Chapter 4- Daycare Days
"Don't leave, Ama-nee!"
Hinata is latched onto the leg of her older sister (she's finally accepted it. Amane at least. It's way easier somehow with her, Marie and Osamu…..not so much), and gives her her best puppy eyes.
Amane is dressed up in a red tunic and a silly little hat. A bag is on her back, and she's holding Osamu's hand.
She's going to school.
So. Not. Fair.
How is she going to survive? How is she going to stay entertained while Amane is away? She has Youko, of course, but they've both got lives outside of their friendship.
They may not be exciting lives, seeing as they're just about 2 years old, but they can't be together all the time. Hinata needs her space - even concerning her way-too-smart best friend. (She's pretty sure Youko feels and thinks the same way.)
Amane laughs and pulls on her hands. She may be only six, but against a toddler, even a very determined one, she easily breaks her hold, and Hinata soon finds herself in Marie's arms.
"I'm just going to school, Hina-chan," she says kindly. "I'll be back in a few hours".
"Too long!" Says Hinata. "Take me with you!"
No way does she want to be all alone with no familiar forms of entertainment. Or left alone with Marie for so long.
"It's soooo boring without you nee-chan!" She whines, sniffling a little as she feels her nose start to run.
Odd… she doesn't feel like she's about to cry...
She can see Amane crack. Her eyes have got that familiar shine of "cute!" in them, and she is so close to saying yes - either to staying home or taking her with her.
Besides, she wouldn't want her favorite sister to start crying, right?
So of course Osamu cuts in like the responsible parent he has to be, his powers of fatherly mind-reading or something ruining everything.
"Oh, no you don't. You're going to school, Amane, and Hinata is staying here with Mommy," he says sternly, giving his oldest daughter a little push towards the door. "And you, little lady," he says to his youngest "are going to behave. No playing tricks on Mommy, no causing mischief, no tears just to get your way. We just got this house. I don't want to see it in pieces when I get home".
"But Father-"
"No buts, Hinata," he says, kneeling to her level. "I admire your dedication to learning and to your sister, but you're barely even 2. There are so many other things for you to do, before we lose you to books;" his smile is kind, but still stern. He then pats her head and leaves with her only source of entertainment.
Hinata feels a sense of dread as she's left alone with Marie. While she had gotten better, Marie still had some odd moments.
She was also so very boring.
Hinata is aware that most of the adults around her (that being her parents and the Mutous) know both she and Youko are much smarter than average toddlers. Youko's shown her folders from elite pre-schools, but they cost way more than either family can afford.
And yet Marie still insists on treating her as if she's just an ordinary 2 year old. Won't let her try to read, won't let her attempt to solve anything more advanced than putting coloured blocks and shapes through the correct holes in a little box.
It's infuriating.
She can't stand it, won't stand it anymore.
So if she has to go to drastic measure to snap Marie out of her delusion, so be it.
Of course she will be a mature adult and not throw tantrums like a child. But the doesn't mean she can't try to knock some sense into the woman with a few well-timed looks and NOs. Or maybe run and hide.
Her plans are thwarted when Marie picks her up and declares she's got a very special surprise for her "little girl". (Little does she know her so-called "little girl" is at least the same age as her if not a little younger).
The surprise, much to her horror, is that she's going to daycare. Really, it's like a massive, indoor playground with strange adults watching her, but still… daycare.
Purgatory is more like it.
At least Youko is there and suffering with her.
All of those germs and all of the drool.
It's so gross. She can practically feel herself getting sick, just by breathing in the same air as these little monsters. What she wouldn't do for a bottle of hand-sanitizer...
Hinata plans on making Osamu suffer until something better happens. She's glad to be away from Marie, but surrounded by babies and workers who treat her just as badly as Marie? No thanks.
Youko is lucky, her family treats her like she's an adult for the most part. Mainly thanks to Grandpa Solomon always being around with his puzzles, and Yume having given up on stopping him.
Maybe Hinata can get Grandpa to have a chat with Marie. Surely he'll be able to talk some sense into the woman. Hopefully before Hinata has to take drastic measures.
So here she is, huddled and hidden away in the corner of the room, Youko next to her, as they watch with fascinated horror at the chaos all around them.
"Demons. We're surrounded by demons." Youko whispers with wide eyes. Hinata can only nod in agreement. This is so much worse than what she remembers daycare being like in her first life.
Don't get Hinata wrong, she loves kids and can't wait to be a mom, but this? This is terrifying. They're acting like a bunch of rabid demons or something. She feels pity for the poor workers, they all looked overworked and exhausted and the day has hardly begun.
"Maybe if we stay quiet and don't move, they won't notice us," she whispers back.
Youko nods in agreement and grumbles out, "This is inhumane and evil. I'd rather be at home and bored then here." Her words are punctuated by a hard sneeze and then a cough. "Yuck. I dread to think what I'm even breathing in here. Aside from the dust."
Hinata starts looking around. There has to be a way out of this place. A door, a window, a ventilation shaft. Anything! The gods brought her Youko to stop her boredom - surely they wouldn't let their "chosen one" suffer through this hell?
"Hi!"
Hinata jumps and Youko stiffens at the sudden voice behind them. She spins around, on guard immediately, only to be faced with another kid. Brown hair in a little ponytail, blue eyes. Ordinary - nothing like Hinata's own white coloration.
She's smiling at them, looking as friendly as can be. "I'm Tea!" She says. "I haven't seen you before, wanna play?"
She's just a kid. Tiny, round in the way most children their age are. There's nothing about her that gives any indication that she's going to be anything special when she grows up, a plain Jane. She'll just be boring.
And yet… something in Hinata just screams "friend, special, say yes". Everything tells her that this little girl, somehow, is important in ways her adult mind has yet to understand.
She looks at Youko. Wants to know what the other girl thinks. Only to be surprised when Youko smiles back and holds out a hand.
"Sure! My name's Mutou Youko. This is Bakura Hinata".
Hinata holds out her own hand, and they do a sort of off three-way handshake. "Nice… nice to meet you," she says, trying to figure out what's appropriate language in this situation. She doesn't want to freak out their (possibly) new friend by sounding like an adult.
"Do you wanna dance with me?" Tea asks excitedly.
Hinata and Youko share a look before smiling, "Sure." "I'd love to!"
'Maybe this won't be so bad after all' both girls think.
But it's still humiliating to have to participate in all of the kiddy-things like nap-time and "fun with letters!" type of stuff though.
Tea is a sweet kid, Hinata comes to learn. She's really chatty - speaks a mile-a-minute - without it being totally annoying. Rather than spewing off nonsense, she introduces them to the surprisingly complex "laws" of the daycare. Which places are access-only for the bigger kids, which adult is more prone to handing out snacks early, which kids she thinks they should avoid (bullies, more often than not) and stuff like that.
It's all mind blowing how even so young, the children have a system.
'Maybe' they think, 'this won't be so boring after all.'
'This is boring.' Youko thinks with annoyance, after a few weeks of attending the mess that is Chess Road Daycare.
It had been somewhat fun and exciting at first. Meeting Tea was nice, and some of the adults were tolerable. But other than that… torture. Pure mind numbing torture.
Oh, she remembers the expectant looks on her parents' faces when they'd finally come around to picking her and Hinata up. Most likely awaiting tall tales of how fun it was and all the new people they met and the new friends they made.
Their bubbles were burst pretty quickly. Both she and Hinata just gave them a look (okay, they glared, their parents were in the proverbial dog houses with them both) and kept their little mouths shut, walking right past them towards Amane and Grandpa.
They totally knew it, too. Her parents are very easy to read. Especially when they react to her various expressions. It had cost her Grandpa five of her favorite chocolate/vanilla-filled cookie-bears to make her talk. And even then, she spoke just one sentence:
"I'm not going back and you can't make me."
If they wanted to know what she thought, she'd give it to them. If they wanted to know about any new friends, she'd let them find out about Tea on their own.
Screw them and their damn expectations.
Youko does feel bad for Hinata though. At least her own parents treat her like she's an adult and value her opinion. Hinata isn't so lucky. With Osamu being practically spineless to his wife and with Marie having her delusional fantasies and expectations…..Hinata doesn't even get treated like a person almost. She's just their "little girl" who's "a baby" and "doesn't know better."
A doll. That's what Marie treats her like. A pretty, little doll of porcelain to put on a shelf and admire.
Youko feels like there's something wrong with Marie. She knows Hinata feels the same way, they've talked about it many times. They just don't know what's wrong with her.
Youko sighs, both annoyed and tired. She's not sure how much more of this she can take. She looks around at the kids around her before sighing again. They're all cute but they still are little monsters.
She makes eye contact with Hinata and sees that her best friend is ready to snap. Not that she can blame her, she feels the same way. They've both been stressed and so tired lately.
Great.
Not even 3 years old and they're stressed out to the point that they're not getting enough rest. Just great. Living the dream, they are.
A particularly violent sneeze shoots through her, to the point where nearby kids get startled and look at her.
Youko shakes her head and rubs her nose to soothe it. "That was uncomfortable." She thinks while rubbing her nose.
"Are you sick?"
Youko looks up and sees that a little boy has come over to her.
His bright blonde hair is almost as bright and as yellow as hers is. He's frowning a bit and scrunching up his nose at her, as if the thought of her being sick is gross, which, to be fair, it is.
"What if I am?" She grumbles. She doesn't think it's any of his business.
He plops down next to her, rocking back and forth as if in thought. "I didn't see ya' playin' in the ballpit," he says, frowning as if his entire world has been flipped upside down.
This kid makes no sense, and she looks at him in disbelief. "'Course I didn't. The ballpit is gross. Did you know someone found a half-eaten lollipop in there?" She shudders and makes a noise of utter disgust at just the thought of the "treasure" that had been found a few days back. "No thanks, not going anywhere near it".
"Then how'd ya' get sick?" He asks. Youko doesn't answer him. It really isn't any of his business, and she just wants him to go away so she can be miserable in peace. But he appears to take her silence for confusion, because he begins explaining why he asked her.
"My mommy says I should stay 'way from the ballpit, 'cause it's full of germs 'n such, and I'll get sick if I play in it," he looks at her curiously. "So how'd ya' get sick without playin' in the ballpit?"
"Well I'm not sick. You can sneeze from things that irritate your nose. Your nose gets uncomfortable and so it makes you sneeze to protect itself and your body." She explained slowly and as simply as she could to the boy.
"Oh….okay," accepting her explanation easily with a shrug.
They sit there in awkward silence for a bit, Youko trying to focus on the puzzle-cube she brought from home and the boy just looking at her.
"So, how'd ya' get the sharpie to draw on your hair? It's not drawin'-time yet," he asks, suddenly reaching out towards her head. Youko immediately jerks back and scowls at him.
"I've got no idea what you're talking about," she grumbles, getting more and more irritated.
She'd been despairing over her hair for over a week now. She had been hoping she would avoid the family hair style and coloring but she guessed not now. Waking up one morning to her beautiful golden hair having streaks in it had been quite the shock.
"Liar - they're everywhere in your hair!" The boy accuses her. "Did someone help you? Did ya' sneak behind the grown-ups backs?"
He's just a kid, Youko has to remind herself. His view on reality is horribly twisted by his under-developed brain, it's not his fault.
It doesn't help that her family's hair is so odd even in this world. He probably can't fathom the idea of such unnatural hair really. Adults have the problem too.
"Look, it's just the way my hair is. My dad and grandpa have the same problem, okay?" She sighs, getting up from her spot to put the puzzle in her little drawer.
"Hinata is lucky that she doesn't have this problem." She thinks with envy.
The oddly-persistent boy follows her. "I'm gonna tell on you," he says. "We're not allowed to take things - especially outside of drawin'-time. Hey, miss! Miss Rihoda, she took a sharpie and drew on her hair!"
The woman in question (a young woman who has, fortunately, met both her father and grandfather before) comes over and looks at Youko, briefly running her hand through her hair. Then she smiles. "Looks like you're getting that family hair-colour, Youko-chan," she says calmly.
Youko huffs, easily seeing the woman trying not to laugh. Miss Rihoda smiles sheepishly and in sympathy.
It falls, however, when she turns a stern look on the boy. "I'm very disappointed in you, Joey-chan. Trying to get little Youko-chan in trouble like that".
Youko slumps at being called little. Another thing she prays for, that she'll be as tall as she was in her first life. She freezes for a moment when she registers the boys name, it's so familiar. Warning bells are going off in her head but she doesn't know why. She brushes it off, it's probably nothing.
She does feel a little bad that he's getting scolded. Annoying or not, he was just trying to do the right thing, and if he'd called (almost) anyone else over, she would be the one scolded and he praised.
Which was hardly fair, but people were ignorant and refused to believe in things that could be real.
For the rest of the day, it appears that the boy is staying away from her, though she keeps catching him staring at her. It's all fine with her - she does her best to stay away from him, and hopes to god that it stays that way.
It doesn't stay that way.
The next day, while she's fiddling with her puzzle and waiting for Hinata and Tea to arrive, the little boy finds her once again and sits down next to her.
"My name's Joey Wheeler," he says immediately. "I'm sorry for ac-accu- accusin' you of bein' a liar yesterday. Wanna be friends?"
Youko looks at him. There's that strange familiarity about him, similar to the one she felt when meeting Tea. It's only stronger now he's told her his full name. His hair is messy, and she's pretty sure she saw him come from the direction of the ballpit, despite his claim that his mom doesn't want him to play in it.
"Did you play in the ballpit?" She asks. He nods, grinning. "Why? Didn't you say your mom doesn't want you to play in it?"
"Yeah," he says, leaning back until he's laying on the floor. "But what mommy doesn't know won't hurt her - that's what my daddy always says. Done it loads of times - haven't gotten sick yet, besides" he smirks at her, "it's fun to mess with mommy".
Youko raises an eyebrow. He sounds like a little troublemaker. Like he's going to be a real pain to deal with. And she'll definitely have to make him quit going into that disgusting deathtrap of trash and bacteria and who-knows-what.
But damn it if she doesn't see potential in this boy. Between him, Hinata and herself, they could probably get into all sorts of mischief.
So she shrugs and decides to go with the flow. "Sure, we can be friends," she says. "I'm Mutou Youko".
The boy cheers and holds out his hand to shake. Youko just scoots away and points to the bathrooms.
"Rule number 1 of being my friend," she says. "Wash your hands after doing anything. Especially after you've gone to the ballpit".
When Hinata finds Youko in the chaos that is their daycare that morning, she did not expect her to be accompanied by a blonde boy with dirt on his clothes. Nor did she expect Youko to be calmly teaching said boy about the puzzle she's been working on for weeks.
"Youko, who's this, and why?" She asks, sitting down on a pillow next to her best friend.
"He's Joey Wheeler," Youko says, not looking up from the puzzle. "He accused me of drawing on my hair yesterday, and now we're friends. I've decided that we're going to like him".
Joey gives her a little wave in greeting.
Hinata smiles at him briefly then looks back at Youko. "So another friend for our group, huh? Tea will be thrilled." She says with a chuckle.
"What's your name?" Joey asks, grinning at her.
"Oh. I apologize, I am Bakura, Hinata." She says with a slight bow.
"And I'm Tea!" Calls out a familiar voice, as Tea appears right next to all of them. She looks at Joey with delight. "A new friend?"
"Yeah!" He grins at her, then looks around at their little group. "So what do you guys wanna play?"
Hinata hums to herself. "Not the ballpit - that's icky. The sandbox - no, that's occupied… and broken, Anko jumped on the side of it yesterday. The swingset has been conquered by Kim and his cronies. But the giant pillow-blocks are free… want to go make something with them?"
"Yeah! Let's make a big castle!" Joey yells in excitement.
And so they do. They give each other roles to play. Tea is the princess, because she's wearing the prettiest outfit that day (it has to be, she reasons, it's got glitter and ruffles on it). Youko is the castle witch, because she's always fiddling with her puzzles/secretly magical objects. Hinata is the guardian/protector, because every castle needs one and they don't have enough people. And Joey is the dragon.
Despite only being four 2-3 year olds and not very tall, they still manage to make a pretty impressive castle. They even have room for a throne and a little tower and gate, in front of which Joey begins roaring and narrating.
Hinata's got to give it to Joey, he's very good at what he's doing and is very enthusiastic. And he makes some fairly realistic roars, too. Kid's got lungs.
"I've come to kidnap the pretty chess princess!" He declares proudly. "Give her to me, or I will destroy your castle!"
"Oh no, a dragon - just outside our gates!" Tea gasps. "Oh, my brave subjects, whatever should we do? How do we keep this beast away?"
"Fear not, Princess Tea!" Youko says. "Your loyal knight, Hinata-chan, will defeat this beast for you, with the sword I have enchanted".
"This is actually fun." Hinata thinks with a large grin.
The "sword" is actually a fish-plushie, but it works well enough for their purposes without hurting anyone. Youko holds her puzzle-cube over the fish and murmurs nonsense-words, before sending Hinata on her way."Go! Go slay the dragon Joey!"
"Rawr! You will never beat me!"
They have fun for awhile. Having mock-battles and laughing. At one point, Tea declares herself a warrior princess and goes to join Hinata with Youko, so they together can take down the formidable opponent that is Joey the Dragon.
So of course it doesn't last.
Youko is the one who spots them. A group of five boys, headed by that one kid on the playground, all coming in their direction. "Here comes trouble," she whispers to Hinata. They'd all fallen over into the pillows, tired and laughing, but now Youko jumps to her feet.
Hinata does the same, dragging Joey with her in the progress, who in turn whispers for Tea to get up. No way is she going to face them while vulnerable and on the ground.
"What do you want, Kim?" Youko says, scowling at the bully.
The brat sneers at them, as best he can, he's only 4 so it's not that intimidating. He ignores Youko's question completely in order to look at Joey.
"You!" He demands rudely. "Why're you playing with girls? Especially these freaks?"
Kim (she doesn't know if it's his actual name or just his surname, but Tea says he's Korean, so Hinata assumes it's his surname and that he doesn't answer to his first name) has had it out for their little group since almost day one, even before Joey joined. Hinata knows it's because they don't act like the other kids. They don't fit in.
More importantly: they don't fear him. He's the typical school bully. Average, mean, spoiled and a little chubby, he wants the kids to fear him and adults to adore him. Unfortunately for him, Hinata and Youko aren't normal kids. That makes them targets.
Fortunately for them, they're quick on their feet and almost always three steps ahead of him in anything. And they've passed that knowledge along to Tea. Hinata hopes Youko's done something similar with Joey before they arrived.
Joey frowns and puffs out his chest. "Why shouldn't I? They're nice, and it's fun!"
"But they're girls!" Another little boy argues. Kim nods in agreement.
"And total losers and freaks!" He adds, pointing at them. Both Hinata and Youko roll their eyes at the childish name calling.
"Just because we actually have a brain, doesn't mean we're freaks," Hinata says primly. "It just means we know not to be afraid of a bully like you."
"Especially one as incompetent as you are." Youko adds duly. That seems to make the boy mad, he doesn't know what she fully said but it can't be good.
""I'm not inc-incompatint," he growls, failing at pronouncing the word. "I bet that's not even a word! You're just a liar, making up things!"
While he's distracted, Hinata takes a small step to the left and taps a little code on Youko's back and simultaneously making a little motion with her other hand to Tea behind her.
It's time.
Tea slips away from the group to get help while the bullies are distracted.
"Ko-chan's no liar!" Joey defends Youko vehemently. "And she hasn't drawn on her hair, like ya' said yesterday! That's just the way it is," he huffs. "I asked my mommy 'bout it. She said some people's hair jus' changes as they grow older".
"Then she's even more of a freak," Kim argues. "Only old people's hair changes colours - and stupid, baby Youko isn't an old granny," he smirks. "Unless she is and is lying about her age. Same with the white-haired freak over there".
"Harry Potter vibes are strong here." Hinata thinks with a deadpan.
Kim and his so-called friends start chanting "grannies, grannies, grannies" over and over. Except for one kid in the back, who looks somewhat reluctant.
"Is this for real?" Youko whispers to her in disbelief.
Hinata fights the urge to facepalm. Undoubtedly, Kim would think she was about to cry and taunt her for it more. "I hate this brat," she whispers back - maybe a little too loudly on purpose.
Kim's face got red. "Who're you calling a brat?" He growls, stepping forwards. At once, Joey spreads out his arms protectively and glares harshly, his entire posture screaming "don't you dare" - she almost expects him to say "try me, bitch" for good measure.
Hinata can feel her respect for this kid increase rapidly. She equates him to a dog really, once you have his respect and loyalty, you have a friend for life.
The kid in the back of the group is looking more uncomfortable. He really doesn't want to be there but is too scared to say anything or walk away. Unfortunately for him, Kim seems to sense that and rounds on the poor boy.
"What's wrong Tristan? Scared? Come on! Tell the freaks what you think!" He goads, threatening the poor boy.
The boy hesitates for a moment. He looks between their little group and Kim - his eyes linger on the way Joey stands protectively in front of Hinata and Youko. Then he clenches his hands and says defiantly, "I'm not scared! I just didn't know you were going to go pick on girls, when you asked if I wanted to be in on something fun. That's just wrong! You're a bully!"
"I am not you- you freak!" Kim yells in anger.
Youko sniffs daintily, "Your vocabulary is lacking and your brain small if all you're using is freak as an insult."
That seems to do it for him. "Let's get them, boys," he growls, crouching as if to jump at him.
None of the boys react. They just look at him in disbelief.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble we'd be in?" A kid says. "Calling names is one thing, but I'm not hitting a girl. My mama and papa wouldn't be happy".
The rest of them nod and step away, muttering about not wanting to be punished. Some say "Tristan's right, this isn't fun at all" and similar.
"It would appear that your so-called friends aren't so willing to help you anymore," Hinata comments calmly, looking down at her nails. "I'd say it's cowardice, but it takes true bravery to go against the petty bully."
Youko nods in agreement. "Good job boys, it's not always easy to go against some people. Learn to pick good friends." She praises them with a smile.
The boy. Tristan moves forward towards them. "I'm sorr,." he mumbles.
"Don't ignore me!" Kim yells, his voice shrill - borderline on the noise-level of a kid having a tantrum in a grocery store. "You freaks! You've infested my- my-" he doesn't finish his sentence (most likely because he knows he never really saw them as friends) and ends on a sound the girls think is supposed to be threatening.
It's more saddening though, he sounds like a wounded animal of some sort.
"Just go away, Kim," Hinata says. "Find someone else to bother".
Joey grins and turns to Hinata. "So, want to get back to being defeated? I am a mighty dragon, after all!"
Hinata grins in amusement at the boy, "Us? Defeated? In your dreams Wheeler! We were beating you!"
"Hey, want to play dragons and warriors with us?" Youko holds her hand out towards Tristan. "We could use a guy to man the cannons and help us defeat the dragon Joey." (And by canons, she means chucking the stuffed dolls and pillows at Joey.)
Tristan smiles happily. "Sure!" He says. "Charge!"
Someone charges, but it isn't anyone of them.
It's Kim.
"I said: don't ignore me, you fucking freaks!" He yells loudly, running to grab at Youko's long hair.
Joey is there in a second, Tristan not far behind, pulling him to the ground. In the same second a deep voice starts yelling.
"SUNG-MIN KIM! What on earth do you think you're doing?!" The head watcher demands as he stalks over to the group. The two girls quickly pull Joey and Tristan up and out of the way of the enraged man.
'Finally' both girls think, it's about time Kim got caught and taken care of.
What follows is a mess of angry adults and a hysterical Kim, who somehow manages to trash the daycare leader's office during a single tantrum, after he went violent on them for being caught. He tries to put the blame on their little group, but apparently a lot more kids had been looking than Hinata had expected. Not only did Kim's little gang tell on him, a lot of witnesses spoke in their favour, too.
Youko dubs it The Great Checkmate of Chess Road Daycare.
Hinata isn't as amused as Youko is by the title. She was against it when Youko had wanted to call their plan "Operation Checkmate", and she still thinks it's stupid.
Amusing, but stupid. Youko takes great joy in puns apparently. It's a love-hate feeling really, for both of them. Youko just loves them more, when she's the one making them.
As for their parents and grandpa, they get mixed results. Grandpa Solomon is proud of them - laughs and calls them his little geniuses and gives them lollipops. Youko's parents are just exasperated (because of course their daughter would plan something like that), and her own… well…
Osamu isn't thrilled. He doesn't understand that just telling the adults the regular way would not have worked, because Kim is a sneaky little prick, and they had to catch him in the act. Make him snap. And Marie… Marie freaks out on the caretakers.
Hinata wants to be surprised but….she can't dredge up the feeling. All she feels is tired resignation really. She also feels sympathy for the caretakers. They really don't deserve the attention or wrath of Marie Bakura. It's not pleasant to have her attention fixated on you.
From the way Osamu holds a hand on her arm, she doesn't think it too farfetched that her mother would attack an employee in the best/worst soccer-mom fashion.
Hinata groans and covers her face as Marie gets louder. She feels Youko come up to her and pat her shoulder in sympathy. The other kids of their little group stare from afar.
She hears Joey try to whisper quietly and fail. "Wow. That lady is crazy."
Discreetly, the two make their way over. "That lady is my mom," Hinata says dryly. At the horrified look on Joey's face at that realization, she snorts. "Don't worry. I know she's crazy. Nothing to be done about it."
The door of the office finally slams and Marie storms over and picks Hinata off the ground, barely even noticing the other kids, and turns around to walk out of the building, ranting to Osamu about needing to take Hinata "out of this god-awful place".
Poor Hinata looks resigned and annoyed and goes limp in Marie's arms the second she's picked up. Way more used to that behaviour than she should be.
Youko watches her go, feeling nothing but a relieved kind of sympathy. Her parents then call out to her, and she turns around to wave at her friends. "See you tomorrow? We can continue our castle-adventures, the five of us".
The three kids give cheerful affirmatives. All promising to bring things to do and that they'll all have fun.
Youko smiles and waves goodbye before scrambling after her retreating family.
The next few days are both good and bad. Good, because she's actually managed to form a group of fairly tight-knit friends her own (physical) age, and because Sung-Min Kim the bully's parents have been "asked" to find another daycare for their son.
But they're also bad, because she feels worse with each passing day. Weaker.
It's not much, in the beginning. A few sneezes and sniffles here and there, the odd cough. But she's not blind to the first few symptoms of a cold, and though she tries valiantly to stop it, she knows it's going to hit her.
It's only a small consolation that Hinata appears to be displaying the same symptoms, so she's not suffering alone.
She can tell Hinata feels the same about not suffering alone. It's nice to share the "burden" with someone instead of by yourself.
A downside is that their new friends are catching on rather quickly that they're not feeling quite well. She notices that Tea starts bringing tissues to daycare - she's always got one ready when they sneeze. She regular sees Joey and Tristan by the little sink fit for their diminutive sizes, diligently washing their hands after touching anything. Little things that show they care and worry.
They tell them they're fine. That they'll be well again soon. Only...
They don't.
It all happens rather quickly. One moment she's engaged in a vigorous game of tag on the little lawn just outside the daycare. The next the world is suddenly swimming and Youko falls over. She can faintly hear noises, though mostly static. Then there's a hand on her forehead and someone yelling "Miss! Miss, come quickly!".
The world fades to black.
A/N:
Hello again my duckies! Welcome back to the next chapter of CitG!
We see the girls growing and experiencing more of their new life and interacting with others. The mini gang has arrived and befriended each other, and we tied in an event that would solidify their friendship. :)
We also saw hints that Marie Bakura is not all there and well, and yes, there is a good explanation for it. She isn't just crazy or anything for no reason.
And also, subtlety, you can see Hinata and Youko slowly falling sick before it hits them fully. There is a reason for them getting sick which will be explained later on as well.
Not much else going on really for this chapter. We wanted to sum up their daycare days all together though and show them meeting the gang (though they don't actually know it yet) and befriending them. This chapter goes over roughly 3-5 months or so of their lives. The girls are roughly almost 3 or so.
This chapter was pretty challenging to write surprisingly, not sure why. But we're happy that it's done. :)
On another note, there may not be any updates for the next month or so. (Nordic explains why in her A/N). There may not be any or just limited updates really. I will try to write and post by myself if I can, but I won't make any promises. And if not chapter updates, maybe I can attempt to write some snippets and side stories for CitG. We'll see though.
A shoutout to all of the views we've had and all of our current followers and faves and our new followers and favorites (calcu22 and Kirino Tsuki). We've received several reviews (Yay!) since last chapter, which made us both so happy! (okay, so I fangirled when Panda-chan31 reviewed) So thank you and please continue to review and tell us what you think of CitG! (and calcu22, your question will be answered within the next few chapters :) ) And on a final note, CitG was added to the community "The Archive for Self Inserts and Original Characters" as well, so….cool? :)
Thanks again to the amazingly talented and lovely Moirei for Beta-ing for us, as always :)
Hm….That's really all I can think of this time, so thanks again for reading my duckies and we'll see you all next time on Caught in the Game!
Counting Sinful Stars
A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back for more "Caught in the Game" :D
In which the girls experience the horrors wonders of daycare! Oh boy, this was a tricky one to write. And the gang is formed - chibi-style! Woohoo!
We pretty much wanted to knock-out all that we could about their daycare days in this chapter. Lots of significant stuff happens here. Meeting Tea, Joey and Tristan being the most important one. Oh and, of course, another issue arising: the matter of the girls' health. It might seem a little strange, at first, but trust us - this is going to be very important later on.
This chapter was pretty much an outlet for us to write a lot of mini-gang fluff and such, though we also wanted there to be a little conflict. A reason for them all to be such close friends. And no better way to do that than taking down a bully. That was by far the most uncomfortable thing to write about this. Bullies are awful, and we can all remember that one kid who'd make everyone's life hell. Not fun at all. Sung-min Kim may or may not return at a later point, just as a heads up. We don't know for sure, yet.
Another heads up is that we're going to go on a short hiatus for about a month. I'm a poor college student, you see, and on the 24th, I enter a month of finals. Just a year more, after this, and I'll get my bachelor's degree in English! Also, throughout the summer, updates might not be as frequent, because of vacation and various other projects.
That covers it from me. Thank you guys so much for reading, and for the lovely reviews we've gotten this time around! Nothing motivates us more!
See you guys next time!
NordicTwin
Edited/Beta by Moirei
Finished & Published May 24th, 2017