Saguru took a long minute to relax, slouching in his desk chair at the end of the school day. There was no club activity today, no staff meeting, no event to take his time and patience, no student looking to talk and, most important of all, it was the weekend tomorrow. Grading work was lighter than usual due to lack of major assignments due that week and he had his lesson plans down for the next two weeks provided things went smoothly. Thank goodness for forethought and planning, and time that he didn't know what to do with just yet. He could find something to do, like read a book or track down his favorite brand of tea at a European market since he was running low.
"Wow, you look tired," Takata Kate said. "It's been a pretty long week, huh?"
"Weeks are always long, some merely feel longer than others," Saguru said. This week had actually been fairly mild compared to the week from hell that home visits had been. Nevertheless, it was always a relief to greet the weekend.
"Don't I know it," Takata said. She stretched, jumping a bit when one of her hands touched someone behind her. She looked up and grinned when she saw her husband. "Hey."
He smiled at her, warm and intimate though they made no displays of affection. "Hello to you too. Some of the others are hoping to get dinner and drinks tonight, are you up to going?"
"Sure, sure." She leaned back in her chair to better talk to his face. "I'm sure your mom won't mind looking after Ken-kun a little longer, right?"
"I'll call her."
Takata smiled and swiveled back around to Saguru, "You want to come along? Just for dinner and drinks, you don't have to stay any longer than you're comfortable with." The same hopeful smile she always gave him, friendly and honest about the offer of friendship, was tempered with resignation. She expected to be refused, like she had the past half dozen times she'd offered, but was offering anyway because she still meant that invitation.
Saguru weighed the prospect of his anticipated night of relaxation with his guilt at brushing off that offer once again. A voice in the back of his mind suspiciously like Mum's prodded him to just live a little. When was the last time he had gone out to eat with another person? Not for months, he realized, not since Mum visited his flat in London and all but dragged him out of his self-isolation and stagnancy.
"Where and when?" Saguru asked. He smiled a bit wryly at the pleased surprise that crossed Takata's face before her smile widened.
"Not sure. Katsuya?"
Her husband looked up from typing a number into his phone. "Well, the plan is to meet up in a few hours at that barbecue place not far from the post office. It's about half a block away from the Kaga hotel, but before you reach the French bakery on the same street. I think the barbecue place is called Hitsujimon or something?"
Saguru nodded slowly, the location coming vaguely to mind. He passed that way to get groceries. "I believe I know where that is, yes."
"Great!" Takata clapped her hands. "Meet up there at six! We'll be getting a big table."
Saguru nodded again. The time was probably due to the fact that other teachers still had a club meeting to supervise or some other detail to take care of. He absently listened to Takata and her husband making plans with her mother-in-law over having a babysitter for a few more hours and gathered up what he would need over the weekend. He sent Takata a smile on his way out, wondering as he left how many of his coworkers would be there. He hadn't made much of an effort to get to know them. Takata was the only person he talked to regularly about anything more than he had to. Any positive impressions he could have made were long past.
Teams were out on the sports fields as Saguru left. He could make out the lacrosse team on the eastern side. Takumi would be there. From the bits of practices Saguru had glimpsed and the few times Kuroba mentioned his son's sport, Takumi had a good chance of being a starter this year despite being a first year. If he'd inherited either Kuroba or Aoko's athleticism in the slightest, it wasn't a surprise that he was good at the sport.
The stairs to the apartment building felt steeper today, though perhaps that was the long week talking. He didn't relish the idea of having to climb them again later. He took them slowly, doing his best not to aggravate his knee in hopes that it would handle the trip tonight without much problem. When he reached the top of the stairs, he was surprised to see Kuroba unlocking his front door, a bag of groceries in hand.
"Hey, Hakuba," Kuroba greeted with a wave of his hand.
"You're here early," Saguru said. It was only a little past three-thirty and Kuroba ordinarily didn't return until closer to five.
"I figured I'd take off early and actually cook something nice for dinner for once," Kuroba said, lifting the grocery bag. "Surprise Takumi when he's done with practice."
Saguru was half tempted to ask what Kuroba normally cooked that would make tonight's meal special, but he didn't. "I'm sure he'll appreciate that." He dug his keys out of his bag and unlocked his door.
Kuroba lingered in his own doorway. "Did you want to have dinner with us?" he asked after a moment.
Saguru almost dropped his keys. Despite sharing tea on a fairly regular basis—more often than not at Saguru's apartment—Kuroba had never invited him to share dinner.
Kuroba looked on, seemingly casual as he leaned against the doorway. It was the set of his shoulders that left it almost a challenge. Saguru didn't have the slightest idea what he was supposed to draw from the invitation.
"Actually, Kuroba," he said, unlocking his door properly, "I have plans tonight."
"Really?" Both of Kuroba's eyebrows went up.
"Yes really," Saguru sighed. "Some of the teaching staff is going out to eat tonight."
"You've turned them down before."
Saguru was sure he didn't want to know where Kuroba had gotten that information. (He suspected their old homeroom teacher still kept in touch with Kuroba. It would explain how he kept track of things in the school, at least in part.) "I can't be antisocial forever."
"Right, because your mother will come and force you to be."
Saguru rolled his eyes. Kuroba wasn't exactly wrong. "There truly isn't a reason not to this time," he said. "I might as well make an effort to not alienate my coworkers."
Kuroba laughed, "Well, have fun."
"Same to you," Saguru said.
Saguru closed the door behind himself with the feeling that he was having a very odd day. Two invitations shortly after each other. It was a pity he'd already had plans. He wouldn't have minded eating dinner with Kuroba. Perhaps another time…?
He took his shoes off and set his cane and bag down next to his desk. He had an hour of time to fill. He managed to use that much time easily on a regular basis, it shouldn't be hard to keep busy…
*o*o*
Saguru probably should have dressed in something more casual. Surely most of his coworkers had taken the time to change into clothing that wasn't work regulation, but Saguru had found himself trading his plain white work shirt for a striped button down and a slightly nicer pair of slacks in an effort to feel more put together. He hadn't put on a full suit at least, though his fingers had itched to do so. Wearing a full suit as the weather was getting progressively warmer would have been a bit much too.
It was probably a bit foolish to be nervous about meeting up with coworkers. This was hardly something serious. It was relaxing after a long work week. Socializing.
Saguru scowled to himself, setting his cane down just a bit harder with each step toward the barbecue place's front door. He opened the door and stepped in to a very busy restaurant. It was very tempting to turn around and walk back out. He took a breath and let it out slowly. His table wasn't visible from the door, but there was what appeared to be a birthday party up close, a group of college students—celebrating the end of a show? They had stage makeup on—a couple on a date and— Saguru's attention snapped to the hostess walking toward him.
"Welcome, are you here alone or…?"
"I am meeting a group here."
"How many in this group, what name?"
He didn't know either of those things. Saguru glanced at the tables again and could feel the hostess losing patience although her professional smile never faltered. The door opened and closed behind him, letting in someone who was laughing at whoever they were with.
"Ah!" a voice behind him said, and Saguru turned stiffly to see Shizume-sensei. "Hakuba-san, I didn't know you were joining us tonight."
Saguru relaxed as his old homeroom teacher walked up to him, followed by a man who appeared to be her husband if his wedding band and proximity to Shizume-sensei's personal space were any indicator. "Good evening, Shizume-sensei," Saguru said.
"No need to be so formal," she laughed, "I told you, call me Erika. I'm not your homeroom teacher anymore."
"My apologies, Erika-san." Saguru nodded to her, just short of a bow. "Please, you may call me Saguru." It was a step toward friendly gestures, and from her smile, it was enough.
"This is my husband, Shizume Daiki. Daiki, this is Hakuba Saguru. He's the teacher filling in for Yumi-san that I mentioned."
Saguru nodded to him as well, murmuring a polite response on autopilot. Shizume was almost a decade older than Erika from the looks of him, a salaryman if Saguru's instinct was right—something about the way casual clothing sat awkwardly on him like he was used to the formality of a suit. How Erika had met him or gotten on well, Saguru couldn't guess. Arranged marriage? Mixer? Random encounter? He dismissed it as Shizume-sen—Erika talked to the hostess, getting them escorted to a table around the corner where the Takatas were seated with Ishida, one of the science teachers.
Takata Kate waved them over. "Hey, you're here! Sit, sit." She pulled out a chair next to her and Saguru found himself seated between her and Erika with Ishida across from him. "Now we just have Yamada-san and Arisa-chan to wait for. Time to order drinks!"
"Looks like someone has already been into hers," Erika joked.
"She hasn't had a sip of beer yet," Takata's husband said.
"Aaand," Ishida said, looking over their shoulders, "it looks like she soon will."
Drinks were placed on the table to happy sounds from the people who had ordered them, and to the requests from people who had yet to order. When it was his turn, Saguru asked for water. He ignored Ishida's joke that Saguru was being their designated babysitter. He'd heard that sort of joke a hundred times before when he was avoiding alcohol.
By the time Yamada Makoto, the gym teacher, and Uemoto Arisa, a maths teacher, arrived, drinks had been distributed and the first round of meat and vegetables were grilling on the mesh grill built into the center of the table. Saguru had spent the time sipping at water and having surprisingly pleasant conversation with Erika about things that had changed from when Saguru was in school to now. She had laughed when she realized Saguru had Takumi in his homeroom, commiserating over having a Kuroba in his class. In return, he reassured her that Takumi had far more restraint than either of his parents and was actually a fairly well behaved student now. She would be teaching him next year as she still largely taught second year students.
The newcomers changed the dynamic some, and Saguru's conversation fell away to people watching. It was something he had always defaulted to when he was the only one of a group not ingesting alcohol. There was something interesting in how people interacted with each other with some of their restraint and reserve taken away; they revealed more about themselves than they would otherwise, often more than they were aware.
Saguru snatched pieces of beef and onion off the grill at his preferred cooked state, avoided attempts of coworkers to sneak mushrooms onto his plate, and exchanged idle conversation about work and students and general complaints about workload as the rest of the group got steadily more inebriated. Unsurprisingly, Takata Kate got more enthusiastic with each successive drink and less careful about social boundaries. No one seemed to mind. At one point she leaned on Saguru to reach the bowl of green onion salad with no one blinking, so Saguru took it that this was a regular thing. At some point, Yamada pulled out her phone and shared around pictures of Yumi's baby who had been born a few days ago. It was a bit odd to be the new person in a group that regularly went out together, but Saguru didn't feel alienated.
No one seemed to mind that after a certain point he watched instead of engaged in conversing. Erika was closest to Yamada, who it seemed had become a teacher at the school shortly after Saguru graduated. Ishida and Uemoto were close friends with Takata Katsuya, and through Katsuya, were friends with Kate, and Takata Kate had been a student teacher aide under Erika, which led the group to meeting together. Saguru supposed he had been welcomed so easily into their midst in part by Takata's persistent friendly overtures toward him and in part because Erika knew of him. Whatever the reason for this acceptance, Saguru learned that Erika and Ishida held their drink best among the group (Takata being able to hold her drink the least), Shizume Daiki had probably once dated Yamada (there was just a bit of discomfort in how they interacted with each other that indicated that Yamada still held a bit of affection though it didn't seem to affect her relationship with Erika), and if Uemoto wasn't clearly only interested in friendship, Ishida would have been interested in more. It all felt a bit dramatic how the relationships tangled together, but Saguru supposed sometimes longtime friend groups could do so if all the parties weren't married or in relationships. He wouldn't personally know, but he had observed it happen over the years from the outside.
When it came time to split the bill, Takata was already championing they continue the night at a bar.
"It'll be fun," she said leaning, thankfully, on her husband. "Maybe we can find a place doing karaoke."
"I think," Saguru said, cutting in, "I'll call it a night."
Immediately there were at least four voices insisting he stay a bit longer. "Just another half hour," Takata said. "To round out the night."
Faced with at least several people (Erika and Takata chief among them) giving him hopeful looks, Saguru found himself agreeing to stay at least a bit longer. "But only a bit," he said.
"Yesss." Takata laughed triumphantly. "See, it's not that bad coming out with us!"
Saguru gave her a smile, although he had to admit that he had enjoyed the evening a bit more before everyone's second or third drink. He added his portion of the bill to the pile before getting swept along in the others' wake toward a bar that was just a bit further down the road.
Shizume Daiki hung back with Saguru as he took the rear of the group largely in hope of avoiding being the focus of Takata's enthusiasm.
"They're usually a bit calmer," Shizume assured him. He had only had one drink so far, clearly intending to be one of the clearer headed of the group, though he likely had the best tolerance of all of them considering the expected drinking habits of businessmen. "I think they wanted to celebrate Yumi-san's daughter."
"Understandable." Saguru smiled. "I don't mind much. It's merely been a while since I was around so many people who were quite so…"
"Animated?" Shizume offered diplomatically.
"Yes. I've gotten used to quiet nights in. This sort of thing is nice every once in a while though."
"Erika was glad to see you again when she found out you were replacing Yumi-san. You must have left a good impression."
"If I did, I admit I am not sure how. I didn't spend much time in Japan," Saguru said, reflecting back to his high school years. "I spent several semesters here, but was frequently absent due to my professional life."
"She was impressed at your maturity I think, and how you balanced being a student and having a career," he said. "You seem like you have a good head on your shoulders."
Saguru shrugged, not sure how to respond to that. If Shizume knew the circumstances that had led Saguru to this point, surely he would think otherwise. "Erika-san was a good homeroom teacher," he said instead. "She had a difficult job." One he had appreciated all the more once he started teaching, though he had never had to deal with anyone quite as chaotic as Kuroba, Aoko, and Koizumi grouped together.
"I've heard the horror stories." Ahead of them, Takata leaned on Erika as they both giggled over some joke that Ishida had told. Shizume smiled in their direction. "Did this Kuroba Kaito really manage to stick the entire classroom to the ceiling at some point?"
"Ah, I wasn't present for that one," Saguru said, "but there was photographic evidence of it. I believe it's become something of a school legend."
Shizume laughed. "Kuroba-san seems like he was an interesting person."
"He is," Saguru agreed. He would have gladly continued the conversation with Kuroba as the topic, but the group had found their bar of choice and were filtering in, so Saguru and Shizume hurried along to catch up.
It was incredibly crowded inside. Saguru stopped just to the right of the doorway, back against the wall as he tried to take in the mass of people moving around each other in cigarette-fogged air. One side of the bar was heavy with people getting their drinks before they filtered to the scattering of tables or to fill the space around a small stage where people were singing off-key renditions of songs Saguru didn't recognize. Another group of people entered behind Saguru's group and almost instantly, Takata and the others were lost in the crush.
Saguru pinched the bridge of his nose, tempted to turn around and just walk out. Crowded bars had never been his taste. They were even less so now. But it would be impolite to leave without at least saying goodbye. He eyed the people, sure that at one point he saw Yamada's bleached hair, and Takata's brightly colored shirt at another, but he had no desire to wade into that mess. He'd probably end up losing his cane at best, and leave bruised at worst.
He inched his way along the wall, ending up closer to the kitchens and bathrooms where there were fewest people, being the furthest distance from the bar and the stage. There weren't any chairs available, so he staked out a stretch of wall that was out of the way to lean against and sincerely hoped that some of the rush would calm enough that he could excuse himself properly and leave.
He checked his wrist watch, surprised to see the time past nine already and decided that he'd leave in a half hour regardless and give his apologies later.
The doors to the kitchen opened and some brave waiter waded into the people with trays of food in hands.
Saguru settled himself more heavily against the wall. He wouldn't be going anywhere fast. People moved in and out of the tangle around the bar, a new group came in only to turn around again at the sight of the crowd. It was fascinating, in a distant way, how people could crowd against each other, moving almost seamlessly until there was that individual or two that did not move with the crowd and the press jammed up around them. One such individual broke free from the bar and seemed to have the same idea Saguru had had. The man cradled his drink to his chest until he reached the back wall, closer down to the bathrooms than Saguru was standing, and leaned against it. He could almost hear the weight of the man's sigh as his shoulders started to relax.
It was a sentiment that Saguru could empathize with. There were far, far too many people in here. It might be violating the fire code. Saguru went back to people watching, taking note of the table not far from them that had a group of young men that seemed to be egging each other on to drink more. They were the rowdiest table this far away from the bar and karaoke machine by far, and he sincerely hoped that none of them did anything stupid like starting a fight.
He was only peripherally aware of the man sharing the wall until on a scan of the room, Saguru realized he was a lot closer than he had been before.
"Here alone too?" the man asked, sipping his drink. He didn't seem to be drinking much of it, or perhaps he was savoring it, for there wasn't much gone. He was watching the crowd as well, eyes fixed on them instead of Saguru.
"No." Saguru turned his eyes back to search for a glimpse of his group, but no luck. "I've been separated from my coworkers."
"Oh." There were a few beats of silence before the man tried to strike up a conversation again. "Do you come to this sort of place often?"
Saguru frowned, glancing subtly to try and gauge where the conversation attempt was headed, but the man still wasn't looking at him. He was younger than Saguru, though Saguru would guess that it wasn't by more than five years, dressed in a suit, still put together and straight laced despite the environment. Businessman, young, but not so young that he hadn't likely established himself, and unused to crowded bars, which was a bit surprising if he really was a businessman like Saguru hypothesized. Drinking was part of business culture in Japan; it would be near impossible to avoid it. Unless there was another reason he looked uncomfortable?
"Or…not," the man muttered. He swirled his drink in his glass, glancing up at the ceiling. He seemed to come to a decision because he shifted so he was angled toward Saguru rather than the room at large. "It wasn't this crowded the last time I was here," he said, pressing on. "If I'd known it'd be this…" He took another breath. "This doesn't look like your kind of thing either."
"It's not," Saguru said slowly. He took in the man's tight grip on his glass, the way he was trying to look at Saguru without staring too hard, and the subtle angling of his posture and it finally clicked. He was being hit on. And rather badly at that. Part of Saguru's mind felt shocked, perhaps because this sort of thing hadn't happened in a long while. He'd either had his partner with him or the people he interacted with knew he was in a relationship. Another part wondered why on earth it was happening here since this was definitely not one of Tokyo's gay bars. "I'm not a fan of crowds of strangers."
Something like relief filled the man's eyes, relief that Saguru had answered rather than letting conversation hang in a void, and he turned more fully. "I usually come in the middle of the week. It's much quieter then."
"It would be." Bars were, generally, far quieter during a work week than when the weekend came around since few people had to wake up for their job the next day on a weekend. "You usually visit bars alone?" Saguru prodded. He might as well have a conversation while he waited.
"Ah, not always…" He looked flustered, both hands gripping his drink again. "Only recently. I suppose it's more fun with people rather than…"
"Overwhelming?"
"Yes. Although I'll admit, even with people I've never really been to anywhere quite as busy as this…"
Saguru quirked a brow. Used to higher class drinking places? Either he had connections or he was already climbing the ranks in whatever his job was through skill. Or both. Nepotism was hardly rare, but he couldn't judge based on a bit of social awkwardness alone. "I'll admit it's been about a decade since I've been somewhere like this." Not entirely true—he had been to bars like this on cases, and to Mel's cast parties, but the work calls usually were outside of business hours, and Saguru usually at least knew most of the people in the room with the cast parties.
"Surely not that long," the man said, probably trying to gauge Saguru's age.
Saguru smiled to himself. "Give or take a bit. But that was never my scene."
"And what was?" There, the leaning in, showing interest, the man's eyes on Saguru's face and just a hint of pink in his cheeks. He was definitely interested and Saguru was just curious enough to feel a flicker of interest back.
"A good book and quiet company."
"Sounds nice. I'd take a book over this any day," the man said, waving one hand and spilling just a bit of his drink down his shirt as he leaned just a hint further into Saguru's space. "Though it would depend on the company."
"A book can be infinitely more enjoyable when read in company of another," Saguru said, and really had to wonder at the direction the conversation had taken because while he truly did enjoy a book read in the company of a loved one, it was starting to feel like a metaphor for something else entirely. He cleared his throat. "Ah, you spilled a bit of your drink."
All inviting body language was instantly gone as the man looked down at himself. "Damn. I just…" He sighed.
Saguru offered him a handkerchief and got a strained laugh in return.
"Thank you." The man dabbed at his shirt. When he handed the handkerchief back, he couldn't quite look in Saguru's direction. "Sorry for…yeah. I don't have any idea what I'm doing."
"Trying to flirt?" Saguru said bluntly.
The man's cheeks turned pink and he took a gulp of his drink, grimaced. "Trying. I'm…I really don't do this sort of thing much."
"Come to bars or hit on men?" Saguru asked, feeling a bit amused.
"Either?" His cheeks got darker. "I never really gave it much thought, and then there's half my coworkers getting married and…"
"You started to think about it," Saguru finished. He could sympathize. Not empathize because he'd figured out where he stood in his sexuality in his teen years, but he knew it wasn't uncommon to not realize until much later.
"Only I have no idea what I'm doing, and I just end up at bars my coworkers will never be at and just end up drinking by myself."
"You're fortunate you were hitting on me, not someone else."
Another strangled sounding laugh net this. "Oh, I know. I've had some bad reactions. Since you're not reacting like that, are you…?"
"I like men if that's what you're asking."
The man relaxed even further. "Have any tips…?"
Saguru gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Tokyo's LGBT population. I've spent most of the last decade and a half in England."
"Oh! Oh." He blinked, now looking a different sort of embarrassed. "Your Japanese is very—"
"I was born in Japan," Saguru cut in before the man could backtrack any more. "That said, even I am aware that Shinjuku Ni-choume is the area to go if you're looking for gay bars in Tokyo."
"I went there once but…" The man shrugged. "It was a bit of a culture shock. Crowded, and, well…sex oriented?"
Saguru was tempted to ask what had been expected from bars, especially when a large portion of the gay populace lived double lives and looked for anonymous hookups, but that would be a bit callous to ask someone who seemed to still be figuring out their sexual identity.
"Sex is a nice thought," the man continued, "but maybe after getting to know someone and having a relationship or…" He trailed off, embarrassed again. "I got made fun of for being a romantic."
"There's nothing wrong with wanting a relationship." Saguru felt a bit like when he had had students come to him with sexuality questions, only more awkward because this was a complete stranger. "There is nothing wrong with wanting a relationship without sex either."
"I don't think that would be a problem," the man said, and over the speakers, Saguru heard a new song come on. He winced internally as he realized it was Takata singing 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.' Well, at least he knew where to find his coworkers now. "But a romantic relationship would be nicer. I'm almost thirty and I never really thought about life outside of work, and now I would really like to have someone to…" He stopped talking. "Anyway. Thanks for listening to me ramble."
"I'm sure you're not the only romantic in Tokyo," Saguru said. He glanced at his watch. Almost half an hour had passed. He should probably either brave the mob or leave.
"I'm Nakahara Hiroto," the man finally said, offering a Western style handshake.
It was an automatic response to shake it. "Saguru," Saguru said, because there was no harm in responding with a first name at least.
He got a blinding smile in response. "I'm glad to meet you, Saguru-san."
"…Same." Saguru slid his hand free, a bit off kilter at the blatant enthusiasm. Nakahara had a nice smile though, he noted absently. He could catch plenty of attention if he smiled at people like that frequently. Maybe for his sake, it would catch the attention of someone interested in more than just casual sex. Takata's song was ending, but his coworkers were still lost somewhere in the mass of people. There wasn't any point in staying longer. He cleared his throat, standing straight again. "Well, I believe I'm going to call it a night," he said. "Best of luck with finding…" Was Nakahara looking for a boyfriend, a date, something else…? "…someone with similar interests," Saguru finished for lack of more fitting words.
"Ah. Thanks."
Saguru turned away, leaving Nakahara looking after him as he braved the crowd to reach the doors. The air, when he finally got free, felt wonderfully fresh in comparison to the mingled scents of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and people. He turned in the direction of home only to pause when he heard his name.
"Saguru-san!" Nakahara said again, leaving the bar. He had abandoned his drink and his neat suit was slightly rumpled from rushing out after Saguru, but his eyes held determination even as his face flushed red. "I know you're probably not interested, but!" A rectangle of cardstock was pressed into Saguru's hand. Nakahara's face went even redder, but he met Saguru's eyes. "If you ever are interested, please do call."
Saguru blinked down at the business card—for a high end financial company, so he was right about Nakahara being a businessman—and when he looked back up it was to see Nakahara's back as he returned to the bar, the glimpse of his profile showing that he was still blushing heavily.
When he started this night, he hadn't expected to end it with a phone number in hand. The piece of paper felt heavy as he pocketed it, sitting like a guilty secret against his hip. Kuroba would laugh his head off if he knew someone had chased after Saguru to give him their number. Come to think of it, Mel would have too. Saguru shook his head.
He should probably throw the card out. He didn't though, and it was placed on his desk that night instead of finding a home in his burnable trash.
It had been a strange encounter, but he supposed he could give Nakahara points for effort at least. It was also flattering as it was rare to have men or women show interest. He'd keep the card as a reminder if his self-confidence ever ran low.
