"You can on me!" Umari squealed, following him towards the farthest corner of the room. Huh. I pissed him off. Sweet! Maybe I'll get Saturday all to myself!
"I don't know what you did, Rika, but Minoru-kun's father called me just now and told me that his son would like to cancel the date this Saturday," Mom said with a frown. "Perhaps we'll keep this grounding on. You still have about two weeks."
"Mom," I said. "It was Funaki's decision. I didn't say anything."
"Well you must have said something to make Minoru-kun want to cancel the date," Mom replied.
"How do you know that Funaki didn't just have something that came up on Saturday?" I asked.
She sighed, leaning her forehead against her palm. "Oh I can't deal with this right now, Rika. Just-Just stay out of trouble please. I'll be leaving for Sapporo tomorrow. So just..."
"I understand Mom," I said with an enthusiastic nod. "Really. I'll stay out of trouble and be a good kid."
She stared at me and then nodded. "Good, good. Just, good." She made a shooing gesture. "Go on and do some homework or something."
"Thanks Mom!" I smiled as I skipped out the room.
"Morning Dad." I found my dad sitting at our kitchen bar with a cup of coffee and rice porridge in front of him Thursday morning.
"Morning Rika!" He grinned cheerfully. His fever had gone down completely, and it seemed like he was all
"Morning Rika!" He grinned cheerfully. His fever had gone down completely, and it seemed like he was all better now.
"Are you feeling better?" I asked.
"Of course! Well, now that your mother is gone." He sighed. "Sapporo. Maybe I should get a business trip there too. Hm. What's in Sapporo?" He glanced at me as if I had the answer, so I shrugged.
"Actually, before I came home, I was planning on going to visit your grandma. Her health has been terrible these days. I'll have to visit her soon, then after that, maybe I could go to the Hokkaido Prefecture too." Dad had a habit of talking out loud. "But Nagoya is south, while Hokkaido is north. How troublesome..."
"Morning Rika!" Kimiko danced into the kitchen. "Morning Dad! Feeling better?"
"Yup!" He glanced at her. "Where do you think I should go on a business trip, Kimiko?" "Anywhere in the world?" she asked, eyes widening at the possibilities.
He shrugged. "Well, I suppose."
"Then you should totally go to Switzerland! And bring back their delicious chocolate!" Kimiko replied excitedly as she sat down next to me. "And go skiing there! Oh, but if you do go to Switzerland, you should take me."
Dad chuckled. "Switzerland, huh?"
"But you've been there," I said. "Three times."
"I know, but it's such a nice place!" Kimiko squealed. "What about you Rika?" Dad asked.
Hm...
"America," I replied.
"But you've been there before too!" Kimiko said.
"It was only once at New York City." I frowned. "Why?" he asked.
Part 51
Start from the beginning
