Ten Years Later
As Kaga and Kentaro cooked dinner together, a young ten-year-old Noelle was finishing up a drawing she was working on.
Noelle quickly hops out of her chair and rushes into the kitchen, her drawing in her hand. Kentaro is quick to notice as he turns towards her and crouches down to be level with her. Kaga is still cooking but also looking over at them with a smile on her face.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look what I did!" Noelle! She expressed it happily as she held up the drawing above her head.
"Wow! Would you look at that! We have an artist in our midst!" Kentaro exclaims with a supportive tone as he takes the drawing from Noelle and examines it.
"Well then, look at that, Kaga." Kentaro says with a smile as he shows it to Kaga.
"That's so cute, Noelle! You did great, sweetie!" Kaga replied as she looked back at her cooking pot as it started to bubble over.
"Oh my," Kaga expresses as she steps back in surprise.
The pot started to boil over, but with quick reflexes, Kentaro reached over to the oven and turned off the burner. Stopping the pot from proceeding with its overboil.
"Careful there, Kaga, love. Wouldn't want to get burned." Kentaro said, feeling cool as he slowly stood like a hero would from their superhero landing.
Kaga bonked herself on her head as she stuck out her tongue with a goofy expression from her clumsy mistake.
"My fault, dear. Luckily it's done!" Kaga remarked as she started stirring it as the pot started to lower.
"Daddy! Daddy! Can we put my drawing on the fridge?!" Noelle questioned as she jumped to keep Kentaro's attention.
"We sure can! Where else would we put this masterpiece of our little artist?" Kentaro smiled as he walked over to the fridge, Noelle following close behind in excitement.
As he reached it, he grabbed one of the free fridge magnets, one that housed a small, cartoony duck. He then placed the drawing on the fridge and placed the duck magnet on the top center so that it could show its full glory.
"How do you feel about that, Noelle?" Kentaro asked happily.
"It's perfect! Thank you! Thank you!" Noelle excitedly expressed herself as she jumped with joy.
She was quickly getting snatched up into Kentaro's arms as he took her off the ground.
"Are you ready to eat?" Kentaro asked as he watched Noelle's expressive and bright face.
"I'm so hungry! I can't wait!" Noelle replied with her arms flailing in the air.
"Easy there, tiger, your mom's almost done. Why don't we get you set up at the table?" Kentaro questioned as he began walking towards the dining table.
"Yay!! Dinner time!" Noelle shouted as Kentaro placed her back in her chair and walked back into the kitchen.
Quick to help Kaga with the plates and portions. As the family finished getting everything ready. They sat together and began eating.
"Could've used a bit more salt." Kaga sighed as she continued eating.
"No, no, love. I think it's just perfect." Kentaro retorted with a smile as he also continued to eat.
"Really? I feel like it could use a bit more to it." Kaga remarked as she looked back down at her plate.
"You know, Mom, I think it'd be even better with chocolate!" Noelle interjected as she also continued eating. Her curry around her mouth as she held her spoon in the air.
Kentaro and Kaga chuckle simultaneously as they watch Noelle eat.
"I'll look into it just for you, sweetie." Kaga replied as she took another spoonful of her food.
"So, sweetie? I have to know, how did today's game go? Did you win?" Kaga questioned
Noelle set her spoon down and quickly stood up on her chair.
"It was awesome! My team played like crazy! But the enemy team was strong! It was back and forth like a battle of great importance! People of both sides falling one after another! Both sides are fighting like crazy!"
Kaga burst out laughing, accidentally interrupting Noelle.
"Are we still talking about soccer?" Kaga chuckled as she calmed to let Noelle continue.
"Of course! Our championship match was a battle of many ages! But sadly, we lost by one point!" Noelle exclaimed as she picked up her spoon from the table.
"But I enjoyed every moment, and I can't wait for later games!" Noelle expressed as she quickly sat back in her chair and continued eating.
"My, my, I feel like I just watched a presentation on explosive charisma." Kentaro remarked as he smiled.
"Explosive... Diarrhea?" Noelle questioned as she continued eating.
"Ewww, Noelle. That's stinky." Kaga chuckled as she laughed with Kentaro at Noelle.
Dinner time slowly passes, and as Kaga cleans up, Kentaro takes a sleepy Noelle to bed. As he places her in her bed and gets her tucked in, she slowly wakes up for a bit. Her eyes locked onto him as she hesitated to ask him something.
"Are you okay, love?" Kentaro questioned as he finished tucking Noelle in.
"I— It's just... I wanted to ask you something." Noelle hesitantly spoke.
"Of course, love, what's on your mind?" Kentaro replies.
"Why do people pick on each other?" Noelle asked,
"What do you mean?" Kentaro questioned
"Well, why do people pick on other people for no reason?" Noelle pondered
"That's a tough one, but the best thing I can say is... people are different in many ways on the outside and the inside. Sometimes when someone finds something about someone else they don't like or that is different. This tends to create a hostile emotion that's usually fueled by other things." Kentaro partly answered.
"Is that why people at school get into fights?" Noelle asked,
"It can be... It can also be because of other things... Are there people fighting at your school?" Kentaro questioned.
"There's this other kid who gets picked on, and I always feel bad for him." Noelle replied,
"Has anyone tried to help this kid?" Kentaro asked,
"I think everyone's afraid too. The ones picking on him are really mean." Noelle replied, pulling her blanket over her mouth.
"Well, has anyone told an adult?" Kentaro asked once more.
"We're scared to tell an adult..." Noelle softly replied.
"But you told me? Why not try telling a teacher at your school?" Kentaro questioned.
"Do you really think I can? I mean, what if they come after me?" Noelle asked with worry in her voice.
"Don't worry, love, I'll keep you safe." Kentaro replied as he leaned in and kissed Noelle on the forehead.
A smile on his face as he rubbed Noelle's hair and stood up.
"Good night, love." Kentaro expressed as he smiled at Noelle.
"Good night, Daddy... Thank you for talking to me." Noelle remarked as she slowly started drifting off to sleep.
"Of course... Sweetie." Kentaro softly replied as he watched Noelle drift off to sleep.