Chapter 2: Summertime

A/N- So, each chapter is going to be one episode, each from Ushio's POV. Thus, the chapter names will be what the episode was called. In this case, episode 17 was called 'Summertime'.

So please review, and the next chapter should be up soon!

I then heard the pitter-patter of his feet as he wondered around the house. He found the note that Sanae left him. He picked up the note, "I guess they left me a note…" he said to himself. Little did he know that I was in the house, too. "You're-you're kidding me, right?" he asked after he read the note.

All of a sudden, I realized something, "That man is my father." I thought. I could just tell that it was him from the pictures. I got really nervous. Why, I didn't know. I just wanted to go to my room, and I didn't want him to find me. I ran across the kitchen, as quietly as I could. I don't know if he heard me or not. I ran upstairs, but he followed me. Then, he spotted a room. It was a room that I have only been in only a few times before-it was my Mommy's room.

"Nagisa…" he said to himself.

'He might find me…' I thought. I ran past him and down the stairs, as quietly and quickly as possible.

But he went back down the stairs and I was running out of places to hide. I ran past him again, and hid behind the doorway of the kitchen. It was the only place I could think of.

"Ushio?" he called out. I gasped a little bit-I had no idea that he knew me. I thought that he forgot about me.

I stuck half of my head and body out of the doorframe and I tried to avoid eye contact. When I built enough courage, I walked out of the doorframe. He just stared at me, with his dark blue eyes. He wouldn't stop, and it was silent the whole time. It was really awkward, so I hid back behind the doorframe. I don't think he likes me very much.

"Stop hiding, you don't have to be so nervous. Now come on out, okay?" he said.

As much as I didn't want to, I stopped hiding.

"So Sanae and the Old Man had to leave, huh?" he asked me. I knew that he was trying to make conversation. "So what are we going to do?"

I didn't know how to respond, so I said that first thing that came to mind, "I want Sanae." I squeaked.

"Didn't you just hear me? I said that Sanae wasn't here." he said sternly.

"I want Akki."

"The Old Man isn't here, either." He said.

'Why does he keep calling Akki 'Old Man'? He's not that old, is he?' I thought.

There was another moment of silence.

He sighed. "You gotta be kidding me, what, did they just leave without telling you anything at all?" he asked angrily.

I nodded yes. But it wasn't true. They told me that they were going out somewhere, they just didn't know exactly where.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked one more time.

This time, I said what I really wanted to do, "I wanna go on a trip."

He put his hands on his hips, "Yeah, well that ain't happening. Sanae and the Old Man are gone, remember? So you want to go on a trip alone, is that it?"

"No, I wanna go with Sanae and Akki." I replied with a little more confidence.

"What did I just tell you?" he asked.

I was so disappointed. I was a little scared to go on the trip with him, but it could have given me a chance to overcome my sadness and become close with my Daddy…can I even call him Daddy? I barley know him, and I don't know if he considers me his daughter. If he doesn't, then I shouldn't call him Daddy.

It smelled like smoke in the house. Not the kind of smoke that happens when someone cooks, but an icky smelling smoke. I poked my head around the doorframe, and saw my 'Daddy', sitting there smoking. He looked like he was deep in thought. I took a long, good look at him. The only sound I could hear was my breathing.

"Ushio." He turned and looked at me. I was so caught off guard! I quickly hid back behind the doorframe. He didn't say anything, so I stopped hiding and looked at him.

"Are you trying to hide from me?" he asked.

'How did he know?!' I thought.

"I can still see you." He continued.

'Well I guess this wasn't a very good hiding spot…' I thought.

"Don't just stand there, come sit with me."

I slowly obeyed.

"You can sit down ." He said.

I didn't sit down. I just stood there.

"Have it your way." He sighed, "Anyway, um, wherever the heck they went, I'm sure the Old Man and Sanae will be back later tonight. For now, let's just stay here and wait. Sound good?"

I slowly rocked my body from side to side, "But the trip…" I said quietly and disappointedly. I stopped rocking.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you can go somewhere nice after they get back." He took a new cigarette out from his shirt pocket, "Until then, why don't you go play by yourself?"

"Okay!" I tried to sound happy. I didn't mind playing by myself, but it would have been nice if he offered to play with me. I didn't want to be a bother to him, though, so I ran off so that I could play by myself, just like he asked me to.

I heard him mumble something to himself. I continued running, but looked back to see if he was following me again.

Before I knew it, BAM! I had tripped over one of my toys that I hadn't picked up earlier. I landed flat on my face, right where me and 'Daddy's' sandals were. My stomach was pressed up against the step.

"Ushio?" I heard 'Daddy' call my name.

'Don't cry,' I thought to myself, 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry…' All that came out of my mouth were silent whimpers and I sniffled every now and then.

All of a sudden, I felt someone lift me up. That person was 'Daddy'.

"That's what you get for running in the house. Did you hurt yourself? " He asked me as he sat me on my bottom.

I kept whimpering and sniffling. If I could, I would have bursted into tears-but I wasn't allowed to cry in front of people.

He lifted my arm and head and examined me, "You got a scrape anywhere?" he put my head and arm down, "Looks like you're in good shape…Be careful okay?"

I stopped whining and sniffling. Then, something caught my eye. I put my sandals on and slowly walked over to my toy, . I bent down and picked him up. I bent down one more time and picked up his wheel and tail, which had broken off of him when I tripped over him. How he got all the way over there, I will never know.

I was slowly followed by my 'Daddy', who bent down to my height.

"Is that the toy you were playing with?" he asked nicely.

"Mm-hm." I replied.

"Huh. Seems like poor didn't survive the fall."

"I'm sorry, ." I sadly said to . I felt bad for . He didn't do anything but make me happy. And what do I do? I hurt him. Poor little turtle…

Out of nowhere, 'Daddy' took hand. Our hands looked kind of funny next to each other. 'Daddy's hand looked really big next to my tiny hands.

He observed carefully, "Hm…nothing a little glue can't fix up, right?" he asked me.

I looked up at him-it was a really good idea! would be better in no time!

"Hang on a sec," he said as he took 's broken tail and wheel out of my other hand, "I'll put it back together.

I took my sandals off at the step then followed him into the living room.

'Daddy' put a little more glue where 's tail used to be. He had already put his wheel on. He the bottle of glue and put 's tail back where it should be. I watched, amazed by how he fixed so good and fast.

"You can still see the crack, but it's not all that noticeable. Beats having its head torn off at least." He said as he handed back to me. I stood up and took from him cautiously, "Don't play with it until it dries. Otherwise the wheels will get stuck." He warned me.

I ran off into my room to put in a special place so that he could dry. I kept him there for a good five minutes, 'He should be okay by now.' I thought and grabbed . I started to play with him, but after a while he wouldn't move. I walked back to living room and poked my head around the corner. And lying right in front of me was my 'Daddy's sleeping figure.

'Hmm…well Akki and Sanae told me that if there was ever an emergency, then I should tell someone…' I thought. I looked at poor , who I was holding in one of my hands, '…well this is an emergency! is hurt!'

I slowly walked over to 'Daddy's sleeping figure. I knelt down and shook his shoulder, hoping he would wake up. He did eventually. He groaned a little but as his eyes fluttered open. He looked at me and slowly sat up.

"What is something wrong?" he groggily asked.

" won't move anymore." I told him, trying to avoid eye contact.

He carefully took out of my hand and tried to move the wheel that he glued back on.

"Hmm…I thought so. I told you not to play with it until the glue dried, didn't I?" He stopped examining , "Well it's busted, the wheel won't turn anymore. Sorry."

"You can't fix him again?" I asked.

"Nope, he's done. As good as dead. What should I do now? Throw him in the trash?"

I couldn't believe that he was considering throwing poor in the trash! I quickly grabbed from him and shook my head no.

"Hey, I'm just kidding." He said.

'That's not even something to joke about! is very important and should be treated as such." I thought to myself. I looked back at , trying to think of a way that I could fix him. Then I looked at my 'Daddy'. Then, I had a thought, 'Maybe he can tell me about my Mommy…' I thought as I looked at 'Daddy'.

"Hm? Is there something else you want?"

"I want Sanae." I lied. Yes, I missed Sanae, but I want to know so many things about 'Daddy'. Like, why is this the first time I'm meeting you? Why haven't I seen you before when you're supposed to be my Daddy? Can you tell me anything about my Mommy? Those questions ran through my head.

He got onto his knees and looked past me, "What, is she back now?"

"No, she's gone…" I replied.

"I see…" he looked at the clock, "…I'm getting hungry. "

We got up and he opened the fridge. He didn't see anything to his likes.

He looked down at me, "I'll go buy us some dinner. Anything in particular you want? If you don't give me a suggestion, then you can't complain." He closed the fridge.

A few minutes after my 'Daddy' left, I put on my shoes and followed behind him. I was very far away, but I could still see him. We walked for a while until I heard someone call out, "Okazaki, I haven't seen you in ages."

My 'Daddy' paused, which gave me a chance to catch up and stand right behind him.

"Oh, uh, hello." He said.

The lady looked at me, "Aren't you a lucky girl, Ushio? Are you going shopping with your Daddy today?"

'So I can call him my Daddy…' I thought.

Daddy looked back, "Huh?" then down at me, "When did you get here?"

"I'm sorry to hear that the two of you have been living apart," the lady said to my Daddy, "Not that I blame you. I know you work full time and it's hard for a child to grow up in a single parent home."

'Is that why I never met him? Is that why I don't live with him?' I wondered.

"Oh, but you do visit each other sometimes, don't you?" she asked Daddy.

'I wish that we did but we don't…' I thought. 'I wonder if Daddy was thinking the same thing?'

"Yeah, once in a while…" Daddy said.

'So he doesn't think that? He just lies instead? I guess he lied for a reason…' I thought.

She looked at me, "Of course, I'm sure you'd be lonely if you didn't see each other." She looked back at my Daddy, "Even if you live apart, you two are still family, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah, of course." Daddy said.

I looked up at Daddy. 'So he does think of me as his daughter? Or is he just saying that?' I thought.

"Bye-bye, Ushio," the lady said. I looked back at her, "you have fun shopping with your Daddy!" she turned and walked away.

I looked back up to Daddy. Daddy looked back at me.

I stood next to Daddy as I watched him cook. I have no idea what Daddy was cooking.

He placed a small bottle of pepper on the counter. When he placed it, some pepper must've flown from the bottle. Somehow, pepper got in my nose and made me sneeze. Daddy looked down on me as I covered my nose.

A few minutes later, Daddy placed some weird looking rice in front of me, "Here. Eat up."

I looked at the food. It didn't look very tasty.

"C'mon, help yourself," he said as he sat down, "you're a big girl, you can eat on your own."

I put my hands together, bowed my head, and closed my eyes, "I am grateful for this meal." I opened my eyes and grabbed my spoon from the table. I tried to scoop some of the weird rice onto the spoon, but I had to put some on there with my hand. I opened my mouth, moved my hand, and put the spoon into then out of my mouth. I chewed the food very slowly.

It had a weird taste to it. There was only one word I could say to describe it, "Bitter." I said.

"Huh? It's bitter?" Daddy asked. He put some rice onto his chopsticks and put some in his mouth, "Oh, it's the pepper, huh?" he said after a few moments of silence.

"Sorry, but you can't expect me to make fried rice without pepper. Just be a good girl and eat it."

'So that's what this stuff is called…' I thought. I looked Daddy straight in the eye, "Nu-uh." I told him.

"C'mon, Ushio, gimme a break. Didn't Sanae teach you not to be a picky eater?" he asked.

I started to play with the fried rice that was sticking to my thumb and pointer finger, "Yeah, but the stuff Sanae cooks me isn't all icky."

"Fine, don't eat it." Daddy said. He angrily put fried rice in his mouth. I sat there, playing with the rice on my fingers. I put them together, and pull them apart. It was pretty boring.

"Would you eat it if I took the pepper out?" he finally asked.

I didn't look up or stop playing with the rice on my fingers, "Mm-hm."

"But it might taste even worse if I do that."

I looked up at him, "Rice!"

"What kind? You just want some plain rice?"

"Mm-hm."

"Alright, well that's easy for me…" he said as he stood up.

I had pushed the fried rice aside. Daddy placed a small bowl of rice in front of me.

"There you go, plain rice."

I put my spoon in my mouth and looked at both plates, back and forth.

"That's an interesting combination you got there. Fried rice with rice." Daddy said.

"Ick!" I said as I pushed my plate of fried rice towards Daddy.

"D-eh. What do you think you're doing?" he asked me.

I held my bowl of rice, "Just want this."

He sighed, "If that's all you eat while I'm eating fried rice, then it'll look like child abuse!"

'Child abuse? Either way, no one else is here…' I thought. Then I got an idea. I got up and ran to the kitchen. I came back moments later and sat back at the table. I opened the pack of seasoning that I had grabbed and started pouring it onto my rice.

"Oh, seasoning it, huh?" Daddy asked.

I placed the empty packet of season on the table. I put my hands together, closed my eyes, and bowed my head, "I am grateful for this meal." I opened my eyes, grabbed my spoon, and started eating my rice. It tasted much better than that icky fried rice. Soon after, Daddy started eating too.

Soon after dinner was over, I fell asleep in the living room. I would have gone into my bedroom, but I was already too comfortable. Lying there with my head on the pillow and that small blanket was fine.

I woke up the next morning and got ready right away. I got dressed and brushed my teeth and hair. I heard someone outside, opening the bakery. I put my shoes on, and walked outside. I saw Daddy stretching.

"You're up too, huh?" Daddy asked me.

I looked at him for a second, but needed to use the bathroom, "I gotta pee." I told him.

"Then go ahead." He said.

I quickly nodded and ran off. I came back a few minutes later, "I did it all by myself." I said proudly.

"Well I should hope so." He said.

'So that's not something to be proud of?' I thought.

Daddy and I sat next to each other on the single stair in the bakery. The thing that covers the store at night was opened enough for Daddy and me to see out the window.

A family walked by. I heard the Daddy laughing. I've never heard my Daddy laugh like that. "We'll go swimming later, okay?" the Daddy said. My Daddy didn't offer to do fun things with me.

Then the kid started to laugh. My Daddy hasn't heard me laugh before.

"Daddy, are you gonna swim with us?" the boy asked happily.

"You bet I am. I used to be on the swim team!" then he started to laugh again. My Daddy never told me any cool stories about him.

"Umm…" I started.

"What's up?" Daddy asked.

"I gotta go number two." I told him.

"Then go ahead." He sighed.

I stood up, using Daddy's leg to help me balance. I ran to the bathroom. When I was in the bathroom, I didn't just go number two. I also cried a little. It was the only place that I could cry.

When I finished, I flushed the toilet and washed my hands. I put a small smile on my face and opened that bathroom door. I walked back to my Daddy, "I did it all by myself-"

"You don't have to brag about it every single time." He looked at me, "I can do it by myself too, you know."

That hurt. When he said that, I wasn't very proud anymore. I just stood there.

I watched as he dug into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of paper.

"You still wanna go on that trip?" he asked me.

My spirits lightened, "I sure do." I said.

"Well what if it's just you and me?"

I thought about it, 'Just me and my Daddy?' I nodded, "Mm-hm."

"You sure? Even with a mean guy like me? Sanae and the Old Man won't be coming, you know."

"They can't, they haven't come back yet." I said sternly.

He looked down, "That's kind of strange, isn't it? They just left us alone, huh?"

"Yup." I nodded in agreement.

After a moment, he looked up at me, "Alright, just the two of us then."

I smiled and nodded, "Mm-hm!"

I slipped one show on. Then the other. I stomped my feet on the ground to make sure that they fit correctly.

Daddy looked back at me, "Didn't forget anything , did you?"

"Nu-uh!" I told him as I stood up.

"Made sure the doors were locked?"

"Yup."

"Then off we go." He said as he mini-fist-pumped the air.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed as I full-fist-pumped the air.

We've been walking for about five minutes now. The weather was just right-hot, but followed by a cool breeze every now and then.

I was walking next to my Daddy, trying to walk a little fast so that I could keep up. Eventually, I started falling behind, so I skipped all the way to where Daddy and me were going. I'm not sure how long it will take to get there, but on this trip, I want to become close with my Daddy. I want to learn stuff about my Daddy, and maybe even my Mommy. I want to know if my Daddy loves me and thinks of me as his daughter.