I pass the corner of the building, keeping a distance from Yukari and Minamo, who were bantering about juice or money or something with their usual disconcerting vigor and I take my place in the circles forming on the front yard. A girl with long dark hair and inordinately long legs stands beside me as the music starts. A relaxing promenade to end a strenuous day of activities, the American styled dance commences as usual. Near the end, something catches my attention. Kaorin, the final dance partner, easily the most beautiful of the group, appears uneasy for some reason. I doubt I'm the source of her disquietude; I'm so well liked by my students that at least once I heard them applauding me after a particularly insightful class. Perhaps she dislikes all men? Maybe a man inflicted some kind of traumatic pain on her in the past. That's it. I don't know what that villain did to her in the past, but I will be an example that loving, caring men exist in this world too! What's going on? The dance must have ended during my moment of contemplation. I stop dancing and take my lunchbox. Near the parking lot, I adjust the straps on my helmet and ride home with haste. This neighborhood is absolutely resplendent with its quirks and inhabitants: the strangely dented roof, that large idiosyncratic cat, the ashen stray cat that lounges on the same brick wall, a palatial house where a big white sheepdog faithfully awaits his master. My house is on the same block as this one: not quite as luxurious as the others, but my family seems to enjoy it. Flower gardens that we erected decorate its perimeter. I put my bike away in the garage and walk through the door at the usual moment.
As soon as I enter, I passed the box to my right. My heart nearly stopped as it fell on the floor. My eyes travel to the clock; something is awry. My wife likes to take my coat and lunchbox every day after work, but now she's absent. Dinner isn't cooking. I feel my breath accelerating as I search through the house. My wife and daughter are missing! They must have been kidnapped!
The door was nearly torn off its hinges as I look for clues outside. Perhaps that girl over there saw something. I run towards the small girl, waving my arms to get her attention. "Hey!"
"Chiyo! Come here!" I recognize the cute prodigy as I approached. She squeals and retreats inside her house. Mr. Tadakichi territorially poises himself at the edge of her front lawn and barks incessantly. I back off, averting the ire of a creature that weighs about as much as I do. On my own lawn, I realize that a detective might be able to find my wife and daughter. As I was going to the telephone, I heard something rustle in the backyard. I grab a fireplace poker and spring out the door.
"En Gard!" I shout, assuming a kendo stance.
"AI!" a gasp escapes my lips as something wraps around my legs. I drop the poker in alarm
"Happy Birthday, daddy," my daughter was hugging me. She was dressed in a single piece swimsuit. I give her an affectionate squeeze and sigh at the visage of my wife. She was standing next to a newly installed pool in a bikini, looking almost exactly as she did in high school.
"You're always looking at swimming pools, so we got you one for yourself. Happy birthday, honey." She scans my face for my opinion.
Smiling widely, I tear off my clothing, revealing a swimsuit underneath the drab school attire. "You know… I've got pool water running through my veins. Whoo-Hoo!" I leap off the diving board and do a cannonball, splashing everyone in the vicinity.
The End