Most students of Atarachi High rode the bus or the train to school. The rest either walked or rode a bike. Only a handful of wealthy kids were dropped off by car. Jack stood just outside the school's gate, leaning against a brick gatepost, waiting for Miko's car to arrive. Students streamed past him into the school. A few looked at him and laughed as they passed. Jack ignored them, bending to peer into the passenger windows of each car that paused before the gate to let out a student. Finally a car came bearing a familiar profile within. He hurried up to the passenger door and opened it the second the driver unlocked it.

Jack bowed and held out his hand. "May I take your bag, m'lady," he said in English.

Miko paused to translate, then smiled and held out her school book bag.

Jack took it, then held out his hand again to help her out of the car.

"Sank you," Miko replied in English. She took his hand and stepped out. Several passing boys slowed their pace, staring at the pair.

Jack held his elbow out to her. "May I escort you to class?"

"But of course." Miko slipped her hand onto his arm, straightened her shoulders and walked with her head up as if she were a fine English lady. Only her wild grin spoiled the impression.

"How was your first day as my girlfriend?" Jack asked, switching back to Japanese.

"It was most excellent," Miko continued in English.

Jack gave an approving nod. "I hope the second day will be even better."

Miko switched to Japanese. "I don't know, you already owe me a kiss, and I shall collect it with interest. The longer you wait, the more you will owe me."

"How long before I'm forced to kiss you endlessly to catch up?"

"Ohayou, Miyamoto-chan!"

"Ohayou." Miko practiced her royal wave to her friends. A pair of girls giggled and jogged up to join Jack and Miko in their procession.

"You two certainly have a nice atmosphere going," a girl with wavy shoulder-length hair said.

"Perhaps I should introduce you," Miko suggested. "Rio-chan, Ume-chan, this is my boyfriend, Jack-kun."

"Oh!" Ume, the short-haired girl with glasses said.

"You two are so close already." Rio-the shoulder-length-wavy-haired girl-circled, inspecting them.

"So how did this happen?" Ume asked.

"Junko-chan noticed he was drooling over me so we asked him if it was because he liked me or if he had a medical condition." Miko grinned up at Jack.

"And he said?" Ume prodded.

"He said I was the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Well, technically, I only said Japan."

"But you changed your mind afterward."

Jack nodded. "I stand corrected."

Rio sighed. "So now you two are all lovey-dovey?"

"I'm so jealous," Ume said.

Miko hugged Jack's arm and grinned up at him. "I'm certainly the happiest girl in the world."

They separated at the shoe lockers and Jack could hear the girls giggling from several rows away. Jack got a muttered ohayou from the guy changing shoes next to him, but as Jack looked around, he was mostly greeted with blank and watchful stares.

He and Miko walked hand-in-hand through the school to their homerooms. Not only was Miko strangely not embarrassed to be seen holding his hand, she seemed to delight in the attention of her fellow students. Dozens of people walked by saying good morning to Miko while staring at them in wonder. Occasionally some girls either on the volleyball team or in her class would pause long enough to be introduced to Jack. The pair waited in the hall outside their homerooms savoring every moment together while the clocks counted down their final minutes until class started.

"You two certainly move fast," Junko said in a flat voice laded with what Jack hoped was only mock envy and disgust.

"And we have you to thank for it." Miko grinned back, hugging Jack's arm to her chest and enveloping it with both arms.

"Don't thank me, I was hoping to put you out of your misery. You were driving me crazy continually asking me if I thought he liked you. Had I known you'd be like this..."

"Ah but you should have been there," Miko said.

"I know, I saw it on Nicovideo."

Miko covered her mouth. "What? Nicovideo?"

"Yes," Junko said. "Some boys are even taking notes on Jack-kun's confession. But then a lot of Japanese boys could use the help."

Miko smiled up at Jack. "I wonder if we'll see more lovey-dovey couples because of you."

"OK, I'm going to homeroom before I get diabetes," Junko said. "Don't be tardy."

Miko waited until the hall clock's second hand began counting down the last minute. She walked away slowly letting go of his hand at the last moment and leaving him with an air kiss. Jack was still grinning to himself as he entered his homeroom. Most of his classmates were gathered into clumps and Jack could hear the competing sounds of tiny phone speakers.

"No way! I don't believe it! Go Jack-kun!"

The howls of surprise and disbelief echoed from each phone out of sync with the other.

"What do you think you're doing? How dare you defile our Miyamoto-chan?"

The guys and girls had separated into different groups but they were all streaming the same video. Many of the girls gasped as Jack kissed Miko. Most of the guys laughed or groaned.

"Girlfriend? No way! Miyamoto-chan, are you really his girlfriend now?"

The school bell rang and their first period teacher walked into the classroom a few seconds later. "Everyone sit down and get out your social studies books. Those better not be phones I'm hearing or I'm taking them away."

The groups scattered to their seats and the phones disappeared.

Takashi sat in front of Jack and half-turned to him. "I was there, I saw the video a half dozen times and I still can't believe you're dating Miyamoto-chan."

"Neither can I," Jack said.

Riku sat with his head in his hands. "I'm so jealous, I think I'll be sick."

The class representative rose. "Stand! Bow! Sit!"

The class quickly settled down into its customary bored lethargy as the teacher spent the first third of the class writing down the things they would need to memorize, then the rest of the period reading the material they could have read on their own. Many of the students slept. When the bell rang and class ended, the students woke up and started talking again while the teacher packed up her things. She had barely made it out the door before Miko came racing in.

Everyone's eyes followed her as she ran in, stopped by Jack's desk and bent over, hands on knees, until they were almost nose to nose. "I forgot to ask you. Did you bring a bento today?"

"Er, yes."

"Good. Would you like to eat lunch outside with me, say by the fountain in the courtyard?"

Why hadn't I thought of that? Jack smiled. "Yes."

"Good. I'll see you at lunch." Miko whirled around and raced out of the room, disappointing the boys behind her who had been bending over trying to look up her skirt.

Takashi watched her go, shaking his head. Riku slammed his forehead to his desk.

The next three hours didn't move any faster, but seconds after the fourth class ended and they had bowed the teacher out of the room, Miko came prancing in with her cloth-wrapped bento dangling from one hand. "Ready?"

"Let me get my bento." Jack had barely retrieved his lunch from the shelves in the back of the room when Miko grabbed his hand and dragged him out into the hall. Several second and third-years smirked at them as they passed. Jack suddenly felt very self-conscious. She wasn't being very lady-like and he wasn't being very manly letting Miko drag him around. But as Miko charged through the hallways gripping his hand, her long legs flashing and her long hair flying, he decided he didn't care. She might have more of the sexy beast of the volleyball court in her than he thought and that was fine. He wanted to see what new sides of her would appear, and if he had to run in order to stay by her side, he'd just have to pick up the pace.

Trees and scented flower beds lined the courtyard between the two wings of the school making it seem almost like a small park. Jack followed Miko to a large fountain where they sat on the surrounding cement wall. "This is really nice, how come nobody eats out here?"

"I don't know. I guess everyone is used to eating in class. What did you bring?"

Jack unwrapped his bento. "I don't know. Mom made it." He pulled off the lid to reveal an assortment of items, but the largest portion were rice balls.

"Onigiri? Do you like them?" Miko asked.

"Uh, sure, though I'm not a big fan of seaweed." Jack picked up one and bit into it.

"Is it peanut butter and jelly?" Takashi asked.

Jack looked up to see Takashi coming out of the school followed by Tsukiko Tsukino who was giving Takashi a puzzled look. Tsukiko was from their class. She was cute, but not really his type. Still, she was friendly and had a bright smile which seemed to transform her whole face when she unleashed it.

"Yes," Jack said. "And why are you two here...together."

"It's not because we're totally spying on you two or anything," Takashi said.

Miko gave Jack's onigiri a curious look. "Peanut butter and jelly?"

"When I was little, my first mom used to always make either tuna fish or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my bento," Jack said. "So one day, when we ran out of bread, Setsuko-san tried making them in onigiri."

"The tuna I can understand, but..." Takashi shook his head.

"Can I try it?" Miko asked.

"Sure."

Miko leaned over and took a bite from his rice ball.

"Oh! An indirect kiss!" Miko's friends Rio and Ume came out of the school carrying food purchased from the school's canteen.

"Oh they're way past the indirect stage," Takashi said. "Have you not seen the video?"

Tsukiko slapped him on the arm.

Takashi pulled out his phone and started tapping. "Just a minute." Rio and Ume gathered around him.

"I'll trade you lunches." Miko removed the lid of her bento. It was filled with dumplings.

"Gyoza!"

"I remembered you said you liked them, though at the time I thought you might like them more than me."

"Just think how much I like you with gyoza." Jack grinned.

Miko laughed and held out her bento. "Here."

They traded and Jack attacked her bento.

"Aw!" Ume whined.

"Oh! That's so romantic!" Rio squealed as they watched the video on Takashi's phone.

Miko finished off the first onigiri, getting peanut butter and jelly all over her fingers. Jack had learned that it took a special skill to handle his step-mother's creations without making a huge mess. Miko balanced Jack's bento on her knees while she fished out another with her other hand and bit into it. "This is really good," she mumbled, covering her mouth with one hand.

Jack looked down. "You're making a mess."

Like most girls in his school, Miko had hemmed her skirt to the absolute minimum length the school would allow. Even then, like most of the girls, she tended to wear it with the top rolled up or high on her hips so that it seemed even shorter. With her long legs, that left a lot of real-estate exposed, even with her over-the-knee stockings.

Without thinking, Jack swiped up the blob of grape jelly lying high on the inside of her thigh with a finger. His finger was half-way to his mouth when he froze at the sound of his friends' gasping. Ume, Rio and Tsukiko all stared at him red faced and smiling with embarrassment. Takashi just looked shocked.

"What?" Jack asked. "Was I being too familiar?"

Miko glared at him, her fine eyebrows furrowed.

Oh crap! What have I done now?

"I don't know about that," she said.

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean any-" Jack started to apologize.

"But you're not stealing my jelly!"

"Huh? What?"

Miko leaned over and sucked the jelly off his finger.

"Whoosh!" Takashi leaned back and started tugging rapidly at the collar of his shirt. "Is it suddenly really hot out here?"

Rio covered her mouth in embarrassment. "You two are just too amazing."

Miko smiled at her and leaned her head on Jack's shoulder and took another bite of onigiri.

When everyone had caught their breath, the conversation broke up into smaller discussions of school and homework and clubs. As the lunch hour neared its end, Miko sat wiping her fingers on a napkin. "Jack-kun. Dinner will start around seven-ish so you'll probably want to come over about six-thirty."

"Right."

"Are you two going out to dinner?" Rio asked in a teasing tone, clearly prodding for more information.

"No, I'm going over to her place," Jack said.

"What? Are her parents going to be there?" Ume asked.

"Of course." The insinuation that something inappropriate might happen upset Jack a little, despite the incident with the grape jelly.

"Will her father be there?" Takashi asked in a serious tone.

Jack gave Miko a nervous look. "Yes. Of course."

Takashi and Tsukiko exchanged worried glances.

"What?" Jack asked.

"When did you two become engaged?" Takashi asked. He didn't appear to be joking.

"Engaged?"

"Japanese men don't meet their girlfriend's father until they get engaged."

"What are you talking about?

"And who would want to?" Tsukiko added. "To have to go through that grueling inspection if it weren't necessary."

"Nobody wants this, not even the fathers," Takashi said. "They don't want to waste their time on boys who don't matter. The only reason to meet her parents is so they can size you up to see if you're ready for marriage and worthy of their daughter. Trust me, Jack-kun. This is a bad idea."

Jack gave Miko a panicked look and she returned a nervous smile. "But they asked me over, didn't they?"

"It was mostly my mom's idea, but dad agreed," Miko said.

Takashi shook his head. "If they're wanting to meet you now, they're probably looking for reasons to break you two up."

Miko whirled on Takashi, her expression hard and fierce, her eyes steely. "They wouldn't dare try it." Jack thought he heard the snarl of the beast from the volleyball court.

"Is this one of those Japanese things," Jack asked, "where they have to ask for form's sake but I'm expected to turn it down?"

"No," Tsukiko said thoughtfully. "If they asked, they must want you to come over."

Jack thought he heard an unspoken "but" in her reply.

"Just be careful," Takashi advised. "And be on your best behavior. Perhaps you'll survive."