School the next day was depressingly normal for the most part. Hikaru received the graded homework from the day before. She was amused and grateful to see that the history page had been given full marks, as had the math, though the chemistry and English both had a few errors.

Her lunch was made of leftovers as usual, and lunchtime passed peacefully. Hikaru was feeling too shy about it to mention her probable date, but Risa and Shizuoka talked a lot about other things. They didn't really seem to notice Hikaru's reticence, although Risa did cast a few concerned glances at her friend. She had noticed that Hikaru had been quiet recently.

When they shared their weekend calendars, they chided her for not letting them know in advance that she had a rare Friday afternoon free, but Risa and Shizuoka both had things going on that afternoon, so they didn't meet up after school. Hikaru returned home and worked on finishing her pile of weekend homework early instead.

--

When Izumi finished his shift, the three current members of the household had dinner quietly together. Izumi was relatively cheerful and Miri often smiled contentedly. Hikaru had finished all but two assignments and was avoiding thinking about her date, if it was a date. It was probably a date. She was glad Izumi-san seemed to be in a good mood.

Izumi liked things quiet at home. He didn't like having background music playing. He only used his large entertainment center for occasional movies and games. When he'd moved in Hikaru had done her best to learn to accommodate his habits. She knew it must be awkward for him. He had been so shocked when Miri had introduced her 19 year old son and 17 year old daughter.

Hikaru tried very hard to like him and get along with him, because he adored her mother and made her happy. Miri hadn't smiled so much in years as she had this year. So Hikaru always left the first coat hook free. She never left a towel on the bathroom floor anymore. She usually only played music through headphones.

Izumi made things difficult by doing his best to be a good parent to his new stepdaughter. Their usual conflicts were over the curfew he had created for her safety. He had statistics on teens and times of police incidents he'd quoted to Miri and Hikaru.

Hikaru tried to go along with it except for work, although she had mostly stopped accepting jobs after 8pm on school nights. She didn't understand why he had freaked out over finding her kissing a man. As far as she knew, he had no idea what her social life was like. But she had been too angry with him to ask at first, and didn't really want to bring it up again. She was relieved when he went up to bed early.

Hikaru finished her homework while her mother put the food away and did dishes. She peeked at her mother's face once in awhile to check that she wasn't overdoing it. She looked energetic enough though, and Hikaru was amused by watching her mother playing at being a new bride.

Miri had been advised by her doctors to quit working with this pregnancy, and had promptly taken over chores she'd been leaving to her children for years. Although she'd already taken over cooking dinner most of the time after Yuki left for college, out of self defense.

Hikaru stretched and sighed when she finally had the last assignment done. She hated school work, but it was rather nice having it all finished early. Usually she had a job on Fridays and her homework waited until Sunday afternoon.

"Hikaru?" Miri asked.

Hikaru looked up quizzically.

"You're not going to wear that on your date are you?" her mother asked anxiously.

Hikaru looked down at her clothes. When she'd gotten home from school she'd changed into grey jeans and a soft grey long sleeved shirt that was one of her favorites. It was also relatively new and she didn't see anything wrong with it, so she nodded to her mother.

"You can't!" Miri declared. She insisted that Hikaru change clothes. She complained sadly about the lack of feminine articles in her daughter's wardrobe after awhile of sorting through Hikaru's clothes looking for something more suitable. "I know you don't have anything with ruffles, but why is everything that's not for wearing on stage so… so practical?"

Hikaru shrugged.

"Wait here," Miri demanded.

Hikaru waited.

Her mother returned with one of her own stretchy white lace pullovers that was a bit short on Hikaru, and had her put it on under her only sleeveless shirt.

"That's a little better," Miri sighed. The approved ensemble retained the grey jeans, with the white lace pullover, and a grey tank top decorated with a shimmering pink and silver cityscape so striking that it. was the only reason Hikaru had bought a sleeveless shirt.

"I wonder if you shouldn't wear the white stage jeans with the cut outs down the sides?" Miri pondered.

"No." Hikaru said, and refused to change clothes again. She tugged uncomfortably at the soft lace sleeves.

"Alright," her mother gave in.

--

Hikaru left to catch the bus downtown at 9:30pm. She arrived at the restaurant a little early, but not very much so. She informed the friendly and familiar waitress that she was waiting for someone, and ordered a hot chocolate to sip.

Hikaru settled back into the comfortable booth and gazed out the window. Ten o'clock passed, but she wasn't really worried, he had said he might be late.

--

At 10:15 Kiri asked his phone to call the number Hikaru had called him from. He was just ready to leave the parking lot.

"Hello?" it was answered.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to be pretty late, do you want to cancel?" he asked.

"Is this Takeshi-kun?" asked the person who'd answered.

"Ah, yes?" he answered with surprise.

"This is Hikaru's mother. She left a while ago, but I'm sure she'll wait. If she comes home first I can have her call you?" offered Miri.

"Thank you," he replied politely.

"Do you think you could bring her home by midnight?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'll do my best," Kiri promised, feeling a little rattled.

"Thank you," said Hikaru's mother.

Kiri bid her goodbye and ended the call.

--

At 10:20 the waitress brought Hikaru a refill. She eyed it ruefully. The chocolate was more sugar and less chocolate than she preferred. She sipped at it once in awhile anyway, and watched the lights of the traffic outside.

--

Kiri entered the restaurant about 10:40, spotted Hikaru sitting in a booth, and went straight over. He slid into the seat next to her, and threw his arm over her shoulder while saying, "Sorry I'm late."

Hikaru jumped when he touched her and looked over, wild eyed. He withdrew immediately, but she caught ahold of his sleeve and drew him back into the seat beside her.

"Sorry," she said, "I was kind of dozing and you startled me."

"You looked scared." He replied, and suggested tentatively, "I can sit on the other side?"

"No, this is fine," she assured him.

He settled his arm gently back around her and she leaned against him. He kissed her cheek lightly and said, "I'm not sure I can keep dating a woman without a mobile device."

Hikaru looked at him. "Are we dating then?" she asked for verification because she hadn't felt entirely certain.

He grinned at her and replied, "We have kissed so much and I'm holding you like this now, what is this then? A fling?"

Her cheeks flushed and she said, "Dating is fine, I just wasn't sure, you didn't say it was a date, and you said you had a lot of questions."

He looked at her wryly.

"What do you mean about a mobile device? We can't date if I don't have a phone?" she asked.

"Well, I tried to call you to tell you I'd be late," he explained. "I spoke to your mother," he added ruefully.

Hikaru looked at him and asked, "Oh?"

Kiri gave her a squeeze and said, "She'd like me to have you home by midnight."

Hikaru stiffened. Kiri loosened his hold a little and looked at her uncertainly. "That's not fair!" she exclaimed. "That barely gives us more than half an hour."

"How far away do you live?" he inquired.

"I'm not sure of the distance," she replied, "a few miles I guess, but the last bus before midnight leaves at 11:30, so I'll have to leave to wait for it by 11:25."

"I brought my car?" he suggested. "If it's only a few miles, 11:50 should be plenty early, and we'll have an hour together?"

Hikaru looked at him a little doubtfully, but then agreed, "OK."

The waitress interrupted them, and asked what they'd like to order.

Kiri asked, "I presume you've had supper? I have."

Hikaru nodded and said, "Yes. I would have chosen a dessert, but I've already had two cups of chocolate."

Kiri said, "Chocolate sounds good. How about if I order a dessert and we get two spoons, then you can have as much or as little as you like?"

Hikaru nodded in agreement and Kiri ordered a rich chocolate dessert with ice cream.

After the waitress left he asked suddenly, "Will you let me buy you a phone?"

Hikaru looked at him dubiously and replied, "If I really need one, I can get it."

He hugged her against him and asked, "Why don't you already have one?"

She frowned, and replied, "I have other things I'm trying to pay for, and it's a luxury more than a necessity."

Kiri laughed and teased, "Barbarian." Then he said, "It's just that if I'm late, like this, or need to reschedule... even having to cancel entirely is not too uncommon with my job. I want to be able to communicate." He frowned a little and then said persuasively, "But if you wouldn't get one if I weren't asking, why not let me buy it?"

She looked at him uncertainly.

Wryly he added, "If you don't like gifts, you could return it when we break up?"

Hikaru jerked away from him a little in shock. He looked at her in surprise. She asked stiffly, "What's the point of dating if you're planning to break up from the start?"

He stared at her, with open mouthed surprise. "I'm not planning to break up," he refuted her assumption.

She raised her eyebrows at him wordlessly expressing disbelief.

He reviewed his own words and tried to explain. "It's just that usually, the women I date break up with me within about six months. Usually by screaming something like 'it's me or your job!' or 'your job is more important to you than I am!'." He grimaced.

She considered for a moment and said, "I guess I can understand that a little."

It was his turn to stiffen. "Are we breaking up already then?" he asked coolly.

She looked at him with exasperation and deliberately put her arm around his waist. "Don't be like that," she said.

He looked at her uncertainly.

"I just mean," she tried to explain, "that if, well... I mean, there are other jobs." She blushed and continued. "I know there are other women too. But if we've been dating awhile, it would be nice to be loved enough by then to be chosen over your job, if you had to choose."

He stared at her. Embarrassed she looked back at him uncertainly and asked, "Don't you want to be loved that much?"

He swallowed and nodded, and returned her embrace. "I'll make a deal with you," he offered, "if we've been dating for six months and you can't stand my job, I'll change it, if you promise not to complain about how much money I make."

She blinked at him in surprise, then asked, "Why on earth would I complain about how much money you make? Especially if I asked you to change jobs?"

He laughed. "Then I'll never break up with you," he said lightly.

Uncertainly, wondering why women he dated would complain about his income she asked, "Takeshi-san are you,"

"Kiri," he interrupted firmly.

"Kiri-san?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes Hikaru-chan?" he returned with a smile.

"Um, Kiri-san," she blushed, "I mean there's nothing wrong with it I guess, some people even prefer it, but are you the type who prefers that a woman not work?"

He cuddled her and replied reassuringly, "I don't mind you working."

"What about some day, when um, when it's your wife?" she asked.

Amused, he replied, "I don't mind if my wife works either."

"Then why would I ever care how much you make?" she asked.

He laughed and asked, "So if we marry, will you expect me to stay home and raise the children?" He arched an eyebrow at her, and added, "I don't mind, but," he warned, "you'll have to be prepared to help support my dear old mother in that case too." He grinned at her.

"Well, I couldn't do that anytime soon," she replied seriously, "but I could probably manage it in the future if I needed to."

He smiled at her affectionately and said, "I'd prefer if you didn't need to. But in any case, that is a ways into the future."

She nodded, and they sat cuddled together until the waitress returned with the dessert and two spoons. Kiri started in on one corner with enthusiasm. Hikaru carefully scooped out a bite.

"You must have a really good job," she said speculatively.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Otherwise you'd have offered to give it up before," she replied.

"I have offered to give it up before," he said ruefully, licking his spoon.

She looked at him.

"Admittedly, it was in the middle of a screaming fight," he continued dryly. "My girlfriend at the time shouted back something along the lines of why should I have to give up nice things so that you will work reasonable hours."

Hikaru asked uncomfortably, "And then you broke up?"

"Not long after that," he confirmed. "I'm afraid that I've become rather conceited since then," he confessed. "I um, had sort of decided that if a woman didn't like me enough to put up with my job, then she didn't like me enough."

Hikaru looked at him soberly.

"But to be fair," he protested, "none of my girlfriends ever calmly asked me to change jobs, or offered to support me either?"

Hikaru laughed and he smiled back.

"It is," he said after a moment, "a good job."

"You like it then?" she asked.

"Sometimes I love it, days like today I hate it. But it still pays pretty well." Kiri replied, stretching his legs out under the table and taking another bite of the dessert.

Hikaru said, "If you have days where you can say you love it, it is a really good job."

He looked at her appreciatively.

She asked, "What is it you do? You look rather tired." He did look rather tired, and much more rumpled than the previous morning, though the business attire he wore looked similar.

"Um, it was a long day," he answered. "My job title is 'General Manager', but mostly I act like the company trouble shooter. If there's a problem a manager can't handle, I'm called in. As to what the company does, it's mostly advertising, some intercompany networking, and I guess recruiting of new talent? It's called Inline Productions," he said.

"Isn't that sort of what most general managers do?" she asked.

"I suppose so, very generally speaking of general management." He laughed again.

Hikaru gave him a wry smile.

Kiri stretched, then sighed and continued, "As to why today was bad, well, someone did something stupid and tried to deny it. And then someone else tried to cover it up instead of taking care of it. So by the time it came to my attention it was a bloody awful mess added onto an already busy day."

She hugged him.

He smiled and asked, "Do you want the last bite?" He held the spoonful of chocolate and cream up to her.

She shook her head and he ate it.

"What do you do at work?" he enquired.

"Music," she said simply.

He froze, and asked carefully, "You're a musician?"

She nodded and told him, "I play the piano at my uncle's restaurant on Sundays, and piano or guitar whenever a place has a job during the week. And I play with my band on Fridays and Saturdays, or occasionally Sunday afternoons."

He looked at her rather expressionlessly.

Puzzled, she said uncertainly, "It's OK if you don't like music, I won't make you listen."

He laughed and asked, "Who doesn't like music?"

She said thoughtfully, "I don't think Izumi-san likes music very much. And there are many people who don't like certain types of music."

"Who is Izumi-san?" he inquired quickly.

"My mother's new husband," she answered, "Mizuki Izumi, he's a police officer."

Kiri's expression went flat and he asked grimly, "The man who dragged you away from me hit you later?"

Hikaru winced and nodded.

After a long moment he enquired unhappily, "How long have they been married?"

"A little over three months." She explained a little, "He knocked my mother up, so they got married rather quickly. She's almost six months pregnant now." She smiled, then looked at Kiri's expression, and added quickly, "He's not really a bad guy."

Kiri gave her a skeptical expression and Hikaru continued, "He's not, I just don't know how to get along with him well yet. My mother is head over heels, and I'm sure he adores her. It's only, well, I think everything would be fine if I were a younger version of my mother. Small, cute, girly. If I liked to cook and sew and wear pretty clothes" she muttered.

"You look very pretty tonight," Kiri interrupted.

Hikaru replied with amusement, "Well, you can thank my mother for that, she made me change my clothes before coming." Then she realized how that sounded and blushed.

He said with amusement, "Then for our next date, please wear whatever you like."

She laughed, and nodded. Kiri raised his fingers to her cheek and said, "I think he acted like a bad guy."

Hikaru shrugged and said, "Kind of, but when I'm not angry with him, I think Izumi-san has just been trying very hard to be what he thinks is a good parent. I am just not the kind of child he was expecting. My mother had told him she had two children, but Izumi-san wasn't really expecting two nearly grown children I think. My brother is away at University, so it's fine for him." She stopped talking.

Kiri sighed. "I understand that you are trying to like him, for your mother's sake," he said, "but I don't know your mother, and I hate him." He slid his arm around her again, and pulled her close. "He shouldn't have hit you."

Hikaru couldn't argue. Kiri looked at his phone, "We have about ten minutes left," he said, and sighed again.

"Kiri-san?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he said inquisitively, resting his nose against her hair.

"Um, would you mind if I kiss you again?" she asked.

He laughed quietly. "You don't have to ask," he teased, "you can just kiss me."

She kissed him. He kissed her back. His arm tightened around her, and he shifted so he could reach to cup her jaw with his other hand and kissed her more deeply.

He stopped, and she opened her eyes, his eyes returned her questioning gaze steadily.

"Hikaru-chan," he said a little breathlessly, "I haven't dated a high-school girl since I was in high school. I don't want to push you into anything, but I'll probably push you. So, if you feel like I'm pushing you, tell me to stop. Or tell me I'm being an idiot. I'll stop, OK?"

She nodded and said quietly, "OK." After a moment Hikaru asked, "How old are you?"

He replied ruefully, "Twenty-seven."

She looked at him with wide eyed surprise.

He let go of her and sat back a little. "Too old?" he suggested neutrally.

She blinked and laughed. "No," she told him, and leaned in to hug him.

"Are you sure?" Kiri asked, returning her hug.

"Yes, I was just surprised," she replied more seriously. "When I first saw you I guessed maybe twenty-one or twenty-three at most, then when I saw you dressed for work, I thought maybe twenty-five. It's only a couple more years."

Ruefully he replied, "But ten between us, I read your ID."

"I already like you too much to care," she replied honestly.

He kissed her again, and murmured, "Me too," against her hair. Then he released her. "We should probably go pay, and get moving," he said regretfully.

"OK," she replied.

"I'm paying by the way," he said.

Hikaru frowned.

"I made you wait," he winked at her, "let me get this one."

"I guess," she said dubiously.

He grinned at her. They stood up and went to pay. While they waited he commented, "Such a low key first date."

"What do you usually do on the first date?" she asked.

He blushed.

"Wow," she said.

Embarrassed but truthful, he answered her, "Um, usually dinner and a movie, or dancing, some combination like that, and then, well, usually to bed."

She looked at him consideringly. Just on looks alone she could believe that it was easy for him to take women to bed on the first date. He was incredibly pretty, clean shaven, with classic features, long dark lashes, and clear steady eyes. Even rumpled and tired she found him gorgeous. "I see," she said dryly.

He glanced at her, still embarrassed. She smiled a little. After they'd finished at the register, he lead her out to his car. He opened the passenger door for her and waited for her to get in.

Hikaru took a deep breath and climbed in. She carefully buckled the seat belt while he got in, and sat gripping it nervously. He clipped his phone into the dock and looked at her. Her fingers were white where they gripped the belt. After a minute he asked, "So, where are we going?"

She jumped and said, "Oh," and gave the address. He entered it and the navigation popped up.

He drove carefully, but it wasn't far, and they soon arrived. She opened the door and exited the car before he could get around to let her out. He came around to her anyway.

"Shall we go buy a phone on Sunday?" he asked lightly.

"Oh, yes, sometime after 2pm?" Hikaru replied.

"Where would you like to meet?" he enquired.

"Um, would the spot I first met you be too weird?" she asked.

He shook his head and smiled at her, "No, that would be fine. At two then?"

"A few minutes after, I don't finish until two," she said.

"Alright," he agreed. "May I walk you to your door?"

She nodded, and he took her hand, and she lead him up to the house. On the steps he tugged her hand and she turned toward him. He leaned in and kissed her lightly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and he kissed her harder.

"Goodnight Hikaru-chan," he said softly.

"Goodnight," she whispered.

He turned and walked back to his car.

She went into the house.

Hikaru jumped when her mother said from the couch, "He looks pretty." She was kneeling on the couch by the window. "Don't worry, I didn't see him kiss you," she added.

"Then how do you know he kissed me?" Hikaru asked dryly.

"I'm assuming it," her mother laughed. "I can't see the steps from here."

"He is incredibly pretty," Hikaru agreed. "Why are you waiting up, and why did I have to be home at midnight."

"I just happened to wake up," Miri said, "so I decided to wait a few minutes for you. Izumi was really worried when I told him you were on a date so late."

Hikaru sighed. She'd known it had something to do with Izumi-san. "Is it a new addendum to the curfew?" she asked.

Her mother hesitated.

Hikaru sighed again.

"I'm sorry, do you mind very much?" Miri asked.

"I mind," Hikaru replied honestly, "but I'll deal with it unless I'm working," she added.

They went up to bed.