Tiny scribble that takes inspiration from my own childhood. Exposition's setting up a second fic that I'm kinda sorta planning on, when I have time.
Yotsuba&! and all characters belong to Kiyohiko Azuma. Additional props to the Grateful Dead.
Terrapin Station
(a Yotsuba&! short)
by elle rita
Fuuka glanced one more time at the grocery list, making sure there hadn't been any phantom additions by either of her sisters before folding it and stuffing it out of sight into her jeans pocket. Even though her responsibility as Bearer of Groceries and Assorted Sundry Items had ended with the summer, Okaa-san had made sure to send her along on this errand and not Asagi, who'd likely have spent the allotted evening food funds on cake, ice cream and a six-pack of Kirin Ichiban, being the "demon child" that she was.
Both her parents were going out tonight, to a birthday party for Tenzai-san, one of her father's co-workers. They planned on leaving for the city around six, and when one figured in drinks, dinner, and more than likely a couple of hours of karaoke, they probably wouldn't be getting home until fairly late. Fuuka had assumed the responsibility of not only fetching ingredients for dinner, but preparing it, although it'd probably end up just being her and Ena—Asagi was due to return to school soon, and she and Torako had been out nearly every night this week, trying to make the most of their last days of freedom.
She'd decided on gyoza soup, something she hadn't had in a long time. Thoughts of pork-and-chive stuffed dumplings browned to perfection were distracting as she released the kickstand from her bike and wheeled it down the driveway, and nearly caused a collision with a wildly flailing, green-headed blur.
"Fuuka! FUUUUUUKAAAA!"
"Yotsuba-chan!" Fuuka halted in her tracks before she rolled the front tire right over Yotsuba's right foot. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"
Yotsuba stopped bouncing on the pavement and waving her arms long enough to catch her breath, then grinned enormously up at Fuuka. "Turtles!"
"Turtles?" echoed Fuuka.
Yotsuba nodded frantically. "Come see! Hurry!" She tugged at Fuuka's hand, leaving the flustered older girl to hastily push the bike's kickstand back into place and allow herself to be pulled along by her five-year-old neighbor's surprisingly strong grip.
Obviously, Yotsuba had discovered turtles somewhere, but her sheer sense of urgency about the situation baffled Fuuka. They were turtles, after all; they weren't going anywhere. But if there was anything Fuuka had learned in her interactions with the boundlessly energetic little girl since she'd moved in several months ago, it was that it was generally more useful to NOT ask questions where Yotsuba was concerned.
Fuuka thought fleetingly of the last time Yotsuba had wanted to show off a living creature to her and her sisters, and how Fuuka had nearly rendered the entire Ayase household deaf with her yelping as a result. But turtles couldn't hop out of paper bags or leave slime on your hands. Fuuka was sure she could handle turtles.
She was surprised when Yotsuba, still leading her by the hand, trotted purposefully up to the Koiwais' doorstep.
"The turtles are in here?" Fuuka asked, bewildered. "Did your dad buy you a—"
And was promptly rendered silent by the tableau meeting her eyes upon Yotsuba's triumphantly pushing open the door.
Koiwai-san, in his usual state of undress, and Jumbo-san stood facing off against each other in the middle of the living room, each positioned in a fighting stance, faces contorted into fearsome scowls like Shaolin warriors on a 3-o'clock movie. Fuuka had seen them do this at least once before—most memorably when she'd met Jumbo for the first time—but something was different.
Each of them had one pillow stuffed up the front of their shirt, and a second stuffed up the back, making the two men look more marshmallow than martial artist.
"What," was all Fuuka could manage to utter.
Koiwai shifted his gaze slightly to look at the openmouthed teenager in his doorway. "Oh, hey, Fuuka-chan. You should feel privileged; very few human witnesses can ever say they saw the legendary Turtle Twins battle."
"Turtle…Twins?" Fuuka mouthed the words but nothing came out.
"Turtle Twins!" Yotsuba announced gleefully. "I have brought another challenger to the ring! Presenting…Taimai Fuuka-chan!"
"WHAT?" Fuuka felt very faint all of a sudden.
"I think I can take Taimai Fuuka-chan," Jumbo said with a smirk, sneaking a look at the sheet-white Fuuka, "as long as we declare a ban on high roundhouse kicks."
"You'll have to defeat me first, Gamera-san!" challenged Koiwai, performing a series of elaborate hand motions while studiously ignoring the fact that the pillow's "do not remove" tag was scratching him beneath the chin.
"Ga…me…ra…" Fuuka wondered where her capability of intelligent speech had gone.
"It's fun, huh, Taimai Fuuka-chan!" crowed Yotsuba delightedly, clapping as her father and Jumbo lunged at each other, then proceeded to grapple in exaggerated slow motion, seizing wrists and landing elbows to pillow-padded solar plexii, in a ridiculous slow-motion combat ballet running at half-speed. "Turtle Twins, ATTAAAAACK! And you get to fight the winner, Fuuka!"
Fuuka looked around for something to break her fall, but there was nothing.
while crickets and cicadas sing, a rare and different tune
Taimai is the Japanese word for hawkbill turtle.
Naturally, Jumbo's alias had to be Gamera, the biggest turtle of them all. XD