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This fic takes place about fifteen years or so after Shizune's Good Ending. Hisao and Shizune are Happily Married, and have an eight year old daughter named Eri who appeared in my last fic "Family Game Night" Thanks to Sissorlips for proof reading for me.


“Now class;” Hisao said as the chimes signaling the end of the school day sounded, “Don’t forget about your summer reading assignments while you out enjoying this weather. You will be given a quiz as soon as you get back. Other than that, I hope that you all enjoy your summer break.”

With that, the students of class 3-1 began to file out of class room leaving Hisao as he turned to the student’s exams on his desk. With the end of the first term, it was clear that they were a very good class. However, Hisao was about as grateful as they were for the fact that he would have six weeks away from them.

He pulled out his cell phone and opened up the text window. He quickly typed out a short message. “Classes done, should be home in and hour, what about you?”

Within in a moments, he received a reply from Shizune, “One last meeting that WILL be done at 6:30 even if I have to kill people.”

This caused him to chuckle slightly, knowing full well how forceful his wife could be. “Alright, I shall see you then, love you.” He replied back

“Love you too.” She texted back to her husband.

He than put his phone away and went back to work.

About an hour or so later, Hisao finally pulled into the garage at his home and opened the door.

“I’m home” he called out as he made his way inside. He turned to the monitor in the corner of the kitchen, to see that his daughter Eri was sitting in the living room reading a book; or at least she was until she saw the strobe lights in the room go off and noticed her father coming through the door on the monitor in the living room. Both of the monitors and the strobe light were part of a system that the Nakai’s had installed in their home as a means of allowing Shizune to be aware of what was going on in her home, especially where their daughter was concerned. When she heard her father call out she made her way through the door and ran up and gave him a hug.

“Hello, Daddy” said Eri.

“Hello Eri-chan” Her father replied, “How was school today?”

“It was fun” she replied cheerfully “Inaba-sensei had a big party for us before we left for summer break. “

“That’s nice, how did you do on your end of term tests?”

This caused her to break into a catlike grin “I did the best of everyone in my class.”

Hisao chuckled at her enthusiasm, “Always your mother’s daughter.” He said to himself “ I am sure she will be very happy to hear that you did so well.”

That was actually a bit of an understatement, Shizune Nakai never missed an opportunity to brag or otherwise take pride in her daughter’s academic achievements ever since she started school. The refrigerator in the kitchen was covered with test after test, assignment after assignment showing of the child’s extraordinary marks. (Some of the most impressive ones are actually laminated.) Eri actually took a moment to turn to the fridge and ponder where her latest test would go.

At the mention of her mother, Eri turned to Hisao and asked in sign language [When is Mommy coming home?]

He didn’t even bat an eye. His daughter had learned to sign before she could talk. Being raised by a deaf mother and a hearing father, she had grown to be equally fluent in both JSL and Japanese. There seemed to be little difference between speaking and signing as far as Eri Nakai was concerned; so much so that she often seemed confused by the idea that most people couldn’t sign. So he simply signed back at her [She is in a meeting and will be home at about six.]

[Okay,] she replied with a small smile. [What are we doing for dinner?]

[We are going to go out for Korean barbeque.] Hisao signed back referring to the one thing that she enjoyed more than any thing.

“YAAAAAAAAY”, Eri gave out a loud yell at that news.

Hisao chuckled “Why were we signing by the way?”

“We were talking about Mommy so it made sense and I felt like it.” Eri said as though the answer were obvious.

“Alright than, have you started packing yet?”

Eri nodded.

“Good, our flight is leaving very early tomorrow and we have a very long plane ride ahead of us.”

“I know Daddy; its SOOOO cool the Grandpa is letting us spend summer break and his beach house in Hawaii”

“Yeah, very cool,” this was all Hisao managed as a reply. He and his wife still had some reservations about the “gift” that his father-in-law sprang upon them a few weeks ago on their daughter’s birthday. How he so “humbly apologized” (as though Jigoro Hakamichi really knew what either of those words meant.) for not getting her a present and “graciously” offered a Private Hawaiian Vacation over summer break. Putting both he and Shizune in a position where they could not possibly say no without greatly disappointing their daughter. Hisao swore under his breath that the man could not even be nice without being a jerk about it.

On the other hand Hisao also reasoned to himself that it could very well be fun. Some nice tropical weather would make for a change of pace and it would be nice to see Shizune in a swimsuit. With those thoughts, Hisao managed to cheer himself up.

“But don’t think that just because we’re going some place far away that I’m going to go easy on you as far as school work is concerned. You are still going to do your summer assignments, Eri-chan. Is that clear?”

“Yes Daddy.” Eri nodded.

“Alright” He said “Let’s see what I can do to help you pack.”

Hisao went into his daughter’s room and was rather impressed to see that she had actually made a very good start of things. It needed a little straightening out, sure but she had enough clothes for the length of the stay and had indeed remembered her swimsuit. He had some reservations this morning when Shizune insisted on having their daughter do as much of her own packing as possible and only helping when she needed help. It seemed however that his wife was right to have faith in their daughter’s ability to handle it on her own, especially with the promise of a “special prize” from her mother if she did a good job. Really it didn’t take long at all. After they were done, they sat down and started reading together.

At about a quarter to seven, Hisao and Eri both noticed a bright strobe light in the corner of the living room. Instantly the both turned to the door to see Shizune Nakai enter dressed in a very serous business suit. She had on her face the tired, but happy expression of some one who had a very long, very dull day at work but was ultimately glad to be home. Eri ran up to her mother to give her a flying hug tackle, and was gathered up into her arms.

[“Eri-chan”] Hisao said, also walking towards his wife, while signing for her benefit, [“You know that Mommy can’t sign when she had her hands full and look, she hasn’t even had time to take her shoes off yet.”]

Shizune took a moment to put her daughter down to do just that. While she was doing so, Eri looked back at Hisao. “But Mommy likes it when I hug her when she gets home. Since she was facing away from Shizune when she sad this, Hisao translated their daughter’s words for her. This made Shizune smile.

After she had put her inside sandals on, she stepped towards Hisao and gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the lips. As the two parted from eachother, Hisao took a moment to sign to his wife. [Hello there Shizune, how did the meeting go.]

[The same way they always go,] Shizune signed back, taking a moment to touch her glasses as a way to express her annoyance, [Everyone seems to be more concerned about advancing their own petty agendas and why we *can’t* get something than as opposed to figure out how we *can* get it done. By God, no one has any sense at all. I might as well fire my whole staff and hire Kenji as reasonable as everyone is being.]

Hisao stifled a chuckle before he took his wife’s jacket off of her and hung it back in the closet. After he did so he responded. [That is why you are the boss dear, who better than you to get all those people to listen. As for Kenji on the other hand, remember you do let him babysit.]

[Only because he’s available and you insist,] she replied with and indignant expression.

[What’s wrong with Uncle Kenji, Mommy,] Eri suddenly replied [I really like it when we play Secret Agent.]

Hisao laughed while his wife shook her head.

[Alright] Shizune began to sign; adjusting her glasses while doing so [We shall be heading out in about half an hour for dinner, when we return home, Eri you are going to be heading straight to bed. We have a very long plane ride tomorrow and are have to get up very early. Is that understood?]

[Yes, Mommy] Her daughter replied

Shizune than turned to her husband, [Does she have everything packed?]

[She had a lot of it done before I even came home. All I really needed to do help her tidy things up a little and take care of some things she couldn’t do on her own.]

Shizune simply gave a trademark cat grin and patted her daughter on the head.

The rest of the evening was more or less uneventful with the Nakai family heading out for a most enjoyable meal of kalbi at a hole in the wall Korean restaurant. Afterwards, they headed home, played a quick game (which Shizune always seemed to have an uncommon knack for winning), and sent their daughter right to bed.

Hisao Nakai was in the master bathroom, going through what had become by now that almost thoughtless ritual of taking his medication. A long time ago, the thought of taking medication every day to keep his heart under control had been something that filled him a rather morbid sense of dread. Now, after about thirteen years or so of living with his condition, he barely gave it much thought at all. Time and a much improved outlook on life helped greatly in that regard.

His wife, to whom he owed much , was lying down in bed, dressed in a blue nightgown with a novel that one would be surprised to see a successful businesswoman and philanthropist read. As soon her husband had finished ingesting his nightly cocktail and turned back to her, she put down her book and quickly turned the lamp on her bed stand off and than back on in order to get his attention. He looked towards his wife and signed to her, [What’s the matter, Shizune.]

She took a moment to wave off her husband’s concern, [Nothing, just still a little uneasy about my father’s belated birthday gift.]

Hisao climbed into bed with his wife touching her shoulder as he did so. [He meant well, for Jigoro. I am sure he just wants to have his granddaughter to have some fun this summer.]

[Easy for you to say,] She retorted with a stern expression and a hard flourish in her signing [Let’s just say that I have a lot of memories of that beach house, very few of them could be considered “fun”.]

[Well than, we just have to make sure that Eri’s memories shall be much better than yours. ]

This brought a small smile to Shizune’s face along with a most suspicious smirk, [You are just looking forward to seeing me in my swimsuit, aren’t you.]

Hisao chuckled [I admit, that is part of the appeal.] He than paused for a moment as though to consider something. [How have you been feeling today?]

Shizune nodded, for the past couple of days she seemed to not have been feeling well in the mornings. For the most part, both of them thought it was a simple case of stomach flu.

Though Shizune Nakai had a feeling.

[Better,] she replied [Hopefully, it will not be too much of a problem. Though I am more worried about, other things.]

Hisao reached towards his wife and touched her hands letting their fingers intertwine for a brief moment. From early on their relationship, this was one of the ways that the two of them would communicate affection towards each other. It was something more direct, and at the same time more subtle than any words could be. It was something that it took him a while to truly understand. He than reached up and touched his wife’s hair and stroked it letting his hand go down her neck and the small of her back. He than look towards her and smiled. In this simple gestures he communicated a lot more than any words, signed or spoken could have.

Everything will be fine. Don’t worry; I’ll be there for you.

Shizune Nakai smiled and kissed her husband, pulling him into a loving embrace.

Oooh. A nice continuation. Only things I picked up on were using "thAn" when it should've been "thEn" (once during the text message "...see you then." and again near the end "Well then, ...") and saying "One meeting the WILL be done..." would've been "One meeting that WILL be done..."

Looking forward to more.

Fudging win! I loved your fic, "Family Game Night"!

One more thAn when he puts his cell phone away.
And he tells his daughter twice when Shizune will be home.
Three or four more typos but nothing serious.
Looking forward to further chapters.

Sounds to me like Shizune has a bun in the oven, if you know what I mean .

I'm worried that Jigoro is going to do something extremely extremely stupid.

I am happy to see you continue this story with the wonderful family you've written.

Breaker deGodot wrote:Sounds to me like Shizune has a bun in the oven, if you know what I mean .

I agree.

A very cute story, I'm glad you decided to pick up after your last one. I'd be very interested to see a 15-year later Kenji or Jigoro, and I share the "bun in the oven" speculation. I just hope it's not Kenji's. Or cancer.
Anyway, looking forward to the next part.

bradpara wrote:Everything will be fine. Don’t worry; I’ll be there for you.

/starts channeling Pee Wee Herman "OK boys and girls, today's secret word is 'foreshadowing'. You all know what to do whenever somebody says the secret word, right?" /stops channeling Pee Wee Herman...suddenly feels dirty and goes to take a shower.

Otakumon wrote:

bradpara wrote:Everything will be fine. Don’t worry; I’ll be there for you.

/starts channeling Pee Wee Herman "OK boys and girls, today's secret word is 'foreshadowing'. You all know what to do whenever somebody says the secret word, right?" /stops channeling Pee Wee Herman...suddenly feels dirty and goes to take a shower.

You can't channel a person who's still alive, though that did give me a great laugh.

Elcor wrote:

Otakumon wrote:

bradpara wrote:Everything will be fine. Don’t worry; I’ll be there for you.

/starts channeling Pee Wee Herman "OK boys and girls, today's secret word is 'foreshadowing'. You all know what to do whenever somebody says the secret word, right?" /stops channeling Pee Wee Herman...suddenly feels dirty and goes to take a shower.

You can't channel a person who's still alive, though that did give me a great laugh.

You can't channel a person that's dead either.

Otakumon wrote: You can't channel a person that's dead either.

Yes,you can you just have to have a lot of change. (Sorry I'm laughing to hard over here for a good reply to that)

Being deaf, Shizune mused to herself, could be very annoying at times.

Yes, there was the eternal problem of communicating with others, something that even now was a major source of frustration for her and shaped her personality considerably. There was an entire world of experiences out there that would be forever alien to her, music being just one of the most notable among them. However she had learned to adapt the challenges of dealing with the world, and felt little need, most of the time, to ponder things that were beyond her except perhaps as idle curiosities. Though there were times when not being able to hear resulted in some very uncomfortable situations.

For one thing, it made the already tedious experience of the ten hour flight from Tokyo to Honolulu downright tortuous.

While her husband and daughter were engrossed in their headphones listening to the best music selection that Japan Airlines had to offer. Shizune had to make do with the selection books that she had brought with her, as well as a cheap dime novel mystery she bought at the duty free shop for about ¥800. In a way, her deafness proved to be a blessing as well, since the sounds of the jet engines could not disturb her. This was balanced out, however by the fact that Hisao, ever the bookworm, was working his way through the same stack as well. Though the major thing was that she had a lot of time on her hands and this gave her time to think about their destination.

Shizune Nakai hated thinking of her past.

………

Summer, 1997:

Shizune Hakamichi ran across that sand with an almost gleeful abandon. The eight year old girl was dressed in a bright blue sundress with yellow flowers and a hat that was way too big for her. Her hair was actually somewhat longer that the style the she usually wore, bound together into tight buns that caused to kids in her school to joking call her “Usagi”. The only reason why she wasn’t running even faster was because of her companion that was holding on to her right hand for dear life.

She was a girl about that same age as Shizune, dressed in a plain white sundress and a pair of dark glasses, She had very pretty, long blonde hair and a cute little face that she was only partially Japanese. The two girls eventually made their way to edge of the ocean where they slowed to a stop.

As they did so, Shizune took off her hat, most because it was starting to get in the way of her eyes. The girl next to her removed her sunglasses to reveal that her eyes were clouded over. It might seem odd to some that a deaf girl and a blind girl could be so close to one another. But as far as Shizune was concerned, it hardly mattered at all. Sure sometimes they had some trouble communicating or understanding things, but she was always patient and tried to understand, no matter how long it took. Whenever they met, they always had a lot of fun together. She was also one of the nicest girls she knew and would do anything to help her no matter what.

She loved her cousin Lilly more than anything.

Shizune tapped Lilly on the shoulder in order to get her attention. Her cousin than turned towards her and put out her left in front of her palm facing up. Using her right hand, Shizune began to touched Lilly’s fingers and palm spelling out what she wished to say to her using a form of deaf blind sign language which both of them learned shortly after they first met so that they could talk to one another.

[Here we are, Lily-chan, we’re at the ocean.]

Lilly simply smiled, she loved how enthusiastic her cousin was about everything, wanting to rush into everything and take on the world. Her usual pace was often much faster than hers but it was fun to try and keep up. She loved to spend time with her favorite cousin, everything they did was som much fun. She reached out with her right hand while her cousin guided her to her left, feeling where Shizune’s hand was she began to sign.

[Yes, I know, Shicchan I can hear the waves and smell the water. It’s salty.]

For a moment Shizune didn’t understand, but than she took a deep breath through she nose and realized that there was a very salty smell in the air. The revelation that waves had a sound actually reassured her. She was thinking about a good way to explain them to her. Thankfully there was no need.
[Yes, it is also smells a little like Nori too.] Shizune replied.

[Well Nori *is* made of seaweed.] Lilly replied [and we are near the sea after all.]

Lilly than reached down to the ground and picked up a handful of sand. Her cousin, wanting to follow what she was doing, did the same, the sand felt very, fine, like it was hundreds of different pebbles only much tinier. Shizune than saw Lilly drop to her knees and move her hands around in the sand trying her best to experience it as much as possible. After she was done, Lilly got back up on her feet and tapped her on the left shoulder, indicating that she wanted to talk again.

[It’s very, fine] She said, [It’s a lot different from Grandpa’s place in Scotland.]

[How?] Shizune asked.

[In Scotland, it’s all pebbles. You can feel what the different ones are, you know. Here, they are too small. ]

Lilly turned her head towards where she heard the waves coming from she seemed to be losing herself in whatever it was that she heard. They where experiencing the same thing, but in very different ways. It really didn’t matter though so long as they were doing it together.

[What does the ocean look like?] Lilly asked

[What do you mean?] Her cousin replied.

[Could you tell me what color it is?]

Shizune giggled, covering her mouth as she did so. For whatever reason, Lilly always seemed to be so interested what in color things were, even though she had no real way of experiencing it herself. She remembered one time when went out for ice cream with Lilly and her older sister Akira. Lilly was happily enjoying a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Out of the blue, she asked what color her ice cream was and Shizune told her that it was white. Lilly then declared that since vanilla was her favorite flavor of ice cream, than white would be her favorite color from now on. Akira thought it was funny.

[It’s Blue, Lilly It starts as green and becomes blue.]

[Blue, huh?] Lilly replied. [Akira said that was the color of the sky one time.]

[Yes it is. If you look out far enough, it almost seems like the sky is coming down into the ocean, like both of them are just going on forever.]

[But, we know that if you go far enough, we’ll get back to Japan.]

[Yes] Shizune answered [But it is so far away that you can’t see it. Though I bet that if I really tried, I could swim all the back.]

Lilly briefly pulled her hand back to cover her mouth in a laugh, her cousin did the same. [I don’t think you can.] Lilly answered [That sounds like something that would be hard for a grown up, Shicchan.]

Shizune gave a hard snap that made Lilly flinch slightly before signing again into her hand. [Well then maybe when I grow up. It’s going to happen very soon. I hate being a little kid.]

Shizune look back out towards the water and gave a small smile as she looked back to her cousin and took her hand, [Do you want you to go the water?]

A worried expression crossed Lilly’s face. [Isn’t it ice cold?]

[No, no it’s not It’s nice and warm. I thought you said you had been to ocean before.] Shizune replied.

[Yeah, but it in was Scotland, and it was cold.]

[We are not in Scotland. We’re in Hawaii. You are so silly Lilly.]

Lilly eventually decided that it would not be so bad to go in after all. This was convient since her cousin had already started to lead her towards that ocean before she could tell her that she had agreed.

They two girls were about knee high in the water when Shizune stopped to tap Lilly on the shoulder. Her cousin reached out to her and she began to sign.

[Well ?]
Lilly simply smiled, [It’s very warm almost like a nice bath.]

[Really cousin, you can be such a fraidy cat. How would ever have any fun if it wasn’t for me?]

With that, the two girls began to splashing and having a good time, playing in ocean with barely a care in the world.

All of a sudden Lilly turned her head towards the shore. When Shizune noticed this she tapped her cousin on her shoulder to get her attention. Lilly pointed to her ear to indicate that she heard something. Shizune than turned towards the beach to see if she could see what her cousin heard.

What she saw were two women standing on the beach. The first one was a very pretty woman in her mid teens dressed in black two piece swim suit. She was tall with blonde hair that she wore down to ther shoulders and red eyes. She also sported a very healthy tan that she was most proud of and the lithe frame of a competitive swimmer. The second woman was older, late twenties to early thirties. She was tall and willowy in appearance with long black hair that reached down to her waist and deep, dark red eyes like the first woman and a snow white skin that seemed most out of place in the tropical sun. She was also dressed in a white yukata with a floral design that made her seem more out of place. As the first woman began to run towards the girls, even Shizune could tell she was shouting at them.

[Is Akira mad at us?] Shizune ask as she quickly signed into Lilly’s hand.

[Yeah] Lilly replied [And she says your mom is too. Is she also here?]

[She’s just looking at us. She must be *very* mad.]

Akira arrived and than grabbed both of the girls by their arms while taking them to land. Shizune could see her looking towards Lilly and her looking very, distraught. Just a few moments later the three of them were standing in front of the second woman.

Mayoi Hakamichi gave her daughter an expression that didn’t look angry at all. It was more sad, more disappointed, but with a very calm and peaceful air as though she had only patience and understanding for her daughter.

Mommy was furious

With the same graceful air in her gestures she began to sign.

[Shizune, do you know how dangerous it is to go out into ocean without an adult to watch you? ]

[But Mommy,] Shizune retorted [we didn’t go out that deep….]

Mayoi touched Shizune’s hands to stop her signing, [Please don’t make excuses, Shicchan ] she replied [what is worse is that you brought Lilly with. Do you realize that her blindness means that this is even more dangerous for her? She cannot see waves coming or see where other people are .]

[But Mommy, we were having fun.]

[That is not the point; dear you cannot simply do things because you think that they are….]

Mayoi could not finish her sentence because she suddenly lost her balance and began to touch her forehead. Shizune look concerned.

[Mommy, are you okay]

Her mother regained her composure after a few moments and began to sign again

[I am fine dear, just a little dizzy.. Now let’s go and speak with your father.]

Shizune simply nodded in reply and followed her mother back to the beach house. She briefly turned to Lilly and could tell from her expression that Akira probably gave her a good scolding as well. She hoped that Lilly’s parents didn’t get too mad at her. Her father could be very scary.

…….

]Present Day

Shizune Nakai felt at sharp poke in the soft spot of her shoulder that shook her from her reverie she turned to see her daughter Eri looking at her with an pen and pad of paper in her hand.

[Mommy] Eri signed to her as soon as she had her attention [Are you okay?]

[I’m alright dear.] Shizune signed back [I just needed to take a little nap.]

[Okay] Eri replied, [You were sick again this morning.]

[Don’t worry about me, little prize. I’ll be okay.]

Eri than took the pad and paper and made drew out a grid. She placed it on her mother’s lap and signed to her [Wanna play tic, tac, toe?]

Shizune’s face broke into a cat grin [Of course honey.]

Awww, that was a sweet chapter though this one seems more foreboding.

There were three or four sentences that were missing a word to make sense...
Also: "then" and "than" - keep them straight!