(The chapter image is of Fuuka riding her bicycle furiously.)
Fuuka and Yotsuba and playing badminton without a defined net, either actual or simulated. Fuuka hits the birdie, and Yotsuba leans too far back on one leg and falls on her back. The birdie lands on her forehead.
Yotsuba asks what that was as she serves. Fuuka hits it back, asking, "What was what?" The birdie hits Yotsuba in the forehead, knocking her down. Fuuka apologizes, asking if she's okay. Yotsuba just laughs after a second. She sits up, noting the "special training" to be hard.
Fuuka is called from the gate. It's her mother, asking her to buy flowers for the altar. Fuuka agrees. Yotsuba is still swinging her racquet. Fuuka declares Yotsuba's training over for the day. Yotsuba thanks her, and wants to go shopping, too. Fuuka invites her along.
So now, both are riding on the bike. Yotsuba asks if they're going to buy flowers. Fuuka says yes, and that they're for her dead grandparents. Yotsuba doesn't understand; Fuuka said she was going to her grandmother's house! Fuuka explains that this is her other grandmother, and that every family has two. Yotsuba is surprised at this, and Fuuka remembers that she only knows the one of hers. Fuuka tries to explain about moms and dads having moms and dads, and differentiates between her own grandmothers by saying that the one she's visiting is her mom's mother, and the one the flowers are for is her dad's mother. She asks if Yotsuba understands...
...and Yotsuba sees a bus. Yotsuba likes buses! ...but thinks they're expensive. Fuuka asks how old she is. Yotsuba thinks she's six. (We'll learn differently in the future, but for our purposes here, it makes little difference.) Fuuka points out that little kids can ride for free. She says they'll ride together next time. She notices that the bicycle doesn't feel like it has as much of a load as it did... she looks around... and sees Yotsuba on the bus! After watching the bus pull away, she pedals after it, much as depicted on the chapter page. The bus comes to a stop, and Yotsuba disembarks. Fuuka catches up, and Yotsuba tells the "ze"ing teen that she rode the bus. Fuuka asks if it was fun, which it was. And she saw Jumbo! Fuuka asks where, and Yotsuba points in that direction. Fuuka tells her that even though the bus is free (to children), you shouldn't ride without an adult. Yotsuba at least reacts as though she understood.
Then Yotsuba spots a flower shop. Fuuka says they can buy from there. Then she sees the name. "Flower... Jumbo?" (fu-ra-wa- ja-n-bo) They enter, Yotsuba first, and Yotsuba points out Jumbo! He's arranging flowers into a basket. Then he spots Yotsuba running up to the counter, and asks what brings her there. Yotsuba asks what he's doing there, and Jumbo asks what she thinks he's doing. After some consideration, she guesses "cooking". Jumbo makes a buzzer noise. Fuuka responds: "You're a florist?!" Jumbo makes a bell noise, and says she's correct. Yotsuba tells her not to say, as she's still guessing. She goes to try it again. After some consideration, she then gives the correct answer, and Jumbo does the bell sound again. Fuuka asks if he owns the store. It's his dad's, and he's back.
He comes in with a removal of his hat and an "Irashai!" Jumbo says she's not a customer. Fuuka tells him not to say it like that. (Huh? It doesn't matter how he says it; it's not true.) The elder Takeda gets the impression that she's his new girlfriend, and remarks how she's prettier than his old one, and about how his getting dumped may have been a good thing. He then notices that she's young, and asks if he's breaking any laws. Jumbo says he's got it wrong.
Then they notice Yotsuba sticking flowers in that hard foam. The elder Takeda identifies her as Yotsuba. She asks who he is, and he says he's Jumbo's dad. Yotsuba is surprised even he has one, and says she does, too! Just regular size, though. He asks if Koiwai's doing okay, and she says he's great, and that he did his Boxerman dance today. Mr. Takeda is confused; Fuuka is merely shocked, but she's seen him as Boxerman before. He didn't dance that time, though. (See volume 1, chapter 7.)
Jumbo changes the subject by asking what brought her there. In fact, she came to buy flowers. He says to take her time and look around. So, Yotsuba does. The Takedas talk about changing the water, and not putting them in the keeper. Jumbo asks what kind of flowers they need. They're for the altar, Fuuka says. Fuuka asks about the keeper. It keeps the flowers cold so they don't bloom right away. She looks at the flowers in the keeper, and sees... Yotsuba! Fuuka freaks. Once Yotsuba is out, she says it was cool, but Fuuka tells her she shouldn't go in there.
Some flowers catch Yotsuba's eye. But not just some flowers, "SUNFLOWERS!" Mr. Takeda asks if she likes sunflowers. She loves 'em! He likes them, too, saying nothing beats them. They agree that they're pretty, and Mr. Takeda tells his son that the innocent eyes of a child can tell. Fuuka is wowed by the sunflowers, as well.
Jumbo shows Fuuka an arrangement, and asks if he should add lotus. She asks how that would be in terms of price. He says it would be a little more expensive, so she declines, causing him to observe that she knows what she's doing.
Yotsuba observes Fuuka paying for the arrangement, looks at some sunflowers, then digs around in her bag... and finds something. She asks Jumbo for a sunflower..."With 10 yen?!" (About a dime.) Mr. Takeda, as a gesture of his liking of Yotsuba, decides to sell her anything she wants in a certain area, all for 10 yen. (The plan is to get rid of the ones that won't last long, anyway.) Some of these are roses, which he tells Fuuka to give to Asagi. Fuuka tells him to give them to Yotsuba, as Fuuka won't even be home. Besides which, Asagi has a boyfriend. Jumbo is shocked, and lets roses fall from his hands. Fuuka then is unsure... did they break up? Jumbo is desperate for her to remember, but she's not sure, so he calls her useless.
He has Yotsuba take the roses, and, after asking about it, a box, too. Fuuka asks if roses aren't expensive, and Jumbo replies that they're on sale because his dad idiotically ordered too many. Mr. Takeda objects. Yotsuba gives her 10 yen.
Fuuka tosses her altar flowers in the front basket. We get a closeup of some roses as one of them does that small talk thing where you rehash new information in the form of a question: specifically, about Jumbo being a florist, and the other answers affirmatively. Now we see sunflowers (and a man looking startled) as one asks if the other knew; she didn't.
Next page, we see what he's startled at, and what's caught the attention of a few people: Yotsuba has an enormous bouquet strapped to her back. Fuuka seems to be blushing a bit from the attention. She says the flower shop was fun, and offers to take her again sometime, and Yotsuba agrees.
YOTSUBA&!
The last page shows Koiwai meeting Yotsuba, on all fours, still carrying the flowers on her back as Fuuka helps steady them.
Next time: Chapter 18!
