"Good morning, Isuke," greeted Eisuke as his daughter entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mama," she replied sleepily, yawning as she sat down by the table, taking a sip of the tea that had already been prepared for her. It was warm, but not too warm to drink, and it contained the perfect amount of honey.

Mama sure knew her well.

Glancing up at him, she observed the strange expression on his face. He was smiling calmly as he watched her drink her tea.

While there was nothing odd about that in itself, something about the way his eyes glinted made her feel uneasy. She could tell something was up, but wasn't sure what. She didn't know how to ask him about it either.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked casually, still eyeing her with a goofy smile covering his sharp face.

Eisuke didn't usually look like that. He was typically the calm and serious one, while his husband could be goofy and awkward.

Isuke rolled her eyes upon thinking about all the times Papa had, accidently or purposely, embarrassed her in front of her friends.

She still loved him just as much, though. In the end, she guessed she still did love them, despite how annoying and controlling they could be. Like Mama had said; they only wanted what was best for their little girl.

"Yes, I did," she answered before her impatience got the best of her, "Now, mind telling Isuke why you're so happy today, hmm?"

She smiled slyly as the middle-aged man chuckled at her.

"Perceptive as always, Isuke," he complimented her, and then his voice turned more secretive, "Well, Papa just happened to bump into someone yesterday…"

She took another sip of her tea, still too sleepy to try and figure it out, or to tell him to hurry it up, for that matter. He would get to the point eventually, unless he died of old age first, that is.

"In fact, it wasn't just a regular someone," he continued, "It was a much respected and successful business man."

Ugh, she truly loathed hearing about business related things. Even Mama, who was usually fairly entertaining to talk to, couldn't make economics, investments and business cooperation sound interesting.

Maybe she should just walk away… She could get some breakfast later, after he left for work or something.

She was just about to get up from her chair when he spoke up again.

"And he just happens to have a daughter your age."

It wasn't before then that Isuke realized she hadn't even mentioned Haruki to her parents, which was strange considering they were the main reason she'd hired a girlfriend in the first place.

The entire thing with Otoya had probably made all of them forget about it for a while.

Well, she had planned to tell them from the beginning, but better late than never.

"Ah, I'm not really interested," she refused politely. She wanted Mama to be happy about her getting a girlfriend, after all, so she probably shouldn't be a bitch right before telling him about Haruki. Wouldn't want him to get a bad impression just because he was in a bad mood on beforehand.

"Isuke, I know you're tired of meeting people, but we think it's about time you get a girlfriend," he said, his voice automatically darkening. He cleared his throat, not wanting to sound harsh.

Both of them were sick of arguing after the past couple of months.

"Besides, Papa even talked to his daughter. He says she seems like a great girl-"

"Sorry, Mama," Isuke cut him off mid-sentence, "But I really can't go out with her."

Eisuke raised his white eyebrows in question.

"You see, I already have a girlfriend."

Isuke hadn't been sure what to expect when she spoke that sentence, but she certainly hadn't foreseen what happened next.

Eisuke didn't even reply, he simply sprinted to the living room to pick get his phone. A short while later she could hear him excitedly discussing something with someone, who she assumed was Papa.

She grinned to herself as she listened to her Mama laughing and chatting lightly. From the corner of her eye, she could see him waving his arms eagerly as he explained something.

He reminded her so much of Papa just then that she couldn't refrain from letting out a low chuckle.

Soon enough, her parents finished their chat and Eisuke returned to the kitchen, now fully composed and acting far more like his usual self.

"Isuke?" he asked. She could still spot a faint smile on his thin lips, which she considered a good thing.

The problem with Otoya was taken care of, and her parents would stop nagging her. Pretty much all of her problems seemed to be in the past now.

Perhaps she could finally get some much needed peace and quiet.

"Mhm?" she muttered, feeling like the peace was already settling over her just like a warm, comfortable blanket would after a long day.

"Papa and I would like to meet this girlfriend of yours. How about you invite her over tonight?"

And then morning came and the blanket was torn away from her.

"Why did you call me out here?" Haruki asked as she dropped her bag to the floor and sat down in the free seat. She had a piece of pocky in her mouth, like usual.

Isuke couldn't understand why she'd even eat it in the first place. She had tried it a couple of times, and it wasn't all that good. Then again, she was used to living in luxury, so any kind of poor people food wouldn't impress her.

She'd texted Haruki just after her conversation with Eisuke.

At first, she had attempted to talk him out of it, but he was stubborn as a mule. Well, at least she knew where she'd gotten it from. She resembled her Mama in many ways, even though they weren't related.

That aside, he'd been impossible to budge and she'd had to forfeit. After that, she went straight to the café to avoid getting any complicated questions. And while Haruki lived much closer than Isuke did, she'd arrived half an hour later, so Isuke was annoyed, to say the least.

"My my, that's cold," she pouted, feigning hurt, "You're hurting Isuke's feelings, you know."

"Sorry, sorry," Haruki laughed, catching onto the joke, "For being late, as well. I had some things to take care of."

Part of her wanted to ask what, but she didn't want it to seem like she cared too much. Besides, did she even have the right to ask? Sure, they were friends now, but she wanted to make sure she didn't push it too far.

Because at the end of the day, despite their newfound friendship, Haruki was here because she got paid. She didn't share her feelings.

"I'll forgive you this time, but don't make it a habit. I hate waiting," she claimed, hoping to sound more like her usual self.

She'd just become aware that, if Haruki learned of her true feelings, it would complicate things. And she didn't want that. Things were good like they were, for now.

"I think it's more that you like getting what you want," the redhead snickered playfully.

"So what? There's nothing wrong with being a little selfish from time to time," she stated, joining in on the lighthearted banter, "Besides, someone like me deserves to be treated nicely."

"I'll be sure to treat you well then, Isuke-sama," Haruki winked flirtatiously, making her cheeks heat up. Luckily, she was sort of getting used to Haruki's laid-back persona and teasing remarks, so she didn't blush so much that it would be noticeable.

"I'll be counting on it," she agreed, "Are you gonna order something?"

Isuke thought it was best to change the theme so that this conversation wouldn't develop any further. That, and if they kept bantering she'd never get to ask her to come over tonight.

"Nah, I'm not that hungry." In truth, she hadn't eaten since she had lunch at school yesterday, but there was no way she could tell Isuke about that. And the prices here were ridiculous. Even before they received all those bills earlier that week, she couldn't even dream of offering as much as a coffee from this place.

She glanced over at Isuke's coffee, feeling kind of envious. Not that she even liked coffee all that much; it was far too bitter for her, but she envied the luxury of affording to buy something like it without a second thought.

"Why are you staring down my coffee? What did it ever do to you?" Isuke's voice snapped her out of her fantasies. She removed her gaze from the cup only to stare into Isuke's curious face. She looked like she'd found Haruki's staring beyond strange. Any normal person probably would.

"I've heard that the coffee here is really good," she covered for her bahaviour with a laugh, "I always wanted to try it, but it's so expensive, ya know."

The pink haired girl nodded, seemingly at peace with her explanation.

"It is good. You should try it." That gave her an idea to lighten the mood.

Without saying anything, she quickly snatched the cup and brought it to her lips, downing a large sip of the liquid. She grimaced at the bitterness of the drink, but swallowed it nonetheless.

The next second, the color of Isuke's face changed into that of her hair as she quickly grabbed the cup from her hands and placed it back on the table so roughly that the coffee sloshed over and onto the table.

"Idiot! What are you doing?" she hissed embarrassed. Haruki didn't know if she hadn't discovered how furiously she was blushing or if she just didn't bother hiding it.

"I just came to think of the time I offered you teriyaki. Kinda missed your tsundere side," she laughed, relieved that Isuke had forgotten all about her strange bahaviour. It'd be bad if she was caught spacing out like that.

She simply couldn't bring herself to beg for more money, when she already felt sort of guilty about what she already gotten. It didn't feel like she was earning it, seeing as she was having fun around the girl. It was more like she was doing nothing as Isuke paid her double; with her company and her money.

"Idiot," she muttered under her breath as her face began returning to its natural color. "I actually need to ask you something."

"Oh?" Haruki eyed her with a questioning glance, wondering what could be the reason for her sudden change of demeanor.

"I told Mama and Papa about you today," she informed. While Haruki knew it'd come to this sooner or later, it made her kind of nervous.

"What did they say?" she asked carefully.

"They want to meet you, so you'll have to come to dinner at my place tonight."

Isuke rolled her eyes as she watched the two men running around the house like complete idiots, cleaning, making food and searching for suitable clothes.

She tried telling them not to make a big deal about it, that Haruki would feel uncomfortable, but their excitement had gotten way out of hand.

Eisuke had made dinner for them and their guest, but Isuke thought it looked more like they were inviting twenty people to a party. Her Papa had gotten home from work early and cleaned the entire house so throughout you could almost see your reflection in the floor.

And on top of everything, they'd put on fancy suits and even forced Isuke into wearing a dress. The two men were just as concerned with style and fashion as their daughter, sometimes even more, which said something.

Now, she was worried that the getup would make Haruki nervous. Her parents had freaked out an impressive number of her earlier suitors with their tendencies to take things too far, and those people had been classy rich people. Nothing like Haruki who thought coffee and school lunches were fancy.

The doorbell rung at exactly 08.15, and even though it was fifteen minutes later than their appointment said, it felt like it happened all too soon.

Her Papa pretty much ran for the door, and her Mama followed in a quick pace. Isuke lagged behind on purpose, dreading the moment the door would be opened more and more for each second.

The door opened, revealing Haruki awkwardly standing outside. She was wearing her usual attire, her wild hair in a messy ponytail, but at least she'd dropped the pocky.

"Hello, you must be Isuke's girlfriend," her Papa greeted cheerfully, grabbing Haruki's hand in both of his, shaking it enthusiastically, "My name is Hiroshi; I'm Isuke's Papa."

Haruki looked totally out of it already, with good reason, she'd say. If she had been in Haruki's shoes, Isuke would have punched Hiroshi in the face by now.

"I'm Inukai Eisuke," her Mama greeted more formally.

At first, she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, but when Eisuke didn't shake Haruki's extended hand, she knew he was growing skeptical already.

While Papa was always kind and welcoming, Mama would pretty much look for flaws in all of Isuke's suitors. He really wanted to make sure they were worthy of his precious daughter.

"Why don't we go eat?" Hiroshi suggested, sensing his husband's skepticism.

While they walked towards the kitchen, Haruki leaned closer to Isuke.

"What's with the getup?" she whispered so that only the other girl would hear it.

"They tend to go a little overboard," she sighed, looking down at her dress. Sure, she liked to dress up, but this was too much even for her.

"That's an understatement."

"I should have called and warned you," she apologized. Had she known about it in advance, she'd get more time to prepare, and maybe dress up a little to make a better impression on Eisuke. But it was too late for that, so now she could only hope he'd like her more after talking to her…

"Wow," Haruki gasped upon seeing all the various dishes on the large dinner table.

Her Papa laughed as they sat down.

"Looks tasty, huh? We prepared a home cooked meal especially for this occasion," he smiled friendlily, beginning to help himself to the delicious-looking food.

"Mama is a good cook, you see," Isuke uttered, helping her Papa keeping the mood up, "and Papa… not so much."

"Hey now, Isuke, Papa tries his best," he argued, still smiling. He was used to his daughter's sometimes rude comments by now, so he didn't really mind.

"You sure do, but I do think you've been overdoing it today," she exclaimed casually, while deep down she felt like yelling at them for it.

"Naturally," Eisuke replied.

"This is the first time Isuke has brought a girl home, after all," Hiroshi said, offering Haruki a bright smile. She was about to come with a response when Eisuke spoke up again.

"We weren't expecting it to happen anytime soon… and we weren't really expecting her to bring home someone so-"

Hiroshi decided to stop his husband at that. It would be too bad if he ruined the entire night this early, and without giving the girl a chance.

"So, Sagae-san, what do your parents do?"

Haruki looked down at the food, her eyes darkening a little. Her family was a sore spot, but of course they couldn't know that. Isuke's Papa seemed to be doing his best to make friendly conversation.

"Well, my dad is… he isn't around," she managed to mutter, "And my mom doesn't work at the moment."

Eisuke snorted silently, obviously not very impressed, while Hiroshi looked unaffected yet somewhat intrigued.

"What about you, Sagae-san?" asked the white haired man, "Have any plans for the future? Are you going to college?"

"Well, we can't really afford anything that pricy and since I have to work a lot, my grades aren't much to brag about," she laughed innocently. Isuke could tell that she knew this wasn't going well, too.

"I see," he nodded simply.

Isuke glanced over at the clock on the wall, realizing this would be a very long night.

Things had only gotten worse and worse throughout the night.

Eisuke had gotten more and more grumpy for every answer Haruki gave to his questions, so Hiroshi had attempted to lighten the mood by asking awkward questions about Haruki and Isuke's relationship, like how they got to know each other and who asked who out, which had resulted in a huge mess as they'd have to make it up on the spot, and their answers never matched up. In the end, they had both ended up looking like clumsy idiots.

At one point, Isuke had kicked Haruki's leg under the table to keep her from calling her Mama "dude" for the second time that night, which had caused her to spill water all over the table and Hiroshi's suit.

As they stood by the door, just about ready to see Haruki off for the night, she felt a great gush of relief that it was all over, but the uneasy feeling stayed put.

Papa seemed to have forgiven Haruki for all her stupid answers, stuttering and even the water-spilling, but Mama wasn't so accepting.

"It was nice meeting you," Haruki awkwardly muttered, "Thanks for having me over."

"The pleasure was all ours," Papa smiled genuinely.

"Indeed." Eisuke's voice was laced with reluctance, as though he could barely force the words out of his mouth.

Isuke couldn't stand it anymore, so she opened the door for Haruki and halfway pushed her out as she waved goodbye, firmly shutting the door behind her.

"Sweet girl," Papa commented after a short silence.

"Are you serious, Hiroshi? Did you hear the way she talked? Or see the way she dressed and all those clawing marks in her face?"

Isuke had hoped he wouldn't notice as they were beginning to fade, but Eisuke was pretty perceptive.

"And she doesn't have any plans for the future, or any money, or anything," he listed grumpily before turning to his daughter, "Are you really serious about that girl?"

What should she answer? It was clear that he wanted her to say no, and saying yes would mean she'd be stuck with Haruki for a while. It'd be weird if she claimed to be dead serious about their relationship, and then a month later Haruki wanted to drop the deal. Then again, if she said no it'd really be no point in paying her to do this at all.

Was she really serious about Haruki, anyway?

"She's a nice person, Mama," she assured him instead of directly answering the question.

"I'm sure she is," Eisuke nodded, "but that doesn't change the fact that Sagae Haruki is completely unfit for you."

So this chapter took me a while, but my exam went well so I figured it was worth putting the story aside for a couple of days. But I'm back now, with tons of time to write.

I also thought Isuke should call her parents Mama and Papa, like in the anime and the manga. It was something that I didn't think of at the beginning of this story, but I wanted to have it like that, so I'm adding it. I'm currently reading through the other chapters to edit it in them as well.