[FFML] [fanfic][Yotsuba&!] Fuuka & Dating -- The First Date

[Mythril Moth]

Would you believe...ANOTHER completely new and separate Y&! fic?

The usual disclaimers apply.

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Ayase Fuuka stood in front of the mirror in her underwear, examining 
herself.

"Waist...too thick. Legs...a little flabby. Eyebrows...ugh, big thick 
caterpillar eyebrows."

She sighed. "But...he said...it's cute this way..."

She leaned into the mirror and prodded at her eyebrows. "Is this really 
'cute'?" she wondered. "Or was he just..."

Fuuka looked herself over again, and sighed. "'Cute', huh...?"

A couple of weeks before, she had joined Koiwai, Jumbo, and Yotsuba on a 
trip to the electronics store. At that time, she had asked Koiwai if she 
should shave her eyebrows. He had replied that her eyebrows looked cute the 
way they were.


Ever since that day, at the most random and inopportune times, her mind 
would replay Koiwai's comment, and she would find herself blushing all over 
again, just as she had done that day. This invariably led to daydreaming, 
and an embarrassing incident in class, and another one during the Student 
Council meeting...

Try as she might, she couldn't shake the memory. Koiwai was in her head but 
good.

And the memory of that moment came nestled in other memories of the man, of 
the many times she had been around him during the past few months. Each 
memory that surfaced, she turned over and examined, finding new things to 
notice about him, hearing him speak as though he were standing right next to 
her.

As she stood in front of the mirror, examining her thick eyebrows, a 
realization suddenly struck Fuuka:

She had a crush on Yotsuba's father.

The last time she had crushed on someone, it had ended in heartbreak and 
disaster.

If the same thing happened to her again, with Koiwai...it would just be 
unbearable.

Still, not acting on her feelings was even more unbearable--and if she'd 
acted on her feelings instead of keeping them bottled up last time, it might 
have turned out very differently indeed.

Fuuka sighed. "I can't make up my mind," she complained to her reflection. 
"What should I do...?"

--------------------------------------

Fuuka found her mother pulling things out of the refrigerator to make 
dinner. "Mom, I need advice."

"Sure, Fuuka-chan. What is it?"

Fuuka sat down at the kitchen table. "I...think I kinda have a crush on 
someone. I've been thinking about him an awful lot lately."

"Oh?" Mrs. Ayase smiled as she started washing vegetables. "A new crush is 
always nice. Especially if things work out."

"And...I really want to ask him out on a date..."

"Hmm. So...what's the problem?" Mrs. Ayase asked. "I mean, I'm not saying 
there *is* a problem, but it sort of sounds like you're hinting at there 
being one."

Fuuka sighed. "Well, the thing is, he's older than me."

"Older as in a senpai? Someone who's in college maybe?" Mrs. Ayase guessed.

"A little older than that."

The older woman stopped cutting the daikon she had been slicing, and turned 
to face Fuuka. "I see."

Fuuka looked down at the table, flushing. "Um...I'm talking about 
Koiwai-san," she said.

Mrs. Ayase raised an eyebrow. "You have a crush on Yotsuba-chan's father?"


Fuuka nodded.

"How'd that come about?" Mrs. Ayase wondered.

"Well..." Fuuka poked her index fingers together. "I always have a lot of 
fun whenever I'm with him and Yotsuba-chan, and...he's called me cute a 
couple of times." She blushed. "I mean, it's not like it was a big deal or 
anything, it just...made me feel..." She looked down. "Nice," she decided. 
"And...I guess from all of that, I...kinda started crushing on him."

"I see," Mrs. Ayase said, frowning and tapping an index finger against her 
chin. "Well..." She trailed off. "What if you ask him out and he says no? 
You remember the last time you got your heart broken."

Fuuka groaned. "Nobody will let me FORGET that," she complained.

"Alright, then...what if he says yes?"

"That's kinda what I'm hoping will happen," Fuuka said.

"Yes, I know, but you have to think carefully about this. Dating an older 
man...things might happen you're not ready to deal with."

"Koiwai-san isn't like that!" Fuuka retorted. "I know he isn't!"

"Calm down, calm down, I'm not accusing anyone of anything," Mrs. Ayase 
placated. "I just want you to be sure you know what could happen, and 
whether or not you can deal with it."

"I...I think I can handle anything that comes up," Fuuka said. "And I don't 
think Koiwai-san would do anything inappropriate."

"Mmm. No, he doesn't seem the type, does he..." Mrs. Ayase frowned 
thoughtfully. "Alright, you have my permission to date Koiwai-san." She 
wagged a finger at Fuuka. "But if your father objects to it, that's that."

Fuuka frowned. "So I have to wait until I get a chance to talk to Dad about 
it?"

Mrs. Ayase shook her head. "No, for now, you're permitted. There's honestly 
no telling when you'll even be able to talk to your father about this. I'm 
just warning you that if he says you can't go out on dates with Koiwai-san, 
then it will end then and there."

Fuuka sighed. "Yeah, that could be a problem." She stood and stretched. "But 
for now..."

Yotsuba's voice suddenly blew through the house like a wind chime made of 
sugar and dynamite.

"Looks like someone came over to play," Mrs. Ayase mused.

"Then now's my chance!" Fuuka exclaimed.

"What, right now? With no notice?" Mrs. Ayase asked, blinking.

"Sure, why not? Seize the salad!"

Mrs. Ayase groaned. "Okay, okay, get going. Just no more bad jokes."

Fuuka ran upstairs to change clothes. Three minutes later, she rushed past 
the living room in a blur.

Yotsuba, in the middle of receiving tea and snacks from Mrs. Ayase, blinked. 
"What was that?"

"Something Roman," Mrs. Ayase replied. Yotsuba just blinked at her in 
confusion.

--------------------------------------

"Sorry for intruding!" Fuuka called out as she walked into the unlocked 
house, slipping her shoes off at the genkan. "Ummm...Koiwai-san?"

Patrolling the ground floor, she found no sign of Koiwai. She was halfway up 
the steps when she heard the door of the work room open. "Koiwai-san!" she 
called.

Koiwai appeared at the top of the steps and blinked. "Yo," he said.

"H-hi," Fuuka said, suddenly nervous. She backed down the steps to let him 
descend. "Sorry for the intrusion..."

"You're always welcome here, Fuuka-chan," Koiwai said. "But Yotsuba's 
already over at your place..."

"I know," Fuuka said, looking down at her feet. "I didn't come over to play 
with Yotsuba-chan. I came over to talk to you."

"Oh," Koiwai said, blinking in surprise. "Okay. Um..."

"I want to go out with you!" Fuuka blurted suddenly. Then, her face turned 
crimson.

Koiwai just stared at her. "...huh?"

"Uhh...I came over..." Fuuka turned away, poking her index fingers together 
and digging a toe into the floor. "I...came over to ask if you'd go on a 
date with me."

"...a date? You want...to go out with me? On a date?"

"Y-yes," Fuuka said in a small voice. She turned around to face him, face 
still flaming. "Uh...I...kinda have, um...this crush on you," she explained. 
"And...I wanna go out with you."

Koiwai turned faintly pink himself. "You...really?"

"Yeah."

"I...have no idea what to say," Koiwai said.

Fuuka sighed. "I'm sorry I bothered you, Koiwai-san. I'll..." She turned and 
started to trudge away.

"I didn't say no," Koiwai said. "I just need to think about this for a 
second."


Fuuka stopped. "Y-you're not saying no?" she asked, hopeful.

"I...just wasn't expecting something like this," Koiwai said. He frowned. 
"Do your parents know about this?"

"Mom does. I talked it over with her, and she said it's okay. Dad...is 
almost never home, so Mom says I can go by her word until I get a chance to 
talk to him, but if he vetoes this, then that's that." She sighed. "That's 
why I rushed right over here as soon as I knew you were alone. I wanted to 
be sure I had the chance for at least one date with you." She bowed her 
head. "If...if you'll even go out with me at all, I mean."

Koiwai was silent for what felt like eternity. "It's been a long time since 
any girl was interested in me," he said quietly. "I mean, a REALLY long 
time."

"You're kidding!" Fuuka gasped. "I mean, you're far from perfect, but you're 
not bad looking at all, and you're a lot of fun to be around, especially 
when you have your act together..."

Koiwai raised an eyebrow. "It's weird that you say you have a crush on me 
and you're standing there listing my flaws and giving me backhanded 
compliments."

Fuuka's face turned even redder. "Sorry! I just...blurted all that out..." 
She looked up to face him. "Umm...I like you flaws and all, Koiwai-san. Just 
like...you said I was cute even though I have these hideous eyebrows..."

Koiwai smiled. "You ARE cute, Fuuka-chan." He stuffed his hands in his 
pockets and sighed. "I really shouldn't be going out with a girl ten years 
younger than me, but..."

"Ten? That's less of an age difference than I thought," Fuuka said. "I 
figured you were at least thirty."

"Really? I look that old?" Koiwai asked, a somewhat befuddled frown on his 
face. "I didn't think time took the baseball bat to me *that* hard..."

"N-not at all!" Fuuka shook her head. "I just meant you...when you're 
actually being mature, you just seem...mature..." She broke off, looking 
sheepishly at her feet. "I'm babbling..."

"You're even cuter when you're babbling," Koiwai said, grinning. He sighed. 
"Well, what can I do? A really cute girl wants to go on a date with me...I 
can't really say no to that..."

"Really? You'll...we can...?"

"Yeah," Koiwai nodded.

"Th-thank you!" Fuuka said, bowing. "Let me call Mom and tell her to look 
after Yotsuba-chan and have her eat dinner over there..." She dug her phone 
out of her pocket.

Koiwai blinked. "Right now? You want to just go right now?"

"Why not?" Fuuka asked. "We're both here, Yotsuba-chan's already over at my 
place, it's the perfect time!"

"O-okay, sure," Koiwai said, blinking dazedly.

"Mom? He said yes. We're gonna go out right now. Yotsuba-chan's gonna have 
to eat dinner over there. We won't stay out TOO late, I promise. Ja!" 
Slipping her phone back in her pocket, Fuuka smiled sunnily up at Koiwai. 
"Well then, let's--"

She trailed off abruptly, touching an index finger to her lip and furrowing 
her brow prettily.

"What is it?" Koiwai asked.

"I..." Fuuka began. "It's...if we're gonna go out on a date, it's a little 
weird for me to keep calling you Koiwai-san, don't you think?"

"Hmm," Koiwai pondered that with exaggerated seriousness, then nodded. 
"Okay, you have my permission to call me by my given name." He paused. 
"Which is Kotashi, by the way."

Fuuka smiled. "Then, let's go have a good time together, Kotashi!"

--------------------------------------

Koiwai had excused himself for a few moments to change; he came back wearing 
a fairly nice pair of charcoal jeans and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. He'd 
also splashed on a little cologne or aftershave, and smelled quite nice.

"So, where do you want to go?" he asked.

Fuuka thought about that. "Honestly? I have no idea. I mean, I didn't 
actually think about *where*, I just thought about, y'know, actually going 
out at all." She flushed.

Koiwai chuckled. "Hey, it happens." His brow furrowed. "Well, to be honest, 
I skipped lunch, so...mind if we hit some place for an early dinner, and 
then go from there?"

"Works for me," Fuuka said. "Got any place in mind?"

"As a matter of fact..." Koiwai pulled out his phone and scanned through his 
directory, then placed a call. "Hello? This is Koiwai, Jumbo's friend. Yeah, 
the one with the cute little green-haired girl. Are you full up this 
afternoon? Oh, good. Hold a table for two for me, will you? No, I'm kind of 
on a date today. Yeah. Great, thanks! See you in a bit."

Fuuka raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Oh, there's this great little yakiniku place over by Jumbo's shop," Koiwai 
explained. "We went there with Yotsuba and Yanda a while back, and it was 
really good, so I decided to put the number in my phone in case I ever 
decided I wanted to head there again."

"That's unusually prepared," Fuuka commented. "Most people would just look 
in the phone directory..."

Koiwai chuckled. "Yeah, but at the time, when I was about to leave the shop, 
this little voice in my head said I should get the number and put it in my 
phone right then, just in case." With a smile, he added, "Funny thing 
is...I'm pretty sure that little voice was yours."

Fuuka blushed. "Really..."

"Well then, let's go eat!"

--------------------------------------

Koiwai and Fuuka decided to take a bus to the yakiniku place rather than 
their bikes. The restaurant Juu Juu was lively, but not overly crowded; the 
owner met Koiwai personally at the entrance.

"It's been a while, Koiwai-san!" she said.

"Ah...yeah," Koiwai agreed.

"Oh? And who's your pretty friend?"

Fuuka bowed. "Ayase Fuuka," she said.

"So, Koiwai-san is into dating cute younger girls?" the owner said with a 
sly grin.

Fuuka blushed. "Please don't make it sound that sleazy."

The owner laughed. "I'm just teasing. Your server is coming over now to show 
you to your table."

A pretty server ambled over and bowed to them. "Ah! I remember you!" she 
said to Koiwai. "You were here a couple weeks ago, right?"

"That's right," Koiwai replied.

"Well, if you'll follow me..."

They were seated at a booth in the back corner of the main dining area. 
"I'll just take your drink orders while you decide what to order..."

"I'll have a cola," Fuuka said.

"Make that two," Koiwai added.


"Eh?" the server asked. "You're not having the draft beer this time?"

Koiwai shook his head. "I don't drink alcohol when I'm on a date."


"I see. Then I'll be back shortly."

When she left, Fuuka whispered, "You could've had a beer if you wanted one. 
I wouldn't be offended."

Koiwai shook his head. "There's only two times I drink beer. When I'm 
watching baseball, and when I'm with Jumbo. I don't exactly get drunk 
easily, but I'd prefer not to even chance it most of the time."

"Oh, I see," Fuuka said. "Well, that makes sense." She tilted her head. "Why 
with Jumbo-san specifically?" she asked.

"Because he never gets drunk. At all. I'm pretty sure it's his size, but 
I've seen him drink ten beers and stay stone cold sober."

"Wow," Fuuka breathed. "So you only drink with Jumbo-san because he'll keep 
a clear head no matter what?"

"Yeah."

The server returned with their drinks; they placed their meat orders. While 
they waited, they made idle conversation.

"So, what is it you translate, exactly?" Fuuka asked.

"Mostly technical manuals and things like that," Koiwai replied. "Really 
boring stuff that makes my head hurt sometimes."

"I see..." Fuuka nodded. "How'd you get into doing that, anyway?"

"Well, in college I was studying linguistics and communications," Koiwai 
explained. "And there were a couple of guys in my dorm who were real 
technophiles. They insisted anything made in Japan was crap and kept 
importing audio and video equipment and computers from America and Germany." 
He shrugged. "I honestly can't tell the difference between that stuff and 
domestic electronics, but whatever...anyway, the problem was, they couldn't 
read the manuals that came with the stuff they ordered."

"But you could," Fuuka guessed.

"Yeah. So they kept coming to me to get me to help them set stuff up and 
learn how to use it, and if there was a problem, there they were, any time 
of day or night, no matter how busy I was. Finally, after a couple months of 
that, I got fed up. I said 'Look, next time you order this kind of crap, 
give me the manual the day you get it, and I'll translate the damn thing for 
you from cover to cover so you don't have to bother me all the time.'"

Fuuka laughed.

"So anyway, one day I was translating a manual for an elaborate stereo 
setup, and one of my professors happened by. He was interested in what I was 
working on so intently, and he looked over it. He was VERY impressed. And he 
said, 'Koiwai-kun, you should think about doing this for a living. Companies 
pay a lot of money for translators to do exactly what you're doing right now 
for free.' So I thought about it, and with his help, I put samples of my 
work out to some local firms. Pretty soon, I was spending more time doing 
freelance work than I was studying. By the time I graduated, I was already 
making four hundred thousand a month."

Fuuka whistled. "That's amazing!"

"I'm pulling down more than twice that now," Koiwai said. "But sometimes the 
work is so tedious, I get headaches like you would not believe..."

"It almost sounds like you do homework for a living," Fuuka said.

"Hmm...yeah, that's a way to look at it," Koiwai replied, nodding. "It's 
nice when I can take a little break from it."

The meat arrived, and they began grilling it. "So, what're you planning to 
study in college?" Koiwai asked as he tended some short ribs.

Fuuka sighed. "I have no idea. Truthfully, I haven't even decided on what 
college to shoot for yet."

Koiwai raised an eyebrow. "And here you're usually the one telling everyone 
else to get their act together," he teased.


Fuuka ducked her head. "Yeah..."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll figure out what you want to do 
soon enough."

"I hope so." As Fuuka took a piece of meat and a large mushroom off the 
grill, she suddenly giggled.

"What's so funny?" Koiwai asked.

"I was just thinking about..." Fuuka broke off as she was overcome with 
giggles. "About the first time I asked Yotsuba-chan what you do for work."

"Oh?"

"She totally mixed it up and said you were a konnyakuya," Fuuka explained.

Koiwai blinked.

"I had...the funniest mental image," Fuuka continued, giggling. "Of you 
holed up in a room in your house...making...konnyaku..." She totally lost it 
and doubled over laughing.

Koiwai chuckled, taking some meat off the grill and placing it on his tray. 
"Sometimes translating Yotsuba is harder than translating medical equipment 
manuals."

They continued to chat as they ate; Koiwai learned that Fuuka wasn't in any 
clubs, but was Vice President of the Student Council.

Once they finished eating and left the restaurant, Fuuka groaned. "I ate way 
too much. I'm never gonna lose weight like this."

"Lose weight?" Koiwai asked. "Why do you need to lose weight?"

"I'm chubby," Fuuka said. "And my legs are way too thick."

"What the hell are you talking about," Koiwai drawled. "I've seen you in a 
bathing suit, there's nothing whatsoever wrong with your body."

Fuuka blushed. "Umm..." Shaking her head, she glanced over at Koiwai, 
frowning. "As I recall, you and Jumbo-san were teasing the crap out of me 
that time."

Koiwai shrugged. "You were teasing us first," he said. "We were just letting 
a little air out of you. Of course, Jumbo may have taken it a bit far, 
but..." He shook his head. "Even if you think you're chubby, the truth is, 
you don't need to be a toothpick. There's seriously absolutely nothing wrong 
with you."

Fuuka's blush deepened. "Uh...th-thanks," she murmured.

"Anyway, have you thought about what to do next?"

Fuuka tilted her head. "Hmm. How about karaoke?"

"Pass," Koiwai said, waving one hand in front of his face. "Karaoke's no fun 
in groups of less than four, and even then it's only really fun if you're 
drunk."

"Aww," Fuuka said.

"Besides, no way in hell do you want to hear me sing."

"Oh?" Fuuka asked. "I'll have to make a point to force you to sing sometime, 
then." She stroked her chin, brow furrowed. "Okay, think...what's fun...ah!" 
She pounded a fist into an open palm. "I've got it! And it's a good way to 
work off all that food, too!"

"Hm? What is it?" Koiwai asked.

Fuuka pointed dramatically at a shop front across the street and three shops 
down. "There!" she exclaimed.

"There...?" Koiwai asked. "An arcade?"

"Yeah! There's something I've always wanted to try, and this'll be the 
perfect time!"

"O-oi," Koiwai began, "just what is it you're roping me into?"

"You'll see," Fuuka said in a laughing tone. She guided him through the 
doors of the arcade; they were immediately buffeted by a wall of noise and 
bright lights from rows of UFO catchers and squealing girls.

"Oi oi," Koiwai grunted. "The first-date UFO catcher bit? Seriously?"

Fuuka thwapped him on the shoulder. "No, dummy, I'm not *that* lame..." She 
practically dragged him over to the stairs leading up to the next floor. 
"What we want is up *here*..."

They emerged onto a floor that was even louder and flashier; the cacophony 
of at least two dozen bass-thumping music tracks overlapping was deafening.

And in the center of the room...

"*THIS* is what I wanna do," Fuuka said as she led Koiwai over to a group of 
Dance Dance Revolution machines, all but two of which were in use.

Koiwai stared. "You're serious? DDR?"

"I've never tried it before," Fuuka admitted. "I always wanted to, but any 
time I hang out with friends and come here, they're already really good at 
it, and I'm too embarrassed to try..." She smiled. "But if we're both trying 
it for the first time, it'll be fun!"

"Err..." Koiwai began.

"You know how this works, right?" Fuuka asked. "You just watch the arrows 
and when they hit that line, you step on the matching arrow on the stage..."

"Yeah, I know how it works," Koiwai said.

"Let's try it separately at first, then we'll do it together," Fuuka 
suggested.

"Okay..."

"You want to go first, or--?"

"No, it's okay, you can go first," Koiwai said, hands stuffed in his 
pockets.

"Yosh'," Fuuka nodded, stepping up onto the dance stage and plunking a 
couple coins into the machine. "Okay...I'd better go with 'Beginner'," she 
decided. She scrolled the song wheel, picking songs seemingly at random.

For the next few minutes, Koiwai was treated to a spectacle of 
less-than-graceful lunging, bouncing, and jerking as Fuuka tried to keep up 
with the scrolling arrows. When it was over, she was rewarded with an 
overall 'A' rank for her performance, and beamed. "Not bad for my first 
try," she panted as she stepped down off the stage, streaming sweat. "Think 
you can top that?"

Koiwai raised an eyebrow at her. "I dunno," he said. He stepped up onto the 
stage, put in his money, and...

"Hmm...they changed it up a bit," he muttered under his breath. He started 
scrolling the song wheel, frowning. "Not much here I remember...didn't 
expect much though..." He selected three songs...

"W-wait, Kotashi! You've got it set on Expert..." Fuuka warned, but she was 
too late--he'd already started the game. She grimaced; this wasn't going to 
be pretty...

The arrows were scrolling at speeds that would make a minigun jealous. And 
yet, Koiwai's feet were gliding effortlessly over the arrows, even as he 
twisted his upper body around and made a lot of wild, freestyle arm 
movements, his eyes somehow never leaving the screen, his feet never 
slipping out of step.

Fuuka could only stare, gaping, as "Marvelous" and "Perfect" flew across the 
screen more times than she could count. A few people had noticed what was 
going on, and a small crowd was starting to gather around the machine.

"Hey, isn't that Yotsuba-chan's dad?" a familiar voice asked.

Inwardly, Fuuka moaned in despair. Of COURSE some of her classmates would be 
here...

"Hey, Vice President, are you here with Koiwai-san?"

"Ah...yes" Fuuka replied.

"Oh wow, are you two on a date?"

"Nah, couldn't be..."


"Sure they are!"

"But wow, he's amazing!"

"I've never seen anyone play like that..."

"He's like John Travolta!"

Fuuka buried her flaming red face in her hands.

Finally, Koiwai's set ended, and he was awarded a AAA ranking and an extra 
stage. For the duration of his extra song, the appreciative murmurs of the 
small crowd rose as he absolutely *destroyed* a particularly difficult song; 
this time, he only scored a AA, but he'd only missed five steps total.

He stepped down off the stage, bracing his hands on his knees and breathing 
heavily. Around him, the crowd broke into applause.

Fuuka stared at him. "What...what...what the hell was THAT?!" she demanded.

"Huh?" Koiwai asked.

"You! Up there! That...what the hell just happened?!"

"Oh!" Koiwai rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I didn't tell you 
because you were so enthusiastic, I didn't want to ruin it for you, but I 
used to play competitively in college. I haven't touched a DDR machine for 
several years, though, so I was afraid I might be a little rusty..."

"A little rusty..." Fuuka said in a quavering tone. "Ahahahahahah..."

"Come on, it's your turn again," Koiwai said.

"Ah...after all that, I..."

Koiwai snorted. "What, you're embarrassed now because you're a beginner and 
I'm not? Shit, Fuuka-chan, we're here to have FUN! So get up there and have 
some! You were enjoying it before, right?"

"Well...yeah..."

"Then that's all that matters," Koiwai said, smiling.

"Okay," Fuuka said, stepping back up onto the machine. Predictably, there 
were a few hecklers, and more than a few calls for Koiwai to get back up on 
the stage, but he quickly silenced those with a few well-placed frowns and 
glares, and Fuuka was able to enjoy herself.

For the next hour, the two of them monopolized the machine, with various 
onlookers drifting in and out, cheering on Koiwai's amazing skill, offering 
either jeers or encouragement for Fuuka. By the time they were done, she'd 
gained enough confidence in herself to try Basic, and whenever it was 
Koiwai's turn, she watched in appreciative awe, enjoying the display of his 
surprising skill.

Finally, Koiwai was tired enough that he only scored AA on a set. "I 
think...that's enough of that for today..." he panted.

"Yeah," Fuuka agreed, feeling her own stamina flagging.

Koiwai checked his watch. "It's...7:15," he said. "Let's get some ice cream 
and then call it a night."

"Okay," Fuuka agreed.

--------------------------------------

"But still, you could've told me you were good at DDR before I made a fool 
of myself," Fuuka groused as they ate soft-serve ice cream cones.

"And then you wouldn't have tried it, and then you wouldn't have had the fun 
you just had," Koiwai pointed out. "Maybe I showed off a bit too much," he 
admitted sheepishly, "but it's kind of hard to pretend to suck at something 
when you're an expert at it..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Fuuka said, biting into her cone. "And I did have fun. 
Not just playing, but watching you play, after I got over the shock. You're 
AMAZING!"

"Thanks," Koiwai said, "but I'm getting too old for that."

"Bullshit," Fuuka said. "You're not some stiff-backed old man, Kotashi. 
You're still in your prime."

Koiwai chuckled. "Well, it's kind of you to say that," he said. Finishing 
his ice cream, he wiped his hands with a napkin and sighed. "I guess we'd 
best get going then, huh?"

"Yeah," Fuuka agreed. They headed for the bus stop.

All too soon, they were standing in front of their neighboring houses. They 
walked past Koiwai's gate and to the gate in front of Fuuka's house.

"I had a really good time with you tonight, Kotashi," Fuuka said.

Koiwai smiled down at her. "Yeah. I really enjoyed this."

"So, you think..." Fuuka looked down, blushing and digging at the sidewalk 
with the toe of one shoe, "Maybe...you won't mind going out with me again 
sometime?"

"I'm looking forward to it," Koiwai said.

Fuuka smiled. "I'm glad." She stood on her tiptoes, leaned up, and kissed 
him briefly on the lips. "Goodnight, Kotashi. And thanks for a great time."

"Yeah...same here," Koiwai said, smiling.

"I'll send Yotsuba-chan out," Fuuka said.

"Thanks."

Fuuka went through the gate, face blooming in a silly smile. A much softer, 
but no less happy, smile decorated Koiwai's face as he watched her go.

--------------------------------------

"I'm back!" Fuuka called.

"FUUKA!" Yotsuba yelled, plowing into the teenager as she stepped out of her 
shoes. "You're late!" she pouted. "I didn't get to have no fun with you at 
all an' you missed dinner!"

Fuuka knelt down to hug the green-haired little girl. "Sorry about that, 
Yotsuba-chan. I was out on a date."

"Uoooooh," Yotsuba said, eyes wide. "You go on dates?"

"Well, I did today," Fuuka replied.

"Cool! That makes you REALLY like a grown-up!"

Fuuka laughed weakly. "Y-yeah..." Recovering, she said, "Your daddy's 
waiting at the gate for you. You better head on home now."

Yotsuba pouted. "Aww, I wanna hear about your date," she said.

"Maybe later," Fuuka said. "For now, you'd better go home, your daddy's 
gonna be mad if he has to wait long..."

Yotsuba grimaced cutely. "Don't want Daddy to get mad," she said. She 
stuffed her feet into her shoes. "Bye-bye," she said sadly.

"Bye-bye, Yotsuba-chan," Fuuka said.

After she left, Fuuka suddenly felt the pressure of multiple pairs of eyes 
bearing down on her. She turned, and saw her sisters and her mother staring 
her down.

"A date, huh?" Asagi said. "Congratulations for finally managing to get a 
guy interested in you."

"Oneechan!" Ena chided. "Fuuka-oneechan is popular and pretty and lots of 
guys like her! Right, Fuuka-oneechan?"

"Well, that's true," Fuuka asked, smling smugly. Then she shook her head. 
"Not that it matters..."

"So, did it go well, dear?" Mrs. Ayase asked. "I'm guessing yes, since you 
seem pretty happy..."

"It went very well," Fuuka said, smiling. "And we're definitely going to go 
out again."

"That's good," Mrs. Ayase replied. "I was honestly a little nervous about 
this whole thing...I still am, somewhat," she admitted. "He WAS a perfect 
gentleman, right?"

"Of course he was!" Fuuka replied, flushing. "He'd never do anything weird 
or perverted!"

"That's good," Mrs. Ayase said. "I feel a lot better about you dating an 
older man knowing he behaves himself..."

"An older man?" Asagi asked, raising an eyebrow. "How much older? College? 
Dad's age? Old and ready to croak?"

Fuuka rolled her eyes. "You can be a real pain sometimes, Oneechan. Now I 
don't know if I wanna--"

"It was Koiwai-san, wasn't it?" Ena asked suddenly.

Asagi's eyes widened. "O-HO!" she said. "I see! So that's why Yotsuba-chan 
stayed over for dinner..."

"How'd you figure it out, Ena-chan?" Fuuka asked, blushing.

"Well, like Oneechan said, Yotsuba-chan stayed awful late and had dinner 
with us. That means Koiwai-san went somewhere, and since you went out on a 
date with an older man..."

"Detective Ena solves another case!" Asagi said, clapping.

Fuuka shook her head and laughed. "You got me," she said.

"So, what was it like? What did you do?" Mrs. Ayase asked.

"Well, we ate at this great yakiniku place not far from Jumbo-san's shop, 
then we went to an arcade and played DDR for almost an hour, then we had 
soft-serve ice cream and came home."

"Not exactly a shoujo manga date," Asagi commented.

"Oh, hush, Oneechan," Ena said. "It sounds like they had fun."

"We really did!" Fuuka said. She blushed. "Almost a little too much fun. A 
whole bunch of my classmates were at the arcade, and we kind of attracted 
attention..."

"For showing up there on a date together?" Asagi asked.

"For Kotashi being REALLY good at DDR," Fuuka replied. "He used to play 
competitively in college. He says he hasn't played in years, but he was 
still amazing."

"Koiwai-san plays DDR?" Ena asked, tilting her head. "I've got to see that 
sometime."

"Me too," Asagi said. "I can't picture it...well, maybe a little." Then she 
tilted her head. "And it's already 'Kotashi'?"

Fuuka's face turned completely crimson. "Well, it'd be weird to call him 
Koiwai-san if we're dating, wouldn't it?"

"Did you kiss him?" Ena asked.

"Yes," Fuuka replied, smiling. "A very nice first kiss."

"Aww," Ena awwed.

"Well, I'm glad you had fun," Mrs. Ayase said, smiling. "Now, I'm sure 
you're anxious for a bath if you had that much--"

The gate bell rang.

Still nearest the door, Fuuka pressed the intercom. "Yes?"

//Yo, Fuuka-chan!// Jumbo's voice boomed over the little speaker. //Got some 
flowers for you!//

Fuuka blinked. "Flowers?"

//From Koiwai,// Jumbo clarified.

"Whoa, that was FAST," Asagi said.

"Bring 'em on in, Jumbo-san," Fuuka said.

When she opened the door, Jumbo held out a dozen yellow roses. "He picked 
yellow because he thinks red is too corny after a first date," Jumbo 
explained. "Man, you and Koiwai going out..."

Fuuka accepted the roses. "Thank you. And I'll call Kotashi and thank him." 
She tilted her head. "How'd you get here so fast with them? I mean, he 
couldn't have had time to place an order yet, we just got home..."

Jumbo smirked. "He texted the order almost half an hour ago."

Fuuka raised her eyebrows. "While we were coming home? I knew he had his 
phone out, but I didn't think--"

"Well, if he'd called instead of texting, it wouldn't have been a surprise, 
now would it?" Jumbo asked. He waved to everyone. "Anyway, that's my last 
delivery of the day. Goodnight, everybody!"

"Goodnight, Jumbo-san!" the family chorused.

Once he left, Fuuka smelled the roses and sighed happily.

"Here, let me get those in water for you," Mrs. Ayase said. "And you call 
Koiwai-san and thank him."

As soon as she was relieved of the flowers, Fuuka pulled out her phone and 
called Koiwai. "Hey, Kotashi! Just got the roses. Thanks. Hm? Oh, yellow 
roses are just fine. Jumbo-san explained why...yes, he did. Hm? Oh, I don't 
think you're...no, not at all. Like I said, yellow is fine. It says you have 
your own ideas about things, and I like that. I'll talk to you tomorrow. We 
can decide when we're going out again. Goodnight, Kotashi."

Putting her phone away, Fuuka passed through the living room, pausing long 
enough to smell her roses, then headed off to take a bath.

After she left, Ena commented, "It sounds like Koiwai-san makes a really 
cool boyfriend."

"Yeah," Asagi admitted. "I'm almost a little jealous now..."

--------------------------------------

Yotsuba was, fortunately, engaged in "takin' a really super-huge poop!" when 
Jumbo came over to collect for the flowers.

"How much do I owe you, Jumbo?" Koiwai asked as Jumbo headed inside.

"Since it's your first date and it sounds like you two really hit it off, 
I'll cut it to half price. 3800 yen."

"Thanks," Koiwai replied, digging the money out of his wallet and handing it 
over.

"So? How was it?" Jumbo asked. "I was a little surprised when I got your 
text, but now that I think about it, you two are kind of...well, it makes 
sense."

"Really?" Koiwai asked.

"Yeah."

"Hmm..." Koiwai furrowed his brow. "Well, we did have a lot of fun together. 
And..." He smiled. "She kissed me, and that was...nice. I haven't had much 
attention from girls in a long time..."

"That's because you almost never go out with anyone except me, Yotsuba, and 
Yanda," Jumbo pointed out.


"I mean even before I got Yotsuba," Koiwai said dismissively. "Face it, my 
love life has always sucked." He smiled. "Until today."

"So, you're looking forward to going out with Fuuka-chan again?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I really am." Koiwai grinned and stretched. "Let's have a beer 
to toast the end of a slump!"

--------------------------------------

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, dear."

Mr. Ayase grunted and stretched, popping his back as he stepped out of his 
shoes. "Anything interesting happen today?" he asked.

"Well, not much...oh, except Fuuka-chan going out on her first date!"

"Eh? Fuuka-chan's dating now?"

"Well, she IS almost seventeen, anata," Mrs. Ayase said.

"That's true," Mr. Ayase replied, nodding. "So, is it a classmate?"

"Not exactly," Mrs. Ayase said. She helped her husband off with his suit 
jacket, and then loosened his tie. "It's someone a little bit older..."

"Oh? Someone in college? One of Asagi's friends?" Mr. Ayase asked.

Mrs. Ayase grimaced. "A *little* bit older than that," she said.

Mr. Ayase frowned. "How much older are we talking?"

"She went out with Koiwai-san from next door," Mrs. Ayase replied 
hesitantly. "You know, Yotsuba-chan's father."

"WHAT?!" Mr. Ayase exclaimed, eyes wide. "With Yotsuba's--"

"He's not TOO much older than Fuuka-chan, dear," Mrs. Ayase soothed. "And 
they had a very nice time together, and he was a perfect gentleman and had 
her home quite early, and she's looking forward to going out with him 
again--"

"She shouldn't be going out with a man who has a child in the first place!" 
Mr. Ayase said.

"Whyever not?" Mrs. Ayase asked, a slight edge in her voice. "Koiwai-san 
isn't married. Again, he's not terribly much older than Fuuka-chan. They get 
along very well, they had a very nice time, he sent her some beautiful 
flowers..."

"When did he ask her out, and why did you allow this?"

"He didn't ask her. She asked him."

"Eh?"

"Fuuka-chan has a crush on Koiwai-san," Mrs. Ayase replied. "She came to me 
for advice about it, and I told her if she really wanted to go out with him, 
I'd permit it."

"You WHAT?!"

Mrs. Ayase put her hands on her hips. "Please keep your voice down, dear," 
she said sternly. "Now, listen to me. Fuuka-chan likes Koiwai-san very much. 
He is single. He is only ten years older than her. He clearly feels 
something for her too, or at least does after their first date. You haven't 
actually MET Koiwai-san, have you?"

"No, I haven't," Mr. Ayase confirmed.


"Well, I have, and I quite like and respect him. He is a very nice man, and 
if Fuuka-chan wants to date him, I see absolutely no reason to forbid it." 
Mrs. Ayase took hold of her husband's shirt collar and yanked him down. 
"She's already had her heart broken once. Don't screw this up for her. If 
you do, she will hate you. And I won't be especially thrilled with you 
either."

Mr. Ayase swallowed. "Well...since you feel so strongly about it...and 
approve of him..." He coughed. "Alright. I'll...defer to your judgement on 
this one."

Mrs. Ayase smiled. "Good choice, dear."




==================
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www.mythrilmoth.net