Chapter 5

Spring 19, 2003

Yuki arrives home at 5:00pm. He is tired, covered in dirt, and sore from the hard work at the farm. Even though he has been working on the farm for three years, he is not yet fully adapted to the farmer's way of life. After throwing his dirty rucksack on the ground, he goes over to the dining room where he can sit on the table to relax. It wasn't long until Choco notices him enter the house. She grabs her stuffed horse, and runs over to where he sits.

She tugs on his shirt to grab his attention. “Daddy, Daddy! Can we play 'Horse Ball' together? I've gotten really good, and I wanna see how good are you!”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to play that game in the house? You might break something.” said Yuki.

“Oh, okay.” said Choco as she returned to her bedroom.

Yuki gets up from the table, and takes a shower. The cold water from the shower chills him to the bone and threatens him with a cold. It’s an inconvenience when you live in the middle of a valley and hot water is difficult to get to a farm house. As he walks out of the bathroom in his robe, Choco runs in carrying her toy car. Yuki jumps in shock thinking that Choco was still in her room.

“Daddy, daddy! Do you want to have a race? I bet my car is faster than yours!” yelled Choco full of energy.

“Can't you see that I just came out of the shower? Besides, I don't have a car, so I can't play.”

“Sure you do!” Choco pulls out a handmade car that she built out of a milk carton, two sticks, and four buttons as wheels. “You can use this car daddy. I even colored it blue, your favorite color.”

“Just because my farming clothes are blue, that doesn't mean it's my favorite color.” commented Yuki. He then walks away to his room and says, “Besides, I need a nap. See ya!”

Yuki walks back to his room while Choco looks at him with a disappointed look on her face. Yuki throws himself on the bed, and prepares to take a nap. Working on the farm every day, and taking care of an over energetic ten year old has worn him out. He questions if taking care of a child is something he can handle on his own. All the other girls from Forget-Me-Not valley has already volunteered to marry Yuki and help care for Choco, but he turned them all down already.

Choco bursts in the room carrying her building blocks with her. Yuki stares at her with a very annoyed look in his eye. Choco doesn't notice it, so she walks in happily, and jumps on his bed.

“Hey daddy! You wanna build a very tall house with me. I wanna build something at least 10 feet tall this time, and I need your help!” yelled Choco.

“You don't have anywhere near enough blocks to build anything that high. Besides, this room is not even that high, so it's impossible to do that.”

“Oh, ok.”

Yuki sits up, and rubs Choco on the head. He's annoyed with her, but he tries his best to keep his temper. “Choco, listen to me. I had a hard long day at work today, and I need to rest for today. So please, won't you let me rest for today. I'll play with you some other time.”

Choco nods, then leaves. Yuki laid down on his back, and stares at the ceiling for a while. He thinks about a lot of things. Like how things were when he was still young, and his parents were still living together as a family. A tear fell to his cheek as he also remembered the days when his father lost his job and they were having trouble keeping food on the table. This lead to friction between his parents. In the end, it lead to a divorce.

Yuki's father still needed to provide for his son, so he went to Forget-Me-Not Valley to work on a farm. Yuki was still a young boy when this happened. He even still remembers the promise he made to his father before he left. He promised to take care of his mother in his father's place. Even though his parents were no longer married, neither of them remarried.

After a long think of the past, Yuki starts to think about his present. Without knowing how or why, he is now taking care of a ten year old child. He knows that Choco means well, but she is a bit too playful and energetic. She always wants to play, but Yuki needs to care for a farm. He still has not even a clue on her mother's whereabouts, and even wonders if she really is his daughter.

Spring 20, 2003

Muffy pays Yuki a visit that afternoon. Yuki's door was unlocked once again, so she just lets herself in. She finds Yuki in the dining room, resting his head on the table again. She could tell that Yuki is exhausted, and Choco is the reason. But she plays like if she doesn't know, and approaches him. She taps on his shoulder to get his attention. Yuki looks up at her with bags under his eyes.

“Hey there Yuki! What’s the matter? Anything I can help you with?” asked Muffy with a flirty smile.

Yuki lifts his head heavily, sighs, and says, “Three. . . Two. . . One. . .”

As soon as he finishes the countdown, Choco bursts out of her room holding her drawing pad. Without noticing Muffy, she hops on a chair, and opens the drawing pad. She placed a red crayon next to Yuki expecting him to play with her. “Daddy, let's play Tic-Tac-Toe! This time, you'll be the red color, and I'll be the black. It'll be fun!”

“Choco, how many times are we going to play that game until you had enough? We've been playing that game for five days. Besides, neither of us ever wins anyway.”

Choco thinks about a new game for her to play. She used her black crayon to draw 144 dots on the drawing pad in a 12 x 12 pattern. “Daddy, let's play capture the dots! We'll take turns drawing two lines, and if you make a square you get a point. The person with the most points win!”

Yuki looks at Muffyand says, “She's been like this since she came to live here. All she wants to do is play games and she won't leave me alone. She even waits for me outside the bathroom when I take a shower, or do my other business. I'm tired, and I don't know how long can I keep doing this for.”

Ignoring everything Yuki just said, Choco hops off the chair, and starts pulling on Yuki's shirt. “Daddy! Come on, I wanna play! You can speak to the lady anytime, it's time you spent time with me!”

“Choco, can't I just get a day off? All you want to is play, play, play.”

“But you didn't play with me yesterday! It's not fair!” complained Choco.

“I'm sorry, but I am not a kid anymore. I am a grown adult that needs to work! I work and play all day and all night long, can't I have any time to myself anymore?”

Choco looked down at the floor sadly. She started to sniffle as if she is about to cry. Yuki felt sorry, but he couldn't handle playing with her for another day. This gave Muffy a good idea. She walks up to Choco and squats down so she can speak to her face to face.

“Hey there Choco. Would you like to play with me instead?” Asked Muffy.

Choco looked at Muffy with a sour pout. “Ew! No way! You're no fun! What kind of games can an old lady like you play?”

“Old Lady?!” grouched Muffy while clenching a fist. She quickly takes a few breaths, and tries to count backwards and relax. “Okay Muffy, calm down, she's only a kid. If I can get her to like me, then I'm sure that getting Yuki to marry me will be a lot easier. I can do this! I believe in myself,” Muffy said to herself in her head.

“Choco!” yelled Yuki. “You shouldn't talk to adults like that! Now apologize!”

Choco looked up at Muffy and sarcastically says, “Sorry. . .”

“Good, now why don't you play with Muffy. Maybe if you hang out with her, you'll learn to be a little lady instead of a kid.”

Choco nods in agreement, and she leaves the farm with Muffy. Yuki stretches his arms in relief, the house is now quiet. After a few minutes of silence, he rolls his stiff shoulders to try to loosen them up. “God, my shoulders are so stiff! It may be Spring, but it's still a little chilly outside. The cold showers don't help much either. By the time I'm 30 years old, I'll be in trouble.” After thinking about his dilemma in peace, Yuki remembers that a hot spring was discovered last year. He nods his head, and decides to relax at the hot springs.

Near the pond close to the beach, Choco is playing with her ball all by herself while Muffy watches her. She places her hands on her hips and says, “See, I knew that this parenting business was a piece of cake. All I have to do is keep an eye on her, and make sure that she keeps out of trouble.”

“Oh really?” says Nami standing with her arms crossed. She is standing nearby with Lumina, Celia, and Flora. “If it’s so easy, why did you call us here?”

Muffy smiles and says, “I thought it would be a good idea if all six of us girls would hang out together. Something like a women's day off.”

“Yeah right!” snapped Flora. “When it comes to parenting, you are just as clueless as Yuki is! You're planning on us taking good care of Choco, and then taking all the credit.”

“Oh, come on, don't think that way.” said Muffy nervously. “We can call this a contest, whoever can get Choco to like you the most wins Yuki's hand. Naturally, I intend to win!” Muffy starts having a fantasy of her wedding day with Yuki over at Mineral Town's church. She wears a huge white wedding gown, and Yuki in a tuxedo. Choco is walking behind them spreading flower petals all over the place. Such a vivid fantasy leaves Muffy's face red with anticipation. All the other girls look at Muffy in disbelief.

“You're so full of it!” snapped Nami. “What makes you think that you will win Yuki? After all, there are 4 other women here who are equally as pretty, but much younger.”

Celia thinks about the situation for a moment. “Hey, I just realized something. What if Choco's mother comes to Forget-Me-Not Valley to take back not only her daughter, but Yuki as well? And since she's also from the city, what if she's huge and mean like in the movies?” Celia has a vision of an enormous middle aged woman taking Choco and Yuki back to Atland by force, and Celia is helpless to stop her. The mere thought causes her to shrug in fear.

Flora places her hand on Celia's shoulders, and smiles. “So, I guess you've given up on Yuki then? That's okay, that means one less rival for me! I on the other hand am not afraid of any city folk. I am a black belt of the art of Taekwon do! If someone dares to take Yuki away from me, they will pay with a whole world of hurt!” Flora has a vision of her standing over a knocked out enormous middle aged woman like a kick boxing champion. Then she claims her prize, Yuki and Choco. She giggles at the thought of Protecting Yuki from another woman.

Lumina feels that it is her turn to say something, “hey everyone! Haven't any of you ever thought of the possibility that maybe Yuki really isn't her father?”

Muffy, Nami, Celia, and Flora looks at Lumina with an evil glare. Lumina steps back feeling like if she has touched a sensitive subject.

“Don't tell me that you actually believe the story about Yuki being a virgin and everything? Come on! Yuki is a man, and there is usually one thing that flows through a man's brain!” said Muffy.

“Yeah, considering how many times you've got dumped, you would know that better than we do.” commented Nami.

“But think about the facts for a minute. Yuki is only 22 years old, and Choco is 10 years old. When Choco was born, Yuki must have been only 12 years old at the time. And even so, considering Yuki and Choco's birthday being so close together, Yuki must have been only 11 years old when Choco's mother got pregnant. Don't you think that something doesn't add up?” After that explanation, everyone thought for a few minutes.

“Even though you have a point, the paternity test proves that Yuki is her father.” answered Flora. “With that in mind, there's just no other explanation.”

“I may have an idea!!” yelled Daryl who suddenly appears at the scene. All the girls jump in shock when the mad scientist makes his appearance.

“Daryl!! What are you doing here?!” yelled all five young women.

“Well, I could see you all from my lab,” said Daryl pointing at his laboratory not too far from where they are all standing. “But that's besides the point! You all want to know where Choco came from, right?” Everyone nods. “I have also looked into the facts, and I also have trouble believing that Yuki could have had a child at such a young age. So therefore, I've been looking into other methods that she could have come into this world.”

“So, what did you find?” asked Nami curiously.

Daryl rubs his chin and answers, “well. . . at first, I thought that she might have been a clone of Yuki himself. However, I find that to be impossible as well. Clones are a replica of the original parent. Considering that Yuki is a man, and Choco is a little girl, cloning was taken out as a possible answer. Besides, the paternity test proves that there is a second parent involved, Choco's DNA only contains half of Yuki's, meaning that there is in fact a mother somewhere.”

Everyone looks at Daryl awkwardly. Muffy sighs and says, “That's it? All that research you did, and that's all you could find out! You know. . . For a genius, you're pretty stupid!”

“Can't you tell us something that we all don't know!” cried Lumina.

“Well, I also took into consideration that Choco has memories of her father, but Yuki has none of Choco. This goes past the simple explanation of forgetfulness. Yuki has been living here for several years, so Choco's memories of him should be that of a child. But that doesn't seem to be the case considering that she remembers him as a man. This makes me think that Choco really is his daughter, but not yet!”

“Not yet?” asked Nami in a confused tone. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“In shorter words, I theorize that Choco might be from the future!” announces Daryl.

All the girls look at him even more awkwardly. Flora feels that she needed to say something, so she steps forward, and says, “Listen to me Daryl. I don't know what goes on in that creepy head of yours, but time traveling is definitely not possible.”

“According to Einstein's theory, it is!” answered Daryl. “We as simple human beings do not know how, but who knows what will happen in a few years?"

Lumina is intrigued with his theory. “So, assuming that she really did come from the future, how do you explain the fact that she cannot remember her own mother?”

Daryl chuckles with confidence before answering, “you see. . . In order to break open a gate between now and the time where Choco probably came from, you need to use a lot of powerful energy waves. These energy waves can sometimes disrupt a person's brainwaves, causing partial amnesia. She might have forgotten much more than just her mother. She may have also have forgotten the main reason why she is even here in the first place.”

“You know, that does kinda make sense.” said Flora.

Celia, Nami, and Muffy looks at Flora with disbelief. “You're not buying into this story either, are you?” asked Muffy.

“Hey, it's just a theory, not an actual fact.” answered Flora. “After all, considering Choco's situation, the simplest answer may not be the correct one. We should leave our options open so that we don't look dumb in the end.”

Daryl nods and says, “I'm glad that you're seeing things my way. But to be sure, I would like to borrow Choco and run a few experiments on her. This shouldn't take long.”

Daryl starts to walk towards Choco creepily, but five hands suddenly stopped him on his tracks. He turns around to see five angry faces that have a murderous look on them.

“If you lay a hand on that kid!” yelled Nami.

“I swear, I'll kill you!” continued Muffy. All five girls then tie Daryl up and throw him back in his lab. They slammed the door shut, leaving him inside.

“The nerve of that guy! I can't believe that he actually thought that we would agree to let him take Choco away like that!” said Nami angrily.

“It would be hard to explain that to Yuki. 'Sorry Yuki, but I let your daughter be used as one of Daryl's lab rats.' I would never have a chance with him if that ever happened.” said Muffy.

“Are you sure it's okay to leave him in there like that?” asked Celia. “I wonder if he could get untied on his own?”

“Who cares!? He got what he deserves, now let's get out of here.” answered Flora

As they were all about to leave to find Choco, Lumina stops everyone with an odd thought. “Hey everyone, I just thought of something! If Choco really is from the future, then could it be possible that maybe one of us is her mother?”

“One of us?!?!” asked Muffy, Flora, Nami, and Celia. They all start to have the same thought in their head. A few years in the future, Yuki would just choose a bride and have a daughter named Choco.

“One of us as Yuki's wife? I'm sure it's me! I’m sure he likes me the most. I could already see me as his wife someday.” said Celia blushing from the thought.

“Yeah right! Over my dead body!” said Muffy.

“I think I would become Choco's mother! After all, I always thought she looks a little bit like me!” said Flora full of excitement.

“No she doesn't!” yelled Muffy.

“No way, I'm sure that I am her mother! She's wild and energetic, like me!” cheered Nami.

Muffy broods over the thought that she might lose Yuki to another girl. Lumina chuckles nervously as the other girls argue over who might Yuki's future bride might be. So she fans her hands up and down and says, “Calm down everyone! After all, we are not sure if Daryl's theory is even true. Let's not get so worked up.”

“Oh shut up!” snapped Nami. “If one of us is indeed Choco's mother, then she has to look a little bit like one of us! Let's go back to her, and see if we can find out who it is!”

Celia, Flora, and Muffy nods, and returns to where they left Choco. But when they arrive, Choco was already gone. The only thing that they find was the ball that she was playing with. Muffy panics and says, “Oh no! She's gone! If Yuki finds out I lost his daughter, I'll never have a chance at becoming his wife!”

“There she goes!” yells Nami pointing at Choco who is running north. “Wow, she's fast!”

“This is no time to be impressed!” yelled Muffy. “After her!”

Everyone runs after Choco without a clue where she is heading. Choco runs so fast, that none of the other girls is able to catch up to her. She kept running in random directions trying her hardest to lose the others and find her father.

Yuki is in the hot springs taking a nice relaxing bath. He looks up at the sky and sees the clouds move slowly. The stiffness in his shoulders are melting away quickly, and the stress that has built up also fades into the hot water. As Yuki stares into the Spring sky, he says to himself, “Boy, this feels so good, I knew that this would be a good idea. I do feel bad for Muffy, I hope that Choco is not giving her a hard time. But this day is so perfect, I don't think anything could possibly go wrong.”

“DADDY!!!” yelled Choco. Yuki looks ahead and finds Choco running into the hot springs. She jumps into the hot water fully dressed while Yuki was completely naked. Using the towel that he had on his head, he was able to cover his front.

“Choco!! What are you doing here!?” yelled Yuki.

“Daddy is so mean! Leaving me with the boring old lady, I wanna play with you!”

“Can't you see that I'm taking a bath here? Get out!” Yuki then realizes that something was odd. “Wait a second! Where's Muffy?”

“CHOCO!!!” yelled Muffy as everyone barges into the hot springs without realizing that Yuki was already in there. Everyone gasps as soon as they see him naked desperately covering his front. Yuki is so shocked to see all five girls that he accidentally drops the towel revealing everything to them. Lumina passes out as the first sight of Yuki's manhood.

“What's wrong with her?” asked Nami. “She never seen a naked man before?”

"Gyah!! I really didn't want to see that!" said the Witch Princess who was still watching from her crystal ball.