Paper Dream

by Kayla Morgan

  This time Emily was fairly certain that the entire world had imploded and been reborn in the time it took for Akio to finish his perusing.

  A slow smile spread across his face. “It’s really good, Emily-chan.”

  Her paralysis broke. She threw her hands up in the air with frustration. “That’s what Michi said, too! But I know it’s not ready. It’s not perfect!”

  “It’s not perfect,” he agreed, and though she had asked for his honesty it still felt like a punch to the gut. “But it’s close. You just need to fix some of the shading on your high school story. And maybe some of the wording on your first story.”

  Emily grabbed the project back to her side of the table. “Absolutely. That’s exactly what I was thinking. I was also thinking about redoing the backgrounds on some of my still drawings. That one with the cherry blossoms in the background just looked a little off and—”

  A spark of energy shot through Emily’s right hand. She glanced up to see Akio’s hand on top of hers.

  “There are things to fix, Emily-chan. But it’s still really, really good. It’s by far your best work. Mr. Nakamura would be totally insane if he didn’t hire you. You should be very proud of what you’ve done.”

  His words washed over. She let them sink into her bones and loop around her muscles. Her body filled with peace. Her heart sang with joy. Someone had seen her work and liked it. Someone who held such an important spot in her heart saw the flaws but still thought that she was good enough. Someone other than her grandmother.

  For the first time in her life, Emily wasn’t embarrassed when her eyes misted up with tears. They never fell, but she didn’t blink them away either. Instead, she whispered back, “Thank you, Akio-kun.”

  Akio held her gaze and was smiling that beautiful smile back at her. Dazed with this new feeling, Emily began to lean forward. Across the table. Towards those achingly lovely lips.

  But a new voice broke her insane course of action.

  “Am I interrupting something here?” Hamada asked with a smirk.

  Emily shot back into her seat and clutched her sketchbook to her chest. “Of course not!” she demanded, but she sounded so breathless and edgy that she didn’t even believe herself.

  Her heart was growling in anger at Hamada for ruining the moment, but her brain was breathing a sigh of relief. Once again, Emily had almost ruined everything. She was still dealing with all those feelings she had felt when she had accompanied Akio to Kyoto (the annoying ‘l-word’ that she wasn’t allowed to think about). Then add waking up in his arms on New Year’s Day and now he was being supportive of her art career. No wonder she was a wreck!

  Akio had the weirdest smile on his face, as he invited Hamada to join them. Emily refused to dwell on whatever that meant. There was no way he realized she was about to kiss him, right? Boys were supposed to be oblivious about this stuff, weren’t they?

  Hamada shook his head as he joined them at the table. “Well, since I’m not interrupting,” he continued, giving Emily a very pointed look, “I came to ask you guys for a favor.”

  Oh my Osamu. Maybe they had realized.

  “Of course, Hamada-kun,” Emily responded in a way too peppy voice, grateful for a subject change. “Anything you need.”

  “Well, Michi-chan’s birthday is on the 29th, and I wanted to do something special for her. She didn’t have much a birthday last year since her mom passed away a month before.”

  Emily nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I heard too.”

  “I felt like birthdays were even harder than Christmas.” Akio solemnly added. “Hanami struggled with it even more than I did.”

  “Exactly. That’s why this year has to be different. I already bought the perfect present. I just need help setting up the date.”

  “Date?” Emily whispered in excitement.

  Hamada flushed a deep shade of red. “That’s not what I meant! I meant the birthday date. How can it be a date if you guys are going to be there too?”

  “Yeah, Emily-chan, the only date experience Hamada here has ever had,” Akio teased, “is when he took his high school girlfriend to the arcade on weekday afternoons the three months they were together.”

  “At least I went on a date! You spent your entire school career pining over Ashiya-senpai even though you knew she only saw you as a little brother!”

  “We never knew that for sure!”

  “Of course we did! Don’t you remember when—?”

  “Guys,” Emily interrupted. “I’m sure you were both total ‘Casanovas’ back in high school, but Mii-chan’s birthday is in three days. If you two don’t stop bickering like a couple of old ladies, we’ll miss it completely.”

  Truthfully, Emily just didn’t want to hear anything more about this “Ashiya-senpai”. She had already sketched a mental image of some totally gorgeous woman blowing kisses at Akio. Emily wanted to murder her in the face.

  Thank kami-sama, Hamada launched back into his plan for Michi’s birthday. Akio thought it was a great idea, and Emily promised to make the phone calls, including one to Michi’s dad.

  “I’ll handle the rest,” Hamada promised. “Remember we’re doing it on the 28th so it’s a complete surprise. And Johnson-san, make sure Michi doesn’t catch on to any of this, okay?”

  “Promise.”

  It was a bitterly cold night on the 28th as they all walked out of the movie theater. Emily longed for the warmth of the movie theater, even if the horror film that Michi had picked for them to watch had been completely terrifying. Emily was willing to suffer behind closed eyes again if it meant she could get away from this teeth-chattering wind.

  “Well thanks for taking me to the movie for my birthday, minna,” Michi chattered through her teeth. “But I’m thinking we should really get out of this weather. Want to head to Hamada’s coffee shop?”

  Hamada shifted in the cold. “Actually, I need to run a few errands. Do you think you guys could join me?”

  “Sure,” Michi agreed, “as long as it means I can get out of this weather.”

  “Great!” Hamada started walking towards the nearest grocery store, and they all followed.

  A couple feet in, Emily suddenly stopped. She put on her best shocked and dismayed voice for the occasion. “Oh, you know what? I just remembered that Akio and I needed to finish up this art project. It’s due really soon.”

  “Oh! You’re right! We’d better go finish that right away,” Akio chimed in, with far too much gusto. He was a terrible actor. But Emily loved that they were pulling the same stunt on Michi that she had pulled on them all those months ago.

  Michi shivered and glared at both of them. “Fine, whatever. Go work on your artsy stuff. Just stop talking so we can get out of this weather.”

  Emily and Akio said their goodbyes and headed off in a hurry. They were almost too far gone to hear Michi’s realization trailing behind them. “Wait a minute! You guys don’t even have a class together anymore!” But they just ran faster and gulped in more frozen air as they made their way to the destination.

  “I’m pretty sure I have hypothermia again,” Emily gasped when they finally reached the doors of TIU’s culinary arts building.

  “Well, since you’re not hitting on me yet,” Akio replied through his shivering, “I’m going to assume that’s not true.”

  Thankfully, Akio couldn’t see the blush warming her cheeks since they were already so chapped from the freezing wind outside. So she really had been hitting on him in that blurry memory. Why did her brain suck so much?

  Emily cleared her throat and hung her coat up. “Anyway,” she emphasized, “let’s get started. We’ve probably only got another thirty minutes before Hamada and Michi get back from the grocery story.”

  Emily grabbed the supplies she had stashed earlier in one of the cupboards and walked back to the separated dining hall. It was used as a café where students and teachers could choose to eat meals. The culinary art students got a chance to practice their skills and the other student
s could eat for cheap. Emily hadn’t had a chance to enjoy it herself yet since Michi and Akio were sticklers about using the college meal plans that their tuitions came with. But maybe next year.

  Akio hung twinkle lights across the hooks that lined the room. Emily grabbed the silver crepe paper and started looping it gracefully across the ceiling. She even brought a couple of those battery-operated paper lanterns to hang above the table where they would eat Michi’s cake. She grinned as the white eyelets of the lanterns winked down at her. The final touch was a handful of silver confetti sprinkled into the middle of the table. Then she took a step back to admire their work.

  “This place looks pretty amazing for a university café.”

  Akio nodded and stepped back off his stepladder. “They should always keep it like this.”

  Emily could hear Michi’s voice floating through the door as she and Hamada entered the kitchen area.

  “So first you drag me through an arctic January evening to get strawberries for your mom, and now we have to run all the way to the culinary building to pick up your textbook?” Michi complained. “I didn’t even know you were taking the beginner’s cooking class!”

  Emily inched over to the door separating the café from the kitchen. She silently cracked it open a few centimeters. Akio crossed the room and chastised her in a whisper. “Really? You’re going to spy on them?”

  “Of course I am,” Emily whispered back. “We have to be able to hear the code word so we can yell surprise.”

  As he settled in to watch, Akio accused her with a smirk, “You just want to watch them so you can embarrass them about it later?”

  “Absolutely, I do.”

  Hamada’s voice floated back into their conversation. “I’m, um, I’m not taking a beginner’s cooking class actually. But I remembered how you told me that every year for your birthday, your mother would bake you that special French birthday cake. The cream tart one? And then you would help her decorate it with all your favorite toppings.” He took a shaky breath and smiled at Michi. “So I thought we could do the same thing…together.”

  Michi’s eyes widened. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”

  Hamada’s face matched his hair as it fell into his face. He dropped the grocery bag on the counter and scuttled over to the refrigerator. “I didn’t bake the cake myself, because I actually wanted it to be edible. But I had a couple of the culinary students make it for me. They should have put it in here.” He opened the door but then froze in embarrassment at what he saw.

  Emily pressed her hand as hard as she could against her mouth so that she wouldn’t laugh out loud. She had been waiting all day for this moment.

  “Let me see!” Michi called as she walked towards him. “I’ve heard the culinary students make amazing tarts. I—oh!” Michi stopped beside Hamada and embarrassment began seeping out of her as well.

  Emily could barely contain her snickering. Akio flashed her a questioning look. “What did you do?”

  “I’m the one who called the culinary students. And I told them to make the tart heart-shaped.”

  “Emily-chan!”

  Emily shrugged. “They needed an extra little push,” she insisted. She had absolutely no regrets about her decision.

  Hamada was staring down at Michi with petrified eyes. “I swear I didn’t tell them to make them heart-shaped, Michi-chan. That was never part of the plan.”

  But Michi just smiled up at him. Her embarrassment had melted into something much sweeter. “You know what? I like it even better this way.” She grabbed the pan out of the fridge and headed towards the counter again. Hamada looked like he was going to collapse with relief.

  Hamada pulled up the recipe on his phone from Michi’s father. Mr. Tanaka had been more than happy to help them out with their birthday plans.

  Hamada started trying to make the whipped cream icing but turned the mixer on way too fast and it splattered everywhere. Michi placed her hand on top of Hamada’s and turned the mixer lower with her other.

  “Maybe I should take the lead on this part? I do have a little more experience with this recipe.”

  Hamada laughed with relief. “That would be great.”

  They were standing so close together and, for once, it wasn’t making Hamada break down. They kept talking and Michi’s eyes were so bright with laughter. Emily decided it was time to stop spying. She sat back against the wall so she could hear them without actually watching.

  “Alright. I officially feel guilty,” Emily whispered. “No more spying.”

  Akio sat down beside her. “I was against this spying plan from the beginning, just saying.”

  “Yeah, because you looked really conflicted when you immediately started watching right along with me,” Emily retorted. Akio gave her his famous grin.

  To pass the time, they both pulled out their phones. Emily was reading through her latest email from Grandma Margaret when she heard Hamada say:

  “Here. This is for you. I, um, I hope you like it.”

  “He’s giving her the present!” Emily whispered in a panic. They both scrambled back to their spying positions. Emily’s curiosity was way too strong to wait and see what she got later.

  Michi was holding a beautiful necklace. It had a thin, delicate chain with a silver heart locket. Emily could barely make it out, but it looked like the locket was laced with intertwining vines. Normally, Emily didn’t care about jewelry, but even she had to agree that this one was breath-taking.

  Michi popped open the locket. “It’s got a picture of Mom,” she whispered in awe. Her eyes began misting up with tears. “Hamada-kun. It’s beautiful. Honestly, this is all so wonderful. I can’t believe you did all this for me. Especially when you know how much I hate all this mushy-gushy crap.” She gave him a little shove, but Emily could tell she was still super pleased. “And you know I hate crying,” she lightly complained.

  Hamada smiled apologetically. “I know, gomen. But I just wanted you to have a decent birthday after last year. You mean so much to me. And I…I was going to wait until later to say this. Maybe we aren’t ready for all this, but I feel like I need to say this now.”

  Emily and Akio exchanged surprised glances.

  “He’s going off script!” Emily whispered.

  “He never goes off script! I’m pretty sure it’s the only way he knows how to communicate with the female species,” Akio added in shock.

  Hamada was shaking all the way down his lanky frame, but the look on his face was one of determination that Emily had never seen in real life before. Only in dramas. It was “The Look”. The one where the boy locks eyes with the girl, as if the rest of the world wasn’t even there. There are no other girls in his life. No other things in his life that could ever take his concentration off of her. The whole world could have been crashing around them, but he would still only be able to see her.

  “Ohmygod,” Emily whispered.

  “Michi. I know that this year has been weird between us. I was so nervous around you in the beginning that I could barely think when you were in the room. But then we started getting closer. And we pulled that surprise date stunt on Akio and Johnson-chan, and I thought that…that there was maybe a moment there. Maybe a moment where it could have been us. But then you got so upset with me and you started dating Lucas. I thought that maybe I had made the whole idea of us being together up. But then you showed up at the coffee shop last month and we got close again. And so maybe…maybe I am still being crazy. Maybe you don’t see me as more than a friend, but I like you, Michi. I really like you.”

  Michi was beaming up at him. The mist in her eyes had risen to more of a pond situation at this point, but she still looked so ridiculously happy. “You still like me?”

  Hamada threw up his hands with a nervous laugh. “Of course I still do! Didn’t you hear anything I just said?”

  Michi sighed. “Oh thank god.” And then she grabbed him by the neck and kissed him.

  Emily gasped and quickly covered her
mouth. Even Akio let out a low ‘damn’. Hamada wrapped his arms around Michi and sunk into the kiss. Michi was standing on her tiptoes and kissing him back feverishly. Her hands were woven into the back of his reddish hair.

  Emily knew they shouldn’t be watching anymore. Emily didn’t want to be watching anymore. But if she pulled back, Akio was there. And his presence was burning into her side as it was. If she pulled back. If she actually saw his face. Kami-sama above, she would be so embarrassed she would die.

  Emily gave them two more seconds of bliss before flinging the door open.

  “Alright, alright, people. Break it up. Some of us are just trying to celebrate a birthday here.”

  Michi jumped back and gawked at Emily and Akio coming out of the back room. “What are you guys doing here?” she gasped out. At least she had the decency to look uncomfortable, because Emily sure was.

  “Well, we were trying to throw you a birthday party but someone over here decided to go off script.” She gave a pointed look at Hamada.

  Hamada looked slightly abashed as well, but he mostly had the glossy-eyed look of someone whose greatest dream had just come true. “Gomen, guys.”

  Emily snorted. “No, you’re not.” But it was hard to be mad at him with that huge floppy grin all over his face.

  “Congrats, you two. I knew you’d pluck up the courage eventually, Hamada. Just wish I didn’t have to witness it firsthand,” Akio joked.

  Hamada apologized again, but Michi’s embarrassment was over. She was back to her normal confident self. “Well, I don’t know about all of you, but I’m starving,” she protested. “Let’s eat!”

  Akio grabbed the finished cake and walked into the decorated café. Emily followed behind him, but not fast enough to miss the fact that Michi intertwined her hand with Hamada’s as they followed behind her.

  They sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Michi under the glow of twinkling lights, and it really was a sight to behold. The locket shimmered around Michi’s neck from the twinkle lights above. An adorably, disgusting light shone in her eyes every time she locked eyes with Hamada. The laughter between all of them was contagious and easy. It was another memory that Emily knew she’d never forget.