Home. Finally, she thought. She could finally relax. Fuuka breathed a huge sigh of relief from the back of the taxi.
"Right here's fine. Thank you!"
"Have a good day, miss."
After paying the driver, she began to make her way back onto the street where she spent her childhood.
Finally, summer vacation. After her first year of college, she almost forgotten what it was like. The seemingly care free days of being a kid were well past her by that point and she was happy to spend at least a bit of free time with her family.
As she turned onto her corner, a big smile formed on her face. Everything looked the same as she had left it.
She made her way to her house when her gaze shifted to the one to the left of it. The one that belonged to her neighbors, the Koiwais.
She stopped for a moment, remembering all the time she spent with the rambunctious little girl with the pigtails that lived there, along with her father.
She knew that she should be visiting her family first, but before she knew it, she found herself standing in front of the door of her neighbors, knocking on their door.
Wait a minute, she thought, what am I doing?
Before she could answer herself, the door opened, revealing a little girl with pigtails on each of the corners of her head. The little girl looked up, her eyes widened in surprise and a massive smile formed on her face right after.
"Fuuka!" The little girl jumped and hugged her. Fuuka almost fell and stumbled backwards. The little girl had grown quite a bit since she last saw her.
"Yotsuba-Chan!" She regained her balance and hugged her back and swung her around.
Fuuka had almost forgotten how good it felt to be around Yotsuba. The little girl, along with her father moved in next door to her about three years ago. It was the beginning of summer vacation for her and she found herself volunteering to look for her when she ran off as her father was moving in. She found her quite strange at first, as not only did she find her climbing a telephone pole of all things, she was also very blunt. Very shortly after though, Yotsuba would come over to visit her family nearly every day and they all spent so much time doing stuff with her that eventually, she was considered part of their family.
In just a short amount of time, she grew to love Yotsuba as if she were her little sister.
Fuuka placed Yotsuba backed down. She took a good look at her.
"Wow, Yotsuba, you've really grown since I last saw you! How old are you now?"
"I'm almost eight years old now! I just got off of second grade!" She stood up straight with her hands on her hips. She looked very proud of herself.
"Wow! That's amazing! When did it end?"
"A few days ago. We all had a big party and everything! Ena, Miura and some of my friends from class!"
"Yotsuba? Who's at the door?" A familiar voice sounding voice came from within. Soon after, a man with long hair came to the door. "Ah."
Yotsuba's father, Yousuke Koiwai. Along with Yotsuba, Fuuka spent quite a bit of time with him as well. She always found him to be relatively odd, he worked at home as a translator so he often didn't wear pants unless it was cold, he didn't always keep his house clean and he can also be relatively blunt about certain things. Well, his daughter's attitude had to come from somewhere, she thought. At the end of the day though, he served to be a very responsible and loving father to Yotsuba.
She couldn't help but notice that he's grown a little bit of facial hair. Mainly stubbles on his chin. Guess he's slacking off a bit when it came to grooming as well. Still, she couldn't help but like it a little.
"Uh... Nice to see you again! I just came back from college for summer break and thought I'd visit you..."
"Visit me?" He tilted his head.
A few moments passed before she realized what she just said. She began to blush.
"I-I mean, you and Yotsuba! I figured she missed me so I came to check in once I got back!"
"You were visiting Dad?" Yotsuba laughed.
"No! I'm visiting both of you! I-I mean... Mainly you!"
"Ah! So, this must be what a celebrity feels like!" Yotsuba smiled and put her hands on her cheeks.
"Huh?" Yotsuba always said the strangest things.
Koiwai scratched his head. "Well, in any case, we were just about to have lunch. Are you hungry?"
"I-Uh..."
Fuuka wasn't expecting to eat lunch with them. She was supposed to be coming back home. She looked down at Yotsuba. Her eyes told her she really wanted her to hang out with her. It didn't feel right leaving at that point.
"Sure, I hope I'm not intruding!"
"No, you're fine."
"C'mon Fuuka! Let's eat!" Yotsuba began to pull her inside. Despite being a couple years older, Yotsuba's enthusiasm hadn't diminished one bit it seemed.
The three sat down. Today, they were having ramen. Fuuka wasn't sure if she should be having that as she was trying to work on maintaining her weight, but it looked so good and she was so hungry after the trip. She couldn't resist.
"Ahhhh, this tastes so good... I really shouldn't be having this, but it tastes so good!"
"We only eat this once a week, right Dad?"
"That's right." Her dad nodded." You're very lucky today, Fuuka."
"Very lucky!"
Fuuka couldn't help but smile. It felt like a long time since she was last with these two. She really missed being around them. Although she tried to keep that to herself, last thing she wanted was Koiwai to poke fun at her, she thought.
"So, Yotsuba, you said you were in second grade? What kind of stuff have you been doing?"
Yotsuba sat and thought for a little while. Thinking of what to talk about first.
"Well, I learned a lot about math, reading, and we even did science stuff!"
"Like what?"
"Like operating on a frog and seeing its guts!"
"I-I see..." Fuuka cringed at the thought.
"Yotsuba... We're eating." Her dad always tried to remind his daughter to be polite. It would usually fly over her head though.
"Oh, right! Sorry, Fuuka! We're not supposed to talk about gross stuff while eating!"
"No no, it's fine! Haha!"
As the three ate, Fuuka looked around the house. She remembered it being a bit more cluttered and messier back when she still lived at home. But it's a lot cleaner now.
"This place looks very clean..."
"Yotsuba has been in charge of a lot of the cleaning since you were last here. She does a very good job."
"I'm in charge of sweeping, dusting, cleaning the windows and wiping the floors!"
"Wow! You're very responsible, Yotsuba!"
Yotsuba smiled and blushed. She looked very proud of herself.
Fuuka recalled how Yotsuba tried helping out around their house when she was visiting. One of the chores she tried was bringing down everyone's comforters to be washed, which resulted in her tripping and falling down the stairs. Thankfully she was alright. It was a terrifying sight to Fuuka initially, but Yotsuba saw it as a game and wanted to do that again. To which Fuuka's mother sternly said 'No!'.
In a lot of ways, Yotsuba had really grown up since then. She couldn't help but smile at her.
"So, Fuuka, what are you studying in college?"
"Well, uh..."
Truth be told, Fuuka hadn't decided on a major yet. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do.
"I... I'm not really sure yet. For now, I'm trying to get the general requirements out of the way."
"Hmm."
The three continued to eat. After they finished, Yotsuba tugged on Fuka's sleeve.
"Hey, Fuuka! I want to show my room to you!"
"Sure!"
Yotsuba looked back at her dad.
"Oh wait, hold on." She sat back down. "May I be excused?"
"You may." Her dad answered.
Yotsuba turned to Fuuka. "Now you say it."
"She doesn't need to. She's our guest."
"May I be excused?" Fuuka gave off a sly grin.
Koiwai couldn't smile a little and shrug.
"Okay, you may be excused Ms. Fuuka."
Ms. Fuuka. It's been a while since she's been called that.
"Over here!"
Yotsuba led Fuuka across the house to her bedroom. As she walked inside, she saw it was covered head to toe in pink. With a frilly looking bed, a desk and a row of stuffed animals; it looked like a typical girly room. Not too different from how her room was when she was little. Still, it suited Yotsuba nicely.
"Your room is beautiful."
"Thank you!"
She went over to her bed. She noticed how well made it was.
"Do you make your bed every day?"
"I do! It's also part of my cleaning!"
"Heh, if only I was this tidy when I was your age."
She sat down on Yotsuba's bed and took a good look around in her room.
"Man... I miss when I didn't need to worry about college work."
Yotsuba turned her head. "Huh? Then why did you go to college?"
"Well I..." Fuuka paused. She was trying to think of a good answer.
"Well, I'm looking to figure out what to do for a career. I'm trying to move out on my own and in order to do that, you need a good job. Either that or get married to someone who does have one."
"You don't want to get married then?"
Fuuka always got caught off-guard by Yotsuba's bluntness.
"No! No! I do want to get married! But..."
She began to look around the room again. Searching for an answer while Yotsuba sat down next to her, staring intently at her.
"Well... Not everyone gets married."
"Even if they want to?"
"...Yeah. Even if they want to."
They both sat there for a moment.
"Does that mean I might not get married either?" Yotsuba had a sad look on her face. Fuuka immediately went into damage control.
"No! No! I didn't say that! I'm sure you'll make a great wife someday! You do a great job at making people love you Yotsuba, you'll get married someday!"
Yotsuba smiled. "I'll make sure to throw you the bouquet when I do!"
"Ahahaha... Thanks..." Fuuka knew she meant well, but probably didn't realize that by then, Fuuka might be a bit old.
A few minutes passed. The two played a little before Fuuka looked at the clock. She realized she was supposed to have gone home an hour ago. She remembered telling her family that she would be there at that time.
"Oh geez! I gotta get home! I forgot all about it!"
"Can I come over and play tomorrow?"
Fuuka turned her head. "Huh? You're always welcome at my house. Why do you ask?"
"Well, Dad's had me ask them first now and knocking on their door instead of barging in. It's polite."
Fuuka smiled. "Your dad's a good teacher."
"Haha, yup!"
"Well, I'm off!"
"Bye, Fuuka!"
As she went to the front door, she saw Koiwai in the kitchen cleaning things up. She stood for a moment and looked at him.
He turned around. Fuuka flinched.
"Oh, thought you left already."
"Oh yeah! I'm heading out right now!"
"Take care." He smiled slightly.
"Y-yeah. You too!"
Fuuka went out the front door and turned towards her house. Only to see a familiar face on her driveway.
"Fuuka?" It was her mother.
"Uh...Oh! Hi, Mom!" She quickly ran over to greet her.
The two hugged.
"I was wondering where you were. Were you visiting Yotsuba?"
"Oh, yeah. She happened to be outside and wanted to show her room to me. I just got here."
Wait... What am I doing? She thought. Why am I lying to my own mother?
"Did you have any trouble getting here?"
"Yeah, just a little traffic jam. Sorry, should have texted you."
Her mom smiled. "I'm very happy you're home. C'mon inside, everyone's waiting for you!"
"Right behind you."
As Fuuka made her way back inside her house, she found herself glancing a bit back at the Koiwai house. She found herself drawn to it, but she didn't know why.
Okay Fuuka, she thought. Shake it off, your family's waiting.
It was late afternoon, Fuuka was heading back home carrying groceries to help with dinner. She took a look around at her old town. It felt nice being home. Seeing all the old stores and restaurants along with familiar faces. It was a nice break from the busy lifestyle of a college student. Where everyone seemed to be in packs and there was constantly something to worry about. She reminisced about her childhood here and wondered where all the time went.
As she turned a corner, she saw a familiar face come out of a building. It was Mr. Koiwai.
"Ah." Her eyebrows raised.
"Oh, hello again Fuuka. What brings you out here?"
"Oh, I went out to get groceries. Mom forgot to buy some stuff for dinner."
"Ahh... Even as a guest, she still has you do chores?" Koiwai smirked.
Fuuka got annoyed. "No! I volunteered to do this!"
Koiwai laughed.
Fuuka looked up and noticed that he left out of a video rental store.
"Watching a movie tonight?"
"Yeah. I saw this movie I watched when I was younger and I'd figure I'd show it to Yotsuba. See if it's as good as I remember."
"What's it called?"
"I'm not telling you." Koiwai's face was completely blank.
"W-why not?"
"That's classified information." He said, maintaining his blank expression.
Fuuka sighed and shook her head. "You haven't changed at all."
"You have though. You grew your hair out."
Fuuka was caught slightly off guard. "Uh... Yeah. Thought I'd go for a different and more mature look."
"Copying Asagi?" Koiwai smirked again.
"Now look here you-!" Fuuka said as she was pointing at him.
The two walked together for a while and stopped on a bench.
"So, how's Yotsuba doing in school?"
"Well, we had a bit of a rough start. She wasn't quite used to the more structured setting at first, but she really improved since then and she's made quite a few friends."
"That's good to hear." Fuuka smiled.
"She's really good at P.E. in particular."
"Ha ha! That doesn't surprise me! She's always been full of energy."
There was a slight pause. The two stared ahead of them for a while. Watching as people went by.
"So... How are your sisters doing?"
"Well, Ena's in her last year of grade school, Asagi's graduated and is now living on her own. But she lives pretty close by, so she comes over to visit often. Mom complains that she hasn't really left home at all."
The two laughed.
"How about you? I know I asked already... But do you have an idea of what you might want to do?" Koiwai said as he looked at her.
Fuuka contemplated her answer. Her hands wringed a bit.
"I... I'm not sure. I guess something in business maybe?"
"Maybe you could open a flower shop, like Jumbo."
Fuuka rolled her eyes. "Well... maybe not like that..."
There was another short silence.
"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do as well. And even then, by the time I did, Yotsuba came into the picture and I had to make a lot of changes."
Fuuka turned towards Koiwai.
"How do you mean?"
Koiwai leaned back into the bench.
"Well, I've never been the most driven guy in the world. You saw my house, the way I dress..."
"Yeah. You're kind of a slob."
The two laughed.
"Yeah, I've always been like that. To be honest, I was honestly fine with the few friends I had. I was perfectly content with just working from home and not really doing much else with my life. I had no interest in the outside world."
Fuuka's eyebrows rose a bit. She never saw this side of him before.
"But then, Yotsuba came along. At that point, I realized my life was kind of... empty. I had to make a bunch of changes and have Yotsuba try and live as normal and fun life as I could. I didn't want her to end up like a hikkimori. Besides, there was no way I was having her grandmother take care of her all by herself. Not at her age."
Fuuka couldn't stop staring at Koiwai. She forgotten how mature he can be. She found herself wringing her hands.
"Where... did Yotsuba come from anyway?"
"We should head back. I'll tell you on the way."
"Oh. Okay."
…
The two eventually reached home.
"Well, it was nice talking to you. Tell Yotsuba I said hi."
"Will do. Take it easy, Fuuka."
"...Yeah."
She watched as Koiwai made his way back inside. After he closed his door, Fuuka made her way back in her own home.
A few days later, Fuuka was in her old room. She and her family came back from a short family outing to celebrate her coming home.
As much fun as it was catching up with everyone, she couldn't shake the feeling that something felt off. When everyone returned home, they all decided to rest for the rest of the day due to the amount of back and forth they did.
She took a look around her old room. She took most of her things from it to the dorm she currently lived at, but other than that, it was pretty much how she left it. She looked at her bed and remembered the time she was sleeping only for Yotsuba to wake her up by shooting water up her nose. She wasn't particularly happy about that and whacked her with pillows until she left. She couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the memory.
She then turned to her window. Across from her room was the window to Mr. Koiwai's office. Sometimes, she would peak to see if he was in there, and during the late hours, she would sometimes listen to him and his daughter playing. One time, she listened to them playing "Pants Man", where Koiwai would put a pair of his boxers on his head and pretend to be a character that messes with Yotsuba. She often thought about how strange those two were.
It was strange, but looking back on it all, she felt warmth from those memories.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Yotsuba walking around with what looked like a net and a container. Was she catching bugs?
From where she was, Fuuka noticed that Yotsuba looked visibly frustrated. What could be the problem?
Fuuka decided to head down and see what was up.
As she left her room and went downstairs, she found herself stopping. Wasn't the whole point of coming home to spend time with the family she was away from for so long?
…
It'll only be for a few minutes she thought. She made her way out the door, out the gate and towards Yotsuba.
Fuuka noticed she wasn't looking at her, so she decided to try mess with her by sneaking up on her.
Carefully... Fuuka thought. Carefully...
As she got closer, an evil grin formed on her face.
"Gotcha!"
Surprised, Yotsuba quickly turned around and whacked Fuuka with her net.
"Ow!" Fuuka rubbed her forehead.
"Oh! Fuuka! I'm sorry! You scared me!" Yotsuba looked guilty for what happened.
"No no... I had that coming." Fuuka sighed.
Fuuka stood up straight, hands on her hip and let out a big sigh. "So, what're you up to?"
"Trying to do homework..." Yotsuba barely disguised her annoyance.
"Homework? Oh right... Summer break homework."
Yotsuba nodded. "We're supposed to do a science project. I decided I would try and catch bugs, take a picture of them and write about my experience. But I'm having a hard time finding and catching any. Plus, Dad is working so I can't do anything like go to the shrine."
"Huh. That must...really bug you huh?" Fuuka said with a big grin.
"Yeah. It does." The joke flew right over Yotsuba's head. Fuuka felt disappointed in herself.
"Well, hey! How about I help you out?"
"You will? Thank you!" Yotsuba's trademark smile formed again.
Fuuka went back and got one of the bug nets they used to use.
"Alright! Let's go!" Fuuka said as she raised her net towards the sky.
"Yeah!" Yotsuba said as she copied Fuuka.
The two spent the afternoon exploring the town, the park, and near the field for anything they could find.
"Oh! There's one!"
It was a dragonfly.
"Ok, carefully... Carefully!"
Yotsuba missed. Fuuka was able to catch it.
"Got one! Score one for Fuuka!"
"Hmmph! Next one is gonna be for me!"
The two continued their hunt. Eventually, they found a cicada.
"Yes! I got it!"
"Nice work, Yotsuba!"
"Hey! Remember the time we brought all those cicadas to your house?"
"Yeah... How can I forget?" Fuuka recalled having to comb the house looking for all the cicadas Yotsuba, Ena and their friend Jumbo caught and then let accidentally let them loose into the house.
"So, how many more do you need?"
"Um... Just a few more."
The two spent the next half an hour hunting for bugs. Fuuka felt like this was the most fun she had in a very long time.
"Yes! I got enough!"
The two looked into the container. All sorts of bugs were inside.
"Okay! Let's go back home and take pictures of them."
The two made their way back to Yotsuba's house. Yotsuba dug out a camera that printed out pictures so that she could have physical proof she did her work.
With that done, it was time to set the bugs free. The two stood out in the backyard.
"Okay! On three!"
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!" They both cried out.
They opened the container and all the bugs they worked so hard to capture flew away. Some of which flew towards the setting sun.
"That was so much fun! Thank you so much, Fuuka!" Yotsuba said.
"Aww, it's no problem!"
"Oh. Fuuka, you're here?" A familiar voice came from behind.
Fuuka flinched and turned around. Turned out Koiwai was finished with his work.
"Hi, Dad! Fuuka and I were out catching bugs for my homework! Now all I need to do is write about it!"
Koiwai looked at Fuuka. "Wow. Thanks, Fuuka. That was very nice of you."
Fuuka found herself blushing. "Well... She looked like she was having a tough time, so I thought I'd help."
"Well, since you helped us both out, why not have something to eat?"
Fuuka scratched the back of her head. "Oh, I really sh-"
"Fuuka! We rented a new movie! You should watch it with us!"
"The movie from before?"
"Yeah, we haven't gotten around to watching it, and we need to return it tomorrow, so I promised we'd watch it together. But, you don't have to..."
Fuuka smiled. "Actually, I got time. I'll watch it with you."
"Yay! Movie party!" Yotsuba span around happily.
The three sat down, ate some food Koiwai made, and then started the movie.
It was an animated film starring a young boy stumbling upon a mysterious girl that was connected to a floating city in the sky. The two went on a perilous adventure while being pursued by sky pirates and the military. Yotsuba sat closest to the TV, staring in awe the entire time. Koiwai and Fuuka were sitting at the table next to each other behind her.
"This is the movie you wanted to keep secret? Everybody loves Ghibli films." Fuuka smirked at Koiwai.
"I know. Just thought it would be funny to keep it a secret."
"You have a weird sense of humor."
"You're one to talk." He smiled wryly.
Yotsuba turned to them both. "Shh!"
"Sorry..." They both whispered.
Fuuka found herself immersed in the movie. Particularly around the point where everyone reached the floating city. She couldn't help but keep looking back at Yotsuba and her dad to see their reactions. Yotsuba was, unsurprisingly enthralled. Her father, while mostly calm throughout, smiled a couple times throughout. She couldn't help but think about how good he looked when he smiled.
Actually... she thought he looked good all the time.
As Fuuka's attention shifted back to the movie, she adjusted herself to a more comfortable position. Suddenly, she felt something strange on the ground. She looked down and noticed her hand was on top of Koiwai's.
Her gaze quickly shifted to Koiwai and found herself staring into his eyes.
Fuuka blushed hard. She pulled her hand back slightly.
"...Sorry."
A few moments passed. She felt incredibly awkward. What was she doing? All she wanted to do initially was help Yotsuba with her homework and now suddenly it's dark out and she's watching a movie with her neighbors. And she seemed to be really enjoying it. More than being with her own family.
What's going?
Suddenly, she felt her hand being gently grasped. She looked down. Her hand was being held by Koiwai's. She looked at him. She shifted back to Yotsuba. Then back to him.
"Wha-"
"Shh."
He slowly leaned over to her. Just close enough where their faces were about to touch, but he stopped. Almost as if he was waiting on her to make the next move.
Without even thinking, Fuuka leaned in to kiss his lips.
She quickly looked back at Yotsuba. Completely distracted by the TV, she had no idea what was going on behind her.
As she looked back at Koiwai, he felt his lips upon hers. The two stood still for a moment. Savoring the moment. All the while still holding hands.
This feels amazing... Fuuka thought. She didn't want this to stop.
"Dad, pause the movie! I gotta go to the bathroom!"
The two quickly stopped, pulled away and moved back to where they were before Yotsuba turned around.
"Uh, sure..." Koiwai grabbed the remote and paused the movie. The two watched as Yotsuba ran out of the room.
There was a moment of awkward silence. The screen flickering in front of them, the picture completely motionless and the only sound that could be heard were the crickets from outside. Fuuka wasn't sure what happened.
"I- Uh- Well..." She was at a loss for words. She noticed Koiwai was scratching the back of his head and having a hard time figuring out what to say.
Finally, Fuuka stood up. "Sorry, I gotta go..."
"Fuuka... I'm sorry."
"No! You did nothing wrong! I... just gotta go!"
Fuuka quickly left the living room and made her way back home. By now, it was pretty dark out. If she can hurry, she can make it back and not miss dinner with her family. Hopefully she'll come up with a good excuse as to where she was.
As she opened the door, she saw her sister Ena from across the room.
"Oh! Hey! Didn't see you all day today! Where've you been?"
"Uh.. Well, I was out playing with Yotsuba... and I went out to go shopping. Then I met some old friends, and we hung out together. Sorry! I lost track of time!"
Ena scratched her head "Uh... It's fine. We're just about to eat dinner. We're still waiting on Asagi to get here."
Thank goodness. She thought. You can always rely on Asagi.
…
As Fuuka went to bed, she found herself replaying what happened earlier over and over in her head. Why did that happen? And why did it happen with Mr. Koiwai? A much older man?
Looking back, she always did find him attractive. But she never imagined going that far.
She laid there awake. Wondering what was going to happen tomorrow...
I've been mulling over whether to publish this for a while now. But I'd figure, hey, if I want to become better as a writer, I need to get some form of critique.
The subject matter in this story is based a bit off of personal experience I've had as a kid, so I couldn't help but want to apply it to one of my favorite series.
The story is mostly finished and I'll be uploading a new chapter every week or so to give people time to properly digest what's happening. So I probably won't be making any changes due to feedback midway through. If you like what you've read so far, great! If you don't like what you've read so far, well good news! You get to watch a train wreck in motion for the new few weeks! Feel free to rip this story a new one! Just remember what I mentioned above.
'Till next time!
