Chapter Thirteen: Intake Exam

"OKAZAKI!"

I raised my hand in a wave as cheers rang out through the office. "Yeah, I'm back. Thanks, guys."

"So, you finally decided to show up for work, huh?" my boss said with a smile as I sheepishly approached his office. "Don't worry; your in-laws called and told me you were in the hospital."

"Sorry for the trouble," I said humbly.

"Eh, don't worry about it. I wouldn't try to replace you, anyway; you're too good at what you do."

"Thanks."

"Listen, uh…" He nodded toward my harnessed arm. "You going to be able to work with that going on?"

I sighed. "To be honest, my writing won't be as good and my keyboarding might be a little slow, but I should still be able to make the quality decisions you've come to expect from me."

"Okay," he nodded, "fair enough. So, you ready to get back to work? You've got a bit of a pile on your desk."

"I've been looking forward to it, in a way," I admitted. "I'd like to get back to normal as soon as possible."

"All right, then; I won't keep you." With that, he turned and headed back to his office, leaving me to head to mine with a smile.

As I headed home from work, I thought back on my day. Other than the difficulties with writing and typing, I was pleased with my work. I had been able to clear most of the paperwork from my desk, surprising myself more than my boss.

I fumbled with the key to my door due in part to it sharing a ring with several other keys. "Dammit," I grunted as I managed to drop the whole thing. "This is going to take some getting used to."

I finally got inside and carefully lowered my bag to the floor, leaning it against the kotatsu. As I looked around the living room I felt like I hadn't been home in a very long time, even though I'd been gone less than a week. "Well, I guess I'd better get to work," I said, clapping my hands…hand…against nothing. "This is going to take some getting used to," I grunted as I stared at my lonely hand.

After a bit of tidying in the living room, I checked my watch. "Ushio should be home…in…" I trailed off as I remembered that she wouldn't be coming home for a while.

I walked quietly to the kitchen and opened the fridge; everything was exactly as I remembered it before my trip to the hospital. I closed the fridge and wandered over to the kotatsu and carefully lowered myself into my usual spot. I looked out the window, only to find that I'd forgotten to open it, so I carefully got back to my feet, opened the curtain, then went back and carefully lowered myself into my usual spot again to look out the window.

I must have been staring pretty intently, because the sound of my cell phone ringing startled me. After fishing around for it in my pocket, I finally pulled it out and quickly checked the caller ID before answering. "Hello, this is Okazaki."

"Hey, Tomoya," Kyou greeted.

"Hey yourself," I returned. "What's up?"

"Are you settled back home yet?" she asked, sounding a little apprehensive.

"Yes and no," I replied. "Not being able to use my right arm has made life interesting, but I think I'll be all right."

"What about Shio-chan?"

"That's…the harder part," I admitted. "I haven't forgotten what she did, but I still miss her."

"I can imagine. Listen, uh…how are you feeling? About what she did, I mean?"

"I'm pretty torn up," I admitted, surprised that I could talk to her so easily after our exchange at the hospital. "It was pretty shocking, seeing her…do what she did."

"I'll bet." There was a few seconds of silence before she spoke again. "Listen, Tomoya; I'm really sorry for what I said the other day. I don't really think you're an asshole or anything. I guess you surprised me; I haven't heard you talk like that in a long time."

I sighed heavily. "In a way, I'm glad you did. Whether my feelings are right or not, I shouldn't have been making all of you deal with them."

"Maybe." Another pause. "You and your daughter are supposed to be seeing Jeff for counseling, right?"

"Jeff?"

"Oh…right," she said in an embarrassed tone. "That's the hospital chaplain's first name."

"You're on a first-name basis now? This quickly?"

"I knew him for a few weeks before I told all of you about him," she explained. "I went to the hospital to surprise Ryou, and he helped me find her. We talked quite a bit on the way, and…well…I saw he was cute and not wearing a ring."

"That helps," I commented dryly.

"Aw, shut up," she giggled. "Anyway, I think we hit it off pretty well; we exchanged numbers and have talked a few times."

"Good for you," I said with genuine warmth, then remembered one of my conversations with the chaplain. "Hey, did you know he's a…"

"What, Tomoya?"

"Sorry; not my story to tell," I said, trying to recover from nearly blurting someone else's personal information. "It's nothing bad; I just thought it'd help explain him not being married at his age."

"Yeah, he's a widower."

My jaw nearly hit the floor. "How did you know that?"

"He told me, you idiot. Didn't I tell you we've known each other a while and have talked several times?"

"Yeah, you did. Hey, ease off, okay? I've had a rough week."

"All right. Sorry."

"Thanks."

"Anyway, you're supposed to be seeing Jeff, right?"

"Yeah. We've set up our first session for Saturday afternoon. He told me that this is supposed to be a…" I looked up as I tried to remember what he had called it. "…an intake appointment, that's it. It's so he can get to know us a little better, I guess."

"He's talked to me about his work a little bit, and you're right; he needs to get to know you better so he can understand where you're coming from if you say something weird."

"And, of course, I say a lot of weird things," I deadpanned.

"Yup! Oh, hey; did your boss take you back?"

"Yeah; he's always been pretty laid-back. It helped that Nagisa's parents called and told him what was going on."

"That was nice of them."

"They're good people," I told her. "Anyway, yeah; things are cool with the boss, I managed to get mostly caught up with my work today, I have my intake appointment on Saturday, and I miss Ushio."

"I'll bet you do. Do you know when she'll be able to come back home?"

"No, but my understanding is that when we've figured out why she is the way she is and 'fix' her, she should be able to come back home. She kissed me normally after my surgery, so I consider that a good sign."

"Kissed you normally? What do you mean?"

"She kept getting my mouth when she'd kiss my cheek," I replied, feeling my face heat up. "In hindsight, I think she was working up her courage for…well, the real thing."

"Ugh," she groaned. "I think I'm gonna need that pan again."

"I hear you," I said sympathetically. "Anyway, I'd really like to stop talking about that, now; I'm still kinda in shock from all that."

"Okay. Um…how's the home life? You know, with one arm and all?"

"I'm adjusting, but I can see that it's going to take me a while. It'd be fine if Ushio was here, but I wouldn't want to create a time paradox."

"Huh?"

"Never mind," I said. "It'd be too tough to explain."

"Okay."

"I'll admit that it'd be a lot easier if I had someone else here, but even if things work out with Ushio I'm still going to have to go one-armed after she moves out. Better to practice now than later."

"Hmmm…"

"What?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking."

"Okay. Well, if there's nothing else, I'd like to get going. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to make dinner, so I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

"All right. Take care of yourself, tough guy."

"I will. Talk to you later."

"Bye!"

After dropping the phone a couple of times I was finally able to hold onto it long enough to disconnect my end of the call; Hopefully, Kyou hadn't had to listen to a bunch of noise as a result. I pocketed my phone and headed over to the kitchen again to see about finding something I could make for dinner. Unfortunately, everything I had required two hands for preparation, so I sighed as I headed over to collect my coat. I struggled it onto my good arm, then wrestled it over my absent shoulder. Finally covered, I was exhausted and ready to go.

The air was pleasantly cool as I headed to the convenience store. Since Ushio and I normally made our meals with fresh ingredients I hadn't been to a convenience store in a long time, and part of me was looking forward to see what changes to the selection had been made since my high school days.

An electric chime sounded as I opened the door, and I took in the still-familiar smell of the shop. While some of the brand names had changed over the years, the store appeared to carry the same kinds of things it did when I was younger.

"Welcome to our store!" I looked to the checkout counter in time to see a young dark-haired woman, probably in her early twenties, straightening from a bow. "Please let me know if I can be of assistance."

"Thanks," I replied before turning my attention to the store's many aisles. It took me a while, but I found the noodle cups and started poking around them, trying to remember which ones I liked. "Curry; I remember liking that…Shrimp, yeah…I guess I like more than I thought."

"Are you finding everything okay?" Startled, I quickly straightened to find the clerk standing behind me. "Can I help?"

"N-No, thanks," I said. "Just need to make a decision here."

It wasn't surprising when her purple eyes settled on my harnessed arm. "Why is your arm like that? I mean, if I'm not rude for asking."

I was a little put off by her question, but understood that she didn't mean any harm. "It's my shoulder. The doctors are working on an experimental…technique to try to fix it."

"What's wrong with your shoulder?"

"It was injured a long time ago and never healed properly," I explained while trying not to remember the circumstances behind said injury. "It was recently reinjured, and they're trying to fix it by freezing out the damaged tissue, then making my body make healthy tissue."

"Wow…" she breathed. "The things doctors can do these days. And here I was thinking of getting plastic surgery while, you're…" She ducked her head with a blush. "I feel kinda shallow now."

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "We all have our challenges."

"You're right," she said, a smile starting to spread across her face. "Thank you."

"You're…welcome?" I wasn't sure what I had done, but if she felt better… "Anyway miss, if you don't mind…?"

"Oh!" she squeaked, her hands flying to her mouth. "O-Of course! Please excuse me!" With that, she hurried back to the counter, bowing again once she was in her usual spot.

I snorted lightly at the spectacle before returning my attention to the shelves of noodle cups. Eventually, I decided on a curry cup and a bowl of shrimp ramen; I didn't want to make a trip two days in a row. I took my purchases up to the counter, where a blushing clerk waited for me. "I'd like to buy these, please."

"S-Sure," she said, staring up at me for a moment before blinking repeatedly, as though coming out of a trance. "I-I mean, yes, sir! I'll get right on it." She seemed flustered as she processed my transaction, but she finally got everything rung up and in a bag. I handed her the money, and she fumbled the bills as she put them in the register, causing me to wonder how someone like her ended up working with the public. "H-Here you go!" she nearly yelled as she thrust my bag at me.

I took my bag with a blink and a shake of my head. "Thanks; have a good evening." I turned and headed toward the door, glancing back to see her watching me as I exited the store.

I had only gone about couple dozen feet toward home before I heard her yelling after me. "Sir, your receipt!" I stopped to let her catch up with me, and was a little concerned to find her out of breath; did they teach Phys Ed in school anymore? "Here!" I reached out to take it, but she quickly snapped it back, whipped out a pencil and scribbled something on it, then thrust it into my hand. "Have a nice day!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran back to the store.

Puzzled, I looked at my receipt and sighed; if I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, she had written her phone number on my receipt. I sighed again, and shoved it into my pocket as I turned to head for home again.

I looked at the paper in my hand as I headed down the road toward Furukawa Bakery. It had been a long time since I'd visited Pops and Sanae at their home, mainly due to my job. At least Ushio got to visit them every so often on her way home from school or on the weekends. But my reason for heading that way wasn't to visit them; it was to find the location of my counseling sessions. Apparently the place was near the bakery, which made it nice for Ushio; at least she didn't have to go very far to get there, and I didn't mind the walk.

To my surprise, I didn't see Pops, Sanae, or Ushio on the way to my destination, and it wasn't long before I found myself standing before a large, stone building. It definitely looked older than the buildings around it, with structures that looked like towers at the corners, and colored glass for windows.

I found what looked like the main entrance, a large set of wooden double-doors with a small knocker on one of them. I reached out and used the knocker to…well, knock on the door several times.

About a minute later, it opened to reveal a familiar face. "Ah, good afternoon, Okazaki-san! Your daughter is already here."

"She's here? I'm sorry, am I late?"

"Not at all," he said warmly, opening the door further as he stepped aside. "You're actually a little early, but she got here even earlier; we've just been keeping each other company while we waited for you."

"Well, sorry to keep you waiting, then," I said as I passed him into the building and took in the sight of its interior. I stood in what appeared to be an entryway, a small room with a table that held several different kinds of pamphlets. Across from me was another doorway, where the open doors revealed a large room with several tables, each with chairs around them. "Where is this?" I asked.

"You've never been here before, have you?" At the shake of my head he continued. "Well, welcome to Glory to God church, Okazaki-san. This is where we study and prepare ourselves to spread the Good News to others." I could actually hear the capitalization in his words. "I also use this for counseling when needed, like this." He gestured down a hall to my left. "Right this way, if you would."

"Lead the way," I said, feeling a little overwhelmed. I followed him down a long hallway until it intersected with another hall, which ended at an open door, through which I could see part of Ushio's profile as she sat in one of the high-backed chairs in what I figured was the chaplain's office. "Hi, Ushio."

"Daddy!" she cried, launching herself from her chair to collide with me in an embrace. "I've missed you!"

"It's only been a few days, but…I've missed you, too," I chuckled, though part of me was understandably cautious in light of her recent actions.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Chaplain Ashton said as he circled a large desk on the other side of the chairs to settle into a chair behind the desk. After we had taken our seats, he spoke again. "First, we should introduce ourselves. I understand that we've learned each other's names already, but I'd like to keep our sessions structured, and I always start with official introductions. Any objections?"

Ushio and I exchanged shrugs. "Whatever you need to do," I said.

"Great!" he said with a clap of his hands. "I'll start with myself then; I'm Jeff Ashton, the pastor of Glory to God church. For now, please call me 'Ashton-sensei', if you would."

"That makes sense," Ushio replied. "Nice to meet you, Ashton-sensei."

"I have a question," I said, raising my hand. "I thought you were a chaplain, but here you're calling yourself a 'pastor' or something like that."

"I'm a chaplain for the hospital, which means I satisfy certain responsibilities specific to a hospital setting," he replied easily. "At this church, though, I lead the congregation in our various services. My function is different here than at the hospital."

"I think I get the basic concept," I said. "I can figure out the details as we go."

"Sounds good," he said, clapping his hands again. "So, who would like to go second?"

"I'll go!" Ushio chirped with her hand raised, reminding me of a grade-schooler. "My name is Okazaki Ushio. I'm sixteen years old and I attend Hikarizaka High School."

"Hikarizaka…" The chap…pastor's eyes narrowed in thought. "Isn't that the prep school at the top of the hill?"

"That's the one! I just started there, but I can tell that it's going to be fun."

"Well, good for you," he said with a warm smile. "Is there anything else you'd like us to know?"

"Well…" she knotted her fingers as she glanced at me repeatedly. "I really miss my dad, so I'm going to do the best I can to… I'll do whatever I have to so we can live together again."

"Aw, sweetie…" I had a sudden need to wipe at my eyes.

"Here." I looked up at the pastor, who was holding a tissue toward me. "I…go through a lot of these as a counselor."

"I believe it," I replied as I accepted the proffered tissue. "Thanks."

"Anything else?" I heard him ask Ushio as I dabbed at my eyes.

"I think that's it," she replied with a smile in her voice. "Your turn, Daddy?"

"Okay Daddy," Pastor Ashton said with good humor. "Can you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Sure," I said as I stuffed the tissue in a pocket. "My name is Okazaki Tomoya, I'm an accountant for Hikarizaka Electrical, and I'm a widower."

He spread his hands in a 'well?' gesture. "Anything else?"

"I'm sure we'll be getting into that," I said with a smirk.

"Okay, fair enough," he chuckled. "Well, if everyone's okay with it, I'd like to make sure I understand the current situation, what brought you to me."

"The police," I quipped, drawing another chuckle from him.

"All right, if you're going to be that way…" he started with a grin, but quickly turned serious. "It's, uh…my understanding that there was an incident between the two of you, possibly resulting from feelings of guilt."

"That's right," Ushio replied before I could open my mouth. "I…needed to make up for killing his wife."

"Your mother," he prompted.

"Yes, sir."

"Ooookaaaay…" he intoned as he scribbled on a sheet of paper; surprising, considering the number of computer tablets I saw at the hospital.

"Aren't you going to ask how she killed her mother?" I asked, puzzled.

"Not yet," he replied as he looked up at me. "It's not time; I'm just trying to get an overview right now. I will say that there is one other thing I would like to discuss, if you are willing, Oka… May I call you 'Tomoya-san'? I don't want to say 'Okazaki-san' and have you both answering."

"That's fine," I said, chuckling as Ushio giggled. "I'll help ease the confusion."

"Thank you; I appreciate it."

"You can call me 'Shio-chan' if you want," my daughter offered.

"Are you okay with that?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't mind. She's an adult now, so I try to respect her space."

"Hmm…" he scribbled some more, making me a little anxious. "That's right; sixteen is the age of consent, isn't it?"

"Y-Yeah…" Ushio replied while glancing nervously at me.

"As I was saying, Tomoya-san; there's something I would like to discuss as part of our counseling, if you will permit it."

"What's that?"

"Your relationship with your father."

I bit my tongue so hard I thought I would sever it. "I don't…want to talk about him," I said stiffly. "Period."

"As you wish," he sighed as he made another note on his sheet. "I think it would be beneficial to you to talk about it, but I will respect your wishes."

"Thank you."

"Daddy?" I looked over to Ushio, who shrank in her seat. "I…I r-really think you should talk about Grandpa Okazaki, just to get it off your chest. Sorry."

I sighed heavily. "All right; for you I will consider it. But I will not be made into the problem," I declared, pointing at the pastor.

"My only desire would be to see the two of you reconciled," he said evenly. "It's not my job or inclination to assign blame."

"But you said something about it taking two people to fight, didn't you?"

"That is true, though I will acknowledge that my statement may not apply in your situation," he admitted. "I will have no problem with being wrong about that."

"Oh. Okay," I said, surprised by his humility. "Thanks."

"Tomoya-san, you seem to have a misconception about my job; I am not here to judge anyone; that is not the way of a counselor. My job is to help you understand yourselves as well as each other, to help you relate to each other in more positive and edifying ways. I'm also here to help you be at peace with who you are, if that is needed."

I mulled over his words. "All right, pastor; fair enough. I'll reserve my judgments for now."

"Thank you," he said with a warm smile, then looked over at my daughter. "Are you okay, Shio-chan? Do you need me to explain anything to you?"

"N-No," she replied with a shake of her head. "I'll admit that Daddy scared me with how…how…"

"Assertive he was?" he suggested.

"Aggressive?" I suggested.

"Yeah, a-aggressive," she confirmed. "It was kinda scary."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," I said. "I guess I'm feeling a little defensive here."

"Perfectly understandable," the pastor said gently. "Just know that everything that's said in any of our counseling sessions will be confidential as far as I'm concerned; I'm only required to share information if someone is threatening a life, theirs or someone else's." He smiled affably. "I don't see that happening in your case, however."

"Good to know," I grunted, causing Ushio to giggle. "Can we talk outside of our sessions?"

"That's up to you," he said, spreading his hands. "But I can't guarantee confidentiality if you're talking about it on the Shinkansen during rush hour."

"Fair enough," I chuckled, then looked over to my daughter. "For now, I think we should keep it just the three of us. We could include trusted people like Mom and Dad Fujibayashi later. What do you think?"

"That sounds okay," she said, nodding.

"I may be asking to bring others into the sessions, if possible," Pastor Ashton interjected. "For example, the Furukawas may be able to help me gain perspective on things that you tell me."

I didn't like the idea of Pops hearing all my dirty laundry, but his words made sense. "We'll…worry about that when we get there, okay?"

"Sure," he replied with another gentle smile. "This is for you, after all." He glanced up at the clock. "I know it's a little early, but we can kick out now; I have your case to review, along with what you've told me today; I should be busy for a while," he finished with a wink.

"Fine with me," I said as I looked to my daughter, who nodded. "I need to get home and burn another dinner, anyway."

"Are you doing okay, Daddy?" Ushio asked with worried eyes.

I ducked my head with an embarrassed grin. "Let's just say that I've become more acquainted with the convenience store lately and leave it at that, okay?"

"Okay," she giggled.

"Can I walk you home?" I offered, figuring the bakery wasn't too far away.

"I'm sorry Tomoya-san, but she has to wait for one of her grandparents," Pastor Ashton informed me.

"Oh. Right." I felt a little stupid.

"Don't worry, Daddy," my daughter said comfortingly. "I'll be back home before either of us know it; you'll see."

"I believe you," I replied with a heavy heart. "Well, I guess I'll go on ahead then. Say 'hi' to Pops ad Sanae for me."

"Okay," she said with a non-creepy adoring smile.

As I headed home from the church, I thought about everything I had discovered that day; about Chaplain Ashton also being Pastor Ashton, how counseling worked…

For some reason, I was conflicted; in regards to the whole situation my mind was worried, but my heart was at peace.