Chapter Two: Birthday Surprises

I straightened my suit collar as I checked myself in the bathroom mirror. Ushio would only be turning sixteen once and, as her father, I did not want to embarrass her by looking like a bum. "Ushio, are you almost ready?"

"Ready, Daddy!" she chirped as she bounced into the room. "Wow, you look so handsome!"

"Thanks," I grunted as I fought with my necktie; I never could get the hang of the stupid things.

"Here, let me help," she said, gently batting my hands away. "It's easier with another pair of eyes, don't you think?"

I grunted in agreement as I watched her fix my mess. She really was a beautiful young lady; I was not looking forward to the parade of young men who would likely be visiting to try to date her.

"There!" She gave my chest a pat and, when I looked down again, my tie was perfect. "You were close, but I think your nose was just in the way."

I chuckled as I took her head in my hands to give her a kiss on the top of her head. "Thanks, sweetie."

"Y-You're welcome," she said, squirming out of my hands.

I shook my head with a sigh. While part of me was glad to see the strong, semi-independent woman she'd become, another part of me missed the little girl who couldn't sleep without a good-night kiss. "Sorry," I said as she fixed her hair that I'd messed up as a result of my affection. "I'll try not to embarrass you while we're out."

"It's okay," she said absently as she readjusted her hair clip. It was one of the exact clips that her mother had worn many years ago, and once her hair had grown long enough Ushio had insisted on wearing it whenever she could. "I just need a moment…"

Once she had her hair squared away we headed out.

"I'm really looking forward to the restaurant," she said excitedly as I locked the front door. "I want to try something different; maybe a steak!"

"Well, you just think about what you want," I said, chuckling as I turned to her. "This day is for you."

"I…I know," she said as she reached her hand out toward me.

My heart warmed and a smile spread across my face at the gesture; she hadn't held my hand in years, so she probably wanted to do it one last time before becoming an adult…or marriageable, at least. So, I reached out and took her hand in mine; she still had small hands, but nowhere near as small as they were so many years ago… "It's been a long time since we've done this," I remarked as we started on our way.

"Does it bother you?" she asked, her voice uncertain.

"No, not at all!" I told her. "To be honest…I kinda miss it."

She blushed as she looked toward the snow-covered ground, but otherwise said nothing.

"You okay? I didn't say anything embarrassing, did I?"

She shook her head with her eyes still on the road. "Do…Do you still miss Mom?"

Where had that come from? "Well, yeah; she was my wife and we were really close."

"Hm…"

"Is something wrong?"

"No." She looked up at me with a smile, but it seemed forced. "I'm fine, really. Just…thinking."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to make of her behavior; it was unusual…for her at least. "Okay. Well, you go ahead and keep thinking. I'll try not to interrupt."

"Okay."

We walked quietly through the snow, the only sounds around us being either other people or the snow crunching under our boots. As we arrived at the restaurant, I stepped forward and opened the door to let her go through first. She ducked her head meekly as she passed by, causing me to chuckle as I started to feel sorry for the guys that might try to pursue her; maybe my job wouldn't be as hard as I thought it would be.

It wasn't long before we were seated and handed our menus. Ushio quickly buried her nose in hers while I took a moment to look at the place. Like she'd wanted, it was nice but not too nice, with curtains over the windows that overlooked the twinkling lights of the city. Without realizing it, I had started looking for Kyou's house. I had to give up when I realized that I only had a vague idea of where the Hagane residence was, so I turned back to my menu.

"Do you know what you want?" my daughter's muffled voice asked from the other side of the table.

"Not yet, sorry; just started looking."

"It is a nice view, isn't it?"

I smiled; so, she had me pegged, eh? "Yeah," I chuckled, "I like the look of the city lights at night."

"Me, too."

After a few minutes, I finally put my menu down. "Steak," I decided. "I want to have something nicer than what family restaurants have."

"Me, too." She lowered her menu, and I could see an impish smile on her face, which I returned.

"Excuse me, miss?" I called, waving to a nearby waitress. "When you have a minute, we're ready to order."

"Yes, sir!" our redheaded server replied. "I'll be with you in a minute!"

I settled back into my seat and returned my attention to my daughter. "Well, are you nervous?" I asked in an obviously teasing tone. "You're of marrying age, now."

"Are you?" she countered. "After all, you have a daughter of marrying age, now."

"Not really," I said, rotating my good shoulder. "I've been working on my swing with your grandpa Furukawa's help."

She giggled behind her hand. "I'm not nervous; after all, you'll protect me from any creepy boys, right?"

"Of course," I replied, resting my batting arm back on the table. "What kind of dad would I be otherwise?"

"R-Right. What kind of dad…?" Her eyes lost focus as she looked down at the table.

"Sweetie? You okay?"

She twitched, blinking as though snapping out of a train of thought. "Huh? Oh! I'm fine!"

"You sure?"

"Yes," she said, giving me one of her dazzling smiles. "Just a little scatterbrained, I guess."

I smiled as well, though more softly. "Okay."

"Good evening!" a new voice interrupted and we looked up as one to a pretty red-haired girl wearing waitress attire. "My name is Hana, and I'll be your server tonight. What can I get for you?"

"We'd both like the steak dinner, please," Ushio said before I could even open my mouth.

"Two steak dinners…that comes with a wine," our redheaded server said as she turned to my daughter. "Which would you like?"

"I…" Her previous confidence disappeared at the unexpected question as she looked to me.

I smiled sympathetically. "Thank you miss, but she's not twenty yet. In fact, today's her sixteenth birthday."

Our waitress' expression brightened considerably. "Well, happy birthday!" She leaned down and pretended to nudge my daughter. "Don't worry about it," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I'm twenty-one, and on my twentieth birthday, some friends and I got absolutely plastered. Worst night of my life," she giggled. "Moderation; that's the key."

"Th-Thank you, ma'am," my poor Ushio managed to squeak out.

I made a point of clearing my throat…noisily.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, sir!" our waitress yelped. "That was very unprofessional of me!"

"Don't worry about it," I said evenly. "What alternatives do you have to wine?"

"W-We have soda and a variety of fruit juices," she managed, directing her gaze to me. "Sir? Just to try to clear things up, I didn't mean to insult your girlfriend or anything."

"Girlfriend?" How young did I look, anyway? My stomach sank as I reflexively checked on Ushio; she had paled and was looking at the tabletop again. "Sh-She's my daughter!"

I thought our server would faint. "Your daughter?! Oh sir, I am so sorry! Please don't report me to the manager!"

"I won't, I won't," I told her, lifting my hands in an effort to calm her. "Let's…just settle down, okay? How about we just start over?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"And let's try to stay away from personal stuff…for now. Can we do that?" I asked, sending her what I hoped was a disarming wink and a smile.

The color of her face suddenly matched that of her hair. "Y-Yes, sir."

"It's okay, Daddy," Ushio said quietly. "I know that I look a lot like Mom, so…"

I grunted in understanding. "Yeah, fair enough."

"Do you want me to come back, sir?" our server asked. "If you're waiting for your wife, I can come back when the three of you are ready."

I winced at a too-familiar pain. "It's fine," I told her. "She…won't be coming."

She gave us a puzzled look but said nothing.

"Mom died giving birth to me," Ushio said, and the emotion was unmistakable.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart…"

"It's okay." Ushio shrugged with a weak smile. "I never met her, but Daddy's told me all about her."

"Tell you what; when you're ready for dessert, you consider it on me," our server told us while patting my daughter on the shoulder. "I want to help make your birthday special."

"You don't have to-"

"I insist, sir," she said, shifting her attention to me and her hand to my shoulder. "After all, she worked really hard to get where she is, and you must have worked really hard to help her get there."

I smiled in resignation. "All right; thank you, miss."

"Please; call me 'Hana'." Her gaze lingered on me a little more than I was comfortable with before stepping back to her more 'professional' place. "So, two steak dinners. What did you want to drink?"

"I'll have apple juice, please," I said, looking to my daughter, who gave me a look of surprise.

"It's okay; I don't mind if you drink wine," she told me.

"Thanks, sweetie," I said with a fond smile, "but I don't think it would be right to celebrate your birthday while drinking something you couldn't."

As expected, she blushed while casting her gaze to the table yet again. "I'll…have apple juice too, please."

"Two steak dinners, two apple juices," our server announced. She gave me a smile as she pocketed her order padd. "It should be ready shortly."

"Thank you, miss."

"Please…call me 'Hana'." I felt, more than saw, her give me a once-over before heading off to help someone else.

I shivered as I readjusted myself in my seat to face my daughter.

"Are you okay?" Ushio asked.

"I…think so," I replied, then tugged on my earlobe. "I feel like she was checking me out or something."

"Well, you are very handsome," she blurted, then covered her mouth at my look of surprise. "I'm sorry!"

"It's…okay," I managed. "Thanks?"

"Y-You're welcome." She looked to where our server had gone. "If she bothers you, I'll tell her to leave you alone."

"I don't think that'd work," I said, chuckling. "If she honored that, I'd never get to eat."

She giggled but, to my surprise, bristled as our waitress passed our table carrying a tray filled with someone's dinners. "Maybe we should ask for a different server."

"Ushio, it's fine," I said, laying my hand on her arm. "I'm a big boy now; I should be able to handle it. She just surprised me, that's all."

"If you say so," she grumbled, causing me to smile as I remembered reading somewhere that daughters could sometimes become jealous for their father's attention.

"Let it go, please. If she becomes a problem, I'll handle her," I said.

"She looked like she'd like it if you handled her-"

"Ushio!" I snapped, shocked at her choice of words; where had she learned to talk like that?

Her eyes widened as her face paled. "Oh Daddy, I'm…I'm so sorry!"

"Calm down, calm down… Just…drop it, okay?"

"Okay. I'm sorry."

I sighed with a smile. "I forgive you. Let's just move on, okay?"

"Okay."

Our server arrived a few minutes later with our meals. "Here you go!" she chirped as she set steaming plates before each of us.

"Thank you," I said, then looked meaningfully at my daughter.

"Thank you," she finally managed to say.

"You're welcome, sweetie," our waitress said while patting her on the head. "You're so adorable! I wish I had a little sister like you!" Stepping back to her 'professional' spot again she said, "Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me." With one final glance at me, she headed off to her other duties.

As she left, Ushio spoke up: "I guess she's okay; I still wouldn't want you dating her, though."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, Shio-chan; I'm not interested in dating." I reached over to pat her head. "No one could replace your mother, anyway."

"Yeah…" she said, getting that thoughtful look in her eyes again.

"Well," I said, wanting to lighten the mood, "let's eat!"

She smiled and we both put our hands together. "Itadakimasu."

"So, what are your goals for the next year?" I asked as we ate.

She blushed with a mouth full of food, which I thought was cute. "Well…I want to work on being a better woman, so…so…"

I had to force myself to keep from leaning forward in anticipation.

"…so I can be a good wife."

I blinked; what a remarkable young woman. "That's…That's a great goal, sweetie!" I exclaimed.

"Thank you," she said quietly with her face nearly ablaze as she looked down. "So I'm going to be working on keeping a better house for you; cooking, cleaning…"

"You already do a fantastic job," I said encouragingly. "Your cooking is fantastic, and-"

"But it could be a lot better!" she said, looking intently at me. "I wish I could learn from Fujibayashi-sensei; her cooking was amazing."

"Well, maybe when she escapes from prison you can ask her," I said with mirth in my expression.

I was relieved to see her giggle. "You're right! Okay, when Fujibayashi-sensei escapes, I'll ask her to tutor me."

"Sounds like a plan. Anything else?"

"Well…cooking, cleaning…I just want to be a great wife someday."

"Don't you want to go to university?"

She sighed. "Yeah, but…I don't want to spend a bunch of years learning, then a bunch of years working, and then try to have kids when I'm almost too old." She fixed her gaze on me. "I want to get married, have kids, then go to school and work after they move out."

I mulled over her words and could see the logic. "You've really thought this out, haven't you?"

She nodded solemnly. "I don't want to end up in my thirties and not have enough time to have children."

I reflexively thought of Kyou and her unfortunate situation. "Yeah, I think I get what you mean."

"Then you're okay with it?" she asked, leaning toward me. "You'll support me in this?"

I smiled as I reached out to cover her hand. "As long as you work hard at it, I'll back you up in any way I can."

I loved the look of pure happiness that burst onto her face. "Oh, thank you, Daddy! I'll work hard, you'll see! I'll be the best wife ever!"

"I'm sure you will," I said, giving her hand a couple of pats. "Do your best, then."

My little girl positively glowed as we finished the rest of our meal.

I suppressed a burp, containing it within my mouth as we left the warmth of the restaurant. "Ugh, excuse me."

"Don't worry about it," Ushio giggled. "I think I ate too much, too."

I pulled out the receipt to make sure we'd been charged correctly; I had an unfortunate habit of forgetting to check receipts until I got home, so this was an improvement. "Let's see…steak dinners, juices…hey, what's this number? We didn't order anything this expensive!"

I was about to storm back into the restaurant when a touch to my arm stopped me. "May I see that?" Ushio asked. I handed over the receipt with a look of confusion, but kept quiet as she studied it.

Suddenly her expression darkened, and she moved as though to tear the receipt. "Wait!" I yelped, grabbing for the receipt. "What are you doing?"

She pointed to the paper in my hand. "That's…That's…"

"'That's' what? What's the matter?" I looked down at the receipt again; it must have been something about the way I'd been holding it, because it suddenly became clear what the other numbers were. "A phone number?"

Ushio took it from me again and held it by the very top and bottom. "It's that girl's number," she said with no small amount of disdain.

My eyes widened at her tone. "Okay, so she wrote her number on there." I double-checked, and…yeah. "She wrote it in pencil, so I'll just erase it when we get home."

"Really?" she asked, her expression brightening a little.

"I told you, I'm not interested in dating. In fact, I may give a little call to the restaurant about this," I said, waving the receipt. "Now, let's get home, okay?"

"Okay!" she chirped, then took hold of my arm.

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden contact. "Sh-Shio-chan?"

"Is this okay? I said I wanted to practice being a wife. Is this okay?"

What little internal struggle I had ended with a chuckle. "Okay, fine. Let's go."

Since we had talked so much at the restaurant, we didn't have much to say on the way home. I was still a little puzzled by my daughter's behavior, but I just chalked it up to it being new. I figured that if anything became a problem that I'd just talk to her about it, set things straight.

As we approached our apartment, I saw a figure huddled next to the door to our unit, obviously shivering. "Hey," I said, releasing Ushio to run toward the individual; whoever it was had been outside for a while, because the person's coat was coated with snow. "It's too cold to be outside like this."

"Who is it?" Ushio asked.

I lifted the shaking figure's hood to reveal: "K-Kyou?"

Watery eyes looked up at us from under purple bangs. "H-H-H-Hi."