She nodded, and they sat cuddled together until the waitress returned with the dessert and two spoons. Kiri started in on one corner with enthusiasm. Hikaru carefully scooped out a bite. 

"You must have a really good job," she said speculatively.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Otherwise you'd have offered to give it up before," she replied.

"I have offered to give it up before," he said ruefully, licking his spoon.

She looked at him.

"Admittedly, it was in the middle of a screaming fight," he continued dryly. "My girlfriend at the time shouted back something along the lines of why should I have to give up nice things so that you will work reasonable hours."

Hikaru asked uncomfortably, "And then you broke up?"

"Not long after that," he confirmed. "I'm afraid that I've become rather conceited since then," he confessed. "I um, had sort of decided that if a woman didn't like me enough to put up with my job, then she didn't like me enough."

Hikaru looked at him soberly.

"But to be fair," he protested, "none of my girlfriends ever calmly asked me to change jobs, or offered to support me either?"

Hikaru laughed and he smiled back.

"It is," he said after a moment, "a good job."

"You like it then?" she asked.

"Sometimes I love it, days like today I hate it. But it still pays pretty well." Kiri replied, stretching his legs out under the table and taking another bite of the dessert.

Hikaru said, "If you have days where you can say you love it, it is a really good job."

He looked at her appreciatively.

She asked, "What is it you do? You look rather tired." He did look rather tired, and much more rumpled than the previous morning, though the business attire he wore looked similar.

"Um, it was a long day," he answered. "My job title is 'General Manager', but mostly I act like the company trouble shooter. If there's a problem a manager can't handle, I'm called in. As to what the company does, it's mostly advertising, some intercompany networking, and I guess recruiting of new talent? It's called Inline Productions," he said.

"Isn't that sort of what most general managers do?" she asked.

"I suppose so, very generally speaking of general management." He laughed again. 

Hikaru gave him a wry smile. 

Kiri stretched, then sighed and continued, "As to why today was bad, well, someone did something stupid and tried to deny it. And then someone else tried to cover it up instead of taking care of it. So by the time it came to my attention it was a bloody awful mess added onto an already busy day."

She hugged him.

He smiled and asked, "Do you want the last bite?" He held the spoonful of chocolate and cream up to her.

She shook her head and he ate it.

"What do you do at work?" he enquired.

"Music," she said simply.

He froze, and asked carefully, "You're a musician?"

She nodded and told him, "I play the piano at my uncle's restaurant on Sundays, and piano or guitar whenever a place has a job during the week. And I play with my band on Fridays and Saturdays, or occasionally Sunday afternoons."

He looked at her rather expressionlessly.

Puzzled, she said uncertainly, "It's OK if you don't like music, I won't make you listen."

He laughed and asked, "Who doesn't like music?"

She said thoughtfully, "I don't think Izumi-san likes music very much. And there are many people who don't like certain types of music."

"Who is Izumi-san?" he inquired quickly.

"My mother's new husband," she answered, "Mizuki Izumi, he's a police officer."

Kiri's expression went flat and he asked grimly, "The man who dragged you away from me hit you later?"

Hikaru winced and nodded.

After a long moment he enquired unhappily, "How long have they been married?"

"A little over three months." She explained a little, "He knocked my mother up, so they got married rather quickly. She's almost six months pregnant now." She smiled, then looked at Kiri's expression, and added quickly, "He's not really a bad guy."

Kiri gave her a skeptical expression and Hikaru continued, "He's not, I just don't know how to get along with him well yet. My mother is head over heels, and I'm sure he adores her. It's only, well, I think everything would be fine if I were a younger version of my mother. Small, cute, girly. If I liked to cook and sew and wear pretty clothes" she muttered.

"You look very pretty tonight," Kiri interrupted.

Hikaru replied with amusement, "Well, you can thank my mother for that, she made me change my clothes before coming." Then she realized how that sounded and blushed.

He said with amusement, "Then for our next date, please wear whatever you like."

She laughed, and nodded. Kiri raised his fingers to her cheek and said, "I think he acted like a bad guy."

Hikaru shrugged and said, "Kind of, but when I'm not angry with him, I think Izumi-san has just been trying very hard to be what he thinks is a good parent. I am just not the kind of child he was expecting. My mother had told him she had two children, but Izumi-san wasn't really expecting two nearly grown children I think. My brother is away at University, so it's fine for him." She stopped talking.

Kiri sighed. "I understand that you are trying to like him, for your mother's sake," he said, "but I don't know your mother, and I hate him." He slid his arm around her again, and pulled her close. "He shouldn't have hit you."

Hikaru couldn't argue. Kiri looked at his phone, "We have about ten minutes left," he said, and sighed again.

"Kiri-san?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he said inquisitively, resting his nose against her hair.

"Um, would you mind if I kiss you again?" she asked.

He laughed quietly. "You don't have to ask," he teased, "you can just kiss me."

She kissed him. He kissed her back. His arm tightened around her, and he shifted so he could reach to cup her jaw with his other hand and kissed her more deeply.

He stopped, and she opened her eyes, his eyes returned her questioning gaze steadily.

"Hikaru-chan," he said a little breathlessly, "I haven't dated a high-school girl since I was in high school. I don't want to push you into anything, but I'll probably push you. So, if you feel like I'm pushing you, tell me to stop. Or tell me I'm being an idiot. I'll stop, OK?"

She nodded and said quietly, "OK." After a moment Hikaru asked, "How old are you?"

He replied ruefully, "Twenty-seven."

She looked at him with wide eyed surprise.

He let go of her and sat back a little. "Too old?" he suggested neutrally.

She blinked and laughed. "No," she told him, and leaned in to hug him.

"Are you sure?" Kiri asked, returning her hug.

"Yes, I was just surprised," she replied more seriously. "When I first saw you I guessed maybe twenty-one or twenty-three at most, then when I saw you dressed for work, I thought maybe twenty-five. It's only a couple more years."

Ruefully he replied, "But ten between us, I read your ID."

"I already like you too much to care," she replied honestly.

He kissed her again, and murmured, "Me too," against her hair. Then he released her. "We should probably go pay, and get moving," he said regretfully.

"OK," she replied.

"I'm paying by the way," he said.

Hikaru frowned.

"I made you wait," he winked at her, "let me get this one."

"I guess," she agreed dubiously.

He grinned at her. They stood up and went to pay. While they waited he commented, "Such a low key first date."

"What do you usually do on the first date?" she asked.

He blushed.

"Wow," she said.

Embarrassed but truthful, he answered her, "Um, usually dinner and a movie, or dancing, some combination like that, and then, well, usually to bed."

She looked at him consideringly. Just on looks alone she could believe that it was easy for him to take women to bed on the first date. He was incredibly pretty, clean shaven, with classic features, long dark lashes, and clear steady eyes. Even rumpled and tired she found him gorgeous. "I see," she said dryly.

He glanced at her, still embarrassed. She smiled a little. After they'd finished at the register, he lead her out to his car. He opened the passenger door for her and waited for her to get in. 

Hikaru took a deep breath and climbed in. She carefully buckled the seat belt while he got in, and sat gripping it nervously. He clipped his phone into the dock and looked at her. Her fingers were white where they gripped the belt. After a minute he asked, "So, where are we going?"

She jumped and said, "Oh," and gave the address. He entered it and the navigation popped up.

He drove carefully, but it wasn't far, and they soon arrived. She opened the door and exited the car before he could get around to let her out. He came around to her anyway.

"Shall we go buy a phone on Sunday?" he asked lightly.

"Oh, yes, sometime after 2pm?" Hikaru replied.

"Where would you like to meet?" he enquired.

"Um, would the spot I first met you be too weird?" she asked.

He shook his head and smiled at her, "No, that would be fine. At two then?"

"A few minutes after, I don't finish until two," she said.

"Alright," he agreed. "May I walk you to your door?"

She nodded, and he took her hand, and she lead him up to the house. On the steps he tugged her hand and she turned toward him. He leaned in and kissed her lightly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and he kissed her harder.

"Goodnight Hikaru-chan," he said softly.

"Goodnight," she whispered.

He turned and walked back to his car.

She went into the house.

Hikaru jumped when her mother said from the couch, "He looks pretty." She was kneeling on the couch by the window. "Don't worry, I didn't see him kiss you," she added.

"Then how do you know he kissed me?" Hikaru asked dryly.

"I'm assuming it," her mother laughed. "I can't see the steps from here."

"He is incredibly pretty," Hikaru agreed. "Why are you waiting up, and why did I have to be home at midnight."

"I just happened to wake up," Miri said, "so I decided to wait a few minutes for you. Izumi was really worried when I told him you were on a date so late."

Hikaru sighed. She'd known it had something to do with Izumi-san. "Is it a new addendum to the curfew?" she asked.

Her mother hesitated.

Hikaru sighed again.

"I'm sorry, do you mind very much?" Miri asked.

"I mind," Hikaru replied honestly, "but I'll deal with it unless I'm working," she added.

They went up to bed.