* Tea and Suddenness *
The familiar bell rings as we walk into the Shanghai, and I let my breath out slowly. So far, so good. I asked Lilly and Akira every question I could think of about Scotland and their time there, so the trip wasn't too bad. Aside from Akira's erratic driving, but at least that seemed to wake Lilly up a little more.
A waitress leads us to a corner booth, and takes our orders for a pot of tea that Lilly and Hanako enjoy and a platter of sandwiches. Akira looks like she'd prefer something different, but she doesn't seem to mind too much.
Then she looks at me, then at Hanako, and back to me, and that grin comes back. Beneath the table, Hanako's hand squeezes mine again.
Akira
"So, we miss anything interesting while we were gone?"
Think quickly, I tell myself. Anything is fine. Almost anything.
Hisao
"Not a whole lot. Everyone's stressing over exams, and they're not for a while. Were able to keep up with school when you were gone, Lilly?"
Lilly
"Most of it. Akira's been helping me with e-mail, and I had my teachers give me some lesson plans before we left. I should be fine."
It's good to hear. With the sudden trip and her aunt to worry about, the last thing Lilly needed was to fall behind in her classes too.
But I can tell it's not what Akira wants to hear about. She gives me another raised eyebrow, and points to the space between Hanako and myself, where the position of our arms makes it clear we're holding hands under the table.
I glance at Hanako. Her eyes are downcast, and I can't tell if she's blushing because she's embarrassed or if it's a sign of something bad. Any second now, I think, Hanako's going to start shaking, and then what?
The waitress comes back with our tea, and I pour for everyone. We clink our teacups together in mutual celebration of Lilly and Akira's return, then everything's silent for a moment as we all drink. Then, Lilly lowers her cup and faces where Hanako's sitting.
Lilly
"Hanako, have you-"
Hanako
"We confessed to each other!"
She doesn't say it loudly, but Hanako blurts it out with such force I'm surprised the windows don't shatter.
The silence that follows feels so heavy I consider sinking down under the table. I don't know if I've ever seen Lilly at a loss for words, but she's frozen with her fingers wrapped around her teacup, her mouth slightly open. Akira seems the exact opposite – she calmly sips, her eyes half closed, her entire attitude projecting 'I told you so.'
Hanako's breathing hard, and when I look at her, she already has her eyes locked on me, her lips quivering. I try to give her a smile, but I'm sure it comes out a little pained.
That was not how I wanted to handle this.
But hey, it's out, and there's no taking it back. I lift both our hands up onto the table, and take a deep breath.
Akira
"Told you, sis. You said he called you just to ask about her, he had to be into her."
Lilly
"You couldn't have known for sure."
Akira only laughs and sips her tea again. Lilly seems to be fighting to regain her composure, but it's an easy battle, and she takes a drink before turning toward Hanako again.
Lilly
"Despite what Akira says, this is a surprise. But I'm happy for you both. Can you tell me what happened?"
Hisao
"It's kind of . . . complicated."
It's not much, but it's the best I can do on short notice. And there's not a chance I'm telling her the whole story right now. Especially not in public.
Besides, what matters is we're together, right? We're together and we're working on understanding each other. Even if it's only been about a week, it still feels like–
Akira
"Always is. But I gotta say, I'm proud of you two. Didn't think either of you would go for it."
Hanako leans against me, and I look down to see her smile. I don't know why she felt she had to get it out all at once like that, but now that it's happened, I'm glad she did. It makes things easier now that the important part is out there.
Hanako
"We . . . we spent time together, when Lilly was gone. We talked a lot. I told Hisao about the orphanage, and he told me about. . . ."
Hanako glances at Akira, looking very unsure.
Hisao
"It's okay. You can tell her."
Hanako
"About his h-heart. And things . . . happened."
Akira starts to frown. 'Things happened' is about as vague as it can be, but it could mean almost anything in this situation. And considering how close Lilly and Akira both are to Hanako, they might not like what they think it means.
Akira
"Got a bad heart, Hisao? That why you're here?"
I let my breath out all at once. Somehow, that question is a lot easier to answer than the ones I thought she'd ask.
Hisao
"Yeah. I have arrhythmia, I only found out about it last winter. I had a heart attack in the middle of a love confession."
Akira's serious face changes all at once, and somehow, I laugh along with her. It keeps getting easier to talk about my condition, and I don't mind Akira knowing.
Akira
"Must have been a hell of a confession!"
She downs the rest of her tea, then winks at Hanako and I both.
Akira
"Looks like things turned out better for you this time. Good to know."
The atmosphere at the table eases after that, and we're able to talk without trying to avoid the elephant in the room. Or, in Akira's case, pointing at the elephant and trying to get everyone else to talk about it.
The conversation falls by the wayside as the sandwiches arrive, and shortly after we're done eating, Akira glances at her watch and mutters.
Akira
"I've got to check in at work before I get home, and they know when I landed. You guys want a lift back?"