“Katie...can I ask you something?” His breath was hot against my ear and I shivered.
“What?”
“Can you—I mean...” He leaned back and sighed. “I know you’re still learning Japanese. So you won’t take offense, right?”
“Oh jeez,” I said, the heat of the embarrassment coursing through me. “What did I do?”
He paused, looking troubled. “It’s—it’s Takahashi. When you call him by his first name, it’s...not really comfortable for me.”
“Oh,” I said, staring at him. Of course. Calling someone by their first name in Japan was personal. Intimate. “You’re jealous!” I laughed.
“It’s not funny,” he said quietly, and it wiped the grin right off my face. I hadn’t thought about it before, but it was probably humiliating for him that I called another guy by his first name.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not just for me,” he said. “It’ll sound bad if you call him that in front of anyone. Especially since he’s older than you. It sounds like—it sounds like you’re more than friends. A lot more.”
I’d heard another girl call him Jun, and he’d never seemed to mind, so I’d gone along with it. Takahashi sounded strange and distant to me, but I remembered Ikeda’s response when I’d called out his first name. Maybe it really was a mistake to use it.
“Got it,” I said. “My bad.”
Tomohiro smiled. “It’s okay.”
The train whirred into the station, its brakes squealing as the arrival announcement chimed on the loudspeaker. The stale station air whisked around our faces.
And then I heard a familiar voice calling over the sound of the train.
“Tomo-kun!”
He looked up, hands in his pockets and expression frozen, like he was completely confused.
“Shiori?”
I glanced at him for a minute. Wasn’t he calling another girl by her first name? That was the same thing he’d just been upset about. But wait—she was younger than him. I’d have to ask Yuki. Names were way too complicated.
Shiori ran toward us, waving a hand. She wore her school uniform, a tartan red-and-blue skirt with her pregnant belly ballooning under her white blouse. Her white socks were pulled neatly up to her knees, her black loafers clunking against the ground. She swung her black book bag in her other hand.
“Dame yo,” Tomo warned as she approached. He shook his head disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t be running.”
“Heiki, heiki,” Shiori said, swishing her hand back and forth. “You worry too much, Tomo-kun. Hi, Katie.”
“Hi,” I said, trying to smile. I knew her life was hard right now, but I didn’t like the way she was leaning into Tomo. She knew we were dating, right?
Tomo stepped back, as if he was thinking the same thing. He ducked into the train and we followed.
“Are you on your way home?” I asked.
Shiori shook her head. “I take this train to my doctor’s office.”
“Oh.” I felt my cheeks flush. “How...how’s it going?”
“Good,” she smiled. “The baby’s very healthy.” The train was crowded, but Tomo spotted a narrow spot for two beside a salaryman on the red leather bench. He sat, his back pressed against the window, and looked up at me. I took a step forward, but Shiori brushed past me and sat down next to him, resting her bag on her lap. Guess I’m standing. It was fine, though. Shiori probably needed the spot anyway. I wrapped my fingers around the metal pole, trying to take it in stride.
“Katie, sit down,” Tomo said, starting to lift himself up.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Shiori needs to sit.”
She beamed, a little too proud of herself. We were both trying to be thoughtful, but I worried she was reading into it too much. I took a breath as the train lurched into motion. She didn’t have anyone but Tomo looking out for her. I had to trust him to let her know if things went too far.
Tomo rose out of his seat. “Sit,” he said. His eyes searched mine, apologetic. I felt awkward to sit next to Shiori, but standing would make the situation worse, like I was being difficult. I sat down beside her; neither of us looked happy.
“So, Tomo-kun,” Shiori tried. “I have three more weeks of school and then that’s it.”
He nodded. “Not long now, ne?”
“That’s exciting,” I attempted. Shiori smiled, but it was forced. I could see that.
“Thanks,” she said. “So why are you headed this way, Tomo-kun? You couldn’t be going to Myu’s house...?” Tomo winced at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. Obviously he wasn’t going there. Why was she messing with him?
“We’re going to some mystery place,” I said, trying to lighten the tension. “My guess is possibly the zoo, but he won’t tell me.”
“Oh, I love the zoo!” Shiori said. “Tomo’s taken me many times.”
Tomo looked as uncomfortable as I felt. I knew she was like a sister to him—why was she trying to make it sound like more? But then I looked at her face and the look in her eyes. Oh. She wants it to be more, doesn’t she? He protected her, stood up for her through all the bullying. He was her knight in shining armor, and I was in the way.
“We like watching the lemurs, right, Tomo-kun?”
Tomo folded his arms, leaning the back of his head against the metal pole. The beams of light from the window lit his hair like a flame. “It’s the red pandas I like.”
Shiori’s voice was quiet. “Right,” she said. “The red pandas. I forgot.”
“Lemurs are cute, though,” he added, trying to soften what he’d said. “Anyway, Katie and I aren’t going to the zoo, but we are going on a date.” The words startled me, since he’d been too indirect to say it like that before. Then I realized—he was trying to get the message across. He was trapped, but he didn’t want to embarrass either one of us.
Shiori’s face fell. “Oh.”
This whole thing was stupid. Couldn’t we just come out and say how we felt? Tomo and I were together, but I didn’t want to hurt Shiori.
“You can come with us,” I blurted out. Tomo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. “It’s more fun that way anyway, right?”
“Oh, I’m too busy,” Shiori said. “I have that appointment, and then I need to stop for a couple things we need for dinner.” The train was slowing, pulling into the next stop, and the motion sent an elderly man’s bag skidding across the floor. Tomo dashed after it, returning it to the bowing, grateful man. Shiori leaned into me while he was gone, her voice low. “It’s a shame you don’t know how to cook Japanese food, Katie. How will you ever keep a Japanese man happy?”
Did she actually just say that? “Sorry?”
Shiori sighed. “It’s pathetic, you know, trying to steal Tomo from me.”
My mouth opened, but I had to force words out. “Steal him?”
“Tomo-kun and I have been inseparable since we were little. You think you’re going to change that?”
My stomach twisted; I’d never heard Shiori sound like this. “I’m not trying to get between you.”
“I don’t need your pity invites to everything you do. Anyway, do you even know