The woman fingered the edge of her kimono sleeve. Looking at the mirror, she bit her lip. Maybe it was a bit much for her date with her husband. She shook her head. No, she would dress as fancy as she wanted. After all, how often did her husband offer to take her to the theatre and a nice restaurant?

Pinning her long hair up with a few bobby pins, the woman thought about it. Her husband never took her out. She might as well enjoy it.

A series of loud knocks at the front door stopped her from finishing her hair. Making her way downstairs, careful to not trip over her kimono, she slid the front door open. A familiar-looking boy of about seven stood before her.

"Good day, Mrs. Saotome," greeted the boy politely, bowing slightly.

She smiled, putting a name to the boy's face. The boy's family had just moved in the house across the street, and the family had come over a few days ago to introduce themselves. "Hello, Kentaro."

"I ran into your husband, Mrs. Saotome."

She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

The boy broke into a huge smile. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down a few times. "He was down the street. It's weird! I don't remember him being an animal a few days ago! It must be so cool!"

"Animal?" She frowned as she looked thoughtfully at the boy. He must be so lonely, moving to a new home and new school. She suddenly felt sorry for Kentaro's parents, currently unaware of the chaos that occurred in this town. Sure enough, her husband happily trotted through the entrance gates.

Kentaro twisted his body around to look at her husband. "Oh, there's Mr. Saotome!" He turned back. "Anyway, I gotta go. Do you think I could come over later and check out your dojo?"

She nodded approvingly. "Of course. I'll have my son show you around."

Kentaro took a few steps backwards and then turned around. "Thanks, Mrs. Saotome! Bye, Mr. Saotome!" he said as he passed by her husband.

Her husband walked up to her, and she knelt down on the floor. He crawled onto her lap, purring. He rubbed his face affectionately against her chest. Giving in, she sighed and began to pet his head. "Idiot," Akane murmured, smiling slightly. "Why do I put up with you?"

AN: I tried to make it sound like Nodoka, until the very end. I have no idea if I was successful or not, but whatever.