Within a well-lit room, three people sat at a table with a bunch of dishes laid out in front of them. However, no one had started eating yet, almost as if they were waiting for something, or someone.
Tap tap tap
The sound of a tapping foot seemed deafening over the silence.
"What the hell is with this guy?"
Tetsu finally couldn't handle it anymore and stood up from the table, his face turning red in annoyance.
"Calm down honey, I'm sure he just got held up." Naomi said, her gentle voice sounding out over the table.
As if the universe heard these words, the sound of the doorbell went off, cutting through the tense atmosphere.
Ai quickly got up and announced that she would go get the door, however her father had different plans.
"Sit down. I'll go see ta our rude guest."
With that, he stomped his way downstairs and swung the door open, donning his best intimidating father expression.
He was a little confused at first, being met with a sharp jaw and defined chest peeking through a white button up shirt. Tetsu raised his gaze slowly, finally stopping when he could see Ken's face.
"What the hell man? Do ya have roots or somethin'?"
Last time he saw the kid in front of him was a couple of months ago, yet it looked like he'd grown another 7-8cm in that short period of time. Since he himself was only average height, the boy towered over him.
"Sorry I'm late Mr. Aoyama, I had an important phone call."
Inwardly he was thanking his lucky stars that he had acquired the Poker Face skill, otherwise the sight of Ai's burly father swinging the door open explosively would have caused him to cower.
Tetsu paused for a moment, before relenting.
"Alright Ben, come inside. Yer lucky I'm a patient man." He said, moving his wide frame out of the way and allowing Ken through the door.
Not having enough confidence to correct him, Ken walked in and was quickly ushered upstairs in a hurry.
"Ken, welcome welcome. Please take a seat." Naomi stood up, gesturing to the open seat next to Ai, much to the annoyance of her father.
"Thank you Mrs. Aoyama. Sorry I'm late." Ken bowed a few times.
He locked eyes with Ai who flashed him an apologetic smile. This was all he needed to know that this dinner invitation was likely not her idea.
As he sat down, he saw the spread of food and instantly felt his stomach rumble in anticipation. Surprisingly there was no sign of any baked goods on the table.
"Please call me Naomi from now on, okay?" Ai's mom smiled, her actions reminding him of his own mother when Ai had visited a while ago.
"Oh and tell Yuki that the curry she made was delicious."
'Huh? Since when did mom make them curry?' Ken was perplexed.
He turned to Ai with a questioning look.
Seeing this, Naomi took the initiative to explain further.
"Ever since we sent you home with those baked goods, Yuki has been coming to buy her bread from us. Your mother is such a nice woman." Her face seemed innocent, yet there was a glint in her eyes that told him she had ulterior motives.
'Don't tell me…'
Ken pictured his mothers face next to Naomi's, only now realizing the similarities.
'They're trying to set me and Ai up with each other?'
He once again turned to Ai, however judging by her facial expression he instinctively tell that she was not in on it.
'Those wily foxes…'
"Huh? That was Ben's mom!?"
As if finally catching on, Tetsu jolted to his feet and yelled.
"It's Ken. K-E-N"
Ai replied, starting to feel annoyed at her father's antics.
"Ay? That's what I said right?"
"Honey… It's time to eat." Naomi's tone was cold, quickly grabbing Tetsu's attention and forcing him to quickly sit down.
And thus began one of the weirdest dinners he had ever experienced. While the food was delicious, he was constantly probed by Naomi about what he thought of their daughter.
While that would have been bad enough, he could feel the murderous glare from Tetsu drilling into the side of his face before he could even answer. Without his Poker Face skill, he would have surely crumbled during this meal.
Finally the conversation was steered to something that he was comfortable talking about; Baseball.
"Ken, Ai tells me that you're the Ace pitcher for the team. That's pretty impressive since you're still a first year in High School." Naomi stated, smiling sweetly.
"Psh. It ain't that impressive." Tetsu interrupted, seeming like a jealous kid as he played with his food.
Tetsu ignored the two sets of fierce gazes that fell upon him in the next moment, putting all of his attention on his food.
"Ah thank you Mrs— Ahem, Naomi." He quickly changed his address once the glare was sent his way.
"We had our first prefecture tournament win today. As long as we win the next four matches we'll be heading to Koshien." Ken added.
"Wow that's great. What do you think of your chances?"
"Tch. Don't get too far ahead of ya'self. Once ya match up against my old club it won't be so easy." Tetsu looked proud as he said this.
Ken tilted his head in question, not expecting that Ai's father had also played baseball in high school.
Naomi chuckled, "Tetsu was the 3rd batter for Zama High back in the day. He's quite proud of his High School career, they even went through to nationals during his final year in the club."
"Haaah, he was so cool back then. That's actually where we met."
"Hehe." Ai's father rubbed his nose after hearing his wife talk him up. He sent a prideful look towards Ken, wanting to see his reaction.
"Um, dad." Ai's small voice sounded, grabbing his attention.
"Our team actually beat Zama High today."
"Eh?"
Tetsu blinked a few times, not able to understand right away.
Ken nodded. "We beat Zama High in the 4th innings, 20-0."
"Ooof"
Tetsu deflated, falling to the floor in a dramatic manner. The emotional blow was too much for him who had so much pride in his alma mater.
Ken felt a little vindicated since Ai's father had been poking at him for majority of the dinner, yet he didn't let it show.