FUUKA & DATING

DILEMMA

Ayase Fuuka stood in front of the mirror in her underwear, examining herself.

"Waist...too thick. Legs...a little flabby. Eyebrows...ugh, big thick caterpillar eyebrows."

She sighed. "But...he said...it's cute this way..."

She leaned into the mirror and prodded at her eyebrows. "Is this really 'cute'?" she wondered. "Or was he just..."

Fuuka looked herself over again, and sighed. "'Cute', huh...?"

A couple of weeks before, she had joined Koiwai, Jumbo, and Yotsuba on a trip to the electronics store. At that time, she had asked Koiwai if she should shave her eyebrows. He had replied that her eyebrows looked cute the way they were.

Ever since that day, at the most random and inopportune times, her mind would replay Koiwai's comment, and she would find herself blushing all over again, just as she had done that day. This invariably led to daydreaming, and an embarrassing incident in class, and another one during the Student Council meeting...

Try as she might, she couldn't shake the memory. Koiwai was in her head but good.

And the memory of that moment came nestled in other memories of the man, of the many times she had been around him during the past few months. Each memory that surfaced, she turned over and examined, finding new things to notice about him, hearing him speak as though he were standing right next to her.

As she stood in front of the mirror, examining her thick eyebrows, a realization suddenly struck Fuuka:

She had a crush on Yotsuba's father.

The last time she had crushed on someone, it had ended in heartbreak and disaster.

If the same thing happened to her again, with Koiwai...it would just be unbearable.

Still, not acting on her feelings was even more unbearable—and if she'd acted on her feelings instead of keeping them bottled up last time, it might have turned out very differently indeed.

Fuuka sighed. "I can't make up my mind," she complained to her reflection. "What should I do...?"

* * * * *

Fuuka found her mother pulling things out of the refrigerator to make dinner. "Okaasan, I need advice."

"Sure, Fuuka-chan. What is it?"

Fuuka sat down at the kitchen table. "I...think I kinda have a crush on someone. I've been thinking about him an awful lot lately."

"Oh?" Mrs. Ayase smiled as she started washing vegetables. "A new crush is always nice. Especially if things work out."

"And...I really want to ask him out on a date..."

"Hmm. So...what's the problem?" Mrs. Ayase asked. "I mean, I'm not saying there is a problem, but it sort of sounds like you're hinting at there being one."

Fuuka sighed. "Well, the thing is, he's older than me."

"Older as in an upperclassman? Someone who's in college maybe?" Mrs. Ayase guessed.

"A little older than that."

The older woman stopped cutting the daikon she had been slicing, and turned to face Fuuka. "I see."

Fuuka looked down at the table, flushing. "Um...I'm talking about Koiwai-san," she said.

Mrs. Ayase raised an eyebrow. "You have a crush on Yotsuba-chan's father?"

Fuuka nodded.

"How'd that come about?" Mrs. Ayase wondered.

"Well..." Fuuka poked her index fingers together. "I always have a lot of fun whenever I'm with him and Yotsuba-chan, and...he's called me cute a couple of times." She blushed. "I mean, it's not like it was a big deal or anything, it just...made me feel..." She looked down. "Nice," she decided. "And...I guess from all of that, I...kinda started crushing on him."

"I see," Mrs. Ayase said, frowning and tapping an index finger against her chin. "Well..." She trailed off. "What if you ask him out and he says no? You remember the last time you got your heart broken."

Fuuka groaned. "Nobody will let me FORGET that," she complained.

"Alright, then...what if he says yes?"

"That's kinda what I'm hoping will happen," Fuuka said.

"Yes, I know, but you have to think carefully about this. Dating an older man...things might happen you're not ready to deal with."

"Koiwai-san isn't like that!" Fuuka retorted. "I know he isn't!"

"Calm down, calm down, I'm not accusing anyone of anything," Mrs. Ayase placated. "I just want you to be sure you know what could happen, and whether or not you can deal with it."

"I...I think I can handle anything that comes up," Fuuka said. "And I don't think Koiwai-san would do anything inappropriate."

"Mmm. No, he doesn't seem the type, does he..." Mrs. Ayase frowned thoughtfully. "Alright, you have my permission to date Koiwai-san." She wagged a finger at Fuuka. "But if your father objects to it, that's that."

Fuuka frowned. "So I have to wait until I get a chance to talk to Otousan about it?"

Mrs. Ayase shook her head. "No, for now, you're permitted. There's honestly no telling when you'll even be able to talk to your father about this. I'm just warning you that if he says you can't go out on dates with Koiwai-san, then it will end then and there."

Fuuka sighed. "Yeah, that could be a problem." She stood and stretched. "But for now..."

Yotsuba's voice suddenly blew through the house like a wind chime made of sugar and dynamite.

"Looks like someone came over to play," Mrs. Ayase mused.

"Then now's my chance!" Fuuka exclaimed.

"What, right now? With no notice?" Mrs. Ayase asked, blinking.

"Sure, why not? Seize the salad!"

Mrs. Ayase groaned. "Okay, okay, get going. Just no more bad jokes."

Fuuka ran upstairs to change clothes. Three minutes later, she rushed past the living room in a blur.

Yotsuba, in the middle of receiving tea and snacks from Mrs. Ayase, blinked. "What was that?"

"Something Roman," Mrs. Ayase replied. Yotsuba just blinked at her in confusion.

* * * * *

"Sorry for intruding!" Fuuka called out as she walked into the unlocked house, slipping her shoes off at the genkan. "Ummm...Koiwai-san?"

Patrolling the ground floor, she found no sign of Koiwai. She was halfway up the steps when she heard the door of the work room open. "Koiwai-san!" she called.

Koiwai appeared at the top of the steps and waved. "Yo," he said.

"H-hi," Fuuka said, suddenly nervous. She backed down the steps to let him descend. "Sorry for the intrusion..."

"You're always welcome here, Fuuka-chan," Koiwai said. "But Yotsuba's already over at your place..."

"I know," Fuuka said, looking down at her feet. "I didn't come over to play with Yotsuba-chan. I came over to talk to you."

"Oh," Koiwai said, blinking in surprise. "Okay. Um..."

"Iwanttogooutwithyou!" Fuuka blurted suddenly. Then, her face turned crimson.

Koiwai just stared at her. "...huh?"

"Uhh...I came over..." Fuuka turned away, poking her index fingers together and digging a toe into the floor. "I...came over to ask if you'd go on a date with me."

"...a date? You want...to go out with me? On a date?"

"Y-yes," Fuuka said in a small voice. She turned around to face him, face still flaming. "Uh...I...kinda have, um...this crush on you," she explained. "And...I wanna go out with you."

Koiwai turned faintly pink himself. "You...really?"

"Yeah."

"I...have no idea what to say," Koiwai said.

Fuuka sighed. "I'm sorry I bothered you, Koiwai-san. I'll..." She turned and started to trudge away.

"I didn't say no," Koiwai said. "I just need to think about this for a second."

Fuuka stopped. "Y-you're not saying no?" she asked, hopeful.

"I...just wasn't expecting something like this," Koiwai said. He frowned. "Do your parents know about this?"

"Okaasan does. I talked it over with her, and she said it's okay. Otousan...is almost never home, so Okaasan says I can go by her word until I get a chance to talk to him, but if he vetoes this, then that's that." She sighed. "That's why I rushed right over here as soon as I knew you were alone. I wanted to be sure I had the chance for at least one date with you." She bowed her head. "If...if you'll even go out with me at all, I mean."

Koiwai was silent for what felt like eternity. "It's been a long time since any girl was interested in me," he said quietly. "I mean, a REALLY long time."

"You're kidding!" Fuuka gasped. "I mean, you're far from perfect, but you're not bad looking at all, and you're a lot of fun to be around, especially when you have your act together..."

Koiwai raised an eyebrow. "It's weird that you say you have a crush on me and you're standing there listing my flaws and giving me backhanded compliments."

Fuuka's face turned even redder. "Sorry! I just...blurted all that out..." She looked up to face him. "Umm...I like you flaws and all, Koiwai-san. Just like...you said I was cute even though I have these hideous eyebrows..."

Koiwai smiled. "You ARE cute, Fuuka-chan." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I really shouldn't be going out with a girl ten years younger than me, but..."

"Ten? That's less of an age difference than I thought," Fuuka said. "I figured you were at least thirty."

"Really? I look that old?" Koiwai asked, a somewhat befuddled frown on his face. "I didn't think time took the baseball bat to me that hard..."

"N-not at all!" Fuuka shook her head. "I just meant you...when you're actually being mature, you just seem...mature..." She broke off, looking sheepishly at her feet. "I'm babbling..."

"You're even cuter when you're babbling," Koiwai said, grinning. He sighed. "Well, what can I do? A really cute girl wants to go on a date with me...I can't really say no to that..."

"Really? You'll...we can...?"

"Yeah," Koiwai nodded.

"Th-thank you!" Fuuka said, bowing. "Let me call Okaasan and tell her to look after Yotsuba-chan and have her eat dinner over there..." She dug her phone out of her pocket.

Koiwai blinked. "Right now? You want to just go right now?"

"Why not?" Fuuka asked. "We're both here, Yotsuba-chan's already over at my place, it's the perfect time!"

"O-okay, sure," Koiwai said, blinking dazedly.

"Okaasan? He said yes. We're gonna go out right now. Yotsuba-chan's gonna have to eat dinner over there. We won't stay out TOO late, I promise. Ja!" Slipping her phone back in her pocket, Fuuka smiled sunnily up at Koiwai. "Well then, let's—"

She trailed off abruptly, touching an index finger to her lip and furrowing her brow prettily.

"What is it?" Koiwai asked.

"I..." Fuuka began. "It's...if we're gonna go out on a date, it's a little weird for me to keep calling you Koiwai-san, don't you think?"

"Hmm," Koiwai pondered that with exaggerated seriousness, then nodded. "Okay, you have my permission to call me by my given name." He paused. "Which is Yousuke, by the way."

Fuuka smiled. "Then, let's go have a good time together, Yousuke!"

FIRST DATE

Koiwai had excused himself for a few moments to change; he came back wearing a fairly nice pair of charcoal jeans and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. He'd also splashed on a little cologne or aftershave, and smelled quite nice.

"So, where do you want to go?" he asked.

Fuuka thought about that. "Honestly? I have no idea. I mean, I didn't actually think about where, I just thought about, y'know, actually going out at all." She flushed.

Koiwai chuckled. "Hey, it happens." His brow furrowed. "Well, to be honest, I skipped lunch, so...mind if we hit some place for an early dinner, and then go from there?"

"Works for me," Fuuka said. "Got any place in mind?"

"As a matter of fact..." Koiwai pulled out his phone and scanned through his directory, then placed a call. "Hello? This is Koiwai, Jumbo's friend. Yeah, the one with the cute little green-haired girl. Are you full up this afternoon? Oh, good. Hold a table for two for me, will you? No, I'm kind of on a date today. Yeah. Great, thanks! See you in a bit."

Fuuka raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Oh, there's this great little yakiniku place over by Jumbo's shop," Koiwai explained. "We went there with Yotsuba and Yanda a while back, and it was really good, so I decided to put the number in my phone in case I ever decided I wanted to head there again."

"That's unusually prepared," Fuuka commented. "Most people would just look in the phone directory..."

Koiwai chuckled. "Yeah, but at the time, when I was about to leave the shop, this little voice in my head said I should get the number and put it in my phone right then, just in case." With a smile, he added, "Funny thing is...I'm pretty sure that little voice was yours."

Fuuka blushed. "Really..."

"Well then, let's go eat!"

* * * * *

Koiwai and Fuuka decided to take a bus to the yakiniku place rather than their bikes. The restaurant Juu Juu was lively, but not overly crowded; the owner met Koiwai personally at the entrance.

"It's been a while, Koiwai-san!" she said.

"Ah...yeah," Koiwai agreed.

"Oh? And who's your pretty friend?"

Fuuka bowed. "Ayase Fuuka," she said.

"So, Koiwai-san is into dating cute younger girls?" the owner said with a sly grin.

Fuuka blushed. "Please don't make it sound that sleazy."

The owner laughed. "I'm just teasing. Your server is coming over now to show you to your table."

A pretty server ambled over and bowed to them. "Ah! I remember you!" she said to Koiwai. "You were here a couple weeks ago, right?"

"That's right," Koiwai replied.

"Well, if you'll follow me..."

They were seated at a booth in the back corner of the main dining area. "I'll just take your drink orders while you decide what to order..."

"I'll have a cola," Fuuka said.

"Make that two," Koiwai added.

"Eh?" the server asked. "You're not having the draft beer this time?"

Koiwai shook his head. "I don't drink alcohol when I'm on a date."

"I see. Then I'll be back shortly."

When she left, Fuuka whispered, "You could've had a beer if you wanted one. I wouldn't be offended."

Koiwai shook his head. "There's only two times I drink beer. When I'm watching baseball, and when I'm with Jumbo. I don't exactly get drunk easily, but I'd prefer not to even chance it most of the time."

"Oh, I see," Fuuka said. "Well, that makes sense." She tilted her head. "Why with Jumbo-san specifically?" she asked.

"Because he never gets drunk. At all. I'm pretty sure it's his size, but I've seen him drink ten beers and stay stone cold sober."

"Wow," Fuuka breathed. "So you only drink with Jumbo-san because he'll keep a clear head no matter what?"

"Yeah."

The server returned with their drinks; they placed their meat orders. While they waited, they made idle conversation.

"So, what is it you translate, exactly?" Fuuka asked.

"Mostly technical manuals and things like that," Koiwai replied. "Really boring stuff that makes my head hurt sometimes."

"I see..." Fuuka nodded. "How'd you get into doing that, anyway?"

"Well, in college I was studying linguistics and communications," Koiwai explained. "And there were a couple of guys in my dorm who were real technophiles. They insisted anything made in Japan was crap and kept importing audio and video equipment and computers from America and Germany." He shrugged. "I honestly can't tell the difference between that stuff and domestic electronics, but whatever...anyway, the problem was, they couldn't read the manuals that came with the stuff they ordered."

"But you could," Fuuka guessed.

"Yeah. So they kept coming to me to get me to help them set stuff up and learn how to use it, and if there was a problem, there they were, any time of day or night, no matter how busy I was. Finally, after a couple months of that, I got fed up. I said 'Look, next time you order this kind of crap, give me the manual the day you get it, and I'll translate the damn thing for you from cover to cover so you don't have to bother me all the time.'"

Fuuka laughed.

"So anyway, one day I was translating a manual for an elaborate stereo setup, and one of my professors happened by. He was interested in what I was working on so intently, and he looked it over. He was VERY impressed. And he said, 'Koiwai-kun, you should think about doing this for a living. Companies pay a lot of money for translators to do exactly what you're doing right now for free.' So I thought about it, and with his help, I put samples of my work out to some local firms. Pretty soon, I was spending more time doing freelance work than I was studying. By the time I graduated, I was already making four hundred thousand a month."

Fuuka whistled. "That's amazing!"

"I'm pulling down more than twice that now," Koiwai said. "But sometimes the work is so tedious, I get headaches like you would not believe..."

"It almost sounds like you do homework for a living," Fuuka said.

"Hmm...yeah, that's a way to look at it," Koiwai replied, nodding. "It's nice when I can take a little break from it."

The meat arrived, and they began grilling it. "So, what're you planning to study in college?" Koiwai asked as he tended some short ribs.

Fuuka sighed. "I have no idea. Truthfully, I haven't even decided on what college to shoot for yet."

Koiwai raised an eyebrow. "And here you're usually the one telling everyone else to get their act together," he teased.

Fuuka ducked her head. "Yeah..."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll figure out what you want to do soon enough."

"I hope so." As Fuuka took a piece of meat and a large mushroom off the grill, she suddenly giggled.

"What's so funny?" Koiwai asked.

"I was just thinking about..." Fuuka broke off as she was overcome with giggles. "About the first time I asked Yotsuba-chan what you do for work."

"Oh?"

"She totally mixed it up and said you were a konnyakuya," Fuuka explained.

Koiwai blinked.

"I had...the funniest mental image," Fuuka continued, giggling. "Of you holed up in a room in your house...making...konnyaku..." She totally lost it and doubled over laughing.

Koiwai chuckled, taking some meat off the grill and placing it on his tray. "Sometimes translating Yotsuba is harder than translating medical equipment manuals."

They continued to chat as they ate; Koiwai learned that Fuuka wasn't in any clubs, but was Vice President of the Student Council.

Once they finished eating and left the restaurant, Fuuka groaned. "I ate way too much. I'm never gonna lose weight like this."

"Lose weight?" Koiwai asked. "Why do you need to lose weight?"

"I'm chubby," Fuuka said. "And my legs are way too thick."

"What the hell are you talking about," Koiwai drawled. "I've seen you in a bathing suit, there's nothing whatsoever wrong with your body."

Fuuka blushed. "Umm..." Shaking her head, she glanced over at Koiwai, frowning. "As I recall, you and Jumbo-san were teasing the crap out of me that time."

Koiwai shrugged. "You were teasing us first," he said. "We were just letting a little air out of you. Of course, Jumbo may have taken it a bit far, but..." He shook his head. "Even if you think you're chubby, the truth is, you don't need to be a toothpick. There's seriously absolutely nothing wrong with you."

Fuuka's blush deepened. "Uh...th-thanks," she murmured.

"Anyway, have you thought about what to do next?"

Fuuka tilted her head. "Hmm. How about karaoke?"

"Pass," Koiwai said, waving one hand in front of his face. "Karaoke's no fun in groups of less than four, and even then it's only really fun if you're drunk."

"Aww," Fuuka said.

"Besides, no way in hell do you want to hear me sing."

"Oh?" Fuuka asked. "I'll have to make a point to force you to sing sometime, then." She stroked her chin, brow furrowed. "Okay, think...what's fun...ah!" She pounded a fist into an open palm. "I've got it! And it's a good way to work off all that food, too!"

"Hm? What is it?" Koiwai asked.

Fuuka pointed dramatically at a shop front across the street and three shops down. "There!" she exclaimed.

"There...?" Koiwai asked. "An arcade?"

"Yeah! There's something I've always wanted to try, and this'll be the perfect time!"

"O-oi," Koiwai began, "just what is it you're roping me into?"

"You'll see," Fuuka said in a laughing tone. She guided him through the doors of the arcade; they were immediately buffeted by a wall of noise and bright lights from rows of UFO catchers and squealing girls.

"Oi oi," Koiwai grunted. "The first-date UFO catcher bit? Seriously?"

Fuuka thwapped him on the shoulder. "No, dummy, I'm not that lame..." She practically dragged him over to the stairs leading up to the next floor. "What we want is up here..."

They emerged onto a floor that was even louder and flashier; the cacophony of at least two dozen bass-thumping music tracks overlapping was deafening.

And in the center of the room...

"THIS is what I wanna do," Fuuka said as she led Koiwai over to a group of Dance Dance Revolution machines, all but two of which were in use.

Koiwai stared. "You're serious? DDR?"

"I've never tried it before," Fuuka admitted. "I always wanted to, but any time I hang out with friends and come here, they're already really good at it, and I'm too embarrassed to try..." She smiled. "But if we're both trying it for the first time, it'll be fun!"

"Err..." Koiwai began.

"You know how this works, right?" Fuuka asked. "You just watch the arrows and when they hit that line, you step on the matching arrow on the stage..."

"Yeah, I know how it works," Koiwai said.

"Let's try it separately at first, then we'll do it together," Fuuka suggested.

"Okay..."

"You want to go first, or—?"

"No, it's okay, you can go first," Koiwai said, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Okay," Fuuka nodded, stepping up onto the dance stage and plunking a couple coins into the machine. "Okay...I'd better go with 'Beginner'," she decided. She scrolled the song wheel, picking songs seemingly at random.

For the next few minutes, Koiwai was treated to a spectacle of less-than-graceful lunging, bouncing, and jerking as Fuuka tried to keep up with the scrolling arrows. When it was over, she was rewarded with an overall 'B' rank for her performance, and beamed. "Not bad for my first try," she panted as she stepped down off the stage, streaming sweat. "Think you can top that?"

Koiwai raised an eyebrow at her. "I dunno," he said. He stepped up onto the stage, put in his money, and...

"Hmm...they changed it up a bit," he muttered under his breath. He started scrolling the song wheel, frowning. "Not much here I remember...didn't expect much though..." He selected three songs...

"W-wait, Yousuke! You've got it set on Expert..." Fuuka warned, but she was too late—he'd already started the game. She grimaced; this wasn't going to be pretty...

The arrows were scrolling at speeds that would make a minigun jealous. And yet, Koiwai's feet were gliding effortlessly over the arrows, even as he twisted his upper body around and made a lot of wild, freestyle arm movements, his eyes somehow never leaving the screen, his feet never slipping out of step.

Fuuka could only stare, gaping, as "Marvelous" and "Perfect" flew across the screen more times than she could count. A few people had noticed what was going on, and a small crowd was starting to gather around the machine.

"Hey, isn't that Yotsuba-chan's dad?" a familiar voice asked.

Inwardly, Fuuka moaned in despair. Of COURSE some of her classmates would be here...

"Hey, Vice President, are you here with Koiwai-san?"

"Ah...yes." Fuuka replied.

"Oh wow, are you two on a date?"

"Nah, couldn't be..."

"Sure they are!"

"But wow, he's amazing!"

"I've never seen anyone play like that..."

"He's like John Travolta!"

Fuuka buried her flaming red face in her hands.

Finally, Koiwai's set ended, and he was awarded a AAA ranking and an extra stage. For the duration of his extra song, the appreciative murmurs of the small crowd rose as he absolutely destroyed a particularly difficult song; this time, he only scored a AA, but he'd only missed five steps total.

He stepped down off the stage, bracing his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. Around him, the crowd broke into applause.

Fuuka stared at him. "What...what...what the hell was THAT?!" she demanded.

"Huh?" Koiwai asked.

"You! Up there! That...what the hell just happened?!"

"Oh!" Koiwai rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I didn't tell you because you were so enthusiastic, I didn't want to ruin it for you, but I used to play competitively in college. I haven't touched a DDR machine for several years, though, so I was afraid I might be a little rusty..."

"A little rusty..." Fuuka said in a quavering tone. "Ahahahahahah..."

"Come on, it's your turn again," Koiwai said.

"Ah...after all that, I..."

Koiwai snorted. "What, you're embarrassed now because you're a beginner and I'm not? Shit, Fuuka-chan, we're here to have FUN! So get up there and have some! You were enjoying it before, right?"

"Well...yeah..."

"Then that's all that matters," Koiwai said, smiling.

"Okay," Fuuka said, stepping back up onto the machine. Predictably, there were a few hecklers, and more than a few calls for Koiwai to get back up on the stage, but he quickly silenced those with a few well-placed frowns and glares, and Fuuka was able to enjoy herself.

For the next hour, the two of them monopolized the machine, with various onlookers drifting in and out, cheering on Koiwai's amazing skill, offering either jeers or encouragement for Fuuka. By the time they were done, she'd gained enough confidence in herself to try Basic, and whenever it was Koiwai's turn, she watched in appreciative awe, enjoying the display of his surprising skill.

Finally, Koiwai was tired enough that he only scored AA on a set. "I think...that's enough of that for today..." he panted.

"Yeah," Fuuka agreed, feeling her own stamina flagging.

Koiwai checked his watch. "It's...7:15," he said. "Let's get some ice cream and then call it a night."

"Okay," Fuuka agreed.

* * * * *

"But still, you could've told me you were good at DDR before I made a fool of myself," Fuuka groused as they ate soft-serve ice cream cones.

"And then you wouldn't have tried it, and then you wouldn't have had the fun you just had," Koiwai pointed out. "Maybe I showed off a bit too much," he admitted sheepishly, "but it's kind of hard to pretend to suck at something when you're an expert at it..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Fuuka said, biting into her cone. "And I did have fun. Not just playing, but watching you play, after I got over the shock. You're AMAZING!"

"Thanks," Koiwai said, "but I'm getting too old for that."

"Bullshit," Fuuka said. "You're not some stiff-backed old man, Yousuke. You're still in your prime."

Koiwai chuckled. "Well, it's kind of you to say that," he said. Finishing his ice cream, he wiped his hands with a napkin and sighed. "I guess we'd best get going then, huh?"

"Yeah," Fuuka agreed. They headed for the bus stop.

All too soon, they were standing in front of their neighboring houses. They walked past Koiwai's gate and to the gate in front of Fuuka's house.

"I had a really good time with you tonight, Yousuke," Fuuka said.

Koiwai smiled down at her. "Yeah. I really enjoyed this."

"So, you think..." Fuuka looked down, blushing and digging at the sidewalk with the toe of one shoe, "Maybe...you won't mind going out with me again sometime?"

"I'm looking forward to it," Koiwai said.

Fuuka smiled. "I'm glad." She stood on her tiptoes, leaned up, and kissed him briefly on the lips. "Goodnight, Yousuke. And thanks for a great time."

"Yeah...same here," Koiwai said, smiling.

"I'll send Yotsuba-chan out," Fuuka said.

"Thanks."

Fuuka went through the gate, face blooming in a silly smile. A much softer, but no less happy, smile decorated Koiwai's face as he watched her go.

* * * * *

"I'm back!" Fuuka called.

"FUUKA!" Yotsuba yelled, plowing into the teenager as she stepped out of her shoes. "You're late!" she pouted. "I didn't get to have no fun with you at all an' you missed dinner!"

Fuuka knelt down to hug the green-haired little girl. "Sorry about that, Yotsuba-chan. I was out on a date."

"Uoooooh," Yotsuba said, eyes wide. "You go on dates?"

"Well, I did today," Fuuka replied.

"Cool! That makes you REALLY like a grown-up!"

Fuuka laughed weakly. "Y-yeah..." Recovering, she said, "Your daddy's waiting at the gate for you. You better head on home now."

Yotsuba pouted. "Aww, I wanna hear about your date," she said.

"Maybe later," Fuuka said. "For now, you'd better go home, your daddy's gonna be mad if he has to wait long..."

Yotsuba grimaced cutely. "Don't want Touchan to get mad," she said. She stuffed her feet into her shoes. "Bye-bye," she said sadly.

"Bye-bye, Yotsuba-chan," Fuuka said.

After she left, Fuuka suddenly felt the pressure of multiple pairs of eyes bearing down on her. She turned, and saw her sisters and her mother staring her down.

"A date, huh?" Asagi said. "Congratulations for finally managing to get a guy interested in you."

"Oneechan!" Ena chided. "Fuuka-oneechan is popular and pretty and lots of guys like her! Right, Fuuka-oneechan?"

"Well, that's true," Fuuka replied, smiling smugly. Then she shook her head. "Not that it matters..."

"So, did it go well, dear?" Mrs. Ayase asked. "I'm guessing yes, since you seem pretty happy..."

"It went very well," Fuuka said, smiling. "And we're definitely going to go out again."

"That's good," Mrs. Ayase replied. "I was honestly a little nervous about this whole thing...I still am, somewhat," she admitted. "He WAS a perfect gentleman, right?"

"Of course he was!" Fuuka replied, flushing. "He'd never do anything weird or perverted!"

"That's good," Mrs. Ayase said. "I feel a lot better about you dating an older man knowing he behaves himself..."

"An older man?" Asagi asked, raising an eyebrow. "How much older? College? Otousan's age? Old and ready to croak?"

Fuuka rolled her eyes. "You can be a real pain sometimes, Oneechan. Now I don't know if I wanna—"

"It was Koiwai-san, wasn't it?" Ena asked suddenly.

Asagi's eyes widened. "O-HO!" she said. "I see! So that's why Yotsuba-chan stayed over for dinner..."

"How'd you figure it out, Ena-chan?" Fuuka asked, blushing.

"Well, like Oneechan said, Yotsuba-chan stayed awful late and had dinner with us. That means Koiwai-san went somewhere, and since you went out on a date with an older man..."

"Detective Ena solves another case!" Asagi said, clapping.

Fuuka shook her head and laughed. "You got me," she said.

"So, what was it like? What did you do?" Mrs. Ayase asked.

"Well, we ate at this great yakiniku place not far from Jumbo-san's shop, then we went to an arcade and played DDR for almost an hour, then we had soft-serve ice cream and came home."

"Not exactly a shoujo manga date," Asagi commented.

"Oh, hush, Oneechan," Ena said. "It sounds like they had fun."

"We really did!" Fuuka said. She blushed. "Almost a little too much fun. A whole bunch of my classmates were at the arcade, and we kind of attracted attention..."

"For showing up there on a date together?" Asagi asked.

"For Yousuke being REALLY good at DDR," Fuuka replied. "He used to play competitively in college. He says he hasn't played in years, but he was still amazing."

"Koiwai-san plays DDR?" Ena asked, tilting her head. "I've got to see that sometime."

"Me too," Asagi said. "I can't picture it...well, maybe a little." Then she tilted her head. "And it's already 'Yousuke'?"

Fuuka's face turned completely crimson. "Well, it'd be weird to call him Koiwai-san if we're dating, wouldn't it?"

"Did you kiss him?" Ena asked.

"Yes," Fuuka replied, smiling. "A very nice first kiss."

"Aww," Ena awwed.

"Well, I'm glad you had fun," Mrs. Ayase said, smiling. "Now, I'm sure you're anxious for a bath if you had that much—"

The gate bell rang.

Still nearest the door, Fuuka pressed the intercom. "Yes?"

//Yo, Fuuka-chan!// Jumbo's voice boomed over the little speaker. //Got some flowers for you!//

Fuuka blinked. "Flowers?"

//From Koiwai,// Jumbo clarified.

"Whoa, that was FAST," Asagi said.

"Bring 'em on in, Jumbo-san," Fuuka said.

When she opened the door, Jumbo held out a dozen yellow roses. "He picked yellow because he thinks red is too corny after a first date," Jumbo explained. "Man, you and Koiwai going out..."

Fuuka accepted the roses. "Thank you. And I'll call Yousuke and thank him." She tilted her head. "How'd you get here so fast with them? I mean, he couldn't have had time to place an order yet, we just got home..."

Jumbo smirked. "He texted the order almost half an hour ago."

Fuuka raised her eyebrows. "While we were coming home? I knew he had his phone out, but I didn't think—"

"Well, if he'd called instead of texting, it wouldn't have been a surprise, now would it?" Jumbo asked. He waved to everyone. "Anyway, that's my last delivery of the day. Goodnight, everybody!"

"Goodnight, Jumbo-san!" the family chorused.

Once he left, Fuuka smelled the roses and sighed happily.

"Here, let me get those in water for you," Mrs. Ayase said. "And you call Koiwai-san and thank him."

As soon as she was relieved of the flowers, Fuuka pulled out her phone and called Koiwai. "Hey, Yousuke! Just got the roses. Thanks. Hm? Oh, yellow roses are just fine. Jumbo-san explained why...yes, he did. Hm? Oh, I don't think you're...no, not at all. Like I said, yellow is fine. It says you have your own ideas about things, and I like that. I'll talk to you tomorrow. We can decide when we're going out again. Goodnight, Yousuke."

Putting her phone away, Fuuka passed through the living room, pausing long enough to smell her roses, then headed off to take a bath.

After she left, Ena commented, "It sounds like Koiwai-san makes a really cool boyfriend."

"Yeah," Asagi admitted. "I'm almost a little jealous now..."

* * * * *

Yotsuba was, fortunately, engaged in "takin' a really super-huge poop!" when Jumbo came over to collect for the flowers.

"How much do I owe you, Jumbo?" Koiwai asked as Jumbo headed inside.

"Since it's your first date and it sounds like you two really hit it off, I'll cut it to half price. 3800 yen."

"Thanks," Koiwai replied, digging the money out of his wallet and handing it over.

"So? How was it?" Jumbo asked. "I was a little surprised when I got your text, but now that I think about it, you two are kind of...well, it makes sense."

"Really?" Koiwai asked.

"Yeah."

"Hmm..." Koiwai furrowed his brow. "Well, we did have a lot of fun together. And..." He smiled. "She kissed me, and that was...nice. I haven't had much attention from girls in a long time..."

"That's because you almost never go out with anyone except me, Yotsuba, and Yanda," Jumbo pointed out.

"I mean even before I got Yotsuba," Koiwai said dismissively. "Face it, my love life has always sucked." He smiled. "Until today."

"So, you're looking forward to going out with Fuuka-chan again?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I really am." Koiwai grinned and stretched. "Let's have a beer to toast the end of a slump!"

* * * * *

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, dear."

Mr. Ayase grunted and stretched, popping his back as he stepped out of his shoes. "Anything interesting happen today?" he asked.

"Well, not much...oh, except Fuuka-chan going out on her first date!"

"Eh? Fuuka-chan's dating now?"

"Well, she IS almost seventeen, dear," Mrs. Ayase said.

"That's true," Mr. Ayase replied, nodding. "So, is it a classmate?"

"Not exactly," Mrs. Ayase said. She helped her husband off with his suit jacket, and then loosened his tie. "It's someone a little bit older..."

"Oh? Someone in college? One of Asagi's friends?" Mr. Ayase asked.

Mrs. Ayase grimaced. "A little bit older than that," she said.

Mr. Ayase frowned. "How much older are we talking?"

"She went out with Koiwai-san from next door," Mrs. Ayase replied hesitantly. "You know, Yotsuba-chan's father."

"WHAT?!" Mr. Ayase exclaimed, eyes wide. "With Yotsuba's—"

"He's not TOO much older than Fuuka-chan, dear," Mrs. Ayase soothed. "And they had a very nice time together, and he was a perfect gentleman and had her home quite early, and she's looking forward to going out with him again—"

"She shouldn't be going out with a man who has a child in the first place!" Mr. Ayase said.

"Whyever not?" Mrs. Ayase asked, a slight edge in her voice. "Koiwai-san isn't married. Again, he's not terribly much older than Fuuka-chan. They get along very well, they had a very nice time, he sent her some beautiful flowers..."

"When did he ask her out, and why did you allow this?"

"He didn't ask her. She asked him."

"Eh?"

"Fuuka-chan has a crush on Koiwai-san," Mrs. Ayase replied. "She came to me for advice about it, and I told her if she really wanted to go out with him, I'd permit it."

"You WHAT?!"

Mrs. Ayase put her hands on her hips. "Please keep your voice down, dear," she said sternly. "Now, listen to me. Fuuka-chan likes Koiwai-san very much. He is single. He is only ten years older than her. He clearly feels something for her too, or at least does after their first date. You haven't actually MET Koiwai-san, have you?"

"No, I haven't," Mr. Ayase admitted.

"Well, I have, and I quite like and respect him. He is a very nice man, and if Fuuka-chan wants to date him, I see absolutely no reason to forbid it." Mrs. Ayase took hold of her husband's shirt collar and yanked him down. "She's already had her heart broken once. Don't screw this up for her. If you do, she will hate you. And I won't be especially thrilled with you either."

Mr. Ayase swallowed. "Well...since you feel so strongly about it...and approve of him..." He coughed. "Alright. I'll...defer to your judgement on this one."

Mrs. Ayase smiled. "Good choice, dear."

* * *

Yotsuba yawned sleepily as she and Koiwai spread out the futons to go to bed. "Touchan, where'd you go today?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Well, Kaasan said you had to go out someplace, that's why I ate dinner with Ena's family..."

"Ah," Koiwai nodded. "Well, Yotsuba...Touchan went out on a date."

The little girl's eyes widened. "Eh? Really?" She smiled. "That's good!"

"Oh? It doesn't bother you?"

"Nuh-uh," Yotsuba said, shaking her head. "Touchan's super-happy, so I'm glad."

Koiwai breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried you might get jealous or something, since me dating means I'll be spending time alone with...someone else," he said.

"Love is important," Yotsuba said, arms folded and nodding sagely. "Even daddies need love."

"That's an amazingly smart thing for you to say," Koiwai observed.

Yotsuba tilted her head. "You know, Fuuka went out on a date too," she said. "Kaasan told me Fuuka was pretty excited about it...I was glad because she got her heart broken over the summer."

"Is that so," Koiwai said.

"It's funny, you and Fuuka both went on a date at the same time..."

Koiwai sighed and braced himself. Fuuka is who Touchan went on a date with."

Yotsuba's eyes widened. "You went on a date with Fuuka?"

"Yeah."

"COOL!" Yotsuba cheered.

Koiwai blinked. "You're okay with it?"

"Uh-huh!" Yotsuba nodded. "I love Touchan an' I love Fuuka. If goin' out with Fuuka makes Touchan happy an' goin' out with Touchan makes Fuuka happy, then everyone's happy!"

Koiwai smiled at the little girl. "So you're happy about Touchan dating Fuuka-chan?"

"Yep!"

"I'm glad." Koiwai ruffled Yotsuba's hair. "Come on, let's get to sleep now."

HALLOWEEN DATE

Fuuka was in the middle of getting dressed for school when her phone rang. "Moshi-moshi?"

//Hey,// Koiwai's voice greeted.

"Ah! Yousuke! Good morning!"

//Just wanted to let you know I told Yotsuba about yesterday. We officially have her permission to date.//

Fuuka giggled. "That's good." She paused. "So, any ideas about where to go for our second date?"

//Not yet, but I'll think about it.//

"Same here," Fuuka said. "Well, I gotta get ready for school. Later!"

//Have a good day,// Koiwai said before hanging up.

Fuuka smiled sunnily as she finished getting ready.

* * * * *

The explosive rumor mill at school was almost enough to dampen Fuuka's spirits.

At lunch, she was surrounded not only by her own classmates, but by students from other classes; everyone wanted to hear the details about her being seen out on the town with Yotsuba's dad.

Shimau patted her on the shoulder. "Don't let it get to you," she said.

"It's not getting to me, it's just...aggravating, that everyone just has to know all about something that isn't any of their business..."

It didn't help that according to the rumor mill, Yotsuba was Fuuka's child and Koiwai was her husband.

"At least they're gossiping as much about how good he is at DDR as they are about us going out together," Fuuka muttered.

"Is he really?" Shimau asked.

"AAA on Expert after not playing since college," Fuuka replied.

"...wow," Shimau said. "I've really got to see that sometime." She tilted her head. "Isn't DDR kind of an odd date activity?"

Fuuka blushed. "Yeah, it was my idea. I had no idea he was a DDR champion, or I wouldn't have..." She shook her head. "Anyway, yesterday's date was on no notice whatsoever, so we just kind of winged it. Next time, we'll plan things out a bit more..."

"Well, as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's all that matters, ne?"

"You're right..."

* * * * *

Koiwai was just about ready to take a work break when he heard Yotsuba go berserk downstairs. He sighed. "Must be Yanda."

He went downstairs to find Yanda already boiling water, ignoring the rampaging tyke. "Yo," he greeted.

"Oi, Senpai," Yanda replied. He was scowling; he seemed more dour and unpleasant than usual.

"What's up?" Koiwai asked.

Yanda sighed. "I need a big favor," he said. "I...got this new girl..."

"Really? That fast?"

"Shaddap," Yanda grumbled. "We've only gone out twice, and we're...not exactly official yet..."

"Okay, so what's the problem?"

"Well, you know we've got that American in my division now, Brown-san. And he's throwing this party on Saturday."

"Okay..."

"And it's a costume party. It's an American thing."

"Ah, Halloween," Koiwai said, nodding.

"Right, that." Yanda poured water into his ramen cup. "Anyway, my girl's really excited to go, and I can't really say no at this stage, but..."

"But?"

"I can't afford a decent costume," Yanda sighed.

"Go as a butt-face!" Yotsuba suggested. "You don't need no costume for that!"

"Shut up, turd," Yanda grunted.

Koiwai shook his head. "Well, I can loan you money to get a costume..." He frowned, rubbing his chin. "Hmm. Is this gonna be a really crowded party?"

"Probably not. I think maybe half the division and some of Brown-san's foreign friends are comin', that's about it."

"Invite-only, or...?"

Yanda looked up. "I can square you away, why, you're interested?"

"Well, it's just..." Koiwai shrugged. "I have a new girl too, and this sounds like it could be fun."

Yanda blinked. "Eeeh?! You've got a new girlfriend, Senpai?"

"I sure do," Koiwai replied, smiling.

"Touchan's goin' out with Fuuka!" Yotsuba piped up.

"And Fuuka is...?" Yanda asked.

"One of our neighbors," Koiwai replied.

"The tall pretty one?"

"No, that's Asagi. Fuuka is her younger sister. She's...still in high school."

Yanda's eyes widened. "O-ho. Senpai, you dog..."

"No idiot comments, or I won't lend you any money," Koiwai said.

Yanda snorted. "Wasn't gonna say nothin'..."

"Riiiiight. So, think you can get me and Fuuka invited to this thing?" Koiwai asked.

In response, Yanda pulled out his phone. "Hey, Brown-san. I got a friend who wants to come to your party. Cool? Thanks. Looking forward to it. Ja na!" He smiled smugly at Koiwai. "You're in."

"Good. We'll go costume-shopping tomorrow..."

* * * * *

When Fuuka came home from school, she was surprised to find Koiwai sitting in the kitchen with her mother, drinking coffee.

"Yo, Fuuka-chan," he greeted.

"Hi, Yousuke...wasn't expecting you to be here..." She blushed. "Not that it's a problem, I mean...!"

Koiwai chortled. "Calm down, Fuuka-chan. C'mon, have some coffee while it's still warm."

"O-okay..." A moment later, Fuuka was sitting with her mother and her boyfriend, drinking coffee. "So, what brings you over?" she asked.

"It's about our second date, actually," Koiwai said. "I felt like I needed to discuss this one with your mother since it's...fairly different from what we did yesterday."

"Oh?" Fuuka asked, perking up. "What do you have in mind?"

"My kohai Yanda has an American co-worker who's throwing a Halloween party on Saturday. Yanda came around to borrow money for a costume; I finagled us an invite to the party."

"A costume party?" Fuuka asked. "That sounds like fun!"

"I hope so," Koiwai said. "It doesn't sound like it's gonna be a huge party. Anyway, since it's an adults' party, I figured I'd better ask your mom's permission before asking."

"As long as the people at this party are well-behaved, and as long as you don't expect Fuuka-chan to wear something...indecent," Mrs. Ayase said, "And as long as you'll have her home by a respectable hour, then by all means."

"Thanks, Okaasan!" Fuuka cried. She looked down at her coffee. "But what kind of costume should I...?" She looked up. "What are you gonna wear, Yousuke?"

"I haven't decided yet," Koiwai shrugged. "Me and Yanda are going shopping tomorrow."

"I see." Fuuka frowned. "That won't give me much time to coordinate my costume with yours..."

"Well, you can go as whatever you want..."

"Yeah, but I want..." Fuuka blushed. "I want people to know we're together."

Koiwai blushed faintly as well. "Okay then...I'll be sure to let you know right away what I'm wearing."

Mrs. Ayase smiled. "You ARE a cute couple, aren't you..."

* * * * *

"The thing about Brown-san," Yanda was saying as they pulled up to a store Koiwai had never been to before, "is that he's a serious otaku."

Koiwai grimaced. "Ugh."

"Oh, he isn't THAT bad," Yanda said, shaking his head. "He just gets really worked up over anime and manga and stuff. And he's really popular with the bosses because of his work ethic, so..."

"So everyone going to this thing is gonna curry favor with him by playing up to his interests," Koiwai guessed.

"Pretty much, yeah," Yanda said. "I mean, I'm not expecting YOU to, but...just keep it in mind, okay?"

"Got it," Koiwai said.

The proprietor of the shop turned out to be a flamboyant, ebullient nerd, and Koiwai wasn't entirely sure the man wasn't gay. The second he laid eyes on Yanda, his eyes lit up. "Ah! An Ichigo!"

"An Ichigo?" Yanda asked, blinking. "I'm not dressing up as a strawberry..."

"No no NO!" the proprietor cried, forming an X in front of his chest with his arms. "Ichigo the Shinigami, from Bleach!"

"...Bleach?" Yanda asked, tilting his head. "What the hell's that?"

"It's very popular right now..." The man waddled over to the counter and rummaged around, pulling out a greasy, dog-eared issue of Shounen Jump. He thumbed through it and laid it down on the counter for the two men to see. "See? This is Ichigo. He's a Shinigami. I've got a custom Shinigami costume just waiting for the right wearer, and with that hair, you're perfect!"

"He does look a little like you," Koiwai mused.

Yanda shrugged. "Che, whatever. Sold."

"Excellent!" The proprietor turned to Koiwai. "And you...hmm..."

"Nothing too weird, and I kind of need something my date can coordinate with," Koiwai said. "She wants us to match."

"Oooh, how cute," the shopkeeper squealed. "What's her body type? How tall is she? Is she more cute or pretty? I need to know so I can think..."

Koiwai frowned. "She's not too tall but not too short, she's not fat but not really skinny, she's more cute than anything...oh, she's a little younger than me..."

"Ahh! I know just what you need," the proprietor said. "It's a little retro, but it should do just fine...just make sure she comes HERE to get her costume, alright?"

"No problem," Koiwai replied...

* * * * *

"What the HELL is this."

"It's Tuxedo Kamen!" the proprietor gushed. "The mysterious guardian and love interest of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon!"

"I've heard of that," Yanda said, rubbing his nose. "That was some girly thing a while back, wasn't it?"

"It's an epic tale of romance and strife, of a beautiful princess and her lover and all her friends reincarnated to battle evil—"

"Nevermind all that," Koiwai said. He frowned. "I dunno. This doesn't really say 'costume' to me, it says 'tuxedo'...what else you got?"

"Hmm...let's see..."

* * * * *

"Now THAT show, I've seen," Yanda smirked. "It's not a bad fit at all, Senpai."

"Hmm..." Koiwai looked dubiously at himself. "I dunno...it's a blue suit and a green wig. Really, what..."

"This is what your girlfriend would wear to match that," the proprietor said, pulling out a scandalous yellow outfit...

Koiwai's eye twitched. "HELL no. Her parents would skin me."

* * * * *

Yanda laughed. "You look like a biker that had a fight with a belt factory and lost!"

"Oh, shut up," Koiwai groused. "At least this one's got a sword, and it's as big as yours."

"You wish."

"So if I go with this, what's my date gonna be wearing?" Koiwai asked tiredly.

The proprietor showed him a picture.

Koiwai raised an eyebrow. "That's...not bad, actually." He ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I'll take it. I'll have Fuuka-chan come by tomorrow for hers."

"Excellent choice! I appreciate your business and look forward to serving you again."

Koiwai privately decided he'd never set foot in this particular shop ever again in his entire life.

* * * * *

The next afternoon, the three Ayase sisters entered the little costume boutique together, and were immediately confronted by a large, energetic, pasty-skinned nerd. "Um, hi?" Fuuka hazarded. "My um, date for Saturday sent us to pick up a costume..."

"Ah, so you're the cute young lady going out with Koiwai-san!" the proprietor enthused. "I've got everything ready, it just needs a few alterations..." He turned a critical gaze on the other two girls. "Can I interest you ladies in anything?"

"Oh, no, we're just here to see what our sister's going to be wearing," Asagi said with a smile.

"Are you sure? I've got lots of cute costumes for this little sweetie..."

"Eep!" Ena eeped, hiding behind Asagi.

Fuuka sighed. "Just get me fit for my costume," she grumbled.

"Aww...you're almost as much fun as your boyfriend," the proprietor pouted.

* * * * *

Saturday evening came at last...

"Mou, this WIG," Fuuka complained into the mirror. "I look like Selena Gomez with all this hair..."

"Nah, she's a lot cuter than you," Asagi said, ducking a thrown hairbrush.

"How's it coming along WHOA," Ena said as she peeked into the bathroom. "That's a LOT of hair..."

"I know, right?" Fuuka asked, fluffing and primping the wig. "Just...gah."

"It's not THAT much hair," Asagi noted.

"It's just...not me," Fuuka replied. "Maybe I could just...ditch this thing..."

"I wouldn't," Ena said. "I just saw Yotsuba outside. She said Koiwai-san spent half the day at a salon today."

"WHAT?!" Fuuka and Asagi chorused.

"Her exact words were, 'Touchan got pretty!'," Ena replied. "So I'd wear the wig, Oneechan."

"Yousuke...went that far?" Fuuka asked, reddening.

"This, I have GOT to see," Asagi smirked.

Downstairs, the bell rang. "Eep! He's already here!" Fuuka yelped.

"Well duh, he lives next door."

"Yeah, but even so..."

* * * * *

Mrs. Ayase peered curiously at the man standing at the front door. "Ah...yes?" she asked.

"It's me," he replied in a familar voice. "I'm here to pick up Fuuka."

"...Koiwai-san?" Mrs. Ayase gaped in astonishment.

"Yeah," Koiwai affirmed. "I know, it's a bit...much."

"It's...it's fine," Mrs. Ayase replied. "You look just fine! Um...let me just go check on Fuuka-chan..."

From inside, he heard voices:

"Is that him?" Fuuka.

"I think so..." Mrs. Ayase.

"What's he dressed up as?" Asagi.

"I'm...not sure. But...it's definitely...interesting." Mrs. Ayase.

"Did he really do something weird to his hair?" Ena.

"You could say that..." Mrs. Ayase.

"Okay, I gotta see this." Asagi.

"Me too!" Ena.

"I'll...be down in a bit." Fuuka.

Asagi appeared in the door and stared openly at him. "Okay, no WAY this is Koiwai-san."

"It's me," Koiwai replied.

Ena peeked out behind her sister, and her eyes widened. "Woooooooooow." She blushed.

"Don't go there, Ena-chan," Asagi said, whapping her sister on the head. "Just...don't go there." She shook her head. "Anyway, Gomez-chan is on her way down any minute..."

"'Gomez-chan'?" Koiwai echoed.

Asagi rolled her eyes. "It's that wig, she thinks she looks like that American girl with the big hair."

"I...see."

And then Fuuka appeared, and even though he'd seen the costume already, he wasn't quite prepared for just how well it fit her.

* * * * *

Fuuka stared in open shock and awe.

The man at the door looked absolutely nothing like Koiwai. Black boots, tight black leather pants, two leather belts, one adorned with a large silver buckle depicting a ferocious lion's face, a white shirt, a pewter pendant on a leather thong around his neck, and a black leather jacket, worn open, with white fur trim at the shoulders and waist. Black leather gloves and an enormous sheathed prop sword slung across his back completed the ensemble. His stringy black hair had been dyed, fluffed, and teased; it was now a warm brown color and had been sculpted into an improbable style normally only seen on rock stars.

It wasn't remotely Koiwai. But it looked DAMN good, and Fuuka was struck speechless.

* * * * *

Koiwai was awed at the sight of Fuuka in her costume.

It wasn't nearly as ornate as his; a low-cut black bodice and matching shorts, with a dark blue satiny miniskirt worn over them. Black ankle-high boots. An ankle-length blue sweater...thing...which was mostly worn open, save for one button, fastened directly across the chest. The sweater-dress-thing itself was sleeveless, but she wore matching ribbed "sleeves" that extended from elbow to wrist. A thin black satin armband was tied around her upper left arm, and she wore a simple but pretty necklace.

And a black wig that, while not as long as Asagi's hair, was still considerably longer and more voluminous than Fuuka's own natural hair.

"You look..." Koiwai began.

"Like someone completely different?" Fuuka asked.

"Well...yeah."

"So do you," Fuuka said.

"Well, you two ARE going to a costume party," Asagi said. "I mean, isn't that kind of the point?"

"Well...yeah..."

"I suppose..."

"Then I'd say the two of you are set," Asagi teased.

"What ARE you dressed as, anyway?" Ena asked.

"I honestly have no idea," Koiwai said. "I think they're characters from some video game or something..." He shrugged. "I honestly just picked the first costume he showed me that didn't look like regular clothes and had a decent matching outfit for Fuuka-chan."

Fuuka laughed. "That's just like you, Yousuke..."

"Well, if you'd been there with me—"

"I doubt I'd have picked anything better," Fuuka said with a shrug. "Most of the manga I know, everyone just wears normal clothes, and I don't really do video games, so..."

A horn beeped at the curb.

"Our ride's here," Koiwai said.

"You two have a good time," Mrs. Ayase said. "Be back by midnight!"

"Midnight?" Asagi asked. "That's awfully generous..."

"It's because I trust Koiwai-san," Mrs. Ayase replied. With a hard look at the man in question, she added, "Don't give me cause to doubt that trust."

"Of...of course not," Koiwai stammered. "Well then, we'd best be off..." He took hold of Fuuka's hand and walked her down to the gate.

"They DO make a cute couple..." Ena sighed.

"Yeah, but a couple of what?" Asagi retorted.

"Mou, Oneechan..."

* * * * *

Koiwai stowed his prop sword in the trunk of Yanda's car, next to the slightly larger prop sword Yanda himself had obtained. He opened the door to let Fuuka into the car, then got in himself.

"Hey Senpai, lookin' sharp," Yanda said. "So this is your high school cutie, huh? She IS easy on the eyes."

Yanda's date whapped him on the shoulder. "Eyes on me or on the road, Yasuda-san."

Fuuka blushed. "Um...thanks for the compliment, Yanda-san...or Yasuda-san, whichever..."

"Just call him Yanda, he doesn't deserve a -san," Koiwai drawled.

"You wanna walk, Senpai?"

"You wanna pay me back for that costume now?"

Yanda grunted. "Like I said, let's get goin'."

Fuuka laughed. She then turned to examine the other woman in the car. Something seemed slightly familiar about her, but she couldn't decide if it was the woman herself, or the costume. Even with her limited knowledge of shounen series, the iconic pale blue hair and obscenely tight plugsuit of Ayanami Rei from Evangelion was unmistakable, and this woman filled out her costume quite nicely indeed.

"And what do we call YOU, neesan?" Fuuka asked.

"Huh? Oh...Yui. Just...Yui," the woman replied, fidgeting.

"Yui, huh? Well, nice to meet you. I'm Ayase Fuuka."

She seemed to stiffen at that. "Fuuka-san, nice to meet you."

"An' this leather-headed jerk back here is my senpai," Yanda introduced.

"Koiwai Yousuke, nice to meet you."

"Ah...right, Koiwai-san. Very nice to meet you."

They made small talk on the drive to the party; Yanda's date seemed incredibly shy and nervous. Once they arrived, they unloaded their props from the trunk. Yanda gave Koiwai's prop sword a grimace of distaste. "A gun on a sword? Really? What idiot came up with that?"

"Whatever idiot came up with whoever the hell I'm supposed to be, I guess," Koiwai replied.

The four of them walked up to the condo where the party was being held, and were greeted by a plump, red-faced, heavily-bearded American who was dressed as a character Koiwai recognized from his own childhood: Trunks from Dragonball.

"Man, I used to love Dragonball when I was a kid," Koiwai chortled. "Nice costume."

"Thanks," the American said. "I'm Cooper Brown, I'll be your host for this evening; don't worry about shoes, costumes aren't complete without the footwear!" He smiled genially at everyone. "Love the costumes. You make an excellent Squall!"

Koiwai bowed. "Thank you."

"And what a lovely Rinoa you have with you."

Fuuka smiled. "Thanks."

"And Yasuda-san, I didn't know you were into Bleach!"

"Ah...I wouldn't say 'into', but it seems pretty interesting."

"And a classic Rei! Very nice!"

"Thank you."

"Well, come on in, everyone! There's refreshments, we're about to start up some music...I've got karaoke on tap for later, once everyone's a little loose..." He wandered off to greet some more guests, and the four of them looked around at the party.

"It looks like an otaku convention exploded in here," Yanda remarked.

"No kidding," Koiwai replied. He turned to Fuuka and offered his arm. "Well, 'Rinoa', shall we mingle?"

"Sure thing, 'Squall'," Fuuka replied with a giggle. They waved to Yanda and his date and wandered into the party.

"Is it me, or does that lady seem really nervous?" Koiwai asked quietly.

"Yeah, I wonder what's up with that," Fuuka agreed. "Maybe it's the costume? I mean, if I was dressed like that and going out in public..."

"If you were dressed like that, you'd be a walking traffic disaster," Koiwai said with a grin.

Fuuka blushed. "Yousuke...mou..."

They wandered over to the refreshment table and got some cookies and some punch, then stood off to the side watching the various partygoers. "Do you actually know any of these people?" Fuuka asked.

"I doubt it," Koiwai replied. "I'm only vaguely familiar with a few of Yanda's coworkers."

"He doesn't seem quite as nasty as the stories I've heard."

"He's behaving himself tonight," Koiwai replied. "Believe me, Yanda can be an incredible jerk."

"Then why are you friends with him?" Fuuka asked, tilting her head.

Koiwai sighed. "It's more like...I feel responsible for him. And it's a story I really don't want to get into."

"Okay," Fuuka nodded, letting the matter drop. She sipped her punch. "Whoa, this is pretty good."

Koiwai drank his also, and nodded. "Yeah, it really is. I wonder if this is homemade or if he bought it..."

Some music was playing that neither of them were particularly interested in, so they wandered around, greeting some of the other partygoers, commenting on costumes, and every so often they headed back to the refreshment table to reload on cookies, chips, and punch.

About a half hour after they arrived, their host announced that the karaoke system was ready to roll. Fuuka turned to Koiwai and grinned. "Karaoke! You've gotta sing."

"Oooooh no."

"Oh yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"You really don't want to hear me sing."

"I really really do."

"Okay, but you gotta do it too..."

The two of them wandered over to the karaoke stage, and Fuuka nudged Koiwai, bumping him up into the spotlight. "Ah, good, we have a volunteer to start this off!" Brown enthused amiably, clapping his hands.

Koiwai sighed. "If I gotta," he muttered. He looked over the selection in the machine and frowned. "Oi, don't you have anything good in here?"

Brown frowned. "It's all good."

"I don't know any of this crap," Koiwai replied. "You're American, aren't you? Isn't there anything American in here?"

The host blinked. "Well...yeah, there is, I just wasn't expecting..." He walked over and changed the selection menu on the karaoke machine.

Koiwai scanned the list for a minute, then grinned. "THAT."

"That?!" Brown asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Spin it."

For the next few minutes, the party was treated to the spectacle of Koiwai singing an energetic, if not entirely on-key or on-vocals, rendition of Matchbox 20's "Disease". When he was done, Fuuka clapped and cheered louder than anyone.

"That was pretty good!" she exclaimed.

"That's only because you don't speak English," Koiwai said. "Trust me, it was bad."

"No it wasn't," Brown said from behind them. "But for that, now your Rinoa owes me a song, and you know which one."

"I do?" Fuuka asked. Without further ado, she was dragged onto the stage and forced to sing "Eyes On Me".

After she sang, she rejoined Koiwai, confused. "I don't get it."

"Me neither. Punch reload?"

"Yeah."

By their fifth cup of punch, Fuuka was looking a little wobbly. Koiwai frowned. "Something's...off here."

"What's wrong, Yousuke?" Fuuka filled her cup and started to tip it back...

Koiwai stopped her. "No more," he said.

"Huh? Why not?"

"This stuff's spiked," he replied, frowning. "I dunno why I didn't notice before."

"Spiked?" Fuuka asked, blinking.

"Alcohol. There's alcohol in it."

"Oh." Fuuka blinked dazedly, trying to process that. "...am I drunk?"

"A little," Koiwai replied. "Anyway, maybe we should stick to the colas for the rest of the party. I don't want to explain a drunken teenager to your parents."

"Good idea," Fuuka replied with a hiccup.

The rest of the party was more or less a bust; more karaoke, some incredibly lame para-para dancing, and very little real mingling; only the people who were drunk seemed to be having a really good time, and Koiwai was determined to stay sober. Whatever was in the punch wasn't bad enough to get him more than a little buzzed, but Fuuka was quite clearly past buzzed. He grimaced inwardly; explaining this was not going to be fun, and he had a feeling this might be their last date...

* * * * *

Koiwai drove home; Yanda was completely smashed, and so was his date. He dropped them off at their respective abodes, then drove himself and Fuuka home, telling Yanda to pick his car up the following day.

Fuuka had sobered up a little, but was still obviously off. "Funny," she mused. "That apartment building where we dropped off Yui-san..."

"Yeah?" Koiwai asked.

"I'm pretty sure that's where Miura-chan lives."

"Is that so?" Koiwai asked. "Well, maybe Miura will know who she was, then, if she's one of her neighbors."

"Maybe." Fuuka belched. "Oh...oh god, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay."

Then Fuuka doubled over and threw up on the floor of the car. "Oh god..."

"Don't worry about it, it's Yanda's car after all."

When they arrived home (at 11:30), Koiwai helped Fuuka through the gate and up to the door. Her mother opened the door, and looked a bit alarmed at the sight of Koiwai supporting Fuuka.

"I'm really, really sorry about this," Koiwai said without preamble. "She got into some spiked punch and I didn't realize it until it was too late. It's completely my fault. I should've known the punch was alcoholic..."

Mrs. Ayase frowned. "I see."

"Don't blame Yousuke, Okaasan," Fuuka said. "He took good care of me once he realized I was...urp...getting drunk..."

"I'll stick around until she falls asleep," Koiwai offered. "I feel really awful about this."

Mrs. Ayase sighed. "It's hardly your fault, Koiwai-san, and I appreciate you taking care of her."

Koiwai smiled. "Hey, she's my girl. What kind of louse would I be if I didn't look after my girl?"

Fuuka blinked, then looked at him, eyes wide, and blushed. "Yousuke..."

Mrs. Ayase smiled. "Come on in; I'll drag Asagi down here to get Fuuka-chan changed into her pajamas, then I'll put on some coffee. Yotsuba-chan's asleep in Ena-chan's room."

Koiwai bowed. "Thanks for your hospitality."

* * * * *

As luck would have it, Koiwai met Mr. Ayase that night. It was not the most auspicious of first meetings.

"So, you're Koiwai-san," Mr. Ayase asked, looking over the leather-clad, teased-haired man with obvious distaste.

"Ah...this isn't me," Koiwai said, gesturing to his attire. "These clothes, this hair...this REALLY isn't me."

"Koiwai-san and Fuuka-chan went to a costume party tonight, dear," Mrs. Ayase explained. "I told you that, remember?"

"Oh...right, so you did," Mr. Ayase grunted, accepting a cup of tea from his wife.

"How's Fuuka?" Koiwai asked.

"Asleep," Mrs. Ayase said. "She's not going to be a pretty sight in the morning."

Koiwai grimaced. "I am really, REALLY sorry about that."

Mr. Ayase frowned. "What happened?"

"Spiked punch at the party," Koiwai said. "I didn't catch it until she'd had enough to get...just a bit drunk."

The older man scowled. "I see."

"Now now, dear, don't blame Koiwai-san," Mrs. Ayase said. "He's done nothing but take good care of our daughter, and these things happen."

Mr. Ayase grunted. "I'd better not hear of it happening again," he warned.

"Of course not," Koiwai replied.

The older man frowned. "I'm not terribly fond of the idea of my daughter dating a grown man. And I'll be honest, this...this...isn't doing you any favors." He set his tea down. "I don't care for those rock group guys I see on television..."

"I'm hardly a rock group guy," Koiwai said.

Mrs. Ayase bustled out of the room and up the stairs; she returned a few minutes later with a framed photograph. "THIS is what Koiwai-san normally looks like, dear," she said.

Mr. Ayase looked at a photo of two of his daughters, Yotsuba-chan, and a stringy-haired man at the beach. He blinked, then looked up at Koiwai. "It isn't even the same person!" he cried.

Koiwai sighed. "It IS the same person, Ayase-san," he said. "This...hair thing...I spent half the day at a salon getting this done so I'd actually look like whoever the hell I'm supposed to be dressed as. I didn't want to embarrass Fuuka-chan by half-assing it."

Mr. Ayase blinked. "You...went through all that...just for Fuuka-chan? Just for one date?"

"Yeah," Koiwai replied. "It was kinda fun, but I'll be glad when I get my normal hair back. This is just weird."

The older man snorted. "It certainly is." He shook his head. "But that you'd go that far..."

"Well, after all, she wore that nightmare of a wig," Koiwai said. "Seems only fair."

Koiwai and Fuuka's parents sat up into the early morning hours talking. An hour before sunrise, the older couple finally retired, and Koiwai crashed on the living room couch.

As he dozed off, he reflected:

*Okay, that was kind of a disaster of a second date...I'll have to work hard to make this one up to her. I'm just glad her dad didn't lop my head off. Or my balls...*

* * * * *

Ena padded downstairs at seven in the morning on Sunday, and was surprised to find the still-Squallified Koiwai sprawled on the living room sofa, snoring and drooling slightly. "What the—"

"Shh," Asagi advised from across the room, where she was lying on the floor, chin propped on her hands, watching the sleeping man with an amused expression.

Ena sat down beside her sister and whispered, "Why's Koiwai-san here, and still dressed like that?"

"Fuuka got a little drunk last night," Asagi explained. "He brought her home, then stayed up all night talking to Okaasan and Otousan."

"Eh?! Fuuka-oneechan got drunk?" Ena asked, horrified.

"By accident," Asagi explained. "Koiwai-san didn't expect the punch at that party to have booze in it. Kinda stupid of him, really."

"Oh." Ena frowned. "So if Oneechan got drunk, then..."

"Things are going to be very interesting when she wakes up," Asagi said with a hint of evil amusement in her eyes.

Yotsuba was the next riser to make an appearance, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She blinked repeatedly as she realized her father was asleep on the couch. "Touchan slept here too?" she asked.

"Apparently," Ena said.

The little girl tottered over to Koiwai and grabbed his nose, pinching and tugging. "WAKE UP, TOUCHAN!" she yelled.

Koiwai jerked out of sleep with a start, sitting bolt upright and rubbing his nose. "OW! Dammit, Yotsuba..." He paused, blinking. "Oh, shit, what time is it?"

"Seven," Ena said. "Are you okay, Koiwai-san?"

"Ugh...I have a little headache, but yeah, I'm okay. The punch didn't mess me up nearly as bad as..." he trailed off, suddenly pale. "Is Fuuka up yet?"

"Nuh-uh," Ena replied. "She's still asleep."

Koiwai sighed. "I'm sticking around until she wakes up. She's gonna have one hell of a hangover, and I know a few good remedies."

"Oh, really?" Asagi asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Not necessarily from personal experience!" Koiwai snapped, then winced as his own head throbbed. "Okay, a little, but mostly just from some of my college classmates. I'm not a habitual drinker."

"If you say so," Asagi chirped, smiling.

"Well, let's just say I haven't had to deal with a hangover personally for a fairly long time, and leave it at that." Standing, he shuffled to the kitchen. "Your folks aren't up yet?"

"The three of you didn't wrap up your little pow-wow until a couple hours ago, remember?" Asagi asked. "I wasn't going to wake anybody up yet, but Yotsuba sort of forced the issue in your case."

The little girl looked concerned. "Touchan didn't get 'nuff sleep?" she asked. "Did I do a bad thing?" She looked like she was about ready to cry.

Koiwai chuckled. "It's okay, Yotsuba. You didn't know, and I can always sleep when we go home later. It's Sunday anyway, so it's a good day to be lazy." He searched the pockets of his too-tight pants and found his wallet, pulling out a few bills. "Asagi, would you mind going and getting something for everyone to eat? I don't really feel like trying to cook breakfast right now."

The brown-haired girl shrugged. "Sure." As she collected the money and headed for the door, Koiwai started rummaging through the refrigerator, taking out a couple of eggs and a bottle of Tabasco sauce.

"I thought you just said you weren't gonna cook?" Ena asked, confused.

"I'm not," Koiwai replied, taking a glass from the cupboard. He kept rummaging around until he found some black pepper and a small bottle of vinegar.

"So then what—"

Ena trailed off as Koiwai poured a measure of Tabasco into the bottom of the glass, followed by a splash of vinegar and a hearty shake of pepper. Finally, he cracked the two eggs and emptied them into the glass. With a faintly nauseated and dreadful expression, he tipped the concoction back and drained it in one swallow.

"Oh my GOD!" Ena gasped, green-faced. "You did NOT just drink that!"

"He did," Yotsuba said, staring in awe at her father. "Touchan, was that good?"

"Hell no it wasn't good," Koiwai replied, grimacing and rinsing out the glass.

"Then why drink something that gross?" Ena asked.

"Hangover cure," Koiwai replied. "It's called a prairie oyster. It's disgusting, but it helps."

Ena grimaced in distaste. "Please don't ask Oneechan to drink anything that nasty."

Koiwai chuckled. "Don't worry, I know plenty of other ways to handle a hangover."

A few minutes later, Fuuka shambled down the stairs. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had a severe case of bedhead. "Ugh," she moaned.

"Morning, Oneechan," Ena said quietly.

"Fuuka! Are you hangin' oysters?" Yotsuba asked.

"That's not quite right, Yotsuba-chan," Ena said with a pained expression.

Fuuka blinked. "Huh?"

"Yo, Fuuka," Koiwai called—softly—from the kitchen. He was shaking a tall glass full of tomato juice with a celery stick poking out of it. "Drink up."

Fuuka obediently shuffled over, took the glass, and drank. Once empty, she sat it down, then began rubbing her forehead and pinching the bridge of her nose. "My head's killing me," she complained.

"Yeah, it'll pass," Koiwai nodded. "Just be patient."

The teen sat at the kitchen table, holding her head in her hands and moaning. "Why do people get drunk?" she asked. "What the hell's so great about it that it's worth THIS?"

"That's one of those questions nobody'll ever answer," Koiwai said. "Like why the phone always rings when you're on the toilet, or why a fresh coat of wax on a car is a bird shit magnet."

"I feel like my head's full of bird shit," Fuuka groaned.

"EWWWW," Ena opined, making a disgusted face. Yotsuba just laughed. Koiwai chuckled and handed the teen another glass of tomato juice.

After finishing the second glass, Fuuka seemed to be more alert. She blinked as she looked closely at Yousuke. "You're still dressed up from last night?" she asked.

"Yeah, I kinda never went home," Koiwai replied. Suddenly, he yawned hugely.

Fuuka's eyes widened. "You were up all night?" She blushed. "W-were you watching me sleep, or—"

"I was chatting with your folks most of the night," Koiwai replied. "None of us got to bed until around five."

Fuuka glanced at the clock. "It's...seven-thirty." She gave Koiwai a worried look. "Did you sleep at ALL?"

"Couple hours," he replied. "Don't worry about it, I'll sleep later today."

"If...you say so..."

Asagi returned a few minutes later with two grocery bags. "Breakfast is served," she chirped. "Good morning, Gomez-chan. Enjoy your first time drinking?"

"First and LAST," Fuuka said flatly.

"I'm sorry last night was such a bust," Koiwai said softly. "I really hoped we'd have a good time..."

Fuuka sighed. "It wasn't THAT bad. But you can make it up to me next time we go out."

"That's a promise," Koiwai replied with a grin.

* * * * *

Jumbo stared at his best friend. "What...the...HELL...did you DO to your hair?! Have you joined a rock band?!"

Koiwai, half-asleep, rolled his eyes. "I just had it styled and dyed to go with the costume I wore last night. Believe me, it's NOT staying like this."

"Oh, right, the second date," Jumbo said, nodding. "How'd it go?"

"Don't ask. Just...don't ask," Koiwai replied. Yawning hugely, he waved at the tall man and headed upstairs. "Play with Yotsuba. I'm gonna crash."

"Wow, that bad, huh..."

YUI

A week after the costume party incident...

"Moshi-moshi?"

//Okaasan, could you check and see if I left my kanji homework back there?//

Ena had left a short while earlier to study over at Miura's apartment.

Mrs. Ayase frowned. "Just a second." She went up to Ena's room and looked, and sure enough, found the kanji homework still on Ena's study desk. "Yes, dear, I'm afraid you did."

//Awww,// Ena moaned. //Now I gotta come all the way back home for it...//

"Oh, I'll send Fuuka-chan over with it," Mrs. Ayase replied. "She isn't doing anything in particular right now. Just keep working hard while you wait."

//Great! Thanks, Okaasan.//

Mrs. Ayase headed down the hall to Fuuka's room and walked in; the teen was lying on the cushions next to her bed studying an exam prep manual, and had the earbuds of her MD player popped in. She nudged Fuuka in the chest with a toe, chuckling at the awkward yelp the teenager made.

"Could you run a quick errand, please, Fuuka-chan?" Mrs. Ayase asked.

"Sure, what?"

"Ena-chan left some of her homework behind; could you run it over to Miura-chan's apartment?"

"Sure thing." Fuuka tossed her prep manual onto the bed and stood, stretching. Three minutes later, she was out the door and bicycling across town to Miura's place.

* * * * *

"Thanks, Oneechan, you're a lifesaver," Ena said as she and Miura met Fuuka at the door.

"It's not a problem," Fuuka replied. She looked around. "Heeeh...you've got a pretty nice place, Miura-chan."

"Thanks," Miura said. "Hey, you wanna stick around a bit, Neechan? We got juice and snacks and stuff, and you got here so fast you gotta be tired."

Fuuka beamed. "Thanks, I think I will."

"Plus, you can tell me all about you an' Yotsuba's dad," Miura added with a grin.

Fuuka laughed. "Girl talk, huh? Sure, why not."

A short while later, the three girls were seated around the living room table, the younger two with homework spread out in front of them; all three were drinking cold grapefruit juice and munching on tomato pretzels.

"So, where's your mom, Miura-chan?" Fuuka asked.

"Eh, she's out doin' some shoppin' an' stuff. She'll be back in a bit."

The younger girls needled Fuuka for information on her most recent date with Koiwai as they worked and snacked. A little while into the chat session, Fuuka suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, Miura-chan, I think Yanda's girlfriend lives in this building."

"Really?" Miura asked. "Who is she?"

"We never did get her family name..." Fuuka frowned. "She's really really pretty though."

Miura laughed. "There ain't a whole lot of really really pretty ladies in this place. At least, none that are single."

"Is that so..."

The door opened. "I'm home," a voice called.

"Ah! It's Kaasan!" Miura jumped up and rushed to the genkan.

"Oh?" Fuuka heard Mrs. Hayasaka say. "Did another guest stop by?"

"Yeah, it's Ena-chan's sister Fuuka-neechan," Miura replied. "She dropped off somethin' Ena-chan left at home and stuck around a bit."

"Well, that's fine," the older woman said. Fuuka frowned. *That voice...*

Miura and her mom returned to the living room, and Fuuka felt her blood freeze.

"Hello, Fuuka-san, nice to meet you," the elder Hayasaka said. And for a brief second, Fuuka saw it in her eyes, that deer-in-the-headlights look.

Fuuka stood and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hayasaka-san. Please pardon my intrusion."

"Well, girls!" Mrs. Hayasaka said, clapping her hands. "How's the studying going?"

"It's going okay, when we're actually studying and not chit-chatting about Oneechan's date."

"Oh?" Mrs. Hayasaka asked.

"You remember Yotsuba-chan, right Kaasan?" Miura asked. "Well, Neechan's goin' out with her dad."

Mrs. Hayasaka raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is that so? But you're so young! And you're dating a man with a child?"

"Yousuke's single and he's not terribly older than me," Fuuka replied. "There's nothing whatsoever wrong with us being together."

"I see..."

"And speaking of Yousuke, I just remembered something I meant to pick up and take over to his place today, so I think I'm gonna go ahead and go now. I'll see you when you get home, Ena-chan."

"Okay, Oneechan. Take care!"

Fuuka slipped on her shoes and left. Once she was out of the building, she bicycled three blocks away, to one of the many bike paths that cut through the center of town. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she pulled out her phone.

"Yousuke? We've got a real problem!"

* * * * *

Koiwai's face drained of color as Fuuka explained the situation. "You've got to be kidding. Yanda's girlfriend Yui-san is..."

//Miura-chan's mother. She's totally cheating on her husband! This is serious! What should we do?//

"Calm down, Fuuka-chan. We need to handle this carefully. For now, pretend you didn't recognize her. Maybe she hopes you got drunk enough that you forgot about her entirely."

//I'm not so sure, but...// Fuuka sighed. //You're right...for now, the best we can do is just keep an eye on this, right?//

"Yeah." Koiwai sighed. "Dammit, Yanda, WHY—"

//I don't like Yanda, but...I don't think you can totally blame this one on him. I mean, it takes two, you know? Besides, it's not like we know for sure he knows she's married...//

"That's true. I think I'm gonna have a little talk with him about this."

//Yeah, probably a good idea. Not right now, though, okay? I'm on my way over with something.//

"Oh?"

* * * * *

"It's me," Fuuka announced from the genkan. She noticed there were two pairs of shoes, one of which belonged to her mother. "Okaasan? You came over here?"

"We're in the TV room," her mother's voice called.

Fuuka adjusted the awkward bundle she'd hauled halfway across town and went in to join them. They were drinking coffee. "Wasn't expecting you to be over here," she said.

"Oh, something or other tripped a breaker," Mrs. Ayase replied with an irritated sigh. "The power's out at home. I didn't want to mess with the breaker panel and make things even worse because I'm no good with that kind of thing, so I came over here. I was sort of hoping Koiwai-san could—"

Koiwai shook his head. "The configuration's a little weird, so I shouldn't mess with it either. I'm sorry, you'll just have to call an electrician."

Mrs. Ayase groaned. "Wonderful."

Fuuka grimaced. "Wow, it just keeps raining shit today, doesn't it?"

"Seems that way."

"And where the heck's Yotsuba-chan?" Fuuka asked.

"Oh, she decided she wanted to take some pictures around town to send to my folks," Koiwai replied.

"Hmm. Just as well...with her gone, we can talk about that."

Koiwai sighed heavily. "Yeah."

"'That'?" Mrs. Ayase asked. "And what's up with that bag?"

Fuuka set down the tote bag she was carrying. "It's something I got from the A/V club at school. Don't worry about that right now, just go call that electrician. And then come back in here. Maybe you'll have some ideas about what we should do..."

While Mrs. Ayase was calling the electrician, Koiwai looked askance at Fuuka. "Alright, I know we have more important stuff to deal with right now, but I just gotta know what's in that bag."

Fuuka laughed. "One of the A/V club guys is geeking out over a really old shoujo manga right now, and Oneechan just happened to have the whole collection in a box in her room. She hasn't touched it in years so every volume is in good shape. I asked if she'd mind me trading it off for something, and she said it was just taking up space."

"So you traded it for...?"

"A Playstation 2, three console editions of DDR, and two dance mats."

Koiwai whistled. "That's one DAMN good trade."

"Eh, he just updated his entire media center and he was actually just gonna junk his PS2. So..." She shook her head. "Anyway, I'm just gonna leave it over here, and we can hook it up and play once in a while. It'd be nice to play without a crowd, ne?"

"True."

"Of course, my sisters are bound to wander over to watch..."

Koiwai chuckled. "Why do I get the feeling nobody believes you about that whole DDR thing?"

Mrs. Ayase returned. "Okay, that's taken care of. I don't know what I should do about the stuff in the fridge until the power's fixed, but I guess it'll keep for a bit." She sat down. "So, what's going on that you two are so worked up over?"

"Miura-chan's mom is having an affair," Fuuka said.

"You're kidding!" Mrs. Ayase gasped. "Does...does Miura-chan know?"

"No...nobody knows except us," Fuuka said. "I'm not even sure the idiot she's dating knows."

"Probably doesn't," Koiwai said. "Yanda's an idiot and a jerk, but he's also a coward. He's not stupid enough to fool around with a married woman. ...I hope."

Fuuka hastily explained the entire situation to her mother, from the introductions in the car to her being at Miura's apartment earlier when her mother came home from shopping. When she was done, Mrs. Ayase sighed and bowed her head. "I see..." She fidgeted with her hands. "If that's the case, then...I'm sorry, I don't think there's anything you can do about this."

"Huh? Why not?" Fuuka asked. "This is bad! I mean, if her husband finds out, or God forbid Miura-chan..."

"If Miura-chan finds out, it could be a disaster. If Hayasaka-san finds out..." Mrs. Ayase shook her head. "It probably won't matter."

"Won't MATTER?" Koiwai asked. "What the hell kind of—"

Mrs. Ayase chuckled ruefully. "Koiwai-san, sometimes I forget just how young you really are." She sighed. "Your generation is starting to lose certain attitudes that have stood firm for centuries, but...even so, surely as an adult, you're aware of the polite fiction between husbands and wives."

Koiwai's jaw tightened. "I've heard of it. It's pure bullshit."

"Unfortunately, it's true."

"I'm not saying it's not true, I'm saying it's bullshit."

Mrs. Ayase chuckled. "Yes, it certainly is."

Fuuka looked between them, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Koiwai sighed. "Haven't you ever wondered how Japanese marriages survive when so many men are barely home four or five hours a day?"

Fuuka grimaced. "I never really thought about it, but I do know I'd rather not wind up with a salaryman like Otousan for a husband." She blushed suddenly. "Um..."

Koiwai chuckled. "Well, that's one up for me," he said with a sly grin.

"Eep!"

Mrs. Ayase laughed. "Good one, Koiwai-san." Sobering, she said, "Fuuka-chan...a lot of Japanese marriages only survive because either the wife, or the husband, or more likely both, honestly do not care what the other does when they're not at home."

Fuuka stared at her, face growing pale as the implication set in. "You're kidding..."

"How did you think enjokosai got to be such a problem?" Mrs. Ayase asked. "And bored housewife syndrome is even worse." She frowned. "Half my friends from when I was your age are married now, and the ones that are married to salarymen have three or four affairs going at any given time."

"Three or four—" Fuuka spluttered.

"Sometimes all at once. And I mean ALL at once."

Koiwai and Fuuka both turned red. "Holy crap," Fuuka breathed.

"It's what happens when your husband is never home to take care of your needs," Mrs. Ayase said matter-of-factly.

Fuuka blanched. "I never thought about that."

"And before either of you ask, no, I certainly am NOT a case of bored housewife syndrome," Mrs. Ayase said sharply. "I don't even have enough of a sex drive to own any...toys, let alone run around on your father."

Fuuka turned very, very red. "Okaasan...while I'm glad about that, really, that was a whole lot more than I ever wanted to know."

"Same here," Koiwai said.

The older woman chuckled. "Anyway, it sounds to me like Miura-chan's mother is a textbook case of that. And if that's the case..." She shook her head. "Don't get involved."

"Okaasan...I'm sorry, but no. I can't just sit and ignore it."

"Me neither," Koiwai said, shaking his head. "It isn't right."

"Then if you intend to intervene, for everyone's sake, go after the lover, not the cheater," Mrs. Ayase said. "Confronting a cheating housewife can get spectacularly ugly." She frowned. "I'm talking box cutter ugly," she added darkly.

Fuuka's eyes widened. "Gah."



Author's Notes



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