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Date had done some really stupid things when drunk. Not like he remembered most of it, usually he’d only figure it out because Aiba or someone else would yell at him about it the following morning during a hangover.
Telling his best friend that could handle a kid better than “a moronic bitch” was definitely up there, perhaps it was even the dumbest thing yet. Turns out when you say something like that, parents take it as a challenge, and leads to him being asked to watch a child he’s only heard about in passing tomorrow night.
“Wait, I told him what? Why didn’t you tell me?!?!”
“I didn’t think you’d regret it.”
Well, maybe his drunk self saying that was a little cool, at least he could recall some of the previous day now, a successful Psync dive proving a mother had abused her child. How unfortunate that it wasn’t Shoko, even if that’d hurt Ren.
“Date? You are ok with that, right?”
“Date, you were quiet for too long.”
“I’m thinking! I haven’t actually watched over a kid, she just set the bar really low!”
“Then tell him no, you’re busy.”
As tempting as that was, Ren did sound pretty desperate. He didn’t want to pry into his friend’s secrets, they weren’t his business (and he’s disclosed enough with the right amount of alcohol in their systems), but it felt like he was relying on him and for being one of the only people who seemed to tolerate his existence…
Date let out a sigh, “Yeah sure, bring her to the apartment, you’ve been here before.”
“Thanks Date, sorry to lay this on you suddenly, but I know you’re capable.”
“Yep, sure am.”
“You’re a liar.”
“Why don’t you be quiet?”
“Only you can hear me idiot!”
“I know that! Don’t make me regret this in less than thirty seconds.”
“Very well. How about I find some books on parental guidance?”
“Please do.”
This was a bad idea.
Perhaps he shouldn’t be thinking about it without Aiba around, trying to go to bed was the only time he was free from her nonsense, but it also meant he couldn’t rely on her for advice…not that he needed advice right now, maybe just a good scream.
But he couldn’t remember his childhood, hell, he couldn’t remember anything past a year and a half ago, why did he ever think he’d be good with a kid?
Right, the bar, Ren should’ve been able to understand what he meant.
…well, only Aiba would know for sure what his drunk self meant, and she was adamant on not telling him.
At the very least, he knew keeping himself awake the night before was a terrible idea, but here he was doing exactly that. It was just going to be one night, that’s it. She’d probably let out all her energy in the first few hours and then pass out, there was nothing to worry about.
One kid and he was lucky enough to have a computer that would be more than willing to shout at him if he screwed anything up, how bad could this actually be?
Of course Ren and Mizuki had come an hour before they were supposed to, giving him no time to settle in after a day full of Psyncing, an especially bad match-up leaving him drained. It was definitely a safety hazard to be relying on your eyeball to be driving while you try to force down a coffee to not pass out, but he’s done far worse than this.
“You owe me.”
“And how do you expect me to do that?”
“Perhaps stop with those perverted thoughts for a little while.”
“Yeah, can’t control my own head, you need a better idea.”
“Then I expect an ant farm by the end of the month.”
“Geez, you’re so expensive.”
“I haven’t asked you for anything ever.”
That was a lie, but he was still too exhausted to fight back, trying to position himself in a way that looked like he was still driving despite not being in any shape to and ignoring each message Aiba was trying to inform him of. He’d love to call Ren and give him a mouthful, but both his current energy levels and Aiba’s current focus wouldn’t allow it.
How convenient.
“We’ll be back in about ten minutes. We would’ve already been there if not for your coffee stop.”
“Would you rather I fall asleep and you have to watch a seven year old by yourself?”
“I believe we’d both get in trouble if I came out.”
“Then I need the energy and all my focus onto her. And we don’t have any coffee at home anymore.”
“Was your plan seriously to take an hour long nap?”
“So what if it was? I thought Pewter made some way to avoid bad pair-ups anyways, that shouldn’t have even happened.” He sighed, “I know what I’m doing.”
All he got back from her was a similar sigh.
When they finally reached their place in the apartment, Date was relieved nobody had trashed the place. He had faith in Ren, but the stories he got about Mizuki was unreliable and everchanging (as Aiba told him, just like a child should be), sometimes about how full of energy she was and sometimes how quiet she was.
Seems she was the quiet type today, sitting patiently on the sofa next to her father reading a book on economics from what he could tell (that didn’t feel appropriate, he could only assume Ren had it on hand by chance and passed it to her to pass the time), not even responding to them opening the door.
“I’m here.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry Date.”
“You better not have come because that meeting started an hour ago. Because I was told…”
“No don’t worry, it’s in thirty minutes.” He looked right at Mizuki, “I came early because she wanted to know what she was getting into.”
“Yeah, and she’s doing a pretty good job “knowing” right now since she isn’t even looking at…”
He was interrupted by the third person in the room, “I already did that dummy.”
“Mizuki, please be polite.”
“Isn’t he the guy Mom says gets drunk more than you?”
“He isn’t drunk right now, that means you can’t be rude.”
That painted a good picture of whatever was going on at their household.
Date sighed, already lightly regretting watching over this child, “So you have everything? I hope you aren’t expecting me to have fresh clothes or anything for you.”
“I expect dinner.”
Of course, why the hell didn’t he think about that?
And Ren was watching, so time to lie and pretend he was at least partly competent, “Obviously, did you think I was going to starve you?”
“You just said I shouldn’t expect anything from you.”
“I’m providing you with a place to stay, haven’t you heard of sarcasm?”
Looking at Mizuki’s face, he realized at that moment that it seemed the answer to that question was no. And that Ren was starting to look tired.
“You shouldn’t let her work you up.”
“I’m not trying to start anything, I’ve had a long day.” He paused for a moment, realizing he said that out loud, it was rare such a slip up was convenient, since it seemed that relaxed Ren enough for him to get up. If only that could happen more often.
“You don’t want that.”
“Better than me sharing my side of an argument out loud and someone, deciding a stranger will help prove their point, doesn’t bother to let me know.”
“And I’m typically right, you just refuse to listen to me.”
“You’re lucky I can’t roll my eyes right now.”
His argument with Aiba was interrupted by Ren giving him a light pat on the shoulder, “If you need anything…”
“No, Ren you need to focus on that meeting you’ve been stressed about the past week. I’ll be fine.”
“…ok” and he left, leaving them alone with the kid.
The two stared at each other for a while, a sense of awkwardness lingering in the room.
“…so…what do you like to eat?”
Brat stuck her tongue out and refused to answer.
Date settled on just getting her out of the apartment and walking her along Golden Yokocho until somewhere caught the kid’s interest. If she wasn’t going to answer what food she liked, she could answer what place looked the nicest or whatever made a child decide where they wanted to go.
Actually getting her out was a chore, despite the fact that when he asked, it seemed she expected him to have something there to eat. Which, well she was right, but he had no clue what she’d actually eat, Ren hadn’t told him that, and he didn’t have the energy to make something, then be told she hated it.
At least this way it’d be the chef’s fault.
“Have you made a decision yet?”
“How do you expect me to pick somewhere I’ve never been before!?” she huffed, “Daddy never brings me around here.”
So maybe this wouldn’t be as easy as he thought it’d be. Especially since she was starting to act like the Mizuki from the energetic stories.
“Well, you can take it as a learning experience.”
“I’m not in school dummy.”
“Is that my name now?”
She huffed again, “Yes, or do you want something else? Like stupid?”
“I’m “good” with dummy, thank you. Now come on, either you pick a place or tell me what to buy.”
Rolling her eyes, Mizuki pointed to the place directly behind them. Thankfully not Marble, they were just a few buildings away from that place, he made sure they were just far enough to ask since he had the feeling she’d do that.
Not that Mama would have an issue letting the kid in, he just didn’t want the kid to hear any stories about Ren or worse, himself from her. Knowing them, if she heard any sort of story from the woman, it’d be all Mizuki would talk about for the rest of the night. This was testing his patience on its own, that’d be a breaking point, one person lecturing him on his habits was enough.
“Date?”
“What?”
“To anyone else, you’ve been staring into space for a minute now.”
Date flinched, noticing Mizuki’s perplexed gaze in his direction, she was getting impatient.
“And you didn’t bother to say anything?”
“I shouldn’t have to babysit a 25 year old man. I can help you babysit Mizuki, but not yourself.”
“You were made to be my personal companion last I remembered.”
“Yes, not your owner. And don’t tell me you’re into that!”
“If you were different maybe I would be but…”
“Hey dummy! Are you ok?”
Right, the seven year old, he almost…
“You almost forgot?!?! I just said her name!”
“You’re distracting me!”
“And this is why I didn’t say anything before! You’ll always find a way to get mad at me.”
“Same could be said for you.”
“Huh?”
Shit.
“You…seem a little aggressive.”
“Hey! I’m not “aggressive”! It’s just that you’re annoying.” She puffed her cheeks at him, great.
“…sure, whatever.”
To make sure she didn’t have a chance to fight back, Date walked past her to go inside, if she wasn’t an idiot, she’d follow him as he left the door open.
The punk knew how to almost cause problems, she waited five minutes before going inside, and it wasn’t even to use the public restroom (at least, she was adamant that wasn’t the case). If she waited any longer, Date knew he’d have to go out to avoid Aiba’s wrath, already she was screaming in his ear that was immature to do that, like she wasn’t the one who started it.
“Date. You shouldn’t be having beef with a child. And I’ll say it again, it is your fault, you’re the one who spoke out loud and dragged her into our conversation.”
He chose not to respond, partly because he didn’t want to leak out again and partly because this new argument had been going on long enough. Typically it was because she was unfortunately right, but he didn’t want to give her the full satisfaction, just the quiet breeze of a thought that she was correct, even if it did still fuel her ego.
“I don’t have an ego.”
“Hush, trying to focus on the kid now.”
“Hmph. Then don’t come crying to me for help later.”
“I’ll not need your help.”
“Sure.”
Right before he spoke, Mizuki yanked at his pant leg, there was no way she behaved like this around Ren, or Shoko, one out of politeness and the other because…
Nope, shouldn’t be thinking about that right now, there was no reason to explode on her because of her mother’s problems, she does that to Mizuki enough.
Instead, he forced out a sigh, “What is it?”
“You’re looking like an idiot again.”
“I thought you said I was a dummy, meaning I’m always an idiot.”
“Well you don’t always look like one, I just know you are.”
Because that made sense.
“Alright, I’ll be careful not to embarrass you little princess.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and thankfully for his sanity, one of the waiters finally noticed them waiting. Took them long enough.
Somehow their positions got reversed, not only was Mizuki grumbling about how she was “going to have to pay for all this” (all because he slipped up yet another conversation over how overpriced the food here was, she was seven and his forced guest, it’d be pathetic if she got away with it), but she picked something to eat several minutes ago while he was struggling to pick something out.
“Come on! Pick something already! I’m hungry!”
“I know, I know. Maybe if you stopped yelling at me…”
“Hmph!” she crossed her arms and pouted again, this seemed to be normal, “Mom and Daddy don’t take this long.”
Date knew why pretty well. Both didn’t like to waste time, Shoko didn’t want to waste her own time and Ren was nervous about wasting the time of others, no wonder they encourage their kid to pick things quickly.
“Perhaps you should have what she’s having.”
“Thought you said you weren’t helping me anymore.”
“Unfortunately, as you said, I am your companion, and the best way to make Mizuki happy right now is to be able to eat. This way you’ll not have to think about it.”
He sighed, that sounded ridiculous, but it wasn’t like he had any other options so he rolled with it, calling a waiter down and copying what Mizuki said since he hadn’t remembered.
“You saw what was in it, right?”
“…you’re an idiot.”
Sure, he knew it was some sort of stew, but maybe he really should’ve asked her and faced the music before following Aiba’s advice, there was no way this wasn’t some sort of poison.
It was a nauseating shade of green with something forming large bumps all throughout. If it wasn’t vomit, it was a crushed frog.
“No Date, I think it’s a simple vegetable stew. I’ve analyzed it, there is nothing dangerous about the “frog”.”
“Well either way it looks like shit.”
“Must not taste that way though, even I can hear Mizuki eating it right up.”
That was true, probably because she was so hungry, but the kid was once again taking up the Okiura philosophy of not wasting time by vacuuming the whole thing up. Which meant just like before she was going to give him crap for taking a while.
Really this entire night was starting to turn into her babysitting him, which was not how this was supposed to go.
“Correction. Me and her babysitting you.”
“Thanks for making me feel better.”
“Perhaps the stew could do a better job then.”
He grimaced just thinking about it, surely it was just something about Mizuki that made her like it so much, there was no way it was actually good.
“Are you scared? Of a stew? Wow.” Of course she stopped eating just to comment on it.
“…I’m not hungry.”
“Then why did you order something dummy?!”
“I had something resembling an appetite five minutes ago. It disappeared.”
“I think you’re scared.” She focused back on her own stew, mumbling just loud enough under her breath, “I can’t believe Daddy is friends with someone scared of stew.”
That was it. He’d eat it, not because he wanted to, but because if this night had taught him anything, it’s that he hates getting berated by someone more than half his age even more than getting berated by an eyeball.
It was just as terrible as he thought it’d be, but somehow the laughter that came out of the brat made it slightly worth it.
“I told you it’d make you feel better.”
“It’s just because she’s finally not upset and that means things will not be as bad for me.”
“Sure, now how about you finish the whole thing?”
“Yeah, not happening.”
The way back was mostly silent, after he finally convinced her not to pay for his own dignity, Mizuki had went back to being the quiet type. In fact, it seemed like she was starting to doze off.
“It isn’t that late, right?”
“…Date. You two finally left the house at seven, decided on where to eat at eight and got your food forty five minutes later.”
He blinked, “Ren is going to kill me.”
“I doubt he will “kill you”, it is against the law to…”
“That was an exaggeration.”
“Really? You sounded serious.”
“This bit isn’t funny anymore.”
“Fine. I thought it was.”
He glanced over to where Mizuki was, her eyes were shut and he could hear a small snooze, she had completely fallen asleep, he didn’t think they spent that long going back to the car, this must’ve been a lot for her. She was only seven he supposed.
“So what do you think Date?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you think you’re a better parent than…”
“No.”
“What?”
“We had the same night, right? I come in looking exhausted, she berates me nearly instantly, and we take forever to get something to eat. I’m not cut out for this, I should apologize to Ren about even offering.”
“I see room for improvement. For not having any childhood memories, I would say you have done well. You should ask Mizuki how she felt too, I’m sure she’ll say nice things.”
“Can’t right now, she’s asleep.”
“I meant later.”
Date let out a chuckle, “I know you did.”
“Now you’re the one acting dumb. I thought you didn’t like that bit.”
“When it’s flipped it can be funny.”
“Hmph.”
Perhaps he should ask when the kid woke up. Well, no, he should definitely wait until Ren picks her up. That way she’d be honest. Hopefully.
Unlike yesterday, Ren was perfectly on time to pick up Mizuki. Good, he was able to enjoy a coffee in peace…and get peer pressured into letting the kid have a sip. Sure she had school today but maybe it’d help her focus more, he knew lectures from the higher-ups got exhausting for him after a while.
“So, how was it?”
Date had intended to be the one to answer, but Mizuki interrupted as she walked right past him to hug her father, “It was ok. You need smarter friends.”
“I…” dammit, Ren was obviously trying to hold in a snicker, “Mizuki you shouldn’t say that.”
“He took forever to get food.”
“In my defense…” he had to salvage this, “She was the one who was taking a while to leave.”
“Should’ve prepared dummy.”
“I wanted you to pick what you wanted.” Date let out a sigh, nope, going to leave it at that, it was seven in the morning, even with coffee he didn’t have the energy to be arguing with a child right now, especially not in front of his best friend.
But maybe he should’ve as Ren smiled, “Well, thank you Date. I knew I could rely on you, if you don’t mind, do you think you can do this again next week?”
“There is absolutely no way I can do that.”
“Come on, you should say yes, and now you have a week to prepare rather than a day.”
“And why are you so insistent on this?”
“It was fun having someone I could agree with.”
“Of course…”
It was probably yet another bad idea, but he forced a smile of his own and nodded, “Sure Ren, that wouldn’t be a problem.”
Mizuki sticking her tongue out at him nearly made him take it back on the spot.
Date didn’t even realize today was some sort of “special day” until Mizuki brought it up. For some reason she was insistent on going to a particular restaurant and called him “stupider than usual” when he tried to question it, usually they just ate in different corners of the room, she wasn’t typically like this.
“It appears I have to remind you, about four years ago, Renju had first requested you watched over Mizuki.”
“So? She’s been with me for a while now, she’s never dragged me here before.”
“Perhaps there’s an important memory she wished to recapture, or maybe she thought you’d remember too.”
“I mean, I guess I remember now, I don’t know how it’s important though.”
“Huh, I thought someone with not too many memories would understand.”
“That’s a low blow.”
“Suppose I was wrong.”
Way to make him feel stupid, only getting freed from that conversation by the waiter bringing their food over and discovering there was one thing about this restaurant he could remember clearly, that horrible stew.
This time Mizuki started laughing.
“Hey, what’s so funny?” was he making a disgusted face?
“The stew does look disgusting!”
“Huh?”
“Of course you’d forget dummy, you had this weird face before, that is something I’d never forget.”
“I see, you’ll always remember my misery, got it.”
She laughed again, “Yeah! Your face over…” she surveyed it for a moment, “…vomit stew!”
“You aren’t helping its case.”
“Hey! You ate it just fine before! You should’ve ordered it again.”
“Not making the same mistake twice.”
“You didn’t remember what she had ordered until it was brought out.”
“And you can’t correct me on that to the one who doesn’t know that.”
He still didn’t think he was doing that good of a job, but if his shittiest night was still memorable to Mizuki, maybe Ren hadn’t made a mistake after all.