Chasing Toshiro - 1. Chapter 1

Chasing Toshiro

“Stalker.”

Kade sighed and rolled away from the bushes, onto his back, and squinted up at his best friends, Graham and Hana, and Graham’s girlfriend, Tessa.

“I’m not stalking,” Kade said quickly, sitting up and trying to surreptitiously brush bits of dead leaves from his hair. Yeah, maybe Toshiro was reading on the other side of the bushes, and yeah, maybe there was a convenient gap between the bottom of the bush and the ground that allowed him to see the oak tree Toshiro was leaning up against, but that didn’t necessarily mean Kade was watching him.

“You’re lying here, watching your crush through a gap in the hedges. That’s stalking.” Tessa sat down, flipping her sheet of long dark hair back over her shoulder. Graham sat down next to her.

“I was napping,” Kade shot back defensively. He shot a hopeful look at Hana as she sat down next to him. She usually came to his defense, especially against Tessa. This time though, she smiled apologetically as she pushed her frizzy blonde hair out of her light grey eyes.

“Sorry Kade. But it looks weird.”

“Like a stalker,” Tessa said again.

“Knock it off, Tess,” Graham said. “But seriously, Kade, just ask him out.”

“I’m not ready yet,” Kade said. “I need the right moment.”

“There’s not going to be a right moment,” Hana pointed out. “You just need to go ahead and ask him.”

“I don’t know what to say to him.”

"Most people start with ‘hi’,” Tessa said.

“Just talk to him,” Hana advised. “He’s probably lonely. I don’t think he knows a lot of people.”

“Probably why he spends so much time reading boring books,” Tessa added.

“Don’t dump on books just because you’re too—”

“Hana,” Graham interrupted, a sharp warning in his voice.

“You could invite him to the football game tonight,” Hana said. “I’m going to D.C. with my sister to do some shopping, so you can have my tickets.”

“What if he says no?” Kade fretted. He checked his watch. Break would be over soon, and Toshiro would be gone to class.

“I’ve got that one,” Tessa said. “If he does say no, just look him right in his beady little eyes and imagine horrible things happening to him while you smile, and say, ‘Hey, no problem. Nice to meet you.’ If you have trouble coming up with suitable revenge scenarios, I would suggest castration, rat torture, and, if the rejection is especially harsh, scaphism.”

Kade had no idea what scaphism was, but based on the way Hana shuddered, he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know. Graham looked horrified.

Tessa glanced around. “What? I’m trying to help.”

“If I had said I didn’t want to date you, would you have imagined those things happening to me?” Graham asked.

“Well, you didn’t say no. So it doesn’t matter,” Tessa said.

“You scare me,” Graham said.

“Me too,” Hana added.

Kade’s attention had already turned back to Toshiro, otherwise he would have to figure out what scaphism was and be scared of Tessa too, and he was already nervous.

“If you don’t ask him out, I will,” Tessa added.

“I’m pretty sure Toshiro isn’t into girls,” Graham pointed out.

Tessa rolled her eyes. “I’m not asking him to date me. I’ll ask him out on Kade’s behalf.”

“Don’t you dare,” Kade gritted out.

Tessa raised her eyebrows in a defiant manner and stood up, clearly intending to follow through on her threat. Kade scrambled to his feet and hurried to where Toshiro was sitting. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hana yanking Tessa back down and made a mental note to bring her chocolate the next day.

He took a deep breath to try to steady his nerves as he approached Toshiro, who was still engrossed in his book. Finally, Kade was close enough for Toshiro to take notice, and the other boy glanced up, blinking at Kade owlishly from behind his thick glasses.

“Hi,” Toshiro said. He smiled, and Kade felt all of his bravery evaporating as every single word of the English language left his head.

The silence stretched on too long, and Toshiro’s welcoming smile turned awkward.

Say something, idiot.

“H-Hi,” Kade managed. “Um…hi…Oh, I guess I said that already. Right. I’m Kade.”

“I know,” Toshiro said. “We’re in the same AP Chem class, I think.”

“Yeah,” Kade said. “With Ms. Myers.”

“Right,” Toshiro said. The silence stretched out again. “Um…did you have a question about class?”

“Oh…no. Sorry. Uh…can I sit here?”

Toshiro nodded.

Kade sat down and racked his brain for something cool to say but came up empty. Toshiro was looking at him expectantly.

“Uh…” Kade’s gaze fell on Toshiro’s book. He meant to ask, “What are you reading?” The words that came out of his mouth were, “You read?”

“Yeah.” Toshiro glanced down at the book as well. “Do you?”

Kade felt his face growing hot. He just asked his crush if he read. He was such a moron.

“Yeah, I just graduated from pictures to chapter books,” he joked. Toshiro looked nonplussed, and Kade wanted to crawl into a hole and just die. “What book is it?” he asked.

“The Foundation by Isaac Asimov,” Toshiro said, holding the book out. Kade took it. The cover was worn, and the pages dog-eared, but it looked more well-read than carelessly kept.

“Asimov, that’s sci-fi right?”

Toshiro beamed at him. “Yes, it’s my favorite. You like sci-fi?”

“Ah…I’m more fantasy than sci-fi,” Kade admitted.

“Who do you like? Tolkien?”

“Yeah, Tolkien is cool. Patrick Rothfuss, Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson. The Gunslinger series by Stephen King is pretty good too.”

“Have you read anything by Terry Brooks or Robert Jordan?” Toshiro asked, leaning forward.

They talked about books for a few minutes. Kade was enjoying himself. Hana would talk to him about books sometimes, but they didn’t read much of the same genres. Graham had started bringing Tessa when he came to hang out, who wanted to talk about things she watched on Netflix and Hulu instead of books.

When the bell rang a few minutes later, Kade was disappointed rather than relieved.

“Uh…hey,” he said as Toshiro stood up.

“Yeah?” Toshiro asked as he pulled his bag over his shoulder.

“I…I have tickets for the football game tonight. Do you…want to check it out?”

Toshiro smiled, and Kade noticed the way it made his dark eyes crinkle behind his glasses. It was cute.

“Sure. I love football.”

“You do?” Kade asked, a little surprised. He knew next to nothing about the game.

“Yeah, my parents used to take me to see the Raiders play a couple of times a year. Where should I meet you?”

They made plans and exchanged numbers, and Kade hardly noticed what was going on around him as he got to class. He took his seat next to Hana and gave her a thumbs up.

He had done it. He had a date with Toshiro Saito and was the luckiest guy in school.

Hell, maybe in the world.

* * * 

Kade had thought asking Toshiro to the game would be the most nerve-racking part of the day. He was sorely mistaken.

It wasn’t that Toshiro was making Kade nervous. Toshiro was great, enthusiastically buying them popcorn and peanuts and drinks and even some little souvenirs. He also didn’t have a problem explaining the mechanics of the game to Kade, who often had to be told whether offense or defense was on the field. Toshiro was as enthusiastic about football as he was about books.

The issue was that Kade was on a date with Toshiro. And if he messed anything up, the date would be a disaster, and Toshiro would never want to go out with him again, and his life would be over. Kade would have to transfer schools, possibly move out of state and change his name to “Bob the broken-hearted”. He wasn’t even going to consider a kiss at the end of the night.

“So number thirty-eight is lining up to catch…and Bishop has caught it and is on his way up the field,” Toshiro said. “And…oh, he’s down at the nineteen.”

The crowd was groaning and booing around him, so Kade joined in. This was almost fun.

It was close to halftime when Toshiro frowned and fished his phone out of his pocket.

“What’s up?” Kade asked.

“It’s my dad,” Toshiro said.

“Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. I’m just going to step out and take this, alright?”

“Okay,” Kade said, watching him go. No harm in admiring the rear view, after all.

Kade had just enough time to send an excited group text to Graham and Hana, because he was on a date with Toshiro.

When Toshiro returned, however, he looked troubled, and Kade’s excitement vanished.

“Can we talk?” Toshiro asked. Knowing nothing good followed such a request, Kade reluctantly got to his feet, awkwardly maneuvered his way out of the bleachers, and followed Toshiro out of the stadium.

“Uh…listen, I’m really sorry, but I have to go,” Toshiro started.

Kade felt his heart sink. Bob the broken-hearted it is.

“My grandpa fell, and Dad thinks he broke his leg, and he needs to go with him to the hospital.”

“Oh my God,” Kade said. “I’m sorry.” It helped that Toshiro looked equal parts worried and regretful.

“I have to go home to watch my brothers and sisters because my mom works nights. He tried to find a sitter, but getting someone last minute on a Friday night….”

“No, no, I get it,” Kade said. “Um…can I give you a ride?”

Toshio glanced at him and the shy apprehension on his face gave Kade a little bit of hope.

“Would that be okay? I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“No problem,” Kade said, digging his keys out of his pocket. “I can even help you wrangle the kids, if you want.”

“Oh, you don’t have to. I have a lot of siblings,” Toshiro told him, jogging beside Kade to keep up with his long strides. Kade made an effort to walk slower.

“I have brothers and sisters too,” Kade reassured him during the drive.

When he pulled up to the apartment where Toshiro lived, there was already an ambulance at the front entrance. A man with thick, dark hair and a heavily-lined face waved at Toshiro, cradling a very small child.

Kade hung back uneasily, listening to the man talk to Toshiro in a language Kade didn’t recognize, maybe Chinese or Japanese. The man passed the child over to Toshiro and went to the ambulance, talking to someone inside.

Kade tagged along after Toshiro as he walked inside the building, up some stairs, and down a long hallway.

“So, who is this?” Kade asked, as the child, who appeared closer to a toddler, smiled at him over Toshiro’s shoulder.

Toshiro glanced at Kade, almost like he was surprised to still see him there, and then at the child.

“This is Maeko,” he said. Toshiro came upon a door and opened it. There was an instant eruption of noise. A television was going, and there were several children running around. Some of them saw Toshiro as he entered and came their way, shouting “Tosha! Tosha!”

“Hey guys. This is my friend Kade,” Toshiro said, gesturing to Kade with his free arm. “So, let’s use English, okay?”

“Hi, Kade!” Three of the children, all boys by their appearance, and all looking about three or four years old, chorused.

“Kade, this is Taro, Yumma, and Sachio. And that one over there, with her nose in a book, is Kameko.” He pointed to another girl who was about eight or nine years old, sitting cross legged on a couch in the crowded living room, contentedly reading. “She takes after me.”

Any hidden hope Kade had about maybe prolonging their date was put to bed almost instantly. Toshiro was occupied with a tired, and thus cranky toddler, and Kameko was happily ensconced with her book. So he was the object of interest for three young boys, who he later found out were triplets, who were scared for their “sofu” but expressed it through an exuberant display of nervous energy.

Kade did his best to entertain them, but that was difficult. Toshiro had given them Play-Doh, but it didn’t interest them. Singing didn’t work, nor did reading to them. Playing with their toys was also unsuccessful. They wanted to run and have Kade chase them, but they all ran in opposite directions, the apartment was small, and in general, it increased the overall sense of chaos immensely. Kameko, astonishingly, had just pulled a blanket over her head and continued to read, and Toshiro was having trouble quieting down Maeko with the general noise level.

“Tell you what,” Toshiro finally said. “I’m going to try to put Maeko down. Tell the boys if they get into their pajamas without making a fuss, then I’ll let them watch TV in Dad’s room. Hopefully they’ll fall asleep in there, and I can just carry them back to their room later.”

Kade relayed that to the triplets and it was like a switch had been flipped. The triplets were in their pajamas and crowded into the master bedroom in five minutes. Toshiro set up the television and left the triplets arguing over who got the remote. Based on what he had seen from their play earlier, Kade was putting his money on the scrappy Taro.

After they were settled, Toshiro carried Maeko to bed, and it was easy to convince Kameko, who had barely said a word or looked up from her book all evening, to take her book to read in bed.

Toshiro collapsed next to Kade on the couch with a sigh and closed his eyes. “Thank God. Sweet, blessed silence.”

Kade smiled. “Do you think they’ll fall asleep?”

“The triplets will,” Toshiro said. “Kameko will try to tough it out if she’s enjoying her book, but she falls asleep while reading all the time.” Toshiro opened his eyes and glanced at Kade. “Thanks for offering to help me out, you really saved my sanity tonight.”

“No problem,” Kade said.

“I know this wasn’t what you wanted your Friday night to be,” Toshiro said. “And this wasn’t the way I would have chosen to introduce you to my family.”

The fact Toshiro had wanted to formally introduce him to his family sent a little thrill through Kade.

Kade was contemplating whether he felt brave enough to ask Toshiro on another date, when he got texts from both of his parents, asking him where the hell he was. Checking the time, Kade saw it was nearly midnight.

“Uh-oh,” Kade said. “Listen I better go; it’s almost curfew.”

“Oh God.” Toshiro looked worried. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t get you into trouble.”

“No, it’s fine. It was almost fun.”

Toshiro laughed and got to his feet. “Well, thanks again. It meant a lot.”

Kade wasn’t expecting a kiss, but it didn’t keep him from wishing for one. He got a handshake instead and a friendly, “See you Monday.”

 

No more football dates, Kade decided. Things at school Monday had been awkward, but by the middle of the week, they were able to laugh about it.

Kade decided he would make his special lasagna, great for easing hurt feelings and building friendships, and invite Toshiro over for dinner. Kade was a mediocre cook at best, and he knew it, but this lasagna recipe, passed down from his Italian great-grandmother, was his specialty. He had made it several times, honed it down to a perfect blend of meat and pasta and cheese.

It had taken some cajoling, begging, and badgering to get his parents to take his brother and sister out for a couple of hours, but his mom eventually relented when she learned Kade was “interested” in a boy. His mom wanted details, and Kade levered her insatiable curiosity to his advantage, promising to tell her about Toshiro if she gave him a few hours of privacy.

Kade had eagerly texted Toshiro an invitation to dinner, and Toshiro responded, “Sure. Sounds great!”

This was it, Kade found himself thinking as he gathered the ingredients he had bought earlier that day. Although he had been nervous about the football game, now he was brimming with confidence. He was in his space, doing something he was actually good at, and Toshiro was coming to him. They would eat, and maybe watch a movie, and maybe more. He had this.

His mind was wandering into various happy scenarios as he made the meat sauce, layered his lasagna, and put it into the stove.

Toshiro was right on time, ringing the doorbell when there were only five minutes left on the stove. He was dressed in dark jeans and a gray cable knit sweater that looked very soft and warm. He smiled shyly as he stepped inside. “Hey.”

God, Kade wanted to hug him. He forced himself to hold back and smiled back instead. “Hey, come on in. Hope you’re hungry.”

“Definitely,” Toshiro said as he stepped inside. “Wow, it smells good in here.”

“Well, dinner will be ready in about five minutes or so. You’re just in time.”

Strangely, Toshiro’s face fell at those words. “We’re…eating here?”

“Um…” Kade was lost for words for a moment. “I thought…well, I thought it would be fun to cook something. But if you’re not cool with it….”

Toshiro shifted his feet and didn’t seem to be able to meet his eyes. “I thought we were going out to eat.”

“We can if you want to,” Kade said.

“What did you make?” Toshiro asked, sounding hopeful.

“Lasagna.”

Toshiro shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet. His face was turning very red. “Uh…I’m a vegetarian.”

“A…oh.” Kade felt his face growing warm as well. His lasagna had ground beef and Italian sausages. Shit, shit, shit. He was such an idiot.

Toshiro was turning an even darker shade of red. “Sorry. I’m really sorry, I should’ve asked, I just assumed—”

“No, no, that’s my fault,” Kade said. “I wasn’t clear when I invited you to dinner, and I should’ve checked to make sure…I just wasn’t thinking…I’m so sorry.”

Kade wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“Hey, it’s both our faults,” Toshiro said.

“Tell you what,” Kade said, walking into the kitchen. “I’m going to cover this up and keep it in the oven for my parents when they get back. And we can go out to eat somewhere. Your choice.”

Toshiro’s expression cleared a little at the suggestion, and Kade took a minute to turn off the oven and tuck the tinfoil back over the lasagna pan.

You fucking idiot, he thought. Of course he thought we were going out somewhere, that’s why he didn’t ask what we were having. If you had been more clear, then you wouldn’t have spent an entire afternoon fixing a meat-laden dish for a vegetarian!

God, he was hopeless. No wonder he didn’t get a lot of dates.

“Where to?” Kade asked, turning off the kitchen light and grabbing his car keys.

Toshiro grinned. “Do you like Indian food?”

 

Kade had no idea if he liked Indian food, but twenty minutes later he sat in a booth with Toshiro at an unfamiliar Indian restaurant at the edge of town. The sitting in the booth part was nice.

But Kade had never had Indian food before. And there was no way he was admitting that to Toshiro after the lasagna disaster.

The menu was intimidating as hell. He could recognize a few things. Naan he knew was bread. Lamb chops, kebabs, fine. But what was tandoori? Or chaat? And over here was something named “bhindi kurkuri”. What the hell?

Kade began to panic slightly, until he had an idea.

“Um…” he said, trying to sound casual. “I’ve not eaten at this restaurant before; what’s good here?”

Toshiro looked up from the menu, and Kade thought there was a touch too much understanding in Toshiro’s smile.

“The garlic naan is a must. And I don’t eat it, but chicken tikka masala is pretty popular across the board. It’s chicken in a tomato and cream sauce, with some spices. So you can count on it being top notch at most restaurants.”

Chicken tikka masala, Kade repeated to himself.

“It doesn’t bother you, if I order something with chicken in it?”

“Not at all,” Toshiro reassured him. “I’ve heard of some vegetarians getting sick by the smell of meat, but I’m not one of them. I don’t eat meat, but I certainly wouldn’t try to tell someone else they couldn’t.”

Kade wanted to know why Toshiro didn’t eat meat, like if he didn’t like the taste, or thought it wasn’t healthy, or if it was an animal rights thing, but he couldn’t figure out a good way to phrase it, and especially not when he was probably going to be eating chicken later.

“So…did you move here from California?” Kade asked instead, remembering what Toshiro said about going to Raiders’ games with his parents.

“Yeah.” Toshiro nodded. “My grandpa lives here, and he’s getting older, and my parents didn’t like the idea of him living alone. Grandpa didn’t want to leave his home, and my parents didn’t want to uproot him from his community, his church, his friends. And the cost of living in LA is ridiculous. So we moved, thinking it would be better before the triplets started school. So…here we are.”

Kade, who had lived in the same town his entire life, tried to imagine leaving his school, his friends, his comfortable room. Having a new school, new schoolmates, new stores and streets. It sounded terrifying.

“That sounds hard,” Kade said.

Toshiro shrugged. “My parents like being closer to sofu, and he likes being able to spend more time with his grandkids. And it was good we were here when he fell. If we still lived in LA, Dad wouldn’t have been here to go to the hospital with him.”

Their waitress came by, a young blond girl who looked like she was 100% done with the evening.

Toshiro glanced at the menu again and ordered something Kade was sure he would never be able to pronounce, and his trepidation grew. Suddenly, his chicken tinker idea seemed very pedestrian and boring. It was popular, according to Toshiro, which meant it was safe, but ordering it seemed like it would validate the entirely true fact he had never eaten Indian food in his entire life.

So when the waitress looked at Kade expectantly, he glanced at the menu and looked for the first exotic sounding item he was fairly confident he could pronounce.

“I’ll have the vindaloo please.”

The waitress nodded, collected their menus, and left.

Toshiro looked mildly impressed.

“I didn’t know you were a fan of spicy food.”

Record scratch

“Um…yeah,” Kade lied. He wasn’t a fan of spicy food. But he wasn’t not a fan of spicy food either. He’d had hot wings before. And the jalapeno poppers his dad made. He could handle a little spice.

And besides he was on a date with Toshiro.

He was able to forget about it for a while. Toshiro was asking about his friends, and Kade told him about Graham and Hana, who he had known since kindergarten, and Tessa, who was the newest addition to their group, and promised to introduce Toshiro to them. Toshiro told him about how his grandfather was faring when Kade asked.

“Well, we think he needs to stay in rehab a little longer before Dad feels comfortable with sofu coming home. We’re not sure if the triplets understand they can’t just jump into his lap, and that he can’t roughhouse with them like he used to. So Dad sent him to a rehab place for a few more weeks. Sofu is worried my parents mean for him to stay, because it’s a nursing home, but they plan on bringing him home soon. I’ve been to see him once, and it’s a pretty dreary place, so I hope he doesn’t have to stay too long.” Toshiro looked down at the table.

Kade felt his heart sink. He didn’t mean to make Toshiro feel bad.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That must be hard to deal with.”

“Yeah,” Toshiro said. “Do you have grandparents?”

Kade shook his head. His grandparents on his dad’s side had both died from cancer when Kade was little, and he had never even met his grandparents on his mom’s side. He had never asked why, but had overheard enough comments about a “creepy uncle” to put things together.

To Kade’s relief, they were interrupted by the waitress bringing their food to the table. Kade regarded the vindaloo suspiciously. Pork in a thick reddish-orange sauce over rice. It looked innocent enough, but Kade could smell the heat coming off the dish. Toshiro had some veggie dish that didn’t look as though it tasted like the ninth circle of Hell, and Kade wished he had ordered the same thing. Or anything else. Chicken tikka masala was sounding really good right now.

Kade didn’t want to lose face once he had committed to his meal; however, and gamely forked up a helping of the pork, rice, and sauce and shoved it in his mouth.

Kade thought if fire had a taste, it tasted like this. The taste was neither good, nor bad, just hot. So, so hot.

He swallowed as soon as possible, but his mouth still felt like the inside of a furnace. He felt the urge to cough and repressed it, reaching for his water instead. That didn’t help either.

Kade took a deep breath. It was him versus the vindaloo. If he gave up, then it would tip Toshiro off that Kade had no idea what he ordered, and the night would be ruined.

Besides, it was food. He wasn’t going to let food get the better of him.

A few mouthfuls later, and Kade was reconsidering his resolve. His mouth was on fire, no matter how much water he drank. Now his eyes were watering, his nose was running, and sweat was rolling down his face and neck. Kade grabbed his napkin to mop his face, and when he looked up again, Toshiro was regarding him with a concerned frown on his face.

“Are you okay?”

Kade nodded, though he had never felt less from okay in his entire life.

“Your face is really red,” Toshiro pointed out

Kade coughed and took another sip of water. His glass was nearly empty.

“I’m fine,” he croaked out.

Toshiro looked unconvinced. “Is it too hot?” he asked, gesturing to the vindaloo.

“No, it’s fine,” Kade lied. Toshiro reached over and took a small forkful of rice and sauce from Kade’s plate and tasted it.

“Damn,” Toshiro said. “That’s pretty brutal.” He flagged down a waiter. “Can I get some milk for my friend, please?” Toshiro turned back to Kade and passed him some of the garlic naan they had been snacking on earlier.

“Try this,” Toshiro suggested. Kade took a slice and bit into it. It helped some, and the milk Kade was served a few minutes later was like cool, sweet heaven in his mouth.

Kade had fought the vindaloo, and the vindaloo had won.

* * * 

“And then, he had to get the waiter to bring me some milk.”

Kade was relaying the humiliating details of his second failed date to his friends. He hadn’t sought out Toshiro before class like he usually did. He was too embarrassed to face him again. Maybe in twenty or thirty years. Graham and Hana were listening sympathetically. Tessa, who had started laughing at the lasagna story, was lying on her side, overcome with giggles as Kade continued his story.

“Well…I mean, that was a good call,” Graham said. “Dairy can neutralize the capsaicin bonds that make the food hot, and bread can soak it up. But drinking water doesn’t really help. It can actually make it worse because it just spreads all over your entire mouth.”

“What happened next?” Hana asked.

“Well, after I made an idiot out of myself by not listening to Toshiro to start with, he was nice enough to share his meal with me.”

Hana smiled. “That was kind of good, right? It shows he cares about you.”

“Yeah, if that had happened while I was eating out with Tessa, she would have told me to suck it up and deal with it,” Graham added.

Tessa nodded her agreement. “Yeah, I’m not sharing my food with anybody. I would have just told him to man up and deal with it.”

Kade wasn’t listening. He was peering through a gap in the hedges. He could see Toshiro approaching their usual oak tree and sitting down at the base, then looking around, craning his neck, obviously searching for Kade. When he didn’t find him, Toshiro slowly pulled out his book and started to read, appearing to deflate slightly.

“You need to talk to him,” Hana said.

Kade shook his head emphatically.

“Not after what happened. I just can’t.”

“It sounds like the one-on-one dates are too much pressure,” Tessa said. She had shifted her position and was now lying with her head in Graham’s lap. “Why don’t you try a group date? You, Toshiro, me and Graham. We could do a picnic or something.”

Having Tessa with them on a date sounded terrible, and Kade was about to say so when Tessa continued. “Hana should come too. Maybe invite that girl from her French class she likes.”

“I do not like Janelle,” Hana interrupted. “We’re study partners.”

“Suuuuure,” Tessa drawled.

Hana scowled at her, then turned her attention back to Kade. “It’s not a bad idea. Didn’t Toshiro say he wanted to meet some of your friends?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“And if it’s a group, it’s less pressure on you to keep the conversation going,” Hana continued. “And you’re around people you feel comfortable with, and Toshiro gets to meet some more friends his own age. So everyone wins.”

“Picnic, this Sunday at the lake,” Tessa decided. “Fruit and cheese and crackers. We can pack some stuff for sandwiches and veggie-friendly dishes to add to it. And we can walk by the lake, and there are those romantic trails up in the woods.”

Tessa’s plan sounded better by the minute, something Kade found worrisome as he and Tessa usually didn’t agree on anything. If he started thinking about scaphism as a suitable rejection revenge, then he was going to find some new friends.

“Okay,” Kade said, after carefully considering the plan and finding no unavoidable pitfalls. Tessa he could do without, but he could count on Graham and Hana to keep her from embarrassing him in front of Toshiro.

The only downside was actually asking out Toshiro again. Which would mean talking to him.

“I still can’t face him,” he decided. “Maybe tomorrow.”

Tessa rolled her eyes, but it was Hana who spoke.

“Oh no,” Hana said. “None of your ‘maybe tomorrow’ bullshit. Go ask him now.”

“I can’t,” Kade managed through gritted teeth. God, didn’t anyone understand howhard it was to ask people out? Especially after the first two dates were such disasters.

“C’mon,” Hana said, getting to her feet and grabbing Kade’s hands. “I’ll ask him for you.”

Kade objected and struggled mightily to free himself from her grasp, but Hana outweighed him by a considerable margin, and it was a futile endeavor. Soon he had Hana dragging him by the wrist towards Toshiro, and Kade wondered if he could force himself to have a heart attack just to escape the impending disaster waiting for him under the oak tree.

Kade had to stop resisting once they were in view of Toshiro or it would look weird, but inwardly he was seething. He forced his face into some semblance of a smile, but inwardly he was swearing revenge on Hana. He was totally going to find Janelle and tell her about Hana’s crush.

Toshiro looked up as they approached, smiled, and Kade’s heart melted, just a little bit.

“Hi.”

Kade smiled back. “Hi.”

Toshiro looked at Hana.

“Hi, I’m Hana. I’m one of Kade’s friends.” She released Kade and sat down near Toshiro to shake his hand. Kade also sat down, marveling at her ability to just go up and talk to people when he always got shy and flustered and tongue-tied.

Hana and Toshiro were already talking about books, which irked him slightly, because that was what he and Toshiro talked about.

“So,” Hana eventually ventured. “Kade and I and some of our friends are having a picnic out by the lake on Sunday. You should come. Graham and Tessa have heard a lot about you from Kade, and they really want to meet you.”

Kade decided he would have to find Janelle now. Hana had just taken things too far.

“Really?” Toshiro blushed a little bit but looked pleased. “The lake sounds like fun. I’m in.”

“Awesome,” Hana said cheerfully. “Do you have a car?”

Toshiro shook his head.

“Then I’ll pick you up. Does noon sound good?”

“Sounds great,” Toshiro smiled at Kade again. “I can’t wait to meet the rest of your friends.”

Kade smiled back and decided Hana was the best. friend. ever.

         

Kade stood in the kitchen, staring out the window. It was Sunday, his picnic basket was loaded with cheese, crackers, bread, and jam. His cooler held a huge fruit salad and avocado and tomato salad his mom had shown him how to make. Tessa and Graham were responsible for bringing any meat items in a separate cooler along with drinks. Hana was responsible for keeping Kade sane and the conversation flowing. Everything had been planned down to the finest detail.

But none of it mattered, because Kade hadn’t contended with the weather. It was fucking raining. Not a light misting, but a full on, Seattle-worthy downpour. Kade thought he might have heard a distant rumble of thunder once or twice.

Another date ruined. Even if the rain stopped right now, which was looking unlikely, Kade knew the picnic area would be soaked, the ground around the lake a marshy mess, and the walking trails were prone to flooding.

His phone had been buzzing on the counter like an angry wasp, but Kade ignored it. He knew what he would find. Messages from his friends and Toshiro, cancelling the picnic due to the torrential typhoon right outside.

Three dates ruined. Kade wasn’t normally a person who believed in signs, but it seemed like the whole universe was conspiring against him. Every time he planned a date, something happened to ruin it.

Maybe Toshiro and he were doomed, never meant to be.

All he wanted was one date. One perfect date when everything went the way it was supposed to.

There was a knock on the front door and Kade ignored it, until his mom entered the room.

“Sweetie, your friend Torito is here for you.”

Kade didn’t even bother trying to correct her but was surprised at Toshiro appearing at his house in this downpour. He left the kitchen and found Toshiro standing patiently on the front porch, which offered shelter from the rain. He was wearing a long blue rain jacket with a furled umbrella in his hand and looked adorable.

“Hello,” Toshiro said.

“Uh…hi,” Kade said. Toshiro was looking at him expectantly. “Um…did you need something?”

“Well, your friend, Tessa I think, called Hana because you weren’t answering your phone. And you weren’t answering when she called or when I called, so after she picked me up, she wanted to stop by and make sure you were okay.”

Now that Toshiro told him, Kade thought he might be able to see Hana’s Corolla through the sheets of rain, parked on the side of the street.

“Well…I’m fine, thanks.”

“Good!” Toshiro said, grinning. “So are you ready to go?”

“Go where?”

“It’s Sunday at noon right?” Toshiro asked.

“Well, yeah, but you can’t really expect a picnic in this mess?” Kade gestured to the rain.

Toshiro looked confused. “Hana said Tessa had decided to move the picnic inside. It’s at her house now. Tessa said she texted you, but you didn’t answer.”

Kade took a minute to process that. He hadn’t even entertained the idea his friends might change the venue instead of cancelling the event entirely.

He spun on his heel, gesturing for Toshiro to follow him inside. He heard Toshiro shucking off his raincoat and following him into the kitchen. Drops of rain still beaded his hair and glasses, and dampened his collar.

Kade grabbed his phone, remembering how it had been buzzing with calls and texts all morning, and how he had ignored it, mired in misery over another missed opportunity.

There were a series of increasingly hostile texts from Tessa, a few texts from Hana trying to confirm plans, and missed calls from Graham, Hana, and Toshiro. He felt his face grow hot. If he hadn’t been such an idiot….

Instead of feeling relieved the picnic plans were still on, albeit in a different location, he felt annoyed. He knew it stemmed from him being a self-pitying idiot.

“Okay,” he finally said, stalking towards his room, Toshiro trailing behind him. He threw open the door and flung his closet open, searching for his rain boots. He grabbed them and gave them a pull, sending an assortment of books and old clothing spilling out. He caught Toshiro surreptitiously checking out his room from the corner of his eye and felt a deeper embarrassment. He had clothing and books all over the place and hadn’t even bothered to make his bed.

As Kade sat down on the bed and started pulling on his boots, Toshiro hesitantly sat down next to him. “Why are you mad?”

“I’m not,” Kade lied, pulling the boot on with a bit more force than necessary.

“Yes, you are,” Toshiro said. “Do you not want to go?”

“No, I want to go.” Kade pulled on the other boot and stood up.

“Is it because I came here with Hana?” Toshiro asked. “Because I didn’t know the way to Tessa’s house, and I don’t have a car. And I would have ridden with you, but you didn’t answer the phone.”

“No!” Kade said, then, realizing how mad he did sound, tried to rein his temper back in. He sighed and sat back down. “Sorry. Yes, I’m mad, but not at you or Hana.”

“What’s up?” Toshiro asked. “Are you mad at your friends?”

“No. I’m mad at myself.” Kade couldn’t stand to look at Toshiro, so he looked down at his hands. “All I wanted was to spend time with you. And each time I took you out on a date, something happened, and I would mess it up.”

“Is that it?” Toshiro asked. He sounded amused, and it twisted the knife a little deeper.

“No, I don’t think you get it,” Kade said. “I like you, Toshiro. Like, like you-like you. A lot. And you deserve so much more than a bunch of shitty dates with a loser who can’t get his shit together.”

“Hey,” Toshiro said, and his voice was gentler this time. Kade listened hard, trying to figure out if it held any pity. If it did, he would just die right here. “You’re not a loser, and the…dates weren’t shitty.”

Kade snorted his disbelief.

“Were there things I would have changed?” Toshiro continued. “Sure. I wouldn’t have had to cut our first date short to go take care of a family emergency. And I would have clarified our dinner plans before you decided a cook a full meal I couldn’t eat. And maybe have warned you the vindaloo would sear the taste buds off your tongue.”

“I could have listened to you when you mentioned the chicken tikka,” Kade interrupted. “And I could have paid attention to what my friends’ plans were today instead of assuming the rain would ruin another outing.”

“So we both messed up some,” Toshiro said, shrugged. “So what? Our dates were great dates, because they were with you.”

Kade chanced a glance up. Toshiro was turning a little pink in the face as well.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Toshiro said with another small smile. “And I’d like to go out on another one, if you’re cool with it.”

“Sure thing.” Kade said, standing up. “God, I’m surprised Hana hasn’t come in looking for us.”

“I’m glad she hasn’t.” Toshiro agreed.

Kade was heading for the door when he felt a tug on his wrist. Toshiro was standing too, but had grabbed Kade by the wrist. Kade looked back at him. Toshiro gently slid his hand down so they were holding hands and stepped in closer.

Kade could barely breathe. This couldn’t be happening. He never got this lucky.

But he must have saved a child from a burning building in another life or something, because Toshiro was suddenly closing in and pressing his lips gently against Kade’s. It only lasted a second, then Toshiro was drawing back, smiling hopefully.

“I hope that was okay. Because I like like you too. A lot.”

Kade grinned as he took Toshiro’s hand to lead him out of the house. He had just been kissed by Toshiro Saito and was the luckiest guy in school.

Hell, maybe in the world.

* * *