"It's no big deal. I can get it cleaned." Tenshi shrugged.
"No big deal? Your seats are leather! I'm sure it'll be expensive to get out the stain. You've got to at least let me pay for cleaning it."
"No, I'll handle it. It was my idea to put the bike in."
"But it was my bike!" Neko reached into her bookbag and pulled out her wallet again. "I'll pay you some now and some later," she realized suddenly that she probably didn't have enough in her wallet to cover it, "because I don't have it all now."
She took out the money and started to give it to Tenshi, who did look upset. *I knew it, she hates me now. Between this and practically asking her to the dance�.*
But suddenly Tenshi's hand was on hers again.
"I won't take the money!"
Neko didn't know what to say. She attempted, "But your car-"
"I'll cover it. Don't worry." They looked at each other for a few seconds, neither of the sure what to do.
Finally, Tenshi's voice softened, as she said, "Do you really want to make it up to me?"
Neko nodded, not knowing what was coming next. She dreaded that Tenshi might tell her to leave her alone. She looked up at Tenshi, but Tenshi was smiling again and her eyes were filled with warmth.
"Then take me out to dinner before the dance. I'll let you pay, and we can call it even."
"Dinner�? Before the dance�?"
"Yeah, I'll pick you up at 6�. Uh, if that's ok with you."
*How did this happen? Did I miss a step?* Suddenly, it seemed to Neko as if the world had just played a great joke on her, unless Tenshi was. She had heard stories of Haruka-sama teasing the younger Senshi with the fact that she looked so much like a guy. Surely, Tenshi was doing this as well. She looked at the blonde, but there was no hint of teasing anywhere on her face. "H- Hai. That'd be great. Arigatou, Tenshi-kun."
Tenshi released her hand, and Neko turned away to get her bike. But it was also an attempt to hide her excitement from the older girl. Somehow she had managed to end up going to the dance with Tenshi. At least they were going to dinner and arriving together. And after that?
She picked up her bike and stood up, coming face to face with her father.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ryo had been watching his eldest daughter interact with Tenoh Tenshi practically since they had pulled up (Neko's fear at the sudden stop of the car had alerted him to her presence). He couldn't really know what they were talking about, but he could definitely sense what they were feeling. He wondered if Neko knew who she was talking to.
No, he couldn't miss the attraction between them, especially when Tenshi-chan took Neko's hand. But there was also confusion and hesitation. Not exactly what he expected from Haruka-sama and Michiru-sama's eldest daughter.
As Neko turned away from Tenshi-chan, he thought it might be best to go out there and explain to her about the importance of calling when she was going to be late. Besides, he could get a better reading on what Tenshi-chan was thinking from out there.
"Otou-san!" Neko said surprised when she practically ran into him.
"Neko, where have you been? You're almost two hours late." He tried not to look angry, but concerned instead. The girl had just finished being grounded and the fear of a repeat performance was not something he wanted her to concentrate on right now.
"Honto! Two hours!? Gomen nasai. I didn't realize how late it was." She looked up guiltily at the horizon where the sun was just beginning to set - a clear indicator of how late it was. "Gomen nasai," she repeated more quietly
"Really, you should have called as soon as you knew you were going to be late." He tapped on his watch, which also doubled as a communicator. She knew he was right, and he knew that now that he mentioned it she probably would call next time.
"Gomen, but I couldn't help overhearing." Tenshi-chan had gotten in her car, but she jumped out again to come to Neko's defense. Ryo could practically hear her figuring out how best to approach the situation. She had definitely been taught well by Haruka. "You see, Urawa-sama, I came back from Hawaii this week, so pole vault practice went a little longer than usual because your daughter and I are pretty well matched in skill, even though, I must admit, we are better than most of the girls there." Neko blushed and lowered her eyes modestly. "So Neko-chan was kept longer than usual, maybe half an hour extra, does that sound right, Neko-chan?" Neko nodded, but kept her eyes down. "Then her motorcycle wasn't working so I offered to drive her home. Now she probably would've called if I hadn't been there because she was going to have to walk to the gas station, but I decided that it would be unfair for such a nice girl to have to walk to the gas station, so I offered her a ride."
"I find it hard to believe that one of Haruka-sama's children would take so long to get from the school to our house."
"On the contrary, Urawa-sama. I tend to go exactly the speed limit, as my okaa-san, Michiru, taught me. I especially didn't want to endanger your daughter's life." Ryo relaxed. He could tell that Tenshi-chan told the truth. He knew that his daughters tended to go faster than they were supposed to when they were on their bikes, especially Mi-chan, so he was used to thinking of it as a 15 minute drive to the school, but it was actually longer than that. But it still left some time unaccounted for.
"Then on the way here, I had a sudden craving for ice cream, and I remembered Puroko-chan telling me that one of the twins gave her ice cream, so I thought I'd return the favor. So you can see how it would've been easy for Neko-chan to not realize that each of these distractions was causing it to become so late. If anyone should apologize for it, it's me." She turned on her best adult-charming smile. Even though Ryo knew this, he still couldn't help forgiving both of them. He was actually quite impressed that Tenshi-chan was willing to take the blame for his daughter.
"Arigatou for bringing home my daughter, Tenshi-chan. Your parents have taught you good manners. Neko, you should probably put away your bike."
"Hai. Ja, Tenshi-kun. Arigatou."
Tenshi-chan ran back to her car, hopped in, and drove off waving. Neko, meanwhile, put her bike in the garage. "I'll have to remember to get up early enough to fill it up tomorrow morning," she informed him.
