After Story: Compassion

Chapter Forty-Four: Dinner Date

"You nervous?" I asked Pastor Jeff as we walked along the road to the Fujibayashi home.

"Not really...not anymore, at least," he said. "The hardest part was talking to her father; I know that I'm...well, not as young as she is. If he had answered 'no', I would've started to wonder if I'd heard him correctly."

"You mean heard her dad correctly?"

"No, whether I had heard God correctly."

"Yeah...I could see that being a problem." I mused; then I clapped him on the shoulder. "Well, I'm glad he accepted you. I figured he would; the whole family's crazy about you, after all."

"That's...humbling," he said as he studied the ground ahead of us.

We arrived at the twins' house and Jeff knocked on the door. Like last time, I heard a lot of thumping from inside before the door opened, once again revealing two visions of loveliness. Ryou wore her white dress from our date at the amusement park, white ribbon and all, while Kyou wore something a little more daring; a black, form-fitting dress, just enough to show her curves but not so much that it would be indecent.

She twirled a lock of her hair anxiously as she looked up at her date. "Is...this okay? Does it look slutty?"

"Not at all," Jeff replied as he took her free hand and kissed it. "You look lovely."

She smiled bashfully as she averted her eyes.

"What about me, Tomoya? Am I pretty?" Ryou asked hesitantly.

I pretended to study her for a minute before taking her hands to pull her to me and press my lips to her cheek; I internally smiled as I felt her cheek heat up. "Beyond words, beautiful," I said as I pulled away.

"Are they here?" I heard Rinko say as she rounded the corner from the living room. "Oh, you boys look so handsome!"

"Thank you, Rinko-san," Jeff replied with a bow. He had worn a light gray suit and white shirt with no tie and black shoes. I was wearing my school uniform, since it was the nicest suit – actually, the only suit – I had.

"He certainly does," Kyou said as she rested her hands on Jeff's chest and gazed up into his face.

"Onee-chan..." Ryou hissed. "Mom's right there!"

"Kyou..." Mom warned. "I understand you're happy to see him, but a little self-control, please?"

"Yes, Mom," Kyou replied, stepping away from Jeff.

"Well," we heard Dad grunt as he came up behind his wife. "You kids have..." he stopped himself as he looked at my mentor. "The four of you have a good time, eh?"

"We'll do our best," I replied.

"We'll have them back by...is ten-o-clock okay?" Jeff asked with a concerned look. "I don't want to cut into anything you have going on, but I also don't want to cut our time too short, either."

"No, ten's fine," Dad replied. "Have a good time."

"Thanks, Daddy!" Kyou chirped.

"And behave yourselves," Mom added.

"We will, ma'am," Jeff and I said, almost at the same time.

"She wasn't talking about you two," Dad said with a meaningful look at his daughters, who blushed appropriately. "I don't want to hear about any birthday-type antics when you come home, understood?"

"Yes, sir," the girls replied in unison.

"Now get out of here," he said with a wink. "My wife and I are going to enjoy some quality time."