Sons of the Fathers 5: Epilogue: A Night at the Cafe
One night about two weeks after Ryuji, Ren, and Yusuke got acquainted with their 'donation children' and solved any major problems in their lives, they decided to invite them over to Cafe Kitamura for a get together so they could properly meet the rest of their friends, and they could meet the new and improved Yutaka Watanabe. Right now only the main group, that being the Amamiyas, the Sakamotos, the Mishimas along with Sojiro, the Yajimas, the Kitagawas, the Tanakas, and the Watanabe Family consisting of Daisuke, Shiho, Kaito, and Nariko are the only ones present. The group of 27 are just chatting and partaking in coffee and baked goods until their guests arrive.
"When are yours and Uncle Ren's 'donations' getting here, Uncle Yusuke?" Riku asked the blue haired artist.
"Wataru should be here soon," Yusuke said.
"And Akihiro is a family man," Ren said, "He's got a wife and kid to take care of before he can galavant around with all of us. Not to mention it's a long drive between here and Ine Fishing Village."
While that was going on, some of the other members of the group were talking to the Sakamotos and Yajimas in regards to Yutaka.
"So that long haired rascal you brought in a few weeks ago is totally reformed?" Sumire asked.
"New and improved," Himari smiled.
"Trust us, Sumire," Ryuji added, "You won't even recognize Yutaka when Sae and Ryuta come in with him."
"Hey, guys," Kimiko, who was looking out the front window, called over, "Someone's pulling up in a big fancy limousine!"
Everyone went over to Kimiko and looked outside with her to find the driver stepping out to let whoever was riding in the back out. The person who stepped out from the back of the limousine was a well dressed person in an all white suit with gelled back blue hair and aviator sunglasses covering his reddish-brown eyes.
"That guy looks like Uncle Yusuke if he was cool," Kas said, causing everyone to look in her direction, meaning she had to save face somehow, "-er. If he was cooler. You're already pretty cool Uncle Yusuke."
"It's Wataru!" Haru said excitedly as she went over to the front door to let him in, "Wataru! Welcome to my cafe!"
"It's a pleasure to be here, Haru," Wataru said warmly before looking at her group of friends, "Nice group of friends you've got here. Hello, everyone, my name is Wataru Koyama; rising singer and pop star at your service!"
"Oh, we have a celebrity in our midst," Futaba said, impressed.
"I wouldn't go that far, miss," Wataru said, "Hence why I said I was a rising singer and pop star. But when I get to the top, I'll be sure to think of all of you and thank the Kitagawas especially for all my success. If it weren't for them, I'd still be wasting away as a disc jockey at that radio station in Sapporo. Now look at me, I've got a record deal, I just got back from recording a few potential hit songs, and I even got a call from The Destiny Corporation (Disney Corporation) asking if I could sing a song in their newest animated film coming out later in the fall."
"That's awesome, dude!" Ryuji congratulated Wataru.
"Sounds like you'll be rolling in dough this time next year," Hotaru said.
"That's the plan," Wataru smiled, "Say, maybe if we have time I can sing a few songs for you."
"That would be wonderful!" Yusuke smiled and hugged Wataru, happy to see that he's doing well.
As the group continues to welcome Wataru to the group, Ren looks outside to see a car parallel parking across the street from Cafe Kitamura. He sees Akihiro and Rika getting out before the former grabs a stroller from the trunk so the latter could put Masaru inside.
"Hey guys," Ren called, "Akihiro and his family are here!"
Ren went over to the front door to let the family of three inside.
"Is this the 'Cool Guy Convention'?" Akihiro asked as he and his family entered the cafe.
"Yup, and you're right on time!" Minato smiled.
"Hey guys," Akihiro said in a friendly tone as he met Ren's friend group, "I'm Ren's donation child, Akihiro Hagiwara. This is my wife Rika, and our baby boy Masaru."
"Hello, little Masaru," Kaito said as he and Kimiko gave a friendly wave to the baby, who giggled with glee upon seeing the young couple.
"Aw, our baby remembers you two," Riki said warmly.
"Did you miss us little guy?" Kimiko said in a cutesy tone before making cute, incoherent noises to further entertain the already giggling baby.
"Wow, Ren, Ann, your little girl is surprisingly great with kids," Sojiro said, impressed.
"She'll make a great mother some day," Yuuki chimed in.
"Let's not rush things, Mishima," Ann said, defensively.
"So, Akihiro," Ren said as he approached his donation child, "How has the family business been doing since I helped you wrangle up those spider crabs?"
"Business has been booming ever since then," Akihiro said happily, "The last time we were doing this well, my dad was alive. And I owe it all to you, your boy, and your daughter's boyfriend."
"Hearing that makes me happy, Akihiro," Ren smiled.
"And guess what else," Akihiro said as he took out his phone, "We've made so much money from catching those crabs that I got some hired help to help me on my fishing endeavors."
"Who?" Ren asked.
"Just two close friends that Rika and I went to school with," Akihiro said as he pulled up a picture on his phone, "This is us on our most recent fishing trip."
The picture showed Akihiro and his two friends with their catches of the day; a large tuna, some more Japanese Spider Crabs, and two large coolers full of seabass.
"Not bad if I do say so myself," Akihiro boasted.
"This is great, Akihiro," Ren said, "I'm glad that you're doing better. I hope the Hagiwara family business flourishes from here on out."
"Ren, before you came along I hit rock bottom," Akihiro said, "Now, I'm going nowhere but up. I intend on making sure that my business and my family stay in the black for years to come."
Ren and Akihiro give each other a hug before the former decides to show the latter something.
"Oh, by the way, after we came home and I learned that I was a grandfather to Masaru," Ren said, "Ann went out and she bought me this."
With that, Ren opened up his button-up shirt to show a t-shirt that read 'World's Sexiest Grandpa,' causing Akihiro to howl with laughter, which the rest of Ren's friend group overheard.
"What's so funny?" Shiho asked.
"Technically speaking," Ren began explaining, "Since Akihiro is my son by blood, Masaru is technically my grandson, so…"
Ren turned around and showed everyone his undershirt, causing everyone to start guffawing with delight.
"Oh, that's too good, Uncle Ren," Mana laughed, "That's perfect!"
"Hands down, the funniest thing I've seen all week," Wataru chuckled.
Ren just looked on as everyone laughed. Most people would be embarrassed, but Ren wore that shirt with pride, and he smiled just by seeing all of his closest friends and family laughing; if they were happy, he was happy.
When the laughter died down, Sae and Ryuta entered the cafe.
"Aww, man, did we miss a funny joke?" Ryuta asked.
"Yeah, and the punchline is that you showed up," Daisuke teased, with Ryuta showing he's a good sport at having his chops busted by chuckling.
"So, are you all ready to see the new and improved Yutaka Watanabe?" Sae asked.
Everyone nodded and voiced their agreement.
"May we have a drum roll, please?" Ryuta said as Daisuke grabbed some pens that were sitting in a nearby cup behind the counter, and he used them as makeshift drum sticks that he tapped against the counter.
"Introducing, like you've never seen him before," Ryuta began, "The one, the only, the brand spanking new, Yutaka Watanabe!"
Yutaka entered the cafe wearing a nice red button up shirt, some light brown dress pants, brown loafers, and a big smile on his face. He also got a haircut. What was once a long, shaggy mess of black hair is now trimmed into well groomed, medium length waves.
"Hi, everybody," Yutaka said in a friendly tone.
"Wow, this is quite the transformation," Ichiro said, impressed, "I'll be honest, I didn't think you guys could reform someone like him…but here you are proving me wrong."
"Listen, guys," Yutaka said, wanting to bury the hatchet with his new friends, "I know in the past we haven't exactly gotten along, what with me teaming up with that weird girl and screwing you guys out of the dance marathon, and me being recognized as an unrepentant street urchin who knows nothing but stealing. But I'm ready to put all of that behind me and move on with my life, especially since I now have a second chance at something that I never thought I'd get again…a family."
He looked back and smiled warmly at Sae and Ryuta before going back to addressing the rest of the group.
"I just want to take the time to thank the people who helped saved me from what I became; Uncle Hayato, Aunt Hifumi, Hotaru, Himari, Aunt Makoto, my father by blood Ryuji, and most importantly, my new Ha-Ha and Chi-Chi, Sae and Ryuta." Yutaka said warmly, "Thank you all for helping me and believing in me that I could do better. I hope I continue to make you all proud, and I hope to one day become the man that you all think…no…the man you all know I can become!"
After Yutaka's speech, everyone gave him a round of applause.
"He's a very well spoken young lad, isn't he?" Akihiro asked Ren.
"From what I heard he was a rich boy before he became homeless," Ren said, "Rich people can afford a much better education than we can."
"So, Yutaka, does this mean you're Uncle Ryuta and Auntie Sae's ward now?" Nariko asked.
"We signed the documents just yesterday, Nariko," Sae said, "In the eyes of the government, Yutaka is now legally ours."
Hearing that made Nariko and Kaito smile as they come up to greet their new cousin.
"Welcome to the family, Yutaka," Kaito said as he shook the 10 year old's hand.
"Yeah, I know we'll have a great life together," Nariko said as she gave the boy a hug, which he returned.
"I hope so," Yutaka said, "It just feels great to be a part of a family again."
"I wouldn't say you're part of a family yet, Yutaka," Ryuta said.
"What do you mean by that, Chi-Chi?" Yutaka asked.
"A family usually has a husband and wife to look after their child," Ryuta explained, "Sae and I aren't actually married yet."
Ryuta wore a look of remorse on his face…a look which quickly turned into a warm and loving smile.
"Let's fix that shall we?" Ryuta said as he turned to face Sae, who immediately knew where this was going.
"Ryuta, what is this?" Sae asked, a blush coming to her cheeks.
"Sae, you are one of the coolest, nicest, most down to Earth, and all around most badass woman I've ever met," Ryuta said, "I didn't think they made women like you until you showed up at my nude beach all those years ago."
"Nude what?" Yutaka asked, confused.
"We'll explain later," Nariko said.
"At that moment, I thought you were way out of my league," Ryuta said, "I was so scared to ask you out and tell you how I really felt that it took almost 20 years for me to finally pour my heart and soul out to you, but honestly, all that time made the eventual courtship worth it. After you and I got together, I've achieve a new level of happiness that I thought only existed in movies, but no…it's a real feeling, and I feel truly blessed to experience such a euphoric feeling. And that brings us to the present day; where we're still together and we now have an amazing son in the form of Yutaka. All that's missing, is the one thing that'll immortalize our love forever."
At this point, Ryuta got down on one knee, reached into his pocket and took out a wedding ring which he presented to Sae, who had tears of joy streaming down her face as her hands covered her mouth in awe. Everyone who was watching the event unfold were very delighted and surprised to see Ryuta manning up and popping the question.
"Sae Niijima," Ryuta concluded, "Will you marry me?"
"Y-Y-Yes!" Sae shouted as she picked Ryuta up and hugged him tight, "Oh, yes, Ryuta! Yes, I will marry you!"
Sae released Ryuta from the hug so he could put the ring on her finger. Once the ring was placed on her finger, the couple turned to face their friends.
"Say hello to Sae Watanabe, everybody!" Sae cheered as everyone rejoiced at the wonderful union, with Daisuke and Makoto wanting to give their congratulations personally.
"Congratulations you two," Daisuke said proudly.
"I knew you guys would get married sooner or later," Makoto said, "You two are going to be a great couple."
"Thanks Makoto," Sae said.
"So, are Makoto and I going to be your Maid of Honor and Best Man respectively?" Daisuke asked.
"We'd have to be idiots not to bestow those titles onto you two," Daisuke said.
"Awesome!" Daisuke smiled.
"I can't believe you two are getting married," Yutaka said, happily, "Now it really feels like I have a second shot at having a family."
"I knew this news would make you happy, Yutaka," Ryuta said, "Come here, son."
Yutaka joined Sae and Ryuta in a group hug, causing Makoto and Daisuke's hearts to melt as they saw the tender display unfold before them.
"Hey, Wataru," Mitsu said.
"Yes, half-sister of mine," Wataru said.
"You said you wanted to sing a song?" Mitsu asked, "How about you sing one for Uncle Ryuta and Auntie Sae over here?"
"I'd be honored," Wataru said as he put on some instrumentals on his phone and started to sing a song.
"You're just too good to be true! Can't take my eyes off of you! You'd be like heaven to touch! Oh, I wanna hold you so much! At long last love has arrived, and I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true, I can't take my eyes off of you!"
Everyone bopped to the beat of Wataru's singing, and they even joined him in singing the chorus when he said, 'Everybody now!'.
"I love you, baby! And if it's quite alright, I need you baby, to warm a lonely night! I love you baby! Trust in me when I say…Oh, pretty baby, don't bring me down I pray! Oh, pretty baby, now that I've found you, stay! And let me love you baby, let me love you!"
The group spent the rest of the night singing, dancing, eating good food, conversing, and overall welcoming the likes of Wataru, Akihiro and his family, and Yutaka to their merry band of friends. And when they weren't doing that, they were giving their congratulations to Ryuta and Sae for tying the knot and becoming an official couple.
All in all, it was a beautiful night, and one that will live in everyone's memories forever.
THE END…