°˖✧Gaijin✧˖°

°˖✧hey bro✧˖°

As Ari makes the final preparations for going out today, Shigeo finds himself pacing back and forth in front of her house nervously. This is what he wanted - what they both wanted, but it seems like he's the only one that's freaking out right now. He keeps glancing at the door, waiting for her to come out. He wipes his sweaty palms on his pants.

The door opens then, and he perks up, but the person that is in front of him isn't her. In fact, it's a middle aged woman with blonde hair and brown roots. She has a piercing in her nose and he can see tattoos on both of her ankles. The first thought that comes to mind is that only yakuza have tattoos, and he's immediately terrified, especially when she speaks to him. "Are you lost, kid?" She asks in accented Japanese.

"I-I... I, um..." He stammers out, practically shaking in his metaphorical boots. Everyone in the country knows better than to say anything to piss a yakuza member off, because if you do, then you're either going to get tortured for a while or killed... What does he say to keep on her good side?! "W-Well, y-you see... I-I'm here for..."

"Mom, please don't scare him," he hears Ari's voice say in English, and he immediately relaxes a little bit. He doesn't understand what she's saying, really, but he can make out the word, "mom," very well. He blanches, though, realizing that this is her mother. Her mom is a part of the yakuza? But, wait, didn't she say she worked at Ponzu University...?

"I'm not tryin' to scare him," her mother protests, putting her hands in the pockets of her brightly colored shorts.

"I told you he's shy...!"

She pauses for a moment, as if she's connecting the dots to whatever Ari said. Sher blinks in realization and looks over at Shigeo, that once deadpan expression turning into a bright smile. "You're Shigeo!" She switches right back to Japanese.

"Y-Yes, ma'am," he squeaks out. He feels a little bit better now that she's smiling at him, but his mind is plagued with worries about her strangling him or something if he does something she doesn't like.

Ari comes out of the door then, giving him a gentle smile. She's dressed up for the occasion, wearing a soft-looking sleeveless pastel pink dress over a white button-up shirt and a pair of white sandals. She even has a little matching hair clip and a bit of gloss on her lips.

She looks pretty...

"So this is the one you're always talking about, huh?" Ms. Anaya looks at Ari, who turns a little bit pink in the cheeks at the teasing. By the looks of it, they seem to have a pretty close relationship - similar to the one he has with his father.

"It's not like that, mom," she whines.

"Sure, sure..." Whatever she's saying, she doesn't sound convinced at all. She turns her head to look at the two of them together, now, and lifts her hand, giving a little bit of a finger wave. "Have fun, you two," she says in Japanese, smiling.

"T-Thank you." The two of them turn on their heels and walk away. The sound of the front door closing reaches his ears and he lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He puts his hand on his heart, as if he's willing it to stop beating so fast. He supposes he will live another day...

"Jeez, Shigeo. I knew you were nervous at the idea of meeting my mom, but I didn't think you would be shaking like a leaf," Ari teases him with a little grin on her face, nudging him with her elbow.

"I-I didn't know that she would talk to me so suddenly," he stutters. He doesn't want to admit to her that he thinks her mom is a gang member based on her appearance. "It caught me off guard..."