Family Love
The group got home, and immediately went to work.
Yomi and Kaorin were in charge of washing the new clothes, and Sakaki was going to cut holes in the behinds of the pants and PJ bottoms she had bought for Nekosa.
In the meantime, Tomo was in charge of watching Koyomiko, Kagura was in charge of watching Koharu, and Joe was in charge of watching Nekosa.
Chiyo and Shaun went and sat down at the table to talk more. Talking to Chiyo made him feel better.
Yukari immediately went to her room to kill more Covenant for Halo 3.
Nyamo and Saotome noticed that the girls had everything in hand, so they decided to go have some personal time for themselves.
Osaka and Arata went to their room to discuss…well, whatever Osaka and Arata would discuss.
…
"C'mon, Koharu, catch me if you can!" Kagura yelled as she and Koharu ran through the field they called their front yard.
Koyomiko and Tomo had lied down on the grass, and Koyomiko was pointing out the cloud shapes.
"Oh, look, that one looks like Kaa-san!" Koyomiko said, pointing to one particular cloud.
"Wow, I can see it!" Tomo said. "You know, you've got quite the imagination…"
"That's what Funari-mama said all the time, too." Koyomiko said with a smile.
Nekosa and Joe had climbed up a tree (Nekosa had found it far easier), and were now both sitting on a separate branch in the tree.
"Um…Joe-san?" Nekosa asked.
"Yes, Nekosa-chan?"
"I was wondering…why do you like my Okaasan so much?" Nekosa asked.
"Well, because…" Joe responded, staring off into space.
"Because why?" Nekosa asked.
"Well, she's a loving woman, who cares a lot for the people closest to her." Joe said, looking back at Nekosa. "Look at how she reacted to Yukari-san teasing you."
Nekosa smiled at that memory. Her Okaasan had shown her tough side, but had also been soft enough to calm her down.
"But when we finally get married, I'll be looking forward to becoming your Otousan." Joe said with a smile.
"Married?" Nekosa asked.
"You'll understand when you're older," Joe responded, and continued to stare off into space.
…
That night, when everybody's getting ready to go to bed
…
Tomo and Yomi were arguing in Yomi's room.
"Oh, c'mon, Yomi, please?" Tomo asked.
"No" Yomi said.
"But, seriously, what will Koyomiko say?" Tomo asked.
"I don't care what Koyomiko will say! You're not sleeping in the same bed with me, no way, not now, not ever!" Yomi said.
Then they heard Koyomiko walking happily down the hall, singing.
(sung to the tune of 'following the leader')
"Gonna sleep to-gether, with Mama, and Kaa-san…gonna sleep together, when we go to bed."
Koyomiko walked into the room.
"Hey, there, kiddo, you're Kaa-san doesn't want me to sleep with you…" Tomo said.
Koyomiko's eyes watered up, and she looked over at Yomi.
"Kaa-san…why would you be so mean?" Koyomiko asked.
"uh…" Yomi stood there, now stuck. She could tell Tomo did it on purpose too, because she was giving her the evil wildcat smile.
Yomi pushed her glasses up (a sign of irritation), walked over to Koyomiko, put her hand on Koyomiko's head, and bent down to eye-level.
"I just meant that you should sleep with me tonight, and then you can sleep with her tomorrow night," Yomi said, smiling.
"But…" Koyomiko's eyes stayed watered up. "Koharu's sleeping with both her mom's …and…"
Yomi sighed. She knew trying to get Koyomiko to change her mind was impossible at this point.
"OK, let's all sleep together," Yomi said, though it sounded forced.
"Yay!! That's the spirit, Yomi!" Tomo said, patting her hard on the back.
"Yeah!" Koyomiko hugged Yomi tight. "Thank you, Kaa-san!"
And with energy only equal to each other, Tomo and Koyomiko jumped into bed.
I hope I get to sleep tonight… Yomi thought to herself.
…
As Koharu got herself dressed for bed, Kagura noticed something.
"Woah! You got some serious muscle in your arms, kid!"
"What do you mean, Kagura?" Kaorin asked.
Kagura showed Kaorin. Koharu's arms were built like Kagura's, despite Koharu having the face and complexion of Kaorin.
"And check that out, she's got the same legs I do, too!" Kagura pointed out, looking down at Koharu's legs.
"The toughness of Kagura mixed with my gentleness," Kaorin said.
"Our perfect child," Kagura said, smiling, and rubbing Koharu's hair.
Koharu just smiled.
"And the best part is, she can so totally beat up any guy that comes near us!" Kaorin said.
"hehe…your gentleness…possibly your hatred for men…" Kagura said, smiling.
"And you know it!" Kaorin said, smiling back.
…
Sakaki was already curled up with Nekosa in bed when Joe came in with his PJ's on.
He came over, layed down, and propped his head up on his hand, with his elbow on his pillow.
He could see the back of Nekosa. Her mother had cut a hole in the PJ's they had bought for her.
Nekosa…It's been bothering me all day now…who does she remind me of? Joe thought to himself.
Sakaki just stared at Nekosa, blushing at the absolute cuteness that was her daughter.
As if almost on automatic pilot, Joe subconsciously reached up and started scratching the outside of Nekosa's left cat ear.
Nekosa closed her eyes, and tilted her head to the left. She began purring, indicating that she was enjoying it.
Sakaki's blush became more noticeable, as her daughter grew cuter with the purr.
That's who she reminds me of, Joe thought.
Joe moved his hand from her left ear down to her neck, and began scratching in a particular spot (on the left-front side of the neck, right in-between the Adam's apple, and that one muscle on the farthest left of your neck.)
Nekosa now looked up, to let Joe scratch her neck better.
Sakaki watched this for a moment, and then looked up at Joe, and that's when she saw it.
He was crying.
Joe stopped and got up on his knees.
Nekosa looked back at Joe.
"What's wrong?" Nekosa asked.
"Those were…." Joe started, as he wiped away his tears. "…Neko-san's favorite scratch spots"
Sakaki now felt Joe's heartbreak. She had to stop herself from crying as well.
"Neko-san?" Nekosa asked.
"He was my cat who…" Joe started, then remembered Nekosa was only a child. "…was taken from me."
Nekosa turned her whole body around, and was now sitting on her knees as well.
"So, why can't you just go get him back?" Nekosa asked.
"Because…he was taken far away from me, so far away that I'll never see him again." Joe said, as a few more tears fell down his face.
Nekosa now looked like she was going to cry too. She jumped at Joe, and began hugging him, even rubbing her face up against his, and purring loudly, as if trying to help him feel better. Her cat tail was whipping back and forth.
Joe hugged Nekosa tightly.
I promise… to protect this child as one of my own. Just like Sakaki has done already, Joe thought.
Sakaki pulled herself up and joined in the group hug.
…
As for the rest of the group
…
Yukari fell asleep sprawled out, with her 360 controller still in hand.
Nyamo and Saotome fell asleep curled up with each other.
Osaka and Arata had curled up with each other, and had fallen asleep. Osaka was wearing a big smile across her face. Arata was possibly the only person who actually understood her in this world, and for that, she loved him.
Chiyo had let Shaun sleep in her room (she put a spare futon on her floor). Chiyo said it would help him heal faster.
…
A little while later
…
Yomi listened for Koyomiko's deep breathing before she started shaking Tomo.
"Hey, Tomo-chan…" Yomi whispered, trying to get her to wake up.
"uh… but I want the cookies, mommy…" Tomo said in her sleep, before rolling over.
Yomi then got up, walked over, and whispered in Tomo's ear.
"Tomo, you're breasts are huge" Yomi whispered.
Tomo sat straight up in bed, looking at her chest happily, only to realize that she had been tricked.
"I hate you," Tomo said with a big frown on her face, turning to Yomi
"We need to talk," Yomi said in a serious tone.
…
Tomo and Yomi were now sitting downstairs in the living room.
"Tomo," Yomi started as Tomo yawned. "Do you…really think we should raise a kid…together?"
Tomo put her elbow on the table, and put her head in her hand.
"Why do you ask?" Tomo asked.
"Well…" Yomi started. "I don't really think you're teaching job would be able to support a child."
"And you're dietician job doesn't do any better!" Tomo retorted.
"Actually, yes, it does." Yomi said, and then she stated her average bi-weekly paycheck.
Tomo, possibly because she was so tired, simply looked away in irritation (we're just gonna say it was way better than hers)
"But I can't do it myself. In order to support this kid, you need to get a better job." Yomi said.
"Hm." Tomo said, getting an evil smile. "There's typical Yomi, always getting serious, and always being the mature one."
"Tomo, I know that you're just blowing me off here, but when I tell Koyomiko that we need to move out of our house because her Mama can't get a better job, let's see how funny it is then." And with that, Yomi walked off to bed.
Tomo sat there for a while, slightly irritated that, for once, Yomi had actually made a good point.
Tomo sighed.
"Just what kind of other job can I get? I mean, teaching is fun…" Tomo said to herself.
She then had flashbacks to all those kids irritating the heck out of her, and how it had been so hard to save up for these tickets to America.
Tomo sighed again, this time putting her head on the table.
Tomo snapped back up. She had remembered a job she had wanted long ago, but was talked out of it by Yukari.
But she would have to do research, and for that, she would need Joe's laptop.
…
Tomo peeked inside Joe's room to see Joe, Sakaki, and Nekosa all curled up together, and all appeared to be sound asleep.
Tomo looked around the room from the doorway for any sign of Joe's laptop. She spotted it on what was probably Joe's dresser.
She slowly tip-toed to Joe's dresser, and took the laptop off of the dresser.
But with her being part cat, Nekosa awoke to the almost-no-noise that Tomo made.
"Tomo-san?" Nekosa asked. "What are you doing with Joe-san's laptop?"
Tomo whipped around, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was only Nekosa.
"I just need to do a bit of research," Tomo said as she tiptoed back out of the room, laptop under arm. "It's for helping out Koyomiko."
"Oh, OK, then," And Nekosa went back to sleep.
…
Tomo spent the rest of the night looking up ICPO wages, and even possible training and job offerings.
…
Author's notes: Actually, Japanese teachers get paid very well (much better than they do here) but I think Tomo needed a new job, and her ICPO dream job really seemed to fit her better than a teaching job did.
Next Chapter: Osaka-sempai, and travels
