Wednesday school passed quickly. Hikaru, Risa and Shizuoka exited the gate together. Kiri stood waiting nearby and so, to Hikaru's surprise, was Makoto. She looked at Risa inquiringly.

Makoto answered the unasked question, he grabbed Hikaru, ruffled her hair and said, "Since you don't have a dad, someone's got to watch out for you, I'm here to interview your boyfriend too!" He laughed.

Hikaru shook him off and walked over to Kiri. "Hi," she said awkwardly.

"Hi," he grinned at her. "With this many should we squeeze into my car or should I move it into a long term parking spot?"

Hikaru looked at her friends dubiously.

They voted for squeezing into the car and chose an inexpensive fast food place as their destination.

Kiri was dressed in the same sort of outfit she'd met him in, with the cut outs that emphasised his shoulders, and when he turned she saw there were stylized wings cut into the back. She laughed.

He turned back inquisitively. Hikaru shook her head. They all squeezed into Kiri's car, Makoto, Risa and Shizuoka in the back.

"This is a freaking nice car," Makoto said admiringly.

Hikaru looked back at him curiously.

"It's a luxury car, by a sports car manufacturer, you didn't notice?" he asked incredulously.

Hikaru shrugged, "It's black, it looks a lot like other salarymen's cars, it's got four doors so it never occurred to me that it was some sort of sports car?"

Kiri laughed and she looked at him.

He patted the steering wheel and said, "This car is my baby. It's what I bought after I started making enough money to get something nicer than the bit of tinfoil I drove during college. It's a four door because I never wanted to be one of those guys who has to give up his sports car because he gets married and has kids. Plus it's handy if I need to use it for work."

"Oh," Hikaru replied.

"Hikaru, you're not going to wear your uniform on your date are you?" Shizuoka asked.

"You sound like my mom," Hikaru said wryly. "I brought a pair of pants to change into."

"There's worse things than sounding like your mom, I could sound like you," was Shizuoka's rejoinder.

Everyone laughed.

At the restaurant Kiri offered to order for Hikaru while she changed. She agreed, asked for a soda and a parfait, and left them. When she got back they were all standing at a pair of tables.

Kiri smiled at her, and started to wrap around her, but stopped.

"Kiri," Hikaru said.

"Yes?" he replied.

"You can hug me in front of my friends if you want to, they don't count as public so much?" she offered, blushing.

Kiri wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I wasn't sure," he said.

Risa looked at them for a moment and then sat down first. Makoto sat beside her. Shizuoka sat on the other side of Risa.

Kiri looked at Hikaru's friends. "You two are dating?" he asked, indicating Makoto and Risa.

They nodded, and Hikaru belatedly made introductions. She and Kiri sat next to each other opposite the three friends. Kiri held her hand.

Hikaru sipped her soda, and wondered if she was supposed to be talking.

Shizuoka asked Kiri, "So, are you seriously dating Hikaru, or are you just playing around?"

"Shizuoka!" protested Hikaru.

Kiri grinned and squeezed her hand, "It's OK, I kind of expected this kind of question. I am seriously dating her," he answered.

"You really don't look 27." Risa said.

"I'm sorry?" Kiri offered.

"What do you plan to do on today's date?" Makoto asked.

"Whatever Hikaru wants?" said Kiri.

All three of Hikaru's friends rolled their eyes at him.

"What's wrong with that?" Kiri protested. "I have the whole afternoon free, there's hundreds of things we could do."

Wryly Risa asked Hikaru, "And what do you want to do?"

"Um, I should probably do my homework first, or some of it, and we should probably eat dinner before I go home, but we don't have to?" she replied.

Kiri laughed and she looked at him. "I see," he said, lifting their joined hands and dropping a kiss on her fingers.

Hikaru eyed him anxiously, "is that OK?" She asked.

"It's fine," he said and grinned.

He'd gotten a chocolate cookie and a coffee for himself, and took a large bite of the cookie. Then asked a question of his own, "How long are we all staying together?"

Hikaru's friends assured him, "We'll allow you to take Hikaru away soon." They asked Kiri a bit about his job, his friends, and if he had any hobbies.

Kiri told them a little about his job, though he avoided specifics.

Hikaru mentioned, "I met one of Kiri's friends. He seemed nice enough."

Kiri said, "My only real hobby is cooking."

The three girls then remembered to compliment the lunch box he'd given Hikaru. Kiri laughed when he heard about Hikaru opening the box from Risa and Shizuoka. After about an hour the group broke up. 

As they settled into his car again, Kiri asked Hikaru, "So, where would you like to work on homework? Should I take you home and cook you dinner while you work on it?"

"Sure," she replied.

They drove a little ways before Kiri said, "Hikaru, let's go somewhere else."

Hikaru looked at him in surprise.

"If you're this tense just being alone together in the car, I don't think you're ready to come home with me," he said.

Hikaru stared and said, "Kiri, I'm not afraid to be alone with you."

Kiri frowned and argued, "Hikaru, it's fine if you're not comfortable yet, but don't lie to me."

"Kiri, stop the car," Hikaru said quietly.

He pulled over and turned to her unhappily. "Hikaru," he began.

She interrupted him by unbuckling her seatbelt and leaning over to kiss him. "Kiri, I'm not afraid of being alone with you. And I would kind of like to see where you live."

Kiri looked at her uncertainly. "Then why are you so tense?" he asked worriedly.

"It's the car," she said.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm afraid of being in the car. I was in an accident when I was six and hospitalized for a long time. I'm OK on busses and stuff, even though they are technically less safe, but cars scare me, and I can't stand riding in the back at all." She stopped.

He stared at her, reviewing all the times they'd driven together and how tense she'd been. "Why didn't you say anything before this?" he demanded. "I thought you were afraid to be alone with me the first time, because I'd just told you I'd usually take my date to bed. Then on Monday I thought you were just upset."

She shrugged, "Every time I've ridden with you it's meant I could see you longer, or that I could see you at all on Tuesday."

He stared at her. "Your step father shoved you into the back of that police car," he said flatly after a minute.

"I think I called him a fucking bastard when I got out, I'm not completely certain, I screamed something like that, that's when he hit me," she replied.

Kiri's expression was thunderous. "Does he know?" he asked.

"He's been told a little about the accident, and that I don't like cars, but I don't think he understands," she replied.

Kiri took a deep breath, rubbed his face, and then changed the topic. "What do you want to do now? Do you want to take the bus home tonight?" Kiri asked.

"No, I'm OK. I know I seem tense, but you seem like a careful driver, and I don't mind riding with you when I can stay with you longer that way," Hikaru told him.

"OK," he said. He leaned over and kissed her gently, "Home then?"

She nodded and fastened her belt back up.