This week's randomly chosen words are:

uxorious: excessively devoted or submissive to one's wife

disobey: to fail to obey; not follow commands or instructions

pavement:a paved surface; sidewalk

2nd week of January:


Emiko's face popped in front of him. "I'm leaving, dear."

Kosuke merely grunted. He was busy.

Emiko waved her scarf in front of him. "I need to go sight out Dark's new target!"

Kosuke groaned. He'd just missed the instant reply. "Yes, Emiko."

Emiko pouted as she grabbed her purse. "Men and football," she muttered.

Just then, Hildalgo scored a touchdown on live TV and Kosuke went wild. "Woo-hoo!" he bellowed, pumping his fists in the air. "Yes! Go Hildalgo!"

"What are you doing?" Emiko asked curiously, one foot out the door.

Kosuke was caught with a victory scowl plastered across his face. "Nothing," he grumbled, letting his arms drop.

Emiko grinned, of all things. "Good! Then you can help me get some chores done around here!"

Kosuke was busy convincing himself that it was perfectly manly to be caught squealing like a girl during his team's home game. "Ehmm?"

Emiko's threw a shovel at him. "Get weeding," she commanded.


As he sat in the afternoon sunshine, the heavenly ball of fire burning the skin away from his neck, Kosuke decided it was partly his fault.

It wasn't all bad, Emiko's commanding manner. He actually liked her stubbornness, her determination, ----dare he say it?----her craziness. But Emiko wouldn't be commanding him around like this if he had actually resisted her when she first started.

So it was his fault. He pulled an especially stubborn weed and grimaced. "You've got to have self-esteem, Kosuke," he told himself. "Next time Emiko gives you these boring chores, you've got to look her in the eye and say NO. She can't boss you around! You're a man! This is women's work, and Emiko only makes you do it because you're a sissy who won't stand up to her!"

"You've got to be proud!" he proclaimed later, when fertilizing the rose beds. "Emiko's can't make you do these things! Imagine, you're missing the home game for this." Here he sighed. "I've never going to back down again! I've got to make myself heard!"

He yanked the gardening gloves off. "Tomorrow, I'm just going to refuse to do chores. See what Emiko will do!" however, he knew inwardly that Emiko would throw quite a fit, and the only thing Kosuke hated more than her forcing him to be a housemaid was Emiko's tantrums.

Poor me, he thought. My fault I'm so uxorious. Other men would've just stood up to their wives, but maybe Kosuke loved Emiko more than that. Maybe he should just obey her. Things were so much easier that way.

Just then, a few kids came walking by. "School's out!" Kosuke exclaimed. "Daisuke will be home soon!"

As more and more kids walked home, chatting, Kosuke struggled to finish the weeding. He had just cornered the dandelions when he unmistakable voice of Risa Harada rang through the neighborhood.

Kosuke was about to leap onto his prey of dandelion fluff and rip them up into shreds when he recognized his son standing at the street corner, surrounded by Risa and Riku, Takeshi and Satoshi. The afternoon sun made them all glow gold, and a strong wind was picking up.

His pile of weeds being blown away, Kosuke tried to retrieve them. When he looked up again, the only people left on the corner were Daisuke and Satoshi. Daisuke looked like he was begging for something, and Satoshi was adamantly saying no. (A/N: for those of you who don't know---adamantly means: unwaveringly, stubbornly, hesitant to move, steadfastly) Kosuke grinned. If Daisuke was inviting Satoshi to his house-----which was more than likely-----Emiko would blow up.

Satoshi turned to leave. Kosuke let out the breath he'd been holding. Good. Now Emiko wouldn't have anything to lecture Daisuke about.

Then, Daisuke ran after Satoshi. It seemed that Daisuke had a bit of Emiko's stubbornness in him. When he wanted something, he wanted it NOW.

Following a trend that he himself had created, Daisuke tackled Satoshi and nearly made him topple over. Then, with his father in the garden just 20 feet away holding a shovel in one hand and a soggy dandelion in the other, he kissed Satoshi.

Kosuke dropped the shovel and the dandelion, staring at what his son was doing. That stupid wind had very good timing. It chose now, when both Daisuke and Satoshi's backpacks had fallen to the ground, to pick up again, scattering their papers everywhere.

A math test whacked Kosuke in the head but he did not notice. It was so unlike Daisuke to disobey his mother, kissing the one boy Emiko considered an enemy. If Emiko ever did find out, Daisuke would need ear protection.

His homework and assignments flung into various other gardens, his textbooks littering the pavement, Satoshi's notes mixed with his own, Daisuke scrambled to recover his backpack's contents. Once, Satoshi reached for the same paper as Daisuke did, and their hands touched.

Kosuke didn't see however. He was too busy looking behind him at the figure that stood there.

"Are you done weeding, Kosuke?"


Ooooo, Emiko was standing RIGHT there, did she see...?