Chapter 22 is at the beginning of volume 4. The front cover depicts the Koiwais asleep on the floor. Yotsuba's asleep at her drawing pad, and has her foot against her daddy's face. There are a few examples of origami around, a couple of badminton racquets, and the Yotsubox. Mr. Koiwai has an open book. There are watermelon rinds on a plate nearby, a window is slid open, and the fan is on.
(The chapter image is of Yotsuba looking determined. She's wearing a bucket for a hat and holding a racquet in one hand and a bat made of newspaper and tape in the other. She has a badminton birdie in one pocket, and is bandaged on a cheek, a forearm, and a leg.)
Jumbo stands, watching Yotsuba and Koiwai stare at each other. At the count of three, Yotsuba holds out the sign for "Paper" while Koiwai holds out "Scissors". She tries to get the bucket and put it on her head, but Koiwai baps the top of her head with the paper bat. She calls for another round, which she loses. In her haste, she picks up the bat, but Koiwai reminds her that he gets it. He takes it, and baps her on the head. The third round, she wins, but mistakenly takes the bucket. Koiwai reminds her that he gets it. He takes it, and is able to put it on before being bopped. Yotsuba has a plan: she convinces her dad to be paper, figuring that she can be scissors. On the count of three, she throws scissors, and he throws... ROCK. SHOCKING. She gets bopped out of her shocked state. She bemoans the unfairness, but Koiwai remarks that as an adult, he doesn't play fair. (On the one hand, though, she tried to get him to do a particular move so she could know with 100% certainty that her move would win, so the fact that it backfired is kind of poetic... on the other hand, the way the game's set up, someone who's significantly less coordinated will always get bopped on a loss, and never administer bops on a win. On the other hand, if you agree to the game knowing the conditions, well...)
Jumbo plops a bag on the table. Yotsuba looks in to find three ice creams, which Yotsuba assumes are for her. Jumbo explains that there's one for each of them. (Good thing a certain character we'll meet next volume doesn't drop by, huh?) Told to choose the one she wants, she says the flavors: Chocolate, vanilla, and adzuki
. As she puzzles over it, Koiwai has the great idea of eating them all, then letting her have the one that tasted best. Yotsuba thinks this is a great idea, until Jumbo gives her a clue. Yotsuba gets the adzuki, while Koiwai and Jumbo have vanilla and chocolate, respectively.
Yotsuba shows Jumbo a flower that got sick. He notes that it's been a week (since chapter 17, when his shop dumped a load of flowers that didn't have much time left for 10 yen). Koiwai brings up the tip about talking to plants, so she asks it how it is. Jumbo also suggests changing the water daily, so she does.
Jumbo notices a badminton set, which Ena lent Yotsuba for practicing. The three go to the park, and Jumbo and Yotsuba have the racquets while Koiwai watches. Jumbo hits it. Yotsuba also hits it... but overhand. Jumbo gives her a "Good job!" for hitting it, anyway. Koiwai says they've been training, which Yotsuba says is rough. She also says it's less like "tap" and more like "pow!" They go again. This time, they hit it back and forth a couple of times, then Yotsuba decides to break out her secret technique, which turns out to be spinning in place. She 1) misses, 2) loses grip on her racquet, causing it to fly away, and falls to her hands and knees, dizzy and a little ill from the spinning. Jumbo asks what she was trying to do, then tells her she has to learn the basics before going for the secret techniques. "Basics, huh? They're important?"
Yotsuba asks them who plays better. Both claim they do. So now Yotsuba is holding a line between them. They shout kiai at each other and strike fighting poses until Yotsuba politely asks them to actually play. Koiwai gets ready, and... pretends to say hi to Asagi, which distracts Jumbo. Koiwai hits the birdie under the line, wasting his unfair advantage.
Well, an Ayase is approaching, but it's Ena, not Asagi. Miura is accompanying her. As they come near, the adults are arguing over the status of the latest (unseen) hit: over or under the line. (This is why a net is good, especially one with holes a birdie can't easily go through.) Koiwai demonstrates what he wants believed happened: he says it barely cleared the string, then hit the ground, spun around, and dug itself into the ground by 4 inches, and it took a lot of work to get it out. ... Jumbo calls him an idiot over it.
Ena greets Yotsuba, and Miura ashs if they're playing badminton. Yotsuba says they are, and that the adults are fighting. Now they want Yotsuba to be the judge... but she can't remember what it did, and says it went past the line. They don't know how to call that.
Koiwai and the girls greet each other, and Jumbo remarks that Lamborghini Miura is actually a girl today. (You may recall that that the first time Jumbo saw Miura, before they were really introduced, she wore something a little more ambiguous, and the second time, she wore something even more boyish... to a matsuri. So now she's wearing something more girlish than the first time... but not by much.) Miura says she's a girl every day. Ena says Miura's not a snail. The other two don't get it, so Ena explains tha snails are both male and female. They seem impressed that this is something she knows. Ena recalls that Jumbo called Miura a boy yesterday, so she guesses that's why she's "trying to be a girl" today. Miura always says she's a girl.
Now the badminton is between father and daughter. As they play, Jumbo sits on a (sturdy) crate, and asks if they wrote about yesterday's fireworks... and the kind man who got them. Miura wrote about the fireworks, but didn't mention him; Ena got both in. Jumbo calls Ena a good girl. Ena says it's easy to write about events like that. Miura calls Ena lucky for being able to do lots of things she can write about. Miura isn't going anywhere that summer, as her dad's going to be busy the entire break.
Jumbo suddenly has visions of Miura wanting so badly to go somewhere like Majikaru Rando (where the girls except Yomi went in Azumanga Daioh, and where they were on their way to going to at the end of the series), but her dad saying he doesn't have that kind of time. Jumbo is so touched by this image that he puts a hand on Miura's shoulder and gets teary. He decides to take her and the others on a trip tomorrow. The beach? The mountains? He'll give her a summer to remember! Ena applauds this, but Miura seems disturbed.
Father and daughter are still at it.
YOTSUBA&!
Yotsuba swings and misses, and the birdie hits her head.
Next time: Chapter 23! Those who don't already know find out what they end up doing!
