The next morning, Neko ran down the stairs, bright and early.
"I'm going out!" she called to everyone before she ran out the door.
"Neko," Ryo stopped her. "Where are you going?"
She smiled at him. "I'm going to take Tenshi to the ice skating rink." Neko and Mi-chan were both excellent ice skaters, but they rarely had time to go here on Earth.
Ryo was relieved. He had had a premonition that one of the girls would get into trouble at the beach. He was glad that she wasn't going there. "Does Tenshi know how to skate?"
The thought hadn't occurred to Neko. "Well� I assumed she did. But if she doesn't� well, I'll just teach her!"
"Ok, well, have fun!"
"Arigatou!" She threw on her jacket and ran out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan passed her dad on the way out.
"Michiru, where are you going?"
"Jian-kun and I are going to the movies. Is that ok?"
He nodded. "You're not going to the beach?"
*What an odd question!* "Nope."
"Hmm. Well, have fun."
"Arigatou," she answered as she ran out the door.
Ryo shrugged. He could tell that neither of his daughters were hiding anything from him, but he didn't think he had done anything to change the future either. Perhaps the premonition wasn't about today. He'd just have to be on alert when the girls did go to the beach.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi had started to wrap Neko's present but changed her mind. It would be better unwrapped. She put it on her desk. She was so excited about it. She couldn't wait for Neko's birthday!
In a romantic mood, she rested against the windowsill and stared out the window.
"'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?'" she sang in decent English.
"'But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!'" came the answer with an obvious Japanese accent.
Tenshi looked down. She was surprised to find Neko down in the yard, her motorcycle parked at the side of the street. She had been talking to Puroko. As so often happened when they saw each other for the first time that day, Tenshi's vision softened and filled with flowers surrounding Neko. "Hey, Romeo," she said with a smile. "Where'd you come from?"
"I came to get you, but I got intercepted."
"Tenshi, did you know Neko-san likes to play soccer?" Puroko had been playing out in the front yard before Neko had come up.
"Hai, Kiddo. I did."
"Why did you call her 'Romeo?' I thought your nickname was 'Koneko?'" Puroko asked as she kicked the ball around.
"It is."
"I thought so. So anyway, Neko-san," Puroko was apparently telling Neko about her day, "they put me as the goalie, which was better than forward, 'cuz I can catch the ball there with my hands." Neko nodded. "And I stopped three goals, and then-"
"Ne, Koneko-chan? Did you come to see me or Puroko?" Tenshi teased. The hyperactive 8 year old often needed an obvious hint before she would let someone leave if she wanted to talk to them.
Blushing, Neko replied, "You. Do you want to go somewhere with me?"
"Where?"
Neko smiled slyly. "It's a surprise."
"I'll be right down."
"Bring a jacket," Neko called before Tenshi left the window.
"Okay."
She grabbed her jacket and ran downstairs, where her parents were standing talking. They looked up at her in surprise.
"Koneko-chan's outside. We're going out somewhere."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you sure you're not just taking me to my beach?" Tenshi asked. They'd been riding for about 20 minutes and so far, they'd been going in that direction.
"No, Tenshi-kun, I'm not."
"Not sure or not taking me there."
Neko giggled. "We're going somewhere else. I think we'll pass your beach before we get there."
"Oh. Ne, do you want me to close my eyes?"
"Iie, it's not that kind of surprise."
"Look! There it is! The path to my beach, I mean." She pointed at it.
"Don't let go, Tenshi-kun!" They were going pretty fast and Neko was worried that Tenshi might not be able to hold on with one hand. She glanced over to where Tenshi had been pointing. It looked like it was just a worn path through the grass from here. "Do you go there often?" she inquired.
"Just usually when I want to think. Someone else made the path before I found it."
They drove just a few more minutes before they reached their destination.
