Page 7 of Bad Daddy

“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Nakamura said after a moment. “But sure, I’ll help however I can. You’ve just got to do something for me, first.”

Of course, Danny thought, dread curling in his gut. Of course. He should have seen this coming. No one was nice to him just because. No one treated him just because. “Okay?”

Nakamura gestured at the mug Danny hadn’t touched, except to warm his hands. “You’ve got to try the cocoa and tell me what you think.”

Danny blinked down at the mug full of melting whipped cream. “Oh,” he said faintly. That was so far from what he had been expecting that it threw him off balance. “Uh, yeah. Okay.” He took a careful sip, mindful of the steam still wafting up from it.

It was…

It was really fucking good. Deliciously rich and just the right amount of sweetness. Danny took another sip, and let his eyes slid shut for a brief second, savoring.

“Well?” Nakamura asked, and a smile was playing around his mouth as if he could already tell Danny was enjoying his hot chocolate choice.

“It’s great,” Danny said, stomach flip-flopping. “Thank you.”

Nakamura’s smile brightened somehow. “Glad I picked out something you liked.” He pushed the plate of cookies forward. “A cookie too?”

It startled a laugh out of Danny. Nakamura was just… so far from what Danny was used to with high powered men. He reached for a cookie. “You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Nakamura.”

“Haru,” Nakamura said with a chuckle. “Please. Lily wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if she caught you calling me Mr. Nakamura.”

“Haru, then,” Danny allowed tentatively. “Okay.”

That got him another grin, and Danny was once again thrown by it, by how easily Haru doled out smiles. Danny knew he wasn’t special, that Haru must just have an easy-going disposition, but it was still… nice. To be on the receiving end of them.

Danny took a bite of the cookie. It was also delicious; crisp and buttery and not too sweet. Danny had skipped breakfast that morning, in too much of a rush to get to tutoring after oversleeping from the late night. It was a battle not to shove the entire rest of the cookie into his mouth. “These are really good.”

“Aren’t they?” Haru took his own cookie with relish. “I get these so often here that they usually ask if I want a plate whenever I order.” He took his own bite, chasing it with a sip of his cocoa. “Now then, why don’t you show me what you’re working on?”

Danny nodded, and fumbled for his textbook, opening it at the second yellow sticky note, Milton Industries vs Breccher Inc and turned the book so that Haru could read it before opening his workbook to the corresponding section. “I’m supposed to deconstruct Breccher’s defense,” he said. “It’s a three page paper.”

“Gotcha,” Haru said. “Do you have the paper done? I can check your work if you want.”

“Oh, um.” Danny looked at the table. “It’s not, um, written yet.” He had intended to dictate it to his laptop last night after he’d finished doing his reading, but…

Clint.

“Okay.” Haru nodded understandingly. “Notes then? I could help you get started?”

Danny swallowed his discomfort. “I don’t really have notes.”

“Okay,” Haru said again, but now he looked obviously confused.

This had been such a stupid idea. Forget impressing Haru, the man was going to walk away from this meeting thinking Danny was totally incompetent. “Could I, um…tell you what’s going to be in the paper?” Danny tried.

Haru brightened. “Oh, sure. Yeah, we could outline it together.”

“Right,” Danny said weakly. “Okay.”

Haru’s next nod was encouraging, his expression open.

Danny set his jaw. Might as well just get it over with. “Okay, so Milton is trying to sue Breccher for defamation, after Breccher released a statement alleging how a buzzsaw manufactured by Milton seriously injured a Breccher employee. Milton is further alleging that the buzzsaw wasn’t faulty and it was a misuse of materials that led to the injury.” He glanced at Haru, who gestured for him to continue.

So Danny did.

He went over the entire case as best as he could under pressure, and actually didn't stumble as much as he expected to. He did have to close his eyes a few times in concentration in order to properly recall the citations for cases used in Breccher’s defense, but he was able to continue along okay anyway. Haru didn't interrupt the entire time. Instead he alternated between bending his head over the textbook to follow along with Danny’s “paper” and staring at Danny.

Danny tried to ignore the staring. He could only imagine what Haru must be thinking, this high-powered lawyer listening to some dumb college kid who couldn't even read his own textbook for reference.

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