Chapter Twenty-Six: Volleyball Dinner Date
"Hurry up, Daddy!" Ushio exclaimed, skipping in place as she waited by the front door. "We're going to be late!"
"Yes yes, sorry," I said as I hurried to the door; it had taken me longer than expected in the bathroom because some of my hair had suddenly decided to stand up on its own, like a cowlick. In the end I had to give up, but at least I managed to comb it to the point where it wasn't as pronounced. "Just need to get my shoes," I mumbled as I patted my back pocket to check for my wallet. "Good; got it," I noted, then rolled my eyes at her giggle. One slip-on of shoes and we were on our way.
"Are you looking forward to seeing Mika-senpai play?" Ushio asked as I locked the door.
I gave myself a minute to think about my answer. "Yeah, I am," I finally replied as we headed away from the apartment. "She's missed playing volleyball, so yeah; I'm looking forward to watching her do something she loves."
"The Volleyball Club wears bloomers, you know," she said, and it was hard to miss the playful tone to her voice. "So Mika-senpai will-"
"Excuse me?" I interrupted as politely as I could; I had a pretty good idea where she was going, but I wanted to give her a chance to decide if she really wanted to go there or not. "What about 'Mika-senpai'?"
"I…I was just…" she stammered as her pace slowed, and I felt a little sorry for her as she tried to save herself.
"Please watch your mouth, sweetie," I cautioned patiently, though I allowed a little paternal irritation to show. "I'm still your father."
"S-Sorry, Daddy," she said, and I could tell that she meant it.
"I forgive you; just don't get carried away, please," I said as gently as I could.
"Yes, sir."
I smiled as I reached out and patted her head a couple of times, hopefully letting her know that everything was fine. "Are you looking forward to seeing her play?"
"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, her mood executing a perfect about-face. "I've never seen a volleyball match up-close before, so that's kinda exciting! But more than that, I've never seen Mika-senpai doing anything other than scolding other students at school or cooking at our place. It'll be neat seeing her play! I'll bet she's intense!"
"Scolding other students…" I chuckled as my mind took me back to my first encounter with the head of the Disciplinary Committee. "Anyway, I can't argue her intensity; she can certainly get a head full of steam sometimes."
"She sure can," Ushio giggled. "Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing her play; I think she'll be amazing."
"I think so, too," I said with a smile, reaching out to pat her head again as we continued on our way to the school. "That reminds me; are you planning on joining any clubs? I'm sure Mika would love to have you in her club."
"I've…thought about it," she said with a duck of her head. "I just don't know what I'd be good at."
"Well, you could try them one at a time," I suggested, feeling self-conscious; as a former member of the Go Home Club I was feeling a little out of my league. "If you find one that you like, stay there."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said as we rounded a corner. "I just don't want to end up doing something just for the sake of doing something."
"You want it to have meaning?"
"Exactly," she confirmed with a nod.
"That's good thinking," I replied, giving her words serious consideration. "What about doing it just for the fun of it? Just having fun can have value, too."
"I'll…keep that in mind," she repeated, more thoughtfully this time. "Thanks, Daddy."
"You're welcome."
"Maybe I should join the Volleyball Club," she said with an impish grin. "Then I could wear bloomers, too. What do you think of that?"
I reflexively thought of all the boys who'd be seeing my daughter dressed in the school's sports uniform before realizing that she was likely trying to tease me, so I gave her a disapproving look. "Ushio…"
She giggled, and I couldn't help but chuckle while shaking my head at her antics.
We arrived at the school a short time later and merged with the crowd to enter the gym.
"There sure are a lot of people here tonight," Ushio said we found ourselves jostled along by the crowd.
"Yeah," I said, then took hold of her hand. "Here, get behind me; I'll be your ram-prow."
"Thanks, Daddy," she giggled as she tightened her grip on my hand and moved behind me. "I am in your care."
It took a while, but we eventually got inside and started looking for Kappei and Ryou. It took a while longer, but we finally found them, with Kappei apparently shouting at us if his posture was any indicator. "Man, I yelled at you I-don't-know-how-many times!" he exclaimed as we took the seats he had saved for us.
"It's pretty noisy," I said, pointing out the obvious. "If I'd known that it'd be this busy, we'd have left earlier." I looked past him to his purple-haired wife. "Hey, Ryou; good to see you again."
"Good to see you, too," I saw more than heard her reply; fortunately I was decent at lip-reading. "It's been a long time."
"Is your son here?" I asked, looking past the two of them for the typically-stoic teenager.
"He's in the bathroom," Kappei told me. "We've been here a while; we just took our seats when the crowds started showing up about…fifteen minutes ago?" He looked over at Ryou, who nodded. "Yeah, fifteen. Anyway, we've been here a while."
"I see. I assume that Mika's with her team?"
"As far as I know, yeah," he replied, giving me an odd look. "She was supposed to be here a couple of hours before the match, so she left long before we did." His gaze then moved past me. "There you are! What happened; did you fall in or something?"
"No, Dad," I heard Tadashi say indignantly as I turned to see him approaching. "There was a line, the likes of which I have never seen…other than at the girls' bathroom." He turned his attention to Ushio and I and bowed. "Good evening Okazaki-sama, Okazaki-senpai."
"Good evening, Hiiragi-san," my daughter replied, ducking her head in a bow.
"Hey, Tadashi-san," I greeted. "Is school treating you okay?
"Yes, sir," he replied as he claimed his seat on the other side of his mother; fortunately, things had settled down enough that we didn't need to shout at each other anymore. "I am proud to say that I have managed to improve my grade in English from a B to an A."
"Good for you," I said, genuinely pleased by his accomplishment. "Did you have to work hard?"
"Yes and no; English is very inconsistent in its pronunciation, but Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kyou assisted me greatly in my endeavor," he explained.
"'Uncle Jeff'?" I echoed. "Are they married already? It hasn't even been a week!"
"No no," Kappei laughed. "The minute the kids learned about Kyou's engagement, they immediately started calling him 'uncle'."
"I'll admit that I'm eager to have him as part of the family," Tadashi offered.
"I imagine that he's eager to be part of the family, too," I said, remembering the pastor's words about having no family after his parents' deaths. "By the way; aren't they supposed to be here tonight?"
"Yup! In fact, here they come!" Kappei announced as he looked past me again; with the way everyone had been sneaking up on me I must have picked the wrong place to sit.
"I hope we aren't late," Pastor Ashton said with an apologetic expression as he and Kyou slid into the seats behind us. "Oh, good; it looks like the teams haven't come onto the floor yet."
"I told you we'd be fine," Kyou said with a grin as she leaned into him and squeezed his arm.
"Yes, you did," he admitted, reaching over to pat her hands.
"Tomoya-san, Shio-chan; good to see you two," he greeted us with a dip of his head. "How have things been going?"
"Really well, thank you," Ushio replied, bowing as well.
"How have-"
The rest of his question was cut off by the crowd's applause, and I looked to the floor in time to see both teams enter the gym. As expected, Kappei was on his feet in an instant, clapping and putting his fingers to his mouth to whistle. Ryou stood next to him, and I was surprised to see her cheering loudly as well…loudly for her, that is. I returned my gaze to the floor to watch the teams greet each other and smiled as I noticed that the color scheme for the uniforms hadn't changed a bit; red bloomers and a white shirt with a red collar and cuffs. Their opponent's uniforms were solid green save for thin yellow stripes around the cuffs; kind of a gloomy color compared to Hikarizaka's red and white. I felt myself starting to get excited and realized that it must have been because of the competition that would be playing out before me; I must have still had my competitive spirit from way back when I played basketball so long ago.
Ushio must have noticed, because I felt a nudge and looked down to her sly grin. "Are you excited?"
"Yeah, but not for the reason you're probably trying to tease me about," I told her. "I miss competing in sports."
"Oh, right…" she said with a look of understanding. "I'm sorry; I guess I got carried away again."
"Let's just enjoy the game, okay?" I said as we took our seats.
"O-Okay." She turned her attention to the court. "Ah! There's Mika-senpai!"
"Where?" I asked, squinting at the players; even though my eyesight was fine, they honestly all looked the same to me, probably due to their similar-looking hairstyles.
"Jeez Tomoya, what's wrong with your eyes?" Kyou complained from behind. "Back row, closest to us!"
"All right, Kyou," I said, waving my hands over my head as my daughter giggled. "Ease up on the back-seat driving, would you?"
She simply giggled, sticking her tongue out at me as she snuggled up against her fiancé again.
I shook my head with a sigh and studied the players again, quickly finding Mika right where Kyou said she was. Now that I was focused on her I found myself wondering why I wasn't able to pick her out sooner; she was the only one with purple hair, after all. "Whatever…"
Hikarizaka got the ball first, and their server smashed the ball over the net. As was usual for the sport, the other team spent some time bouncing the ball around before sending it back over the net. It was impressive, watching how the team members coordinated their efforts to not only get the ball back over the net, but to do so without running into each other in the process. It seemed like it was much closer, much tighter-knit than basketball. Sure, we'd coordinate with each other, but we still operated somewhat independently, but the volleyball players couldn't hold or dribble the ball so they were in constant motion. I couldn't imagine myself ever doing anything like that.
The crowd roared as Hikarizaka finally drove the ball into the floor on their opponent's side, and we got to our feet as the girls rotated positions and the other team set up to serve.
"That was amazing!" Ushio gushed as we took our seats again. "I don't know how they could do that without running into each other!"
"It is impressive," I agreed, and looked back to the action.
The visiting team served and, after a bit of back-and-forth, managed to score a point, and a smile came to my face as I found out where the families of the other team were sitting.
It was pretty exciting after that, and I found myself on the edge of my seat on more than one occasion. As Mika took her position to serve for Hikarizaka I realized that…I needed this. I needed to be able to just relax and have fun, free from the cares of work and home, if even for a short time. I had been going and going and going ever since I took custody of my daughter that I had, in a sense, lost who I was. I filed this to the back of my mind as she served, the ball expertly and barely grazing the top of the net, and the members of the other team scrambled to for a save, only for the ball to bounce sideways off a girl's outstretched hands and out of bounds.
When all was said and done, Hikarizaka won the game, 25-20, and the whole crowd went nuts, standing and cheering as the girls thanked each other before heading back to their respective locker rooms.
It was easily a half an hour to forty-five minutes later before we were finally able to meet up with Mika. "That was amazing, Mika-senpai!" Ushio gushed as we headed toward the school's main gate.
"Thank you," the teenaged athlete replied before taking another sip from her water bottle.
"That was very impressive, Mika," Ryou praised. "I was never that athletic in high school; you must have got that from your father."
"Hey, you were plenty active," Kyou countered, walking at the back of the group with her fiancé. "I'm not knocking bro-in-law here, but you weren't a slouch, either."
"That's right," I chimed in. "I don't know how many times you helped our class kick ass in PE competitions."
"The ones you actually showed up to," Kyou taunted.
I glanced over my shoulder at my former sparring partner with a smirk. "Are you sure you should be teasing me when I'm trying to support your sister?"
"Ouch, good point," she conceded, her own smirk fading. "Sorry, it was reflex."
"In any case, that was a very impressive match," Pastor Ashton said. "You should be proud of your hard work tonight."
"Oh, I am," Mika replied. "And thank you for praying for me before the match."
My eyebrow jumped at her words; had she asked him to pray for her?
"You're quite welcome," he said warmly.
The restaurant wasn't too far from the school, and I ended up holding the door for everyone else. "Thank you, Okazaki-sama," Mika said, giving me a soft smile as she passed by.
"Yeah, thanks Tomoya," Kyou added with a wink as she and the pastor entered the restaurant.
I sighed with a shake of my head as I brought up the rear behind my giggling daughter.
It didn't take us long to be seated; fortunately, they had a table large enough for all of us. "That's one of the reasons we recommended this place," Kyou told us as she snuggled in to the pastor yet again. "That, and the food here is great."
"I was really impressed with their selection," Pastor Ashton agreed. "I tried their onigiri, and…well, you have to try it to understand."
"Well, let's figure out what we're going to have!" Kappei exclaimed as he picked up his menu. "We're celebrating Mika's return to volleyball as well as a win!"
I exchanged a smile with my daughter before burying my nose in my menu.
I also had to keep my composure as Mika had, of course, sat down next to me, her shoulder occasionally brushing against my arm and making me very uncomfortable. "Gosh, there are so many delicious-looking items on the menu!" she gushed. "Okazaki-sama, what do you think I should order?"
"Whatever you like," I answered matter-of-factly, trying to not get drawn into her situation; I didn't want to be rude, but I did want to discourage any of her attempts at acting like a couple.
"But there are so many things!" she countered, leaning into me to show me her menu. "Would you help me pick?"
"Mika…" I heard Kappei say in a warning tone. "…please mind your manners."
"Yes, Dad," she replied, and I had to raise my menu so she wouldn't see my smile at her pouting tone. "I'm sorry."
I said nothing, figuring she was addressing her dad.
"Daddy?" Ushio half-whispered while gently nudging my other arm. "She's talking to you."
"Huh?" I quickly lowered my menu to find the rest of the group watching me. "Oh! Uh, sorry." I looked over to see Mika watching me with a forlorn expression. "I forgive you, Mika; no harm done."
"Okazaki-sama?" Tadashi interjected, drawing my attention. "In all fairness, Nee-san has always had trouble with choices like this."
"Is that true, Mika-senpai?" Ushio asked, looking around me to her senior.
"Well…y-yeah…" she admitted with a blush. "I get overwhelmed with all the choices and can't make up my mind."
"Sounds like paralysis through analysis," Pastor Ashton observed.
I sighed. If that was really the case... "All right, Mika; I don't know how I can help, but I'll give it a try." I folded my menu back up and carefully leaned toward her as she held her menu so I could look at it with her. "Do you prefer chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, or something else?"
"I…I don't know…" she murmured, her eyes locked on the menu.
I sighed again and took the menu from her, placing it on the table before us. "Okay, don't look at the menu; look at me. Do you prefer chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, or something else?"
She blinked a couple of times. "I like them all, but I like chicken a little more."
"Okay. What kind of vegetables do you prefer?"
"The greener the better," she replied with a smile.
"Okay, then," I said, returning her smile as I reclaimed the menu. "Let's see how much we've narrowed down your choices. We'll look at the chicken dishes with the highest quantity of green vegetables; does that sound okay?"
She nodded, her smile never wavering as we looked back at the menu. Less than a minute later, we'd figured out the best dish for her. "Yeah, that sounds good," she said, giving my arm a squeeze. "Thank you for your help."
"One is glad to be of service," I said, quoting an old American movie I'd seen years ago as I handed her the menu before collecting up my own. "Now I just need to…" I trailed off as I felt like I was being watched, and I lowered my menu to find Kappei, Ryou, and Kyou all watching me, the former two with astonished expressions and the latter with amusement. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Tomoya-san," Ryou began, "we've been trying to help her with that for years."
"I…didn't do anything impressive," I protested politely. "Just something I learned when helping Ushio with a similar issue."
"That's not true," Mika told me. "I've needed something like this for a long time, and I've felt bad for making everyone else wait every time we've gone to a restaurant. I'm going to try doing this from now on. Thank you, Okazaki-sama."
The expression on her face had me clearing my throat as I quickly redirected my attention back to my menu. "Y-You're welcome, Mika. Please, I-I need to figure out what I'm going to have, or you'll be waiting for me."
"Okay," the teenager replied softly, and I could hear Kyou snickering quietly from across the table, causing my face to heat up.
"Let's give the man some room," Kappei declared. "He just saved us from a late dinner, after all."
"Dad!" Mika hissed as her mother giggled.
We finally decided on our orders, and our server came and took them before collecting our menus and hurrying off.
"So, feeling like a beef man tonight, are you?" Kappei asked, looking at me with a smirk as we waited for your orders.
"Yeah," I said, glancing over at Mika. "Your daughter has had me on pretty strict diet, and I guess it stuck."
"But you need lots of protein and…" she started before gazing around at the smiling faces around her. "I'm trying to help you recover."
"I'm not complaining," I said, patting her arm before I could catch myself. "I'm actually grateful."
"Me too," Ushio chimed in. "I mean, I would have done my best to help Daddy, but I wouldn't have thought to do all the research you've done. Thank you."
"Y-You're welcome," Mika stuttered as she cast her gaze to the table. "I…I just…"
I was pretty sure I understood what she wanted to say, based on her confession.
A few minutes later the food arrived, and Kappei beamed as he looked to Kyou's fiancé. "Pastor Jeff, would you do the honors tonight?"
The pastor blinked in pleased surprise. "Certainly." He lowered his head and we followed suit. "Lord Jesus, thank you for this time where we can come together to celebrate Mika's return to volleyball as well as her team's victory tonight. Please lead and guide her over the next year as she makes some very important decisions, ones that could affect her life going forward…."
I felt very self-conscious at his words, and I could swear that Kyou was grinning at me from across the table.
"…and grant her wisdom and discernment for what lies ahead. Let your will be done." I got the sense that he was finished, and I opened my eyes as I raised my head to find everyone else doing the same.
"That was really cool," Kappei said as he picked up his chopsticks. "I should learn to pray, too; I'm amazed at how much Kyou's grown up since she met you."
"You jerk," Kyou huffed, throwing her napkin at her brother-in law. "But…you're right; I do feel like I've matured since I met Jeff," she finished sheepishly.
"And all I did was introduce you to the One who matured me," the pastor replied and, oddly enough, I could hear the unusual capitalization in his statement. "The two of you had to works things out. Anyway, I think we're forgetting the reason why we're here."
"Right! Congratulations, Mika!" Kappei exclaimed before stuffing his face with more noodles.
"Good job out there tonight, Nee-san," Tadashi said stoically, though the pride was still hard to miss.
"Thank you," Mika replied while glancing up at me.
"Tomoya, I think she really wants you to praise her," Kyou said, her smirk making a return.
"I-It's okay…" Mika said quietly, still glancing up at me.
"Mika…" Once I had her attention I gave her arm a couple of awkward pats. "You did an awesome job tonight. I was amazed at how you handled yourself out there."
She stared at me for several seconds, her face turning crimson. "Th…Thank you."
"Speaking of Tomoya," Kyou said smoothly, "what are your plans for your future?"
"Kyou!" Pastor Ashton exclaimed, clearly shocked.
"I…" Mika froze, and it wasn't hard to tell what Kyou was trying to get at. "I…I'm sorry; please excuse me." She quickly got up from the table, nearly tripping over my chair as she hurried away toward the exit.
I was furious as I rose to my feet. "What the hell is wrong with you tonight?" I nearly shouted at my old sparring partner. "She's having a hard enough time with it, and you go and do this?" I looked around the table at the shocked expressions of everyone's faces, Kyou's included. "I'm going to go see if she's okay, and when I get back I expect Mika to be treated with proper respect, is that clear? She's not your plaything, Kyou," I finished, jabbing my finger in her direction. I then stormed off without waiting for a reply.
I was still mad as hell when I found the teenager leaning against the wall near the restaurant's exit, her face still aflame as she lightly pushed herself off the wall repeatedly. "Are you okay?" I demanded, and her twitch told me that I needed to moderate my tone. "Are you okay?" I repeated, more gently.
She pushed off the wall one last time to stand before me, though she apparently couldn't look me in the eyes. "I…I'm sorry, Okazaki-sama…"
I blinked in surprise. "F…For what?"
"For…For causing trouble for you."
"For me?" I blinked several more times, trying to figure out what she meant. Failing that, I decided to ask. "What do you mean 'causing trouble for me'? Your aunt was the one shooting off her mouth."
"But if I hadn't fallen for you…then she wouldn't be able to tease you about me."
I chuckled softly; what a sweet girl. Sweet and very direct. "Mika, you can fall for whoever you want; that's your freedom to choose and it hurts no one. Kyou's teasing, however, is uncalled for and…frankly, cruel in my book." I carefully laid my hands on her shoulders. "No one has the right to embarrass you because of your feelings."
"But don't they make you uncomfortable?"
"They do," I admitted, "but my comfort level is not the point. You've done nothing wrong, and even your aunt shouldn't be teasing you about it. I don't know what's gotten into her all of a sudden, but I promise that I'll give her what-for if she tries teasing you again."
"You don't have to do that…" she protested.
"You're right, I don't. But I'm going to. That's my choice; Kyou chose to tease you and I choose to slam her for it."
"Mika?" We both turned to see Kyou heading toward us with an expression of regret, Pastor Ashton right behind her.
Before I realized what I was doing, I had placed myself between Mika and her aunt. "What do you want?"
She glanced at me with a small smile before looking past me. "Mika? I'm sorry."
"F-For what?"
Kyou knotted her fingers a couple of times as her fiancé rested his hands on her shoulders from behind. "I...I'm not sure why I wanted to tease you. All I know is that…I felt jealous."
"Jealous?" the teenager replied as she moved to stand next to me.
"I think so," my old sparring partner said as she stepped away from her fiancé to take her niece's hands. "I lost ten years of my life to a bad choice in a man, and…" She shrugged with one shoulder. "…I guess I'm jealous that you've made such a good choice at such a young age."
Pastor Ashton and I exchanged a glance, and I could feel my face heat up.
Kyou seemed to notice my discomfort and looked to me. "Could you boys give us girls some time alone? I won't tease her anymore; I promise."
I briefly looked over at Mika. "You gonna be okay?" She nodded with a small smile, so I exchanged another glance with the pastor before starting back to our table. "All right, see you in a few, then."
"That was very impressive, the way you stood up for Mika," Pastor Ashton said as we headed back to our seat.
"And awkward, but thanks," I replied as we stepped aside to let a server pass. "It just pissed me off the way Kyou called her out like that in front of everybody. I mean, has she forgotten how rough it can be for high-schoolers?"
"Probably," he replied as we continued to our table. "Remember, she hasn't been in high school for…well, a long time and, unlike you, she doesn't have any children attending high school."
"Ouch. Yeah, good point," I said, running my hand through my hair a couple of times. "All right, I'll cut her some slack."
"I'm sure she'll appreciate that," he replied, and I could hear the humor in his voice.
We got back to the table and moved to sit down again.
"Is she okay?" Ryou asked before I'd finished settling into my seat.
"She'll be fine," I said, exchanging a nod with Pastor Ashton. "She's talking to Kyou right now. They should be back in a bit."
"Man, I feel so unmanly," Kappei lamented as he shoved his half-empty plate away. "I was so focused on letting her be an adult, I didn't think to protect her."
"I don't think that she needed protection per se," the pastor remarked. "From what I've gathered, she just needed to know that someone was on her side as well."
"And Okazaki my man, you did that with flying colors!" Kappei exclaimed with a huge grin as he pulled his plate back again and took up his chopsticks.
"Thanks," I said, feeling quite sheepish as I collected my chopsticks to start eating again.
The girls showed up a few minutes later, giggling with each other. "It looks like you two worked things out," Ryou commented.
"Yeah, we figured out what my problem is," Kyou declared melodramatically. "I'm just burning with jealousy!"
"Aunt Kyou…" Mika giggled as she slid into her seat next to me. "Okazaki-sama? Before we go our separate ways tonight, I'd like to able to talk with you…if neither of you mind, that is," she said, looking past me to acknowledge my daughter.
"I don't mind," Ushio replied kindly.
I looked around awkwardly, my gaze finally settling on Kyou, who gave me an understanding smile and a barely-perceptible nod. "Um, sure," I finally replied. "Just, uh, check with your parents first."
Her eyes widened. "Oh gosh, that's right!" she exclaimed, and she quickly turned to her parents. "I'm sorry! Is it okay? I wouldn't take long!"
Kappei looked to his wife. "No problem here; you?"
"I don't mind waiting a few minutes," Ryou replied. "We could look at the stars while we wait."
"Hey, I like that!" he said, gesturing toward her. "It's a nice, clear sky tonight."
Mika turned back to me with what appeared to be a smile of relief. "Almost did it again."
"Almost," I echoed with a smile of my own.
To my relief, the rest of dinner was a lot less dramatic.
"Thanks again," I said as we loitered outside the restaurant.
"Hey, no problem!" Kappei replied energetically. "I think we all had a blast!"
"I enjoyed our time together," Tadashi said, reminding me that he'd actually been with us the whole time. I felt bad that we didn't get to talk much this time. "Ashton-sensei, when it's convenient for you I would like to learn how you pray."
The pastor smiled fondly at the young man. "Well, Kyou and I will be over tomorrow; I'm sure we could find the time then."
Tadashi briskly nodded once before joining his parents as they stood a short distance away, looking up at the sky.
I sighed heavily as I turned to my daughter. "Well, are we ready to g-"
"Okazaki-sama?"
I twitched at the sudden intrusion; I'd been hoping that she'd forget about talking to me, but my smarter half reminded me that the odds of her forgetting to talk to me were somewhere around zero. "Yes, Mika?" I said as I turned to address the teenager.
She glanced over at my daughter several times while fidgeting, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Ushio-san? Could I talk with your dad for a minute? In private?"
I looked down at my daughter, who looked back up at me with a gentle yet knowing smile. "I'll go watch the stars with the others," she said, then started over toward the rest of the group. "Call me when you're ready."
I watched Ushio walk away for as long as I could without being rude, then finally faced my admirer. "All right, Mika; what did you need?"
She took a deep breath, seemingly gathering her courage. "First, I want to thank you for standing up for me in the restaurant. It…It meant a lot to me."
"I'm glad I could help. I just hated the way she was treating you."
"And that's one of the things I love about you," she told me as she held my gaze. "Your strong sense of justice. I guess another would be your willingness to, uh…act on it."
"Thanks," I said, feeling even more uncomfortable.
"What are your plans for Saturday evening?"
"Huh?" It took me a moment to change gears. "Well, other than you coming over to make dinner, nothing."
I realized that I had spoken too soon when her eyes lit up. "Great! I want to go on a date with you!"
"D-Date…?" I glanced over at the Hiiragis, who were still stargazing with my daughter. "D-Do your parents know about this?"
She nodded emphatically. "They're not comfortable with it, but they told me that they wouldn't get in the way."
I sighed as I realized that it made perfect sense in light of what Kappei had told me the other day. "All right; I'm afraid I can't afford much right now, though."
"You don't have to!" she chirped. "We'll be going on a picnic! I'll bring the food!"
"A picnic?"
She nodded again. "We'll have to have dinner a littler earlier, of course. I hope that won't be a problem."
"What about Ushio?"
She gave me a confident smile. "Not a problem; I'll make something for her to heat up, just like I've done for both of you before. I've talked to her about it already, just to make sure she'd be okay with it."
That would explain the knowing part of Ushio's smile. "You've got everything covered, don't you?"
She stood a little straighter. "It's like I told you: Prepare yourself, Okazaki-sama."
I chuckled in resignation. "I should have listened to you, I guess."
"So….Saturday at 4:30?" she asked with an expectant grin.
I chuckled again as I shook my head. "All right, Mika; Saturday at 4:30."
Her grin faded to a soft smile. "By the way; thank you for calling me 'Mika'."
My smile faded. "Wh-What?"