“Cool!” Mika gave him a bright smile, despite the fact that her stomach had been churning with nerves pretty much nonstop all day. In the morning, Mom had taken Mika and Andy to the official Olympic Games souvenir shop, where they’d bought T-shirts and hats and gifts for Devon, Riley, and Aunt Kei. Mika had found a little travel purse—white with a red dot like the Japanese flag—and showed it to Mom, fully expecting her to tell Mika she didn’t need a purse. But to her surprise, Mom just smiled.
“I can get it? Really?” Mika asked excitedly.
“Absolutely,” Mom replied. “Dad and I talked about it, and while we’re sorry we’re both very busy with work on this trip, we’re proud of you and Andy for being so responsible.”
That was when Mika’s excitement had turned into guilt. She’d managed to hide her worries from Mom, but Andy obviously knew something was going on. Mika desperately wanted to tell him about A_Fan. She’d gotten another direct message from the account right after Team SuperFan found the Silver medal. Ouch, so close again. That’s gotta hurt. Mika had looked around wildly, trying to spot anyone lurking nearby, but the viewing area for the giant clock had been filled with people.
She hadn’t seen Gavin Driscoll the previous day, but he could’ve been there. Despite what Andy had said, Mika thought her theory that Gavin just might be trying to spice up his documentary on OlympiFan made sense. Plus, Gavin had been sitting behind Mika at the gymnastics event. She’d opened the photo in Instagram when he’d noticed it and complimented her; he could have seen that her handle was bluedreamphotos and looked it up later. Since Mika hadn’t put a name or location on her profile, Gavin may have realized she was trying to keep her account a secret!
Mika had come so, so close to just telling Andy the entire story and showing him her Instagram account right then and there. But with three mysterious messages from someone who was clearly spying on her, Mika knew she shouldn’t keep this a secret from her parents any longer. And if they found out Andy already knew about her Instagram account, he might get into trouble, too.
Besides, Mika was dreading telling all of them. If she had to do it, she’d rather tell them all at once. Rip off the Band-Aid, Riley would say. So Mika was going to rip off the Band-Aid tonight at dinner.
When the taxi pulled up to the same building where Dad had first met Chef Abe, Mom was waiting out front. She looked tired, but she smiled at Dad, Andy, and Mika as they climbed out of the taxi.
“Long day?” Dad asked, kissing her on the cheek.
“Very,” Mom replied. “We covered the equestrian event, and I don’t think I used enough sunscreen.” She touched her cheek, and Mika noticed her face had a pink tinge. “Long day. But a fun day, too. What’d you guys do?”
As they entered the towering glass skyscraper and headed to the elevators, Andy told Mom all about the museum of technology that Dad had taken them to that afternoon. Mika stayed silent. She was so nervous that she was afraid if she opened her mouth, she’d just blurt out everything about Instagram, Enspire, and A_Fan right there in the elevator.
When the doors slid open, Mika stepped out first. “Ooh, look!”
They stepped off the elevator and into an expansive room with floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, the sun was beginning to set, casting a bright glow onto the buildings that sprawled in all directions. The sky was rosy pink at the horizon, with layers of orange, purple, and deep midnight blue. At the center of the room was a circular island bar covered in mirrors, with 堅志, the kanji characters for the restaurant’s name, written in enormous neon pink script behind the glass.
Mom whistled softly. “Snazzy place.”
“I think it’s going to be pretty spectacular,” Dad said eagerly.
“Tom!” Emi hurried over to greet them, wearing a wrap dress the exact same shade of red as her glasses. Her graying hair was swept up with a gold comb that shone under the lights. “So good to see you. Andy and Mika, welcome. And you must be Karen!”
Mom held out her hand, and Emi shook it firmly. “It’s wonderful to meet you,” Mom said. “Thank you so much for inviting us.”
“Of course, of course!” Emi led them past the expansive dining room and down a hallway.
Mika cast a longing look back at all the windows. “We’re not eating in there?”
“Not tonight!” Emi said cheerfully. “This is a much more intimate gathering, and there’s still a little bit of construction work left to do on the bar. We’ll be dining in what’s going to be Kenji’s private room. I think you’ll like it,” she added with a big smile.
They followed her to a second elevator, which led to a small foyer with a chandelier made of sparkling purple crystals hanging overhead. Emi pushed open a door made of tinted glass and gestured for them to enter first. Mika stepped inside and blinked; the room was dimly lit, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. Her mouth fell open.
A long banquet table stretched out in front of her, perfectly centered in the rectangular room. Most of the chairs were already filled, and a low buzz of conversation was just audible over the soft string music that seemed to be coming from walls that looked like they were made out of bronze mesh. The only light came from strips lining the floorboards, like the tiny bulbs illuminating the aisles in a theater.
But the best part of the private room had to be the ceiling. Or rather, the lack of a ceiling. It took Mika a moment to realize it was a skylight, and not just open air. Thanks to the room’s dim light, there was barely any reflection obscuring the view. All she could see overhead was the night sky, deep blue with twinkling stars that were just beginning to emerge.
“My goodness,” Mom breathed, gazing up. “This is certainly something.”
“Glad you like it.” Emi showed them to their seats, which were at the opposite end of the room. As they walked past the long table, Mika tried to sneak a peek at the other guests without being too obvious. Dad had said there would be Olympic athletes in attendance, and she spotted Wesley and Hana right away. She recognized a few others too, including a young woman with short-cropped, blonde hair. The woman caught Mika’s eye and smiled. Mika felt her face flush as she returned the smile before scurrying to her chair.
“That’s Linda McDouglas!” she whispered to Andy, trying to point without being too obvious. “I recognize her from that Enspire commercial!”
“Who?” Andy asked as he sat down. Mika took the seat next to him, hanging her new purse over the back of the chair.
“Linda McDouglas. She’s a Paralympic swimmer. Her right foot was amputated after an accident when she was little.” Mika pulled out her phone and did a quick search. “Linda’s won eight Paralympic medals!” she said in awe.
“Awesome.” Andy took Mika’s phone to read the rest of Linda’s bio. To Mika’s right, an older man with what looked like a permanent scowl sat taking notes in a small, black journal. His handwriting was impossibly tiny and neat. When he caught Mika staring, his scowl deepened, and he moved his arm to hide his writing.
Embarrassed, Mika turned away just as a busboy appeared carrying a tray of drinks. His hair was cut in a long fringe that hung almost down to his eyes, and while she couldn’t quite place it, there was something about the expression on his face that felt vaguely familiar. He set a glass filled with ice, cherries, and something fizzy and pink in front of her before moving on to Andy. Mika took a sip and looked around, noticing that she and Andy were the only ones with this drink. All of the other guests were adults, and most of them had wine or tea.
“This place is so fancy,” Mika whispered to Andy. When he didn’t respond, she nudged him with her elbow. “Andy?”
“Sorry!” Andy didn’t take his eyes off her screen. “Listen to this. Linda McDouglas says when she was in high school, her two passions were swim team and coding club. And there’s a quote! ‘I always thought coding would lead to a career, and swimming would be for fun. But it turned out to be the
other way around!’”
Andy gave Mika a meaningful look. After a few seconds, she realized what he was thinking.
“You think she’s the Masked Medalist?”
“I think she should be on our list, at least!” Andy handed her phone back, and Mika slipped it into her purse. “We’ve got to find the Gold. We really need those hints.”
“I know.” Mika watched Linda McDouglas for a few more seconds, then looked around the table. “I think almost everyone here is famous.”
Andy nodded. “See that guy wearing a bow tie? I’m pretty sure I saw him on a movie poster in the subway station yesterday.”
Following his gaze, Mika spotted the young man with the stylized messy hair and the silver bow tie at the other end of the table.
“Yeah, I recognize him, too!” Mika couldn’t wait to tell Riley about this. “Even the busboy looked familiar. Did you notice?”
“Yeah,” Andy said, nodding. “I think I did see him on the bus, now that you mention it . . .”
Mika poked his arm. “Ha ha, very funny. Not.”
“Well, I thought it was funny. Hey, did you see this?”
Andy pointed to a small menu to the left of Mika’s plate. She narrowed her eyes in the dim light to see a list of courses in both Japanese and English.
“Twelve courses?” she said, trying to keep her voice low. “Holy cow, that’s a lot.”
“I know, it’s—” Andy stopped, pulling out his phone. Mika could see the text from Devon on his screen.
DP: New post! Same message as the update, but the pic is cool.
Beneath the message was a link to the Masked Medalist’s Instagram. Mika moved closer as Andy opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw the photo—a unique building that looked like a Rubik’s Cube with each floor twisted just slightly out of line with the one below it.
“That building!” Mika whispered. “Didn’t we pass that on our way here? It’s really close! And look—they just posted this like fifteen minutes ago!”
“Whoa, I think you’re right!”
Mika could tell Andy was thinking the same thing she was. They were at a fancy dinner with lots of Olympic athletes.
Maybe the Masked Medalist really was one of them!
She stared around at the table with renewed interest, while Andy leaned across the table to get Mom’s attention. “Do you know all of the athletes here?” he asked, and Mom set down her glass and looked around.
“Let’s see . . . well, you both know Hana and Wesley, obviously. Then there’s Linda McDouglas and Gustav Binet, both Paralympic athletes.” Mom leaned across Dad to see farther down the table. “I believe that’s Paola Mazzanti, the cyclist—her nickname is Signorina Butterfly because of that birthmark on her neck! And then Chiang Li, on the other side of Emi . . .”
“Chiang Li?” Andy interrupted, craning his neck to look at the man chatting to Emi.
Mom nodded. “Table tennis. He’s phenomenal.”
Mika elbowed Andy again. “What?”
“Gavin Driscoll mentioned him, remember?” Andy whispered. “At the gymnastics event, when I asked if he had any idea who the Masked Medalist was. He said a lot of players think it’s Chiang because he has a bunch of programming degrees.”
“Oh yeah!”
Mika fell silent as Emi stood at the head of the table and cleared her throat.
“Kenjiresutoran e yokoso. Welcome to Kenji Restaurant,” she began. Mika listened as Emi continued in Japanese, occasionally catching a word she knew, like oishii, which meant “delicious.” Her mind wandered back to A_Fan, and she winced. Now that she was here, she couldn’t imagine telling her parents about her Instagram account during dinner, surrounded by famous athletes and actors. Or maybe, Mika told herself, they won’t get as mad with all of these people around. She pressed a hand to her belly, which was rumbling—partly from hunger, partly from uneasiness.
Andy gave her a strange look. “Are you okay?” he whispered, and Mika nodded.
Once Emi had taken her seat, the waiters reappeared. Mika nudged Andy as a waiter placed tiny plates in front of them, each with a bundle of long white enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon and drizzled with a deep-red sauce. The busboy reappeared to refill their water. His eyes briefly met Mika’s before he moved on to the older man. Mika continued watching him, but he wouldn’t make eye contact again. Still, she had the strangest sense that he’d recognized her, too.
“Where’ve we seen him before?” she asked Andy, who’d already eaten half of his mushroom bundle.
He shrugged. “Dunno. These bacon mushroom thingies are so good, but do you think all of the courses are going to be this small?”
Mika giggled, taking a bite of her appetizer. It was delicious—warm and savory, and the bacon was extra crispy. Her appetite returned with a vengeance. She polished it off quickly and wiped her mouth on her napkin. No revealing secrets at dinner, she decided. I’ll do it as soon as we get back to the hotel.
The next three courses were just as delicious as the first—and just as small. But the fourth course—a salmon soufflé with truffle sauce, according to the menu—wasn’t so little. Each course after that seemed to increase in size, and by the time she’d finished the ninth course (wagyu beef served in individual miniskillets), Mika was too full of delicious food to bother thinking about A_Fan.
“I’m stuffed,” Andy announced, setting down his fork. Across the table, Mom laughed.
“Three courses to go!” she said. “But I believe they’re all dessert.”
Mika perked up. “Ooh . . . I definitely have room for that.”
She felt someone brush against the back of her chair and jumped, startled, as the busboy removed the skillet from her place. “Thank you,” she said, trying to get a better look at his face, but he nodded and hurried off quickly. Where had she seen him before?
Three black sesame cookies, two chocolate-covered strawberries, and one cup of herbal tea later, Mika felt ready to burst. Chef Abe suddenly appeared at the other end of the table, and everyone applauded—even the older man next to Mika grudgingly joined in. Hana cupped her hands around her mouth and released a piercing whistle that caused Wesley to cover his ears while everyone laughed and Chef Abe blushed. Mika expected the young chef to say something, but he just gave a shy smile and a quick nod before disappearing.
“If that was a dress rehearsal, I think opening night is gonna be amazing,” she told Dad as they stood to go, slinging her purse over her shoulder.
Dad laughed. “I think you might be right about that.”
“Aw, did Chiang Li already leave?” Andy stood on tiptoe, looking down the table.
Mika giggled. “What were you going to do, walk up to him and say, ‘Hey, are you the Masked Medalist?’ ”
“Maybe!” Andy said, then sighed. “Okay, no.”
When they stepped off the elevator, Mom yawned hugely, covering her mouth with her hand. “Between spending all day out in the sun and that incredible meal, I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight.”
“Me too,” Mika agreed. But now that they were heading back to the hotel, her nerves had returned. Was it too late to have a big talk with her parents? It might be inconsiderate, given that Mom was so tired. Maybe Mika should just put the whole Band-Aid-ripping thing off until morning.
They’d nearly exited the building when she reached into her purse for her phone—and froze.
“Uh-oh.”
“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.
Mika rummaged around in her purse, then pulled it open wide and stared. “My phone’s gone!”
“You left it in the restaurant?”
“No, I . . .” Mika paused, frowning. “I took it out to show Andy something, but I definitely put it back in my purse. I didn’t take it out after that.”
“Are you sure?” Andy asked.
“Yes! I
wanted to take pictures of the food, but it was so dark, I figured they wouldn’t come out.”
Dad pushed his glasses up his nose. “Okay. Let’s go back and take a look.”
Mom and Andy waited in the lobby while Dad and Mika walked back to the elevators. Mika went over and over the evening in her mind, trying to think of what she could have done with her phone.
A few of Chef Abe’s guests still lingered around the table in the private dining room, chatting, as Mika hurried over to her chair. She spotted the older journalist who had been sitting next to her, now deep in conversation with Hana at the other end of the table. Hana caught Mika’s eye and gave her a little wave as the journalist continued talking, and Mika waved back.
Paola Mazzanti was now seated in the journalist’s chair, chatting with the actor in the bow tie. Mika scooted past them and noticed the birthmark Mom had mentioned—it really was shaped exactly like a butterfly!
Feeling extremely self-conscious, Mika dropped to her knees to check under her chair. There was no sign of her phone. Was it at the hotel? It was so unlike Mika to lose something important like this . . .
“Scusami? Did you lose something?”
Blushing, Mika looked up to see Paola watching her in concern. “Oh! Yes, my phone.”
Paola’s face brightened. “Ah! What color?”
“Um, blue? With hearts on it?”
With a flourish, Paola picked up a phone on the other side of her teacup.
Relief flooded through Mika when she recognized the blue case. “That’s it! Where did you find it?”
“Right here,” Paola responded, still smiling. “Hiding under a napkin. I was going to give it to Emi if no one returned to claim it.”
“Thank you so much,” Mika said fervently, slipping her phone in her purse. “Have a good night!”
Kudo Kids--The Mystery of the Masked Medalist Page 11