"Are you sure she's fine?" Naoki asked.
Ai turned to look at her husband, it was late in the evening and they were sitting in bed together. She reached forward and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Of course, honey, I'll talk to her. It's just boy trouble," she reassured him.
He let out a sigh.
"When did our baby grow up? It just seems so soon."
"Don't you remember what being a teenager was like?" she teased.
"When I was a teenager I was terrified of girls," he muttered.
She gave his shoulder a playful smack.
"We started dating when I was 19," she protested.
"And you terrified me," he looked at her and nodded.
She couldn't help but giggle, then leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.
"Do you still find me terrifying?"
"Sometimes. Mostly when I forget to take out the trash," he confessed.
She looked into his gentle eyes, then leaned forward again. Their kiss was longer this time, gentle and loving, before she reluctantly broke apart. He didn't seem disappointed, he knew they had one important thing to talk about.
"I don't think I can get time off to go to Australia," he spoke quietly.
"I can manage alone, don't worry. It'll be a girls trip, after boy trouble that'll be good for her."
"Are you sure?" he sounded quite uncertain, and she pouted playfully.
"You don't think I can manage it?"
"No no," he hurried to comfort her, "it's just that your English is a little," he paused, unsure how to phrase it without being kicked out of bed.
"You're bullying your wife," she turned away in a huff.
He had to spend the next ten minutes placating her, complimenting her, and giving her a shoulder massage. Of course she knew that he knew that she was playing him, but a good marriage tended to settle into these routines, at least in her opinion. Once she was sufficiently mollified she spoke again.
"It'll be fine. Akane is very good at English," she smiled.
"I suppose that's true," he spoke slowly, "she'll at least know enough to keep the two of you out of trouble."
"Suddenly it's your wife that gets in trouble?" she raised a brow.
"Of course not, honey," he quickly started to think of a distraction, "I'll just be very lonely without you here."
She moved closer to him, and reached forward with a hand under the sheets.
"Honey, we'll wake up Akane," he protested.
"Pish posh. I need to do my wifely duties so you won't go chasing after a young hussy while I'm gone."
"You're first leaving in a few weeks," he pointed out.
A reasonable argument most would say. She disagreed. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
"You know I'm a very thorough person," she said huskily.
In the end she got her way.
It wasn't the first time Ai left the country. Years ago her and Naoki had gone on a trip to America, but it was still very exciting. The location in Australia for the tournament only had an hour of time difference compared to home, so it wouldn't be a strenuous trip. The organizers had also come prepared for parents, so it hadn't been difficult to arrange for a seat together with her daughter on the flight and a shared hotel room.
Despite knowing about her daughter's current problems she didn't go poking around. She knew her daughter too well for that, and didn't actually expect her to talk to her about things, so she had to go about it differently. She was perfectly fine with just being there for Akane as emotional support, and doing her best to make it a fun trip.
The morning of her daughter's first match she of course made sure to smush her cheeks thoroughly.
"Mom."
Pleas for mercy were ignored.
"Mother, please."
"Oh fine," she relented with a huff, "you're just growing too old too fast. Soon you're too old for this."
"I'm already too old for it," Akane argued.
"Nonsense," she insisted.
"If I don't visit you in your old age, this is why."
"I go all the way to Australia for you, and this is my repayment?" she started getting into gear.
Unlike her husband, Akane just rolled her eyes, turned away, and continued getting ready. Sadly the battle was lost, so she decided to get serious.
"Now remember that me and your father are very proud of you. Just go out there and do your best."
"I know, mom. Thanks."
Akane came back and she happily hugged her, and they left the room together shortly after.
She wished Akane luck one final time when they made it to the location before they split apart, and she found a place in the stands.
Strictly speaking, she wasn't interested in badminton at all. If someone had asked her what badminton was about five years ago, she would have guessed that it was probably something with a ball being hit. She did like watching Akane play though. She reasoned that had more to do with Akane than badminton, and she started feeling excited as Akane took her place opposite her opponent after the customary handshakes between players and umpire.
Akane's opponent was someone from France. She didn't know much about France, but felt they had something with a tower. Tower made her think of Tower of London though, which was clearly in England. She knew Big Ben was a thing. Perhaps that was what the French had? That way they had one each.
It didn't really matter, what mattered was that France was enemy and as such France must be destroyed. Naoki had dragged her to a baseball game in America, and she had not enjoyed it since the fans were too rowdy. Now she felt like being rowdy as well, however badminton was a polite sport so she managed to restrain herself somehow.
Learning the rules for the game was very simple, which made the whole thing easier. Akane started the game with a good serve, Ai certainly didn't just think that because she was her mother, and her opponent responded weakly, letting Akane win the first point.
The next rally lasted a bit longer, with the horrible Frenchman returning it twice before Akane scored, and Ai clapped enthusiastically.
The score managed to make it all the way to 5-0 before Akane lost a point to an out, something that displeased her greatly. She counted it as a personal victory that she didn't make her way to the court and strangle the umpire.
The out changed the game, and Akane's opponent managed to score multiple times, but her start was just too strong. After a particularly long rally Akane managed to close the set with a 7 point lead. During the two minute intermission she watched as Akane wiped herself with a towel, drank water, and was instructed by her coach.
The next set wasn't so dominant, and her poor baby even trailed behind slightly at the break. Fortunately the game soon changed around, and after three long rallies Akane's opponent was visibly worn out, and she managed to win the game by a two point lead.
It was, in Ai's opinion, an entirely too long and time consuming journey to finally get to her darling and hug the stuffing out of her. There's some muffled protests from her victim about how she's sweaty and gross, but she just ignores that. You are reading on novelping . com, the official source.
It's morning a handful of days later that Ai gets out of bed in the hotel room with an excited smile on her face. Akane's games are finished, so they are free to do whatever they want now.
Her smile widens as she makes it over to her daughter's bed and starts poking her cheeks. After a few minutes of persistent effort she finally gets a reaction.
"Why are you doing this to me? I'm allowed to sleep in now," Akane whines pitifully while trying to escape beneath her covers.
"We're going out," she beams in response.
"Why?" the lump beneath the covers protests.
"Don't you want to see a kangaroo?"
It had been surprisingly easy for her to get her hands on some brochures written in Japanese, as Australia got a fair amount of Japanese visitors. Finding something Akane would definitely want to do had been even easier.
"Kangaroos?" Akane's head emerged from her hiding spot, blinking blearily.
"There aren't any in your bed. You'll have to get up."
With the promise of a kangaroo dangled in front of her, Akane managed to get out of bed and get ready in a surprising amount of time. It was a bit of a pity that she couldn't use this trick more often, as it was apparently extraordinarily motivating. Acquiring a kangaroo as a house pet was sadly not possible.
After a quick breakfast where she had to chide Akane multiple times to eat properly or else she would be left at the zoo with the other animals they set off.
At the zoo Ai decided to let Akane handle buying tickets. It wasn't that she was incapable of it, she knew the word for 'ticket', but to be on the safe side and avoid misunderstandings it was easier to do it this way. While her daughter handled their entrance she studied the map of the zoo instead to plan a route.
It was a rather pleasant day, the sun was shining, but it wasn't too warm, and a soft breeze caressed her skin. She wasn't alone in her plans, as many others had a similar idea to her, leaving the zoo somewhat crowded. It wasn't too bad though, as long as she planned a decent route it would be a nice day.
"Our tickets, mom," she looked up from her perusal and smiled.
"Look, sweetie. They have red pandas."
"Really?" Akane smiled widely.
Her hand was immediately grabbed, and she left Akane pull her along with a soft smile. Sure, in some ways their daughter was growing up, but in other ways she was exactly like she had always been.
The reptiles at the entrance didn't grab their attention much, though they did spend a few minutes at the turtles. The nearby koala nursery on the other hand was far more enticing, and they spent almost fifteen minutes cooing over the babies.
They were interrupted when a foreigner walked up to them and said something in English to her with a big smile. She had no idea what he said, but he seemed very friendly and happy, so she smiled and said yes.
Akane didn't like that for some reason, and after exchanging a handful of quick words with the man she dragged her away.
"Mom, please don't say yes to strangers if you don't know what they are saying."
"Why not?"
"He asked if you were my older sister," she was definitely going to tell her husband that, "and if you were single," she was definitely not going to tell her husband that.
"Oh."
"Yes. The dingoes are this way, come along."
Despite the small sort of hiccup the rest of the day went fine. They saw the promised dingoes, but also emus, Tasmanian devils, and quokkas. They had the most adorable faces. As promised there were also kangaroos, and when Akane got to pet one she swore she almost spotted a tear, despite how stoic Akane tried to be.
The Africa section was very good as well, and they got to see her own favorite animal: The giraffe. She just really, really liked their necks, though their fur was very nice as well.
After a tiring but fulfilling day they found a restaurant to eat at. When they returned to the hotel she was rather certain the trip had done a lot for Akane's mood, so she considered herself to have done a good job as a mom.
A couple days later after the closing ceremony of the tournament they took a flight home, and as much as she would miss Australia she missed her husband more. Home really was the best.