fled the hospital. He exhaled in relief once he was far enough away, and withdrew the card. It read 'Nurse Sayoko Uehara' in bold print with her phone number listed beneath her title of Registered Nurse. He entered the number into his phone anyway. Considering the nature of his part time job, and what had just happened with Akane, it might come in handy. She did seem like she needed a sounding board, though. Recognizing this only made him wonder if he should consider a psychology major once he entered college.


August 18th. Thursday. Two days later...

Yu awoke late that morning with a slight headache that refused to go away, even after taking some pain killer with lunch. It was unlike him to sleep in so late. He managed to catch Tanaka's Amazing Commodities, ordered the model kit, and left for the daycare to pick up his paycheck. Mrs. Nakajima had taken a group of five-year-olds to the park, so he ambled in his time walking there. All the while, the headache failed to recede. If anything, it was getting worse. Maybe he'd caught what Akane had. He frowned. It would suck to get sick during summer vacation. He'd have to stay home and keep away from Nanako, but at least he'd have time to put his model together once it arrived.

Slate gray clouds dulled the sky. It wasn't enough for rain –as the weatherman had said it would simply be overcast today—but it was enough to block out the sun. A cool summer breeze carried leaves along its path, and felt good against his skin. He was glad it wouldn't rain. Inaba's summer storms could be violent.

Yosuke hadn't tried to get ahold of him all day, which was odd. In fact, he hadn't heard from anyone. Some alone time was good, and he liked getting to breath, but he couldn't shake the sense that he should check up on someone. He held his phone, but paused. No, they needed time away, too. They were all still friends. A couple of days to be alone was healthy in friendships. Besides, he'd had his hands full lately.

The phone slipped back into his pocket. It was weird to at least not hear from the fox, though.

His vision blurred for a second, then settled. He pulled at his collar and wiped at a few droplets of sweat from the back of his neck. Something was wrong with him, but he was sure he wasn't sick. If he had caught anything from Akane, it was way too early for symptoms to show up.

As soon as he arrived at the park, he was beckoned over to help break up a fight between Yuuta and Sosuke—again—even though he wasn't working. The noise pushed the pounding in his head up a notch.

Mrs. Nakajima frowned when he politely inquired about his paycheck. "That's right! I forgot you were coming by. I'm sorry. I got so wrapped up in everything yesterday that I just mailed it."

He was a little disappointed, but it was what it was, and he was in no great need of it now. "That's ok."

The way he remained level-headed through any incident impressed her, as did his ability to calm down the kids –well, anyone he spoke to, including herself—and that gave her an idea. "Yu, out of curiosity, how are you at English?"

"I'm ok." He wouldn't say he was among the highest marks in his class, but...

"How would you feel about being a tutor?"

"Me? Be a tutor?"

"Why not?" She smiled. "You can earn a little extra money on the side, plus you're good with the kids here." She brushed her long, straight brown hair behind her ear delicately with two fingers.

Two of the children ran over to him with wooden pinwheel flyers in their hands, begging him to show them how to make them soar. He knelt down, kindly demonstrated the simple toy once more, and caught it on the way down. The two kids stared in awe. He handed their toys back. The kids started daring each other to see who's could fly the highest, and gamboled off across the grass. Satisfied, he returned his attention to her. "Who would I be tutoring?"

She hesitated. "My son, Shuu. He's in middle school."

The manner in which she'd forced out the request made him believe she'd received negative results. "I guess you've tried to ask for help before."

She sighed. "He's impossible when it comes to his studies. He chases everyone away. I've tried to teach him, but he won't listen to me. After watching you interact with the kids, my confidence that you can survive his stubborn, lazy academic attitude is high. Honestly, I think you might be the only one who can handle him."

That was high praise considering she hardly knew him. Why not? It could prove to be an interesting challenge. He already had experience teaching the fox how to speak. Some of those tactics may work on Shuu. "Sure. I'll keep—"

A wave of dizziness swept over him, amplifying the headache and mocking his attempt to subdue it with pain medication. It felt reminiscent of the migraine he'd experienced when he'd first arrived in Inaba. He squinted as the overcast sky became too bright, like staring into a naked light bulb. A strong, sharp image of the base of a cherry tree freed of its blossoms replaced his vision in the span of a breath. What had that been about? It felt like he'd actually been in another place for a split second. If he was becoming ill enough to have hallucinations, he seriously needed to get back home before it got any worse. He breathed when the brightness of the world returned to normal. "I'll...keep and open mind."

"Are you all right?"

The pain subsided, but he still felt increasingly ill. "I'm fine."

A droplet of water tapped against his face. He looked up at the thick dark clouds threatening a downpour.

Mrs. Nakajima groaned. "A pocket storm. I was afraid of this. Quick. Help me get everyone under the shelter."

Yu powered through the nausea and dizziness to help her coral all the kids. Most of them screamed in surprise when the clouds burst open, though Sosuke and Yuuta jumped in the quickly-formed puddles. How those two could fight and still be friends, he had no clue. Only the two boys suffered from being completely drenched. They didn't seem to care.

He leaned against a support pillar of the covered picnic table and watched large raindrops hammer the dirt in fast, percussive beats.

"That came out of nowhere," Mrs. Nakajima pushed back her wet hair. "It was supposed to stay overcast today, but those pocket storms can be hard to predict. We just have to wait it out. See?" She pointed to the west. "There's the edge of it."

The storm would only last a few minutes. He blinked and sat on a bench as the image of the tree—and a quickly filling puddle—returned.

"You sure you're ok?" She rested a hand on his shoulder in concern.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," he relented in a whisper so the kids laughing and talking at the end of the table wouldn't hear him.

It didn't work. The entire class leaned away from him with muted remarks of 'ew.'

Her concern deepened. "I can call your uncle."

"No, I'll be fine." The clock on his phone said it was 2pm. "The storm will clear soon. I'll go home then."

"All right. Be careful." She left him alone to tend to the pre-schoolers and keep the boys out of the rain.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, and the sky returned to a light gray as if nothing had happened, yet the world was now covered in cool crystal droplets. He bid her farewell, and left the shelter. Moving had diminished the severity of the effects, so at least he felt like he could walk home...or at least to the Amagi Inn. He was closer to Yukiko's place, and knew she had every tea in the world. There had to be something there he could take to get him well enough to go home. Then he could just sleep this off.

He moved through the streets for the inn, stopping every once in a while when that image of the tree—this time shimmering with raindrops—returned. He stumbled into the inn at 2:30.

"Yu? Hey, are you all right?" Yukiko rushed from behind the front desk to help him when he collapsed to his knees. "Yu!"


Next Scent: The Mysterious Affliction