Chapter 142: Chapter 141: Circles (Part 2)

Ryu looks at us, smiles broadly and when we reach him, he says, “Well worth the wait. You girls are far too beautiful for words and I mean all of you.” He looks at Kimi and Ako. “If Seiji and Kotaro don’t fall over themselves for you, they are fools.”

Suffice to say everyone smiles at his statement, but Kimi and Ako blush and murmur, “Thank you.”

He nods. “You’re welcome, but I meant every word of it and they are very lucky you agreed to go out with them.”

Loading up, we head over to Kei’s house to pick up Kei and Jim, then on to pick up Hiroaki. That done, Ryu gives Mr. Okami the addresses for Kotaro and Seiji.

I glance at my watch again and break away from my conversion with Ako and Kimi. I raise my voice a little and ask, “Mr. Okami, would you mind speeding up a little? We’re running behind.” He nods and I settle back in my seat to resume our conversation.

From what Kimi and Ako have been saying, the clothes we bought them are likely to cause problems for them with Kimi’s father. It’s looking like we are going to have to hold a conversation with him. By we, I mean me or my dad. It’s all fine and good that he wants them to be friends with us, but they didn’t have the clothes for a lot of the places we frequent. Frankly, the western style steakhouse we’re going to would refuse to seat us if Kimi had worn the dress she wanted tonight. I suppose it bears a little more thought, but not right at this moment.

We arrive and pick up Kei and Jim shortly, then make our way to Hiroki’s place to pick him up. Their boisterous “Hi. I missed you,” kisses and rather animated conversations make us smile. If this keeps up, tonight is going to be wonderful. I’m hoping that Seiji and Kotaro act much the same with Kimi and Ako.

At Seiji’s, we all get out for introductions. His smile when he looks at Kimi and says, “pleased to meet you,” makes her blush and fidget. Who would have thought the brash and outspoken girl we thought we knew is actually shy when it comes to boys? We pile back in and Kimi and Seiji sit down beside each other to talk, getting to know one another.

Kotaro’s house is in the same area, so it isn’t far and we make it there in no time. Again, we all get out for introductions and I’m pleased with his reaction to Ako.

Once we reboard, the conversations restart, with the addition of Kotaro and Ako sitting down beside each other, talking. The four of them smile and chat, seemingly off to a good start for the night.

I have to admit Kei and Ryu did a good job. I already knew they were both rather cute and I remember what Ryu told me about them, but they really do seem nice and things are going well, at least, so far.

Settling against Ryu, I wrap his arm around me and relax as we wind our way through traffic on our way to Playland.

When we arrive, we walk to the club where Ryu gives the host our name and she takes us to our table a few moments later. The boys behave as gentlemen should, not surprising since they do come from good families, help seat us and then sit down beside us, or in our case, with Ryu between Chinatsu and I. Then she hands out the menu and informs us,”Your server will be with you in a moment.”

She comes over a few moments later and introduces herself, “Welcome to Fleming’s. My name is Tsukiko and I’ll be your server this evening. Would you like to start off with some drinks?” She takes our orders and tells us, “I’ll be back in a few minutes with your drinks.”

Tsukiko returns with our drinks and asks, “Do you know what you’d like or do you need more time?”

She goes around the table taking our orders, but when it comes to the three of us, considering that we usually share whatever we order when we eat out, we order different, although complimentary, dishes. Chinatsu decides on deep fried prawns. I choose the broiled lobster tail and Ryu, as normal, chooses a large medium-rare porterhouse.

Interspersed with eating, we talk about school, tests, hobbies and the subject that totally loses me, popular groups in music. It isn’t that I don’t like music, I actually love it, it’s simply that I have so many other things that require my attention that I don’t have the time to learn about the groups.

I roll my eyes when the boy's conversation turns to sports. Not to mention I want to smack them upside the head for ignoring their dates to talk about sports. Ryu saves the day when he clears his throat to get their attention and then pointedly looks at the girls. Thankfully, they get the idea, drop the subject and include the girls in another topic.

Leaning over, I kiss Ryu’s cheek and whisper, “Thank you.”

He nods and replies, “They were being rude, so of course I’d say something.”

Merely another example of why we love him so much. How he got to be such an attentive gentleman with a father like his is beyond me.

Dinner is absolutely delicious, the service exceptional, and the company lovely, even if I did feel a little lost during some of the conversation.

After dinner, Ryu pays for everyone. Then we make our way over to the teen club, find a table, and order some drinks. As usual, Chinatsu and I dance with Ryu during the faster songs and take turns dancing with him on the slow songs. Honoka, Sofi and Miyuki dance with their respective boyfriends. I’ve tried to keep an eye on Kimi and Ako, but they don’t seem to need it. They’ve been talking, laughing and dancing with Seiji and Kotaro all night.

At one point, I’m taking a break to cool off and have something to drink while Chinatsu and Ryu dance when I overhear Seiji talking to Kimi. “You know, I was leery of going out with you, but I’m pleasantly surprised and happy that I did.”

She looks at him to ask, “Why’s that?”

He looks a little uncomfortable, so I have a good idea of why he said that.

“Honestly?”

She looks apprehensive, but she nods and says, “Of course.”

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“Because you have a reputation of being a bit of a princess and hard to get along with.” He emphasizes the next part. “BUT, I can’t see any evidence of that. Believe me when I tell you that I’ve had a great time with you tonight.”

Her smile almost lights up the club as she leans forward and kisses his cheek. “Me too.” She pauses as she leans back in her seat and recrosses her legs. “Seiji, they were right about me, but I am trying to change. I’ve treated a lot of people badly, but recently, some things came to light and I want to change. I don’t want to be that girl anymore. No, not that girl. Let’s be honest, I was an absolute bitch. I had no friends, no life, and nothing going for me other than decent grades. Trust me, I want so much more than that.”

I interrupt by reaching across the table and laying my hand on hers. “I'm sorry, I don’t mean to interfere, but couldn’t help but overhear. Kimi, you have friends. The rest of that will come with time, patience and a little work.” I look at Seiji. “I think you’ve seen that she’s worth getting to know, but please, no matter what you’ve heard, give her a chance. Sorry for intruding in your conversation, but it needed to be said.”

I lean back as Kimi looks at me, smiles and mouths, “Thank you.”

I nod at her, take a sip of my drink and stand as Seiji tells her, “I’ve never been one to pay attention to rumors and gossip.I like to form my own opinions and I like what I see so far. So, how about we ignore everything else and go from there?”

She replies, “Sounds good to me.”

Smiling, I head to the dance floor to join Ryu and Chinatsu. The remainder of the evening is almost a blur, a truly enjoyable one, but it goes far too fast.

Around 1:00, we are all at the table resting, when Honoka announces, “I hate to say this, but we need to leave soon to make sure everyone gets home on time.”

I really don’t want to leave, but she’s right since we have to be home by 2:00. Being late isn’t worth the trouble it would cause for everyone. Not to mention, that goes double for Kei and Jim.

Honoka says, “I’ll text our driver to meet us at the park entrance.” She pulls out her phone and texts Mr. Okami. Looking back up, she says, “He should be there in a few minutes.”

Ryu gestures for our waitress and tells her, “We need our bill.” She tells him, “Of course,” flips through them, finds it and holds it out to him. He looks it over, nods, then hands it back with his card and tells her, “Add 20% as a tip for yourself.”

She takes them and then comes back a few minutes later. She hands him the slip and his card. He signs, hands it back, and tells her, “Thank you.”

She replies, “We hope you come again.”

Getting up, we make our way out of the club. As we exit, I see Seiji take Kimi’s hand, which makes her smile.

A short time later, Ako again surprises us, as well as making us laugh, when she holds out her hand to Kotaro and says, “Since we are going for a walk, would you mind holding this for me?”

It might be a little dorky, but it’s also cute as hell.

After we’ve dropped everyone off and arrive home, I stop Ryu at the door. “Honey, I’m sorry, but you can’t stay with us this weekend since Ako and Kimi are here. I don’t believe they would say anything to anyone, but I’d rather forestall any problems.”

“Of course, I should have thought of that.” He gives us both a kiss and hug. “Good night. I love you two.”

We chorus our answer, “Love you too.”

After he leaves, we head inside and shut the door. Once we remove our shoes, I ask Kimi and Ako to wait a moment, and walk to the living room where we give Mama and Dad a hug, kiss and tell them, “Good night.”

Upstairs we clean up and change into our nightgowns. It isn’t long before there’s a knock at the door.

I call out, “Come in.” It isn’t as if we don’t know who it is.

The door opens, Kimi and Ako peek in and ask, “Can we have a slumber party?”

I glance at Chinatsu, who smiles and nods, then I reply, “Sure, come on in.”

It’s a good thing our bed is as big as it is, since it’s much more comfortable than futons on the floor.

Suffice it to say that we don’t get much sleep because we spend the night talking, giggling and basically having a great time. Although, next time we do something, I think it would be nice to have Aoi, Ami, Keiko, Mayu, and Miyuki join us. Especially since I’d like to expand Kimi and Ako’s circle of friends at school.

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