Day 5 - Please Help (mixed with Confiding & Confidence/Everyone Loves Koushiro): Taking Chances
Tentomon walked into Koushiro's office carrying an empty tray to gather all the Oolong tea bottles his partner drank during the day. He had gone back to the phase he worked all day and night, despite Tentomon's protests.
"Koushiro?" The Digimon said calmly. "Koushiro?"
The man shook his head and looked at his partner. "What?"
"Don't you think you're overworking lately?"
"Overworking?"
"That's right. When was the last time you took a break from your job and just played with Megumi?"
"I…" Koushiro spun his chair around, so he could see Tentomon better. "I have no idea."
"It's been about two months. I want you to take a look at all of this." The Digimon pointed to the tray with the bottles.
"I have to keep myself awake. I have a lot of things to do. I own a company, you know?"
"Yes, I do. But it's not an excuse to neglect your wife and daughter. They miss you, don't you?"
"Of course I do. They're my family."
"So turn off the computer, grab your things and go home."
"But Tentomon… Akemi understands sometimes I need to work overtime."
"Except you're not working overtime, you're working non-stop. I'm surprised she hasn't called you and complained about that yet."
"That's because she understands."
"Grab your things, Koushiro. We're going home. You need to get some sleep as soon as possible."
"Okay." Koushiro sighed, giving up. Then he opened a drawer on his left, looking for his car keys.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm grabbing my car keys."
"No, you're in no condition of driving. We're taking a cab."
"Tentomon, I can drive."
"I don't want to risk you getting in an accident because you fell asleep on the wheels."
"Alright. We're taking a cab then."
"Great. Let's go."

.

Koushiro opened the door from his apartment at the exact same time Akemi was taking Megumi to her crib.
"Koushiro?" She asked surprised. "I thought you were working overnight."
"I was going to, but Tentomon thought I should take a break because I'm overworking these past few days."
"Well…"
"Are you taking Megumi to bed?"
"Yeah, she was watching TV and fell asleep on the couch. And it's also her sleeping time, so…"
"Do you mind if I do it?"
"You want to take her to bed?"
"That's right." He walked to Akemi and brushed Megumi's red hair softly. He realized he missed his daughter more than he knew. "I haven't been spending too much time with her lately."
"Alright." Akemi placed the baby in his arms. "She will love it."

Koushiro walked to his bedroom and found Akemi putting on some lotion on her legs. He sat beside her and sighed.
"What's wrong, Koushiro?"
"I'm thinking about selling my company."
"What are you saying?" She looked at him surprised. "You worked so hard to set it up."
"I know. But today I realized I don't get to spend much time with my daughter lately."
"Well…"
"See? Even you agree with this."
"You love that company. Besides, what will you do if you sell it?"
"I don't know, but I'll figure something out."
"Don't make any rushed decision, okay? I know you miss Megumi and so does she, but we also have other responsibilities."
"I know, don't worry."
"Is Tentomon there with her?"
Koushiro nodded. "Just like every night. He loves watching her out."
"They're really attached. I think it's cute and sweet."
"It is…" He looked towards the electronic nanny when crying noises echoed in their room from it. "She probably had a nightmare."
"She hasn't had one of those in weeks. Do you want me to…?"
"No, it's okay." He stood up and put on his flip flops. "I got this."

Koushiro gently and slowly opened the door from Megumi's bedroom and turned on the faint yellow light. By the time he got near her crib, her crying had ceased almost completely, but she was all up and alert.
"Hey, princess." He stretched his arm and she curled up her hand around his index finger. "Were you having a bad dream?"
Megumi looked at him and stretched her arms towards him and he picked her up. She immediately snuggled close to his chest and yawned.
"Is she okay?" Tentomon asked beside him, looking up at them.
"She is." Koushiro looked down at his partner. "She just had a bad dream, so she should be okay very soon."
"You can go to sleep. I can stay here with her."
"No, it's okay. I'm just going to rock her for a moment and maybe tell her a story. I need to have this moment with her."
"Alright. I think it's great that you're bonding with her."
"Thank you." He glanced at Megumi and smiled at her. "And thank you for making me wake up earlier today."
"What?" Tentomon asked confused.
"You made me realize I was too focused on work and forgetting everything and everyone around me."
"You don't need to thank me."
"I do, actually. Because you helped me make a decision."
"What did you decide?"
"I'm letting go of my company."
"What?! That's not what I meant when I talked to you earlier."
"I know, but you were right all along. Besides, I feel really good about it."
"But Koushiro, you love your company!"
"I do, but I love my daughter and my wife more."

.

Koushiro was swinging Megumi at the small playground on his building complex when another adult walked in holding hands a child.
"I certainly wasn't expecting to see you here on a Monday morning."
He looked up and came across a man with blonde spiky hair with an identical replica of him beside him. "Yamato?"
"The one and only." Yamato smiled at him.
"I have this morning off, actually. So I thought I could spend some time with Megumi before my duties."
"I see. So it's a father-daughter bonding moment."
"That's right. You're not that different, though."
"Yeah." The astronaut scratched the back of his neck. "Except I don't work today. The whole week actually. We have about ten days off when we come back from a mission."
"At least you still have a job." The words came out from Koushiro's mouth before he could even control them and his eyes went wide.
"You got fired?"
"I quit, in fact."
"What?" Yamato was taken aback with the revelation and stood behind the swing Aiko had just sat on. "You quit your job? But it's your own company."
"I decided to sell it because I realized I wasn't spending enough time with Akemi and Megumi. It was time to put it to an end, you know?"
"I do. I think it's great, if you ask me. So what are you going to do now?"
"I have no idea. I mean, I'll still be working in my company until the end of this month, so…"
"Wow. Never would I think that you'd let go of your company and change jobs. I'd expect this from Taichi."
"I can't say I'm not scared of it, though. But I'm willing to take my chances."
"What did Akemi say about it?"
"She is anxious and unsure about the future, but she also knows I have some savings for emergencies in case I don't find something else right away." He sighed and stopped the swing, despite Megumi's protests. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, we need to go. I'd love to stay and talk more, but I gotta get ready for work."
"Yeah, sure."
"So I'll see you around."
"Why don't you and Akemi go have dinner with us on the weekend? It's been a while since last time."
"Of course! We'll be happy to."
"Great, I'll call you later this week."
"Okay, I'll be waiting. See you then."
"See you."

.

Koushiro put on a gray jacket over his white T-shirt when Akemi walked in with Megumi in her arms. His wife was wearing white overalls with dark blue flowers while his daughter wore a lavender dress and tiny white sandals.
"Daddy!" She threw her little arms towards him and he immediately picked her up.
"We're ready to go. Sora said we could arrive at 7:30pm, so we're running a little late already."
"Is this outfit okay?"
"I think so, yes. The others will be there too, right?"
"That's what she told me when she sent the invitation." Koushiro grabbed his keys and opened the door from their apartment. "Let's go. Come on, Tentomon."
"I'm coming!"

.

The Izumi family arrived at the Takenouchi Ishida residence about fifteen minutes later. Koushiro raised his eyebrows with surprise at the fact there weren't many cars outside. In fact, there was only one that he didn't know who it belong to.
"I guess we're a little early."
"It's impossible. They said we could get here at 7:30pm."
"Could they have sent us the wrong time?"
"I doubt it. Sora is really careful about these things."
"Then maybe they're just running late." Akemi picked Megumi up from her car seat. "It's a little chilly for her down here."
"Yeah, I'll call their apartment."

.

Megumi and Aiko were playing in the living room while the adults were sitting at the table talking.
"So Koushiro…" A pregnant Sora placed a tray of snacks she had just made. "My father has been researching about Digimon lately."
"Really?" Koushiro raised his eyebrows, completely taken aback with the revelation.
"That's right. He has been for a couple of years now. Maybe you two can help each other with it."
"Oh." He didn't know what else to say. He wasn't expecting things to turn this way at all. He shook his hand when he realized he was taking too long to react. "Of course. I'd be happy to."
"Great." Haruhiko smiled and took a small sip of his soda. "Sora told me you are the brain of the group."
"And an amazing one, if you ask me." She added.
"You can say that." Koushiro blushed at the compliment, but smiled anyway. "I just wanted to do what I could to help."
"It was thanks to him that the rest of the group could find me when I was kidnapped."
"It wasn't only because of me, but thank you. Team work did it in the end."
"But you still played a big part of it." Sora insisted.
"There's nothing wrong in getting some glory sometimes." Akemi grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly.
"You're right." He relaxed his shoulders and glanced down at their hands intertwined together.
"You're doing a great job." Yamato held his wife's elbow and whispered in her ear.
"Thank you." She whispered back with her hand over her mouth. "Thanks for telling me about it and helping me come up with this plan."
"You're welcome." He kissed her cheek.
"So Koushiro…" Haruhiko spoke again. "I would like to propose something to you. What do you say about making a partnership with me? I would like to deepen my researches on Digimon and would love if you helped me."
"I… I… wow." Koushiro had no idea what to say about it. "I'm sorry, I was caught by surprise."
"Just say yes." Sora encouraged him.
"I think you should too." Akemi gave another squeeze in his hand. "It's a great opportunity and you'll get to work with Digimon."
"You have a point." He turned to Sora's father again. "I accept it."
"Great." Haruhiko smiled and stretched his hand towards him. "We can start in about ten days, two Mondays from now. Is that okay for you?"
"Absolutely, that's fine." Koushiro shook his hand.

"Can I leave these here?" Koushiro walked into the kitchen carrying a small pile of plates and motioned the sink with his head.
"Sure, I'll wash them in a minute." Sora looked at him for a moment. You didn't have to bring them though. Me or Yamato could have picked them up."
"I wanted to bring them, it was no trouble at all." He assured her. "I also wanted to thank you for doing this for me."
"You don't need to thank me." She smiled at him. "I'm sure you would do the same for me or Yamato. It was the least I could do."
"That's true." He smiled back at her. "So that means he told you, huh?"
"He did. He didn't mean to betray you or something, by the way. He knew my father was researching about Digimon and saw this as an opportunity to help you."
"I can never thank you enough for this."
"You already did." Yamato walked in and joined the conversation. "You accepted Mr. Takenouchi's offer. It's the best way to thank us."
"That's far enough. But I still feel like I should do something to pay you two back. Would you like to have dinner at my house some time? I can cook."
"Well, if you insist it that much, we'll accept it. Right, Sor?"
"That's right."
"Awesome." Koushiro grinned. "It's a deal then."
"Koushiro?" Akemi called his name from across the counter. "Megumi fell asleep on the couch. I think it's time for us to go home."
"Yeah, I'll be right there." He turned to his friends again. "So I'll call during the week to arrange things up."
"Sounds great."
"Do you need any help going downstairs?"
"No, I got this. I'll just pick my daughter up and her bag too."
"Thanks for the dinner. Everything was great."
"Thank you for coming over." Sora smiled and rubbed her belly gently.
"Okay, I'm all set." Koushiro came back with Megumi sleeping deeply on his body.
"I'll take you to the door." Yamato walked past his wife and led them out.
"You knew about everything this job offer, didn't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You did!"
"Let's just go home." Akemi smiled and pulled a soft blanket over Megumi.