Page 45 of Kai
"That's the part you're choosing to focus on?"
"I—" She hesitated, fumbling for a response. "It's unexpected, that's all. I mean, isn't there some sort of rule?" She was starting to feel more and more foolish. "Isn't your family a traditional one? And they're both gay? How's that possible? Did they both decide that along with similar fashion trends? As if wearing the same sort of clothing, they're going to be gay together? And how—" Her voice petered off at the obvious amusement dancing in his eyes. "You're laughing at me."
"You're so adorable when you're flustered," he managed with a straight face.
She poked a tongue out at him and had his blood pressure spiking.
He tilted his head, watching her with quiet intensity.
"You don't have to worry. They're not here to judge you. Trust me, they're...unconventional in the best way."
She raised an eyebrow, the tension in her chest refusing to ease.
"You keep saying that, but you don't know how I feel."
"I know enough." His voice softened, his gaze unwavering. "You're worried about impressing them, about whether you fit into some imaginary box they've created for me. But you don't have to. They'll see you the way I do."
"And how's that?" she challenged, her voice low, caught between skepticism and something she couldn't quite name.
His hand reached across the table, brushing against hers with deliberate gentleness.
"Like someone who doesn't need to prove anything. Like someone who's already enough."
Her breath hitched, and for a moment, the world outside the window seemed to blur. The colors of the garden dimmed against the quiet intensity in his eyes.
"Kai..."
He smiled then, the kind of smile that made her heart trip over itself.
"Besides," he added, his tone shifting to something lighter, "Kenzo and Koji will probably spend the entire time admiring the flawless tone of your skin and your fashion sense."
She couldn't help but laugh, the sound breaking through the tension between them.
"Great," she said dryly, "so not only do I have to make a good first impression, but I have to discuss fashion with them?"
"Exactly." His grin widened, the weight of their earlier friction dissipating, if only for the moment. "Consider it your initiation into the family."
Her heart softened despite herself, and as she picked up her coffee cup, she couldn't stop the small smile playing at her lips.
"You're impossible, you know that?"
"And yet, here you are." His voice was warm, teasing, and as the morning light filtered through the bay window, she felt, for the first time in a long while, that she might be exactly where she was meant to be.
They continued to eat in silence for a few more minutes before she spoke.
"I'm sorry, but I have to ask. How did your dad take it?" She lifted her shoulders in a shrug when he glanced over at her. "From what you told me of him, he appeared to be a stickler for family traditions and all that. Having gay brothers—wasn't that...uncomfortable for him? And what about your grandparents? What did they think?"
"More coffee?" he asked mildly, pushing back his chair.
"No. Yes."
She waited until he had returned and poured the brew into their cups.
Leaving the coffee pot on the table, he sat back down.
"The family could not understand why they were the way they were." He tried to explain it as simply as he could. "They were brought up in the US, which was a positive thing for them, I suppose. From what I was told by Kenzo, his parents refused to believe that their sons were not the traditional Japanese malesand blamed it on the 'lax lifestyles of this country.' They were shipped back to Japan where they spent years trying to 'be cured.'"
A faint smile touched his lips. Sipping coffee, he stared at her for a few seconds as if contemplating her expression.
