Chapter 48: Love At First Sight
Panther felt his mouth go dry because…because…
She was the one.
What Homer saw was some short Asian girl, about five feet tall or so, with hair that needed some serious brushing and sunken eyes that indicated her lack of sleep. Nonetheless, he got the notion that this was how the girl had always appeared as, which was totally plain and unattractive to him in general.
What Panther saw was detached by mere looks. He didn't simply perceive by how she dressed, her height, her weight, her ethnicity, or the fact that there was an eyebooger speck under her eye. What he did saw, however, was the fact that she was absolutely perfect in his eyes. Something was drawing him to her… It was indescribable.
It was love at first sight.
She was the one… She was the one…
"…" The girl had her lips pursed, eyes directing to the floor as in avoidance of any eye contact. She only looked up when her aunt was telling her something in Japanese. The girl nodded and walked away; Panther tried to mask his dismay.
"I apologize about that," Mio said, returning back to them. "Sena tends to be shy around strangers. But if you find her reserved and quiet, then she's being her normal self. That, or she's blabbering nonsensical things out of nervousness." She shrugged.
"We understand, miss," Homer said. Panther nodded in agreement.
"Of course," she said, smiling. Her smile was more directed at Panther, however; her eyes were glinting in what made him fill up in uneasiness. "I know that you especially understand. Right, Panther?"
"M-me?" he stammered, pointing at himself.
"Why, of course, dear. I saw the way you looked at my niece, and I can't say that I'm surprised. Sena sometimes has her way of charming young men these days."
Panther choked out a "What?" when the idea of the girl (who he had his heart set out for) prancing around and seducing every guy she passed by just couldn't register into his mind.
"What?" Homer parroted, glancing at the two in disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait. So you're telling me that—that Panther has a crush on your niece?"
"That's right."
"I don't believe this," he said plainly. "A crush just can't instigate by mere seconds."
"Here, I took pictures." When handing them to the boys, the photos were snatched and looked over. Shots of Panther looking like a love-sick dope and ogling unashamedly at Sena. Panther was too shocked to bother burying his face in humiliation, and Homer was too shocked to bother teasing his friend.
"When—when did you take these?" Panther cried.
"While you were staring at Sena. Good thing for you that she didn't notice."
"Um, how were you able to take pictures without any one of us noticing?" Homer asked. He was not only shocked, but flummoxed as to how and when the woman had done it. Homer wasn't really looking at Mio at the time when Panther was distracted, but he would've known… "I mean, I think we would've notice an object being held before your face."
"That's because I'm adept, honey."
"…" The boys traded looks.
"Moving along," Homer said, subtly rolling his eyes. "I still am not convinced about the whole crushing thing. Panther, you're just in denial."
"Hey," Panther retorted.
"Love at first sight," the woman suggested.
"Yeah, well, I'm sure that 'love at first sight' mumbo jumbo is a load of crap. It's not true. And by the way, Panther's tastes in girls aren't typically Asian. I mean, no offense, Mio, but the girls who Panther dated before were all black."
Mio selected her mug, hands cupping around the surface and soaking up the emitting warmth. "And just how many girls did he date?" she questioned curiously.
"…Two?"
"Three," Panther corrected immediately. "And they were the ones who asked me out, anyway! I didn't even take the time to figure out what's my type."
Homer frowned. "But, dude, are you serious? You never even looked at any Asian, short, or simple girls before! Again, no offense, Mio."
"I'm not really the one who you need to be apologizing to, but I'm sure Sena wouldn't care. A girl like her can't be torn down by remarks like that."
Panther sighed dreamily, a goofy expression on his face. "She's so strong! She's perfect!"
The quarterback just looked at his friend, mouth dropping. "Are you really going gaga over a girl you've barely known for two seconds?" Homer demanded, grabbing on the fabric of his undershirt. "Get a hold of yourself, man!"
"But Homer!" the waterboy cried. "I know for a fact that it's true! That she's the one!"
"And just how do you know that?"
"Love at first sight," he answered simply, reusing what Mio had said earlier.
The blonde gave him a deadpanned look. "Love at first sight," he repeated blandly.
"Yeah."
"Panther, buddy, that has got to be the shittiest things I have ever heard you say, and you say a lot."
"Nothing inappropriate, I hope," Mio interjected. "Because Sena is rather sensitive when it comes to profanity."
"No! Never!" Panther exclaimed, freeing himself from Homer's grasps. "In fact, me being raised in a Christ-oriented home, my grandmother would straighten me up if I were to be disrespectful and all that."
He felt a high degree of glee when he saw a pretty smile on Mio's face, hope building up. "That's wonderful," Mio said. "That's certainly the kind of man we would want for Sena to marry."
Panther's face turned red. "M-m-marry?"
"Hold up. You're not really…you're not really going to force Panther to go through some weird Japanese ritual or something, are you?" Homer interrogated askance. "Like if he agrees to date your niece, he unwillingly then signs up a contract that forces him to marry the girl and live in some big temple…?"
"Uh, no," Mio snorted. "Why? Do you Americans partake something like that nowadays?"
"Hell no! Just gotta be careful, you know?"
"Well, it's sweet to see that you care so much for your friend." Flashing a charming smile at the boy, she sipped her tea in satisfaction after seeing Homer blushing.
"Ahem, anyway," Homer coughed into his fist, trying to ignore the snickers coming from Panther. "There's the language barrier. How would they even manage a relationship if they can't communicate?"
"Now, when did I ever say that these two would officially hook up?"
The boys looked at Mio in shock. "B-But…what you said…" Panther trailed off.
"It's up to Sena if she wants to have a long-distance relationship, right?"
"Long-distance?"
"Well, it's not like you boys are going to stay here in Japan forever, right?" Mio said.
Panther opened his mouth to say something, and then closed his mouth. It was true that the NASA Aliens would be leaving Japan (unless they lost the game, then they would stay around for a couple more days). That aside, how would he ever ask Sena out? He was very, very sure that these new feelings he had for the girl were quite genuine, making it so that there just had to be some sort of connection with her.
But how?
He couldn't imagine himself confronting the girl, wearing confidence and behaving suave. No—he would sweat buckets out of nervousness. What if she rejected him? What if she rejected him AND laughed at him? What if he wouldn't be able to get his message across since he didn't know Japanese? Questions that circled his turmoil kept being thrown at him.
So he looked at Mio, using his ultimate weapon in case of backup: the puppy eyes. "Please, Mio, please!" he begged. "Please teach me how to say, 'Will you be my girlfriend overseas? I want to spend every moment with you before I have to leave to the U.S. And though we're, like, miles and miles apart, I would never stop loving ya and all that. Oh! And I would send you texts, and call you whenever I get the chance. I'll try to get Japanese lessons so that I would be closer to you.'"
Mio placed a hand over her heart, touched by the love professing practice that Panther had recited. "Oh, Panther, of course I'll teach you! In fact, I'll even teach you Japanese while you're in the U.S. Now then, do you own a laptop that we could Skype each other on?"
He twiddled his fingers. Mio tilted her head and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I, um… My family's kind of, or to say at least, is poor." He sighed and continued, "I was thinking of earning myself a cell phone and pay the call bills. I know that I'd have to work a lot since calling overseas is expensive, but if it means sharing conversations with the girl who I was totally destined to be with, then so be it."
Touched again, Mio gushed out excitedly, "Panther, I said that I would be your teacher despite you leaving the country, and it will happen. I'm willing to get you your own laptop with installments and everything! Not to mention your very own cell phone."
"Wh-what? No, you don't have to buy it for me!"
"Who said that I would be the one buying?" She smirked and leaned back in her seat. "I have ways of getting my way."
From being a graceful and beautiful woman to a sneaky and snooping vixen, the boys vowed to never jump into conclusions as to how one person would be by a first exchange of words.
"Ah, by the way, I suppose that I should mention that Sena is the secretary of the football team that you boys are playing against the day after. Most likely, you would see her somewhere there."
Panther's eyes grew wide with joy. "Really? Yes!"
Then there was a pause.
"Wait… How'd you know that we're here in Japan to play a game?"
Mio smiled. "I have my sources."
