Chapter 3: Meet The Parents. One Of Them, At Least.

Tomiko

I suppose you could say that the rest of the class went on as normal. Normal, however, wasn't usually what I had in PE class. Sei and I just went through the motions of seeming to dance. I made sure I didn't step on her toes, and Sei just swung me through the whole thing. It was supposedly all I could ever hope for in a PE class—that normalcy. I was supposed to like it. Honestly though, I felt a little bad. I felt like I've managed to slap her—and myself—in the face. Funny how I got what I wished for, but absolutely hated it. I mentally kicked myself in the head for that whole excruciating hour and a half.

When the class ended, Sei surprisingly didn't hang around until everyone left. In fact, she was one of the first ones out the door. I found myself hurriedly picking up all my stuff and actually chasing her down the hall.

"Sei!" I called out. Then I realized that running and shouting weren't allowed, and well, they don't go well together anyway. I found myself short of breath and gasping for air as soon as I got to her. Oh, good Lord, why did I run?!

She turned around, her gym bag in hand, and eyed me warily. I hesitated. Baka, I told myself, why'd you call her Sei?

"Ah, ano, Satou-san," I started. There was a huge speck of dirt on my shoe. I used my other shoe to slough it off. "Saki ni gomen."

"Iya, daijoubu," she said. Her gym shoes were black and sleek, the kind used for badminton and volleyball. They were facing me now, and I shifted my gaze upward.

I tried to look up at her, to look at her eyes, but I found it to be too intense. I thought I saw a flash of hurt when I did that again, but how could I tell her?

More importantly, what do I tell her? It's not like it's something I can explain.

I felt frustration well up in me. I knew that I had to cooperate, I had to pass, and I had to help Sei. After all, she was on a scholarship too. I felt powerless, and I felt that I couldn't explain what I was feeling—or avoiding—to her, and it felt so frustrating. A dull heat was creeping behind my eyes, and I felt my cheeks starting to flush. I looked down again.

She playfully punched me in the arm. "Daijoubu tte," she said, grinning. "Ii yo. It's something you can't help, is it? Don't worry, I won't hit on you when we're dancing if it really makes you feel uncomfortable." She grinned even wider. "I can't guarantee that I won't hit on you at other times, though. Just when we're dancing," she continued, winking.

I can't explain it, but her words relieved me somehow, and now I found myself smiling. I summoned all my courage to look her in the eye even for just a second. "Baka no koto iu na," I said. "Don't say stupid things like that." Her eyes looked mischievous, but kind.

"Ano…" I started. "I think we should start practicing outside after class hours. That is, if you don't mind," I said. "We could practice in my dorm room."

Sei's face lit up. "Uwo… Is that a real invitation? Are you inviting me over for dancing, and maybe some dinner? Regularly?"

I made a face. "You make it sound like we're dating or something."

Her grin made her rain-colored eyes glimmer. "We COULD do that too, you know." She moved in closer again, and rubbed her cheek against mine. "We could actually skip the dinner and dancing and move on to the more, ah, important things."

I pushed her face away. "I-ya-yo. Thanks, but no thanks. I have enough problems as it is. We could have coffee, though," I said. I had a passion for all things coffee and even had a little siphon coffee maker in the dorm room, which was a graduation present.

"You just said the magic words," Sei said, taking my wrist and pulling me down the hall. "Ja, let's go to your dorm room and have some coffee?"

"Sure, sure. Let's go."

We were almost at my room when I saw someone very familiar waiting in the hall. She had bags and boxes of stuff at her feet, and when we moved closer, I wondered what she was doing here. The woman looked up at me.

"Tonko-chan, what took you so long? Didn't you get any of my messages? I was calling, why didn't you answer? That phone of yours is so useless," she chided.

"Hai, hello to you too, Mom," I said. I tried giving her a kiss on the cheek, but she immediately shoved her bags into my arms.

"Here, hold this. I brought you a lot of stuff, and you better help me carry all this in; don't just stand there staring at me."

I dropped my bag into the foyer and picked up her boxes.

"I'll get this one," Sei said, stooping over and picking up a particularly large box.

I turned to Mom. "Ah, Ma, by the way, this is my friend Sei."

Mom turned to her and smiled—no, beamed—from behind an armload of paper bags.

"Oh, it's very nice to meet you. My name's Naomi Callaghan-Ueda. I trust my Tonko-chan hasn't been a burden to you?"

"Iie, iie," Sei said, smiling at my mother. "I've been wondering where Tomiko got her good looks, and I'm glad I found out today." I started to think that Sei might have a separate sort of smile for situations like these, because looking at her now, you wouldn't think that she had been sexually harassing this woman's daughter a few minutes ago. She looked like a total angel.

"Thanks so much for taking care of her," my mom said, flashing a similar smile back. She had a separate smile for these situations too. I sometimes figure it amazing that she can shift moods to suit her purposes. Right now, I could tell she was being nice to Sei because of the "cool mom" effect she liked showing off to my friends. I could feel her sizing up Sei, and that somehow made me feel a little angry.

"Well, anyway, what brings you here, Mom?" I asked.

"Why are you asking me that kind of question?" Mom asked indignantly. "I'm still your mother, you know. I have every right to come here unannounced." She looked at the cans of stuff on my kitchen cupboard. "This is all wrong. Why do you have the all the cans on the left and the plastic-wrapped items on the right?"

I looked over her shoulder at my little pantry. What was wrong with that?

"Erm, I put the cans on the left side so that they'd have more space, that shelf's deeper."

Mom sniffed. "I suppose the chopping board being left out on the dish drainer overnight also has some explanation?"

"I used it this morning. I dry it during the day so that it won't go moldy when I put it in the dish rack," I explained, praying that the excessive amount of exasperation I felt wouldn't show in my voice. I was so not ready for her right now.

"I can tell when a chopping block was left overnight, darling," my mom insisted. "It is my job, after all."

I felt my ears grow hot. I was getting a little impatient again, but I found myself powerless against my mother's microscope on my life. I don't really mind it that she still looked after me somewhat even if I'd gone to college, but well, 'mothering' and 'smothering' are only a letter away. I don't understand why she feels the need to be in control down to the last detail. And well, there are other things besides.

"Do you want coffee, Mom?" I asked, putting freshly ground coffee beans into the siphon top. I put enough water for three cups into the little bubble pot and turned on the fire. I wanted her to feel comfortable, even if she probably managed to find ten things wrong with my living quarters the minute she stepped in.

"Oh, no, no, no, dear," Mom said, making a face as if I had offered her rat piss instead. "I personally don't think coffee siphons do it very well. Why DID Teruko give you that anyway? She should've given you an espresso pot. Now THAT'S coffee, the way the Italianos would have wanted you to enjoy it, not some half-baked Japonico concoction in a beaker."

I detected around three insults in that one breath, and I desperately fought the urge to take the bubble pot and throw all the water in her face. Besides, I wouldn't risk Sei thinking that I might have some sort of temper issue. Not that I really minded. But she was still a guest, and I didn't appreciate it that Mom was acting all hissy with me in front of her. I was trying not to look in her general direction, but I knew somehow that she was trying to be very, very unobtrusive. I felt her eyes on me, though.

"Oh. Okay," I managed to blurt out politely.

"Besides," Mom said, putting her finishing 'touches' on my kitchen, "I left the motor running outside. I'm taking Ben to Hanadera for his interview."

"Ah. Please kiss him for me."

"The way little boys his age act now you'd think I was giving him the plague," Mom said. "You try to kiss him when you come home for summer break."

"Hai." Guess there was no fighting city hall. Or mother hall, I thought with a mirthless smile.

"Any way, I'm off. You take care," Mom said, putting on her shoes in the foyer.

I ran after her, and all of a sudden, I felt five years old again, running after a rushing mother, eager for a goodbye kiss and hug before she left for work.

And like that five-year-old kid, the door closed before I could have gotten near her.

I stared at the door for what seemed forever, hoping to will it away. Even so, though, my mother would not be behind it.

Sei

I watched Tomiko's back as she stood there like a zombie, staring at the door, her shoulders slowly slumping as if her heart had fallen to her shoes, and for a moment I felt angry at the clothed whirlwind that was her mother who couldn't stop for just a few seconds to let her daughter give her a kiss. Tomiko had wanted to, I knew. It was in every look she sent her mother, hidden behind the irritation, the impatience, the soft, neutral, almost mumbling voice.

There was a feeling of heaviness in my chest. I'd only known this girl for just a short while, but my black, little heart was going out to her in a way I never thought possible. I wanted to reach out and hug her, assure her that I'd certainly stop for a kiss and a hug, but good Lord, she'd have even worse mommy issues if I started assuming that role, and I'm definitely not mama material. Besides, she'd think I was just using the situation to molest her again, and would probably kick me out of her dorm.

I didn't want that. Seeing all this happen suddenly shed light on everything going on pre-dance class. Tomiko had a hard time looking me in the eye because she simply couldn't. I imagined a five-year old Tomiko trying to defend herself from her mother's direct, perhaps slightly hostile look, imagined scenarios that were all overbearing, accusing eyes and ice-blue tears.

My hands were hurting, so I looked down and was mildly surprised to find that I was clenching my fists so hard the nails were digging into my palms. For a fleeting moment, Sachiko's face flashed into view, the current Rosa Chinensis, who was brought up to never question her elders, who never revealed her thoughts, and then I was strangely happy again because Tomiko wasn't quite that way, all seriousness and gloom and doom. I remembered how she reacted to my flirting, and somehow I knew that there was a little spitfire in there somewhere, one that wouldn't go down without a fight.

Now, though, I was wondering what to say.

Hmm.

Crap.

"Hanadera, eh?" I said, meaning Ben, whoever he was. He was probably not in danger of getting the plague anytime soon. "Let's hope he doesn't get pulled into the Hanadera Closet by some rich, pompous, gay student council leader."

She didn't respond right away, but when she did, it was discouraging. "Uh-huh."

I'd never really fallen flat on my face before, but this was probably how it would feel. Tomiko was still staring at the door.

I took a step toward her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, let's sort out your groceries and put 'em away. Then let's go out."

That seemed to shake her out of her stupor. She turned around, looking a little surprised. "I thought we'd have coffee here?"

I glanced at the siphon. After everything her mother had said, she wanted to drink the bad ju-ju coffee in a room that had just been saturated with bad ju-ju?

"I just remembered this café I wanted to go to, but had no one to share the experience with," I said, hoping I sounded casual and smooth enough. "It's not so late in the day; if we went there now I'd be able to get you back here in time for dinner. And dancing. We still have to practice, but I want that coffee first." I grinned, turning my gaze back to her and noticing that she immediately sent her eyes elsewhere.

How can I blame her now? It's really hard to look a steroid-pumped whirlwind in the eye, isn't it?

Tomiko must've muttered an assent, because she was already moving towards the groceries, taking them out of the paper bags and shoving some of them into their proper shelves. I was amazed when I looked at them, because they were all neatly organized. I couldn't imagine doing this for myself. She was perfectly fine doing things her own way, without her mother meddling.

In a few minutes, we were out of her door. Tomiko had changed into something casual, and she said that I should do the same, but I really didn't want to go all the way to my house just to look good. "I always look good, Tomiko, no matter what I wear," I told her, smirking.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "God, you are SUCH an egotist."

"You should try it sometime. Love yourself. You'll feel hot and sexy and irresistible." I tipped her a wink. "Though I must admit, you're enough of hot and sexy and irresistible right now."

"Oh, shut up," she snorted, turning red. "Maybe you can enjoy deluding yourself, but I don't, so I'm not going to go down your dark path."

"You make me sound like a Sith Lord."

Tomiko's lips quirked into a small, lopsided smile, and she said, "More like a Sh—Lord."

Spitfire. I threw back my head and laughed.

I led the still-smirking Tomiko down to Lillian's parking lot. It was still early, so the place hadn't emptied out yet, but it was still easy to spot my car. Yellow's a color you can't exactly ignore, and I have the only Beetle. I went right up to it, then turned to Tomiko. I grinned at the look on her face. She'd gone quite wide-eyed.

"Uwo!" she exclaimed.

I straightened up, feeling unjustifiably proud. "Oho, you like it?"

"That has GOT to be the GAYEST car I've ever seen!"

My jaw fell. I could almost feel it smacking the pavement.

Tomiko looked at me and burst out laughing. "Just kidding! I like it."

I had a hard time recovering and comforted myself that at least she was happy again, even if it WAS at my expense.

We got into the car. I felt an evil sensation creeping up on me again. I glanced surreptitiously at Tomiko, who had just pulled on her seatbelt, and thought it was time for revenge. So I revved up the engine, shouted "BLAST OFF!" at the top of my lungs, and roared out of the parking lot. Backwards.

Tomiko screamed. Her hands reached out for anything she could grab onto, which was the Jesus handle above the door on her side and my shoulder, which was suddenly on fire due to five fingernail tips digging mercilessly into it. I wanted to laugh so bad, but I concentrated on driving in reverse until I got to one end of the street, and then I whipped the car around and zoomed us off in the opposite direction.

I tried to keep her entertained by quoting some lines from the Transporter movies I'd seen, but for some reason she didn't seem amused. "Stop this car!" she gasped out.

"What? Why?"

"So I can live!"

I laughed. "Don't be silly. I've never rammed into anything yet. Couple of close calls, but nothing bad happened." I looked over at her. "Wow, you're pretty white. And your eyes are a couple of inches out of your skull."

Tomiko shut them. "Keep your eyes on the road, BAKA!"

I was SO going to laugh myself silly later on. "Oh, RIGHT, I almost forgot about that."

"SATOU SEI!!!!"

"Hai, hai."

We got to the café in record time. Twelve minutes and eighteen seconds. Considering that the café was almost all the way across town, that was a pretty amazing feat, even for me. I climbed out and stretched, then smoothed down my P.E. shirt and waited for Tomiko to come out of the coma my driving had put her in.

After perhaps twenty seconds, she emerged, shaking like a leaf in a gale, her eyes clearly giving God or some Great Spirit thanks for her still being alive. She latched onto the roof of the car, taking in large quantities of air, and then she glared at me. "You should just quit school and get a job as a stunt driver in Hollywood. You'd make insane amounts of money and it would all be perfectly legal. PLUS, anyone with you would probably be a stunt person, too, and you wouldn't come THIS close—" she emphasized the word with her forefinger and thumb about half a centimeter apart "—to KILLING someone!"

I waved a hand dismissively. "Meh, you're still alive aren't you? Come on, let's go in."

Tomiko sniffed. "I can't believe you'd wave it off just like that."

We went in and were led immediately to an out-of-the-way spot by a window where the bright afternoon sun streamed in, filtering gently through translucent curtains. A waitress dropped by and handed us menus and we started looking through them. I already knew what I wanted, but I was curious to know what Tomiko's taste in coffee was.

I watched her from over the top of my menu. Her forehead was slightly creased as she went over the different selections. And then her eyes lit up.

"Doesn't this place have that insanely good bitter chocolate lava cake?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, remembering that cake. It was so good it ought to be sold in the black market as some kind of drug. "Would you like that?"

Tomiko kept her eyes on the menu, and I knew she was looking at the picture of the bitter chocolate lava cake. It was like the chocolate picture equivalent of sex. She suddenly shook her head. "Nah, spending that much on something like this is just too wasteful…"

The waitress came back. "Would you like to order now?" she asked us respectfully.

I ordered the cake in question. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Tomiko was panicking. Did she have the Sachiko tendency to go into hysterics?? Good Lord. She didn't say anything, however. We ordered our drinks, and the waitress hurried off.

As soon as the girl was out of earshot, Tomiko leaned forward and hissed at me. "BAKA! Why'd you get ahead of me and order that?"

"Ii kara, ii kara," I said, waving it off. "It's okay. I invited you, so it's only natural that I pay, don't you think?"

"Iya, you don't really have to do that…" Tomiko fumbled around in her bag, which had an interesting design of little cartoon characters with tattoos, rock guitars, and surrounded by cute, cartoon-ish skulls. "Er…I can pay for it—"

"It's not a question of can or can't, Tomiko." I interrupted. "Just let me."

She protested a bit, looking a little confused about something for a moment, and then resolutely announced that she was paying for the coffee. I told her that if she was really going to be stubborn about it, then we could split the bill—sort of. She'd pay for her own coffee, but I'd handle mine and the cake to boot.

It was then that I noticed her shirt. I'd been having too much fun scaring the crap out of her during the drive, but now that we were sitting across from each other I had enough time and space to really look at her.

I'd never seen a shirt like that, not in any store near Lillian, heck, not even in the entire town. It was black, and had a sumi-e type print of a koi splashing out of some crimson sunset pool. The koi was pearlescent white, with a little inundation of an iridiscent blue. In short, it was a beautiful design. It wasn't quite sumi-e though…how should I put it? Guess it was sumi-e with an attitude. Like steel wrapped in satin. The shirt sort of matched her shoes, which were a pair of Vans with almost the same carp design, only Tomiko must have colored in the koi.

"Ano sa," I began, "did you make that?"

Tomiko looked at me, puzzled. "Make what?"

"That." I pointed at her shirt.

"Oh, this? Yeah." She wrinkled her nose. "You should've told me we were going to THIS café. I would've dressed up a bit better."

I laughed. "Don't be silly. I'm the one in a P.E. uniform."

We both laughed at that. I hoped she was finally able to relax. "Seriously, though," I continued, "that's a good shirt." I meant it.

Tomiko lowered her head a bit, looking sheepish. "Well, I was so excited about getting my first airbrush kit last year that I HAD to try it out immediately." She straightened up and pointed out some parts of the shirt to me. "See where the paint just runs and trickles? I still couldn't get the hang of the weight of the brush." She grinned and looked up at me. Right into my eyes.

Well, finally!

I grinned back and shrugged. "Mondai ja nai yo. It looks like a part of the design."

Tomiko sighed, settling her chin on her palm. "Well, I didn't want it to happen, really, so I guess you could call this a failed attempt." She smiled. "Ahehe."

She really was cute, this girl.

The cake and coffee arrived just before the lull in conversation became awkward. I think I was just too taken by Tomiko's cuteness that I simply stopped talking. We tucked in, enjoying our orders for the rest of our stay there while talking about various matters. I can't say they were unimportant, because a lot of the little things about people are important.

Speaking of important things…

I noticed that Tomiko kept trying to look at me. She was still having a hard time meeting my gaze, but it was only whenever I initiated it. Whenever she would talk about something that really interested her, she'd look me in the eye without much trouble. It was like she would forget about being shy and defensive and inadequate (the way she was around her mother) and just lose herself with you in that little world that she knows about—kind of like her taking you on a tour of a house she'd built herself, and with a lot of pride.

That place, wherever it was that she took me, felt warm.

I didn't want to leave it, so I took care not to stare at her so directly.

I couldn't quite bear it, though, so I said, "Na, Tomiko."

"Hm?" she said, raising her brows inquiringly and, yes, looking at me.

I slowly met her gaze. "You can trust me."

Tomiko blinked. She did NOT break the gaze, however. "Hah?"

"You can trust me," I repeated. "You can look at me if you like and I won't turn away from you. You can touch me and hold onto me, I won't try to break away from you or shrug it off or ignore you. If I'm going too fast, just tell me to slow down and wait for you, and I will. If you want to tell me anything, I'll be glad to listen." I looked at her as seriously as I dared. "I won't promise it because I know how easily promises can be broken, but I'll say it. I won't turn you away."

Tomiko stared at me. She said nothing. The look on her face could only be interpreted as genuine surprise. Something went 'plop'; the piece of cake on her fork had slipped off and landed on the tablecloth, staining it, but she kept her eyes locked onto mine. There were questions, lots of questions, reflected in those blue depths, some of which I couldn't read because even as she looked directly at me, her eyes protected her and kept their meaning hidden. And now they traveled all over my face, probably trying to gauge if the chocolate had gone to my head. Something definitely had, but I doubted it was the chocolate.

"…Did you mean that?" she finally asked softly.

I nodded. "Hai."

She blinked again, her eyes still holding mine. Now I could see them clearing up, as if whatever shield that had been there was being slowly lowered and I was being invited into this girl's soul. "Why, though?"

So I gave her the answer from mine. "Because I want to be your friend."

A moment passed.

And then Tomiko smiled. It was her first real one, accompanied by a strange gentleness in her eyes, which now held mine like two good friends holding hands and taking a stroll somewhere. Just when I was starting to enjoy looking at that smile, it abruptly changed into a smirk and she said, "I don't know. You might regret that." She grinned.

I leaned back in my seat and chuckled. "Sou kamo shirenai, ne." (trans. "Maybe so.")

We shared another laugh. I sat up straight again and teased her about her hands, which had paint all over them, in purple, gold, and a smattering of blue, and she called me "Baka!" again, saying that as an art student she was bound to get paint all over her hands and shouldn't be blamed for it, to which I replied that if she was going to get paint on her anyway she should opt for body painting, and she said she wasn't interested in being the canvas for that sort of thing, and I said "Ah, zannen, I was interested in painting you," and then I felt someone's heel driving into my instep, which ended that little round of teasing. I grinned, then set to finishing my coffee. We still had to practice for dance class, but now I felt a little more confident that we would ace our finals with flying colors.