Quantum Leap: Blind Date- September 15, 1995

Chapter 7

Sam had never really had a legit Japanese dinner. Sure, he'd eaten sushi and had take-out, but most people ate Chinese if they were planning on eating Asian food. It was amazing. The chef prepared the food right in front of them, which Sam had seen before, but the food was so much different than the Americanized versions of these types of places. The food tasted better somehow. Sam couldn't put his finger on why, but he supposed it tasted fresh, much more so than a lot of other places.

"This is really good," Sam mumbled through a mouthful of noodles, covered in a sauce of which Sam didn't know the name.

"Don't ever forget how good Japanese food is, girls," their mother told them. "Don't let America change who you are."

"I get it, Mom, but why can't we just have a little fun? I mean, we do live here," Suki pointed out. "We can do American stuff and still eat Japanese."

"You've got to keep at least a little hit of your culture."

"That's true, Mom. We'll do that," Sam said, hoping to give their mom a little bit of hope for her next generation. This trip would be a little bit depressing if they fought the whole time. "What's next?"

Chirashi sushi. Sam had no idea what it looked like, but it sure tasted good. Would he have liked it before the leap? Was he used to it or was it just really good?

"It's better than the natto you make at home," Suki said.

"Suki!" Sam hushed her.

"It's fine, Hika. I'm not exactly competition for a really high-end Japanese place. I generally don't bride myself on my cooking skills."

"But you work at Bob Evans," Suki said.

"Ha! I don't need any skills to cook American food, Natsuki."

Sam laughed with them. Finally, after they were finished with the sushi, the waiters brought them crème brûlée. Sam had heard of it, of course, but somehow he avoided ever trying it for himself. It tasted amazing- probably the best thing to top off the evening.

They talked on the way home, happy about their evening out. Sam couldn't help but think about how they would have another day out with their father, but it would end a lot differently.

Sam didn't feel tired, so they sat around and watched TV when they got home. Sam wondered about the new Star Trek series and some of the others that came out in the decade, but he wasn't sure if their family was into that kind of show. Was it just sitcoms and reality shows? That was all his own mother watched, from what he remembered. Sam liked many time-travel shows, as did his dad, so he watched some older shows concerning the subject, but those weren't around anymore, except newer versions of Star Trek. He vaguely remembered Full House; his memory wasn't the sharpest, but he remembered that he watched it and liked it. The show was over at this point, Sam thought, but there would surely be reruns available.

The three ended up watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which was sometimes confusing on its humor since Sam couldn't see it. There was quite a bit of laughing at nonverbal cues, so Sam was lost to it, such as mean looks the characters gave to each other, probably, and hand motions. It was a great show and had a lot of good lessons in addition to its humor, plus it gave insight into the racial problems of America. It was good to know there was a current, popular show that focused on this theme, and it was still popular with all races. In this episode, the sister's parents found out about her quitting college, and Will and her brother were both blackmailing her so that they wouldn't tell her parents about this.

Sam soon went to bed after watching a few episodes, announcing to the family that he was tired from school. What would he do over the weekend? He finished all of his homework before talking to Sal that day. Sam couldn't stand doing nothing with his mind, which may have been why he finished school so early.