Warning: This chapter contains sexual language/hints.
Day 4 - School Play: The School Play
Sora held the fancy burgundy dress in front of her as soon as she finished sewing it, with a large smile on her face. Though she specialized in kimonos, she just couldn't say no to the opportunity to make the outfits for Odaiba's Elementary School play, especially when Aiko was in the cast and relentlessly begged her mother to accept it. The hardest thing was keeping it a secret, as Sora wanted to show it to her daughter so bad. She neatly folded the dress and put it on the top of the high pile of outfits, feeling extremely grateful and proud of everyone's effort into making it work. All that was left to do was take the request to school and wait for the day of the play.
.
Kouji was already waiting by the door when she opened it. She immediately bent down and picked him up, not surprised at all that he was standing there. He's always had a sixth sense when it came to her, maybe because he was more attached to her than Aiko was.
"Mommy." He hugged her tight.
"Hey, sweetheart." Sora dropped her keys over the counter and walked into the living room. From the kitchen, she could hear Aiko speaking loudly and found out she was actually rehearsing for her play. "Did the kids give you too much trouble?"
"Not really." Yamato looked at her from his seat on the couch. "Kouji was watching TV pretty much the whole time and Aiko has been reciting her lines from the play who knows for how long. At this point I could easily replace her."
"She's just that excited for it." Sora stated with a light smile. "She reminds me of you whenever you had a concert. I swear I could hear you playing from my apartment and I lived on the opposite building."
"Oh come on. I didn't play that loud." He protested jokingly.
"Sure you didn't. It's a good thing your father only arrived late at night. He'd have gone crazy if he didn't."
"Are you insinuating I was a bad player?" He stood up and walked to her.
"Who? Me?" Sora laughed and put Kouji back down. "No, I actually think you were an amazing player and singer too."
"I can be amazing in many other things, you know?" He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her towards him.
"Don't I know it?" She whispered staring intensely into his blue eyes and kissed him briefly. "I'm so happy you're staying longer with us this time."
"Me too. I always feel like I'm missing out too much when I'm away." Yamato looked at their children. "They weren't this big when I left a year and half ago."
"Well, eighteen months had gone by since then. They grow up incredibly fast at this age."
"Tell me about it."
"Mommy, did you finish my dress?" Aiko stood beside them and looked at Sora with apprehension and hope.
"Yes, I did. I finished it today."
"Is it beautiful?"
"It is. It's the prettiest dress I've ever made. You're gonna love it."
"Can I see it?"
"Sorry, sunshine. It's a surprise. But you'll find out a little before the day you're going to perform. It's not much long now. Just be a little more patient."
"You're telling her to be patient?"
"Yeah, well…" Sora smiled. "She will have to be."
"Judging from the way she's looking forward to this play, I'd say it's highly unlikely."
"Probably."
.
Yamato walked into his bedroom with Sora and threw himself on his side of the bed, face down. "Have I mentioned how much I missed the comfort of our bed?"
"Only like a hundred times since you came back." Sora laughed. "I bet you did though."
"Not as much as I missed you, by the way." He turned his head to his left to look at her.
"I didn't say anything." She teased. "Our children missed you too."
"I missed them a lot as well. They wouldn't let me go and kept asking me to read more stories. I thought they were never going to sleep and I was going to be there all night."
"You say like it's a bad thing."
"No, I love reading for them. But Aiko is just so hyped about the play her sleeping schedule is messed up at the moment. And that messes up with Kouji's too."
"I know, I will talk to her about it. Though I think things will go back to normal once she gets on stage."
"It's possible. But we still should talk to her or it will always be like this."
"Yeah."
"So how did she manage to convince you to sew the outfits for all the characters?"
"The drama teacher personally asked me. I was unsure because it was a huge and an important task and it's not my specialty. Then Aiko was on my case for weeks, begging me to accept it. And honestly? I'm glad she did, because I had to push myself into doing something out of my comfortable zone only to find out I can still sew other clothes besides kimonos and yukatas."
"It's a good thing then."
"It really is. I'm proud of myself and of everyone at the atelier. I know it wasn't easy for them either."
"I'm sure it wasn't. I'm proud of you too. I have no doubt all the outfits will be amazing."
"Thanks, baby." Sora gave him a soft smile. "So did Aiko make you rehearse with her?"
"A little bit only. Mostly she did on her own as I had to keep both eyes on Kouji to stop him from climbing on things and ending up hurt."
"I wonder who he got that from."
"In my defense, I wasn't like that at all. In fact, I was the one who had to keep Takeru from doing the same thing when we were children."
"Sure you weren't." She said playfully.
"I wasn't. Okay, maybe a little. Dad went crazy sometimes."
"That's karma for some people. Now you get to feel everything he did back then."
"Which makes me regret it."
"It should."
"You're lucky you're an only child."
"Please, I would love to have a sibling. It can be a little lonely growing up alone sometimes."
"I bet. I would love to have heard stories about you being a little trouble maker to your brother or sister."
"I'm pretty sure I would be the angel one in the story. Kinda like Aiko was before Kouji was born."
"I find it hard to believe." Yamato teased.
"I'm not surprised at all. You would love to know I was a mischievous child, wouldn't you?"
"Oh you have no idea."
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. But you know…" Sora looked at him suggestively. "I can be a mischievous woman tonight."
"Is that so?" He had barely sat up when she leaned over and kissed him fiery.
.
The school halls were filled with a lot of people heading to the theater. Sora recognized the parents of some of Aiko's classmates from previous parents' reunions and suddenly came across someone holding a rather professional video camera. She was about to speak, but Kouji released her hand and ran towards the blond man.
"Kouji, what are you doing?" Yamato asked before he spotted his brother across the hall.
"Uncle Takeru!" Kouji wrapped his arms around Takeru's legs and looked up at him.
"Hey, little boy." The blonde shifted the focus of the camera down as he ruffled his nephew's red hair and then bent down, being pulled into a tight hug.
"He missed you." Sora said with a smile as she and Yamato stopped beside him.
"I missed you too." Takeru picked Kouji up and stood on his feet again. "It's good to have you back, brother."
"Thanks." Yamato shook his hand. "I'm happy to be back here."
"Are mom and dad coming?"
"They should be here any minute now. They were leaving last time I checked."
"They are coming together?"
"Are you actually still surprised with that? I would bet there's a reason behind it."
"I stopped wishing for it a long time ago."
"Where are Kimi and Kenichi?" Sora asked.
"They went to buy a snack to eat before the play. Kenichi saw another child eating it and wanted one. You know how kids can get when they really want something."
"Yes, I know it. So, should we go in?"
"You can go ahead, I'll wait for them."
"Okay. Let's go, sunset. Your sister is about to get on stage." Yamato tried to pick his son from Takeru's arms, but Kouji turned away and held on tight on his uncle.
"I can take him soon."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, don't worry about it." Takeru smiled gently. "I'll be right there."
"Alright then." Sora grabbed Yamato's hand after he wrapped his arm over her shoulder. "We have reserved seats, so we'll save the ones closest to ours for you all."
"Thanks, Sora."
"Oh and Takeru?" She looked over her shoulder towards him. "I don't think you're allowed to record the play. The light might distract or disturb people around you."
"Right."
"I didn't want to upset you. We also wanted to record it and keep it a memory, but we'll get a copy from it later."
"Great."
"You can still record everything else. I love watching your footage."
The two in-laws shared a smile before the Ishida family went inside the theater.
"There she is."
Sora didn't think she was going to feel this nervous. She was undoubtedly proud and happy for her daughter, but seeing her so comfortable with the stage brought tears into her eyes. "She looks so pretty."
"She's a true artist."
"I wonder who she got that from." She teased. "She's a hundred percent you."
"I can't deny that at all." Yamato replied with a smile. "The dress you made for her is really pretty indeed. In fact, all of the outfits are."
"You made all of the outfits for the play?" Kimi whispered to Sora with her hand over her mouth.
"Yes. Aiko basically begged me to do it, so I couldn't really decline that."
"They always win us over, don't they?"
"Everytime." Sora smiled.
"I never knew Aiko was so good at acting." Takeru joined the conversation.
"Me neither." She looked at him. "This is actually her first play. I'm surprised to see her so natural there, because she's a shy girl sometimes."
"Children can surprise you, huh?"
"For sure." Sora nodded. "We've gotten to see how hard she worked for it. She literally rehearsed since she came back from school to bedtime everyday. It came to the point we also decorated her lines along the way."
"That doesn't really surprise me."
"Can you stop talking and pay attention to the play?" Natsuko leaned forward and whispered to the trio.
The lights went back on when the play ended and the whole cast came back to thank everyone for coming. The entire audience stood up and started clapping excitedly. Some people even cheered loudly. Yamato pulled Sora close to him and rubbed her back gently as she burst into tears on his chest.
"She was so great!" She cried. "I'm so proud of her."
"Me too. She was incredible. She belongs on the stage." Yamato heard some sobbing behind him and turned his head to see who it was coming from. "Mom, is everything okay?"
"It is." Natsuko wiped the tears from her eyes. "That was so beautiful. Aiko was absolutely amazing. I'm astonished and shocked with how talented she is. Has she always been like this?"
"No." Sora shook her head negatively and turned towards her mother-in-law. "It was a surprise for me too. A happy one." She then reached for her mother's hand and grabbed it. "What did you think of it?"
"I don't think I can put it into words yet. I'm still blown away from the whole thing."
"I can relate." She smiled and then noticed the empty spot beside Toshiko. "Where's dad?"
"He said he needed to go to the bathroom when the lights came on, but I'm pretty sure he made up that excuse to cry alone. He was bawling like crazy, so proud of his oldest grandchild."
"That's so like dad to get away so other people won't get to see him crying. I haven't seen him crying a lot myself."
Yamato reached down for her hand and began to pull her out of the row they were at. "What are you doing?"
"Aiko is calling for us." He replied over his shoulder.
.
Yamato walked into the room used as a storage one and turned on the light. He hadn't gone there for a few years, but he was feeling a very strong urge to do it that day. He came across his old guitar right away and hoped it still worked. He grabbed it and then headed to the balcony.
The hot air immediately went through him when he slid the glass door that separated the cool interior of the apartment to the outside area. The sunlight reflected on his hair and turned it into a bright golden tone as he sat down on a hammock. The sound of his guitar quickly echoed inside the apartment and drew the kids' attention right away.
"Daddy? Aiko asked from the door. "What's this?"
"It's my old guitar." Yamato looked at her for a moment before returning his attention to the red instrument in his lap. "I used to play it a lot when I was a teenager."
"Really? That's so cool!" She exclaimed and sat down across him, closely followed by Kouji. "Were you good at it?"
"I think so." He closed his eyes, letting the melody sneak into his ears the same way he did when he was younger.
"Were you famous?"
"No, son." He couldn't help but laugh. "Not worldwide famous. But I had quite a few fans at school."
"Is that how you and mom got together?"
"No, though it was before one of my concerts that she told she had feelings for me." Yamato reminisced about that day in his mind. "That was over twenty years ago."
"Twenty-five." Sora spoke from the glass door and got everyone's attention. "Did you know your father used to have a band back then?"
"Cool!" Aiko exclaimed and turned to Yamato again. "So you were going to play with your band?"
"That's right. Our show was going to be broadcasted all over the country. I still don't know how I got to agree with this."
"It's a mystery to me too." Sora stood behind Yamato and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Did you like his band, mom?"
"I did." She nodded. "They were very good and your father was an amazing singer. But don't tell him that."
"Was?" Yamato turned to her pretending to be hurt. "Are you suggesting I'm not anymore?"
"Well, I haven't heard you singing lately to prove I'm wrong, have I?"
"Nice one." He smirked discreetly at her. "There's going to be a payback later."
"You used to sing?" Aiko's face beamed with happiness at the thought of her father being musically inclined during his teenage years.
"I did. I was the lead singer of the band."
"Can you sing a song for us?" She pleaded. "From your band."
"I have a better idea. Why don't you sing that one you used to sing for them when they were just babies? I think they'll love it."
"That's a good idea." Yamato started strumming his guitar again. "I haven't played that in ages."
Aiko went to sit on the hammock beside her father and stared intently at the guitar. Her grin only got wider as she heard the sounds coming from it and the sweet and slow melody that echoed in the balcony and in her ears.
"Looks like we have a new artist in the family." Sora said after watching their daughter for a while.
"Daddy, when I grow up I wanna be just like you."
"An astronaut?"
"No, an artist."
"But, Aiko, daddy is an astronaut."
"Well, he's an artist to me. And someday I want to perform shows with him." She leaned against Yamato's arm and closed her eyes, falling asleep with the large smile still on her lips.
