"The thing I don't get is that he said he knows who I am," Daniel continued his story as he and Mr. Miyagi moved around the shop rearranging the little trees.
"He know you from class, maybe," Mr. Miyagi suggested absently.
"Maybe," Daniel agreed doubtfully. "We don't really know each other. I mean we've seen each other in class but we haven't even spoken except when I asked him if I could borrow a pencil. He wasn't very friendly then either."
"High school?"
Daniel shook his head before he answered. "No, I don't know him from high school. How does this look?" he asked, changing the subject for a moment. He and Mr. Miyagi both stood back to inspect the display of trees Daniel had set up.
"Look good," Mr. Miyagi nodded. "The big boys, what happen to them?"
"I don't know," Daniel shrugged. "They left and I didn't see them again. I'm guessing they take classes there but if so, not one of mine. Thank God."
Mr. Miyagi chuckled at that. "Daniel-San did good. Disable and protect but no fight."
Daniel basked in Mr. Miyagi's praise, glad he'd listened to that little voice. It had to have been Mr. Miyagi's little voice in his head because his own didn't always keep him out of trouble.
"It might have been a fight if they had known karate," he felt compelled to honestly point out. "It was just my luck that they didn't."
"You know before interrupt that boys not know karate?" Mr. Miyagi glanced at him as he asked.
Daniel paused a moment, remembering, then "Yes, I did."
"Then Daniel-San did good. You not use karate on men who not know karate. That would be unfair. You did what you must to control situation."
Daniel smiled at the confirmation that Mr. Miyagi was pleased with how he'd handled the situation. Daniel tended to have a quick temper and sometimes an over sensitivity that often led to him jumping into situations that could have been avoided or prevented. Or, as had happened more than once, something that was really none of his business to begin with. He knew this and so did Mr. Miyagi.
"I don't really know what happened to the other guy, either," Daniel went on, surprised to realize that he was curious, if not concerned, how his classmate was doing after the fight. "He wasn't in class so I guess he went home."
Mr. Miyagi grunted noncommittally at that and began a basic sketch of his mind's view of what was hiding in the next Bonsai to be shaped.
"Can you show me that double back kick move in the new Kata again? I might need to see it again to be able to get it. It's a hard one."
"Daniel-San have homework?" Mr. Miyagi looked meaningfully toward Daniel's book bag sitting at the counter.
"Yeah, can you believe it?" he asked as he headed over to the counter and grabbed up his bag, taking the hint as Mr. Miyagi intended. He was either making the hint that Daniel's homework would come before workouts and training, or he was using it as an excuse to get Daniel to give him some peace while he sketched, but either way the Kata would have to wait. "The third day and already I have homework."
Mr. Miyagi chuckled but said nothing.
Daniel pulled his books and his materials from the bag and settled at the counter to get busy. He'd get as much done at the shop as he would at home, and he'd at least have company if he stayed at the shop with Mr. Miyagi. He took a deep breath and inhaled the scents of incense, tea, soil and earthy trees. He listened to the sounds of charcoal on light paper and then the small snip snipping of tiny clippers on tiny buds. This was the combination of scents and sounds that had come to symbolize home to Daniel a couple years ago and it never failed to make him feel that he was right where he belonged.
Just as they were about to leave for the day the chimes over the door sang out, indicating that they had a visitor. Daniel was in the back stacking bags of soil they intended for use to begin raising seedling Bonsais and didn't let the chime interrupt his almost finished work. He knew Mr. Miyagi was in the front.
"How may we help you?" Mr. Miyagi asked politely.
Daniel couldn't help but smile at the difference in that tone as opposed to the first time he'd met Mr. Miyagi when he was fifteen. The older man had seemed almost unfriendly at that initial meeting, certainly curt and impatient. The words 'after, after' rang in his head as he remembered asking when Mr. Miyagi, then a handy man at the new apartments Daniel and his mother had moved into, would be up to fix their sink. How things have changed, Daniel thought. And yet, so much is also the same, he mused with a chuckle as he remembered Mr. Miyagi taking on that same impatient tone just that morning when Daniel had not moved into position quickly enough for his training session.
He was jerked from his musings at the sound of the visitor's voice. It was light, female, and familiar. He tossed another bag of soil onto the sturdy stack he'd already built, wiped the sweat from his brow with a forearm, then peeked around the door frame to the front of the sizable building. He was correct in his assumption that he knew the speaker. As he watched Mr. Miyagi direct her to a specific table of Bonsai trees, Daniel enjoyed his spectator view of Jenna, taking some enjoyment from observing her without her knowledge. She seemed different, like this. She didn't have those defenses up that one tends to have when you know an interested party is observing.
Usually eager to catch up to her or speak to her on campus, Daniel found himself suddenly unsure. It was different having her on his own territory. Had she known she'd find him here? Did she follow him to know where he was then come back hours later to 'bump' into him? If so, why? And if not...then how should he proceed? Would it help or hurt his chances in getting a date with her? Daniel's sudden lack of confidence kept him frozen in the doorway, peering through displays of un-clipped, wild Bonsai.
"Very good," Mr. Miyagi was saying to her. "This very good tree, this tree have beauty deep inside. Daniel-San working with this Bonsai. Daniel-San! Daniel-San, come, we have visitor."
Mr. Miyagi waved Daniel forward, either saving him or condemning him, but seemingly aware that he had been standing frozen in the doorway. Mr. Miyagi threw Daniel a knowing look with a small smile as Daniel moved forward.
"Daniel-San, come," he said once more, quieter now that Daniel was much closer. Mr. Miyagi held an arm out in half beckoning to Daniel. "Daniel-San, girl like Bonsai you are clipping. You like show her your sketch? The tree you see inside little Bonsai?"
"Uh..." Daniel said intelligently, then gathered his wits. "Hi, Jenna."
"Hi, Daniel," she smiled wide, not covering her surprise well. She seemed somewhat at a loss what to say next.
"So, you like this little guy?" Daniel ventured, tenderly touching the half clipped Bonsai.
"Yes," she said, turning her attention to the little tree. "There's something about it. I'm not sure what."
"I'm not quite finished with it. But if you like it like this..."
"No," she interrupted quickly, then seemed to catch herself. "I mean, if you're still working on it..."
"No, really," he insisted, "if this is the one you like then you should be able to buy it. It's only half finished for me, but maybe this is what you visualize it to be. And that's what it should be, if it's going to go home with you."
Jenna seemed unsure what to say in response to Daniel's reasoning but that worked in his stead.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Thank you. But I actually need a few more. Do you mind if I look? Or are you closing?" Her eyes found the clock high on the wall.
Daniel threw a glance to Mr. Miyagi. "Go ahead and look all you like," Daniel said. "I still had some cleaning up to do before I can leave anyway."
That was far from the truth but Mr. Miyagi didn't dispute it. Instead he smiled knowingly, making Daniel blush and look away quickly. Mr. Miyagi cleared his throat, then said "Miyagi let Daniel-San finish up, okay Daniel-San? Miyagi go home, make dinner. Be sure lock up."
Daniel nodded at the reminder he got often; Mr. Miyagi seemed to worry about the neighborhood the shop was in, despite that it was being slowly cleaned up, and feared Daniel forgetting to lock the doors. "I will," he assured as he always did.
Daniel turned his attention back to Jenna. "So you need a few more? Can you tell me what you need them for? That might help me help you find the right ones."
The question brought Jenna's attention back to him and she pulled her curious gaze from the door where she had watched Mr. Miyagi leave and back to Daniel.
"Um...yeah," she said, seeming to gather her thoughts again. "My grandfather. His birthday is next month and he has a Japanese garden in his backyard. One thing he's always said is missing is Bonsai trees, he said he fell in love with them back when he was stationed in Japan. We decided to get him a few so he could plant them in his garden."
"That's nice," Daniel said sincerely, smiling at the thought. "No one is going to plant them for him?"
"No way," Jenna said emphatically. "That's part of the enjoyment for him. He likes to do all the labor of it himself. Besides, it's a pretty elaborate garden. Only he knows where he'd want the trees and we'd have no way of guessing."
"Ah, gotcha," Daniel replied and began leading her to a table of Bonsai that he knew to be a hardier breed than some. "Does he shape them or do you need them already shaped?"
"I'm not sure," she said uncertainly, looking at the large selection. "I've never seen him with one, so I guess to be on the safe side I'd better get them already shaped."
"You'll just have to look around for whatever catches your eye," Daniel advised her. "Even the ones that aren't touched are really nice. Some people leave them that way. They're all different."
"So I see," Jenna observed. She surveyed the selection for several moments then said "So, that man. You work for him?"
"He's the Mr. Miyagi of Mr. Miyagi's Little Trees," Daniel stated. "We're partners, actually."
"Partners? Really? Wow."
"Yep. He's also my best friend."
"Really?" Her surprise and startlement was not new to Daniel. That was the usual reaction when people discovered that the man he called best friend was an Asian man several decades his senior.
"Yep," Daniel confirmed. The man was also very much like a father, though Daniel would never say so to a virtual stranger. While it was a sentiment both he and Mr. Miyagi felt and often acknowledged in small ways, it was a sentiment that went unstated and had never been talked about, even amongst themselves.
"These three," Jenna said abruptly, pointing to a cluster of Bonsais. "And that one over there, and the one first one I picked out that you said is half finished. I like it just the way it is."
Daniel smiled at her, pleased for a reason he couldn't name. A reason that had nothing to do with the fact that she had picked five Bonsai trees. They were not cheap trees to purchase.
"Sure," he said easily. "Let me write it up and I'll help you get them out to your car."
"Thanks," she said, returning his smile.
Fifteen minutes later he waved to her as she drove away, five of Mr. Miyagi's Little Trees in her backseat, and he speculated that maybe, just maybe, he'd made a new friend from his class. He turned the key in the lock to make sure the door was secure as he was leaving.
Maybe now she would agree to go out for coffee with him?