Day 3 - Recess: Day Off
Koushiro was sweating from nervousness. He still didn't exactly know how he was thrown into this situation, but there was no way to get out from it now. He had no problem taking care of Megumi when Akemi had to go out, but he was never given the task to handle seven more children at the same time alone. He had dealt with dangerous evil Digimon in the past, but couldn't take care of such great kids.
"Daddy?" Megumi looked up at him and Koushiro broke off his trance. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, sweetheart. I'm fine."
"So what are we going to do?"
"I don't know. Play videogames? I have no idea what kids like playing nowadays. When they are in a group, I mean."
"Koushiro?" Tentomon landed in the middle of the bunch of in-training Digimon. "Why don't you show them one of the games you used to play at their age?"
"I think they will be bored as he… really bored. They barely spend time outside nowadays. Not to mention it's dangerous."
"Take them to the park then. It has a very large green area and you won't have to worry about them getting hit by a car or anything."
"I don't think I can handle so many children on my own."
"You've done a good job so far."
"They just got here."
"I still think you're doing great."
"You think we should?"
"I have no doubt about it."
"Alright. Megumi, come here."
"What's it, daddy?" The red haired girl made her way through the other children, who were either playing videogames or watching it.
"What if we go to the park?"
"To the park? To do what?"
"There are a lot of things we can do there, Megumi." Tentomon said. "When your father was a child he used to play a lot there with the rest of the Chosen Children during summer vacation."
"Really? You didn't have videogames back then?"
"We did. Nothing like the ones we have today though."
"You know, Koushiro and Taichi were part of the soccer team when they were in fifth and fourth grades."
"Are you serious?" Takato asked shocked and approached the small group. "Daddy never told me that."
"That's true. Me, him and Sora."
"Mommy too?' Aiko came closer when she heard her mother's name. "Was she any good?"
"Yes, she was. She was one of the main players of the female soccer team while she was part of it."
"Cool!"
"If you all want, we can go to the park and play some soccer."
"Yes, let's go daddy."
.
The sun was shining brightly and the sky was fully blue, without clouds. Koushiro had no idea how he managed to put so many children and Digimon in his car, but he did. He opened the trunk of his car and took off a wooden basket filled with food and several juice bottles.
"Tentomon, can you help me here?"
"Sure, what do you need?" The bug Digimon stopped beside him.
"Can you take this bag right over there? That's where we're staying."
"There's no sun there."
"That's right, we're staying in the shadows. The sunlight is too strong at this time and it can be bad if you are directly exposed to it."
"That makes sense."
"Daddy, do you need any help?"
"Yes, can you take this towel to where Tentomon just put that bag and spread it?"
"Sure."
"Thank you, I'll be right there." He was about to close the door when he noticed he was forgetting the soccer ball. "Megumi, wait."
"What is it?" The girl turned around and saw her father doing some soccer moves with the ball. She watched him in awe before he kicked the ball in her direction and stopped it with her left foot. "Wow, daddy, that was so cool! Did you learn that in school?"
"I did. Actually, uncle Taichi and I used to play it on weekends until we went to college. Since then, things were so busy for both of us we stopped doing it. I miss it though."
"Why don't you tell him that? Maybe he misses it too."
"Maybe. We'll see." Koushiro looked down at his daughter, who was frowning at him. "What?"
"You said you were going to stop doing this."
"What am I doing?"
"Pushing something you really want aside because you think it's not important or it's stupid."
"You've been spending way too much time with your aunt Mimi."
"And she's great, isn't she?"
"Just take the ball with you."
"Fine." She rolled her eyes and walked away.
.
Koushiro joined the group of children about three minutes later, after he picked a bag with essential items he thought he would need. He sat down by a tree beside Tentomon and watched the kids work together in putting the food all over the towel Megumi had spread on the grass.
"They're all great children, aren't they?"
"They are. I think everyone did a great job raising them."
"You did too. Megumi is an amazing kid."
"She really is." He said rather proudly.
"She has a lot from you."
"You think so?"
"Of course. The way she feels curious about everything reminds me a lot of how you were as a child. And I've also seen the way you two get when you go to the Digital World to explore. I see the same sparkle in her eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if a new scientist comes in the future and she gets to work with you."
"That would be cool. But I don't want to push anything like this in her way."
"You aren't. Her interest is genuine, you don't need to feel bad about it."
"Thanks, Tentomon." Koushiro smiled and took two bottles of sunscreen off his bag. "Hey, everyone. We are going to play soccer now, but first you all need to put on some sunscreen so you won't get burnt."
"Daddy, do we have to?"
"Of course, sweetheart. Being sunburnt hurts a lot. It's a way to protect your skin. Stretch your hand with your palm up." He put on some of the lotion on his daughter's hand. "You can spread this on both your arms. Then we'll do the same with your legs and face."
"This feels funny. And it smells good too."
"It really does." He put on some sunscreen on the other children's hands and watched them spread it around themselves before putting it on himself.
"Alright, we're gonna separate you in four teams with four children and Digimon. It will be a small friendly competition, without awards."
"That's not fun, daddy. The winner should get something."
"No, because this can lead to a fight and that's not the point of us playing soccer. It's supposed to be fun and to teach you all something me and your fathers or mothers used to play together when we were children."
All kids sat down across Koushiro after he grabbed the ball and stood a few meters away from them.
"Are all of you wearing sunscreen already?" He received eight nods in his direction. "Good. I need a volunteer. Who wants to help me teach you how to play soccer?"
"I do." Kenichi offered, raising his hand.
"Great. Come on here, then." He waited until the boy stood across him. "Alright, so in soccer you aren't allowed to use your hands to catch the ball. Our feet are the most used part of the body on it, but you can use any other part as well. The aim is to dodge the players from the opposite team and kick the ball into the opposite goal. In each goal we have a goalkeeper and that's the only player who can use the hands.
"That seems cool."
"It really is. So now I'm going to divide the teams and each one has to choose a captain, someone who will represent the group."
"Daddy, you're not gonna play?"
"No, Tentomon and I will be the referees. We are going to judge the game from here."
After the teams were chosen and which ones were going to play first, Koushiro and Tentomon looked for some rocks to delimit the size of the court they were playing on and then tried to come up with something to differ both teams.
"I really should have thought of something regarding this. Now I have nothing."
"Team with and without snickers?"
"The grass is too hot for them to be barefoot."
"Maybe we can wrap a leaf around their fingers or wrists."
"That's actually a very good idea, Tentomon." He exclaimed. "Can you help me with it?"
"Of course." Tentomon landed on a trunk and started collecting some leaves.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" Megumi asked curiously when she saw her father going through some bushes.
"I'm grabbing some leaves to help you identify the players on your team."
"Can I help?"
"Of course. Come here."
"Some of these children are very competitive." Tentomon said with his eyes wide, completely surprised.
"They can't deny the DNA." Koushiro laughed. "Takato is just like Taichi was when he was a child."
"Ouch. Don't push me, Takato."
"Don't be such a baby."
"What did I tell you? Hey, no hitting or pushing each other on purpose. It's not fair play."
"What is fair play?"
"It's when you are nice to other people and play by the rules."
"I don't want to play anymore."
"It's almost over, Megumi." Koushiro checked his watch. "Five more minutes."
"I'm tired, daddy."
"Okay. Is anyone else tired?"
About two or three more children raised their hands and began to leave the field.
"Alright. The team with the leaves on the wrist won the game. Congratulations."
After the small competition finished, all the children were lying over the towel feeling completely exhausted from the games.
"I could sleep a whole day. Playing soccer is so tiring."
"But it's also so cool. I want to play it again."
"Oh no, Takato." Megumi complained. "I don't have strength for another match, and I have a lot."
"That's true, she does." Koushiro nodded.
"Daddy, can you tell us a history of when you were at the Digital World?"
"A story? Let me see." The man searched in his mind for a good moment to share with the kids. "Have I told you about the time we all were transformed into data?"
"What? Is that possible?"
"In the Digital World, yes it is. We were fighting our last enemy and he had this ability of changing everything into data and he did that to us."
"Were you scared?"
"Yes. I think we all were because we had no idea how to come back. And the worst part was that our families were watching the whole thing from the Earth."
"Grandma must have been so scared."
"Dad said she passed out. Things turned out in our favor though. We managed to go back and defeat him."
"Then what happened?"
"We returned to this world, though we really wanted to stay more with our partners because we didn't know when we would see them again."
"But that changed some years ago." Tentomon added. "Now we can go to both worlds whenever we can."
"That's right."
"I want to go, daddy. To the Digital World."
"One day I'll take you, sweetheart." Koushiro looked around to check on the children. "Now we're going home and I need some help gathering everything."
The group walked to the van when the sun was beginning to set. Koushiro held Kouji in his arms, since the boy fell asleep when they were all lying on the grass and hasn't woken up yet.
.
The trip to the Izumi residence was very short, but still enough for all or most of the children to be won over tiredness and sleep on the car seats. Koushiro gave a warm smile and wondered how he would take five sleeping children upstairs. Not at all surprisingly, Taichi's son was still full of energy and the man wondered how his friend managed to calm him down. The other one was Megumi.
"Daddy, are you going to carry all these kids upstairs?"
"No, I'm going to wake them up. I don't have anyone to help me with this, so that's the only option. Can you help me waking them up?"
"Sure." Megumi stepped into the car and started shaking her friends softly until they woke up.
The only child Koushiro felt bad for waking up was Kouji. Since he was the youngest one in the group, he let Sora and Yamato's younger child sleep some more and carried him upstairs. Megumi started running as soon as the elevator door opened and the other kids followed her.
"Guys, don't run so fast. You might get hurt."
"We'll be fine, daddy." The girl said loudly over her shoulder right before she opened the door from her apartment.
Koushiro walked in about thirty seconds or so after the children and gently went to place the child in his arms on the couch. Akemi appeared in the hall right when he was straightening up, still watching Kouji sleeping peacefully.
"Hey."
"Hi. The kids look exhausted. What did you do to them?"
"I wasn't sure about how to entertain them, so we went to the park."
"You went to the park by yourself with eight children?" Akemi was very surprised with that.
"Not by myself. Tentomon was with me."
"Of course, you two are inseparable. But you know what I mean. It's a lot of kids for just one adult to watch and take care."
"Well, I think I managed to do fine with them."
"He did." Megumi joined the conversation. "We also took a trip down the memory lane."
Akemi raised her eyebrows and turned to Koushiro. "Are you teaching our daughter these difficult words? She's only seven."
"What? She loves them."
"I really do." The girl nodded affirmatively. "We played soccer and then daddy told us stories about when he was at the Digital World."
"Seems like a very fun day."
"It was, but I'm exhausted too."
"Daddy, all you did was sitting down and lying on the grass."
"Is that so?"
"It isn't like that, she's exaggerating. I was the referee of the game, that's all."
"Is uncle Taichi coming to pick Takato up?"
"I think so. Why?"
"I need to talk to him about something."
"Oh no, don't start, Megumi."
"What?" She pretended to sound innocent. "I'm not doing anything."
"What happened? Why do you need to talk to Taichi?"
"Daddy wants to play soccer with him again and doesn't want to say it."
"I think you should."
"You too?"
"It will be good for you. It can bring you two closer too."
"Maybe." Koushiro sat on the empty seat on the couch. "But not today. I'm tired."
