Disclaimer: I do not own DanMachi or any of Omori's original characters, nor do I make any profit off of my writing.

Bell groaned miserably as he shut his eyes. His face falling into the steering wheel, quickly jerking back as the horn blared through the parking lot. Almost immediately he jolted his head back, wincing at the annoyed parents sneering toward his car.

".. sorry.. "

Could they hear him? No. Did it make him feel better? Kind of. Yeah.

He could still feel his face burning from that whole mess of an interaction.

He wasn't even really sure what was worse, the fact that he'd just embarrassed himself (Wiene had been kind enough to explain that to him in depth as he said goodbye) or the fact that he'd have to be in like five hours and face his biggest shame.

Without any better way to vent his frustrations, Bell yelled into his hand. Probably not the best thing to do considering everybody was already staring at him like his existence was personally offensive. Not that he could really blame them. He really hoped they couldn't hear him from outside his car, but considering his day so far, it might as well happen.

".. why did she have to be so pretty?"

And there it is. The crux of the problem.

Wiene's teacher.

Or more accurately:

Wiene's incredibly (and in Bell's opinion, unfairly) attractive teacher and his inescapable social ineptitude.

Yeah. He could never show his face here again. He was certain Wiene would understand, she was a kind girl, she wouldn't want him to live his life in shame like this. Canada certainly seemed nice this time of year, perhaps they could start their new lives there? Healthcare was certainly a plus and if all else failed Bell would take 'death by moose' as a good way to go out. It would certainly look better on a gravestone than 'death by mortifying first contact with kindergarten teachers.'

He had never more wished that the little dragon he calls a daughter inherited her mother's exuberance and not his own. So long as extro.. verti.. ness was a genetic thing and not a behavioral thing then he should be fine! Wiene would be far better at making friends than him and all would be well.

Then again, if she's better at talking to people that means she'd probably find a partner eventually.

Oh gods, Bell didn't think he was ready for that. It didn't matter if they were a boy or a girl or what have you, Bell didn't want to have to deal with any of it. What was he even expected to do at that point? Was he supposed to do the whole 'shovel talk' thing? Or maybe the whole.. what was it? The 'birds and the bees'? He was fairly sure he'd never been given it. Should he be offended that his mom didn't think he needed to hear that?

Remembering everything that transpired less than ten minutes ago, Bell shuddered. No. He should not be offended. It would have been wasted on him.

The white-haired father sucked in a long, suffering breath and clenched his hands tightly around the steering wheel. This was fine. Everything was fine. He just needed to go home, watch some videos on braiding and fashion (possibly a few on talking to pretty people), and then go back to pick up Wiene at the end of the school day. Not an issue. He was already ahead of schedule on his book, so he didn't need to worry about all of that, he could certainly afford to take a day off. Everything was going to be a-okay.

Everything was not, in fact, a-okay.

Why did he think he could do this? Him? Bell Cranel? He thought Bell Cranel could do this? Who was he trying to fool? Bell Cranel does not do 'this,' he just does not. Did he really think that three tutorials on social interactions were going to help him?

The answer was yes, he even took notes! How could he not? He didn't want to embarrass his daughter again.

(It had absolutely nothing to do with her teacher, nor the fact that she was insufferably attractive and unreasonably kind, nor did it have anything to do with the lack of a ring on her finger. It didn't.)

This was about Wiene and being the best father possible.

That was all.

Note-taking was the most logical thing to do.

He'd even convinced himself that it would work! He said to himself 'Bell Cranel. You are going to walk in there. You are not going to say anything stupid. And Wiene is going to be so proud to call you papa.' And like the idiot he was, he actually believed it! Oh, how naïve he was.

Or probably was.

It was hard to say when he still hasn't gone in and spoken to the woman yet. He'd just been sitting in his car in the parking lot and pointedly ignoring the parents grouping up outside the school.

Why did it seem like they all knew each other anyway? Was that something he was supposed to be doing? Making friends with the parents of Wiene's classmates? He really hoped not. That sounded terrifying.

Bell slapped his cheeks a few times to psych himself up. I can do this! He reached for the door handle, his thumb stretching out to flip the lock. I can do this! All he had to do was pull the handle toward himself and push the door open. It was simple. A child could do it. Then again, a child could also send their daughter off to school without weeping in front of their teacher. Or.. maybe not? Children don't typically have daughters. They could definitely go to school without weeping. He knew that much, Wiene was proof enough. She'd been so strong, not a single tear shed. He wondered briefly if she was even a Cranel, his mom and him were big-time criers. His aunt not so much, but she was also a bitter old woman so she doesn't count.

Wiene's significant lack of tears had really only made Bell cry harder as he wondered if it was because he was such a poor father. Had he messed up so badly that she wasn't even scared to be without him? Had her nice teacher already been that much of a marked improvement upon him?

He didn't know.

He didn't really want to know either.

At least this was he could live his life in ignorance and be somewhat happy. So long as Wiene was smiling, he'd be okay.

Bell blinked a few times as a cloud moved out of the way of the sun and the sudden glare bore down into his eyes. When did I get out of the car? He was pretty sure that he was never going to leave that thing. Did he get so lost in thought that he actually managed to get out? Huh. Maybe he should try to dissociate more often?

Quickly, Bell crossed the parking lot so he wasn't standing out in the middle looking like the absolute dullard that he is. This way he'd be able to disappear in the crowds and go unnoticed as he slipped inside and picked up Wiene. Hopefully (he was keeping his fingers crossed just in case) he could do so without her teacher ever catching whiff of him. Screw making a good second impression, he was going to do what he does best. Escape.

Hopefully, the woman wouldn't be too concerned about Wiene mysteriously disappearing at the end of the day. Bell didn't want her to needlessly worry over nothing.

The bell that hung above the door rang and the father could actually feel his blood pressure spike as everybody turned to look toward the front door. This is it! All he had to do was not embarrass himself. From his research, that meant no crying, no babbling, no racist jokes (he felt like he had that one down pat), and most importantly speaking. He was expected to actually speak. To her teacher. Her very attractive teacher.

He was doomed.

Or he would be doomed if he was caught sneaking his little hellion out. Where was the girl anyway?

Bell looked all around. Most of the older classes had already dispersed and found their parents, far more used to the process than the youngest. The kids he assumed were Wiene's classmates (it'd been hard to see through all the tears) were nervously looking around from the top of the stairs, their doeful eyes staring out over the veritable sea of bodies with no small amount of trepidation. He felt for them. He really did. But as much as he felt for those kids, he had far more pressing concerns. All of his previous worries about crying in front of Wiene's teacher again drained away as he looked around for his daughter. He didn't see her little head of silvery-blue sticking up anywhere among the youngins. He knew she was shorter than average, but he should be able to see something. Right?

Where was she?

"Ummph—!"

Bell rocked backward on his heels as a small body slammed into his stomach, having launched itself from the ground several feet away and grappled him like a koala. Instinctively, Bell reached out to catch the little critter, not wanting them to be hurt.

"Hey, there, are you alri—"

His eyes caught sight of his daughter's signature hair and he immediately held the child in his arms a little tighter as he kneeled to the ground. "Wiene? Darling, what's wrong?" The girl said nothing, merely shaking her head and burying her face even further into his stomach.

His heart lurched as she whimpered, his mind already going into overdrive as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Was she hurt? Was somebody mean to her? He didn't see how that would happen considering she was perfect. Maybe somebody made fun of her because he had cried this morning? Kids could be mean sometimes, he really hoped that wasn't the case, for Wiene's sake.

"Little dragon, I want to help you feel better, but I can't if you don't tell me what's wrong."

She said something but Bell couldn't make it out through folds of his shirt and the general hum of conversation all around them. His stomach vibrated with the word, a quick two syllabic movement that he couldn't hope to decipher.

He tried to pry the girl away from his body so he could look over her, but she kept a tight grip on him, not even remotely budging as he did. Sure, he could definitely overpower her and get her off (she was only five) but he didn't want to risk hurting her, especially if she was already hurt.

Somebody cleared their throats in front of him and Bell glanced up briefly to nod politely toward the woman. "Miss Sanjouno, do you know.. "

He trailed off his eyes dropped back down toward the girl in his arms. Still, she seemed to understand what he was asking and kneeled down in kind. Briefly, she reached out in such a way that it looked as if she wanted to stroke Wiene's hair before seemingly thinking better of it. Instead, she offered the father somewhat of a pained smile.

"She was good for the first part of the day, but I think there may have been a bit of a misunderstanding on what school entailed for her."

Bell blinked, not quite understanding what she meant. He was pretty sure he explained school well enough. He made sure she understood that she was going there to learn lots of really cool things and that her teacher's instructions were as good as any of his and should be considered the same. Wiene had given him a bit of an odd look, but she had at least seemed to grasp the idea. So where was the misunderstanding?

"I believe she was under the impression that you would be staying with her the whole time. When she realized you weren't coming back until the end of the day, she.. well.. "

The woman merely gestured toward the sobbing mess in his chest, smiling apologetically toward the father as he sighed and shook his head ruefully. "This girl.. "

Was it bad that he felt a little bit better now seeing his daughter cry? It sounded bad, her could hear that even in his thoughts, but at the same time it made some of his worries vanish.

"I suppose she's more like me than I thought."

He couldn't help but laugh lowly as the thought came to him. To think she'd been a crier this whole time, he supposed not everybody could be as strong of heart as his sister.

"She's very sweet, I'm sorry for my part in upsetting her."

Wiene's teacher was rather soft-spoken, her voice carrying off in the wind with a gentle tone. It wasn't hard to see how much it hurt her to see one of her students worked up, taking it as a personal failing more than anything.

Bell smiled kindly up at her after laying a tender kiss to the crown of his daughter's head. For once, he seemed completely oblivious to the woman's beauty. The long golden hair draping down her back and perfectly framing her face was disregarded in favor of rubbing small circles over Wiene's back. Her warm, eyes that seemed an almost impossible shade of green (Bell thought they were more like emeralds than eyes) were not stared into so Bell could spend more of his time doing one last check for injuries. Just to be sure. The small tilt of her lips upward was considerably harder to ignore, but Bell did so, solely for the sake of murmuring soft reassurances to the child in his arms. And that stupidly pretty red dress she wore? That was overlooked too. How could he bother with something like that when—

"Oh, dear. Your braid was all mussed up, I'm sorry, little dragon. I watched some videos so hopefully, I can be a little better this time around, it won't come undone so easily."

He had hoped, in vain it seemed, that her nickname would get some reaction out of her. She always loved to be called 'dragon' (even if she proclaimed that adding 'little' to it was horribly rude – dragons were prideful creatures, after all). He didn't really know what to do in this situation, he was certain her mother would have been able to handle it better. The best he could hope to do was his best, which – needless to say – was not very good, as all he managed was fixing her hair.

In fact, the father was so distracted by his effort in rebraiding the girl's hair (he had done research, in no way did it feel natural. It still took all of his mental faculties to just recall when the move each strand) that he didn't notice the teacher's smile get that much bigger as she watched.

Any discussion he hoped to have with the little one about school were quickly shoved aside as soon as he felt her breath slow over his shirt. Bell smiled sadly as he stood back to his full height, standing nearly a full head taller than the child's teacher. "I'm sorry for all the trouble, Miss Sanjouno. I didn't really expect her to react this way, that was a failure on my part."

"That's quite alright, Mister Cranel. It's not actually all that uncommon for kids on their first days. In the past, I've been able to distract them well enough to get them through the day without issue. Your little one most love you quite dearly for her to get so worked up in your absence."

Bell blinked.

Huh?

What did she mean by that? He was trying his best, sure, but it wasn't like he was an upstanding parent to the child. He wasn't his sister. She had been an amazing parent, whisking Wiene away whenever she noticed the little one getting even the slightest bit upset, and kissing all the tears away. It'd been quite confusing for the nineteen-year-old boy at the time, not fully understanding what was happening or why. He could barely even comprehend raising his own child, certainly not with the deftness that she had.

Yet, here he was.

And he was trying his best, but his best was never going to be the best. He would never be able to replace the two who were meant to be the girl's parents.

He couldn't understand why it sounded like the teacher sounded like she was almost praising him as she spoke, that couldn't be right, he hadn't done anything to deserve it.

Deciding not to broach the subject, Bell gave her a small smile. "Thank you, I'm doing the best I can, I just hope it's enough. I spent most of the time she was in class learning how to braid her hair." He glanced down and winced, scratching at his jawline nervously as he glanced back up toward the teacher with a slight flush. "As well as how to dress stylishly. She and I don't really.. see eye to eye on the topic."

Apparently.

That information was still rather new, Bell felt like he was incredibly fashionable. Black shirts. Black pants. Black belt. What more was there to it? He was told it went well with his hair and it was relatively easy to use. What else was left to be desired?

Evidently, a lot, if Wiene's opinion was of any importance (which it was).

The teacher laughed joyously, the small lilts of her giggles shining with unspoken merriment. "I can see why. It was nice meeting you under less stressful circumstances, Mister Cranel. I hope she'll have a better time with this all tomorrow but do make sure she understands that I am in no rush for her to be okay. This can all be done under her own time."

And just like that, all of Bell's previously forgotten embarrassment slammed back into him. Fuck. He had been so close! That was practically a dismissal from the conversation, he had been this close to finishing up and making it to his car without embarrassing himself and she just had to remind him. If that coy little smirk was anything to go by, she knew exactly what she was doing as well.

Bell's cheeks flushed as he averted his eyes, forcibly putting all of his focus into comforting the already slumbering child, anything to get away from that very pretty lady. Why did she have to remind him?

Bell squeaked out a quick farewell before turning tail and running like a coward. The golden-haired teacher watched him disappear into the crowds of people with silent laughter, enjoying the rather rapid changes in the man's personality. When she'd met him this morning, she was pleasantly surprised to meet a father who'd been nearly as emotional as some of the mother's (even if he did dart out of the room soon after). She'd been rather worried when Wiene seemed to dissolve into a puddle of tears when it finally dawned on her that her father wasn't there and wouldn't be back for a while. It hurt her heart to see a child look so lost and scared.

If she were being honest, she'd been a little scared of how the father would react upon seeing her. Haruhime had more than a few angry parents in the past who had blamed her for their child's tears. They eventually realized the issue and apologized, but it made it no easier for her to deal with. She was an empathetic person by nature, seeing a child in tears and being blamed for it was not helpful.

When she saw the rather obvious white-hair among the hordes of parents, she'd been tempted to speak with him right then and there. The father had just seemed so nervous around the others and it was obvious he was searching for Wiene.

But then the little girl had crashed into him with all the force of a charging rhino, nearly bowling him over. It had been like a switch had been flipped, all of his nervous tension being replaced with earnest worry. He'd seemed like a beacon of comfort for the little child. And that nickname? Little dragon? Adorable. How amazing was that!? So cute! Ah! Haruhime couldn't get enough of it.

With flushed cheeks of her own, the teacher turned back to her class, resolving herself to watch over the last of her little clan as their parents came to pick them up. She would not (she repeats not) watch the parking lot to see how cute that father looked when he buckled the little dragon (eeeee!) into her car seat. She wouldn't. She was responsible. She had a very important job to do. She had kids to watch over. She was a professional woman. She'd been a teacher for two years already, she never had any issues with distractions before.

But..

..she was also a romantic.

She blamed the stories her sister would read to her. Haruhime's preference has always been for heroics but Aisha had been enthralled with romance. They came to a compromise eventually and simply read a mixture.

Which likely led to her current situation.

Her infatuation with kind-hearted, charming men. It wasn't that she wanted a Prince Charming per se (though she wouldn't exactly object to the idea), she simply wanted somebody who – if they found themselves in a fantasy world – would be heroic. Was that so bad? Is it really so wrong?

Mister Cranel just so happened to fit the bill.

And his hair and eyes? Don't even get her started.

It wasn't going to be a long school year.

Hello, everybody! We're reaching the tail end of this big drop; so, I hope you're all doing well and my fellow students are having some stress-free and successful finals! For those who don't know, this big ol' swanky drop is all about giving back!

I know some authors occasionally set up memberships and the like to sponsor their work (I saw some dude this week who makes over $2,300 a month from donations for his fanfic, like what? I didn't even know that was an option), but it's not really something I'm comfortable with nor care about. I've done all my writing because I enjoy it as a creative outlet and you all seem to like it too (even if I never plan or proofread anything.)

I do, however, want to give everybody the option to show your support through donations to the Children's Miracle Network! Sick kids get the help they need without financially straining their families, you get an obscene amount of fanfiction in twelve days, and I'm happy. It's a win, win, win! All proceeds go to a terrific cause and really any amount helps, even just a dollar or two starts to add up when everybody contributes!

(You can find the link on my profile, wink wink.)

If you'd like more information, both the donation link as well as the Children's Miracle Network website are great sources. Another great source? Me!

Also, there's a poll up on my profile, mostly out of curiosity but also so I can figure out which stories I should prioritize. If you have particular stories you like more than others feel free to let me know there (though reviews are an even better way, if you catch my drift).

Peace out, girl scouts! Until tomorrow!