Chapter 3 - A Sharp Little Leaf
It was warmer than usual for September, an uncomfortable humidity hanging in the air like a wet rag making all of the teachers and class chaperones move slower than normal. The children, though, didn't seem to care much. Confronted with a zoo filled with lions and monkeys and giant turtles they could feed, their excitement far outweighed the threat of heat exhaustion and dehydration.
With one notable exception. Notable, at least, to Makoto, because Shinozaki was her best friend and she really wanted him to keep up. He didn't like the heat, though, so he was dragging slowly along, holding onto Makoto with one hand and swiping at his sweaty, brown bangs with the other.
Makoto let out an exasperated breath and stopped moving. Shinozaki was the littlest in their class, his green plaid uniform shorts always hanging awkwardly on the suspenders his mom buttoned on them because his body was too skinny to hold them up on its own. Even his socks had a hard time finding something to cling to, the white cuffs pooling around his ankles. Makoto looked from her sweaty, uncomfortable friend to the two groups forming in front of them. One was being given wafer cones of food pellets to feed to the fuzzy headed llamas. The other was being given cones of ice cream to feed themselves.
She smiled widely, then started dragging Shinozaki in the direction of the ice cream cart. She deposited the boy on a bench beneath a shade tree before muscling her way into the ice cream group. Coming up triumphant with a vanilla swirl, she gave a quick glance over to the llamas to make sure they weren't gone yet before hurrying back to him.
"Okay, you wait right here for me," she instructed as she handed over the ice cream. "I'm gonna go feed the fuzzies."
Shinozaki grinned ear to ear and nodded in understanding.
Just before running off, Makoto reached into her jumper pocket and pulled out the pink handkerchief her mommy had given her. She wiped some of the sweat from Shinozaki's forehead so it wouldn't get in his eyes, then stuffed it in his pocket in case he needed it while she was gone. Satisfied that her friend was now properly taken care of, she wagged a finger at him. "Don't move. I'll be right back," she said one more time before running off.
Her llama was awesome! It had waited right there for her to get the food pellets, and it had made the funniest sounds. It was brown and fuzzy and definitely had the prettiest hair in the whole group. And its teeth! It had the best teeth in the whole zoo! The stuffed llamas in the gift shop didn't have teeth, but that was okay. She was still going to get one to take home and show her mommy and daddy. Shinozaki needed to come see the llamas, too, she decided. He should be cooled off enough by now.
Her cone of pellets emptied out, Makoto tossed a quick thank you at the zoo worker who had helped her and started running back to her friend. She'd made it halfway when she saw him startle and yelp and drop what was left of his ice cream on the ground. The smile Makoto had been wearing disappeared as she started running faster.
Shinozaki was sniffle-crying by the time Makoto got to him. "What's wrong?" she asked, her hands laying lightly on his shoulders as she tried to get the boy to look up at her.
Shinozaki pointed to the ground. At first Makoto thought he was pointing at the fallen ice cream cone, but then she saw the plastic black and red snake laying by the bench. Shinozaki didn't like things like snakes or lizards. Everyone knew it because of the way the class geko made him cry.
"It's okay," soothed Makoto, trying to sound like her mommy did when she skinned her knees. She gave Shinozaki a hug. "It's not real and won't hurt you. It's just a stupid toy."
"Stupid baby, you mean."
Daichi. Makoto frowned when she heard his voice behind her. Daichi was the biggest jerk in the whole world. She didn't like him. Or Senki or Tono, either, because they were jerks, too. And all three of them were laughing at the dumb mean joke they'd played on Shinozaki. Makoto's frown hardened into a scowl as she turned to glare at them while tucking him behind her.
"Why did you do that?" she demanded.
"Because it's funny," snickered Daichi.
Her fists clenched at her sides, but before she could let Daichi know how big a jerk bully he was, Senki had grabbed the fake snake and tossed it in their direction. Shinozaki let out a full on scream this time as Makoto caught it in her left hand, and before Daichi even had a chance to laugh at his friend's antics, Makoto's right fist swung hard.
Daichi, his nose bleeding, landed with a thud on his backside.
Absolutely seething, Makoto yelled over him, "Bugger off you fecking muppet!"
Shinozaki was crying now, the other boys had backed up in terror, and she didn't even see how she had shocked her teacher into statuesque silence. Then the woman found her voice.
"Kino Makoto!" reverberated in her ears as a tall shadow fell over her.
The house was quiet when Hiroki got home. Normally, Makoto would be watching tv or Yuriko would call back when he announced himself. Tonight, though, not so much as a breeze stirred when he closed the door. He dropped his duffel bag beside his sneakers in the entryway, then stepped into the living room with a bit of caution.
Oh. Well, that explained that, he thought ruefully.
Makoto sat in her time out spot, face to the wall and her shoulders slumped in defeat. She was still in her uniform, her ponytail slightly askew with the pink ribbon hanging untied.
"Hey," he called softly, his voice consoling. "Where's your mom?"
Without looking away from the wall, Makoto pointed to the sliding glass doors leading out back. Yuriko was out in their small yard wearing jeans and a loose tank top, her auburn hair pulled into a high ponytail and looking like a grown version of their daughter as she took socks and t-shirts down from the clothesline. Hiroki debated for a moment, then pulled the small chair from Makoto's Lego table to sit beside her.
"So," he began slowly, chocolate brown eyes looking at the wall as he leaned forward on his knees, "wanna tell me what you're having to think about so hard?"
Makoto heaved a huge sigh. "I'm having a very bad day."
"Really?"
"Mmmm hmmm," she nodded. Without a hint of contriteness, she continued, "So now I have to sit here and think about how I'm not supposed to say bad words in British when I punch people. And about how Uncle David is a bad influence. But it's okay to still love him, and mommy will forgive him this time cause I told her the team needs him to win."
Hiroki opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again because he really couldn't think of anything appropriate to respond with. Several beats ticked by in silence while he tried to look contemplative before Yuriko came in, saving him from himself. He gave Makoto a conciliatory pat on the head before going to greet his wife.
She gave him a smile and a kiss after setting the laundry basket to the side. "I thought I heard you pull in. How was practice?"
He smiled widely. "Really good, actually. Ask me again when we have a few minutes to ourselves."
Her eyebrows rose in curiosity.
Hiroki cut his eyes to Makoto.
With carefully measured movements, Yuriko went over and took the seat Hiroki had left beside Makoto. When Makoto looked up at her, she gave her a gentle smile that carried over into her voice. "Did you give some thought to the things we talked about?"
Makoto nodded. "Lots and lots of thought."
"Good girl." She reached over and brushed Makoto's bangs, then handed her the little pink handkerchief she'd given Shinozaki earlier. "You know, before I left the principal's office, Shinozaki's father asked me to thank you for taking care of him at the zoo today." She gave Makoto's nose a playful tap. "You're a good friend and I'm proud of you for that. But if those words ever come out of your mouth again, you'll be sitting here with a bar of soap between your teeth. Understand?"
"Yes, mommy," answered Makoto with a very vigorous nod.
Yuriko stood, giving Makoto permission to do the same. "Go get ready for your bath. Give me a few minutes to talk to your daddy and then I'll come wash your hair."
After giving a hug and kiss to her daddy as a proper welcome home, Makoto hurried from the room.
When Hiroki heard her feet hit the halfway point on the creaky board in the hall, he grinned at his wife. "I didn't laugh when she told me what she was in time out for."
Yuriko smirked. "I would hope not."
"So what actually happened?" asked Hiroki as he motioned for her to follow him to the couch. "She hit a kid?"
"Gave him a bloody nose," answered Yuriko, sounding far less upset with it than he would have thought she'd be. At his questioning look, she waved a hand dismissively. "The boy was picking on Shinozaki. The little jerk had it coming for bullying such a small child, and it took me nearly an hour to be certain the principal saw it that way. But her language." She shot him a pointed look. "You need to have a conversation with David about the English he's teaching her, because I have no idea how bad what she said actually is. Apparently calling someone a puppet is really bad in England? I don't know, but her teacher got so flustered just trying to write it down, and I couldn't find any of it in my translation dictionary." She released a beleaguered sigh. "I don't want my child cursing in any language, let alone one I don't understand."
This time Hiroki did laugh, not bothered at all by the swat she gave his arm. Besides, he had the perfect thing to win her forgiveness. "Hold on," he said as he turned and jogged from the room. "I have something to show you."
Returning a second later with his duffel bag, Hiroki gave it a playful shake before motioning for Yuriko to sit on the couch. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands."
Yuriko chuckled, then did as requested, a wide smile blooming on her face as she indulged his excitement. A moment later, a small package was placed in her outstretched hands. Her smile turned into a contemplative frown as she gave it a squeeze, the texture like sand in a foil bag. A nutty, dark chocolatey scent wafted up, and she squinted one eye open to confirm what her senses were telling her.
"Coffee?"
"Not just any coffee," answered Hiroki. He sat beside her and took the bag, tossing it back and forth between his hands. "This is Argonaut Coffee, and they are our new sponsors. Not only that…"
The bag of coffee was handed back to Yuriko, the blurb on the back facing up. She grinned at the explosion bubble with the Red Phoenix FC logo prominently placed beside a picture of the team's coach. She started reading the announcement for the partnership and got as far as 'Join us in Osaka on 17 August 1985 for…' when Hiroki jumped in with the details.
"This is just a mock-up that they gave out to the team today, but the final product should be going out to stores next month." He laughed. "We don't have to drink it, but they would like us to pretend we do. But this sponsorship has got everybody really excited. It's just been a weird year, and we weren't sure we were going to be able to get anyone else on board after TechnoSoft pulled out."
Yuriko set the bag down and reached out to pull him into a hug. He squeezed her tightly back, and when he released her she said, "Congratulations! You all deserve a chance to show people what you can do. Speaking of, how did David's therapy session go today?"
A bark of laughter left Hiroki. "He hated every second of it, and I promise you whatever Makoto said paled in comparison to what was coming out of his mouth. The first few sessions are always the worst, though, right? Doc says they'll have that bastard leg of his fully rehabbed before spring."
Yuriko reached up and touched his cheek. The hopefulness for his best friend's recovery shone in Hiroki's eyes far brighter than any excitement over a new sponsorship for the team. And while David might make her a little crazy, she loved the idiot, too. "So tell me about this thing in Osaka."
"Yes! That's actually the part I wanted to get to," went on Hiroki. He took both of her hands in his, because he knew this part was going to take some convincing. "They're having a tournament next year so a couple of the league sponsors can show off their teams. I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to get in that grown-up vacation we've been talking about, since we haven't had one since our honeymoon. We could leave a few days early, take some time to enjoy the beach, go out to a fancy restaurant, sleep in the next morning."
She laughed at the way his eyebrows waggled at her, encouraging him to go on.
"Makoto will be on summer break, and she could fly over with David when the rest of the team comes."
She liked the idea, he could tell by the way one corner of her mouth turned up in a half-smile and how her fingers played over themselves as her mind turned the suggestion around. She hesitated just a bit, though. "It… would be really nice. But Makoto is still so young, and there's not anyone to leave her with for that long."
"David," replied Hiroki as if that were such an obvious thing and why was she even questioning it.
Yuriko pointed to the chairs still facing the wall. "Your timing with that one is bad, babe."
Hiroki chuckled. "They're best buds. They'll have a blast together." He nudged her shoulder playfully. "C'mon. I'll even make him swear to put some kind of vegetable in each of her meals."
She giggled at him. "Well, for that I suppose I could at least consider it." She laid a hand on his leg, the touch warm and soft.
"Mommy!" The call came from the end of the hall, and Hiroki imagined Makoto hanging her head out the washroom door to remind them she was still there. Just in case they forgot. "I'm ready for my bath like you said! I just need you to turn the water on!"
"Bath time," Yuriko mouthed around a small laugh. She stood and started for the stairs. "Just let me turn it over in my head for a bit and we'll talk more after dinner. Hmmmm… and I may need to do some shopping…"
Yeah, he had her. He chuckled and moved to get himself cleaned up for dinner.