Don't know what to say right now. Sorry I've been absent, just a lot going on. I moved, started a new job, and I'm about to punch the living daylights out of some people I know. But hopefully, my writing can cheer you guys up; I know it usually helps me work out some stress.

Chapter 12

"Okay, so this goes here, and that goes…."

Yuzu smiled as she listened to Airi work on a puzzle she'd brought with her after from home after Mei had called asking if she could drop Airi off at the restaurant while she ran to an emergency meeting at the academy, to which Yuzu happily agreed for several reasons. The first being that as long as Airi behaved, Yuzu was grateful for the extra time with her. Not only that, but if one of the staff happened to ask if she wanted to help, Airi would always be willing to lend a hand in her limited fashion.

The second reason Yuzu had agreed was that having Airi out of the house, meant that they could hide the fact that Hideki was coming home a little early from his trip from her for a bit longer, though they wished it were under better circumstances. While they'd all knew that getting into the program wasn't a guarantee, they'd grown more optimistic the longer he'd been gone, even though it meant the possibility of him moving out earlier than they'd have liked. However, despite her disappointment that the selection committee hadn't chosen Hideki to join the program, like Mei, Yuzu was barely able to contain her excitement at the thought of him coming home.

Even Mei could barely contain herself, and like Yuzu had almost let it slip in one way or another. Though unlike Yuzu, who was more prone to blurting out the news, Mei had done it by continually cleaning Hideki's room or stocking up on a couple of his favorite snacks in preparation for his home coming.

Her latest incident had been earlier that morning when she was changing Hideki's sheets for the third time in two days.

"I just want to make sure he knows how much we missed him," muttered Mei after Yuzu had pointed this fact out, before asking Airi to help her with making the beds.

As she waited for her order to finish, Yuzu chuckled at the memory of Mei's ears turning bright red and Airi's excitement at seeing Mei so embarrassed.

"Why're you smiling Mama," asked Airi from the small table in the corner that Yuzu had set up for her, snacks and all. "Did someone say something funny?"

"No," smiled Yuzu before winking at Airi and grabbing the order from the kitchen window. "I just remembered Mommy's face this morning when she was making Hideki's bed."

"Oh." Airi giggled and kicked her feet happily under the table before placing another piece in her puzzle. "Yeah, that was funny. Mommy's ears turned red like the cherries in my drink."

Airi pulled a cherry out of the Shirley Temple, Yuzu had made her, popped it into her mouth and giggled, catching the attention of the two older women her mother was helping before squeaking and grabbing her music book and propped it open so she could hide.

"She's so adorable. Is she yours," asked one of the ladies Yuzu was serving while her employees bustled around cleaning up dishes, prepping food, or taking orders and chatting up customers.

"Yep," nodded Yuzu, proudly looking over her shoulder just in time to see Airi's head duck back behind the large book, her sneakers and jeans whipping around underneath the table. "She's a bit of a handful, but I love her to pieces, her and her brother."

"How old," asked the woman on the left, after taking a bite of the cake she'd ordered and took a sip of tea.

"Six," said Yuzu proudly with a wink back at Airi, "and her brother's seventeen, but he's in America right now for a possible scholarship opportunity. She's not bothering you, is she? If she is, I apologize. My wife had to go to an emergency meeting, so she had to leave Airi here with me until she finished."

"N..no," said the woman blinking rapidly at the revelation. "No, she hasn't been a problem. She's been rather entertaining, especially her singing; she has such a pretty voice. Does she come here often?"

"Not really," explained Yuzu, placing down the plate for the woman's companion. "She and her brother are on summer break, and we usually alternate days off or have one of her grandparents watch her if she's not in one of her music classes or her brother can't watch her."

"What instrument does she play," asked the other woman, her gaze turning to Airi, who was again looking out from behind the book and waved cautiously.

Yuzu watched as Airi waved back with a nervous smile and proceeded to beckon her daughter to her.

"Airi, can you come here, please?"

Nodding, Airi slid off her chair and ambled toward Yuzu, taking a minute to brush any wrinkles out of her clothes before stopping and bowing as she greeted the two women.

"Hello. I'm Aihara Airi."

The two ladies bowed their heads, smiled, and introduced themselves as Chie and Junko, respectively.

"It's nice to meet you, Airi-chan," said Junko, adjusting her glasses and resting her chin on her hand. "Are you having a good time here with your mother?"

"Yes." Airi nodded as Yuzu patted her on the back and began neverously twisting her body, causing her arms to swing back and forth. "I get a table to myself, and Mama sometimes lets me help out."

"What kind of things do you help with," asked Chie with a sincere smile.

"Ummmm..."

Airi scratched her head for a moment before saying, "Sometimes, Mama lets me take food to customers. And sometimes she lets me put the money in the register and give people change or write orders, but I'm not allowed to touch the buttons on the register."

"Oh?" Junko set down her cup of tea, her eyes brimming with curiosity. "Why's that? Don't you have to touch the buttons to give the people their money?"

"Uh-huh." Airi nodded, causing the two balls of hair Mei had put her hair in to shake excitedly. "But I got in trouble one time cus I pressed a bunch of buttons on the register and Mama and Uncle had to stay up all night 'fixing the books.' Do you know what that means because they won't tell me."

"I see," chuckled Chie, who was in the process of fixing the rubber-bands she had put in her hair. "Well, if your mom and uncle don't want to say anything about it, then I don't think we should either."

"I dunno." Airi shrugged and stepped a little closer to Yuzu and nuzzled her thigh. "I just want to help Mama cus she works hard, and she deserves help."

"That's very sweet of you." Junko smiled as she spoke while Chie double checked her hair. "So, I take it that means you like coming here and helping your mom?"

"Yeah." Airi again nodded this time, reaching behind her head and pulling Yuzu's hand close to her cheek and nuzzling it. "But I get bored because most of the time, I gotta sit and read or do homework."

"I bet." Chie smiled and pointed at Airi's table. "But I saw that you have a music book over there. I bet that's got to be interesting. What instrument do you play? I'd love it if you played for me the next time I come into the shop."

"Which one?" A hint of excitement entered Airi's voice as she began excitedly bouncing up and down on her feet at the prospect of being able to play at Yuzu's restaurant. "I play the violin, and cello, and piano. But I'm not very good at piano yet also I don't have one, but Hideki said he'd buy me a keyboard, whatever that is, but I can bring my cello or violin. I'm good with those. I even have trophies. You wanna see?"

"Maybe next time you can show us your trophies." Chie chuckled and took a quick bite of her dish before continuing. "As for your instruments, you can bring whichever one you want. So long as that's okay with your mama."

"I wanna do it," said Airi a little too loudly, catching the attention of several customers and causing Junko and Chie to jump. "Can I Mama? Please? It can be my job."

"I'll talk to Mommy about it," sighed Yuzu as she tried to pull free the arm Airi was tugging. "But don't get your hopes up. You go back to school soon, and that and practice come first."

"But Hideki gets to have a job and go to school and dance." Airi stamped her foot and crossed her arms indignantly. "How come I can't? I wanna help."

"Sorry," whispered Junko and Chie upon seeing the annoyed look on Yuzu's face and turned their attention to their food.

"It's okay," said Yuzu with a smile before pointing at the table she'd set up for Airi. "Airi go and sit down for a minute, all right?"

"Why," asked Airi quietly before taking a nervous step away from Yuzu. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, you aren't in trouble." Yuzu patted her daughter's hair and smiled at her. "But I need to go and check-in with the customers and the employees. But when I'm done, we're going to talk okay?"

"But..."

"Airi," interrupted Yuzu with a tone of finality that even Airi knew meant she shouldn't bother arguing. "Do what I say. Understood?"

"Yes, Mama."

After Airi bid farewell to Junko and Chie, Yuzu took a moment to wash her hands before making her rounds with the other customers and confirming that Airi's little outburst hadn't disturbed them.

Thankfully, they were all understanding, and after explaining to the staff that she needed to sit down with Airi, Yuzu went to the kitchen and retrieved a peach tart for her and a pear tart for Airi, warmed them up, and added a scoop of ice cream to each. Once their desserts were ready, she also grabbed an oolong tea, two glasses, and a tray before heading back out into the restaurant.

"Hey," whined Airi as Yuzu set the tray down on top of the puzzle before noticing the dessert, and with a huge smile, she began shoving spoonfuls into her mouth. "Thanks, Mama."

"Slow down," sighed Yuzu before taking a bite of her tart and smiling at the look of satisfaction on Airi's face. "Also, you're welcome. Do you like it?"

Airi nodded, swallowed, and said, "It's delicious. Did you make it, Mama?"

"Not this one," sighed Yuzu before taking another bite of her tart. "But I made some of the other desserts in the case. I don't get to bake that much since I get stuck doing most of the paperwork, but I wanted you to try these since we'll be swapping them out for some fall desserts soon, and you look like you needed some cheering up."

"Oh." Airi gave her tart a downcast look, took another bite and a sip of tea before asking, "Is this a bribe?"

Yuzu nearly choked on her dessert and covered her mouth as she finished chewing her bite and asked, "First of all, no, it's not a bribe, and second, why would you ask that?"

"Hideki," answered Airi with a shrug. "He says it when you and Mommy sometimes give him money when he's gotta watch me or do errands."

After making a mental note to have a talk with Hideki about the choice of words he used in front Airi and moved her chair closer to Airi.

Stroking back a couple of loose strands out of Airi's face, Yuzu wiped a bit of pear off of Airi's cheek and said, "Why do you think it's a bribe?"

"Cus, you don't want me to help you anymore," sniffed Airi before setting her spoon down and rubbing her eyes, "and you don't want me to play my music."

"When did you hear me say anything like that," asked Yuzu leaning in close and trying her best to smile. "I go to all your recitals, and Mommy and I sit and listen to you practice when you're at home and try to help you with your music homework even if we don't understand any of it. Also, earlier today, didn't I let you take a couple of customers' orders, and you helped me with their money like you told those two nice ladies. Remember?"

"Yeah." Nodded Airi before picking up her spoon and taking another bite of her food. "But you trying to be nice, like the kids who acted like my friends at school who said they were my friends and then played tricks on me."

"I'm not those kids," said Yuzu with a smile before kissing Airi on top of those kids. "I'm your mama, and when I want you to do something with me, it's because I like you being around, and I want you to learn lots of new things, okay?"

"Promise?" Airi tried to look like she wasn't enjoying the attention, but Yuzu could see a smile in her eyes.

"I promise." Yuzu nuzzled Airi's cheek before wiping some tears away. "I love it when you visit me here, and I love that you want to help me while you're here. It reminds me of when Mommy tells me about how you help when you visit her at school. But the music is something we need to talk to Mommy about because that's a decision we need to make together. Your instruments are expensive, and we want to be careful with them, right?"

"Yes, Mama." Airi nodded and finished the last bite of her snack and sighed before continuing. "Do you...do you think my dad would get mad if something happened to them? I don't want him to be mad at me. He just started talking to me, and I don't want him to hate me."

Yuzu began to rub Airi's head and smiled, saying, "I don't think he'd be mad at you, and I know for sure that he wouldn't hate you, especially if it were an accident. Ken-san is a nice man, even if he's a little flaky at times. But if it means that much to you, we can talk to him about it."

Due to Airi's outburst at the festival, any chance of Airi and her father having a sit-down conversation had gone out the window thanks to Ken's work schedule. But to their relief, Ken was determined to get to know Airi better and although the time difference made an actual conversation nearly impossible, he'd been sending her emails and the occasional video message which they'd taken to printing off and reading to Airi every night and having Airi write down her replies and typing them out or recording a video.

While it was difficult for Mei and Yuzu to at first accept this form of communication between the two of them, primarily because of Mei's history with her father, they couldn't argue with the effect it was having on Airi.

Though shy and courteous at first with her replies, with most of them only being a few sentences long, over the past few weeks Airi had slowly begun opening up more to Ken and began to grow more curious about what his life was like beyond the usual topics of what he did at work or how he was feeling and began asking him more about his personal life.

At first, he'd been sparse with the details, and Yuzu and Mei occasionally glossed over them in his emails since there wasn't much information to work with. But eventually, he began answering them in his videos, though it was plain as day that the topics were little uncomfortable for him, he was as honest with Airi as he could be and even took the extra effort of emailing Yuzu and Mei beforehand and asking them how they'd like him to phrase his responses.

It took a lot of coordination, and there were times both Yuzu and Mei joked to each other about taking Airi there in person, but they both knew it'd be a while before they'd risk another face to face meeting between the two.

However, the fact that Airi was beginning to feel better about who she was more than enough for them and as long as she was happy, that's all that mattered to her mothers.

But as she sat there waiting for her daughter to reply, Yuzu couldn't resist reaching out and stroking her cheek and chuckled when Airi jumped a little from the contact.

"Sorry," said Yuzu with a smile. "Did I scare you?"

"A little."

Airi fidgeted in her seat and Yuzu saw an all too familiar anxious look flash across Airi's face and for a moment, she could swear she was looking at Mei, but after placing a hand on Airi's head, she rubbed it and asked, "Do you have something on your mind?"

"Kinda."

Watching Airi's gaze relax, Yuzu gave Airi's cheek one final stroke before asking, "Is it about your dad?"

"Sorta."

Yuzu watched as Airi took a sip of tea and swished it around in her mouth for a moment, swallow, and then asked, "Do you not want me to ask him about letting you play in the restaurant?"

Airi shrugged and took another sip of tea before asking, "Can we ask after you talk to Mommy? I don't want you and Mommy to fight because you asked him before you asked her."

"Okay." Yuzu smiled before taking a long sip of tea and waved at a few customers who were heading out and thanked them for their patronage. "But you don't have to worry about Mommy and me getting into a fight. We might get frustrated, but we won't fight."

"Promise?" Airi's eyes shimmered briefly, and Yuzu nodded, giving Airi her trademarked smile.

"I promise, Sweetie. Mommy and I won't fight, but I want you to know that even if we say 'no,' that doesn't mean we don't want your help; it just means that right now, we want you to focus on other things. You're only six, so you don't need to worry about having a job or anything like that. We're happy enough knowing that you like helping. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, Mama." Airi finished her tea and wiped her mouth and let out another sigh.

"What's wrong now," chuckled Yuzu, resting her head on her arms and tapping her daughter's forehead and smirking when Airi whimpered.

"Nothing."

Sliding off her chair, Airi proceeded to climb into Yuzu's lap and rest her head on her mother's chest.

"Are you sure," asked Yuzu, embracing her daughter without hesitation. "You sound upset."

"Yeah," whispered Airi as she felt Yuzu's on her back and returning the gesture. "I just wanted to give you a hug."

"You give the best hugs." Yuzu squeezed Airi tightly smiled at a couple of customers who were walking in and welcomed them before allowing one of her employees to take care of them.

"Do you gotta go back to work," asked Airi as her face grew hot at the man and the woman whispering and pointing at her and Yuzu.

"Nope," said Yuzu with a smile before pointing at the clock. "Today, I'm gonna leave early since Mommy and I made plans for all of us to have dinner and spend the night together. We even planned a special dinner. does that sound fun?"

"Uh-huh," said Airi, her voice sounding significantly more energetic upon hearing the news that they would be leaving soon. "What are we having?"

"I don't know," grunted Yuzu as she stretched. "Mommy said she wanted to cook, but I did spend the morning baking a special dessert while we were getting the restaurant prepared."

"Can I see it?" A mischievous smile spread across Airi's face, and Yuzu could swear she her daughter looked like some villain out of a manga.

"No," laughed Yuzu bending down and kissing Airi on the top of the head. "It's in a box, so you can't see it until after dinner."

"What if I promise not to eat it," pleaded Airi tugging carefully on Yuzu's shirt. "Please, Mama?"

"Nope." Yuzu could hear a few people, including some of her staff, laughing at the situation and couldn't help but continue grinning. "Sorry, but you're gonna have to wait. Just like Mommy."

"Meanie." Airi stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms in a huff, but burst into giggles when Yuzu began tickling her.

"Darn right, I am." Yuzu stopped her tickling and gave Airi a quick tap on the nose. "But you know I'm teasing and not in a bad way, right?"

"Yeah." Airi rubbed her eyes and nodded again before smacking her lips. "If it was bad teasing, I'd be feeling sad, but I'm happy."

"Good." Yuzu couldn't resist giving Airi another quick squeeze before kissing her cheek. "It's okay to feel sad, though, all right? Mommy and I want you to know that, and if you're ever feeling like that, you can come and talk to us, okay?"

"I know." Airi rubbed the spot where Yuzu had kissed and scrunched up her nose. "When are we gonna go home? I wanna see Mommy?"

"About half an hour," grunted Yuzu as a small twinge hit her lower back.

Ignoring it, she picked up the tray and pointed at the puzzle and books Airi had left out and said, "I want everything cleaned up, and once I'm done checking in with everyone to make sure they know what needs to be done, then we'll head home and see Mommy. Deal?"

Airi nodded, and once she was occupied with her cleaning, Yuzu returned to the kitchen and had a quick meeting with her staff though it was far from necessary as most of them had been there long enough to know what she expected of them. But thanks to her managerial training and Mei's repeated recommendations about their necessity, Yuzu had found herself making them a common practice before opening and at the end of the evening.

Luckily nobody ever really complained, but she guessed that it was mostly due to the fact she tried to keep them under twenty minutes so as not to cut into their prep time too much.

After confirming with those present what they needed to do over the next couple of days while she was gone, Yuzu retrieved the massive box containing the dessert she'd made throughout the morning; she heard the familiar voice of one of her workers calling for her.

"What is it," asked Yuzu politely as she wrapped the box in a plastic bag and turned around to see one of her college employees holding a beaming Airi up in the kitchen window.

"Well, in my case, I was just letting you know that I was heading out for the night," explained the young man while Airi waved at Yuzu, exposing the straps of her backpack. "As for her, I think she wanted to tell you something. Ain't that right, Airi-chan?"

"Yup!" Airi held up both arms to show off her backpack. "I'm all done, Mama. Are you ready?"

"Almost," chuckled Yuzu, motioning for her employee to bring Airi to the office.

Once there, Airi ran to Yuzu and began trying to peek into the bag, but was foiled when Yuzu put it on top of her filing cabinet.

"Dang," snorted Airi as she watched her mother retrieve her bag and her zip-up sweater.

"I told you no peeking," tutted Yuzu with a wink, causing Airi to once again stick her tongue out at her mother in response. "Don't do it again or else you're not getting any. Got it?"

"Okay," sighed Airi taking Yuzu's hand and following her out into the late afternoon sun and began walking down the street. "Is Mommy home, or do we gotta go to the school?"

"That's a good question," commented Yuzu as she struggled to pull her phone out of her pocket. "Let's call her and find out."

"Can I call?" Airi reached up and began tugging carefully on Yuzu's arm, causing her to start walking at an angle. "Please, Mama?"

"Okay, okay." Yuzu unlocked her phone and handed it to Airi and watched as the girl expertly navigated her phone and pressed Mei's contact information.

"It's ringing," giggled Airi as she held the phone up to her ear before speaking again. "No, it's not Mama. No, I didn't take Mama's phone, she gave it to me."

"She's telling the truth, Mei," said Yuzu loudly as they continued walking down the street.

For a moment, Yuzu kept a peripheral watch on Airi as she heard Mei's muffled voice, but relaxed when she saw Airi smile again.

"I had fun. I got to serve drinks, and I even took money. No, I just gave people money, I didn't touch the register. Yeah, I got snacks. Mama let me have a pear tart and ice cream, it was yummy, and she said she made dessert because you're making something special. What is it? Are you home yet?"

There was a moment of silence, and Yuzu smiled as Airi's bright-eyed expression turned to one from aggravation.

"That's what Mama said. I wanna know, can you tell me? Fine." Airi began lifting her legs in the form of goose-step for some strange reason. "Umm, Mommy, is Hideki gonna be home soon? I miss him."

Yuzu nearly tripped at the question, but caught herself, causing Airi to give her a confused look before turning back to her conversation.

"Yeah, I'm here. Mama nearly tripped. But you promise he's gonna be home soon?"

Yuzu smiled as Airi began jumping in excitement as they walked.

"I'm gonna give him his action figure when he gets home in a few days. Did he get me a present? Oh, okay! I can wait. I hope it's something cool. I love you too. We'll be home soon. Mama!"

Airi grabbed Yuzu's arm and held up the phone up to Yuzu's elbow and waved it excitedly.

"Mommy wants to talk to you, and she said Hideki got us gifts! Oh, and she said she's home too."

After handing the phone to Yuzu, Airi ran ahead and began chasing around a couple of birds that were sitting in front of a shop while a couple of kids a little older than Airi ran down the sidewalk tossing a ball back and forth to each other.

"Hey," said Yuzu watching as Airi climbed onto a coin-operated rocking toy as the kids walked by and stared longingly at them as they began to pass the ball carefully. "How're you doing? Everything go okay at the meeting?"

"It went quite well," said Mei from the other end. "I'm sorry I had to do that to you, but with school starting, I couldn't miss it. I know she said she did, but did she have a good day?"

"I think she had a good time," said Yuzu as she watched one of the kids accidentally throw the ball backward and bounce toward Airi and cause the kids to shout for her help to get it. Yuzu was about to intervene, but thankfully they ball rolled to a stop next to a wall, and Airi managed to grab it without having to risk running out into the street.

"Yuzu, what's going on? Is everything all right? Do I need to come down to where you are?"

"We're fine," said Yuzu with a smile as Airi blushed and handed the ball to one of the girls in the group and stared at the ground as she talked to them. "Just some kids were yelling at a ball they were chasing, and Airi was helping them."

"Is she all right?"

"She's okay," said Yuzu, happy to hear that Mei was so concerned about Airi's interaction.

"They aren't doing anything to her, are they? They aren't being mean?"

"No." Yuzu shook her head as she spoke, glad to see that the kids were all smiling and thanking Airi before running off in the direction they'd been initially heading while Airi ran to Yuzu pulled at her pant leg. "No, I think everything turned out all right. Did you need anything from the store or any help when we got home?"

"I can manage most of it," said Mei, and Yuzu heard the sound of the sink turning on. "I'll see you when you get home, and just so you are aware, I may have gone a little overboard with some of the shopping. We'll probably be eating leftovers for the next few days."

"Of course, we will. See you soon."

Yuzu hung up the phone and placed it in her purse before grabbing Airi's hand and continued their journey for a few moments in silence before asking, "Airi, did everything go okay with those kids? They weren't mean, were they?"

"No." Airi shook her head and stepped closer to Yuzu, her grip tightening. "They were nice, and they asked me if I wanted to go play soccer with them, but I told them I had to go home for dinner."

"That was nice of them." Yuzu looked down to see if she could see the expression on Airi's face but was instead rewarded with a large amount of curly brown hair. "Did they tell you where they were playing? Maybe we can stop by there tomorrow afternoon and see if you can play with them. I'm off the next couple of days since you go back to school soon, so if there's something you wanna do, we can do it."

"Maybe." Airi slowed her stride and instead began jumping from one section of the sidewalk to the next. "I know a couple of them. They go to my school, but they're in first grade, not kindergarten."

"Well, you'll be in first grade soon, and a year isn't that big a difference. You can still be friends if you want."

"I guess." Airi jumped twice more before going back into walking and fell silent for a few minutes.

"Mama," said Airi as they turned the street a couple of blocks away from their house.

"What's up, Sweetie?" Yuzu shifted her purse and the bag with dessert.

"Umm, if those kids aren't there tomorrow, can we go and see a movie with Hina and Reo?"

Running her fingers through Airi's hair, Yuzu chuckled as she said, "Sure we can. We can go and see whatever you guys want so long as it's age-appropriate, so don't even think about asking to see something for older kids."

"Okay." Airi squeezed Yuzu's hand again and began sniffing the air as they approached the house. "Something smells good. What do you think Mommy's making?"

Yuzu pulled out her keys and handed them to Airi saying, "What do ya say we go and find out?"