Another Yakari! But it just had to be written. If someone else has already done it, I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know.

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"Hey, Ishida, are you sure your girl can go out with us tonight? Doesn't she need to in bed early or something?"

Matt sighed. "Funny, real funny. It'd probably be funnier if I hadn't heard it about forty times tonight."

Tai just glared at Kari as she got ready to go. "Matt taking you out?" he grumbled.

Kari bit her lip. "Yeah," she finally answered.

"Of course."

Can't you just be happy for me? she thought as the doorbell rang.

Still, Kari couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as soon as she saw him. She gave him a quick hug, conscious of Tai's eyes following her every move.

He hugged her back. "Ready?"

"See you later, Tai," Matt said hopefully.

He didn't even get a grunt from the boy on the couch.

Kari winced at the pain that crossed Matt's face. "He'll accept it," she whispered.

"I know."

"And, besides, isn't the love of one Kamiya enough?"

He grinned. "If it's you."

As they walked to his car, some of Kari's friends passed.

"She's really dating a college guy?"

"I never thought that she would do something like that."

"What about TK?"

"No, that's the best part. That guy is his brother."

Matt glanced down just in time to see the hurt cross her face. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

"You're worth it; every bit of it, but I wish they wouldn't talk like that, pretending they don't think I can hear," she replied, looking straight ahead.

"You sure?"

She looked up at him. "Positive. You shouldn't judge by appearances, right?"

"I've noticed that's a lot easier to say than do," he said as he opened the door for her.

"As long as you stand by me--man, how corny did that sound?"

"It sounded sweet and loving, just like you." Still, as they headed for the club, Matt felt his stomach clench at the thought of having to introduce her to all his friends, and what their "good natured" teasing might consist of.

Kari rested her hand on his arm. "I'll make you proud of me," she promised. "I can be as sophisticated as any of those college girls."

Matt barely stifled a laugh. "Don't be anyone but yourself, Kari. Please. You're perfect just the way you are."

"If they're mean..."

"Matt, I have an older brother. I'm used to it. And if I couldn't handle teasing, I shouldn't have come with you. I'll be fine."

"Just don't hesitate to tell me, okay? I hate seeing you suffer."

"Like I'm suffering all the time," she contended, but touched by his concern.

"Ishida! You came! See, guys, I told you he would," someone shouted out as they walked in.

"Hi. This is Kari."

"Kari, it's good to meet you," the first guy said. "My name is Tomikazu Hirata. If that's too hard for you to pronounce at your young age, you can call me Tomi."

"You're too kind," Kari murmured.

"This is Gyuta and this is Taneji." He continued making introductions, but Matt wasn't listening, waiting for a minute to get Tomi alone.

"You said you'd be nice," Matt muttered to Tomi as they got drinks for everyone.

"I am. Actually, she's not too bad looking. I guess I can see where an innocent might be appealing."

"I didn't' 'pick' her like she's an apple or something. And it wasn't because of her looks, either," Matt started to explain.

Tomi patted Matt's cheek. "Sure. Whatever you say."

Matt sighed and gave up.

"But are you really sure you'd want to go out with her? Is she even old enough to drive?" Taneji asked.

Matt felt like banging his head against something hard. "You know, if we'd been in high school and some college girl had asked me out, you'd all been cheering me on."

Taneji shrugged. "Well, if that had been the case, you would have really been scoring."

"Your lack of logical thought is hurting me. It's actually hurting. Are you trying to convince me to break up with her or something?"

"Just looking out for you."

"Well, thanks, but I'll hook up my own dates, if you don't mind."

"Kari, want to dance?" Matt shouted over the music.

"Please!" she pulled herself away from Gyuta and made her way over. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Why?"

"Well, I've been hearing all these stories about your girlfriend..."

Matt groaned. "They promised they'd be nice."

"They were...I mean, none of them were mean. I mean, no one outright insulted me. They just kept making jokes about my age and all that."

"You're being such a good sport about this. I really appreciate it."

"Matt, I can't and you can't stop anyone from making judgements, but...well, does it really matter?"

"No. Not in the slightest." And, oblivious to anyone who might be watching, he bent and kissed her.

"I love you, Kari Kamiya," he told her.

"I know. I love you, too. And it's right, no matter what they say. You're everything I've ever wanted."

"And you're everything I've ever wanted. I just had to wait for you to grow up to realize it."

"I think I was waiting my whole life to show you."

"Then we're both lucky our dreams came true."

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Oh, yes, the lyrics are "Doesn't Really Matter" by Janet and it's on the Nutty Professor 2 soundtrack. I think that's all. Good night and God bless.