Chapter Three: Pampering

"Thanks," Kyou said as she accepted the steaming mug from her former student.

"So, what happened?" I asked. "Did he finally kick you out?"

"Yeah," she said before taking a sip of her tea. "Bastard said I didn't even have to worry about divorce papers; he has…connections."

"Isn't that good? In a way, I mean?" Ushio asked. "At least you wouldn't have to see him again."

"True," Kyou grunted; then, her eyes started to moisten. "The only thing he really took from me is ten years of my life. Ten…god…damn…YEARS!" she finished before taking another shuddering sip.

My daughter and I exchanged a glance, and I figured we knew what the other was thinking; I had pretty strict rules when it came to language in the Okazaki household, but I also understood that this was an unusual situation. "Well, for what it's worth you can stay here as long as you need to," I reminded her.

"I know," she said before blowing on her mug. "That's why I came straight here. I can't face Mom and Dad – or even Ryou – until I get my shit straightened out."

"Are you hungry, sensei?" Ushio asked. "I can make-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Kyou broke down, quickly but carefully placing the mug down before covering her face to cry hysterically. Great, heaving sobs nearly – no, actually – shook her body, and Ushio and I were by her side in an instant. "Kyou? What's wrong?"

My former sparring partner was crying so hard that she could only sputter out random syllables between heaves. It took several minutes of my daughter and I just holding her, trying to ignore the intense smell of cigarette smoke, before she finally calmed down enough to speak. "When…When you called me 'sensei'…" She reached out toward Ushio, who took her hand, "…I suddenly felt really sad, and I couldn't help it."

"Maybe it reminded you of happier times," I suggested quietly. "Of teaching her and picking on me."

In spite of the tears, she managed to bark out a laugh. "Aw dammit, now I'm confused; I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

"I'd suggest crying first," I said carefully. "Ushio and I will give you plenty of reasons to laugh later. Right now, I think you need to grieve."

"You're probably right," she hiccupped, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "But don't tell anyone, or I'll deny it."

"My lips are sealed," I said, smiling down into her tear-stained face. I couldn't imagine why any man would treat a woman as beautiful as Kyou this way…I blinked in surprise at the unexpected thought.

"You okay, Tomoya?" Kyou asked in a shuddering voice as she waved a hand before my face. "You didn't have another 'idiot' moment, did you?"

"Maybe," I replied, recovering enough to give her a lopsided grin. Then, I directed my attention to my daughter. "Ushio, I think Sensei here needs some spoiling. Would you work on something for her to eat while I draw a bath?"

"Of course!" she chirped, hopping to her feet.

I started to my feet as well, only to find myself pulled back down. "Hey, Tomoya…"

"Y-Yeah?"

She fixed me with her soft, purple eyes. "…Thanks."

"No problem."

She glanced over at Ushio before whispering to me. "Have you given her the card, yet?"

"Not yet," I whispered back. "I was planning on giving it to her at dinner, along with mine."

I saw gears turning, then: "Wait…is today her birthday?"

I nodded with a slight smile.

"Damn. And I just had to go and do this on her birthday."

"It's not your fault," I replied, still whispering. "Besides, I don't think she minds; with how worried she's been about you, she probably thinks of having you here as one of her gifts."

She snorted, then quickly covered her mouth; fortunately Ushio was far enough away and humming something to herself that I figured she likely didn't hear. "That…makes me really happy," she admitted once she could speak again.

"Good," I said. "Now…could you let go of my arm? It's hard to pamper you with a bath if you're holding onto me."

She wrinkled her nose at me, giving my arm a pinch before releasing me. "Go, servant."

"Yes, milady," I smirked as I got to my feet again.

As I tested the water temperature for the umpteenth time I thought about Kyou's situation. She'd just been kicked out of her home of ten years, presumably without any money. "I should let Mom and Dad know as soon as possible," I muttered, thinking of her parents. "Maybe I should wait a few days, first; Kyou might not be ready to see them just yet. Her sister either, for that matter."

I finally got the bath to the right temperature and returned to the living room to find Kyou eagerly working on a bowl of ramen. I looked to Ushio, who shrugged with a light blush. "I tried to make something that was quick and easy."

"This is better than I've eaten in a long time," Kyou muffled through a mouthful of noodles. "Thanks."

"Glad you're happy," I told her with a gentle smile. "The bath is ready when you are."

"Could I…?"

I looked back to my daughter. "What is it?"

"If Fujibayashi-sensei's okay with it…could I…could I…?"

"Could you what?" Kyou muffled again.

Ushio squeezed her eyes shut, her fists at her sides. "COULD I TAKE A BATH WITH YOU, SENSEI?"

I bit back my laughter at her outburst as I looked to our guest. "I don't mind if you don't."

"Are you sure?" Kyou asked more clearly, having swallowed her mouthful of food. "I smell like cigarette smoke pretty badly."

"I…I want to help you wash away the smoke," Ushio replied with wide-eyed innocence. "I want to help…wash away the pain."

I smiled softly at my daughter; she had to have learned that from Nagisa's parents. "You're a kind girl, Ushio."

"Yeah…" Kyou breathed. "There's no way she learned that from you."

"I figured it was from Pops and Sanae," I agreed, earning a surprised look from my old sparring partner.

She snorted before looking back to my daughter. "Sure, we can do that. And you can tell me about how much of a creep your dad's been."

I chuckled under my breath; it was good to see Kyou becoming her old-

"He's not a creep! You take that back! He's a wonderful man!" Ushio blurted, then quickly covered her mouth. "I-I'm sorry!"

"Ushio…" I said in my best warning tone, "she's a guest in our home."

"B-But…" she stammered, then seemed to gain confidence. "Is it really right for a guest to insult someone who's doing something nice for her?"

"That's-"

"She's right, Tomoya," Kyou interrupted. "Shio-chan, I'm sorry for talking about your dad like that." She looked to me with an expression of regret. "Tomoya, I'm sorry for talking about you like that. It won't happen again."

"Thanks?" I said, surprised by her behavior.

Kyou's expression then turned to an impish grin. "After I move out of here I'll go back to making fun of you."

"Sounds good," I said with a smile of my own.

"But-"

"It's okay, Ushio," I said. "This is the way we've been for as long as we've known each other…though we have settled down since…well, since we graduated from high school, huh?"

"Yeah," Kyou mused as she gazed up at me. "It takes more energy to jab you than it used to. I'll probably poke at you for a while after I move out, then settle down again."

"Sounds good," I repeated with another smile.

"I'm going to step outside for a few minutes while you're in the tub," I told the girls as they headed into the bathroom with what appeared to be our entire stock of towels.

"Okay," they replied in unison before closing the door behind them.

I smiled as I picked up my cell phone and jacket and headed for the front door. I stepped through and locked the door behind me, then quickly searched for the number on my phone and dialed it.

After a few rings a lovely female voice answered. "Fujibayashi residence."

"Hi, Mom."

"Ah! Tomoya-san!" I couldn't help but smile at how she was always happy to hear from me. "It's nice of you to call!"

"Thanks, it's good to talk to you again," I replied. "Listen, I, uh…have some news."

I could feel a dark cloud start to cover the other end of the call. "Is…Is she okay?"

"She's fine, all things considered," I told her. "Ushio and I found her waiting next to the front door when we got back from her birthday dinner. I'm sorry, I really didn't know she was coming or we would have waited or something."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine, all things considered," I said before realizing I was repeating myself as well. "She, uh…didn't have a lot of snow on her when we found her, so…" I wasn't sure how to finish that thought. "…so she's inside, had something to eat and is now taking a bath with my daughter."

"A sixteen-year-old and a thirty-six-year-old?"

"Kyou didn't seem to mind," I remarked. "Ushio asked and she accepted. I don't know if you know this, but my daughter really loved her when she was in her class. This…situation…has been tearing her up, and…well, she said she wanted to help Kyou 'wash away' her past."

"How did she look?"

"Tired, mainly. Her time with what's-his-name seemed to drain the life from her." My stomach lurched as I remembered that I was talking to Kyou's mother. "B-But don't worry! Ushio and I are taking good care of her! We have all kinds of plans for spoiling her, and-"

"Should…Should Ryu and I come for her?"

I sighed heavily. "Could you give us a few days? She's feeling a lot of shame right now, and I think if she saw you too soon…well, she'd feel worse."

"What about seeing her sister?"

"Same answer. I'd hold off for now. I'm sorry."

"I understand. Well, when you think she's ready for family again, please please let us know and we'll be right over."

"Got it, Mom. Thanks for understanding. I can only imagine how hard it must be for you right now."

"We've waited for two years; we can wait a few more days."

"You're a strong woman," I said with more than a little admiration. "Listen, I need to get back inside; I told the girls I was going outside for a bit, but I didn't tell them I was calling you."

"And it is cold outside, young man," she said, bringing a smile to my face with her motherly tone. "You are wearing your winter coat, I hope?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, tugging on the collar of my jacket. "My thick, blue one."

"Good; I don't want my favorite son catching cold out there."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Have a good night, Mom; I'll keep you updated."

"Thank you, sweetheart. Good night."

Satisfied, I closed the phone and headed back indoors. I shrugged out of my coat and hung it up before heading over to the kitchen area to clean up. I smiled as I could hear the girls talking and giggling together in the bath, and I was happy for Ushio, that she could have the time with her beloved teacher again. I was also happy for Kyou and her freedom; now she could live the life she wanted to, even if she would be starting ten years late.

I nodded gratefully as I heard the water draining from the tub; like most Japanese, we kept the tub filled at all times, but I knew it would take several baths and showers to get all of the smoke-smell out of Kyou's hair.

I had started to consider suggesting that Kyou cut her hair to speed up the process, when I heard the door to the bathroom open. I chuckled as I heard giggling along with footsteps, heading my way.

"Hey, Tomoya." I turned to the source, and found Kyou, along with my daughter, watching me from the hall entrance. They were both wearing robes, and their freshly-washed hair was somehow wrapped up in towels. "Check this out." She nodded to Ushio, and they both smiled as they dropped their robes.

"What the-" I blurted as I quickly turned my back to them in horror.

More giggling, and then I heard Ushio's voice: "It's okay, you can look."

I turned slowly to find each of them wearing nothing but a smile…and a set of nightclothes. I sighed in relief. "You gave me quite a scare, there."

"There's nothing scary about a woman's body," Kyou said with a grin as Ushio giggled some more.

"I know, but…" I couldn't finish my thought with my nerves fried the way they were.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Ushio said. "Kyou-sensei thought it would be funny, but I knew you wouldn't look."

"Hey, you thought it would be funny, too!" Kyou protested, causing my eyebrows to jump.

"I…I didn't think it all the way through!" my daughter countered. "You're my teacher, and I never thought you'd ask me to do something…perverted!"

"Ushio," I started, finally getting my nerves realigned, "she was your kindergarten teacher, and you know how much she likes to tease people, me in particular." I gave a moment for that to sink in, then: "You are now sixteen years old and need to start thinking for yourself. It was your choice to go along with her idea. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes, Daddy," she replied with a blush and her gaze firmly on the floor.

"Wait a minute, Tomoya-"

"And you," I continued, turning my irritation on my old sparring partner, "I realize that I invited you here, but that was to help you escape from that dirtbag of a so-called 'man', not so you could come in and start causing trouble or warping the mind of my teenaged daughter."

To her credit, she blinked wide eyes but said nothing.

I rubbed my hands over my face and, surprisingly, some of the stress left me. "All right… Can we start over? Honestly, I think I was more shocked that my daughter would do something like that, so I probably overreacted."

"I…I don't think you overreacted," Kyou said quietly.

"Excuse me?"

Kyou looked at me with regret in her eyes, the second time that night, and I mentally kicked myself. "I'm sorry; I guess I'm feeling a little rebellious after being under his thumb for so long. I really didn't mean to cause trouble." She smiled bashfully. "I guess I was feeling young again."

I blew air noisily between my lips. "Well, I guess that's understandable. Just…if you're going to tease me while you're here, just keep it between us, okay?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, giving me a salute.

I chuckled before turning my attention back to my blushing daughter. "Ushio? Are we okay? Do you need anything from me?"

"A hug?" she said, finally looking up at me with watery, regretful eyes.

Those eyes warmed and softened my heart almost immediately. "Of course, sweetie," I replied, spreading my arms.

I was a little surprised to see my old friend take a hesitant step toward me as Ushio hurried forward and threw herself into my embrace, rubbing her face against me and causing the towel to fall from her head.

"I'm not mad," I said softly, closing my eyes as I stroked her soft, damp hair that smelled like flowers. "I still love you."

"I love you, too, Daddy," she muffled into my shirt.

I held her like that until Kyou's voice interrupted: "Hey, uh…" I opened my eyes to the sight of Kyou shifting her weight from one foot to the other, watching us. "Could…Could I be next?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out her reason. "Sure. Just give us another minute, okay?"

"Okay."

Shortly after that, Ushio released me, stepping away as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Sorry about that."

"It's in the past, now," I told her. "Let's move on."

"Sure," she said with a smile and a giggle before turning to her old teacher. "He's all yours, sensei."

I saw a smile mixed with fear as Kyou slowly made her way up to me. "Y-You know, I'll understand if you don't want to; I've treated you like shit in the past, and I smell like smoke, and…"

I said nothing, but let the warmth in my heart show on my face as I spread my arms toward her.

"…and…and…oh, fuck it." She launched herself at me almost the same way Ushio had a few minutes prior, and her head came to rest against my chest as her arms snaked up my back, and I had to suppress a shiver as I remembered how Nagisa would hold me in much the same way so many years ago.

"How's it feel?" I managed to ask.

"Oh my god…" she mumbled into me, nearly choking on the words. "I'd almost forgotten what it felt…like…to…to…" She couldn't finish her sentence as she melted into tears for the second time that evening.