Chapter Five
"Rena," Mr. Hsu said. "I want to let you know that you've done a great job today. I'm very impressed with how fast you're learning. Something tells me that you will be a great addition to our restaurant."
Rena smiled at her boss's kind words. "Thank you, Mr. Hsu. I'm happy to hear that."
"Another thing," Mr. Hsu added. "There aren't that many customers today and we have a lot of people on shift. Would you like to go home early?"
Rena looked back at the table filled with six people. One of them happened to be the man who saved her life only a week ago. She felt her heart pound more.
'Guy,' she thought. 'I've finally found him.'
She turned back to Mr. Hsu as she made her decision. "Sure. I'll see you on my next shift." She walked back into the dressing room. She then sat down and dug her fingers into her hair, suddenly feeling nervous.
'Wow,' she thought again. She felt her heart beat more rapidly. 'Guy. The man who saved my life is here! And he's related to Nanase. I thought there was some sort of resemblance to the two of them yesterday.'
That's when Nanase came into the room. "Did Mr. Hsu let you out early, too?"
Rena nodded.
Nanase sat next to her. "Hey, I have an idea. How about we join my friends and siblings at the table? Another employee will serve us."
Rena didn't really listen to her. She was still thinking about Guy, who was only on the other side of the restaurant. She could now feel the butterflies in her stomach. 'Why am I so nervous to go up to him?' she thought.
Nanase saw the expression on Rena's face and became a bit worried. "You look freaked out. What's wrong?"
Rena looked at Nanase. Could she tell her what happened last week?
Rena sighed and looked straight into Nanase's dark eyes. "Did your brother happen to save someone last week?"
Nanase smiled. "Don't forget, I have two, older brothers."
Rena laughed nervously. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot… the one with the short hair. Guy."
"Guy, my anti-social brother," Nanase giggled.
"He's anti-social?"
"He tries to be, but we always drag him to social events. Last week though, he was stressed out and we tried to throw him a stress-free party, but he just said 'I'm going to bed' and left, and yes, he did save someone's life last week...that same day, as a matter of fact. Why?"
Rena looked down for a minute, taking a deep breath. Then, she looked back up at Nanase. "I'm the girl he saved last week."
Nanase's mouth dropped open, shocked to hear that. "You're her! Oh my goodness! I can't believe you're her! Forgive my brother for leaving you like that. That is the kind of person he is around strangers. He'll be a hero, but then walk away."
"Now that you told me that he's anti-social, I… somewhat understand now," Rena replied.
Nanase stood up and grinned. "So, let's go! Let's go to the front and we can all hang out, the eight of us."
"Nanase, I-" Rena only managed to say before Nanase took her hand and pulled her towards the front of the restaurant.
"You mean Nanase's trainee is the girl you saved?" asked Kyle as he looked at Guy in shock. Guy had just told his friends and siblings about Rena.
"Her name is Rena, not 'trainee,'" corrected Jessica.
Kyle, who was now holding on to the branches of the tree, stared at Jessica. "I knew that."
"Then say it," Jessica replied fluffing her long blond hair with her hand.
Kyle sighed. "Rena. Are you happy now?"
Jessica grinned. "Very."
Their wonton soups were served by a new waitress. Everyone immediately dug in and ate their soup at their own pace. Kyle was slurping the soup and still trying to push the tree needles away.
Cody noticed this. "Dude, why don't you like, move away from the tree or something?"
"I like where I'm sitting," Kyle replied. "It's the stupid tree that should move."
Then, Nanase and Rena came over to the table while carrying their own chairs to sit in. "Mind if we squeeze in?" Nanase asked.
"Sure," said Hokuto. Nanase sat between Guy and Cody and Rena sat between Guy and Kyle. Now Kyle was being poked by the tree even more.
Rena felt her hands shaking as she looked at Guy, who looks back at her as well. After a very long silence between them, Rena managed to finally speak. "I… don't remember if I said anything, but… I never got to say thank you for your heroic effort. You left before I said anything."
"You're welcome," Guy replied. "Sorry I left you behind the way I did."
"It's all right, it's not like you left me alone in the alley. Walking me back to the main streets made up for it."
Guy nodded and put his hand out. "My name is Guy. I know my sister introduced us already, but I figured that maybe I should do it personally."
Rena smiled warmly and shook his hand. "I'm Rena. It's nice to meet you, again."
Guy smirked a little. "So you moved here from Japan?"
"Yes, I moved here with my little sister Maki."
"I'm from Japan, too. I came here first, and then my sisters came when our brother was missing for a while. After we found him, he came here with us. We all live in separate apartments, but in the same buildings. I met everyone else here at my job in the dojo."
"Wow," said Rena. "So, all of you here are really close?"
Guy nodded. "Say, I have an idea. Why don't you come back to the dojo with us? We usually hang there after we close the dojo for the day."
Rena smiled a little. They were only talking for a few minutes, but already, he was inviting her to hang out. She was flattered to know that he wanted to hang out with her already.
"I'd like that," Rena replied nodding. "I better call my sister to let her know that I'll be home late."
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash. It made Rena jump. She looked down on the ground and saw that the Christmas tree was no longer standing. It was now laying on its side. The ornaments that were hanging on the tree had shattered upon impact.
While Guy and Rena were talking, Kyle finally had enough with the tree and pushed it, but ended up pushing it more than he wanted.
"Dude," cried Cody. "I told you to like move or something!"
Then, Mr. Hsu came by after hearing the crash.
"He did it!" cried Cody pointing at his brother.
Kyle growled as Mr. Hsu started yelling at him. "It took us a long time to get that tree up! Now you're going to have to pay for the new ornaments!"
Kyle growled again.
Cody laughed. "See? This is what happens to me when you don't listen to me."
Kyle gave Cody an annoyed look. "That's it, Cody! It's you and me when we get back to the dojo! Travers versus Travers!"
Cody gave him a devilish grin as he cracked his knuckles. "You're on!""
Guy looked at Rena. "Things will be interesting now."
Rena smiled. Indeed it will be, but not just about the challenge between Cody and Kyle, but to also finally get to know more about the man who saved her life.
