To the person who sent a guest review, thanks for pointing it out that Shouko's parents had been revealed. I'm ashamed that it slipped off my mind when I published that chapter earlier this Feb… .

Also I'd like to use this chance to thank you for still following my story thus far. I have had plans to finish it off come 2017/8, so thank you for the encouragement to continue on!

Following the incident of Kari appearing in Keiichi's life, Len had had a much easier time. Kari hired a chauffeur and offered to fetch Keiichi to school. Because Kahoko, Kazuki and Azuma studied in the same school, she decided to give all of them a ride as well. Which meant that Len just had to send Shouko to school. (Ryoutaro offered to take public transport for middle school! [Chapter 11])

For the next few months, the children were busy with their after school clubs, all except for Shouko, because she was still in nursery, and Keiichi, who would rather sleep than attend some club activity.

Ryoutaro had joined the Choir Chamber after entering middle school where he helped out as an accompanist. Len's mother also thought it'd be a good exposure for him to learn more about chord progression and keep his fingers busy. Azuma joined the flower arrangement club. Luckily for him, their club days were limited to once per week so he could come home on most days and study or practice his flute. Rowdy Kazuki was the star player in his school's basketball team and he was very busy preparing for Regionals. Kahoko was in the school's orchestral club. She really liked playing the violin and wanted to be the principle violinist. But sometimes when she listened to her friends play the part much better than her, she'd get disheartened and come home sulking. Len almost always knew when she was feeling down and would cheer her up by inviting her to play their favourite tune together, Ave Maria by Schubert.

Len then started to transform 2 rooms on the third floor into sound proof practice rooms and hung out a whiteboard for the children to book their practice slots. This made the house much, much, quieter.

Soon, exams were just round the corner, and Len couldn't have been more grateful to whoever invented exams. Everyone, even Kazuki, was quiet throughout the month. Coming straight home and hitting the books straightaway. Len promised the children that they'd go on a family vacation during the summer and where they went depended on the grades they got, so naturally everyone was motivated.

When the results were released, Azuma got into the middle school of his choice, which had a Music division. Jinnan Middle School was well known for their students coming from wealthy families. They thrived to excel in both Sports and Music and hence the school was split into either the Music or the Sports Division. When Ryoutaro came to know about the opportunities to perform, he got very keen and decided to try applying for the school. Even if it meant him having to repeat a grade.

The results for successful entry would only be made known to him at the end of the summer holiday.

Kazuki, Kahoko, and Keiichi successfully "levelled up", in Kazuki's words, to 5th. 4th and 3rd grade respectively. They would miss seeing Azuma in school but at least they had each other for company. And dear Shouko would finally be joining the rest in Jushou Elementary, preferably with Sasaki.

Kari was in a different high school from the 2 oldest boys, she was 7 years older than Keiichi, which put her in her first year of high school. She was rather impressed with Keiichi's cello playing and decided to take up an instrument herself. After hanging out with Kari long enough, Keiichi picked up a couple of French phrases and often impressed his teachers and friends. "je dois faire pipi" he would often say. And his teachers would marvel at the complexity of the language. When it actually mean "I gotta pee."

On the first day of the summer holidays, when Ousaki came round to pick Kahoko up to visit her parents' grave. Len was busy planning the family holiday and he had several travel pamphlets sprawled out on the table. Azuma and Keiichi helped to pick some depending on their preferences

Soon, it was decided that the family would be catching a 3-hour flight in the morning to Okinawa prefecture for white sands and turquoise waters. The children were ecstatic. The night before the flight, they kept chattering about what they were going to do there, what they were going to buy etc. Len had to chase them all out from Ryoutaro's room and back to bed in the middle of the night. But despite all that, the children didn't catch a wink.

So they arrived at the airport, still in bright spirits. Kazuki had imitating plane sounds as he spread out his arms and ran around. "Fwooooshhhhh!" Throwing his luggage to Ryoutaro to carry. Ryoutaro grunted and heaved his brother's luggage onto the belt.

The 7 of them then boarded the plane in a disorderly fashion. Keiichi, whose stamina was the lowest, had already fallen asleep on Len's shoulders. Kahoko kept tugging Len's sleeves every time she wanted to show him something. Kazuki, full of vigour, kept running back and forth to chase the rest to hurry up. "Where's Shouko?" Len suddenly realised.

"I've got her! No worries." Azuma was holding her hand.

The air stewardesses tried their best to contain their giggling when they saw a young man being surrounded by so many children. Unbeknownst to Len, the ladies actually found this rather charming.

Len thought that since the children didn't sleep the previous night, they'd definitely fall asleep on the plane. Unfortunately, the children were so excited that they wouldn't stop chattering and exploring the channels on the plane. When Kazuki went to take a leak, he suddenly shouted very loudly from inside the toilet. The air crew thought that something had happened to the young boy and quickly tried to pry open the door. When they managed, Kazuki was laughing with amazement. "The toilet flushing makes such a weird sound!" He said as he pressed the flush again. FFFFFSSSSHHHHHhhhhhhh…!

Len had to apologise profusely, he grabbed the mischievous boy by the scruff of his shirt and strapped him into his seat. "You move, you're dead."

For the rest of the plane ride, things were much quieter. Kazuki actually managed to stay in his seat, no thanks to Azuma who bribed him with a beach ball.

They took a big cab to their hotel and collected the room card from the hotel reception. Len had a lot of difficulty handling the 3 younger kids bouncing around the lobby. He muttered under his breath, wishing he'd brought along Megumi or some sort of caretaker.

When they entered the room, the children were amazed. They stared in disbelief at the extravagance of the suite. Len thought through the room bookings and decided that getting separate rooms was much too dangerous. As mature as Ryoutaro was, anything could happen. And the only room big enough to host 7 people was a suite. He sighed at the thought of his credit card bills. But since it was their first holiday together, he decided to be more generous. Besides, the real spending had yet to begun.

The children quickly took their beds with little argument, opened their luggage, threw on their swimsuits, and bounded for the waves. The suite that Len had booked had a direct access to the beach through the balcony.

"The sea!" Kahoko breathed.

"Oww the sand is hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Kazuki exclaimed as he scuttled towards the waves.

Keiichi looked for an empty spot and clumsily stuck in his umbrella, lay down his mat, and lay down. Ryoutaro was came around last saw him and laughed, "I swear you act like you're some old man…" He helped arrange the umbrella and opened it bigger, then nestled under the shade together with Keiichi. He'd have his fun later, he decided, now he just wanted to relax for a while.

Azuma and Shouko were the last to arrive as Shouko had difficulties putting on her swimsuit. When she saw the sand and the waves, she got frightened

Len was still putting several things in order in the room, such as boiling the water, taking out the room slippers, towels, and whatnot.

When he finally took off his shirt and walked towards the sea, the sun wasn't that strong anymore. He found Ryoutaro and Keiichi napping under the umbrella, and approached them. The rustle of Len finding a spot to sit woke Ryoutaro up. Len was spreading sunscreen on his arms when Ryoutaro suddenly remembered that none of them had put on sunscreen yet.

Oh no…

That evening, round the dinner table sat 2 very red children.

"Say, if I put a tomato next to your face, would you be able to spot the difference?" Ryoutaro joked as he placed the fruit near Kazuki's face. Kazuki growled and swatted the tomato away. The children burst out laughing.

For dinner, they ordered room service. With lots of coconuts to go round and barbequed meat. The children ate to their heart's content.

Len helped to apply the sunburn medication on Kahoko and tucked her to bed, assuring her that the pain will go away come morning.

The very next day, Kazuki and Kahoko still felt a burning sensation to their skin, so the family decided to have a change of plans to their itinerary. Instead of sun and fun, they would go tour the city of Okinawa instead. They started off with the Churaumi Aquarium, where they were astounded by wonders of the sea. The aquarium was rather dark, and Len worried that the younger ones would get lost easily. Hence, he spent most of his time looking out for lost sheep than actually looking at the sea creatures.

For lunch, they stuffed themselves with sashimi at the Makishi Public Market, then continued their tour around Okinawa. When evening came, they returned to their villa and set at the balcony to watch the sun set. That night, they had dinner by the porch, and Len taught them a few constellations that he had read about.

When the children had gone to bed, Len sat on the porch alone, looking aimlessly at the dark horizon. A few matters hung heavily on his mind. Although Shouko's parents had agreed to let her stay with him, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. After all, it isn't easy for parents to just let go of their first-born just like that. He had always mentally prepared himself for the day when they would change their minds and return. He had been sending them regular updates about Shouko's achievements. Such as playing the clarinet at her school's graduation ceremony. Just as Len suspected, Shouko's father later confided that it didn't feel right that his wife and him had walked away after reuniting with her a year earlier. And he thanked Len for the regular updates about her life. To know that she was happy and healthy, brought great joy and relief to them. He and his wife had recently just given birth to a baby boy, Takumi. They had mentioned plans to start anew, and put the past behind them, but Shouko always were on their minds.
"Perhaps when she's older, we'll introduce her to her brother."

As for Azuma, no one had yet to contact Len about him. And from Azuma's mannerism, Len couldn't help but suspect that he had descended from some line of aristocracy or something similar. The way Azuma carried himself always seemed dignified and different. He wouldn't be surprised if some great earl came to his house one day. But that would be tomorrow's problems to deal with, Len decided as he got up and went to bed.

Thus this was how the Tsukimori family spent their holiday. Eating and playing to their fullest for an entire duration of 6 days. At the end of the holiday, the children packed up their belongings. Len had to order at least 5 "last-checks" because each time they'd find something that they had left behind in the room. They boarded the afternoon plane and arrived back home before midnight.

The next morning, Len went out to get the mail as usual when he saw a letter addressed to Ryoutaro. It was the results of the application to Jinnan High School. He quickly jogged back to the house and announced joyfully that the letter had arrived. "Good luck!" he told Ryoutaro has he handed the letter over to the nervous boy. Ryoutaro looked around at the eager eyes and hopeful expressions. He gulped and tore open the letter. Carefully, he unfolded the letter and read out loud…

"Congratulations…" Ryoutaro only managed to get the first word out before his siblings went hysteric. Clapping and cheering and hugging him from all angles.

"Hooray!"

"Congratulations!"

"You did it!"

It was a cause for celebration. Len called his mother to inform her of the good news, and she was very pleased. The children persuaded Len to buy tubs of ice cream as a form celebration and he gave in. He didn't see why not. He himself had been an alumnus of Jinnan High School, and he knew that Ryoutaro's music future were in good hands.

The school board decided that he need not repeat a year since his grades in his previous school were mostly within the top 25th quartile. But to ensure that he could cope with the studies, he would have to attend compulsory after-school classes.

In a blink of an eye, the new school term started. Ryoutaro had to work very hard to catch up to his peers. The fact that Azuma was in the same school compound, though different building, made his time there much easier. The 2 would often stay back late in school just to read or explore new pieces. Kahoko finally landed the role of Principle Violinist and Kazuki's team clinched the second prize in nationals. Each time Len walked by Kazuki's trumpet in the hallway, he would get a little sad. Music had been such a big part of his life and he had hoped that Kazuki would be able to experience it too. But he decided not to fret too much, each person opened up to music at different points in life after all. Keiichi was still the same sleepyhead, but after relentless nagging from Len himself, he started to put in more effort into his studies and achieved good grades throughout middle school. Len never had to worry about Shouko's studies as she was consistently in the best, else second best, class in the cohort.

Len had accepted an offer to perform in Tokyo's Harmonic Orchestra. It was a 5-year contract. Len saw it as a good career opportunity and so busied. Nami Amou finally earned herself a spot in the newspaper, where she would give her opinions on the economy's outlook.

And so, 3 years passed, quickly and peacefully, in the Tsukimori household.

On the day that Tsukimori turned 27, the children and Megumi had planned a surprise birthday dinner for him. Len had recently just finished his concert a few days ago and was taking a break at home, when suddenly there was a very loud "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEN-NII!" from behind followed by party poppers and confetti.

The children, who were now no longer short and scuttled around the kitchen, brought their presents to him and placed food and cakes on the table. "Before we dig into any of the food," he said, eyeing Kazuki, "let's take a family photo."

While. Ryoutaro was busy setting up the camera, adjusting such that it would snap a picture in 5 secs. The children and Megumi shuffled themselves around Len. Azuma ushered the 2 youngest into the centre right next to Len. Kahoko wrapped her arms around Len and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "Happy birthday Len-nii!" she giggled. Upon Ryoutaro's command, he quickly ran next to Azuma and put his arm around his brother. There was a white flash, and their photo was taken.

Just in case you're confused about the age of the characters, I started out with Len (21), Ryoutaro (12), Azuma (10), Kazuki (8), Kahoko (7), Keiichi (6), Shouko (4). So when they were brought into the house and started school, Ryoutaro started as a Year 1 in Harushi Junior High. The middle 5 all attended Jushou Elementary and Shouko was the only one at Kindergarten (where she met Sasaki!).

In Chap 12, Shouko was performing for her Kindergarten's graduation ceremony, so she'd be entering Jushou Elementary when she reaches 7. At the same time, Kazuki, Kahoko, and Keiichi would be at 5th, 4th, and 3rd grade respectively (as mentioned earlier in this chapter). That means Azuma just hit 13 and is attending Jinnan Junior High as a Year 1. Ryoutaro who should have been a 3rd year at Harushi Junior jumped over to Jinnan but wasn't required to repeat any grade.

So at the end, with 3 years passing by again, Len would be 27, Ryoutaro now in final year of Jinnan High School (18), Azuma in Year 1 of Jinnan High (16). Kazuki (14) is in Year 2 of a Junior High different from the rest due to his enthusiasm in sports over music. Kahoko (13) is a Year 1 in Jinnan Junior High as well. Keiichi (12) and Shouko (10) are the only ones left in Jushou Elementary.

That would mean that since I started writing this story back in 2010, 6 years have passed. I admit that the tone of the stories have changed since 8 years ago, I've started to tie up loose strings while retaining the carefreeness and comedic effect of the family. So please bear with me while I bring closures to some mysteries, introduce new ones, and bring the Tsukimori family closer than ever before.

Bonus Story: Popular Kid in the House

It was a Saturday morning, and Len could not fathom why the gates of the house were crowded with middle school boys. It was around 8am when Len was awake and he opened the door to get his newspaper from the letterbox. But when he opened the door and saw all the kids outside the gate, he decided that the newspaper wasn't that important after all and closed the door quickly.

The group of school boys were excited when they saw the door open. But the person that stood in its way not only made them disappointed but worried as well, very worried.

Len quickly drew the hall curtains down and went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Having no newspaper to entertain him and his cup of coffee, he turned on the television. This woke the kids up. Kazuki bounced to the kitchen and grabbed a carton of chocolate milk, drinking straight from it.

"Ew! Can't you use a cup? We all drink from the same carton of milk you know!" Ryoutaro exclaimed.

"That's not the only thing I drink straight from the container." Kazuki grinned. Ryoutaro froze. Ice cream, orange juice… at least the pudding was safe.

"Sometimes, I even use my finger." Kazuki gleefully said as he exited the kitchen and disappeared round the corner with a sinister mwahahahaha… Ryoutaro, bright and early in the morning, was completely grossed out.

Shaking it aside, he went to the living room to see Len watching the morning news on TV. "Why is the place so dark?" He asked as he drew one side of the curtain. The group of school boys saw him and got an even greater shock. A second guy in the house!

Ryou had the same reaction as Len. He immediately drew the curtains back. "Who or what is outside?" Len looked at the clock, 9.12AM, now that was unusual. He couldn't ignore it anymore, putting his cup aside, he marched to the speaker and hollered. "It's a Saturday, what do you boys want?"

There was a few scuffles and murmurs on the receiver but no audible words. Kazuki peeped through the cracks in the curtain, and he gasped. "Ahh! Touya, Aoi, Yamato, my friends! They're there!"

"But it's not your birthday…" Ryou commented.

Kazuki, ignoring Len's warnings, bounded out of the door to meet his friends. Azuma just sat in his corner and laughed.

Len eyed him. "You seem to know what's going on, spill it."

Azuma calmly placed his book down and said to Len, "It's March the 14th today."

A few seconds of confounded silence passed in the room before it finally clicked in Ryou's and Len's heads. March the 14th! White Day! Chocolates. As the gears clicked in place, they guessed that they group of boys were there to give chocolates to Kahoko (since Shouko was too young).

At the same time, Kazuki came back, looking defeated. "They're ALL waiting for Kaho…" and muttered something about not getting half as many fans as these on Feb 14th. Ryoutaro told Len, "We might have a problem…"

"The Tsukimori name is famous in our school," Azuma explained. Everyone, including Kazuki, rose an eyebrow. "I'm famous?" Kazuki happily asked. Azuma then explained that ever since Kazuki came into the school covered with bruises (remember chap 5, when Kazuki's deranged mother came to take him away and then abused him), people started taking notice. Even though they were in different levels, each of the children in their respective levels started gaining recognition from their peers.

"How did they even know where Kahoko stays?" Len asked. "One of the boys is the class rep and he got it from the teacher" Azuma explained simply. 'My Goodness', thought Len to himself.

The crowd of boys outside weren't thinning and Len decided the only way was to give them what they wanted. Len knocked on Kahoko's door and she stirred slightly in her sleep.

"Kaho-chan, you have visitors," Len said calmly, making sure to emphasis the 's'. Kahoko slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked at Len and smiled sheepishly. "Morning Len-nii…" Sigh, it's no wonder those boys are head over heels around her. Len walked over and sat on her bed. "Kaho-chan, there are a group of boys outside our house hoping to give you chocolates for White Day."

"Ehh!?" was her reply. She jumped out of the bed and peered through her curtains. It's true! She recognised most of the boys outside the window. "What should I do! I don't want to make them have the wrong impression. Can you send them away?"

Len sighed. "That's not very nice. They've been waiting for over an hour already. Come along. Hurry up and go get dressed."

Kahoko climbed down the stairs in a flurry with Len following behind. The adult had advised her to nicely and graciously accept the gifts, and also to thank them. But she should remain firm and not give in if one of them insists on going out.

Apparently on Valentines' Day, Kahoko decided to make chocolates for everyone she knew. From her entire class to friends from school orchestral club to even the canteen servers and cleaners. Unfortunately most of the boys took that gesture as a sign that she was open to dating and decided to try their luck.

Kahoko balanced the gifts in her hands and bowed repeatedly to the boys. Thanking them and apologising to them at the same time. Kahoko felt so bad that they waited in the sun for over an hour just to pass the chocolates to her.

"Hey hey, you can't finish all that chocolate right? Will you share them with me?" Kazuki bounced around her as she entered the door. She laughed and gave him a nice red box wrapped with a ribbon. "Ooo, there's a card in here," Kazuki said as he opened the lid. "Dear Kaho-chan, your music puts me at such ease. Your admirer, the Double Bass boy. Isn't that Aoi?!" Kazuki exclaimed in shock.

"Idiot!" Kahoko laughed as she threw a piece of chocolate at him.

"Hey now! Food is meant to be eaten. Not as weapons!"

"Then you'd better open your mouth wide for the next piece!" Kahoko shouted as she grabbed another piece and prepared to aim.

Everyone laughed and helped themselves to one box. Having a popular kid in the family does have its perks after all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Today is the last day of 2017 so I thought I'd upload one chapter. Also, I hereby promise to finish this story in 365 years. May 2018 bring about many blessings and happiness to you guys.