Part II:
“If we have time, that would be lovely,” Lilly stated.
Hideaki nodded, “I’m on it.”
“Don’t forget the coffee,” Hisao, Misha, Akira, and Lynda said together.
“I won’t,” Hideaki stated, shuffling off to the kitchen.
“We’ll be in the parlor,” Mr. Hakamichi said.
Lilly nodded and held out her arm. Akira wrapped her own around Lilly’s and gently guided her into the living room. Hisao and Shizune followed, Shizune sparing a sidelong glance in the direction Hideaki had left as they walked. With a reassuring glance, Misha left as well, Lynda close behind.
Lilly and Akira sat down on the sofa. Mr. Hakamichi set himself in the largest chair in the room. Hisao and Shizune took the two smaller chairs on the right of the sofa, while Misha plopped herself down in the remaining chair, scrunching over so Lynda could sit as well.
Once everyone was seated, Hisao was the first to speak, asking Akira how things were in Scotland. As he spoke, Misha immediately started translating for Shizune.
Switching to Japanese, Akira sighed and shrugged, “It is what it is. I don’t regret my decision, but it can really be a pain dealing with my father sometimes.”
“Father means well,” Lilly said, also in Japanese, “Though at times he can be a bit… short-sighted.”
Akira rolled her eyes, but said nothing, “Anyway, never mind the boring crap. How’re you guys doing?”
Hisao shrugged, “Can’t complain. Schools going well, Shizune hasn’t tried to conquer any other universities, and Mr. Hakamichi hasn’t tossed me into the Sea of Japan tied to a cement block.”
“That can change,” Mr. Hakamichi growled.
Shizune glowered at her father, who scowled back. Hisao chuckled, leaned slightly, and put a hand on Shizune’s shoulder. She glanced at her father for another moment before slowly relaxing, turning back to the group with a small smile.
Akira chuckled, “Well that’s good to hear. How are things on your end, Uncle Jiggy?”
Frowning at the name, Mr. Hakamichi tore his gaze from Hisao and replied, “Satisfactory, for the most part. I’m mostly saddled with busywork these days, and frankly, I miss the challenge of actual work. Still, I can’t complain about the results, and my autobiography is doing reasonably well.”
Akira nodded, looking businesslike for a minute, “Good to hear. Sounds downright relaxing after all the crap I have to deal with.”
“That reminds me,” Lilly stated, “Hanako requested that I relay her apologies for her inability to join us. She… had a deadline that’s taking up most of her time right now.”
Mr. Hakamichi nodded, while Shizune and Hisao exchanged a glance. Lynda ignored the feeling of being left out of the conversation; something she’d gotten used to from being in a big family. It helped she was having a hard time following the conversation anyway.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect her to come,” Mr. Hakamichi stated, “but don’t tell her that.”
Frowning lightly, Lilly nodded. After a moment she brightened slightly, and, her head not quite pointed in the right direction, asked, “So, Misha, how have you been? How has America treated you?”
“Pretty well, I’d say,” Akira remarked. Looking Misha over briefly, she added, “Nice to see you stickin’ to your natural hair.”
Misha made a face before grinning and casually flipping her long brown hair behind her, [“Having my hair short was nice, but I think I like it better this way. More to play with when I wanna dress up.”]
“You are rather fond of that,” Lynda observed. Pointing to her own lengthy raven strands, she added, “I just let mine sit there. Less hassle that way.”
Lilly adjusted her head so she was facing more towards Lynda’s general direction, “How has your time been here, Lynda? It must be quite the culture shock every time you visit Japan.”
“It’s gotten better,” Lynda replied, “The first couple of times were the worse, because I didn’t really have time to adapt. I think I got the hang of it now, though I need to work on my Japanese.”
“Your accent could use work as well,” Mr. Hakamichi grunted, “You’re messing up your ‘o’ sounds.”
Lynda sighed, “The Canadian and Michigan influence. Fortunately I haven’t picked up anything from New York.”
[“Me neither,”] Misha stated, [“One of the perks of being trained by translators~.”]
“It’s good that you’re both adjusting so well,” Lilly remarked, “cultural adjustment can be quite startling.”
Akira nodded, “But enough smalltalk, let’s get to the good stuff: how did you two meet?”
Lilly sighed lightly, but her expression and the way she tilted her head clearly showed her own interest.
Misha turned to Hisao and Shizune, [“You didn’t tell them?”]
Shizune grinned, [We felt it would be better coming from you two.]
Lynda turned to Misha, her expression clearly requesting that she tell the story.
Misha grinned and shook her head, [“You tell it so much better~!”]
Lynda sighed and nodded, conceding the barely hidden effort to get Lynda to talk more with the Satou siblings.
Turning back to the two, she was about to start her story, when Hideaki stepped into the room, pushing a small cart laden with an ornate tea pot, cups, saucers, condiment containers, a silver coffee pot, several mugs, and a tray of cookies.
Misha grinned as Hideaki carefully placed the tray next to the empty space by the sofa, [“That looks great, Hideaki~!”]
Hideaki smiled and gave a Western-style bow, “Let it not be said I was not trained to be a good host.”
“Yes, I’m so proud of my son’s ability to make a fine wife,” Mr. Hakamichi growled. Glancing at Lynda and Misha, he grunted, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Lynda stated.
Misha said nothing and frowned at Mr. Hakamichi when she was sure he wasn’t looking.
“It smells wonderful, Hideaki,” Lilly declared, “Thank you so much.”
[Don’t thank him until you’ve drunk it first,] Shizune remarked.
Hideaki glared at his sister, smirking lightly as no one bothered to translate the comment. After getting everyone’s beverage requests, he handed them out along with snacks, when requested. Once everyone had something to drink, Hideaki grabbed the lone can of soda on the platter, popped it open, and plopped himself down next to Akira.
Akira took a long drink from her coffee, grinning and patting Hideaki on the head, “Pretty good, Squirt. Now, story time.”
“Huh?” Hideaki asked.
“Akira enquired about how Lynda and Misha met,” Lilly replied, “Lynda was about to regale us with the story.”
“So no pressure,” Lynda quipped. Turning to Misha, she asked, “Think you can double translate?”
Misha gave Lynda her best “of course I can” glare before grinning and nodding, “no problem~!”
“Thanks,” turning back to the group, and trying to ignore the sharp gaze of Mr. Hakamichi and Shizune, Lynda started, “Well, it was early in my sophomore year, and I was visiting my stepbrother at New York University. We were in the basement, using some… repurposed space for some gaming. Misha came downstairs because she was looking for my stepbrother –Will- and wanted to talk to our friend Henry, who was Misha’s student mentor and American Sign Language tutor.”
Lynda paused to look at Misha, who was watching her from the corner of her eye while she translated into both Japanese and JSL. Lynda felt a pang of jealousy at Misha’s skill, but shoved it aside and continued.
“I won’t say it was love at first sight, but when I saw her eyes, she had this look in them. The look of a kid who knows there’s something wrong with them -or thinks there is, anyway- and doesn’t quite know what to do about it. I had that same look for a while, and it got my attention. I did some volunteer work at my own university at the time with the gay community, helping kids cope with family members who don’t quite get it. I was used to that look, and dealing with it –hell, I’m still dealing with it, in a way.
“Anyway, I saw her gaze, and she had these beautiful eyes, and gorgeous legs, and hair that at the time didn’t really know what it was doing-”
“You forgot my awesome rack,” Misha muttered under her breath.
Lynda rolled her eyes and continued, noticing as she did that Lilly was lightly smirking; Lynda should’ve guess she, at least, would’ve overheard the remark.
“I’ve always looked outside the box for my partners,” Lynda continued, “and Misha definitely got my interest. We were gonna watch a movie with Will and Henry, so I decided to take her to dinner first to get to know her better.”
“That was quite forward of you,” Lilly interjected.
Lynda nodded –naturally she could keep up with Lynda’s English, “I’m a direct kind of person. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best idea, but I won’t question it when the results are sitting right next to me.”
For emphasis, Lynda put her arm around Misha, reaching for her long hair and idly twirling it with her hand, while the other held her now empty cup of coffee.
“That’s pretty much it,” Lynda stated, “We met because my stepbrother knew her mentor and they liked to drink and watch movies during their off time.”
Watching Lynda fiddle with Misha’s hair, Akira smirked and remarked, “Sounds like you fell hard.”
“Can you blame me? She’s so blasted cute, and sexy, and smart, and caring, and… how old am I?”
“Love you too, Lycchan~,” Misha declared.
Lynda smiled and hid behind her coffee mug, pretending to sip even though it was empty.
“You do seem quite taken with each other,” Lilly remarked. Turning toward her sister and setting her blind gaze in her general direction, she added, “in any case, as we seem ready to depart, perhaps we should save the metaphorical third degree for later?”
“Hey, I just wanted to hear a sappy romance story and not have to pay for it,” Akira quipped, “but we definitely should head out. Uncle Jiggy, if you take Shizune, Hisao, and Lilly, I can take Misha, Lynda, and Hideaki.”
Mr. Hakamichi raised an eyebrow, “Do you think that arrangement wise?”
Lilly and Shizune frowned, and Lilly said, “I see no problems with it.”
[We can sit in a car together just fine, thank you,] Shizune snapped.
Akira grinned and stated, “Seems fine with them.”
Mr. Hakamichi nodded, “Very well then. Hideaki, collect the cups and put the cart in the kitchen, we can clean up later. Everyone get ready for some fishing.”
As Lynda hefted herself up, Misha hopped up and asked her, “Have you ever gone fishing before?”
Lynda nodded, “A few times with my Dad. He finds it relaxing.”
“Same here,” Akira remarked, “Nice to get outside and just chill once in a while.”
“I’d rather be inside myself,” Hideaki admitted.
Akira frowned, “Come on, where’s your enthusiasm?”
Carefully levering herself up, Lilly smirked and remarked, “Is not our team name ‘Team No Enthusiasm?’ Being enthusiastic about the event would undermine that.”
Akira groaned and hooked her arm around Lilly’s, guiding her out of the room. As Hideaki collected cups, mugs, and saucers, everyone else left the room and readied themselves for what would no doubt be an unusual afternoon of fishing.
+++
Next Chapter
I feel Lynda and Akira would get along very well. They’re both easygoing out-of-the-norm types who snub their nose at their upbringings while not quite being able to move beyond them.
.
.