08 September 2010
Central Shopping District, Konishi Liqueurs
Evening

The delivery truck carefully rolled into its parking spot behind the store in the dim evening and flickering overhead lights. After a moment, the engine was turned off the the parking brakes were set, allowing the driver to open the door and step out.

Midori did so, knees wobbly as all her hours of practise paid off. "Nice!" Saki said as she hopped out the passenger side. "You did the entire route!"

Midori leaned against the warm side of the truck. "Yes, yes I did. Why aren't you driving again?"

"Because my dad told me you needed the practice. And I do the routes on Friday and Sunday."

"Oh. Goody." She held the keys in one hand, watching them reflect the light. "I still feel bad about driving without a license."

"Eh, as long as you don't screw up, the cops will ignore you because we're in the company truck doing deliveries."

"And Uncle Ryotaro."

"Well yes. Having him help your father and mine teaching you certainly helps." Saki went around the back to start unloading empty cartons. "Drop off the keys, then come help me with this, will you?"

"On it!" Midori saluted with a smile then dashed back into the store to return the truck keys. Once she came back out, she grabbed one of the cartons from Saki. "Hey, your mom wants you inside for a moment," she passed along the message. "It seems like your brother got in trouble again."

"Really?" Saki rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Alright, I'll be right back."

Midori felt the weight of the carton she had in hand, then decided to grab a couple more to take all at once. No need to limit herself to what Saki can carry.

Komaki Residence

Midori walked in and dropped off her bags. She was tired, she was also a little hungry as she hadn't much to eat earlier. Her daddy wasn't home this week so she simply left her shoes in the entryway rather than put them away properly.

A few steps took her to the kitchen where she raided the fridge for something to eat. Nothing interested her so she pulled out a cup of instant noodles and set some water to boil. She didn't even feel like summoning Frosty to turn on the TV for her.

As she was sitting down at the living room table with her quick meal, she heard the front door open. Not expecting anyone, she leaned back and called out. "Hello?"

"Big sis?" Nanako said as she walked in, closing the door behind her. "Can I come over?"

"What?" Midori pulled herself out from the table and quickly went to the front. "Sure! Why?"

"Daddy had to go out." Nanako was dressed in her pyjamas, holding a blanket and pillow in her tiny hands. That was enough to give Midori a stressful reaction in her chest before she calmed herself. It may have been an emergency call. Just something like that.

"Well then, first thing is first. Have you had a bath yet?"

Nanako shook her head.

"Have you had supper yet?"

She shook her head again. Midori's worry changed to annoyance. She would have to vent to her daddy about this when he got back on Friday.

"Alright. I have some noodles on the table." She took Nanako's burdens and put them off to one side before carrying her to the table. "Ooof. Soon I won't be able to carry you!" She wasn't to that point yet, but it was a nice thing to say. "Eat," she said as she tore off the top of the noodles, and handed Nanako the chopsticks. "I'll get something for myself, then we can have a bath, alright?"

"Alright."

Midori quickly heated up more water for a second cup, and watched as Nanako carefully fed herself. "So, when did Uncle leave?" She wanted information to pass along, and the best source was right in front of her.

"Earlier." Of course she may not have noticed the time properly. Time for a second question.

"What shows were you watching when he left?"

"The news."

So, closer to six then. She glanced at the clock above the kitchen sink. Less than two hours ago. Not that bad, thankfully. The water finished heating, and she poured it out for her own serving. Hopefully this one won't be taken by any other unexpected visitors.

After the two of them had finished eating, Midori showed her to the bath. "Come with me?" Nanako asked as Midori rummaged around for a cute towel for her to use after.

Racking her brains, she realized that in all the months she had been helping take care of the little girl, they had never shared a bath. Well, it was about time to change that, especially as it was her first time in Midori's tub. "Sure! Give me a moment first. Here's the shampoo," she said while handing the large bottle to Nanako, who took it with both hands.

One of the downsides to her hair, Midori knew, was needing more cleaning than normal.

Pretty quickly, they were in the tub, filled with hot water. Nanako sat in Midori's lap playing with a rubber duck that she had found mixed in with the bath supplies while Midori washed her hair. There wasn't a lot of it, though she found herself thinking about what kind of styles she could put it into. Braid it? Probably not as Nanako was still pretty young. Letting it all hang down was out of the question without a proper haircut. The option of twintails or even a pig tail seemed best, and it would be something that she could do for herself without needing adult supervision.

So she asked. "Hey, Nana-chi? Want me to make your hair pretty?"

"You can do that?" Whatever disappointment she had in being forced to come over to her Big Sister's house had evaporated. Nanako twisted around to look her in the eye "Really?"

"Really!" Midori promised. "Although it won't be tonight. We have to let the hair dry out properly, and Big Sis is tired."

Nanako looked sad at that, but Midori took care of that with a hug. "Come on, let's wash up, and go to bed. She passed Nanako a scrub brush then held out her arms in front of the two of them. "You can help me clean!"

Later on still, Midori and Nanako were putting together the bed for the night, Midori laying out the futons for the two of them while Nanako was in charge of the blankets and pillows considering she brought her own with her.

"Big sis?" Nanako asked as she fluffed up the pillows, or tried to at least. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"What do you mean?" The question and answer were honest enough that Midori was honestly confused as to their nature. "I'm not hurt!"

"Your arm," Nanako said as she pointed at Midori's left side.

And she understood. Her left arm wrapped around her near-faded scars from over a year ago, memories buried forcing their way into her mind's eye. "No, Nana-chi. I'm not hurt." she forced herself to let go of the memories. "Well, not for a long time." As long as she skipped the concussion last year, plus the myriad small things that came with fighting Shadows. "Let's got to bed!"

Much later in the night, Nanako woke to the gentle snoring of her big sister wrapping herself around her like a blanket. As she snuggled further into the warm embrace, she saw her arm in the light cast from the street outside. Faint marks ran all the way up from her wrist to where the pyjamas started, and if she turned, she could see a hint of the same around her collar.

Touching them with one finger, her big sister responded by hugging her closer, squeezing gently and... crying? Bis sister was having a nightmare? She knew exactly what to do about that from the times she slept with daddy. Turning inwards, she faced her big sister and wrapped her arms around her neck in a hug before going back to sleep. There would be no more nightmares.

13 September 2010
Yasoinaba High School, Student Council Room
After School

It was just the two of them, Dan and Midori. She had found out his full name, and agreed that 'Dan' was much simpler to use. "And my class is last," she announced as she stamped the proposal for her class' participation in the upcoming festival. "And not a minute too soon."

"Or too late," the Quiz King replied, taking the paper and filing it with the others. "Haunted House?"

"Yep. Only one this year, so there's no worry about overlap."

"Should be interesting. What are you doing?" He checked the time on the clock at the other end of the room.

"Me? I'm in charge of costuming and make-up." The two played to her strengths, though she knew full well she couldn't custom make everything in the time required unless she cut classes. Therefore she had already gathered up a couple people to start working on things as well.

"That sounds good," he said. "Can you help me take all this down to the teacher's office?" He indicated the stacks of papers, as well as other things that needed to head back down the two flights of stairs. "And we need to stop by the Announcements Room to drop off the messages for next week."

"Who's in charge of that next week anyways? Ami or Kon?" Midori gathered up what she was asked too, and made for the door. "They keep switching off and it's hard to tell who has it when."

"I think, regarding those two, we should just let them sort it out themselves." Dan opened the door with his foot, then closed it with his shoulder once they had both stepped outside. The rain rippled against the windows. "At least it's not cold enough to start snowing yet."

Midori shivered. That much rain would be a lot of snow. She needed to make sure she had the right clothes for it, as well as Daddy and Nanako. "Please don't remind me." They stopped by the Announcements room and finding no one in there, dropped of the sheets with the scheduled announcements for the following week on the table. "I need to check to see if we have a snow shovel," in addition to making sure the heater in the corner of the house was operating properly. Hopefully that wouldn't involve hiring a professional to start the thing.

They descended down the two flights of stairs, though the Teacher's Office was on the far side of the school. People who were still hanging around the school for whatever reason went around them, which was good as they walked in relative silence.

Morooka took the paperwork from them, professionally thanking them for all their hard work, though Midori thought that he was a bit pleased with himself for some strange reason. But it wasn't her concern so she headed for her class to pick up her stuff before heading home for the day.

"You don't have to follow me," she said as Dan led the way up the stairs to the second floor classes.

"No, but you are following me," he replied, causing Midori to roll her eyes. "Besides, I'm a second year too, remember? My class is up here as much as yours."

"Yeah, I know. 2-4."

"Ah, good!" He looked around as though checking out who was around and who was not. "If you don't mind, I would like to walk with you a ways from the school. There is something I need to discuss."

"Couldn't do it in the office?" She had to go right from the stairs while he had to go right. "Fine. Meet you at the lockers."

Front Gate

He waited until they were actually off the school grounds before he spoke. "I have been under pressure for the past week or so from some of my classmates to do something," he said as they descended down the road toward the town proper.

"Yes? Go on." Midori wasn't ready to play coy with him, and to be fair, it wasn't something he was good at either. "Talk plainly."

"Very well," He took a hard moment to steady himself. "I am under some pressure to ask you to be my girlfriend."

"What? Someone passed the Amagi Challenge?" That her first response was less about the impending boyfriend as someone had finally managed to get past Chie and attract Yukiko's attention was something she would reconsider once she had time to think about it."

"No, actually." He at least had the good grace to look away and not match eyes with her. "However, it seems that a lot of our fellow students seem to be under the impression that I, being the Quiz King am suitable for you, the Queen of the school." The word choice and emphasis was mistakable, as was his tone. He didn't like the idea.

Midori didn't respond at once, knowing that whatever came out of her mouth would probably be wrong. Instead, she kept walking at a sedate pace, allowing Dan to stay beside her. "You want to fake it?"

"Effectively, yes." The King had obviously prepared for this as he kept speaking without pausing to think. "I want to make it clear to you that I, personally, do not think that this is an appropriate course of action, but circumstances beyond my control have forced the issue." He tried to sound apologetic, but it wasn't something he seemed used to saying.

Midori jumped on the weak point in his argument. "If you wanted to say that you didn't have an interest in me as a girl, then I forgive you. I am not so arrogant as to think my charms will cause every male in the school to fall head over heels for me." She laughed a little. "That would be way too much work to deal with anyways. And Yukiko already has that market cornered."

"That... is a relief." Dan replied with an ease in his chest. "I was concerned you would take this personally."

"Oh, I am!" Midori said right back. "But not against you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied on reflex. "So, basically, you're being pressured into asking me out by your friends because they think that some silly nickname or title justifies the actions."

"Essentially correct."

"Accepted." Midori agreed without any further need. She was pleased when she saw a flicker of shock cross Dan's face. "We might as well get that out of the way before we can discuss the details of how this is supposed to work."

The Quiz King nodded, recovering from the quick capitulation. He had to remind himself that despite her appearance, she did have the second highest marks in their grade, and it seemed like she could read him like he read a book.

"Shall we discuss the basics today then?" He asked as they neared the intersection at the bottom of the hill. There were students down there who looked up and saw the two of them coming and started whispering amidst themselves. It looks like the rumors were already starting.

"No," Midori said, seeing the same thing. "Too much too soon. Besides, I'm going to have to deal with my friends tomorrow asking me about all this."

"So, we should agree that I asked and you agreed with no embellishments?"

Midori nodded. "Yes. That seems the best. We can tailor how we present ourselves in response to what people are expecting of us."

"Makes sense." He agreed as he considered the simplicity of the plan in allowing the others to define their 'relationship' while allowing the two of them the knowledge that it was all a ruse. And it would prevent them from becoming too invested in their cover if the majority of work on it was done from the outside. "Did you want my phone number in case something comes up?"

"No," Midori said. "I already got it off the Student Council register when I put my information in. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think this is where we should go our separate ways."

Samegawa Flood Plain

Midori walked under the shelter of her umbrella, rain pattering against the plastic, going over what just happened in her mind, though her thoughts were more circles than straight lines.

She had been not-asked to be the girlfriend (or did he ask to be her boyfriend? The nuances could be very important) of the so-called 'King' of the school. While it was certainly something she would normally have jumped on with little regard, she had to force herself to thing about just how this was going to affect everything from well... everything!

And she just had to open her big mouth and agree! Was the appeal of having a boyfriend – even one with training wheels attached - to much that she just jumped on it?

Well, she was a second year highschooler. It was only natural. And there was no promise or indication that this would be a long-term thing. Just play the part for a while and it will all blow over. Right?

HEE~~YYYY THERE!

It's Dolly!

Now, I'm giving this special update to apologize for missing the one last time. I'm so~ooo vewy sorry!

You see, I got a proper confession!

Not one of those silly ones!

But someone actually asking the me that exists outside of the camera! I wonder if he knows about me? Anyways, I had to say yes because of things, so I'll keep you all up to date on everything.

Oh, and if I see anyone be mean to me or him anywhere, you'll stop being my friend!

Komaki Residence
Evening

Midori picked up the ringing phone. "Hel"
"Name, address and date of birth," Aigis demanded without giving Midori a chance to get through the first syllable of her greeting. "I will conduct a background check."

"What."

"On your new boyfriend."

Midori hit her head against the wall. "Aigis, relax. It's fake."

"You falsely claimed to have gotten a boyfriend?" The robot's tone was sharp. "Why?"

"The claim isn't false. It's just that he was forced to ask because of pressure from his friends, and a silly title of his, and when he explained why to me, I agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend and vice versa in order to simplify things for both of us."

Aigis thought this over in her own way. "So you are lying."

"Not quite."

"Explain."

Midori related how Dan approached her, and his logic in his proposition, and how she accepted. "Does that satisfy you?"

"It does. I know have enough information to commence a full background check. I will get back to you once I have the results." Before Midori could interject any more, Aigis hung up.

She stared at the phone for a second before resetting the device and punching in a memorized number. It rang once, then twice, each tone causing her to worry more and more. "Hel"
"FUUKA! YOU HAVE TO STOP AIGIS!" Midori didn't wait for Fuuka to finish her greeting. "She's reacting badly to my latest video and you need to stop her!"

"Midori? What? What are you talking about?"

"I said I had a boyfriend, and Aigis called and now she's doing a background check on him!"

"What?" Fuuka was far too confused by the sudden information to respond more intelligently. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know! Maybe she's worried? But stop her!"

"I can't. She's not here." Fuuka apologized. "I... I think you're out of luck on this one."

Midori wept crocodile tears. "No! Please don't say that!"

"Sorry, Midori."

"Alright. You are forgiven." Midori wiped away her false reactions. "I'll just figure something out."

14 September 2010
Yasogami High School, Front Gates
After School

Chie was waiting for her at the gates, standing there like a statue, legs spread and arms crossed for maximum effect as a barrier. Yukiko leaned against the side of the gates, seemingly unconcerned by the whole thing. "There you are!"

"I am here," Midori said as she approached gently, being calm in the face of the young girl's exuberance. "Is there something you wanted from me?"

"Yes! Training! This social stuff is hard!" Chie complained loudly as other students passed them by. Most ignored the two of them, while others watched just long enough to assure themselves that the Queen had everything in hand.

Midori tilted her head. "You think you can train social skills?"

"Hell yea!" Chie thumped her chest. "Yukiko," she stepped in a bit closer and lowered her voice dramatically, "she's nice and all to everyone, but she's not that good at telling me why. Or how."

Midori instantly listed several points in her head. Yukiko had the Amagi name to go with it, and was probably trained by her mother in proper service etiquette, which she took with her into public. That triggered a cultural appreciation of her attitude, which meant she appeared 'desirable' in the more passive sense. Then she had to admit that her hair and face were also pretty, only adding to the effect. She sighed, then returned her attention to Chie. "So, what have you been doing?"

"Running around, introducing myself, and asking people if they want to be my friends. Duh!"

Midori wanted to slap her own face. "That's... not how you do it."

"Then teach me!"

"Is there a problem?" Dan came up behind Midori to stand at her side. "You are blocking the way, Satonaka-san."

"Well soo~ory!" Chie said as she refused to move. "But I have business with Midori, and that needs to be taken care of."

"And you're failing," Midori said harshly, no longer interested in playing nice with the first-year. "I asked you to learn to be more social, to better understand people, and by your own admission you have done nothing but accost people without first reaching out to them!" She stopped in a huff. "You won't learn from me. You failed. Begone."

Chie didn't move as Midori walked past her, doing her best to ignore the green-jacketed girl. She didn't stop moving until she reached the bottom of the hill, her other senses telling her Dan was still following her at a comfortable distance. "I didn't want to do that," she admitted.

"It's not my place to get involved, but would you mind sharing what has happened?"

Midori spun around, glad for the opportunity to vent to a neutral party. "Short of it is that Chie is jealous of me, and is trying to do things she thinks will help her out without understanding what she is doing, or why, or even how!" She stamped her foot in irritation. "And her blindness to her own folly irritates me!"

Dan kept his face impassive. "It seems to me that this is far more complicated than you're telling me."

Midori smiled. "Of course! It also involves the social structure of the school, age, personal relationships and everything else that we girls keep hidden from the boys that allow us to run the school without you knowing!"

Dan let a grin crack onto his face. "Ah. One of those."

"One of those."

Komaki Residence

Midori announced she was home, knowing her daddy was in thanks to his car being in the driveway. Nana-chi wasn't home either, as her shoes weren't in the entry way.

"Welcome home!" her daddy announced from the kitchen, setting alarm bells off in her head.

"Are you cooking, daddy?" She worried that he was, and prepared herself for the worst.

"No," he said as she approached. Midori relaxed a little bit once it was obvious that he was actually using the counter space for work related things. "So, what's this I hear about you getting a boyfriend?"

"Well..." Midori had no idea how to respond to that. This was the worst position she could be in, as she had hoped to ease her father into the idea before revealing it was a fake.

But her father was no stranger to his daughter's actions and preferences. "Don't worry about introducing him to me," he said as he went from paper to paper. "Bring him over tomorrow, and we can sit down and have a man-to-man talk."

"Daddy!" Midori objected loudly. "You are not threatening him!"

Mamoru looked up, quite serious. "I would never do that. For one, I know you can handle yourself. Secondly, any threats will come from Ryotaro. He's got the face and the job to do it better than me."

Midori's brain fell out the side of her head as she processed that Uncle Dojima was willing to do the traditional 'hurt my little girl, and I hurt you' speech. "Dan doesn't need that!"

"Oh, so his name is Dan? Good to know." Mamoru said as he watched his daughter's reactions with a little bit of mirth. It was so rare he got advantage of her like this, and watching her panic like that reminded him so much of his wife. "Oh, one more thing. Amane and Mari will be joining us for supper and staying tonight. One of the other residents in their building caused water damage, and they need to find a different place to sleep."

"WHAT?" Midori yelled. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" She dropped her school bags and ran for the stairs. "I have to get sleeping mats out and aired and more food needs to be prepared, and you should have called me!"

She vanished up stairs before Mamoru had a chance to say that Amane had already taken the time to set themselves up and had already gone out shopping.

Evening

Ryotaro and Nanako came over for supper, making for a large six-person meal that needed to be prepared. Midori, Mari and Amane took over the kitchen, and while Nanako wanted to help with all the other women, she was instead gently relegated to the task of setting the table.

The two fathers relaxed a little bit at the hustle and bustle that came from the kitchen. "Last time I tried cooking, Midori nearly threw me out of the kitchen," Ryotaro admitted. "But that was at least a month ago."

"That she has," Mamoru said, proud of the massive leaps and strides his daughter had made now more than ever. And he knew she would find some way to make him more proud in the future. "I still haven't tried. She wants the practice, I'm not going to get in her way."

"And Nanako is a lot happier now," Ryotaro said as he took a sip of water. "That I can trust Midori to be there when I'm not for her is such a load off my mind."

Mamoru frowned a little bit on the inside, but didn't let it show. "Think it's going to snow sooner or later?"

"With this much rain, I think earlier." Ryotaro said, looking out the window at the darkening skies. "One good cold front, and it will be white until March."

Mamoru shivered at the thought and image. He was far more used to the more southern climates. "Right. Make sure the winter stuff is out and ready in the closet."

"Wait until the snow falls, and then it warms up enough to rain," Ryotaro said as he leaned over to look into the kitchen. "Looks like they're almost done in there."

"Ah, good." Mamoru started to organize the stuff on the table, even as Nanako tried to help out her Big Sister with anything she could. Midori tried to shoo her away from being underfoot until Mari took the situation into her own hands and picked Nanako off the floor.

"Time to wash up!" She announced, putting her experiences as a school nurse to good use. Nanako squirmed until Midori told her to go with Mari and show her where the soap was kept. Now with a job to do, she went to it to make her Big Sister proud.

"Hey," Mamoru came to a decision. "After supper, why don't the three of us," it was obvious who the third was, "go out for a drink?"

Samegawa Floodplain
Night

In the end, Mari had to decline due to her shift work at the hospital. So the two men had put on their jackets, left the house to the domain of the girls, and walked down to the Central Shopping District and the Shiroku Pub in peace.

Once there, they settled into the usual spot, and ordered the usual drinks. They talked about the weather a bit more, given that this would be the first winter that the Komaki and Mochizuki families had in Yasoinaba. As the native, it was Dojima's responsibility to mix truth with tall tales in order to help and hinder his friend. The alcohol certainly didn't hurt either.

On the way home, Mamoru decided to walk off the path and down to the river bank, dragging Ryotaro down with him. As they walked beside the river, a thin sliver of moonlight bouncing off the water lit their way.

"So, how are things going with your family," Mamoru asked as he watched his breath fog up in the air.

"They're well. My sister and her husband are taking a job overseas next year, and they're asking around to see if anyone is willing to take care of their son."

"Oh. Are you?"

"I don't see why not," Ryotaro said. "His name is Yu, and he's a year younger than Midori. I need to make a decision by January though, in order to make sure all the arrangements are in place." He sighed, looking up into the clear sky. "Add to that getting a new partner, and things are going to be hectic around the house for a while.

"So, Adachi got the job?"

"Yep. Kodai is teaching him what he needs to know to take his place," Ryotaro said. "He's a good kid. Just needs practical experience and he'll be a brilliant detective in a few years."

"That's good to hear." Mamoru replied.

"I know!" Ryotaro said even as the alcohol slipped away at his inhibitions. "Without Midori, I don't know what I would do! She's so trustworthy, and Nanako looks up to her. I could leave her in her Bis Sister's care, and not worry about a thing!"

Mamoru punched Ryotaro.

Falling to the ground, the police officer was stunned before his training kicked in. He got back to his feet and wiped his jaw, checking for bleeding "What was that for?" He demanded as Mamoru stood there, glowering. The two men swayed a little as they held their ground. "What?"

"Punching first, talking later." Mamoru said just before he charged at Ryotaro, who spun around the blow to try and throw him away. But the former stuntman was too experienced for that, and stayed within reach of the police officer. He lashed out with a quick jab, which Ryotaro deflected before being forced to defend against a couple sharp body blows.

"It's a fight you want? It's a fight you get!"

Yasoinaba Municipal Hospital

Mari was called down to the front desk personally, which caused her to hastily reorganize her workload. Annoyed, but refusing to show it out of professionalism, she went down to the first floor, and stopped when she saw why she had been called.

"Detective Dojima asked for you to help," the front Nurse said apologetically. "Said it was a family matter."

Mamoru and Ryotaro sat in adjacent seats, faces bruised, both showing signs of having fought each other. "What happened?" she demanded in the nearly-empty room.

"We had a discussion. Like men." Mamoru said.

"We let our fists do the talking." Ryotaro clarified.

"Tell me why, or I'm going to call your daughter," she pointed at Mamoru, "and let her deal with the two of you."

They shared a look before Ryotaro deflated. "Mamoru was.. is concerned that I've been depending on Midori too much to raise Nanako. He.. objected to the amount of trust I have in her, and wanted me to be more active in Nanako's life."

She looked to Mamoru, who was unapologetic. "So you decided the best way to sort this out was through a fight?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he said. "She's the better person in all this, and I don't want to see her taken advantage of."

"You sure this isn't you reacting to her getting a boy friend?" Ryotaro poked at Mamoru with one finger. "Can't beat him up, so I'm the next best thing?"

"Oh shut up!" The two friends shared a grin. Whatever happened was behind them, and Mari saw no reason to stay around.

"Fine. You two men do your thing. I'm going back to work. The duty-nurse can see to your injuries, and don't be surprised if Midori adds to them!"