Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, the characters, or the series that solely belong to Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon, and Viacom International. I just own my characters that I create unless I say otherwise.
Meeting the Fenton Family
A few weeks have passed. During those times, Danny and his mother, Maddie were given an invitation to a mother-son seminar, but the ghost boy discovered that it was a plot by his archenemy Vlad Masters or, in his ghost form, Vlad Plasmius. After foiling the plot, he and his mother were able to return home.
Right now, it was Friday-night. Danny was leading Mariko into the bowling alley. To say the least, the Japanese girl has never been in a place like this before.
"I've never seen anything like this, back in Tokyo." Mariko said as she looked around
"It's quite a popular hangout." Danny replies.
Soon, the two teens got in line to rent bowling balls and shoes before they go to alley number 16. After placing on their bowling shoes, Danny started to teach her the basics.
"When bowling, you always want to put your fingers through the holes of the bowling ball." Danny began as he demonstrated
The ghost boy got in position as Mariko watched.
"When aiming, you have to swing your arm to have the ball roll down the alley to knock down the pins."
Soon, Danny bowled a strike, much to Mariko's impression. However, as he was about to say something else, the ghost boy sees Mariko grab her bowling ball and do the exact same thing he did. Then, the Japanese girl swung her arm as the ball rolled down the alley which knocked down all the bowling pins for a strike. Danny dropped his jaw at that
"Whoa! You bowled your first strike like it was nothing!" he says in a surprised tone
Mariko chuckled with a smile before she said in response
"I'm a fast learner, Daniel-san."
Danny was impressed that Mariko got it all down, as if she has some sort of eidetic memory. He smiled before the ghost boy took his turn to bowl. One can say that they were having a good time with one another as they took turns bowling. The two teens were unaware that on alley number 9, Star was watching them as the blonde girl was accompanied by Kwan. She stared at them with confusion as Mariko took her turn to bowl.
"What does she see in him?" Star thought to herself as she shifted her focus to bowl
Two hours have passed as Danny and Mariko were leaving the bowling alley as the girl said
"I must admit, it was pretty nice for our "first date"."
"Date?" he asks in surprise, "You honestly want to call it as our date?"
"Of course Daniel-san." she replies with a smile. "Unless, you want a better term for...
"N-n-no." Danny interrupts. "I honestly would want to call it that, as well." he says shyly with a blush.
Mariko smiles at his shyness before she spoke to him, saying
"To be honest Daniel-san, I..." she paused, glancing downward with a blush of her own before looking into his eyes "I actually like you."
Danny was caught by surprise as he asked
"You like me?"
"Mm-hm." Mariko replies with a nod. "Since day one when we first met. You're the first boy I've met who genuinely wants to be with me, regardless if I'm rich or not. Not once have you tried sucking up to me when I revealed who my father is. I see that you have a pure heart inside you. That's why I like you."
Danny was completely stunned at Mariko's words. Never before has he met a wealthy girl who was genuinely nice to him, didn't negatively judge him when they first met. Also, the ghost boy was surprised that she held her own against Skulker at school and pummeled the Box Ghost at the Nasty Burger without any signs of fear. Not to mention, she rejected Dash in her "unique" way, using her ninjutsu to throw the jock into the pool back in school. However, there was one thing that was bugging him
"How do I tell her that I'm Danny Phantom?" he thought
Danny snapped out of his thoughts before he looked at Mariko in her eyes and said nervously
"Well Mariko, I..." he rubs the back of his head nervously "I honestly like you too. Most girls won't bother to try and get to know me, save for my best friend Sam, and others would see me as...well..."
Mariko shook her head while maintaining her genuine smile
"I would never think of you the way most girls would. We all have our unique interests."
"That's true." Danny comments.
"Also, forgive me for this, but..." she glanced away shyly
Danny rose an eyebrow, seeing how nervous Mariko was. Suddenly, he was caught off-guard as the Japanese girl draped her arms around his neck and kissed him. The ghost boy's eyes were wide in shock at first, then they lowered before fully closing as Danny wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss. The two teens were lost in their own thoughts as they both looked like they were on cloud 9.
Once the kiss ended, Danny started to fall backwards with a lovestruck smile. However, Mariko caught and helped him regain balance...and his senses
"Careful, Daniel-san."
Danny regained his balance as he stood up straight and looked at Mariko in her brown eyes
"Wow. I've...never been kissed like that before." he says with a shy smile
Mariko chuckled before she said in response
"To be honest, you're my first kiss."
Danny was stunned when he heard Mariko tell him that he is her first kiss. Then, she asks him
"Can I meet your family?"
Her question caused Danny to have a horrified look as he asked
"Run that by me again?"
"I asked if I can meet your family." Mariko said
"Oh. Well..."
Mariko saw that Danny was uncomfortable when his eyes darted away from her gaze. The Japanese girl was confused
"Is something wrong, Daniel-san?"
"It's just that, well..." Danny paused, unsure what to say
Mariko saw how uncomfortable Danny was before she said
"I will not judge you or family in any way. As I said, we all have our unique interests."
Danny calmed down at Mariko's words before he smiled
"Sure. We're having dinner at my home tomorrow." he says "Is that okay?"
"Of course." Mariko replies
As the two walked home to their respective houses, Danny pulls out his cell phone and uses speed dial to call Tucker. He waited for about 15 seconds before his friend answered
"Tucker." Danny says, "I need your help."
"Hurry! She'll be here any minute!"
It was Saturday. Danny was contacted by Mariko, asking him for his address. Once he replied to her that his home is also called "Fenton Works", the ghost boy received her reply that she was on her way. Right now, Danny and his parents were putting away all of the ghost hunting tech in haste to ensure that Mariko won't see any of it when she arrives.
"Please tell me that's everything." Danny begs
"Of course, Danny." Maddie assures. "This Mariko won't have to worry about any of this."
Danny breathes a sigh of relief. However, he sees his sister writing down notes which causes him to raise an eyebrow
"Jazz, what are you doing?"
"Working on my thesis." Jazz replies
"Thesis on what?"
"Little brothers desperately trying to impress their new girlfriend." Jazz says with a smug smile
"Jazz! Mariko is not my girlfriend..." Danny says before he mumbled silently, "yet."
Then, Maddie whispers to Danny
"Is it true that Mariko is a real ninja? Because if she is, I'd like to have a little one on one with her."
"Mom!" Danny says with a scowl
"I'm just kidding." Maddie says with a chuckle
"I just hope Tucker gave Sam the memo." Danny says with worry
Lately, Danny has noticed Sam's odd behavior since Mariko arrived. He hasn't seen her like that since he was temporarily going out with Paulina, when he was unaware that a ghost was possessing her. Last night, Danny informed Tucker to tell Sam that he was going to be booked. The ghost boy hoped that his friend was able to tell the goth girl. Suddenly, he hears the doorbell ring.
"She's here!"
Danny ran to the front door. After stopping, he took a deep breath to calm himself before he answered the door with a smile. However, Danny's smile dropped when he saw that it wasn't Mariko at the door. In fact, he was horrified to see that it was Sam and Tucker.
"Hey Danny." Sam greets with a smile
Danny saw that Tucker had an apologetic look. It appeared that Tucker didn't tell Sam about his schedule being booked.
"Uh...Sam, what's up?"
"I'm just dropping by since I was in the neighborhood." Sam replies. "Want to hang out?"
"Actually Sam, I...um..." he said nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck
Danny needed Sam to leave since Mariko has yet to arrive. However, it was too late as they all heard a familiar voice
"Hello Daniel-san."
Tucker and Sam turn around to see Mariko.
"Hello Sam, Tucker." Mariko greets them with a bow.
While Tucker waved at her, Sam scowled. Soon, Danny spoke up
"Hey Marko." Danny opens the door wide enough for Mariko to enter. "Come on in."
As Mariko entered, she asks him
"Sam and Tucker are not staying?"
"Yeah. They...were just telling me that plans got booked so..." Danny said nervously
Tucker interrupts by saying
"Don't worry dude. We're just leaving."
"Later." Danny says quickly
However, right when Danny was about to shut the door, Sam used her foot to prevent it from closing as the goth girl looked like she was ready to break the door.
"Danny. What is she is doing here?" Sam hissed
Danny's eyes darted to Tucker as he said
"Ask him! He was supposed to tell you!"
Sam turns around to face Tucker, removing her foot as Danny shut the door completely. She glared at him
"You knew about this?"
Tucker was nervous as he slowly backed away from Sam who looked like she was going to rip his arms off.
"Well...yeah. I was going to tell you, but it...sort of...slipped my mind..." Tucker replied with a nervous grin as Sam slowly inched closer.
"Slipped your mind?!" Sam angrily asks as her eye twitched.
Inside, Danny meets Mariko who was patiently waiting for him as she was sitting on the couch
"Sorry about that." Danny apologizes
"It's okay." Mariko replies
"I honestly would invite them, but Sam won't eat anything with a face on it." Danny explains. "Tucker...sort of has bad table manners."
Mariko smiled before she says
"Sounds like my cousin, Satoshi. If he tries something edible, he'll scarf it down like the main character in all of the Dragonball anime."
Danny let out a chuckle. Suddenly, the sound of a feminine male scream and metal crashing can be heard.
"What was that noise?" Mariko asks in curiosity
"That was...probably them." Danny replies nervously before quickly changing the subject, "So, ready to meet my family?"
Mariko offered her hand with a smile before Danny gently took it and leads her to the kitchen where his parents and older sister were sitting at the table, waiting for them. In Mariko's point of view, the man was clad in a HAZMAT suit that was black and orange in color, the woman wore a HAZMAT suit as well, but was blue and black. There was girl who had auburn hair like the woman with the man's aqua colored eyes who wore a black long sleeve, aqua pants, and a hair band that was the same shade of color as her eyes.
As Jack stood up first, Danny presents Mariko who stood next to him
"Everyone. This is Mariko Watanabe."
"It's an honor to meet you all."
"The pleasure is ours." The head of the family replies. "I'm Jack Fenton, this is my beloved wife, Maddie." he hugs his wife who waves before gesturing to his older daughter, "and this young lady is Danny's older sister Jazz."
"So you're the girl who my little brother can't shut up about." Jazz said with a smirk
Danny looked embarrassed as Mariko saw it. She blushed with a smile. As the Japanese girl was approached one of the seats, Danny recognized the right moment as he quickly pulled out one of the seats that Mariko chose.
"Oh. Thank you Daniel-san." Mariko said with a smile as she sat down before Danny pushed in the seat for her. "Thank you again."
Soon, Danny took his own seat at the table for dinner
There was chatter among dinner, sodas, and the Fentons with their guest.
"You're kidding?! Your father is Kenji Watanabe?!" Jack asks in shock
"Of course Jack-sama." Mariko replies
Lately, the Fentons were informed of Mariko being the daughter of the owner of WatanabeTech Corporation. Yet, she preferred to be just a regular person.
"I'm surprised that you don't prefer fancy foods, like most wealthy people do." Jazz comments, completely intrigued
"Well, my family didn't start out that way." Mariko says
"Oh?" Maddie asked in surprise
"Yes Maddie-sama." Mariko replies. "My great-grandfather was born as a regular person in the working class. He always worked and study hard during his youth."
The Fentons listened with interest as Mariko continued her tale
"When my great-grandfather was in his mid-twenties, he created a technology that was so advanced, it made him a billionaire. Since then, he founded the WatanabeTech Corporation."
Danny was the one who was surprised the most of Mariko's family history. Then, the girl spoke again
"However, despite that. My great-grandfather taught my grandfather, who taught my father, taught me that we should always remember where we started from."
"Well, we all have to start small, right?" Jazz says
"Of course Jasmine-san." Mariko replies politely. "I maintain straight A's if I want to become a doctor."
Jack and Maddie smiled at that while Jazz was impressed. Clearly, the Fentons like this Japanese girl. Despite being wealthy, she wasn't snobby or ashamed of being around people like them. They also saw that Mariko genuinely values Danny. They felt that she was a keeper
In Mariko's perspective, the Fentons were likeable people. Not once did they even attempt to suck up to her when she revealed her family. Instead, they were genuinely befriending her, like Danny has when he first met her.
"Jack-sama, Maddie-sama. Daniel-san told me you two are scientists." Mariko says, getting their attention. "May I ask what you study?"
Her question caused Danny to nearly choke on his soda while Jack and Maddie looked eager to talk. However, they see their son giving a disapproval head shake; something that didn't go unnoticed by the Japanese girl as she smiled and said
"Daniel-san. It's okay. As I said, we all have our unique interests and I'm interested to know what they study."
Soon, Jack and Maddie pull out their inventions and gadgets with a grin and bombard Mariko with information on their anti-ghost weaponry, despite Danny groaning. To say the least, Mariko was genuinely intrigued as she said to Jack
"I think you and my father will get along really well, Jack-sama."
"You really think so?" Jack asks
"I'm pretty sure you will." Mariko replies with a smile
However, Danny's ghost sense went off unnoticed by anyone. Then, from a wall, a gorilla ghost phased with a roar, causing everyone to stand up and get out of their seats.
"GHOST!" Jack and Maddie shout
Suddenly, before anyone could make a move, Mariko jumped onto the seat of the chair and attacked the ghost with a jump kick, knocking it down. It only served to anger it as the ghost roared and slammed its huge fist onto the floor, trying to strike Mariko. However, the girl reacted far too quickly for it to realize as she ran up the arm to reach its head and delivered a right hook, left uppercut, and a backflip kick before Mariko landed gracefully onto the floor.
Jack and Maddie watch the fight, extremely impressed how their guest is handling the ghost
"Danny?" Jack whispered
"Yeah dad?"
"Marry this girl."
Danny blushed up a storm as he saw the beast get back up while Mariko readies for more. Then, Maddie pulls out a sort of sword hilt
"Mariko!" Maddie shouts before throwing the object "Catch!"
The girl catches the object before Maddie says
"There's a black switch on it! Slide it up to turn it on!"
Mariko did so after finding the switch. An energy blade extends upon activation. Realizing what sort of weapon it is, she spins the lightsaber as she gets in stance, ready for battle. The gorilla charges and attacks, but Mariko evades and counterattacks easily with her superior agility and ninjutsu training. When the ghost stood up once more, Mariko runs up the gorilla's body, backflips and uses the lightsaber to strike it with an uppercut, knocking it down once more.
The gorilla finally gets the memo before it phases through the door, fleeing from the house.
"We got a runner!" Jack shouts as he pursues it with the Fenton bazooka.
All the while, Sam and Tucker ducked to take cover on the side of the steps as Jack came running out. However, the man looks back to see that dinner remained unfinished and everyone remained in the dining room before looking back at the fleeing ghost.
"Ah forget it!" Jack says before he goes back inside and slams the door
Inside the house, Mariko slides the switch to turn off the lightsaber before she hands it back to Maddie
"Mariko! That was incredible!" the woman said with impression as she took the hilt.
"Thank you, Maddie-sama. In case Daniel-san didn't tell you, I was trained in ninjutsu." Mariko says with humility
"A kunoichi?" Maddie asks with impression, "You know, I happen to know martial arts myself." she says in a slightly bragging tone
"Really?" Mariko asks, completely intrigued. "How about a sparring match after dinner, Maddie-sama?"
Maddie had a competitive look forming before she says
"You're on."
Forty-five minutes later, the other Fentons watched Mariko and Maddie bowed to each other, used their respective kata to warm up before getting in stance. Then, they began to trade blows with one another, despite holding back the amount of force. They appeared evenly matched as Maddie and Mariko continued their match
"Go Maddie!" Jack shouts
He noticed Danny giving him a disapproving look as the man sheepishly tried calming his son down
"And Mariko too!"
While Maddie and Mariko were sparring as the other Fentons watched, they didn't notice that they had company.
On the outside of the fence, Sam was looking through a hole that was on the fence while standing on Tucker.
"Sam! Can you get off?!" the African boy complains causing the goth girl to look down at him. "My back is killing me!"
"Pipe down Tucker!" Sam scolds before looking through the peephole again
Back with Maddie and Mariko, they continued trading blows as the combatants locked arms with one another
"You're good, Mariko." Maddie compliments
"So are you, Maddie-sama." Mariko returns the compliment
As Mariko blocked a kicked from Maddie, her phone started ringing
"Oh. Time out." Mariko says as used her hands to make a time-out sign.
Then, Mariko checks her caller ID to see her father calling before answering
"Kon'nichiwa otosan."
The girl spoke to her father in Japanese, informing him of her whereabouts. After several minutes, Mariko bids her father farewell before hanging up
"My apologies. My father was calling to make sure I'm okay." Mariko says as she puts her phone in her pocket
"No need to apologize." Maddie said with a smile
"Shall we continue?" Mariko asks as she gets in stance
"Let's." Maddie replies as she got in stance as well.
It was close to getting dark as Mariko was leaving Fenton Works.
"It was nice meeting you, Mariko." Maddie said
"It was an honor to meet you too, Maddie-sama." Mariko says as she bowed in respect
Then, she turns to Jack and said
"You are a great chef, Jack-sama."
Jack smiled before he happily shouts as he looks at Jazz and Danny
"At last! One of you brings someone who appreciates my cooking!"
Mariko chuckled before she shook hands with Jazz
"It was an honor to meet you too, Jasmine-san."
"Likewise Mariko." Jazz says. "You know, I'm pretty sure you'll be interested in hearing some of Danny's embarrassing moments."
"Anyway!" Danny interrupts getting in between his sister and not-yet-girlfriend. "I'll see you at school on Monday."
"Of course, Daniel-san." Mariko says with a smile
As the Japanese girl walked out the door, she looks back one last time to wave goodbye at the Fentons before walking home. Danny's family had an approving look as they watched the girl depart.
"I like her. She's fearless." Maddie comments
"Same here." Jack says in agreement
"Me too." Jazz adds. "I'm impressed that she gets straight A's. I so want them to marry."
After Danny closed the door when Mariko was out of sight, Sam and Tucker emerge from the steps from another house next to Fenton Works
"See Tucker!" Sam shouts. "She's ditching him!"
"Sam, I'm sure Mariko has to get home" Tucker reasons before taking out his PDA to check the time. "Like we all have to."
As the boy stood up, he straightened himself and complained
"I don't know why you had to use me as a stool in the first place?! My back hurts!"
The goth girl ignored him as she glared at the direction that the Japanese girl took.
Sam didn't like Mariko...not one bit.
After assisting the clean-up of the kitchen, Danny was in his room, lying on his bed while staring at the ceiling as he thought with a smile
"Wow! Mariko doesn't think my parents are freaks and they like her!"
The ghost boy sighed happily as he drifted in his own thoughts
Mariko entered her house with a smile and saw her mother Harumi noticed
"Kon'nichiwa musume." she greets
"Kon'nichiwa okasan!" Mariko greets as she hugged her mother
"Dodatta?" Harumi asks
(Translation: How did it go)
"Sugoi. Fenton wa gosutohantigu nimokakawarazu ī hitodesu." Mariko replies
(Translation: Great. The Fentons are nice people, despite their ghost hunting)
Harumi smiled before she said
"Subarashī jikan o sugoshita yodesu ne."
(Translation: Sounds like you had a wonderful time)
"Hai watashi wa shimashita." Mariko says
(Translation: yes I did)
Moments later, Mariko was in her room, getting ready to go to sleep. Eventually, she lied on her bed with her hands behind her head as the girl stared at the ceiling, thinking of what transpired today while thinking with fondness
"Daniel-san..."
Another chapter completed. Stay tuned for the next one.
GirlFish: You'll see how she'll meet Vlad in the future
Dreams Come True 996: Well, we all have our opinions on certain topics. Plus, I've designed Mariko where she may be rich, but she doesn't put down the working class since her great-grandfather was once part of the working class. In addition to that, she prefers to have real friends who like her for her and isn't fooled by the A-Listers. You'll see what I have in mind in the future
Batrenz: Patience my friend.
Jessie: Glad you like it so far
NiteOwl18: Yeah. Like in the show. You'll see what I have in store soon.
A/N: for the sound effect of the metal crashing, look at the YouTube video "Crash Sound Effects 90's Edition" for reference and see which sound is best suited
A/N 2: Think of the lightsaber as Luke's from "Return of the Jedi" since I always liked that model for the hilt.
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