Day 4 - Relationships: Meeting The Family
Takeru was surprised that he was feeling so nervous before a date. It was something new for him and he didn't know what to think of it. He's been in many dates before and always felt very at ease with it.
"Hi." Kimi's soft voice echoed in his ears and he turned around with a wide grin on his lips. She couldn't help but smile back at him. "Did I make you wait too long?"
"Not at all." He shook his head and stood up. "I have to say, you chose a good place for a date."
"You should never take a public relations' opinion for granted. She might surprise you."
"I'll make sure to remember that."
"Good. So shall we go in?"
"Of course. After you."
"A gentleman, I see."
"You haven't seen anything yet."
Takeru was amazed by the whole decoration in the bar. There were some neon signs on the walls and the illumination was a yellow tone. They had to walk through a hall to get into another area of the bar. This one was much more modern that the one they had just left, but the neon decoration was still part of it. Kimi headed to a table in the back of the room and he followed her closely.
"Here we are. What did you think of it?"
"I think it's really cool. The decoration is pretty amazing. How did you find this place?"
"I have my resources." She said mysteriously and smiled. "I'm just kidding, some classmates had come here before and recommended it to us."
"That's very nice."
"It is." Kimi grabbed the menu and started looking through it to decide what to order. "So you're studying Languages, huh? Are you planning on being a teacher or something?"
"A writer." Takeru did the same as her. "I want to publish a book, actually."
"Really?" She asked surprised. "About what?"
"About some memories. I could tell you more about it, but I want it to be a surprise to everyone."
"Oh, alright. So it will be a biographical book?"
"Not exactly. It's not the story of my life. I just have something really cool I wanna share and also remember forever physically."
"Whatever it is that you're writing, I'm sure you'll get the result you want."
"Thank you, Kimi." He gave her a small smile. "Do you know what you're going to order yet?"
"Yeah, the coconut and chocolate milkshake and the Australian hamburger. I heard it's the best one here."
"Their meals have country names? How cool!"
"They do. I highly recommend the Italian one too."
"I might go with this one then. And ice tea."
"Nice choice. I'm going to get the waiter then. Do you want anything else?"
"No, I'm alright."
"Great." Kimi raised her hand to call the nearest waiter and turned her attention back to Takeru while waiting for him to get there.
"So why did you choose Public Relations?"
"Because it would be very helpful to achieve my dream to work with events. Indeed it was, now I'm working as an intern in one of the most important companies about it in Kyoto and its region."
"Are you graduated?"
"No, I'm in my final year. I can't wait to graduate though."
"Time flew by so fast, huh? It seems like yesterday when we met and it was a year and a half ago."
"Has it really been that long?"
"It has. I still remember how much you wanted to get into our reading group, but hesitating. It took me quite an effort to convince you to do it."
"Not quite, though. It was lifetime opportunity to see you reading Cinderella for children."
"You're welcome." He grinned brightly at her.
"Don't be so full of yourself."
"I never am."
"So you're saying you never did this?" Kimi asked surprised when they walked into the park.
"Not since I was a child." Takeru confirmed. "My brother and I did this every single night when we lived together."
"I thought it was something a lot of people did on dates, but now I think it's just me. I absolutely love staring at the moon and the stars."
"So you basically took every guy you went out with to a park to watch them?"
"You make it seem like I dated a lot of guys." She couldn't help but find the whole situation amazing. "But I really didn't. And to answer your question, no, I didn't take every guy I dated to a park. Only the ones I thought had the potential to be something more."
"So is it safe to assume that's how you feel about us?"
"Maybe." Kimi said mysteriously and reached for his hand. "Come on, I know just the perfect spot to lie down and stare at the sky."
Takeru knew understood right away why Kimi loved that spot. He was immediately taken back to his childhood, and a smile crept into his lips.
"You're welcome." Her voice echoed in his ear and he turned his head to look at her. He was met by such a beautiful smile he couldn't help but smile back at her. "Don't you just think this is the perfect way to end a beautiful night?"
"Absolutely." Suddenly he didn't care about watching the sky; he had a much prettier sight right next to him.
"You're not even looking at it."
"I already am, trust me."
"I bet you said that to many women before."
"I didn't, I swear."
"I'm not sure I believe you."
"There's only one way to find out. Are you willing to do it?"
"I'll take the risk." She slid closer to him and pressed her lips against his very timidly, just to know what his reaction would be.
Takeru wasted no time in sliding his hand to the back of her head and rolled her back, so he was pinning her on the ground with his chest pressed against hers. His tongue entered her mouth and Kimi took it in with a smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. For the first time in a long time, she didn't want to watch the moon above.
.
Kimi smiled automatically when she walked out of the Odaiba metro station alongside Takeru. They had been seeing each other for about two months and were going to meet each other's parents for the first time.
"It feels so good to be back in Odaiba after a few months. I didn't realize I missed it so much until now."
"There's nothing like coming back home."
"I completely agree with you. I have to confess I feel nervous about meeting your parents. All the other guys I dated were my friends, so I already knew their parents."
"Don't be nervous, I'm sure they will love you."
"I hope so."
"They will." Takeru turned to her. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you home?"
"I am." She nodded with a gentle smile. "I can go alone. I know you will miss me a lot, but we'll see each other again in a few hours."
"I'm counting the minutes for that already."
"Silly." She placed her hands on his chest and gave a step closer to him, looking into his beautiful blue eyes. "Just so you know… I'll be counting them too." She pressed her lips against his for a few seconds and then pulled back. "I'll see you tonight."
"You're not going away that fast." He quickly grabbed her elbow and twisted her around, wrapping his arms around her waist immediately and pulling her into a deep and passionate kiss.
.
Takeru felt his heart pounding on his chest and failed at holding his smile when he saw Kimi walking to their table, with her parents right behind her. They had to postpone the meeting one day because them weren't available. On the other hand, she had met Yamato and Sora already.
"You're here." He stood up and kissed her on the cheek. "Mom, dad, this is Kimi Shincai. Kimi, these are my parents, Hiroaki Ishida and Natsuko Takaishi."
"Nice to meet you." She said in a cheerful tone and with a warm smile. She looked over her shoulder to her right. "These are my father, Haruto Shincai, and my mother, Misaki Shincai."
"Nice to meet you both." Takeru talked to them and shook their hands enthusiastically. "I've heard so much about you."
"Good things, I hope."
"Absolutely! Kimi is always talking about you. Please, have a seat."
"I like him already." Misaki whispered to her daughter when she walked past her.
"I'm happy to hear that, mom. You can order anything you want. It's on me."
"Okay, darling."
"You're so pretty, Kimi." Natsuko said as soon as she sat beside Takeru across the table.
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Takaishi." She blushed a little while placing the napkin over her long black dress.
"Please, call me Natsuko. We're going to be mother and sister-in-law from now on, hopefully."
"Mom, please." Takeru covered his face with his hands, visibly embarrassed.
"So now you know everything I went through years ago." Yamato couldn't help but tease his brother about it.
"I think it's safe to say you're officially welcome in the family, Kimi." Sora stated in a light tone and with a smile."
"I have the same feeling."
"Have you met already?"
"Yes, we met last night. We went to a hamburger place and also to a walk near the Ferris wheel."
"It was a lot of fun."
"It was."
"So, Kimi, what course are you taking in college?"
"I just graduated in Public Relations. I might move back to Odaiba soon." Kimi stole a quick glance at Takeru.
"You're from Odaiba?"
"That's right. Actually, I used to live not that far from your building, Mrs. Takaishi."
"Please, Natsuko."
"I'm sorry. It's bigger than me."
"You'll get used to it with no time, trust me."
"Have you two been together for long?"
"Almost ten years now."
"Wow, you two seem so young."
"We were teenagers when we started dating."
"That's so cool!"
"Takeru told me you both are in a reading group." Natsuko said.
"We are. I'm sure he told you already, but that's sort of how we met." Kimi looked at her. "One day I was walking to class and saw them having a meeting outside. Takeru saw me staring at them and came to talk to me. It didn't take long for us to become friends. He's a natural friendly person."
"That's true. He's always been like that."
"Really? How was he like as a child?"
"Uh, I think it's too early to have this kind of conversation."
"It really isn't. The sooner the better." The young woman said lightly. "Are there any good stories about Takeru?"
"A lot, actually. There was this one time where he tried to defend a classmate that was being bullied and got in a physical fight. He was seven at the time"
"What?"
"In my brother's defense, he doesn't resort to violence at all, in case you're worried." Yamato said casually and leaned forward to pick up his beer. "It only happened twice in twenty years."
"Should you be drinking?"
"Sora is driving home. Everything is fine."
"Despite of what my brother said to make me look bad," Takeru didn't miss the opportunity to get back at him. "I'm a very peaceful person."
"Mom, dad, Takeru wants to be a famous writer."
"Not famous." He blushed heavily. "But I'm writing a book of memories, indeed. I don't know if it will be successful or not, but it's been an amazing experience."
"That's wonderful." Mrs. Shincai said. "What's it about?"
"It's about a group of people that are taken to another world and get to live many adventures."
"That sounds very interesting."
"I hope people will have the same opinion."
"I'm sure they will." Kimi placed her hand over his in a reassuring way. "I can hardly wait to read it myself."
"Soon, I promise." He looked at her and smiled.
.
"Good morning!" Takeru said cheerfully when he showed up at Kimi's apartment that Monday morning.
"Good morning, Takeru." Kimi closed the door behind her and they started heading to the elevator. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"I thought I could surprise you and we could go to school together, if that's okay for you."
"Of course." She smiled at him. "It's totally okay for me."
"Good." He reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers together.
"I can't believe how fast this weekend went by."
"I know. So much has happened, that's why." Takeru looked at her. "So what did you think of my parents?"
"Your mother is so sweet, I really liked her. Your father didn't really talk, I hope it's not because he didn't like me."
"It isn't, trust me. It's just his way at first, wait until he grows comfortable with you."
"He seems more friendly with Sora, though."
"That's because he's known her since she was eleven. But I don't want you to compare yourself to her, okay?"
"Okay. She's a sweetheart, so welcoming. I think we'll get along pretty well."
"I'm happy with that. I think you will too."
"Your brother is nice. I can tell you have a typical brother relation."
"We really do."
"I'm glad all these years apart didn't change it. What about you? What did you think of my parents?"
"They are great, from what I've seen. I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to them that much, my mother loves talking a lot."
"I figured." Kimi couldn't help but laugh. "It's okay, though. We can have dinner at their house next time we go to Odaiba, so you can get to know them better. I have no doubt you'll love them and vice-versa."
"In their house? That seems pretty serious."
"Well, we met each other's parents. Can't get more serious than that right now."
"You have a point."
She bit her lower lip for a second. "I have to ask you something, though.
"What is it?"
"Are you okay with me being a few years older than you? It can really be something unbearable for some people and I wanted to know your opinion about it."
"I thought it was clear enough that it doesn't bother me at all. It's just two years, no big deal at all."
"Great. Does it bother you?"
"I met your parents, didn't I? It doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I love it. I barely take that into account."
"Same here. That's good, because I really want this to work."
"I do too. That's why I took you to watch the stars and the moon on our first date. I have to admit it was a shot in the dark in a way, but deep down I knew this time would be different."
"Thank God, you felt that way." Takeru stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes. "Did I ever tell you how beautiful your eyes are?"
"Are you trying to get something from me?" Kimi said lightly and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Maybe." He leaned over and kissed her passionately.