Chapter Seventeen: Dinner with the Family

The next morning I grunted awake to the sound of my cell phone ringing, and I sighed as I saw it was from the Hiiragi residence. "Hel-"

"Okazaki! I want to know why my daughter came home in tears last night!"

"I can explain, Kappei. I was-"

"My wife and I spent an hour – an hour, do you hear me? – trying to calm her down! It's a wonder she even got home safely with as upset as she was!"

"It's my fault!" I yelled, hoping to stop the onslaught. "I lost my temper and scared her! I'm really sorry! Is she okay?"

I heard a scoff from the other end. "Okazaki, what happened over there last night? This isn't like you."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I…I don't know if this'll make any sense, but she tried to touch a picture of my wife."

"Go on."

"I think that with my shoulder situation and the counseling and…I've never gotten over losing Nagisa… I guess with all that, I just snapped. I really wish I could tell you how sorry I am."

A sigh. "Well, at least that explains why she said what she said."

"Huh?"

"Truth be told, I wanted to come over there and beat the hell out of you last night. But Mika talked me down, saying 'it's not his fault'. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, figuring she was talking about you."

What a sweet girl; I scared her half to death, but she still… "I'm not going to ask to speak to her, but would you be willing to give her a message?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Fair enough; I've given you good reason to be cautious." I took a deep breath. "Could you just tell her that I was out of line, and that I'm really sorry for snapping at her like that? I've given her a good reason to not want to see my face again, so I will understand if she doesn't want to come over and help out anymore. Or if either you or Ryou don't want her to, for that matter."

"Is that it?"

"If there's anything more you think I should say, I'm open."

"No, you sounded pretty manly there," he said with a chuckle. "It takes real courage to apologize to someone younger than you are. I respect you now even more than I used to."

"Thanks. How is she?"

"She's still kinda shaken up. Honestly, I think she feels bad for upsetting you; she just didn't expect you to react the way you did."

"I didn't expect it either," I admitted. "I should talk to the pastor about that next week. Or call him."

"I think if Ryou died I wouldn't want people messing with pictures of her, either."

"Thanks," I said. "Thanks for understanding, Kappei. I still need to get my stuff worked out, though."

There was a long pause from the other end. Just when I was going to ask if he was still there he said, "You want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Wh-What?" Had I heard him correctly?

"Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? I think you need to get out of the house for a bit, and you and Ryou haven't talked history for a while."

"Are you serious?" I asked. "What about Mika-san?"

"We'll be here in case you try to yell at her again," he said, and I could hear the smile in his tone. "Seriously, though; knowing her, I think she'd like the chance to, uh…reconcile with you. I think that's what Kyou would call it."

"A-All right; what time should I be there?"

"Well, you know we eat around seven, so how about five?"

"Sounds good," I said, then realized: "Wait a minute; I don't mean to tell you how to run your household, but shouldn't you check with your wife, first?"

"Nah, it was her idea in the first place."

"Seriously?"

"She figured that, based on what Mika was saying, you must have been pretty stressed out so she suggested it this morning."

"Then what was with all the yelling when you called?"

"I still had to defend my daughter's honor, right?"

"Fair enough," I conceded with a smile. "Thanks for understanding, Kappei. And thanks for not letting me off the hook so easily."

"Hey, you have a daughter too, don't you? What are dads for?"

My smile faded as I thought about Ushio. "Yeah…what are dads for?"

I grimaced at myself in the mirror; there was simply no way that I was going to be able to wear a tie with only one hand to tie it on. At least I was able to put on a nice, white shirt and blue slacks with a matching jacket. I had gotten better at dressing myself, to the point where I wondered how I'd do once I got my full range of motion back on my right arm.

Finally satisfied with my efforts, I gave my hair a couple more swipes with my comb before grunting at my reflection. "Well, let's get out of here." I grabbed my wallet and keys from the stand near the door, stepped onto the front porch and, after a bit of a struggle, locked the door. I then started down the road toward the train station. To my surprise, I didn't get the feeling that I was being followed.

One train ride and one walk later, I stood before the front door to the Hiiragi home. While still not a mansion, it was still impressive to someone like me who lived in an apartment. I reached out and, after a brief hesitation, knocked on the door.

About a minute late the door opened, revealing the family matriarch. "Good evening, Tomoya-san; it's good to see you again."

"Thanks," I replied self-consciously. "It's good to see you, too. Good evening."

"Won't you come in?" she invited, stepping aside as she did so.

I'd never been in their home, so I was a bit awestruck as I stepped through the doorway. "This…is a really nice place."

"Thank you!" boomed a familiar voice, and I had to resist cringing as Kappei came around a corner and extended his hand. He then blinked and withdrew his right hand to extend his left with an awkward chuckle. "Good to see you again, Okazaki," he greeted, and his eyes told me that he meant it.

"So…no hard fee-"

"None!" he declared with a broad smile before looking toward the back of the house. "Mika! Tadashi! We have company!"

I half-expected a thundering of footsteps before I remembered how old the 'kids' were. Instead I heard a soft padding of feet before Tadashi came from around a nearby corner. Based on the way he showed up I figured there was a flight of stairs on the other side. "Okazaki-sama!" he greeted with a bow. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise," I said, still surprised at the boy's unusual level of maturity.

"I hope we're able to talk more this time," he said as his sister quietly appeared behind him, her eyes downturned. "I regret that we didn't get much of a chance during our visit."

"I'd like that," I replied, trying not to glance at Mika. "By the way; where's Kyou?"

"She's on a date, if you can believe it," Kappei said with a smirk.

"Kappei!" Ryou exclaimed with a smack to his arm. "How could you?"

I snapped my fingers at the return of a memory. "Hey, is it with Pastor Ashton by any chance?"

"Why, yes," Ryou replied with a puzzled look. "How did you know?"

"I didn't," I admitted with a shrug. "But I put two and two together."

"That's amazing!" Mika gushed, the quickly looked at the floor again.

I felt a gentle clap on my shoulder and I looked over at Kappei, who gave me a slight nod. "Well, shall we start dinner prep? Tadashi, could you give us a hand?" he asked as he and his wife left the entryway, presumably to go to the kitchen.

That left me alone with Mika. "Hi," I greeted.

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

She forced a smile to her face as she looked up at me. "I'm still a little shaken, but I'm okay. I'm really sorry for what I did."

"I'm sorry as well," I told her. "I should have had better self-control than that; I'm thirty-six, for crying out loud."

"Y-Yeah…" she said, her smile fading before seeming to catch herself. "Oh! I…I mean, I forgive you of course."

"Thank you; I'm glad I haven't ruined our relationship."

"Not at all," she said with a shake of her head, and it was then that I realized that she didn't have her hair in its usual style.

"Hey, where are your twintails?" I asked.

"I usually just have it like that at school," she replied as she reached up to flip the purple lengths that cascaded down her back and over the front of her shoulders. Her hairstyle looked a bit like Kyou's, though Mika's seemed a little…fuller? "I've been thinking of changing it, though."

"How come?"

"It seems so…childish…" she replied, twirling a lock of hair between her fingers, reminding me of when we 'first' met. "It might be time for me to grow up, look more like a woman."

"That…makes sense," I said, treading carefully. "Well, it's your hair, so it's your choice. It looks nice either way, if that helps."

"Thank you," she said, blushing lightly. "I'd better go help with dinner."

"All right." I looked around briefly. "Um, where should I go?"

"Oh! That's right!" she exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth. "Dad wanted to give us time to make up, so…wait here! I'll go get him!"

"All right," I replied, feeling a smile spread across my face.

She stared at me a moment longer before stepping forward to give me a quick hug. Then she hurried out of the room to find her father.

"What a nice girl," I murmured to myself.

Kappei joined me a minute later as I was studying one of the paintings in the entryway. "Did you get it all sorted?"

"Yeah, thanks for giving me the chance," I said humbly.

"It was for her as well," he informed me. "Come on; Tadashi's waiting for us in the study."

"I thought he was helping with dinner," I said as I started to follow him.

"Just needed to get him away for a minute," he replied over his shoulder. "You two needed the time, right?"

"Oh, right," I said, feeling a little stupid. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he replied as he turned a corner into a small room full of books.

"Wow…" I breathed at the sight of the small library. "I don't mean to be rude, but you don't seem like the bookworm type."

"I'm not," he admitted, "but I have to keep up with the latest exercises, and it helps to be aware of the sport's history."

"I think I get it," I murmured, still awed.

"Come on; have a seat," he said gesturing to one of three chairs; Tadashi was occupying one already and Kappei was settling into another, leaving the last chair for me.

"Were you and Nee-san able to work things out?" Tadashi asked as I settled into my chair.

"Tadashi, he's our guest," Kappei said in a mildly scolding tone.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Okazaki-sama," the young man said, bowing in his seat. "I meant no disrespect; I've been very concerned about you."

"It's fine," I said, waving a hand. "She's family, so of course you'd be worried. Yeah, everything's fine, as far as I can tell, at least."

"That's good."

We looked at each other for a bit before Kappei chuckled. "I was planning to ask how your treatments have been going, but I just realized that I should wait until dinner; otherwise you'll end up answering the same question twice."

I chuckled as well. "True. I guess I can tell you that it's going fine and hold off on the details until dinner. There shouldn't be anything gross, so it should be fine. How's work?"

"Same as always," he said. "I go to a school, either a college or high school, do some coaching and pep-talking, then go on to the next, and so on."

"Do you ever run with any of them?" I asked.

"Sometimes," he replied with a wistful smile. "Man, I miss those days." He then seemed to catch himself. "Of course, I'm happy to be with Ryou and have my kids, but…"

"I think I understand," I said sympathetically, then looked to the younger Hiiragi. "How about you, Tadashi? How's life treating you?"

"Good, actually," he replied, tenting his hands. "I've been scoring well on my tests, and Mom has been helping me get ready for high school."

"Aren't you helping?" I asked Kappei.

"I didn't go to Hikarizaka," he said. "Ryou's helping him prepare specifically for that school."

"That makes sense." My old high school was geared toward preparation for college, so I assumed that it had something to do with that. "How's that going, then?"

"It's just paperwork right now," Tadashi replied. "I can take care of most of it, but there's some stuff that Mom has to fill out, parent-type stuff, you know."

"Right," I said, remembering back to Ushio's admission paperwork. I was still impressed by the boy's relative maturity.

Just then, the door opened, and Mika stuck her head in. "Dinner's ready," she announced.

"Well, gentlemen; shall we go?" Kappei said, getting to his feet, Tadashi and I following suit. "Okazaki, so far you've had a slight sampling of what Hiiragi women can do with food prep. Tonight, however, be ready to be amazed."

"I'll consider myself warned," I said with a smirk as I followed him out of the study.

He led me into their dining room, where Ryou was just putting a steaming dish on the table. "Go ahead and have a seat," she told us. "This is pretty much it."

"Need any help bringing stuff out?" Kappei asked.

"No, thank you; I think we're okay," his wife replied, then looked over her shoulder. "Mika, could you bring out a couple of extra forks?"

"Forks?" I asked.

"We're trying an Italian dish tonight," Kappei said as he rubbed his hands together.

"It's nothing fancy," Ryou added. "It's spaghetti with meatballs and a tomato sauce."

"Still sounds good," I remarked, my mouth starting to water at the smell of meat.

"Then I hope you like it," she said, her voice tinier than usual.

Kappei moved to the head of the table and sat, then gestured to the seat to his right. "Right here, Okazaki."

"Thanks," I said, humbled by the gesture as I headed over to sit in the proffered seat. Tadashi took a seat at the end opposite his dad, and when everyone was finally settled in Ryou sat across from me, while Mika sat in the chair next to me. We then put our hands together. "Itadakimasu."

"So, where does Kyou usually sit?" I asked out of pure curiosity.

"Where you are," Ryou replied as she took her husband's plate and started serving the noodles.

"So," Kappei started, drawing my attention, "how are the treatments going? You told me that they're going fine, but I want details!" he declared with a broad smile. "You know I went through a cryo treatment for my cancer about a couple of decades ago, right?"

I did remember Ryou telling me something like that. "Yeah, I know about that. Was it really bad?"

"They were talking about amputating both my legs," he said matter-of-factly. "Fortunately, I didn't let my emotions get the better of me, and Nurse Fujibayashi here told me about an experimental procedure, and I…well, I eventually went with it."

"And I'm so glad you did," Ryou said as she passed him his plate.

"So, how's the shoulder?" he asked eagerly before taking a bite of his dinner.

"Actually, it's going really well," I replied as Ryou loaded up her own plate. "It started off pretty slow, but I've progressed to the point where the doc thinks I should be able to lose the harness in about a couple of weeks."

"How wonderful!" Ryou exclaimed as she passed the noodles to her son. "You must be excited."

"I am," I admitted, "but I don't want to get too excited just in case it doesn't work out."

"But you've come so far," Mika said, startling me. "It'd be sad if it didn't work."

"Well, that's just life sometimes," I told her. "Sometimes we do our best and still fail."

"I know, but…"

I saw the look of distress on her face and mentally kicked myself. "Sorry, I don't mean to bring down the mood."

"It's understandable," Ryou said softly. "We know you've been through a lot."

"Okazaki-sama?" Tadashi said, drawing my attention. "Forgive me if I'm out of line, but I've read that having a negative attitude can have an equally negative effect on whatever one's trying to accomplish."

"I know," I sighed. "But success makes more success, and I'm just waiting for some kind of success to build off of."

The teenager thought about it, then nodded once.

"So what about this last treatment?" Kappei asked. "What made the doctor say you could get rid of the harness?"

"Apparently I've had a pretty good increase in the amount of muscles and tendon in my shoulder," I replied, turning to gesture to Mika. "In fact, your daughter here…asked…" I trailed off as I saw her filling my plate with noodles. "Um…Mika-san?"

Her gaze snapped up to mine, and her eyes widened. "Oh! I-I'm sorry! I was…I was trying to help!"

"Well, thanks," I said. "I appreciate it; you just…surprised me, I guess."

"Is this okay?" she asked, her voice sounding almost as tiny as her mom's.

"You okay with it, Dad?" I asked half-jokingly as I looked to Kappei.

"That's between the two of you," he said with a shrug.

"May I?" she asked as she spooned more noodles on to my plate.

I chuckled helplessly. "Well, since you're already halfway there, sure. Thank you."

"Is this enough?" she asked, showing me my plate.

"That should be plenty, thanks," I told her. As she continued to build my plate I turned back to Kappei. "What was I saying? Oh, right; the, uh, rate of increase has gone up, and I've been really itchy and achy lately."

"I'll bet," Ryou said sympathetically.

"But the muscles and tendons have been growing back, right?" Kappei asked before taking another bite of his dinner; how he could talk about stuff like this over dinner without anyone losing their appetite, I'd probably never know. Maybe due to his wife being a nurse.

"Right," I replied, trying to ignore a feeling of nausea as Mika set my completed plate before me.

"Maybe we should talk about something else now," Ryou suggested with a giggle. "Our guest appears to be having trouble with the topic."

"Guilty," I admitted. "I don't normally talk about stuff like this at mealtime."

"Fair enough," Kappei said as the kids snickered.

"How's Kyou doing?" I asked. "We haven't talked in a while, and I'm wondering how her job situation's going… and her relationship with Pastor Ashton."

"Ah, are you jealous?" Kappei teased.

"Dad!" Mika protested. "They're good friends! Of course he's going to want to know!"

"I know, I know, relax," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'd better be careful, or my own daughter will turn against me!"

"She's doing fine, overall," Ryou answered. "She's been studying to get caught up on any teaching tools she missed during her absence and has sent out several resumes."

"Any responses yet?"

"None yet, no. But it's still early, and I think she still has what it takes to be a great teacher."

"I think so, too."

"As far as her and the pastor, she's been pretty tight-lipped about it," Kappei explained. "She goes out and comes back happier, so I figure they're doing all right."

"That's good," I grunted. "After what she's been through, she deserves some happiness. A lot of happiness, actually."

"Would Aunt Kyou have to join his religion if they wanted to marry?" Mika asked.

"Most likely," her brother replied. "Otherwise you can end up with conflicting philosophies."

"What is it with this kid?" I blurted, gesturing toward Tadashi. "Is he really fifteen, or have you been pulling my leg?"

"He's really fifteen," Kappei replied, laughing. "I think he's just taken my focus on manliness to heart and tries to learn as much as he can about everything."

"Do you get straight A's in school?" I asked the teen-ager.

"No, sir," he replied easily. "I do work hard but, like everyone else, I have areas that I'm strong at and areas that I'm weak at."

I looked over at his parents. "Good job, you two."

"Thank you," Ryou replied with a blush, while Kappei simply smiled proudly.

A rattling at the door drew our attention, followed by the sound of unlocking, and Kyou joined us shortly after. "Heeeeey!"

"You're home early," Kappei said. "What happened?"

"He got an emergency caaaaallll!" she whined before sticking out her lower lip.

"You didn't seem too sad when you came in," I noted.

"Oh, hey Tomoya!" she said, her expression doing a full-180. "No, we had a blast. I just wish he hadn't gotten the call, but I understand; he's on-call pretty much all the time, so… I'm just thankful for the time we did get."

"Good for you, Kyou," Ryou said. "I'm happy for you."

"Hey, you're in my seat," Kyou 'humphed' as she nudged me in my good shoulder.

"Oh, that's right," I said, starting to my feet. "I'll mo-"

My movement, as well as my sentence, was stopped by Mika's gentle touch to my right arm. "W-Wait; you're a guest, Okazaki-sama. Besides, Aunt Kyou was just kidding, right? You were just kidding, right Aunt Kyou?"

"Of course!" Kyou replied. "It's no problem, really; I'll go get another chair."

"If you're sure…" I said, feeling a little uncertain.

"Oh hush, Tomoya." With that, she went around to the other side of the table and pulled up a chair that I hadn't noticed until that point; it wasn't as though I'd been casing the room for an escape or anything like that. "There!" she said, sliding in next to her sister. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

"We were talking about how much of a genius Tadashi is," I told her.

"I am not," the young man in question insisted. "I just study and do my homework like I'm supposed to."

"All right, all right," Kappei said with a smile and his hands up again. "Stop picking on my boy, Okazaki."

"Sorry about that, boss," I said, matching his smile.

"Would you like some more noodles, Okazaki-sama?" Mika offered.

I looked down at my plate, only to find that I still had a few bites left. "Let me finish what I have, and…we'll go from there," I said.

"Could I get you a couple more meatballs, then?" she followed up.

"Mika, let him eat his dinner," Ryou giggled. "If he needs or wants something, I'm sure he'll ask."

"O-Okay. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be pushy."

"Real men don't mind being taken care of," Kappei declared, "but we need to be able to do it on our terms."

"Here we go again," Kyou said, burying her face in her hands.

"We don't want to be an unnecessary burden on those around us, especially since we need to be the ones that others rely on," he continued. "While it might sound like we're just trying to be controlling, the truth is that real men take care of others in part by not being unnecessary burdens or needlessly using up valuable resources that could be better used by those we are responsible for."

"Well said, Dad, if I may say so," Tadashi said with clear admiration.

"Wow, Kappei; that's…really profound," I said, a bit awestruck by his words.

"Do you think that way, too?" Mika asked, drawing my attention again.

"Well, yeah…I think." I needed a moment to pull my thoughts together. "I've never really thought of it that way, but what your dad said describes the way I think almost to a T."

"Good grief," Kyou muffled from behind her hands.

"You can be excused if you want," I told her in a patronizing tone. "Just make sure you play quietly."

Kyou dropped her hands with a look of shock as Kappei and Ryou laughed and giggled respectively.

"Seriously, Tomoya?" Kyou huffed, though I could tell it was halfhearted. "You're going to come into my home and talk to me like that?"

"No," I said, "I'm going to come into your sister's home and talk to you like that."

"Well, I never…!" she huffed again as the kids snickered.

"Well, maybe you should, sometime," I retorted as the Hiiragis completely lost their composure.

Finally Kyou snorted into laughter herself. "You win, Tomoya," she chuckled while wagging a finger at me. "Just be glad I don't have a dictionary right now."

"Oh, I am," I said, chuckling as well. "Thanks for being a good sport about it."

"Don't mention it…really, don't." she replied with a smirk.

"Ah, you two," Kappei said as he dabbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "Thanks for the entertainment."

"Glad I could help," I said as we turned our attention back to our meal.

"Well, thanks for having me over," I said, struggling into my coat by the front door. "Dinner was really good, Ryou; thanks."

"I'm glad you liked it," she replied. "Mika was a huge help, though; I don't think it would have been as good without her."

"Mom!" Mika hissed before marching over to me. "Here, Okazaki-sama; let me help you with that."

"Oh, uh…thanks," I said, feeling a little awkward as she slid my coat onto my left arm and over my shoulders.

"I'd like to see him out, if nobody minds," Kyou announced.

"O-Of course," Ryou replied. "You don't even need to ask."

"Come on, Tomoya," Kyou said cheerfully as she carefully took me by the arm and led me out the door.

"Good night!" I managed to call out before my old friend could drag me too far away. She took me just off the Hiiragi's property, just out of sight of the front door on the other side of a large bush. "What's going on?" I asked after she released me.

"Tomoya, I'm going to shoot you straight, okay?" she said with an unusually serious expression.

"Um, okay. Did I do something wrong or something?"

"I don't think so," she said with a shake of her head. "I'd…just like to…after what happened with Shio-chan…"

"What's going on, Kyou?" I asked, starting to become concerned.

"It's about Mika…" she said while shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Now, I could be wrong, but…"

"But what?" I said. "What's going on?"

"God this is-" She cut herself off with a wave of her hands. "This is really awkward, and I really hope I'm wrong, but…" She fixed her gaze on mine. "I think… I think my niece likes you."

"What's awkward about that?" I asked. "I like her, too. She's a thoughtful, caring girl, and I'm grateful that she's willing to go out of her way to help out someone like me."

She shook her head with an expression of disbelief. "Jeez Tomoya, you can be so dense sometimes. All right, let me try again."

I waited patiently while she appeared to gather her thoughts.

"I think…" she said, slowly. "I think that Mika is in love with you."