Programmed Lives – Third Stage

Chapter Twenty Three

Takumi followed the same routine he had ever since that rainy day at the end of May, some four months before and he found himself driving to the elementary school where his girlfriend Natsuki worked. He smiled at the thought that, these days, and because of her, he seemed to be going more often to school than when he was an actual student.

In any case, Takumi, and thanks to the seemingly infinite patience Natsuki had had with him, had grown more and more used to the idea of thinking of Natsuki as his girlfriend and, maybe, in the short to medium term, something more. To prove how extremely sure he was about the strength of their relationship, they were about to take their first major step as a couple.

'Hi,' she said climbing into the AE86 as he stopped near the school's entrance.

'Hi, did you have a nice day?' he said after kissing her.

'Yes, the kids learned the different colours today, one of them got a bit enthusiastic with his blue paint and I spent several minutes getting him clean enough so that he could go home,' she explained smiling fondly at the memory.

'It is beyond me how you can cope with those little monsters. I shiver at the thought of handling more than one Akito at the same time, and he's my son. I can't even imagine how you manage with twenty five of them who aren't even related to you,' Takumi commented.

'They're not little monsters,' she protested while laughing softly, then seeing the sceptical way he was looking at her, she added, 'alright, they're not always little monsters.'

'I rest my case,' he said as he started the car.

'Er…Takumi, are you sure you want to do it today?' Natsuki asked as they drove to the school back to the Fujiwara Tofu Shop.

'Yes, I think it's an excellent occasion,' Takumi said.

'I know, it's just that telling Akito about us the same day you introduce me to your friends…'

'I've told you before, Akito doesn't mind me having a girlfriend, he's said so numerous times. Besides, he already knows you and he likes you. And, about the Takahashi, they already know of you, this is just a way so you meet them…'

'Yes but it's Ryoko's birthday…it's a family moment…' she objected.

This made Takumi look at her and, very seriously, he said:

'Natsuki, for some reason, the Takahashi consider me as though as I were family and they know that I've known you for a lot longer than I've known any of them, therefore, I should think that they'll easily extend the privilege to you too.'

'Takumi,' she said with a very small but happy voice.

'Now, did you manage to find anything suitable for a six year old girl?' Takumi asked sounding as if he considered the choice of Ryoko's present a more critical matter than introducing her as his girlfriend to his son and his whole group of friends.

'Yes, don't worry,' she said with a smile.

'Is it, like, girly and stuff?' he asked.

'Yes, it's extremely girly, I actually liked it so much that I considered buying one for me too,' she confessed.

'Really? What is it?'

'Hey, it's a birthday present, it's supposed to be a surprise,' she said.

'Yeah, but it's not my birthday so I should be allowed to know,' he complained.

By the time they arrived at the house Takumi called home, he still hadn't managed to get Natsuki to tell what she had got for little Ryoko.

'Come in,' he said opening the shop's door for her and, nervous as she was, Natsuki nearly tripped over the small step that led from the shop into the actual house.

'Good afternoon Fujiwara-san,' she said seeing Takumi's father there.

'Natsuki-chan, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Bunta?' the old man said but, the kind smile on his face made sure Natsuki didn't take it as a reprimand.

'Alright, Bunta-san,' she said knowing perfectly well that she would repeat the same mistake the next time she saw Takumi's father.

'Dad? Hurry up! We're going to be late!' Akito said entering the room in a rush then, seeing Natsuki there, he stopped and said, 'Hi Natsuki, you're coming with us too?'

Natsuki looked at Takumi and, crouching next to the kid, she said:

'If you don't mind, I'd love to.'

'Yeah, it's cool, this way you can keep my dad busy so that he stops bossing me around,' the almost six year old said not realising the way an adult could interpret that sentence.

'Akito, before we go, there's something we'd like to tell you,' Takumi said sitting down near the living room's table. Natsuki copied him and, seeing all three adults sitting down, made Akito sit down too.

'Alright, what's up?' the kid asked looking so serious that Natsuki wanted to laugh but that, of course, would have been most inappropriate at that precise moment.

'Well, you know that Natsuki and I have been good friends for a long time, don't you?' Takumi said.

'You guys are together now?' Akito asked startling both Takumi and Natsuki while Bunta just chuckled.

'Well, yes,' Takumi replied.

'Like Uncle Itsuki and Aunt Mariko?' the kid asked again, just to be sure he understood the concept.

'Yes, more or less,' Takumi said.

'Ah, alright,' he said getting up, clearly considering the matter settled.

'Akito, you don't mind that I'm your father's girlfriend?' Natsuki asked with her best elementary school teacher's voice.

'Nope,' he said, 'you're nice enough and, besides, you might be my teacher next year so, since you're Dad's girlfriend, you'll give me higher marks,' the kid said with a cheeky smile.

'Akito, if I am your teacher next year, I'll make you study harder so your Dad's happy with your report card,' Natsuki explained.

'Ah, that sucks, you better not be my teacher next year then,' Akito said getting very serious again, making all three adults laugh.

'Go and get your jumper, we really should go or we'll definitely be late,' Takumi said and, as Akito went back upstairs to his room, Bunta said:

'Natsuki-chan, I should try to warn you about the kind of scoundrel my son is, but you already know him well enough so I just hope you know what you're doing.'

'I do know, Fujiwara-san, but thanks for the warning,' she said smiling.

'Hey! I'm here you know,' Takumi protested crossing his arms and frowning.

Bunta and Natsuki looked at each other and started laughing making Takumi feel grateful to see his son finally coming down the stairs.

The three of them climbed into the AE86 with Akito exceptionally giving up his seat at the front for Natsuki, and as they drove to Maebashi, Takumi couldn't help but to think that, at long last, he finally had something vaguely resembling a normal family.

Takumi parked the car outside the set of two huge houses that belonged to the Rotary Brothers and their families and, he had not even had enough time to get out of the car himself that he saw Akito scrambling from the back seat, almost going over his father to jump out of the car.

'Someone's eager to see the birthday girl,' he teased him but Akito just ignored his father.

'Hello there!' Kyoko said opening the door from the house that belonged to her and Keisuke.

'Hello Kyoko,' Takumi said as Akito just ran inside the house, 'sorry about that.'

'It's fine, he's probably dying to see the boys,' Kyoko said and Takumi didn't bother correcting her.

'Kyoko, this is Natsuki, my girlfriend,' he said, and the stress he put in that last word caused Natsuki to feel a very warm sensation in her chest.

'Ah, wow, I'm…I'm very pleased to finally meet you,' Kyoko said smiling at Natsuki.

'Me too,' Natsuki said returning the smile.

'Oh, come on in, make yourselves at home,' Kyoko said walking towards the huge living room which, right now, was packed with birthday decorations and multicoloured balloons.

'You have a really nice house,' Natsuki commented.

'Thanks,' Kyoko said smiling, then, as Natsuki, Takumi and herself reached the area of the room where Ryosuke, Keisuke and Akiko were, she said, 'guys, Takumi's here…and he's brought a very welcome guest with him.'

'Hi guys, this is my girlfriend Natsuki,' he repeated and, the more he said it in public, the better it sounded to him.

'Oh, wow,' Akiko said almost copying her sister-in-law's reaction. She too got up from the sofa where she was playing with Ryoko and, giving Natsuki a quick hug, she said, 'welcome to our home.'

'So, you're the famous Natsuki,' Keisuke said walking towards her, extending his hand so she could shake it.

'We finally get to meet you! We were beginning to think that Takumi was making you up,' Ryosuke said smiling in the same kind way as the rest of his family.

Natsuki felt so happy she could have cried but, as the party started, she became so engaged in the conversation that she forgot she was supposed to be nervous.

'Akito, come here one second,' she said, taking with her the paper bag which contained Ryoko's birthday present. Taking the chance that the girl in question was being distracted by her father, Natsuki told Akito about the present she'd got and suggested him what he had to say to impress the little girl.

Soon, and after Ryoko blew out all six candles from her enormous birthday cake, she started getting all her presents: from her parents, she got a new pair of ice skates which she spent several minutes examining before putting them aside to open her next present.

'Oh wow!' she said as she revealed a fully functional laptop for kids that contained several programs to help her learn the alphabet and several other things.

'I'll teach you how to use it, okay?' Ryosuke said.

'Yes, thanks!' the little girl exclaimed hugging first her uncle and then her aunt.

'Aniki, Akiko, you're not planning on turning my daughter into a smartass like you two, are you?' Keisuke asked frowning worriedly.

'Hey, my daughter is already smart,' Kyoko complained.

The next present was the one Ryoko clearly appreciated the least: from her cousins, she got a radio controlled miniature of a red Mazda SE3P.

'Wow, that's great!' Keisuke said and no one in the room doubted who'd be the one playing with the toy a lot more often than Ryoko.

Finally, it came Akito's turn to give Ryoko her present and, as he handed the bag to her, he said with an extremely small voice:

'You know…I got you this because…well, you know…you like ice and all, I mean, the ice skating stuff…'

The little girl blushed a little when she took the bag from him and, opening it, she revealed a soft penguin shaped toy, so adorable that even the two women of the house gasped in awe.

'You…like it?' Akito asked biting his lower lip.

The girl seemed to be speechless as she looked at the penguin and Akito started frowning thinking that maybe Natsuki had got it all wrong.

'I love it,' Ryoko said hugging the toy, 'thank you Akito-kun!'

Akito's face lit up in happiness and, as they looked at each other across the room, Takumi mouthed a 'thanks' to Natsuki who just shrugged and smiled back at him.

'Takumi sure looks happy now,' Kyoko commented to her sister-in-law as both women went to the kitchen to get some more crisps for the kids.

'Yes, he does,' Akiko said, 'I'm glad Natsuki has managed to hold on in there and has given her unconditional support to him. He's lucky to have her.'

'I can't even begin to imagine how much hard work it must have taken her to get him to be this happy,' Kyoko commented.

'Kyoko, I don't think any relationship is easy. Just remember how hard it was for us at the beginning and how hard it is still today to keep our family together and happy,' Akiko said.

'Yeah, that's true,' Kyoko said, not really wanting to remember how unhappy she'd been when she'd believed that Keisuke would never love her the way she loved him.

'Hello, do you need a hand in here?' Natsuki said coming into the kitchen.

'Yes, grab a couple of these bags, if you please,' Akiko said smiling with her best, reassuring smile she had perfected throughout her years as a doctor.

'Are you having fun?' Kyoko asked as the three women headed back to the living room.

'Yes, I am,' Natsuki said.

'Good and, by the way, thanks for the penguin, my daughter really loved it,' Kyoko said.

'I…' Natsuki started feeling a bit embarrassed.

'Don't worry, it'll be our secret. There's no way in hell Takumi could have come up with such a brilliant idea on his own, is there?' Kyoko asked winking as she spoke.

'No, there isn't,' Natsuki agreed smiling.

'Yeah, our men aren't the most sensitive guys in the world, are they?' Akiko said and Natsuki felt something special hearing someone referring to Takumi as 'her man.'

By the time the party ended, the Takahashi invited Takumi, Natsuki and Akito to join them for one last family barbeque before the weather would get too cold.

All three, as the family they were slowly becoming, accepted gladly, especially Akito who, to his immense joy, had noticed that Ryoko had not let go of the penguin since he'd given it to her and, of course, could not wait to see the little girl again.

As Takumi was driving them back to Shibukawa, Akito made a very shocking question:

'Natsuki?'

'Yes Akito?' Natsuki said.

'Are you going to be my new Mum? Now that you're with Dad and all.'

Natsuki looked at Takumi who, even in the semi darkness of the car, saw her frowning.

'Would you like that?' Takumi asked his son.

'Yep, she's great!' Akito said remembering how happy Ryoko had been with the present Natsuki had chosen for him.

'Well then, you should ask Natsuki if she wants the job,' Takumi said, looking briefly at Natsuki smiling at her in a very encouraging way.

'Do you want to be my new Mum?' Akito asked sounding rather hopeful.

Natsuki looked at Takumi then she turned to face Akito and said:

'I'll be more than happy to.'

'Great,' Akito said and, with that, he seemed to settle the matter.

Then he started asking both adults all sorts of questions about the average penguin's life.

To be continued…