I wonder if there's still any readers actually waiting on these chapters? Well, either way, here's one I've had for a while; it's short and sets up the date to come. Without further ado, here's chapter 3...

I don't own these characters...

"Transcending Aesthetics"

Chapter 3: Saturday

"I do…" mumbled a slumbering Tatsuki.

"You do what?" asked her mother as she approached her bed.

"Huh? Oh, mom, it's you… nothing. I was just having a dream," replied a flustered Tatsuki.

"You don't say. Well it must've been some dream; it almost made you miss your morning run…"

"What? What time is it?"

"It's 5:45, don't worry you still have a good fifteen minutes to get ready. Something wrong, dear? Usually you're up a half-hour before your run, something on your mind?" inquired Tatsuki's curious mother.

"Well, I… kind of have a date today…" replied a blushing Tatsuki as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"What? A date? Oh, do tell…" replied her mother, her curiosity now piqued.

"Oh, mom! You're not going to make a big deal about this are you?"

"How can I not? If I'm not mistaken this will be your first date. So, who's the boy you'll be out with? Is he that nice Kurosaki boy?"

"Huh? No, mom, it's not Ichigo."

"Oh, I always thought you two would be cute together," mused the older woman.

"You're crazy, mom! He has a girlfriend, and even if he didn't, you know Orihime's crazy about him," bellowed Tatsuki. "Besides, I could never go out with a guy I used to make cry."

"You are so cruel," the older woman laughed. "Orihime must be crushed, though, poor girl …"

"She manages," replied Tatsuki, a wistful look washed over her face.

"So, if it's not Ichigo, then who is it, Tatsuki? Is he handsome?" the woman asked with a playful nudge.

"Ugh, you're so immature mom!" laughed Tatsuki, "But if you must know his name is Yasutora Sado, he's one of Ichigo's friends and a fellow classmate…"

"And…?" asked the woman with a raised brow.

"And… he's… handsome," replied a crimson-faced Tatsuki.

"Ha! Now, was that so hard?" the older woman giggled.

"Oh, grow up, mom!" Tatsuki snapped.

"Okay, okay…" replied the woman with a laugh, "So, what'll the two of you be doing?"

"We're just going for a walk in the park, he said we should spend all day today getting to know each other," replied Tatsuki.

"Ooh, how romantic, this Sado boy sounds like quite the charmer, Tatsuki! Be careful not to get too caught up, okay? I'm much too young to be a grandmother just yet…" teased the amused woman.

"Mom!" shouted Tatsuki, her face now an even darker crimson hue. "Okay, get out of my room!" ordered a visibly flustered Tatsuki.

"Okay, I'll stop, honest," laughed the woman at her daughter's panicked reaction. "So, what time will he be coming by to pick you up?"

"I don't know, he said he'd ca-"

Before Tatsuki could finish, the phone on her nightstand rang, the noise echoing across the room.

*Ring! Ring!*

"Oh, I'll get it!" giggled Tatsuki's mother as she snatched the receiver off its stand before Tatsuki could even react.

"Mom, don't you dare!" threatened Tatsuki, but her words fell on deaf ears as the woman answered the phone.

"Hello, Arisawa residence, may I ask who's calling?" asked the woman as she struggled to keep her angry daughter at bay.

"Uh, this is Yasutora Sado, is Tatsuki home?" asked a nervous Chad.

"Oh, Yasutora! We were just talking about you!" replied the older woman, her smirk growing ever larger. "My, what a deep voice you have…"

"Mom, give me the phone!" growled Tatsuki.

Ignoring her daughter's demands, the woman further pursued her conversation with the reluctant Chad.

"So, Yasutora, might I inquire as to why you wish to speak to my daughter?"

"Uh, it concerns our… date," replied a slightly confused Chad.

"Oh, a date? You don't say…" teased the older woman. "Well, I don't know how comfortable I'd feel about my daughter being out with a young man I don't know."

"Mom!" seethed Tatsuki.

"I see…" replied a defeated Chad.

"Tell you what, Chad, if you have a cup of tea with us beforehand so I can get to know you a bit, I'll let you two go out. I promise I won't hold you two up for more than a half-hour. What do you say?" offered the "protective" mother.

"Sure, that would be fine," replied Chad.

"Excellent! So, when can we expect you? Preparations must be made ahead of time, you know?"

"Well, it's still a bit early, so in another hour, perhaps?"

"So, at seven, then? Sounds great, Tatsuki should be done with her run and ready by then! We'll see you here, Yasutora," says the woman in parting as she finally passes Tatsuki the phone and flees the room.

"I'm going to get you for this, mom!" Tatsuki screams after her mother, remembering that Chad's still on the line. "He- Hello, Chad?"

"Uh, hey, Tatsuki…" replies Chad, still a bit confused.

"I'm so sorry about that, my mom is so annoying!" groans Tatsuki, her cheeks a light crimson. "Don't worry, I'll sneak out and meet you by the park, you don't have to come over."

"You don't have to do that, Tatsuki; I don't have any problems with stopping by…"

"Seriously? You'd put up with my mom pestering you with her incessant questions for half an hour?" asked Tatsuki, a bit bewildered.

"I don't think half an hour is too much to ask, besides, I'd rather jump this hurdle now."

"Okay, well, I'll give you a call when I'm back from my run so you can come over, okay?" replied Tatsuki before hanging up and putting on her sweatpants, windbreaker and running shoes, preparing for her run.

Once ready, she descended to stairs into the kitchen, spotting her mother hard at work brewing tea and searching for any sweets to offer, but finding none. Her mother's eagerness made her a bit worried, wonder what she could be scheming.

"What's wrong, mom?"

"Oh, there are no sweets to accompany the tea. Could you be a dear and see if you can pick some up while you're out on your run? After all, a good impression must be made," she answered with a warm smile.

"Yeah… sure thing," said Tatsuki as she headed out the door hesitantly.

Tatsuki was deep in thought as she matched her usual pace, jogging briskly through the park, her cheeks burning a bit as she realized that she and Chad would be on a date in this very park in just a while longer.

"I wonder why mom seems so excited about this?" she pondered. "I guess maybe it's relief? I can see her reasoning, I suppose; I haven't had a date before… or a kiss."

As she looked ahead, she noticed she'd strayed off her path and almost collided with a tree, only managing to avoid it at the last minute.

"Crap, I need to concentrate on running!" she chastised herself. "No need to get so worked up about this now, it's only the first date."

She continued her run, making sure not to get lost in thought, feeling relief at the fact that no one was around to witness her almost slamming face-first into the tree, since it was so early. Feeling a good burn in her calves and thighs, she looked at her watch, realizing that she'd taken longer than usual.

"Oops, better hurry home or mom might get impatient, not to mention Chad…" she whispered as she turned back and started on her way home, stopping only to buy some cakes from the bakery near the park.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Chad sat in his apartment distractedly strumming his guitar, just idling his time away as he waited for his phone to ring. He stared wistfully at the picture of his beloved Abuelo on his dresser, wondering what kind of advice he'd receive from him were he still living.

"Abuelo, I know you're watching over me, and I know that you'll make sure today goes well," whispered Chad as he twirled his coin between his fingers.

The muscular young man picked out one of his favorite long-sleeve shirts, a deep crimson one with a rose detailed on the shoulder. He fretted a bit, wondering just what he was getting himself into by agreeing to tea with Tatsuki's mother beforehand. The older woman's aloof attitude was strictly in contrast with his own, so he was visibly concerned about how he should approach conversation with her.

"It'll be like… talking to an older version of Orihime?" he pondered aloud as an image of a short-haired, big breasted woman popped up in his head, offering him an odd-looking, multi-layered cake frosted with wasabi. "Hmm…" he groaned as his stomach clenched at the thought.

"It'll be fine," he reassured himself as he buttoned his shirt just as the phone rang.

"Hello?" greeted the gruff voice on the other end of the receiver.

"Hey, Chad," replied Tatsuki in a cheerful, yet breathless tone, just cooling down after her exercise. "Listen, I'm about to get ready, so you can probably start walking over if you like, I should be ready by the time you arrive so you don't have to be alone with mom."

"Sounds good, I'll see you in a bit, Tatsuki," he replied, the sound of her breathless voice on the other end being like music to his ears.

"Awesome," she replied before hanging up, throwing her clothes off and hopping in the shower.

As Tatsuki lathered her toned body, she wondered just what she was in store for today. She had no prior experience with dating, and the only one of her friends that did (Rukia), would always nonchalantly evade the questions flung at her, though sparing Orihime's feelings might have had something to do with that. She smirked proudly, reminded of Chizuru's words.

"Well, you perverted lesbian, look who has a date now," she boasted internally.

She hopped out of the bath after cleansing herself of the sweat she worked up over the past hour and a half, drying herself off, completely lost in thought.

As she went about the business of getting dressed, still lost in thought, she failed to notice the knock on the door, which was answered instead by her mother. As the older woman answered the door, knowing that it had to be Chad coming by for his date, she was not expecting the towering young man on the other side of the door.

"My, you're punctual, huh, Yasuto…" her voice trailed off as she opened her eyes and was faced with a muscular-looking abdomen, even under the stylish shirt. Her gaze went up for what—to her—seemed like minutes, but in reality was a mere second.

"Wow," she finally managed after looking at the young man's soulful eye, the other one covered by a thick tuft of hair. "Tatsuki likes them tall, I see," she teased before remembering her manners. "I'm sorry, Yasutora, I'm Mrs. Arisawa, please, do come in."

"Thank you, Mrs. Arisawa," he replied in his low, masculine voice, impressing the woman who felt like a child next to the lumbering young man.

"Take a seat, the tea is almost ready and Tatsuki should be down soon. She seems to take a long time to do anything now, you must've made some impression on her," she commented with a warm smile.

He looked on at the energetic older woman, admiring her kindness and her candor. "Not at all, if anything, she made the impression on me," he replied with a smile, rubbing his chest lightly right in the spot where Tatsuki had shoved him just yesterday; a bruise had already begun to take shape.

"Tell me, Yasutora, what attracted you to my Tatsuki?" she asked, very matter-of-factly.

"Uh…" he stuttered. "Well, she's a beautiful, strong and determined girl, from what I've seen and heard, and from our talks since we met, she's genuinely a pleasure to be around," he replied, his face flushed.

The older woman snickered as she observed his reactions, quite amused that such an intimidating young man could get so easily flustered.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. It sounds like she picked up her mother's good tastes," she boasted.

Once the kettle boiled over, she served Chad his tea, then set out her own cup, followed by Tatsuki's.

"Well, Yasutora, you seem like a very nice young man, and I can tell that Tatsuki's quite taken with you, so I have no problems with you taking her out."

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Arisawa," replied Chad as he bowed his head and breathed a sigh of relief.

"You seem a bit serious, though," she mused. "Can you overcome that enough to assist me in teasing my daughter a bit before you two have to leave?" she requested with a playful smile on her lips.

"I… suppose I could," he answered, wondering just what the woman had up her sleeve, since he had missed most of the argument between her and Tatsuki on the phone earlier.

"Splendid! Oh, this'll be such fun!" she beamed, clapping her hands together. "Tatsuki, quit daydreaming up there and come help me out! Yasutora will be here any minute, you know!" she bellowed up the stairs.

Tatsuki heard her mother's cries, wondering just what it was that she wanted, throwing on some baggy shorts and a loose t-shirt and running downstairs. "Ugh, what, mom? Can't you see I need to get read…" she trailed off as she laid eyes on Chad, sitting at her dinner table looking quite dapper in his long-sleeve shirt and dark jeans.

"I'm going to kill you, mom!" she yelled back as she bolted up the stairs, slamming the door to her room loudly, ranting incomprehensibly as she dressed herself properly.

The older woman merely laughed, almost doubled over in her amusement as her daughter's muffled complaints went on. Chad smirked a bit, knowing that Tatsuki's threats were nothing serious, and that their mother/daughter bond was very strong.

"Fun, right?" she asked breathlessly, wiping tears from her eyes. "She's going to let me have it so bad later."

The door upstairs swung open and Tatsuki walked angrily down the stairs, her footsteps echoing throughout the residence. She stepped into the kitchen wearing some tight-fitting blue jeans that complimented her sculpted legs quite well, matching it with a long-sleeve turquoise sweater, since it was going to get cold out later that day, and some comfortable sneakers.

"Hey, Chad, I hope you haven't been too bored down here," she greeted him warmly, turning to give her mom a piercingly cold gaze.

"Not at all, your mother was just treating me to some tea," he replied with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Tatsuki, I'll behave," apologized the woman as she served the rest of the tea and laid out the plate of assorted cakes on the table.

Tatsuki sighed heavily, still embarrassed that Chad saw her in such an unkempt state. "Fine," she replied, sitting down to join them, playfully nudging her mom's shoulder as she took her seat. "You're so immature."

"I know," smiled her mother.

Hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll try to write up chapter 4 soon and post it. Remember to review; I'm curious to know how many people are actually still following this inane little story of mine...