ONE WEEK OF SUMMER

Jay Pantig

[chanel_jay@mailcity.com]

STANDARD DISCLAIMER:

Taiho Shichauzo/You're Under Arrest is owned by Kosuke Fujishima and is presented by TBS, Kodansha Ltd., Bandai Visual Co. Ltd., and Marubani Corporation. Japanese manga presented by Kodansha Morning Party Extra, English adaptation brought by Dark Horse and Studio Proteus. I own nothing, zip, wala, nada, (except this fic) so please don't sue me!

DAY FIVE: SHOPPING SPREE

It was one particularly sunny day, which Natsumi’s and Miyuki’s parents decided to spend together with their children. They had enjoyed each other’s company for the entire morning, and were wasting the afternoon idly hanging around Katsuura City.

Natsumi and Miyuki were strolling slightly ahead of their parents when they came to a stop, Natsumi squealing in delight when they had. She turned towards her father, who looked at her expectedly. “Yes?”

“Can I have my allowance now, dad?”

Her father chuckled. “I wish you never remembered,” he said, handing his daughter a 200 bill.

“Thank you! Now I can get that one!” Natsumi exclaimed, pointing at the small toy house near Miyuki’s father.

The four adults groaned. “Are you sure, Natsumi-chan?” Miyuki’s mother asked. “Both you and Miyuki already have plenty of those. Do you really need more to add to your collection?”

Natsumi stubbornly shook her head. “I want that one.”

The two fathers looked at each other before shrugging. “It’s their money, I guess . . .” Miyuki’s father said.

“You mean ours. We supply them the money.”

“We do, don’t we?”

“Oh, definitely.”

“Oh, I think I like this one . . .” Natsumi’s mother said, pausing near a sign.

“Dear, you already have that,” her husband said.

“I do?” She looked at the things she had bought for that day and noticed the same object she craved about. “Oh.”

Miyuki slightly frowned. “We keep going around in circles . . . can’t we do something else?”

Natsumi agreed. “Yeah, this is boring. I wanna go to the carnival.”

“Now kids, you’ve had your fun earlier, now give us a chance,” Natsumi’s father lightly scolded, just as Miyuki’s own father paused and mumbled slightly before deciding to purchase something of his own.

The two kids silently waited for him to finish before finally moving on.

After a few minutes, Natsumi’s father paused at a particularly expensive site. His wife smiled at him sweetly, making him fidget nervously. “How much do you think you’ll have to pay for this?”

“P-pay? You’re not serious, are you?”

“Let’s see . . .” Natsumi said, leaning beside Miyuki, who was holding a card with her two hands. “It costs this much, and then there’s all the added stuff . . .”

Miyuki, by then, was grinning widely. “Six thousand.”

“WHAT?” Natsumi’s father paled, while the rest of them giggled. “You can’t be serious!”

Miyuki’s father laid a hand on his shoulder. “My daughter’s good at addition. I don’t think she made a mistake.”

“Wouldn’t you want to recheck to make sure anyway?”

“I’m not in your position. Lucky me!”

Miyuki’s mother grinned.

“Come on!” Natsumi’s mother swatted her husband lightly on his shoulder. “That’s not so bad.”

Her husband looked at her with a defeated look on his face. “That’s what you think.”

Taking out twelve 500 bills, he handed it to Miyuki’s outstretched hand, who accepted it happily. “Thank you!” Miyuki said sweetly.

“Aargh! I’m bankrupt!!” Natsumi’s father exclaimed, looking at the remaining five 20 bills he had in his hand. “I saved so much for that!”

“Rules are rules,” Miyuki’s mother reminded him, while his wife giggled madly. “After all, who was it that suggested that we give the kids Boardwalk and Park Place as handicap anyway?”

Miyuki’s father nodded. “Add it with all the houses they bought, they made two dangerous cash boxes right before the Go sign . . .” he noted, sighing as he looked at his own remaining bills – a previous victim of the same location.

“So did we win?” Natsumi asked, both her and Miyuki looking expectantly at their parents.

“NOOO!!” her father exclaimed, standing up. “I will not lose to two children! AGAIN!!”

“Again?!” Miyuki groaned.

And so the two kids were forced by their parents to go through another round of Monopoly . . .

-----

“One week of summer, that was fulfilling as a year, seemed as short as a day . . .”

– Morisato Keiichi

Ah! Megami-sama OAV 5: “For the Love of Goddess”