Toru knew that he was supposed to stop.

But the thing was, kissing Azusa was like coming home. He never felt anything like this before and yet it strangely felt so familiar.

He knew that he practically devoured her, but he could not stop. He wanted more and more and more, because with every kiss, he suddenly could see their life together. Their first kiss, their second, their hundredth, the first time they made love, and then…

Azusa moaned and felt her toes curl from the intensity of Toru's kiss, but she knew that this was not the time nor the place to continue this further. She knew that if she kept on doing this, the consequences would be dire.

Thankfully she could feel Azuma beside them and observed them very closely, and it made Toru let her go – but not that far away since he still kept her inside his embrace.

"Wow, if I didn't know better, I would have thought that you are a professional swimmer, brother-in-law. That was such a long kiss without taking a br…"

"Shut up, Azuma." Azusa pushed him away, and Toru suddenly chuckled.

"Well, thank you Azuma. I was a competitive swimmer back then when I was in high school. Guess it all paid off huh?" He then tilted Azusa's chin and looked into her eyes. "This might be too late, but do you want to have dinner with me? Again?" His dark eyes were so soft like melting chocolate, and Azusa felt warm and gooey inside.

She liked him. A lot. Maybe more than she should.

"So, do you want to have dinner here, or at the ryokan?" She chuckled. "I think that's the only option around here."

"If you like, I want to cook for you and make our dinner… private." He glanced at Azuma who took a step back with his hands up. "I want to get to know you more without any distraction from other people."

"You're in luck then because her house has just finished. You could use the kitchen, bathroom and definitely the bedroom." Kenji suddenly appeared behind them and offered Toru the information while grinning widely.

Azusa blushed from the way Kenji said bedroom, and she could feel that Toru was embarrassed too, by his uncle's  behavior.

"What? I thought young people nowadays move that fast? I mean, nothing's wrong with wanting to have fun together, right?" He slapped Toru's back and guffawed.

Toru had no idea that his uncle was this open minded, not knowing that Kenji had a plan for them to be together.

"That was such an… insight from you, uncle." Toru cleared his throat awkwardly. "But I could not make the decision here, you know." He looked at Azusa and smiled softly. "After all, the owner is the one who gets to make the decision."

"It's fine. You can do it at my house. We can also test the kitchen for this weekend's house opening party menu." Azusa couldn't help but blush when she realized the implication that somehow they would stay together for the whole weekend. "But only if you want to."

Toru seemed to get what she meant as he squeezed her hands and smiled at her before he spoke.

"I will be glad to do that."

"Great! Toru here makes a mean grilled tongue and wagyu, and you have to try it!" Kenji patted his nephew's back proudly and Toru groaned in embarrassment.

"Oh jeez, it's just putting the meat on the hibachi grill and then flip it then eat it, what's so difficult about that?" He felt like his uncle tried to increase his value in front of Azusa, but he got it. His father and uncle and everyone were worried about him after what happened with Karen – and Chiaki before her.

Well, both of the women surely had done some damage to his psyche, but not to the extent of making his world crumble or something like that. He just had more distrust toward any member of the opposite gender than normal men, and certainly not as easy as he trusted Azusa.

It was just strange how easily he was able to touch her, when he did not like to get close to an unknown woman. Even if he did date, he only dated his coworkers – someone whose background he knew and did not have any expectation of getting more than just casual fling.

But Azusa – she made him… feel.

And he would like to find out what made him feel like this by getting to know the woman better.

"It sure takes some skill to be able to grill something into perfection." Azusa chuckled lightly. "Me? The last time I tried to make breakfast, Hideo-san almost had a heart attack and then he banned me permanently from the kitchen."

"She almost burned the whole place!" Hideo laughed. "I mean, it's good to see you have some imperfection, Azusa, otherwise we would think that you're some kind of an alien – or a robot."

"I'm not perfect, Hideo-san. In fact, I'm far from perfect." Azusa smiled and Toru could see a hint of sadness in her eyes. He wanted so much to hug her and told her that everything would be alright, but he thought that it was too early for the spontaneous show of affection between them. So he held back, although he was itching to comfort her.

"Well, whatever it was, I'm sure it was nothing." Hideo suddenly turned serious. "We, as old people, could see the genuine article or the fake one. And so far, nothing is fake about you, Azusa. We know you have baggage, but hey, ain't we all? It's just a matter of the character, and I personally think that you are great, so great that we devised this complicated plan to drive you and Toru together." He patted Toru's back fondly.

"Yeah, and not so subtle either." Toru rolled his eyes in amusement and Azusa smiled. "Anyway, I'll go home and prepare for tonight. See you around six?" He directed the last sentence to Azusa – who was still in his embrace. He was having a hard time to let go of her.

"Sure. You can ask Kenji-san for the keys, and I will be there to prepare the… other things." She suddenly blushed.

"Don't forget to use protection, kids! On second thought, please don't, we want a grandchild soon!" Genji suddenly appeared and laughed together with the others and it caused Toru to facepalm himself.

"You guys are such a shameless bunch." He grumbled, but he didn't mind at all because he knew that they meant well. Then he looked at Azusa with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "Once again, I am sorry for their behavior."

"It's okay, Toru. I don't mind at all. It's because they all love you and care about you. Don't be too mad at them, okay?"

"Oh god, please marry my son, Azusa. He will need you if we all die someday." Genji patted her back fondly. "I always worried about him, who will take care of him? Will he be alright without us? Will he be happy?"

"Dad…" Toru tried to stop his father because he was still healthy and he would live for a long time, but Azusa cut him.

"Don't worry, Genji-san. I'm sure Toru will be fine. I promise I will be his friend and help him if the need arises. About marrying him… well, we'll see." She chuckled and hugged the old man.

"Yeah father-in-law, I'm sure my sister will take care of your son without you needing to ask her." Azuma quipped from the corner and then he grinned widely. "Right, sis?" Then he turned to face Toru. "But we are a package, so if you want to woo my sister, you better woo me too, brother-in-law."