NOTE: I know I said I wouldn't do another interlude, but I had this tidbit of an idea that felt just right for a little Christmas bonus material. Special thanks to griffon8 for planting the seed 
.
Additionally, Crimson has created a piece of music to reflect this interlude: Revelations. Please do him, and me, the honor of listening to it.
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"No, it's someone else." My daughter takes a deep breath and lets it out. "If it's all right, I'd like you to officially meet my boyfriend."
Boyfriend, hm? It's about time, even if it might be very convenient.
"I see," I tease. I have to play my part in this scene, after all. "You're talking about the boy you've been running with, right? Hisao, wasn't it?"
"Yep, that's him!"
"Then this is truly a special occasion," I cheer. "In that case, how many people should I be prepared to feed, exactly?"
"Hmmm...just make double what you'd make for me, I guess."
"I'd better make a shopping trip, then," I laugh. I'm slightly disappointed that Emi didn't rise to my bait, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of chances for that soon enough. It gives me the idea there might be more to this than meets the eye, but I can't say that out loud. She sounds happy, at least – happier than I've heard her sound in a long time. Well...maybe I'm overthinking this, and she really does just want me to meet him, but if I'm not I'll be ready. "I really am looking forward to tomorrow, dear. A shame I had to wait nineteen years for this moment, but I'll make do."
"Mo-om!"
"Daily teasing complete," I grin. "I promise to be on my best behavior tomorrow, too."
I swear I can hear my daughter rolling her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be ready for extreme embarrassment, then. Anyway, gotta go! See you for dinner tomorrow!"
"See you then, dear," I finish. Phones are hung up, and I find myself smiling at mine. For the first time, my daughter is bringing a boy home to be exposed to this old lady's oddities. I'm very happy, of course, but also very nervous, because I know there's a good chance that she's doing this so that when things don't go well between us, she'll have excuses she can make.
Any more of that will have to wait, because I have someone I need to scold. I dial his number and wait through a couple of rings. "Hello?"
"Goro, do you have a moment?" I inquire. "There's
something I need to ask you."
"Really? What might that be?"
"Don't play innocent with me. That's my game, and you know it."
He laughs. "Hang on a moment." In the background I hear him talking to someone. "I have some you can use for now, Takahashi. Just try to be more careful. Right, see you next time." There's a pause. "Okay, I should be able to talk now. Is there a problem?"
"I'm pretty sure there is," I admonish. "You
did know about Emi having a boyfriend, didn't you?"
"More or less. I was waiting to see how long it would take her to tell you. Looks like it was...oh, 24 hours give or take. Not bad for our little fireball, I'd say."
"Okay," I giggle. "I'll grant you that. So I'm guessing you haven't seen them this morning yet."
"No, and I don't think I need to tell you why, either."
"Heavens, no!" I gasp. "I may be an old woman now, but not so old that I don't remember being young!"
"Oh, don't give me that. You remember being young because you're
still young."
"Flatterer," I chide. "It's still good to hear that once in a while, even if it's not true."
"Mei," he darkens. "You're in one of your
moods again. Is this about what happened two nights ago?"
"Maybe a little," I sigh. "I'm just worried that Emi might be using this visit with her boyfriend to avoid talking about it."
"I don't think you need to worry," he soothes. "You probably haven't seen too much of the effects, but in the short time they've been spending time together, I think Hisao has been very good for Emi. She's a lot more
grounded these days. Besides, you know Emi – if she wanted to avoid talking to you, she just wouldn't bother coming home at all."
"Hmmm, that's true," I muse. "She has been talking to me more about important things lately. You seem awfully nonchalant about this yourself, though. Tell me, is this what you expected when you got my daughter mixed up in this plan of yours?"
"Hm?" he says, acting like he didn't hear me. "Oh, you mean the training. Honestly, no. I had a feeling that Emi's attitude would be good for Hisao at the time, and you know why I thought she needed something to focus on, but I never expected it to work out quite so well. They really are very good for each other, Mei. Be happy for them."
"Oh, I am," I assure. "I'd like to reserve final judgment until I at least meet the boy, though." He laughs warmly, making me smile. "I guess I need to thank you, then. Emi's growing up at last, and you're at least partially to thank for it."
"Growing up, and maybe...moving on?"
Ah, the magic words. "Maybe," I hedge. "We shouldn't be getting ahead of ourselves yet, but..." I pause, letting the thought wrap me in its blanket. "I really hope so. I think if it happened, it might make a nice Christmas gift for us all."
"Whoa, we still can't officially do anything until graduation. She gets her impetuousness from you, you know. Besides, if she finds out too early, she might treat me differently."
"Differently how?" I wonder.
"She might start treating me like she does you," he says, and I imagine him winking as he does. "I'll have a devil of a time getting her to listen to me then."
"In that case," I half-joke, "if this Hisao Nakai is everything I've heard from you two, she might just listen to him, even if it's just a little bit. It really would be a load off my mind."
"She might at that," he chuckles. "And that? Would be a good thing, Mei. A
very good thing. Ah, well, I guess for now we'll keep playing it by ear, then."
"I guess so," I breathe. "Say, would you like to join us tomorrow? It might be an interesting show."
"Hmm, that's very tempting. I wouldn't want to get in the way, though."
"You wouldn't be," I reassure. "You could always think of it as a preview of things to come."
"Really, I wish I could," he says with an obvious grin, "but I'm afraid I have to pass. I have to cover for Uehara tomorrow."
"All right," I pout. "Some other time, then."
"Some other...hang on, Mei." I hear a knocking sound, and then he says from far away, "Oh, Katayama, welcome back - be with you in a second." Coming back to the phone, he says, "Sorry, we'll have to finish this some other time, too. Take care."
"You too, Goro," I return, then hang up. Quickly walking to my bedroom, I pull open the drawer of my nightstand to withdraw the velvet box he gave me last Christmas.
Soon...soon, everyone will able to see how we feel about each other...
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kidding, kidding...
