| |
“Shoes off,” Taishi whispers in my ear as we step through a sliding door. As soon as I enter, I ditch my ballet flats and turn toward the two women who were awaiting our arrival. One woman is probably in her late forties, while the other woman looks like she's in her sixties. I assume they're Taishi's mother and grandmother.
Both women greet me with a bow and a simultaneously exclaimed “konnichiwa” so I try to copy them and do the same.
“Konnichiwa,” I echo the greeting as I bow.
“You must be Riley-chan?” the older woman asks. “Ohh, we've heard sooo much about you! Come in. You should have something to eat. What would you like?”
“Um...” I should probably ask for something Japanese, right? The only problem is, I have next to no knowledge of Japanese food. “What would you recommend?”
Taishi's sweet grandmother is already steering me to a table. She sits cross-legged on the floor and urges me to sit beside her. “How about okonomiyaki? It's one of my favorites!”
“Obaa-chan,” Taishi chuckles at his grandmother's suggestion. “Riley-chan isn't going to know what okonomiyaki is.”
I don't want to be a rude guest, so I speak up, “I'm willing to try it, though. Seriously, I'm up for anything.”
“How about ramen? Everyone likes ramen, don't they?” As Taishi's grandmother pats my arm, I'm already getting the impression that she's one of the nicest people I'll ever meet. Her smile is unbelievably warm and welcoming. In other words, she's the polar opposite of her grandson.
“Ramen would be good,” I tell her. “I'm happy to eat anything.”
“Maybe I'll manifest all of my favorites!” his grandmother exclaims. “Okonomiyaki, ramen, miso soup... oh! And we can have dorayaki and ice cream for dessert.”
My eyes light up when she says ice cream. Finally, she mentioned something I know and love. “I like ice cream!”
“Good. That's wonderful, dear.” She suddenly manifests a bowl of hot noodles and passes it to me, as well as a pair of chopsticks—which I have no idea how to use, by the way. I'm going to look like an idiot. “So, what do you think of our handsome Taishi?”
Taishi clears his throat as he sits down across from us. We're joined by his mother, who's been silent thus far. “Obaa-chan, you didn't even let me introduce everyone! You started shoving food into Leigh's hands as soon as she entered the house!”
“Ohhh, go ahead and make your introductions!” His grandmother sneers at him, then she manifests a huge plate of something I've never seen before. I assume it's the okonomiyaki. “But she already knows who we are, Taishi-kun. I'm your grandmother. Obviously.”
“Indeed. This is my grandmother, Ritsuka.” Taishi turns to the woman at his right. “And this is my mother, Ginchiyo.”
“It's really nice to meet you both,” I say, hoping I sound respectful enough. Ritsuka definitely looks older than Ginchiyo. Since they all probably died at different ages, I assume they've all shifted their appearances to look more like a family.
“Don't think you can change the subject and get out of this, Taishi-kun!” Ritsuka shakes her chopsticks at her grandson as she chastises him. “What do you think of Taishi, Riley-chan? Isn't he handsome?”
“Yeah.” I try to smile at Taishi, but he's not looking at me. “Of course he is.”
“And how is he as an instructor?” Ritsuka asks. “Some people say he's difficult to work with. They say he's too strict. Is he difficult to work with?”
I shake my head. “No. I don't think so. We get along pretty well.”
As I sample the okonomiyaki—which is a lot tastier than I expected—a guy in his late twenties walks into the room. Unlike Ritsuka and Ginchiyo, who are wearing traditional Japanese kimonos, this guy is wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
“Hey,” the guy greets me. “You're Leigh, right? I'm Jin.”
“And you must be...?” I hesitate, hoping he'll fill in the blank for me. I don't want to make a wrong guess. “Taishi's older brother?”
“No. Jin is actually my younger brother,” Taishi corrects me. “Does he look older than me now?”
“Well... yeah. Kind of.”
“That's amusing,” Taishi says. In the middle of our conversation, his brother manifests a big bowl of rice. “Jin was only twelve when I died.”
“Where's your dad?” I ask. When I see smiles drop from all four faces, I immediately regret my question. I guess I hit a sore spot.
“Dad chose reincarnation over us,” Jin blurts out, then he reaches across the table to steal a bowl of his grandmother's recently manifested noodles. “He wanted a new life. We didn't.”
“Oh. I... I'm sorry.” Why didn't I keep my stupid mouth shut and wait for someone to mention Taishi's father? I feel awful.
At long last, Ginchiyo speaks. With a smug grin, she says, “And his new life isn't that wonderful. He's a lonely garbage collector in Detroit.”
“And he's a single dad,” Ritsuka adds. “Personally, I think that's his karma for running out on us. He leaves us... and then his wife left him.”
“Do a lot of people choose reincarnation?” I ask, hoping it's not another stupid question. They seem like friendly people, so I don't think they'll judge me.
“A little less than half,” Ginchiyo replies. “A lot of spirits don't like the idea of having their memories wiped clean. But some also prefer the challenges of the mortal realm, or they didn't have much attachment to their previous lives, so they choose a new one.”
Taishi's grandmother tries to reclaim the conversation. “Riley-chan... do you like working with Taishi?”
Once again, Taishi's avoiding eye contact with me. I think his grandmother's questions might be killing him a bit. “Yeah. I really do,” I reply.
“Do you like... him?” Ritsuka asks.
This time, Taishi seems a bit more interested in my answer, but he's still not looking at me. With a firm nod, I tell her, “I do.”
“He's so serious! The boy needs to have fun every now and then!” his grandmother complains.
So Taishi fires back at her, “I think you're the only grandmother in the world who thinks her grandson should work less.”
Ritsuka dismisses his comment with a wave of her hand. “I'm not saying you should work less... I'm saying you should have fun too! You're always working, Taishi. Maybe you and Riley-chan could visit a beach together? You used to like the beach.”
“That would be fun,” I tell her as I sample the miso soup. It's not really my thing, so I shove it aside and focus on the okonomiyaki.
“See? She wants to go to the beach! I bet you have her working and working and working non-stop. I bet you never leave any time for fun!”
As Ritsuka speaks, I nod along and answer, “Pretty much.”
“I like you, dear...” Ritsuka gives my arm another friendly pat. “Would you like some dessert?”
“Sure.” Ritsuka manifests something that looks like a pancake stuffed with chocolate. Unfortunately, it's not chocolate. It tastes a lot weirder than I expected, and I wish she would've given me ice cream instead.
“Do you have a boyfriend, Riley-chan?”
Ritsuka's question is so unexpected, I almost choke on the dorayaki. “Umm...” Once again, Taishi's studying me in the corner of his eye. He's trying to look disinterested, but he's so transparent, it's hilarious. He wants to know my answer. “No.”
Maybe I should make that clear to Jophiel as well?
“I think you'd be a good girlfriend for our Taishi. You seem very sweet, dear.”
Ritsuka's comments are making me blush. I can't see myself, but my face is on fire, so I assume I'm blushing. “That's... uh...” I don't know how to reply, so I bite my tongue and hope for a swift end to the conversation.
“To my knowledge, Taishi's never had a girlfriend,” his grandmother calls him out. “He just works and works and works and works and... well, you know how he is.”
I chuckle at her observation. “Yeah, he does work pretty hard.”
So, unlike Jophiel, Taishi is celibate? Is that what I can take away from this?
“I've always thought he was waiting for his soulmate,” Ritsuka continues. “Maybe you are his soulmate?”
I don't reply. I just smile at Taishi.
And to my utter amazement, he actually smiles back at me.