Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Vacation Girl ❯ Volume One, Chapter Four: Work Day ( Chapter 4 )

Work Day

Thursday.

“Come on, Sui-Topii!” Fumio called out. “We have to go!” The little girl groaned as she came down the hall.

“Do we have to?” she whimpered.

“Yes!” her brother replied. “I have to go to work to pay for us both.” He noticed her little frowning face.

“Come on,” he said. “If I don't work, we can't stay here.” Sui-Topii blinked at him.

“Why?” she asked. Fumio sank down before her.

“Well, the campus needs money to stay open,” he reasoned. “So I have to work to help them.” Sui-Topii frowned.

“That's not fun,” she said. Her older brother nodded.

“Yes,” he said. “But that's how it is.” He patted her on the shoulder. “Now, let's go.” Fumio said. “We can't be late.” Sui-Topii frowned as she put on her shoes. The freshman watched her walk out the door before locking up and heading out.

Fumio kept Sui-Topii by his side for the whole thirty-minute walk. Four whole days, huh? Didn't feel like it. She already proved to be too much for him. But, what could he do? Their parents left the country for their second honeymoon. Fumio didn't know of any other relatives that could take her for the time being. So, yeah. Fumio sighed.

“What's wrong?” a tiny voice asked. He came back to earth and looked down. Sui-Topii's eyes met his. Her brother shook his head.

“Nothing,” he lied. “I'm fine.” She didn't say a word. The siblings continued their walk to the activity center.

“Now Sui-Topii,” Fumio said as they came through the activity center entrance. “I only have half a day today, so please! Behave yourself!” The little girl pouted.

“Fine,” she said. Fumio gave her a little smile.

“Hey,” he said. “We'll go to McDonald's for dinner afterwards, okay?” His sister began to smile.

“Okay!” she said.

“That's a good girl,” he said as he patted her on the head. Then, he took her to the daycare center and dropped her off.

Easy, huh? Heh!

She couldn't play with the other children. Couldn't interact because she didn't know them. She didn't like the toys in the daycare. They aren't mine!, she thought. I want my toys! Sui-Topii sat by the doorway, sulking.

“What's wrong, Sui-Topii-chan?” the teacher asked. The little girl pouted.

“I want Nii-san!” she whined. The teacher gave her a sympathetic smile.

“Aww,” she said. “He'll pick you up when he gets off work.” Sui-Topii eyed her.

“When is that?” she asked. The teacher looked up at the big black cat clock against the back wall.

“At three,” she said. The little girl only frowned. Not good enough.

By eleven o'clock, Sui-Topii couldn't stand it. Time to go. She looked behind her and then down the hall. The little girl repeated the motion before just walked out the door. Nobody noticed a thing.

On his lunch break, Fumio's cell phone rang. His co-works gave him a funny look. The freshman blinked at them.

“What?” he asked.

“Aren't you going to answer that?” his manager asked. Fumio shrugged over his bento.

“I'm sure it's nothing,” he said. His phone rang again.

“You need to answer that,” a freshman girl said.

“It's fine,” he said. His phone rang again. Cure for tense moment. Fumio looked at his co-workers. A fourth ring followed behind. The freshman broke down and picked up his phone.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Tsurimi-kun!” the teacher wailed. “We can't find your sister!” Fumio froze in place.

“What?!?” he wailed.

“We gather up the kids for lunch. When we did the headcount, we noticed that she had vanished!” she explained.

“Where did she go?”

“We think she was trying to find you.”

Fumio leapt to his feet and raced out of the room.

“Tsurimi-kun!” the manager yelled after him. The freshman had already left.

And the hunt begins… now. Fumio, the teacher, and two teaching assistant searched the whole building.

“Damn it!” the freshman yelled. “Why weren't you watching her?!?”

“There are so many kids!” a teaching assistant wailed. “We can't keep track of them all at once!”

“Who's watching them now?!?” he snapped.

“Uh…” the assistant said.

“I found her!” the teacher yelled. “Sui-Topii-chan's in here!” Fumio and the teaching assistant raced down the hall. The little girl sat in the fitness room, watching the TV. Fumio nearly fell to the ground as he breathed out.

“Oh boy,” he mumbled to himself. This was day four and yeah. Sui-Topii looked up when she heard the footsteps.

“Nii-san!” she cheered as she raced over to him. Oh yes. For days felt too long already. Please get this over with!, Fumio thought with tired eyes. Please!!!

Thursday Noon