When I first started to write this chapter I thought it'd be the "Father does daughter's hair" chapter, but somehow it became this. :')
I just thought that Ryuuji would be better at styling hair, not just because he's had so much practice with his own, but because it's kind of the one thing that is "his and Lily's".

I also deliberately left it vague about exactly how old Lily is and what "school" she's starting. Though the majority of children are enrolled in kindergarten, it's not mandatory in Japan, so it's not part of the standard teaching curriculum. Not that I'll be writing tons of chapters with her in this grade. I'll be continuing to jump the timeline very rapidly, except for next two chapters which will actually be direct continuations of this chapter. :D

Those two chapters are already available on my Patre0n for anyone who's interested.

Aaaaand once again, this chapter has been brought to you by Jaiden, VineTabris, Senem, and Angerwar! Thank you everyone for your support and words of encouragement, and as always, I hope you enjoy reading~!

The Importance of Being Prepared

Sometimes the way Ryuuji always had to plan and research and prepare for everything really got on Rin's nerves. He found it draining—always having to follow a schedule—and it was hard to be spontaneous when you had to pencil activities in between three people's schedules.

This wasn't one of those times though. Right now Rin was thankful.

"Lily! Breakfast is ready!" he called as he plated the food, setting it out for her. His own breakfast was not so neatly prepared, and he'd been eating while he cooked in an effort to save time. "Lily, you're going to be late!" he called again.

It was the much anticipated first day of school, and Ryuuji was not there. He'd been called away late the previous night for an emergency mission, leaving Rin to tackle the responsibilities of being a parent on his own. Not entirely alone though. They'd already done a tour of the school, figured out where her class was and met Lily's teacher, and before leaving on his mission Ryuuji had packed Lily's backpack with everything she'd need and set out her school uniform for her—he'd even labeled her jacket and shoes so they wouldn't get lost. All Rin had to do was feed her and get her to school on time. It was turning out to be not such a simple task.

He knew she was awake—she'd been so excited she'd practically jumped out of bed the moment he went in to wake her—but what was taking her so long?

He made his way to her bedroom and found it empty. The bathroom door, however, was closed, and he could hear her fumbling about inside.

Rin knocked on the door. "Peanut, you doin' okay?"

The door flew open and Lily stood before him, tears in her eyes, her hair a mess of barrettes and hair ties. She had tried to do her hair herself, and it stood up in bunches at odd angles as she'd failed to properly secure the hair ties around her pigtails.

"Y-you have to help me," she sputtered, sniffling pitifully and wiping away tears, "You have to do my hair like Dad does."

"O-of course," he said, trying not to laugh.

He grabbed a brush and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. She sat between his legs with her back to him and he started to undo her mess, unclipping all the barrettes and trying to remove the tangled hair ties.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Pumpkin. You kinda' made a mess of it."

She hunched her shoulders and Rin could practically hear the pout in her voice.

"Dad doesn't pull my hair when he does it."

"I ain't doing it on purpose," Rin said, his own pout in full force, "Besides, Dad normally doesn't start by having to fix your mess."

He finished removing the hair ties and started to brush her hair out neatly, mindful of the tangles she'd created, then parted her hair evenly, more or less, as he tried to remember how Ryuuji normally did it.

When he finished he sat back to survey his work, pursing his lips in a slight frown. One of the pigtails was too loose and they were lopsided. He undid one of them and tried again, but that result wasn't much better, and Lily winced as he tugged at her hair, trying to get it to obey. In the end he undid everything and opted for a much easier ponytail, accented with a few sparkly barrettes.

"How's that?" he asked as he held her up in front of the mirror. After a moment of intense thought she nodded her head.

"It'll do."

"Oh, gee… Thanks," Rin said sarcastically as he put her back down. He wasn't that hurt though. It wasn't that Rin never did her hair, but it had sort of become something that Ryuuji and Lily did together, and Rin just wasn't very good at doing anything fancy. Ryuuji was used to spending large amounts of time styling his own hair, and it had spoiled Lily.

"Ready for breakfast?"

"Yeah!" She perked up and raced out of the bathroom, leaving Rin to clean up her mess. When he made his way back out to the kitchen she was already busy gobbling down her meal.

They were running a little behind schedule by the time she finished eating, but Rin took a moment to inspect her uniform, smoothing out the creases and making sure her buttons were done up correctly. It had been a long time since he'd cared about something like that. The desire to impress teachers and other students had died when he realized most of them had made up their minds about the kind of student—the kind of person—he was, but he would be damned before he'd give them a reason to think anything less than the best of his daughter.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded quickly, balling her hands in to tiny fists as she tried to contain her excitement.

"Nervous?" Rin asked as he put on his own coat and shoes.

She shook her head, but her cheeks were flushed and her mouth was set in a hard line. Rin smiled, snorting to himself. She looked like a tiny warrior going off to fight an unwinnable battle, prepared to go down with a fight for some worthy cause.

Rin took Lily's hand and glanced at his watch as they left the apartment. Shit.

They had to run to catch the bus and Lily was out of breath by the time they arrived, even though Rin had carried her part way, only putting her back down once they approached the school. He didn't want to embarrass her, even if she was still probably too young to care about something like that. He didn't want to embarrass himself either, or have the other parents or teachers judge him and make assumptions about her in kind.

The school was bustling with activity. Parents, students, and teachers alike swarmed the school like ants as they all hurried through the final preparations of the big day. Rin clutched Lily's hand tightly as they navigated the crowd, making their way to her classroom where they lingered beside the door.

Rin knelt in front of her, brushing her uniform off once more and giving her one final look over to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything even though it was far too late to fix things even if he had. Everything had to be okay. She would make friends. They would like her. Everyone liked her… Well, he might have been a bit biased there.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Lily asked, and Rin stopped, looking up to meet her eyes. She smiled brightly and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly while he sat there, stunned.

"Don't worry," she said, "Everything'll be okay."

He blinked, letting the tension ease out of him as he realized how concerned he must have looked if his own daughter was comforting him. He forced himself to smile and laugh, hoping it sounded more confident to Lily than it did to him.

"Dad went over my numbers and letters with me last night, and I'll be polite and follow the rules and make lots of friends, so you don't have to worry," she said as she flashed him a confident smile, puffing out her chest as she braced her hands on her hips.

He actually laughed at that. Ryuuji would do that, wouldn't he—not even in school yet, and Ryuuji was already tutoring her. Well, at least Lily felt prepared.

At least one of them was doing this properly. Her first day and he'd almost gotten her there late. Almost.

Rin pulled her in for one last hug and then clung to her, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself to let her go. It was, and at the same time, was not like when he had gone back to work. He was pretty certain she'd only cried then because he'd made a bigger deal out of it than necessary—It wasn't like that was the first time they'd ever been separated. Shiemi and her mother occasionally watched her. Ryuuji sometimes spent time alone with her to give Rin the day off. She'd even stayed at a daycare or with a babysitter on more than one occasion when everyone had been busy and Rin and Ryuuji had needed to take some time off for themselves. This was… It was different. It marked a much bigger change, not in their relationship, but in Lily's growth and independence. Once more, he was apparently prepared to make a much bigger deal out of it than she was.

He felt a little bit as if he wasn't necessary in her life anymore, even though he knew that was absurd. He was her father. That would never change.

He released her from the hug and she planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek before turning towards the classroom.

"Thank you, Daddy! I love you!" she said, waving at him over her shoulder before she hurried in to the room to introduce herself.

"I- You're welcome. I love you too!" he shouted after her before she was out of earshot. He wasn't sure what she had thanked him for, but it didn't matter. Whatever she needed, he would do it. He would be there even if she didn't need him, just in case.

He watched her from the doorway for a moment, making sure she was comfortable and well situated, and then stepped aside. His eyes prickled with tears, and he swiped them away quickly as he retreated from the school, happy as much as he was sad, and not wanting Lily to see him upset. Once he was outside the building and out of everyone else's way he took a moment to calm himself, contemplating his newfound freedom. He hadn't made plans with anyone and felt as if he suddenly had no idea what he was supposed to do with himself now that there was no daughter to take to the park or play with, even though there was still plenty of- ugh- chores that needed doing. Well… There was that new issue of manga he'd wanted to buy, and that show he'd wanted to catch up on, and he could always just take a nap. Naps were good. Naps had gotten him through some hard times.

There was also that interesting cake recipe he'd seen online which he wanted to try…

Yes. That's what he'd do. Lily's first day of school was a pretty big event after all, come to think of it—definitely worthy of celebration and cake.

The spring had already returned to his step as he left the grounds and made his way back home.