Charlies POV
After I finished my phonecall, I heard the door open, Lil had returned from her work shift, I open the laundry room door to greet her.
"Hi Charlie, your up early" said Lil tiredly
"Guess who called me" I said
"Who" said Lil
"My mother Kaori" I said
Lil smiled and said "Thats incredible, what did she say"
"She just explained things and I told her how I am currently" I said
"Ah thats good, I'm going to bed as I'm tired, haven't you got a meet up with your friend today" said Lil
"Yeah Ushio is coming over and both of us are going to introduce Ushio to my friends" I said
"Sounds good, Im going to bed, night Charlie" said Lil
"Night Lil" I said
A few hours later
After Lil went to sleep, I went back upstairs and went to sleep for another 2-3 hours before being woken up by the front door being knocked.
"Charlie, answer the door" said my father sleepily
I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to open the door to find Ushio standing at my door
"Morning Charlie" said Ushio cheerily
"Morning Ushio, isnt it a bit early" I said
"No, its around 10am, the time you told me to arrive" said Ushio, I must of forgot the time I told Ushio to come to mine
"Ah sorry, I was woken up earlier in the morning by a call from my mother" I said as I let Ushio into my house
"Is that your stepmom or your mother from Japan" said Ushio as she sat on the sofa in my living room
"My mother from Japan" I said
"What did she say" said Ushio taking interest in the subject
"She was just excited to talk to me again and explained to me her situation as well as catching up on things" I said
"How come she didn't keep in contact with you" said Ushio
"She said something in regards to her poor health and lack of time due to perfomances" I said
"Thats not good, how bad is your mothers health, Charlie" said Ushio
"Apparently she had a heart attack a year ago and has a rare disease that caused occasional muscle paralysis and Heart problems" I said
"Is she ok now" said Ushio
"Yeah she said she was doing well, although she is stopping her performances" I said
"Oh, so when are I meeting your friends" said Ushio
"Possibly in two hours then we are all going to the mall" I said
"Ah good, what are your friends like" said Ushio as she hadn't properly met my friends yet
"Lou Pickles Jr is a filmmaker as well as my cousin, he is also quite adventurous, Liam Deville can be best described as charming and confident as well as sporty, John Evans can be a bit annoying and a bit of a ladies man and Brian is quite quiet, but me and him play in the high schools softball team" I said
"They all seem nice, you play softball" said Ushio
"Yeah me and Brian are quite good at it" I said
"Cool, maybe I should come and watch you both" said Ushio
"If you want, although our team isn't the greatest" I said
"It will still be fun though" said Ushio
Me and Ushio talked about my friends as well as baseball for the next hour before my father woke up and came downstairs.
"Hi Dad" I said
"Morning Charlie, this must be Ushio" said my father
"Yeah good to meet you Charlie's dad, heard so much about you" said Ushio
"Nice to meet you Ushio, my name is Dil" said my father greeting Ushio
"How are you this morning" said Ushio
"I'm doing good, how are you finding America" said my father
"Still getting used to things, but overall taking things one day at a time, Charlie has helped me along the way" said Ushio as my father smiled at me
"Thanks Ushio, I will be right back, I'm going to get into my going out clothes" I said as I left the room
End of POV
"So Ushio, how long will you be in the States for" said Dil
"Most likely for the rest of my academic career espcially after I got expelled from my school in my hometown" said Ushio
"How did you get expelled" said Dil
"I got into a few fights and one time I overreacted after someone picked on me about how my mother was in hospital and my father being a electrician which is a non-college and low-paying job and as a result I broke her jaw and ribs in which the school had no choice but to expel me and as there were not many options in my home town of Hikarizaka, so through a family friend I ended up moving to the States" said Ushio
"Oh, do you miss your hometown" said Dil
"Yeah definitely" said Ushio
"I see you've already met my son Charlie" said Dil
"Yeah, he seems like a really nice guy and he can always make you smile even on a rainy day" said Ushio
"Good, yeah he's got his mothers smile and he is also extremely hardworking especially on his studies" said Dil
"How do you feel about Charlie's mother" said Ushio
"Honestly while she did hurt me by leaving me, she has a good heart and I do want Charlie to meet his mother, Charlie reminds quite a bit of Kaori in many way" said Dil
"How does he remind you of Kaori" said Ushio
"Whether he's passionate for something, he will put 100% effort in it, he also can be very caring and will look out for his friends and family no matter what" said Dil
"That's sounds good" said Ushio
Charlie returned and was in a Dodgers Jumper along with Levi Jeans and Air Force One Trainers
"Looking smart, Charlie" said Dil
"Thanks" said Charlie
Soon following Charlie downstairs was Lil and Holly
"You must be Ushio, I'm Lil Charlie's Stepmother and this is Holly, Charlie's younger sister" said Lil
"Nice to meet you two" said Ushio
"Whats the plan for today" said Dil
"Im going to introduce Ushio to Brian, Lou, Liam and John and we are all going to the mall and bowling alley together" said Charlie
"Ah good" said Dil before his phone rang, "Not the Alien Research Insitute again, I told them this is my day off" said Dil
"You should probably take it, if they keep ringing you, it must be important" said Lil
"Fine, I better not be working today" said Dil as he went to another room to answer the phonecall
"I like to ask, what do you and Dil do as jobs" said Ushio curious
"I'm a Management Coordinator at a Truck Driving company which means I give drivers intructions on what the next job is and Dil's job is as an Senior Alien Researcher and he may deal with stuff such as Aliens, Dimesnional Travel and other things, he is Second in charge at the Alien Research Institute" said Lil
"Both jobs sound pretty interesting Lil, Do you both enjoy them" said Ushio
"Well I enjoy my job as I'm in management in which I worked hard for and as for Dil, he enjoys his job very much, but it also tires him out considering the nature of the job" said Lil
"I could tell" said Ushio
Soon Brian, Lou Jr, Liam and John all arrived and Charlie and Ushio went with them to the mall
"Brian, Lou Jr, Liam and John, this is Ushio Okazaki, the new student Miss Ichinose asked me to look after" said Charlie
"Nice to meet you Ushio" said Lou Jr, Liam, John and Brian
"Nice to meet you all" said Ushio
"Charlie, whats the plan today" said John forgetting what the plans were today
"Well we are going to the mall and then bowling" said Charlie
"How could you forget" said Lou Jr
"I was thinking about my date tomorrow" said John
"Typical" said Lou Jr
"Any of you watching the baseball match tonight" said Brian
"Whos playing" said Charlie
"Pirates are playing the Astros" said Brian
"Ushio, isn't the Astros your team" said Charlie
"Yeah it is" said Ushio
"We should all watch the game and do a group FaceTime and all 6 of us should react to the game together" said Liam
"That sounds like a good idea, i'm in" said Charlie
"I'm definitely in" said Brian
"Im in" said Lou Jr
"I'm also in, just need to get you guys FaceTimes" said Ushio
"Miss Ichinose gave me yours, so I've already got your facetime" said Charlie as Ushio nodded and Ushio gained Brian, Liam and Lou Jr's FaceTime's
Ushio went to ask John for his FaceTime before John stated
"I can't make the FaceTime" said John
"Why not" said Liam
"Because I'm busy tonight" said John
"What with" said Lou Jr
"I've got to prepare for the date, plus my sister is bringing her friends around, so their likely to hog the TV" said John
"The second part I'm likely to agree with, but taking that long to prepare for a date, thats ridiculous" said Lou with his arms crossed
"Even if you can't make it, you can still give Ushio your FaceTime" said Charlie
"I can't, Leela will go ballistic at me if she found out I added another girl on my contacts" said John
John has a girlfriend named Leela Johnson who can be best described as a little clingy and a bit controlling and considering John's ladies man attitude, Leela generally gets along with Johns friends espcially Charlie and Lou Jr as she knows they can keep John from misbehaving.
"John, just add Ushio on your FaceTime, if Leela complains, I will explain everything" said Charlie directly
"Fine, you better explain to Leela the situation" said John as he gives Ushio his FaceTime details
Lou Jr, Charlie, Ushio, John, Brian and Liam arrived at the Mall and split into groups of 2, Lou Jr and John went together to look at the electronics store, Brian and Liam went to the Nike store, leaving Charlie and Ushio to explore the mall.
"I think its just me and you, Ushio, what shop do you want to go" said Charlie
"I don't mind Charlie, what about you" said Ushio
"I don't mind, shall we wonder around the shops" said Charlie
"Sure" said Ushio
Charlie and Ushio wondered around the mall for a bit before something caught Ushio's eye
"Theyve got the Big Dango Family in this shop" said Ushio with a big smile and a sparkle in her eyes
"So thats what the Big Dango Family is that you were talking about it" said Charlie
"Yeah it is" said Ushio
Charlie and Ushio walk in where Ushio found a Dango Jumper that she liked, it was a black jumper with loads of little Dangos on it
"it looks so cool" said Ushio smiling
"Are you going to buy it" said Charlie
"Oh yeah" said Ushio snapping Ushio out of her daze
Ushio carried the jumper to the till and paid for it before both of them left the store and headed towards to the Arcade
"Do you like Video Games Ushio" said Charlie
"Yeah I do, what particular games do you like" said Ushio
"I like action games as well as sports games" said Charlie
Soon both of them made there way to an Arcade Machine of Mortal Kombat II that was sitting there
"Mortal Kombat II, aint that game quite old" said Charlie
"Yeah it still ages very well considering there were many fighting games out at the same time that were nowhere near as good, maybe except for Street Fighter" said Ushio
"True I suppose" said Charlie
Ushio and Charlie go on the arcade machine in which Charlie put two quarters in which led to the Character Select Screen
"Who are you going to pick" said Ushio
"I would go with Johnny Cage, he looks cool" said Charlie
"Ok then, I'll go with Baraka" said Ushio
Ushio would go on and dominate both of the rounds against the inexperienced Charlie with the first round ending in a Flawless Victory and while Charlie did better in the second round, soon his Character was dazed and the words 'FINISH HIM' came up on the screen.
Ushio immediatly pressed loads of buttons at the same time and then:
Baraka Wins
FATALITY
"Looks like I win, wanna play again" said Ushio
"I figured your technique out, i'm going to win this time" said Charlie
"We'll see" said Ushio as she put two quarters into the machine
Ushio picked Raiden this time, whlist Charlie picked Sub Zero and a similer result happened, although Charlie did better this time, preventing Ushio from getting a Flawless Victory, however soon those 'FINISH HIM' words came up and Ushio did a different button combination and a different Fatality happened on screen.
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, when will you learn you can't beat me" said Ushio
Charlie couldn't believe it, Ushio had absolutely dominated him at an arcade game, Charlie's competitive edge was kicking in, he needed to defeat Ushio at Mortal Kombat II
"I will not lose" said Charlie as he slammed two quarters into the machine
"Someone'e in a competitive mood" said Ushio
Charlie picked Shang Tsung as his character, whlist Ushio stuck with Raiden, The first round was close, but a well timed move allowed Ushio to win the round, the second round was even closer, move after move, Lightning Strike for Shapeshift, Ushio and Charlie were neck and neck.
"You know how to play as Shang Tsung, i'm impressed" said Ushio
"I have played this game before" said Charlie
Soon both Ushio and Charlie's characters had low health, Ushio tried finishing it off with Raiden's lightning Dive, but Charlie jumped and having shapeshifted into Liu Kang deployed a Fire move.
Shang Tsung Wins
'He can't defeat me, he just can't' thought Ushio
'If I win this next round, I can defeat Ushio at Mortal Kombat II' Thought Charlie
Round 3 FIGHT
Ushio began spamming Raiden's Teleport and Lightning Dives, frustrating Charlie, Charlie couldn't really find counters to Ushio and eventually Charlie was defeated and Ushio used a button combination, Charlie had his head over his hands, he had lost and he knew Ushio was about to humilate him for the third time.
Raiden Wins
FRIENDSHIP
"Uh, Ushio why didn't you finish my character off with an fatality" said Charlie
"Because I felt bad for you, I didn't feel like it was fair to humilate you three times" said Ushio
"I still lost though" said Charlie looking down
"You'll get good one day, you just need more practise" said Ushio
"Thanks I guess, fancy a game of Air Hockey" said Charlie
"Yeah" said Ushio
Charlie and Ushio went to an Air Hockey table and Ushio put a quarter into the machine, Ushio was overconfident heading into the match
"You know in Hikarizaka, I was the best Air Hockey player in the town" said Ushio
"Lets put that to the test" said Charlie
Charlie started pretty slow and defensive at the start of the match as he was looking for Ushio's strengths and weaknesses and as a result Ushio managed to go 2-0, it was at that point where Charlie began to take it seriously.
Charlie began to hit the air puck with alot of power and speed which overwhelmed Ushio's game and it was not long before it was 6-2 and Charlie was one point away from winning the Air Hockey game.
Ushio served, concentrating on gaps where she could score and she hit a accurate serve, however Charlie countered with one of the hardest Air Hockey shots he had ever shot.
Ushio had put her arm on the Air Hockey table where she had just served and as a result, a ping sound could be heard
"Owww"
The counter shot hit Ushio's arm casuing her to flinch in pain, "Ushio, are you alright" Charlie approached worried. Whlist he approached the puck slid into the goal, allowing Charlie to win.
"I'm ok, just a bit sore" said Ushio
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit it that hard" said Charlie
"Its okay, you were just trying to beat me at Air Hockey" said Ushio
Charlie smiled and said "Well at least we know which arcade games we are best at"
"Yeah" said Ushio as both of them headed to the Bowling Alley waiting for Liam, Lou Jr, John and Brian
At the Bowling Alley
At the Bowling Alley, Ushio and Charlie were waiting for their friends
"How long do you think they will be" said Ushio
"Im not sure, 15-30min possibly, depends on how long the likes of John or Liam take shopping" said Charlie
"What sort of things do they buy" said Ushio
"John will generally look for trainers or designer clothes because he likes to look in fashion, Lou Jr likes computer related stuff and stuff related to film, Brian likes sports and will look for sports related stuff and Liam generally likes anything so he browse through most shops" said Charlie
"Ahh fair enough, What sort of stuff do you usually shop for" said Ushio
"It depends, I like Baseball so I sometimes get Baseball stuff, but I have a Dodgers Jersey and hat, other occasions I just look for computer related stuff for my programming" said Charlie
"What sort of Computer Related stuff" said Ushio
"I would buy Programming Languages such as C++, Various Game Programmes and Python as well as additional software to help build video games and currently starting to build an Operating System" said Charlie
"Wow that sounds hard" said Ushio
"Yeah it is, I have always had an interest in computers since I was young so I don't find as hard, rather I enjoy it" said Charlie
"Wow Charlie, you are smart" said Ushio
Charlie smiled and said "Thank you"
Soon Charlie's phone rang, Charlie looked at his phone to see 'Lil' on it and He answered.
Beginning of Phone Call
"Hi Lil, what's up" said Charlie
"Hey Charlie, your father has been sent on an immediate buisness trip with the Alien Research Institute, he might not be back for about a month" said Lil
"Oh, was the constant phone calls Dil received earlier related to it" said Charlie
"Yeah, the Institute said it was urgent and Dil was the best person they had for the buisness trip" said Lil
"Okay, what about Holly, when you go to work" said Charlie
"She will be staying at Grandpa Stu and Grandma Didi's" said Lil
"Phew, I thought I would have to babysit and not be able to hang out with my friends" said Charlie
Lil laughed and said "You know me and Dil aren't that harsh, plus your grandparents wanted to see Holly anyway" said Lil
"Thanks, Just tell Holly to be careful when it comes to bumping into Grandpa's Stu's inventions" said Charlie
Lil laughed again and said "Yeah, while both your father and Grandpa are inventors, I think Dil's inventions are far safer"
"Agreed, although Stu inspired him to become a inventor" said Charlie
"True and thats what psuhed Dil to become a founding member of the Alien Research Institute" said Lil
"True" said Charlie
"Right Charlie, I'm going to drop off Holly at Stu and Didi's and then go to work" said Lil
"Okay, bye Lil, see you tomorrow" said Charlie
"Bye Charlie" said Lil
End of Phone Call
"Who was that" said Ushio
"It was Lil, my dad has gone on a Buisness trip with his job and won't be back for a month" said Charlie
"Oh, does your father often go on buisness trips" said Ushio
"Not as much as he used to, when I was younger where I was about 4-5, my Father went on buisness trips often and as a result I spent more time at Grandpa Stu's and Grandma Didi's than I saw my father during that time" said Charlie
"Oh, do you know what your father does on Buisness trips" said Ushio
"only sometimes, he keeps some of his work secret due to dealing with multi-dimensional entities that couldn't be understood in our world" said Charlie
"Ah ok, so he is kind of a Secret Government Inventor" said Ushio
"You could say that, although the Alien Research Institute is also semi-independent as all the government does is regulate it from time to time as well as share information to each other" said Charlie
"That sounds so cool" said Ushio
"Yeah it is if you think about it" said Charlie
"Yeah, Look I think everyone is back from the shops" said Ushio pointing at Lou Jr, Liam, John and Brian waving at them
"Did you guys get anything" said Charlie
"I got some new Hugo Boss and Lacoste shirts" said John
"Yeah you took ages looking for those shirts" said Lou Jr
"I've got to take ages, got to look stylish" said John cockily
"Yeah your fashion taste is too boring and brand focused" said Lou Jr
"Better than your outdated 90's throwback wear, I remember that awful Shell suit you once wore" said John
"Care to step outside" said Lou Jr
"Guys, Guys stop arguing, we're here to play bowling, not talk about fashion" said Charlie
"Charlie's right, plus look at what me and Liam got" said Brian as both him and Liam show off Raiders Jerseys smiling
"You do realise there are 3 NFL teams near here and you pick a team that left our state" said Charlie
"Charlie, can I remind you how many Superbowls your Chargers have" said Liam
"None, but am I the only person who supports an NFL team in our state of California" said Charlie
"Well thats because they all suck, The Kansas City Chiefs are the best teams" said John
"Weren't you a Patriots fan two years ago" said Liam
"No No No, always loyal to the Chiefs" said John
"And before that you were an Seahawks fan when they were good" said Charlie
"I don't know what you guys are talking about, I have always supported the Chiefs" said John
"At least you guys got to choose your NFL teams, I was made to support the Tennessee Titans" said Lou Jr
"Yeah Uncle Tommy, Grandpa Stu and Great Grandpa Lou are big Titans fans since the Houston Oilers days" said Charlie
"I'm surprised you didn't become a Titans fan, Charlie" said Brian
"Well my father let me pick my own teams, plus with the Chargers moving back to LA and we live in a town near there, so I became a Chargers fan" said Charlie
"Do you have a NFL team, Ushio" said Brian
"Well my Grandfather Akio would watch NFL if it was on Japanese Sports Channels, but not as oftern as Baseball which is me and my families favourite sports" said Ushio
"Do you like Amercian Football" said Charlie
"I don't hate it, just haven't really seen it that much" said Ushio
"You'll love it by the time the season starts in September" said John
The 5 of them went and changed their shoes for bowling shoes and then Charlie set up the game and they started playing Bowling
Brian, Ushio and Charlie were really good at Bowling and at one point, they both got Turkey's (3 Strikes in a row) and would get spares heading into round 10, John and Lou Jr were average at best and occasionally got a strike or two, but were consistant with spares.
By the start of Round 10, Charlie was leading by one point ahead of Ushio and Brian who had the same points heading into the round, John was guranteed to finish last after getting a Gutterball in round 9, Lou Jr was to finish 4th after blowing his chance to catch the top 3 in the 5th Round.
Brian went first and hit a 9 followed by a spare, putting him in the lead, but at a disadvantage as Charlie and Ushio could overtake him with a strike.
Ushio went after and aimed the Bowling similer to her grandfather with a baseball and then went witn an underarm bowling swing, hitting a strike and overtaking Brian to take the lead.
Charlie was the last one up, if he got a strike, he would overtake Ushio and win the game, Charlie stepped up ready to bowl and had a deep think.
On one hand if he won, he would have bragging rights and be able to brag to everyone, but on the other hand he had a great day with Ushio and it was Ushio's first game with Charlie and his friends and Charlie wanted to make sure that she felt welcome in his group of friends. Also Charlie realised at this point that he might have a crush on Ushio.
Charlie threw the ball slowly, the ball was so slow, it drifted into the gutterball zone, guaranteeing Ushio the game, Ushio celebrated like she had won the lottery, cheering and celebrating that she beat Charlie and his friends at Bowling.
As Ushio celebrated, Charlie smiled, he felt he did the right thing letting Ushio win, he did get lots of stick from his friends including Ushio about blowing it in the final round, but he felt good about Ushio winning.
Afterwards all of them went to their respective homes and watched baseball on a group FaceTime