Yes or No

Chapter 4: Birds Don't Like Cheese

"Mom, we're home!" Len called, once we got inside. We all took our shoes off at the door.

"I'm coming," my mom said.

"Rin brought her boyfriend so bother them and leave me alone. I'm calling Gumi!"

After saying that Len ran off to his room, his door slamming behind him. I sighed. A minute later my mom came out to greet us. Her brownish-blonde hair was tied up, a sign she had been cleaning or doing some sort of work around the house.

"It's nice to meet you, Yuma," she said, "now, because of Len's comment I need to ask. Again. Are you two dating?"

"We're not, mom!" I said, slightly blushing.

"Just friends," Yuma said, laughing at me.

"Alright, go get to work. I'm gonna start dinner," my mom shooed us out, "leave the door open to make me feel better."

We went to my room and sat on my bed to do homework. I left the door open like my mom said. Both of us had our backpacks sitting open beside us and we dug out all the things we thought we might use.

"Do you need a pencil?" I asked.

"No, I have one," Yuma said, "thanks though. So anyway, how about your dad? Did he not want to meet me like your mom did or is he not around?"

"He's at work. He'll be home for dinner."

"I see. So, before we get to your math let's finish other stuff. Since, you know, we have other stuff we can do together but we're in different math classes. Let's start with..." Yuma dug through his bag, thinking. After a few seconds though he looked back. "Let's start with Japanese! I want to see if you understand something we didn't learn in class. So, tell me if you understand this. Rin-chan, suki desu. Tsukiatte kudasai?"

I did understand him, and I looked away blushing. He asked me to date him, but I don't think he's serious.

"Don't joke like that," I said, still looking away. He laughed.

"Sorry, sorry."

When I looked back at him there was a big grin on his face. At the same time Len walked by the room on the phone with Gumi.

"Please, I want to see you," he was saying, "how can you be busy all week? ....I know I'll see you at school but it's not the same....there's a carnival this weekend....okay, let me know what your parents say....I have a fun idea...." By then he was too far away for us to hear his idea.

"At the dance you were saying they'd be cute together. Did they actually start dating?" Yuma asked.

"Yeah, it's cute."

After that we got to work. We did English homework, and some other stuff. I read a book while Yuma did his math, since he was ahead of me. When everything else was finished he helped me with my math.

"Well, they want you to simplify it. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, that much is obvious. I need to know how to do that," I said. He laughed.

"Just making sure! First you'll need to flip the problem to make the exponent positive. Then, subtract the exponents and...does that make sense?" Apparently the look on my face told him it didn't. "Alright, I'll start over."

He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote out the problem, then he explained it as he solved it. We had to do three different problems before I understood. I was afraid he'd think I'm stupid like Neru.

"Sorry it took so long, but it think I get it now," I said.

"It wasn't long! You got it fast. Try one on your own then. Don't be afraid if you mess up. There's a lot of steps so it's easy to miss something."

After about ten minutes I'd been able to do a couple problems properly on my own. Yuma said I'm good at math, and probably just had sucky teachers before. That made me feel a lot better. Just as we finished my mom called us to eat.

The whole family, plus Yuma, sat at the dinner table. My dad was home now too, but he was quiet since he was tired. We ate quietly at first. Len kept glancing at his phone, probably checking for texts from Gumi, until my mom told him to put it away. She reminded him he wasn't allowed to have it at the table. As people started eating they started to get more energy and soon everyone was lively. Len and my dad were constantly joking with each other about something no one else understood. If their laughing got too loud my mom would tell them to calm down. Eventually my dad seemed to notice Yuma.

"Are you dating my daughter?" He asked.

"How many times do I have to say we're not dating?" I cut in. Everyone laughed this time.

"Give it a few weeks," Yuma teased. Suddenly my dad's mood became much more serious.

"You are not allowed to date her unless I decide I approve. I don't trust you yet."

"Y-yes, Sir," Yuma said. He was clearly surprised.

I mumbled an apology but he just smiled back at me. Soon, though, my dad was joking again. He told Yuma not to worry. My mom shook her head in annoyance at what had happened. Len and my dad started talking again.

"Len, I saw you took some of that new cheese I bought in your school lunch. Was it good?" My dad asked.

"Dad, birds don't like cheese," Len replied.

They looked at each other with completely serious expressions for a second, then broke into fits of laughter. I assumed it was another one of their inside jokes. When I saw Yuma's confused face I explained my assumption to him. Then he laughed too. I saw my mom was shaking her head again, though this time she did look a little more amused.