Chapter Twenty-Two: Just Another Saturday?

"Say 'hi' to Ashton-sensei for me," Ushio requested with a finger-wave as we started on our separate ways for the morning, her to school and me to the church.

"All right," I replied, returning her wave. "Have a good day at school." I then watched until she turned a corner farther down the road before heading to my first counseling session.

On the way, I stopped by the bakery to say 'hi' to the family. "Ah! Tomoya-san!" Sanae greeted before I'd fully entered the shop. "Welcome! How are you this morning?"

"Hi, Mom," I returned. "I'm fine. I'm headed to the church, so I thought I'd stop by for a minute. Is Pops here?"

"He's out this morning, helping coach a middle-school baseball team," she replied with her trademark gentle smile.

I blinked. "Really? When did he start doing that?"

She covered her mouth as she giggled. "This morning."

"Huh," I grunted. "We're both starting something new today, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

I jerked my thumb over my shoulder in the general direction of the church. "Pastor Ashton's gonna try to help me sort out some stuff." Were it anyone else, I would have been too ashamed to admit that I was getting help. But after the situation with Ushio, my 'temper flare' at my first meeting with the pastor, and the fact that I was talking to Sanae, it didn't bother me…much. "I think I'm letting my situation with the old man control me, and I'd like to be free."

"That's wonderful!" she clapped. "Are you excited?"

"A little," I admitted. "I'm not getting my hopes up, but it'd be cool if I could stop…you know…hurting."

"You know that Akio and I do not blame you for Nagisa's death," she said consolingly.

"I know," I said as I noticed the clock on the wall. "Sorry, but I need to get going; I'll try to make it so I can stay longer next time."

"Oh, don't worry about it," she replied with a wave of her hand. "I'm just happy to see you."

"Thanks, you too," I said as I headed back to the door. "By the way; Ushio said she'd be stopping by after school today."

"Then I'm looking forward to seeing her," Sanae said with another gentle smile. "Do your best, Tomoya."

"I will, thanks. Take care." With that, I headed out the door and continued on to the church.

I approached the double-doors to the front of the church and raised my hand to knock, only to jerk in surprise as one of them suddenly opened. "Good morning, Tomoya-san!" Pastor Ashton greeted cheerfully.

"M-Morning."

"Are you ready for today?" he asked with a disarming smile.

"Nope," I said. "Lead the way."

I followed him down now-familiar hallways to his now-familiar office. "Have a seat," he offered, gesturing across his desk to the two chairs on the opposite side as he settled into his own. "How's life been treating you?"

"Pretty good," I replied, surprised to be able to say it. "My shoulder's getting stronger, and my relationship with my daughter's…well, getting stronger." I felt stupid using the same words, but they fit, so...

"That's good to hear," he replied with a broad smile. "Nice to have some positive changes in your life."

"Yeah," I grunted. "Now I just have to wait for the other shoe to drop."

"Yes, I suppose you do," he chuckled softly as he scratched his cheek. "Hey, how did your gathering go yesterday? It was a graduation party for your daughter, wasn't it?"

"Yup!" I replied, leaning back in my chair. "It was…fine, all things considered."

"Did Kyou give you any trouble?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"As usual," I quipped with a smirk. "Seriously, she was fine; we have a history, so she can't help but give me a little grief. After what she's been through, I'm kinda glad she's bugging me; at least I know she's feeling more normal."

"True." He studied me for a moment before leaning back in his own seat and crossing his arms. "Listen, uh…I'm not going to be able to help you much with your situation with Mika."

My brow furrowed. "How come?"

He scratched his cheek a couple of times before returning his arm to its crossed position. "Well, since we last met I've gotten to know more of Kyou's family, her sister Ryou and her husband, along with their kids."

I blinked a couple of times. "Good for you? So, what's the problem?"

He sighed heavily. "Since I'm in a relationship with a family member of the girl you're having trouble with, my neutrality could be called into question. It wasn't as much of an issue when I didn't know the family, but now that I do…" he trailed off with a shrug. "It doesn't mean that we can't talk about your situation at all, it just means that I can't do so in my professional position."

"I think I understand," I said, nodding. "If you're in a relationship with family, you're more likely to take their side if there's a problem."

"Exactly." He spread his hands in a shrug. "Sorry to break it to you, but I'm human, too."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "All right, I'll let it slide this time."

"I appreciate it," he said, his smile matching mine. "I can talk with you about her 'off-the-clock', but it'll have to be as 'Jeff Ashton' instead of 'Pastor Ashton'."

"I think I understand," I repeated with another nod. "I'm cool with 'off-the-clock'; anything you could tell me that would help, I'd sure appreciate."

"Thank you," he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk and his chin on his hands. "Now, shall we get to why you're here?"

"I'd like my old man to stop running my life, if that's what you're talking about," I remarked.

"How is he running your life? You've been away from him for, what, about twenty years now?" he asked, looking genuinely interested.

"Close enough," I grunted. "I dunno; it's more of a…feeling than anything."

"Do you think about him much?"

I mulled this over. "Not really, but I feel really annoyed when I do."

"Why is that?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "Well, for one, he broke my shoulder. Didn't I tell you about that?"

"Anything else?" he asked as he scribbled in his notebook.

I was surprised that he didn't answer my question, but I figured he was being a counselor so I played along. "After he broke my shoulder he started calling me 'Tomoya-kun' even though we lived in the same house."

"Ouch," he said sympathetically. "So, from your perspective, it must have looked like he injured you and then disowned you."

"That's right," I said, surprised by his understanding.

He scribbled in his book some more. "And how old were you when the accident happened?"

"Accident?"

He looked up from his notebook. "The one where your shoulder was broken. Or are you trying to say that your old man intentionally broke it?"

I was about to make a snappy reply when his words sunk in; my dad probably didn't mean to break my shoulder. "I…was fifteen when it happened," I replied, deciding to hold off on that particular topic.

More writing; he sure seemed to like note-taking. "Did you go to the hospital?"

"No," I said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Why not?"

"I dunno," I admitted, leaning back in my seat.

"Can you hazard a guess?"

"I guess I was too angry at him to want to leave my room. I did go to the hospital eventually, but by the time I did the damage had been done."

"That's too bad," he said with another sympathetic tone. "Do you know if they could have helped you had you gone sooner?"

"No." I replied. "I mean, I don't know; I never thought to ask."

"In a way, it's a good thing your shoulder was reinjured when it was," he offered with a smile and a slight shrug.

"I suppose," I snorted with a small smile. "I'd prefer it if it'd never been busted in the first place."

"Amen to that," he said, surprising me. "Getting back to earlier; why do you think he started calling you 'Tomoya-kun'?"

I thought about his question for a minute. "I'm not really sure; the way he said it made it sound like I was an old friend or something."

"That's odd," he remarked, stroking his chin. "So he may have been addressing you as though you weren't a member of the family. Did you ever ask him about it?"

"No," I replied. "By that time I was pretty much done with him."

"That's a shame."

"Yeah, sure," I said stiffly, not sure what else to say.

"Would you like to have your relationship with your old man restored?"

"What do you mean?"

He gestured to me. "You've lost a lot during your life. You just got your shoulder back; would you like to have your father back?"

"Why would I want that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well, for one thing, so he could stop running your life," he said; I half-expected to see a smirk, but his expression was serious. "He had a negative impact on your life physically for almost twenty years until your shoulder was restored. It sounds like he still has a perpetual negative impact on your mind and emotions, even after all this time. It'd be good if you could get your heart and mind restored, just like your shoulder."

"Damn right," I muttered, then caught myself. "Oh…sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he told me. "Let's get the bigger issues taken care of, and then I'll start getting on you about your language," he said with a wink, causing me to smile.

"Fair enough, thanks," I chuckled. "Listen, uh…could we talk about something else for now? I need some time to think about what we've talked about."

"Already?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, if that's what you need… Well… How's your daughter adjusting to home life?"

"Really well," I replied. "A lot better than I thought she would, to be honest."

"That's good. No odd behaviors or any signs of relapse?"

"None that I can see," I told him. "I think she's just glad to be free of the responsibility of being my wife."

"And you're probably glad she is, too."

"Yup. As far as I can tell, she's a normal sixteen-year-old girl," I said, then smirked. "Well, better than normal, of course; she's Nagisa's daughter, after all."

"Of course," he said with an understanding grin. "And yours."

"R-Right…" I replied, suddenly feeling less certain.

"Well," he said with a clap of his hands, "if you're not up to talking about your old man anymore, and Shio-chan appears to be doing fine, I'm not sure that we have much to talk about for this session. Shall we break, then?"

"One more thing," I said, raising my hand. "I'd like to talk about Mika-san, if possible."

He studied me for a moment before smiling as he gestured toward the office door. "Let's step outside, shall we?"

"Okay," I replied, returning his smile as I got up from my seat.

He led me back toward the entrance to the church and out the door. From there, he led me across the road that ran in front of the building to a small park-like area on the other side, where he sat down on one of the benches. "Go ahead and sit," he offered. "Or stand. I'm 'off-the-clock' right now."

I chuckled softly to myself as I settled onto the bench; the wooden slats creaked under my weight. "I could be wrong, but I think she's getting more…persistent?"

"Okay…" he said. "Have you come to a decision about remarrying?"

"What has that got to do with…never mind," I amended as I remembered our prior conversations.

"Do you want someone to share your life with, Tomoya-san?" he asked, seemingly out-of-the-blue. "I could be wrong here, but I get the sense that you do."

I let my eyes drift to the white puffy clouds overhead as I thought about his question. "Yeah, I guess I do," I admitted. "I guess I haven't thought about it 'cause I've been happy raising Ushio."

"But she won't be around forever," he said, pointing at me. "You could end up with a pretty severe case of empty nest syndrome."

"'Empty nest syndrome'?"

He grinned awkwardly. "I haven't heard an equivalent term over here, but in the States it's used to refer to a situation where the kids have all left home, and the parents are left not knowing what to do with themselves since they spent all of their time and energy on the children. Since they didn't cultivate their relationship with each other they end up feeling lost, unsure of what to do with themselves, let alone each other."

"But Nagisa's been gone for years; what does that have to do with me?" I then blinked as I realized that I didn't feel the level of pain that I used to whenever Nagisa's death was mentioned.

"The point is that the parent or parents spend so much time and energy on their kids that they don't know what to do when the kids are gone," he explained. "The focus of their attention and routine has up and moved out."

I thought of what life would be like for me after Ushio moved out. "I'd never really thought about that, to be honest. The…apartment would seem kinda empty."

"Even with grandchildren visiting, it's still not the same as having those you can spend consistent time with," he said, spreading his hands. "Do you have any friends, anyone you could visit or talk to outside the family to have some kind of connection?"

"Well…" I had to think about his question. "I guess there's Yuusuke."

"Who's that?"

"Yoshino Yuusuke. He used to be one of my coworkers at the electrical company," I explained. "He helped me get my first job there, but sometime after I transferred to Accounting he went back to music."

"Yoshino Yuusuke…" he murmured, looking up as he steepled his hands. "I think I've heard of him. Didn't he come out with 'Love and Spanner' or something like that a long time ago?"

"Yeah, that's him. 'Soul Magma' was his last album before he retired a few years ago," I told him. "Anyway, yeah, that's him."

"Huh," he grunted, clearly impressed. "Not every day you meet someone who knows someone famous."

"I haven't seen him in a long time, but I'm sure I'd be welcome," I mused. "I wonder how Fuuko's doing…"

"Fuuko?"

I shook my head to snap myself out of my temporary reverie. "Yuusuke's sister-in-law. If I remember correctly, she's about my age. She was on her way back from orientation – for high school, that is – when she got in an accident that left her in a coma for about…seven? Seven years? Yeah, I think it was seven years."

"That's a long time," the pastor noted quietly.

"Anyway, after she came out of it, she'd come over to help out with Ushio. I can't remember when she stopped coming over, but I remember she stopped because…well, Ushio was older, but also because Kouko-san wanted her sister to work on creating a life for herself."

"Do you know if she ever adjusted to normal life?"

"No, we kinda lost contact with each other shortly after that," I told him. "Like I said, Yuusuke went back to music so of course I didn't see him at work anymore."

"Well, now might be as good a time as any to reestablish contact," he suggested. "You have a history with the family, and it'd be a shame to lose that completely to time."

"True… I guess I could visit and see how they're doing." I sent him a lopsided grin. "They should let me in."

"One can only hope," he said, sharing my grin.

After our session ended, I headed back home. One uneventful walk later I entered the apartment and prepared some tea.

Ushio came through the door a few minutes later. "I'm home!"

"Welcome home," I greeted. "Do you want some tea?"

"Yes, please!"

I pulled out another mug and set it on the counter and tossed a couple of tea bags in it. "Hey, Ushio? Have you seen Fuuko since she watched you?"

"Fuuko-san? Wow, I haven't seen her in a long time," she replied. "I've seen her a couple of times, but it's been a while; She was with her sister and told me that she was going to get a job so she could adopt me."

"I wonder how that's been going," I snorted as I poured the hot water into our mugs.

"I dunno," she giggled. "I wonder how she's doing."

"Well, I was thinking about trying to visit them," I told her. "Pastor Ashton asked me if I had any friends outside the family, and they were the closest I could think of."

"Ooo! How exciting!" she squealed. "Could I come along?"

"I don't see why not," I replied, then thought about it some more. "Actually, I should go by myself first, just in case."

"Okay. So, what made you think of them all of a sudden?" she asked.

"Well, you know I had my meeting with Pastor Ashton this morning…"

"Yeah…"

"…and he pointed out that I would be all by myself after you move out…"

"Okay…"

"…and, like I said, he asked me if I had any friends outside the family," I finished. "When he mentioned that, the first thing I thought of was them."

"Yoshino-san did help you get your first job…" she mused. "Well, whenever you go, say 'hi' to Fuuko-san for me, would you please?"

"If she's there, sure thing," I said with a smile. "If everything works out all right, you could come with me another time."

"Sounds great!" she chirped.

At the usual time, we heard a knock at the front door and smiled at each other. "Do you want to get it this time?" I asked.

"Sure!" she exclaimed, hopping to her feet to head to the door. She opened it to find her upperclassman on our front porch, as expected. "Good afternoon, Mika-senpai."

"Good afternoon," I heard Mika return. "Is…Is your dad here?"

"Right here," I said, deliberately stepping into view. "Good afternoon, Mika-san. Come on in. How's your day been?"

"G-Good," she replied, fisting one hand over her chest as she stepped into our home. "C-Can I make you some tea?"

"We've already had some," Ushio replied, "but could we make some for you?"

She looked from one of us to the other before looking to the floor. "Th-That would be nice, thank you."

My daughter and I shared a look before I headed to the kitchen, deliberately giving her a chance to talk with her schoolmate. "It should be ready shortly," I said as I made myself scarce.

I could still hear what was being said in the living room, though: "What's wrong, senpai?" I heard Ushio ask.

"I…I've been feeling weird lately," Mika admitted, causing me to pause the tea preparation.

"Do you need me to walk you home?" Ushio offered. "I'm sure Daddy'll let me go if it'll help you."

"No! No…" I heard Mika reply. "It's just…"

"You look scared, senpai."

"W-Well, I am…"

"How come?" my daughter asked with her usual honest concern, bringing a smile to my face.

There was a long pause, then Mika's voice came even more quietly: "There's this guy I like, and…"

"Does he know?"

"I hope not!" she blurted, and then I heard a slap of skin against skin and I figured that she'd just slapped her hands over her mouth. "I mean, I don't think so."

There was another long pause before Ushio spoke again. "Come on; let's go to my room." I heard them get up and head to the hallway. As they passed the kitchen they stopped and she asked me, "Daddy? Could Mika-senpai drink her tea in my room?"

"I don't mind," I asked, feigning ignorance as I turned to find Ushio leading her upperclassman by the hand. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine," my daughter replied easily. "We just need to have some girl time, if that's okay."

"Sure, go ahead," I said as I held out the steaming mug. "Here you go."

Mika reached out with trembling hands, only for Ushio to intercept it with her own. "I'll carry that for you," she said.

"Thank you," Mika said, looking down at the floor. I found myself wishing she'd just come clean so the situation could be dealt with. The poor thing…

As they headed down the hallway to Ushio's room I grabbed my cell phone and stepped through the front door, putting a reasonable distance between myself and the door so I wouldn't be accidentally heard. I called up Ryou's cell number but it went right to her voice mail, so I tried Kappei's.

Fortunately, he was available. "Hey, this is Hiiragi!" Apparently he knew it was me but we Japanese had our customs, after all.

"Hey, Kappei; it's Tomoya."

"Yeah, how's it going? Is my daughter on her way home, then?"

"No, she just got here. Listen, did she seem…I don't know, strange when she got home last night? Or before she left to come over here?"

"She was a little excited last night, sure. She seemed fine today, though. Why?"

I licked my lips, feeling my face heat up. "Well, she arrived at our place looking really nervous, and my daughter and I are a little worried. Ushio's talking with her right now, but I was hoping you could tell us how we could help her."

"Come to think of it, she has been kinda…I dunno, anxious lately. Ryou thinks she may have a crush on a boy at school, but if she does she's been pretty tight-lipped about it."

"I see…"

"I wouldn't know, of course, but I figure my wife should know about these things, being a girl and all."

"Of course."

"Are you saying that she's never acted funny over there before?"

I really wanted to tell him my suspicions, but I couldn't; if I was right, it could damage her relationship with her parents, and if I was wrong… "Looking back, her behavior could be considered…evasive. But since I didn't know her too well at the time, I guess I unconsciously chalked it up to…well, not knowing her very well."

"That makes sense," he replied, much to my relief. "Well, if she causes trouble for you, then I apologize."

"Don't worry about it," I said, feeling a little evasive myself and also feeling guilty for it. "I just hope that her…situation's resolved soon."

"Thanks. So I take it you haven't had to deal with this kind of thing with Ushio yet?"

"Not…yet, no," I replied, trying not to remember… "She's focused on her schooling right now. She just started at Hikarizaka, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." A brief pause. "Well, is there anything else you needed?"

"No, just that. Sorry to bother you."

"Not at all! Thanks for worrying about her!"

"No problem," I replied, then smirked to myself. "Worrying's what I do best."

"It sure is!" he chuckled, sharing the joke. "Well, take it easy and I'll catch you later!"

"Take it easy," I returned. I ended the call and pocketed my phone as I reentered the apartment.

"Oh, there you are!" I glanced up from exchanging my shoes to find Ushio and Mika watching me form the kotatsu; apparently she'd been waiting for me. "I didn't know you'd left."

"Had to make a phone call," I said; I was technically telling the truth, though I found myself briefly wondering what Pastor Ashton would think of my omission of the details. "Sorry if I made you worry."

"Not at all," she said with a shake of her head, and I noticed that Mika appeared to be studying me. "Like I said, I didn't know you were out."

"Did your 'girl talk' go okay?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "I'm not asking for details, of course."

"It went fine," she said easily.

"Are you feeling better, Mika-san?" I asked our purple-haired guest.

"Much," she said, ducking her head. "I just got myself all worked up needlessly, and Ushio helped me calm down."

"That's good," I said as I made my way to the kitchen. "Well, I'm willing to take care of dinner tonight, if you're not up to it; I can use my arm, and you've had a rough time, so…" I wasn't sure how to finish that thought, so I let it trail off. "You're welcome to stay for dinner, though; I'd hate to send you home with an empty stomach."

"I'm fine," she replied, then exchanged a smile with my daughter before they got to their feet and headed toward me.

"What? What's going on?" I asked as they each took hold of an arm.

"We'll need the kitchen for dinner prep, and…y-you're in the way," Ushio stuttered as she and Mika half-dragged me out of the kitchen.

"All right," I chuckled, getting the not-so-subtle hint as I shook my arms free from their grip. "I'll go hide in my room and read, then. Have fun, you two." I headed into my room, closed the door behind me, and settled in a corner with my latest obsession; I couldn't remember when I got into reading so much, but I liked it as a nice, quiet way to pass the time. Learned quite a bit, too, depending on what I was reading.

I must have been pretty engrossed in my book, because I jumped with a yelp to a knock at my bedroom door. "C-Come in."

The door slid open, and Ushio stuck her head in. "Dinner's ready."

"Already?" I glanced at the clock; nearly an hour had passed. "Oh. I guess it has been long enough, huh? I guess I was really into my book."

"I guess so," she replied with a giggle.

"I'll be there in a minute," I told her as I hurried to my feet. "I'll try to hurry."

"It's okay," she said as I followed her out the door. "Mika-senpai's still putting stuff on the table, so you don't need to hurry."

"Okay." I parted with her at the bathroom to head in and wash my hands and face. I then headed out to the living room to find the girls chatting quietly at the kotatsu. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Not at all!" Mika said as I settled into my spot. "We just got everything on the table."

"Thanks," I said as we put our hands together.

"Itadakimasu."

"So, when is the Founder's Festival again?" I asked as we started to fill our plates.

They looked at each other before Mika spoke. "It starts on Friday at eight in the morning and goes until 10 PM on Sunday."

"And when did you want to go?" I followed up. "Er, I guess you'd be there most of the time, wouldn't you, being a member of the Student Council and all."

"Yup!" she chirped, beaming. "But I'd love it if you could be there Sunday night for the fireworks. I mean, if both of you could be there."

"Fireworks, huh?" I couldn't remember the high school ever having fireworks during the festival. "That's pretty neat. I don't think we had fireworks when I was a student."

"They started it about a couple of years ago," Mika said, then gave me an awkward glance. "The school's…grown a bit since you were there."

"I guess…" I replied as I tried to remember my last visit. "Man, how time flies."

After a delicious dinner, Mika called her parents to ask about staying longer. "I wouldn't want to eat and run," she explained, to me and then to her parents. After getting permission, she and Ushio worked on homework while I cleaned up after dinner and did some general tidying. After they were done Ushio got out a set of playing cards.

"Would it be okay for us to play a couple of games before she goes home?'" my daughter asked.

I glanced at the clock. "One game should be fine, but it is getting kinda late," I pointed out.

"Would you play with us?" our guest asked.

"No, thanks," I politely declined. "I'm not much fun to play with, anyway."

"That's not true!" Ushio protested. "You and I used to play cards all the time! We always had fun!"

Did we? I pondered her words for a moment; did I unconsciously assume that I'd be no fun? Rather than overthink it, I decided to experiment. "Okay, count me in," I said, feeling more than a little uncertain. "Don't blame me if I spoil your fun, though; I warned you, after all."

"Don't worry; you won't," my sweet daughter said with a smile as she patted my cushion. "You've always been fun to play with."

"Now I'm looking forward to playing with you, too," Mika said, causing me to feel a little childish.

"What are we playing?" I asked as I grunted into my seat.

We ended up playing a card game that the girls learned at school, called 'Old Maid'. "You take one card out of the deck and divide the remaining cards among the players," my daughter explained. "You make pairs, and whoever ends up with the last card loses."

Since I had the largest hands, I shuffled the deck and dealt the cards. We then spent a short time sorting our cards and putting down any pairs we found. We then started drawing from each others' hands in a clockwise circle; Ushio drew from me, I drew from Mika, and Mika drew from Ushio.

After a few turns, though, I started feeling impish, so as Ushio reached to take a card from my hand I quickly jerked my cards away. She gave me a puzzled look as she reached out again, only for me to jerk the cards away again. "Daddy, stop," she whined as Mika giggled.

"Sorry," I said, and held my hand perfectly still as she drew a card. She then placed a matching set down and the game continued.

Eventually, Mika was left with the extra card, so I shuffled the deck and dealt again, and we began playing in the opposite direction.

I started feeling impish again, so when Mika reached for a card I jerked my hand away. She got an impish grin of her own and shot her hand out, trying to grab a card, but I saw it coming and jerked my hand away again.

"Daddy, stop teasing our guest," my daughter scolded.

"It's okay, Ushio; I can handle it," Mika replied, her gaze locked on my cards. A moment later her hand shot out again, and I barely got my cards away from her grasp. A couple more failed tries had her giggling. "You may as well give up, Okazaki-sama; I will get that card!"

"Go for it," I challenged, feeling bolder than usual. Truth be told, I was just glad to see her having fun after her earlier anxiety.

A few more failed tries and she lunged across the kotatsu at me, and I had to roll onto my back to keep her from getting a card. Because my arms were partly blocking my view, a giggle from my left was my only warning before something landed on me, which turned out to be Mika, half-laying on me as she reached for the cards held in my hands held out beyond my head. I laughed as I quickly transferred the cards to my right hand and held them out toward Ushio, who took them from me with a grin of her own and quickly hid them behind her back.

I kept acting like I had the cards in my hand, though, rolling around and continuing to laugh as the giggling girl desperately tried to grab a card from my empty hand. She finally got hold of my hands, and… "Now I've got you!" she cried triumphantly. "Hey, wait a minute…where'd they go?"

"Where'd what go?" I asked, impish smile still in place.

"Your cards!" she demanded as she sat up on her heels.

I propped myself up on my elbows and made a show of opening my hands. "What cards? I don't have any cards."

Her face briefly registered shock before resolving into a wicked grin. "Oh, I see how it is! You're hiding them! Well, I'll find 'em!" My eyes momentarily widened in surprise as she pounced, half-pinning me to the floor. "Where are they?" she demanded through her giggles. "I know you're hiding them somewhere!"

"M-Mika-senpai!" I heard Ushio exclaim as my assailant plunged her hand into the breast pocket of my long-sleeved shirt.

I, on the other hand, decided to play along. "You'll never find them!" I bellowed, though a chuckle escaped as she found a somewhat ticklish spot. "I've *snort* hidden them too good for the likes of you!"

"We'll see about that!" she countered as her fingers danced up my arms, presumably to see if I was hiding them under my sleeves. One of her fingers poked into my armpit, and I twitched at the ticklish sensation. "I'll find 'em, just you wait!"

She started patting down the sides of my body, so I decided it was time to fight back; I knew my right arm wasn't up to the task, so I grabbed her right wrist with my left hand and started pushing it away. "Hey!" I fake-protested. "You're getting a little personal, here!"

"Then give up the card, Okazaki-sama!" she countered. "Only then will I show you mercy!"

"Never!"

"Then face…hey!" she protested as she tried unsuccessfully to pull her wrist from my grip. "No fair!"

"Then don't start what you can't finish!" I laughed as she tried to pry my fingers loose.

She got another wicked grin. "Oh, I have ways of finishing it!" she said, and she reached for my face, only to dart her hand around to the side of my neck and started wriggling her fingers there. "Neck Cootchie-Cootchie! What do you think of that?"

"ACK!" She really had found a ticklish spot! "All right, Mika-san: what do you think of THIS!?" I countered, shooting my right hand out toward her body and wriggling my fingers just below her ribs. "Have some, uh…Tummy Trouble!"

"H-HEY!" she yelled, giggling as she tried to twist her body away while maintaining her assault. "Y-You c-can't do that!"

"Ha-ha! It looks like I can!" I crowed victoriously.

"You-" She pulled her free hand from my neck to grab my right wrist. "I'm sorry for taking advantage of your weakness, Okazaki-sama, but I must win!"

"Never!" I yelled, thoroughly enjoying my efforts to free my hand from her grip as she tried to free hers from mine. I found an opening and twisted my body, rolling her onto her back. "Now you will face…my…" I trailed off as I realized that I was laying half on top of her as she lay on her back on the floor, our positions having almost exactly reversed.

"H-Having fun?" my daughter's gentle voice laced with equally gentle humor asked.

I felt my smile fade and the blood drain from my face as I looked down into my former opponent's flushed face, and I quickly rolled off of her, releasing her wrist as I did so. "I…I'm sorry, Mika-san; I was having so much fun that…" I was embarrassed to admit it, but... "…I wasn't thinking about what I was doing." I sat up on my heels and reached out toward her. "Here, let me help you up. I'm really sorry about that."

She sat up with the biggest smile I'd ever seen on her, though her cheeks were still flushed and she had a slight glisten of sweat. "I-It's okay. That was fun! I wish we didn't have to stop."

"Well, it's…not appropriate for…me to treat you like that." Once she was able to get back to her spot at the kotatsu I extended a hand to my daughter. "May I have my cards, please?"

"Sure, Daddy," she replied, bringing them out from behind her back. "I hope you had fun."

I simply cleared my throat as I retrieved my cards and held them out toward our guest; I couldn't look her in the eye, but I'd be damned if I would let my embarrassment ruin the game. "H-Here, Mika-san; go ahead and…and draw."

I felt a card drawn from my hand and heard a sigh a moment later. "Okazaki-sama? Would…Would you call me just 'Mika' from now on? I think you've known me long enough."

She had a point, but I was still uncomfortable with the idea, not only because of our…recent activity, but also because…my stomach churned as I remembered her possible attraction. What the hell was I thinking, getting into a tickle contest with a teenager, and one who possibly desired me? "I'll…consider it," I said, unable to say much else.

The rest of the game went more quietly, with me ending up with the extra card, much to Ushio's delight. "I win!" she squealed. "That was fun!"

"It…sure was," Mika said while glancing at me repeatedly. "We'll have to play that again sometime."

"Well, we'd better see you off," I said, forcing myself to check the time. "I'd hate for you to get on your way too late and make your parents worry."

"Okay." Mika got to her feet and collected her things and headed to the door to put on her outdoor shoes. "Thank you for a really fun time."

"It was our pleasure," Ushio replied, relieving me of the responsibility of coming up with something to say. "See you tomorrow afternoon?"

"O-Of course," Mika replied while glancing at me again. "H-Have a good evening."

"You, too," I replied. "Have a safe trip home."

She said nothing more, but quickly bowed before heading out the door and down the road toward the train station.

"I'm glad we were able to help her," Ushio said as I closed the door. "She was so anxious when she got here. Thank you for playing with her."

I cringed at the memory of my behavior. "You're…welcome? Listen Ushio, I shouldn't have acted like that; it was inappropriate."

"But she seemed happy about it," she countered.

"Yeah, but…" Truth was, I enjoyed it as well. Truth also was, I was too tired to talk about it. "I need to call her folks to let them know she's on her way home."

"Okay," she said, then yawned. "Maybe I should turn in early tonight."

"It's been kind of an exciting day," I noted. "I'll make that call and then probably turn in myself."

"Okay. In case I don't see you later: Good night, Daddy," she said as she wrapped her arms around me.

"Good night," I returned, along with her hug. As she made her way down the hall to her room, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocked as I headed out the door. As I dialed Kappei's number I tried to figure out how I was going to tell him what happened.

"Hey, this is Kappei!"

"Hey, Kappei, this is Tomoya."

"Yeah, what's up? Is she on her way home this time?" I smiled as I heard the good humor in his tone.

"Yeah, she's finally on her way. Listen, something happened while she was over here…"

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine as far as Ushio and I could tell. We were playing a card game and it, uh…kinda got out-of-hand."

"How does a card game get 'out-of-hand'?"

"When I start fooling around and yanking the cards away right when your daughter's about to draw one." I gave him a brief explanation of the game we'd been playing, and my antics that led to our…incident. "So we ended up wrestling for a bit which, in hindsight, was completely inappropriate. At the time, I was just glad she was having a good time after her earlier stress."

"Hm."

"Look, I'll understand if you don't want her to come over anymore. Ushio's back, so she can help me with cooking, and I have most of the use of my right arm, so I could cook my own stuff if I had to. I just don't want to give you any reason to not trust me…or her, for that matter."

A longish pause. "I'll talk with her when she gets home, and have my wife talk with her when she gets home. Honestly, though, what you describe sounds like Mika being Mika. If anything, I may not want her not going over if she's acting too familiar like that."

"In all fairness, I was teasing her."

"But Ryou and I still have expectations when it comes to her behavior outside the home. I'm sure you can understand that."

"Yeah, I just don't like the idea of her getting in trouble because I was being a bad example."

"I feel you, but she's her own woman…to a point. At eighteen, she should be able to exercise enough self-control to not give in to impulses."

"All right, Kappei; I'm sorry, I'm not trying to tell you how to raise your daughter."

"We're cool, man. I appreciate your honesty and…transparency when it comes to this. It makes you more manly in my book."

I chuckled as I recalled him saying something similar in the past. "Thanks, that means a lot to me. Anyway, she's on her way, and I was a bad boy."

"Got it," he replied, laughing. "Well, behave yourself from now on, and we'll talk to Mika and go from there."

"All right. Thanks, Kappei; have a great evening."

"You, too. Laters!"

I chuckled again at his energy as we ended the call. I sobered, though, as I reentered the apartment, hoping that my antics hadn't caused more problems than they might have solved.