Day 6 - Sunshine/Happiness: Roleplaying
Takeru carefully closed the door from his son's bedroom and went to the living room, where Kimi was lying on the couch watching TV.
"How many stories tonight?" She asked with a smile while he sat down and she placed her legs over his.
"Three. There weren't so many this time."
"He must be tired from the day."
"Most likely." He looked at his wife. "So I've been thinking lately."
"About what?" Kimi sat up straight and crossed her legs.
"About starting a reading group." He followed her suit and they exchanged glances.
"I've been telling you this for a long time and now you finally decided to do it."
"Yeah, I deserved that."
"What happened?"
"Reading to Kenichi for so many nights in row made me realize how much I missed doing this."
"Did something specific happen?"
"No, nothing specific."
"Not even a certain story?"
"What is this? An inquiry?"
"I was just wondering if maybe there was a fairy tale you had to read for our son tonight. Say, maybe Cinderella?"
"What?" Takeru raised his eyebrows at her. "How do you even know about that?"
"Well…"
"Wait a second. You set this up!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Sure you do." He pressed on. "You told Kenichi to ask me to read Cinderella for him, because you remembered it was the story I read when you watched our group reading session for the first time."
"Do you really think I'd be that sneaky?"
"You want me to be honest or not?"
"Okay, I got your point. I asked him that indeed." She put her hair behind her ear. "I hope you're not angry at me for doing this and what I did was probably selfish, but I just think this is something you were born to do. It's clear how much you enjoy it, and you shouldn't turn away from it. There, I said it."
"Alright."
"I'm sorry if I was too honest with you, but I had to be."
"It's okay."
"Are you gonna keep giving me these short responses or are we actually going to talk about how you're feeling?"
Takeru sighed and finally looked back at Kimi. "I'm not sure how I feel about this."
"Well, you can start by saying why this is something you reject so much. It's very clear to me you're having an internal conflict about it, because I can tell you want to do it. So why hold back?"
"Group reading won't pay our bills, will it?"
"So that's what this is about." She leaned against the side support of the couch. "Money."
He didn't say anything, simply bit his lower lip, and she went on. She leaned towards him and held his hand within hers.
"No one said you should live by this. Of course group reading isn't paying our bills, it's supposed to be a hobby. More so, it's a way to bring you and our son close, as well as you and the rest of the Chosen Children's kids."
"Hmm… when you put it like that…"
"You'll get to be the cool uncle."
"Cooler, you mean? Because I'm already the cool one."
"Tone down your ego, Mr. Writer." Kimi teased with a smile.
"Fine." Takeru rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed. "Will you help me deciding what story to tell them?"
"Does that mean you're doing it?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."
"Great. Of course I will help you." She threw her legs down and stood up. "Do you want to do it now?"
"No, we can wait a few days. We still haven't set a date yet." He followed her suit and walked to her, running his hand over her arms. "I was thinking we could so something else tonight. Something cooler, something more exciting."
"Takeru, Kenichi is sleeping next door."
"I didn't mean that." He leaned closer to her and started kissing her neck, causing her to moan softly.
"Of course you didn't." She wrapped her arms around his back and closed her eyes, enjoying their moment alone together.
Takeru and Kimi spent the following days looking for some fairy tales to tell all the Chosen Children's kids.
"Ugh." He sighed frustrated after putting another book back on the shelf. "I feel like they probably know all these stories already. Their parents must have told them by now."
"I'm sure they won't mind hearing it again, if that's the case. Besides, there's a big chance they don't remember it."
"Aiko definitely would, believe me. And she would correct me if I ever got something wrong."
Kimi couldn't help but laugh. "She's just a kid, she doesn't really know what she's doing."
"That's a good point. Yamato used to do that a few times when we were little children. I hated that."
"They are really father and daughter. It's impressive how alike they are." She looked at the shelf carefully. "This may be biased, but why don't you read Cinderella to them?"
"It is biased." He couldn't let this opportunity go. "Are you sure you didn't suggest this because it's your favorite tale and I got to read it the night you joined our group back in college?"
"No." She very discreetly looked at him through the corner of his eyes. "Maybe. I just think it's a good story and children love it. We could even maybe…"
"What?"
"Nothing. It's a stupid idea."
"What is it?"
"I was thinking maybe we could read it together or role-play it."
"Role-play it?" Takeru was curious with that idea. "Tell me more about it."
"It's pretty much self-explanatory. We'd act the story."
"Like a play?"
"Exactly. I have no doubt the children would love it."
"This could work." He smiled. "Let's do it."
The Chosen Children jumped on board almost immediately. Takeru and Kimi asked Hikari to be the narrator of the story, which she gladly accepted. Mimi offered to do the snacks for the meeting, whereas Sora said she'd do the costumes for the play. Yamato was responsible for the background music, with Koushiro's help, and the rest of the team would be taking minor roles in the play.
.
The Takaishis were taking turns in leaving Kenichi with their parents for the past few weeks way more than they wanted to, to focus on rehearsals. They wanted it to be a surprise to everyone, including their son. And it was also the first time they were going to rehearse with the costumes.
"And I'm done." Kimi announced from their bedroom. "Are you?"
"I've been ready for the past ten minutes." His voice echoed so loud in the bedroom that Kimi looked towards the closed door with her eyebrows raised.
"Are you sitting on the floor in front of our door?"
"Yes."
"Takeru!"
"Not Takeru, Prince Charming. I'm waiting for my princess to come out."
"Silly." She giggled and approached the door. "Okay, I'm going to open it."
"Finally." He stood up and turned around to wait for her.
Takeru was glad he was near the wall when his wife came into his field of vision, because he was speechless. She was naturally beautiful on her own, but the dress Sora made for her made her stand out even more. She looked like a real princess.
"Do you think the kids will mind Cinderella being brunette?"
"I don't think they will be paying attention to that small detail at all." He managed to say after he recovered from his shock, though not entirely. "You look stunning."
"You think so? I haven't dressed as a princess since my sixteens and all of a suddenly I'm back at being a teenager."
"You dressed as Cinderella for your sixteens?"
"Is that so surprising? You know she's my favorite princess."
"I know. I'd do anything to be at your party right now."
"Even if that meant being my prince?"
"That'd be a price to pay, and I wouldn't be complaining about it at all. In fact, I would be jealous if you ever asked someone else to be your prince if I was there."
"Had you been dressed like this and I wouldn't have eyes for any other boys at my party. Not even the one who was my prince then, and he was such a handsome boy. We dated for a few years afterwards."
"But he didn't get the princess in the end, did he?" Takeru slid his hands on her body, towards her hips.
"Are we going to keep rehearsing or are we turning this into a sexual thing and end up in bed?"
"Kenichi isn't here."
"Takeru, I'm serious." She took his hands away from her and then stepped away from him. "We need to rehearse. Then we'll get to do something else."
"Okay." He followed her to the living room.
"I think this is the time where Cinderella loses her shoe while she's going downstairs." She looked in the script. "That's right."
"Are you wearing my shoes?" Takeru glanced down at her feet and laughed.
"I had to wear large shoes, so they would come off more easily."
"This is funny."
"Laugh and make fun all you want. This is all for the play."
"I'm sorry." He tried to be serious. "After the scene where you lose your shoe, what happens?"
"You don't remember? I thought you'd have the entire story memorized by now."
"I do. I just wanted to test you and see if you do as well."
"So typical." Kimi rolled her eyes with fake annoyance, but smiled. "You find it and go looking for whoever lost it all over the reign."
"We're gonna cut the part short, right?"
"Of course. We don't have enough girls to play, so we can simply have Hikari saying that as a narrator. Speaking of that, don't forget you're supposed to give her the script of the play before our reunion."
"I know. I will work on it when we finish rehearsing this time."
"Great." She went to sit on the couch. "Next is the scene where the prince finally arrives at Cinderella's house, but her evil stepmother and sisters try to keep her away, afraid the shoe fits her."
"Alright." Takeru grabbed his shoe and knelt down in front of his wife. "May I?"
"Of course. But I should let you know it won't fit. This isn't my shoe."
"We'll see about that." He smiled after putting the shoe on her foot. "It fit perfectly."
"I...I…"
"It's you." He took her hands within his and stood up. "The one I danced with the entire night during the ball. Well, until you ran out on me all of a sudden. You never even told me your name, but I'm glad we finally met again."
"I'm Cinderella."
"Cinderella." He kissed her hand, without taking his eyes away from hers. "That's a beautiful name."
"Thank you." Kimi barely managed to hold her smile.
"Would you give me the honor of dancing with me again?"
"Takeru, this part isn't now."
"I know, it's the next scene."
"We don't have to rehearse that one, it's just a dance."
"Oh no, we should rehearse the whole thing. It's part of the play too."
"Fine." She gave in and placed her arm around his shoulders. "Let's do it."
Takeru reached for his phone and put on a love song from a streaming platform. Then he threw his phone on the couch and placed his hands around her body. They slowly began to move around their living room.
"I don't know this song. Did you pick it up randomly?"
"No, this is actually the song Cinderella and the Prince danced to in the Disney movie."
"Really?" She asked surprised. "I don't remember it."
"This is our clue to watch the movie then."
"Maybe. But not tonight." She stared intently into his light blue eyes. "I've had enough of Cinderella for a day, believe me."
"Fair enough. So what do you want to do?"
"I don't know, maybe order a pizza and play video-games?"
"Do Cinderella and the Prince kiss in the end of the story?"
Kimi couldn't help but smile and looked down briefly before exchanging glances with her husband again. "You're that desperate to kiss me, aren't you?"
"You wouldn't believe it." He placed his hand behind her head and brought it towards her, capturing her lips right away.
.
Even though she had been there a few times already, Kimi never got over the fact she was actually able to go to the Digital World. She felt a little embarrassed being dressed as a princess, she definitely wasn't used to it. She glanced at Takeru, who was trying to loosen his collar nervously.
"Hey, are you alright?" She softly touched his hand and they exchanged glances.
"I am. Just a little nervous about performing in front of our son and the other kids."
"I know what you mean. I'm nervous too, but I keep telling myself that it's just temporary."
"Not exactly. We didn't bring any clothes to change to afterwards and I'm melting inside this costume. It's too hot."
"I bet it is. I wonder how princes managed to wear them with hot weather and not feel bad about it."
"You got me." He shrugged. "Well, I guess we'll have to go back home for a moment to change."
"Actually, no, we won't."
"What?"
"I brought some clothes, so we can change afterwards."
"Really? But there's no place we can do it here."
"I'm sure we'll come up with a plan." She winked at him and smiled.
As expected, the kids went crazy when they saw Kimi and Takeru in their costumes. They immediately made a circle around them and reacted to in many different ways. Aiko completely ignored her uncle, who she absolutely adored, and only had eyes for her aunt.
"Wow, auntie Kimi, you look so pretty!"
"Thank you, Aiko." She smiled and stroked her hair softly. "Did you like it?"
"Yes, you look like a princess."
"Then you should be proud of your mother." Kimi knelt down to be on her eye level. "She's the one who made it to me."
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
"Mom, I want a princess dress like auntie Kimi's too." Aiko ran towards Sora as fast as she could.
Takeru very discretely nudged her in the elbow, so she could pay attention to their son standing a few meters behind the group of children.
"Kenichi, come here, sweetie."
"It's okay, it's still us." He said encouragingly. "We're just doing a little something, that's why we're dressed like this."
"Oh my God, you two truly really look a royal couple!" Mimi squealed, which brought another smile to Kimi's lips as she was standing up. "You look gorgeous!"
"Thank you, Mimi." She looked down at her son, who was now near her and Takeru.
"What did you think? Did you like it?"
Kenichi nodded his head timidly. "You look so cool, dad!"
"Thanks, son." Takeru smiled and ruffled his hair softly. "What about mom?"
"She does too, but I don't want her to wear it anymore."
"Why not, Kenichi?"
"Because you're too pretty and I get jealous of the other children around you."
"Don't worry, I'm not wearing it again." She laughed and then hugged him tight.