"I still think you should reconsider," her mother said, opening and closing the arms of her glasses in her hands as she talked on the phone. Ai watched her mother's hair glisten with strands of silver tinsel in the light from the hallway. "No," she said, pausing to let the other person on the line speak. "Well," another pause, "well, yes," her mother admitted. "I have no objections, but he is your son." Ai's mother shrugged her shoulders as the other person on the phone rattled off.

This conversation had gone nowhere in the past thirty minutes. Ai readjusted her sitting position on the couch for the fifth time. It had been a few weeks since Akihito had gone to stay with his grandparents. Soon, they realized how cramped it was for five people to live in two-bedroom apartment. This is where Ai's mother comes in. "I don't mind, Akihito is more than welcome to stay with us, but this has to be his decision." Ai looked at her mother sourly as she said her goodbyes to the woman on the phone, the woman she had only seen once in a photograph, all of those years ago.

Ai's mother put the phone back in its port and sighed, slumping against the wall. "Well, kiddo, looks like we might have a use for that pull out couch in the office afterall." Ai didn't respond. Ai's mother looked at her unblinkingly for a moment before straightening her posture and walking over to join her on the couch. Ai's mother was young and beautiful, but she looked as if she had aged five years after being on that phone call. "Both of us are having guy trouble right now, but you won't fix anything with Kuroo if you just sit here and mope." Her mother wrapped her arms around her and Ai sighed. Of course her mother was right, a woman like her mother was strong and sensible.

"Come on." Ai's mother released her embrace before standing up and pulling her up onto her feet. "You and I are going out, no more shuffling around in our pajamas today!" Her mother exclaimed, twirling Ai, who couldn't help but crack a smile. Her mother was always able to cheer her up, it was somewhat like a superpower.

Ai checked her phone and bit back the urge to sigh. The hourglass loomed next to Kuroo's name on her snapchat. She would lose her streak with him in a few hours. Ai locked her phone and looked out the window of the car. She did feel better, being out of the house and in cute clothes and makeup. She was dressed fairly fancy, wearing one of her mother's dresses. It was a deep crimson body-con off the shoulder piece that loosened at the thighs and flowed about her legs, one slit went up the side, cutting the tension in the fabric. Her mother wore a champagne colored jumpsuit with a plunging neckline that tucked in nicely at the waist and hips before relaxing at the thigh and fanning. She had never seen her mother so dressed up for an event outside of a business dinner.

"I don't know what the two of you are fighting about," her mother said, interrupting Ai's train of thought, "but unless you text first, staring at your phone isn't going to help you make up with him."

She watched the city pass by. "It was something so stupid, I don't even know how to apologize," Ai mourned.

"Ai, baby, you're too pretty to be upset right now." Her mother flicked her turn signal and switched into the left lane. "Instead of thinking what you did wrong, think of what you can do to make it right." She drove another block or so before she pulled up next to a fancy building. A man in a suit stopped to open the car door for Ai, and then her mother. The valet took her keys and drove away.

Another man in a suit held open a large vestibule door for the two of them. When her mother walked into the lobby of the restaurant, she walked like she owned the place. This was a rare glimpse of her mother in action. Typically, when Ai saw her mother, she was back from work and exhausted. Seeing the magnetism and audience her mother commanded simply by walking , amazed Ai.

She tried to follow suit, she was used to not giving people a second thought when she walked into a room, but next to her mother, she felt like a duckling waddling sheepishly behind their mother.

The Maître d led Ai and her mother to their table, which was situated in a private cubicle. Rich wooden panelling, red velvet seated chairs, and a table set for two, prepared for a five course meal. A personal crystal chandelier hung from the panels above on the ceiling. Two sets of thick, red damask drapes were at either side of the booth held back by golden cords, prepared to be dropped at a moment's notice for seclusion.

To Ai, this was a somewhat overwhelming experience. A waiter came along to tuck Ai and her mother into their chairs and gracefully flap the pristine linen napkins across their laps. Ai couldn't remember another time in her life where she had been in a restaurant so nice. Sure, Ai didn't doubt she had before, when she was younger and her parents were still together. It was all a bit much for Ai and she merely mimicked every move her mother made as if to not feel awkward.

When presented with the menus, Ai didn't quite know what to do with herself. She had not a clue what half of the items on the menu said, plus all of the dishes were quite hefty in price. Her mother helped her pick out the meal she would want and they ordered.

Her mother had wine brought out and Ai got nonalcoholic cider. "Mother," Ai began, not sure how to ask the questions she never dared to ask, "why don't you go on dates?"

Her mother swirled the wine around in her glass before taking a small sip. "Ai, darling, when you get to be my age, you start to realize what things you value and hold dear. Men, my love, are not one of my values."

"I know my father was bad, but don't you miss..." Ai looked for the right word, " intimacy ?"

Her mother laughed. "Ai, you can have sex without dating. I do not want a romantic relationship with a man, but I can still have relations with one."

Ai nodded. Her mother was such an oddly nontraditional woman, Ai admired her for that. Without her mother, Ai didn't know where she would be.

Ai leaned against the railing of the veranda, drinking a glass of wine. Her mother had gone out almost directly after they got back from having dinner, drinking with a man. Ai smiled knowingly when he came to the door to pick her up in his car. "Have fun, be safe, she called her mother. Both of them were still dressed in formal attire. She still was thinking about having such a nice meal with her mother and realized, her mother rarely talked about herself. Hell, Ai had never even met her grandparents.

She sighed, there was nothing she could do but save it for another time. For now, it was just her and the cityscape. She closed her eyes and if she was still enough, she could hear the traffic in the city. She brought the wine up to her lips, she could hear a door slide open. She looked over to Kuroo's veranda expectantly. She saw him lean over the ledge, he sighed, he hadn't caught sight of her yet. She set her glass of wine on the railing and spoke softly, "hey." He quickly turned over towards the sound of the voice and frowned.

"Kuroo," Ai said, he turned his head away, "I'm sorry." He turned his head back to her. "I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. Please don't hate me."

Kuroo was silent for a while before he finally spoke. "I'm not mad, I just don't like being yelled at by you."

"If you want," Ai said, brushing her hair off her shoulder, she knew she looked even prettier than normal, "you can come over and I'll make it up to you." She smirked at him, watching his eyes dilate.

It didn't take long for Kuroo to be off into his own apartment. She finished her wine and nonchalantly went back into her apartment to meet him. She approached the front door and unlocked it, waiting for Kuroo to pound on the door. She opened the door promptly, greeting her boyfriend triumphantly.

She watched his breath get taken away when he saw her. Before, he wasn't able to see her whole outfit. He had never seen her wear anything so form fitting before. Ai always wore cute outfits, but this, was sexy. Kuroo wouldn't have minded if Ai wore clothes like this all of the time. The dress hugged her hips, her torso. It fit too loose at her chest and too tight at her waist, but this was something Kuroo would not have noticed.

"Are you going to come in?" She asked, still holding the door open for her boyfriend who was staring dumbly at her with a lopsided grin. He seemed to snap back out of it and entered.

He kicked off his shoes and didn't bother putting on slippers. Ai wrapped her arms behind his neck and looked up at him. She was only a centimeter or two shorter than Kenma, making her a very good height to lean up and kiss his lips. Her red lipstick stained his mouth and when she dipped back down she could tell.

He placed his hands on her waist; they were warm and the warm ness spread the logg NY er he held her. "I'm sorry I called volleyball stupid." She sighed, setting her head on his chest. "I got jealous, you spend so much time on it but I know you love it, and you take advanced classes, and you have to worry about what comes after high school." They swayed a bit in the front entrance of her apartment, like they were slow dancing to no music. "I am greedy sometimes, I like being with you." She sighed.

He pulled her wait closer to him, squeezing her a bit. "I am sorry I didn't notice how frustrated you were."

She looked up at him, she was relieved to see his face soften as he looked at her.

"I promise to be more understanding," Ai said solemnly.

"And I will do my best to make sure I give you the attention you deserve. Kuroo looked at her warmly, placing a chaste kiss on the crown of her head. She pulled away so she could look at him better. She ran a hand through his hair and scratched his scalp. "We are going to do better."

She smiled at him and moved her hands to his chest, grabbing the collar of his shirt. "Now let's go make up", she purred, walking backwards towards her bedroom.