Love and Truth (10 page)

“Okay, I need to warn you,” he said. “My friends are a little…what can I say? They’re a bit crazy. Hiro is my best friend, we’ve been friends since before I can remember. We were in the same preschool and we graduated together. He’s a very loud, animated kind of guy and has zero filter-says whatever comes to mind. Please don’t take offense to anything he says.”

“Got it.”

“Izo is a playboy and thinks he is God’s gift to women. He went to high school with Hiro and me. We were all in the same English class, so they’re both fluent in English too. I already warned Izo that you’re off limits. So try not to judge them. They’re really good guys and they always have my back no matter what.”

Oh, lord. More guys.
I thought. I had no experience with guys and it seemed that ever since I got here that was all I was meeting.

“Okay, thanks for the heads up. But I’m pretty good at handling myself.”

“Yeah, I know. The first day in the café comes to mind. If I remember correctly, you handled some jerk in there pretty well.”

We laughed. It seemed like forever ago for some reason.

“Well, Mr. Hayes, you’ve done quite a good job at redeeming yourself.”

“I have many redeeming qualities, Ms. Harrison. I can show them to you anytime you wish.”

I felt a sudden rush of wind and he was tackled to the ground by a short guy who put him in a headlock.

“Jon, you have no situational awareness at all,” he said. “Looks like your girlfriend here will be the cause of me finally being able to catch you off guard and pin your ass.”

Both guys were laughing as Jonathan quickly reached back and grabbed his wrists. He flipped him around and onto the ground and laughed.

“Damn. Ouch, you fucker!” The guy quickly shot up and dusted himself off. He wore a
gi
and I wondered which friend this was. He was five-foot-seven – the same height as me – with a thin build and pointy shoulders. He had straight black hair that tumbled to his shoulders and framed his square jaw.

“Shit, Jonathan, did you really have to throw my ass onto the street? Fuck, I was just messing around, man. Now Sensei is going to give me shit for showing up to class in a dirty
gi
.”

“You asked for it bro,” Jonathan said, but his friend’s attention spun toward me.

“So, you must be the balcony girl,” he said, sticking out his hand. “Hi, I’m Hiro. Jon’s best friend and personal punching bag.”

I shook his hand. “Hi, I’m Nicole. It’s nice to meet you.”

“So what have you done to my boy here?” he asked. “It seems my best friend is quite taken by the likes of you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl have him by the balls like this before.”

Jonathan tensed and glared at Hiro. “Dude, no one has me by the balls. You need to watch your mouth. Don’t talk to her like that or I’ll do more than throw your ass on the ground. You understand me, Hiro?” He suddenly veered into a prattling Japanese and I had no idea what he was saying. Hiro nodded and he responded in Japanese.

“Hey, don’t do that,” I waved at them. “Don’t stand there speaking in a language I can’t understand, especially when the conversation involves me.”

They turned and looked at me silently.

“Oh, now I see why you like her so much,” Hiro said. “Feisty one, huh?”

I glared at Hiro and shook my head. I had met so many guys like him back in Texas. They were one of the reasons I was happier on my own.

“Listen, what you call feisty, I call confidence. Jonathan says you’re a great guy, so just be that great guy and we will be good to go.”

He grinned and I knew I had him.

”Okay, Nicole san. You win. I’m sorry for being an ass. I’ll be on my best behavior from now on.”

I looked toward the dojo and felt Jonathan inching closer to me. Just as we were about to enter, I heard another voice behind me.

“
Damn,
now that’s a fine ass. Jonathan, I know why you’ve been hiding her for the past couple of days. Nothing like a fine American girl in a tight pair of yoga pants.” The guy appeared and bowed in front of me. He was slightly taller than Jonathan, with broad shoulders and a muscular build. His skin was dark and he had strong facial features.

“Hi, Sweetness,” he said. “I’m Izo. You must be Nicole. Are you sure that you want to keep wasting your time with Jonathan here? I’m single and I guarantee I’m a much better tour guide.” He wiggled his eyebrows and cocked his head, undressing me with his eyes. “I bet we could do lots of exploring–”

Smash!

Jonathan’s fist suddenly connected with Izo’s jaw and I was frozen. Jonathan jumped on top of him and wrapped his fingers around Izo’s throat. He raised his fist to hit him a second time, but someone grabbed his hand. All three guys froze and Jonathan quickly retreated.

All three men stood and bowed.

“Sensei,” they said in unison. I looked over to see a small man dressed in a solid black karate
gi
. His belt was also back and it had seven stripes. He wore a stern expression and bowed in return. He scolded them in rapid-fire Japanese and I stood awestruck.

“
Hai
, Sensei,” they repeated in unison. The man turned toward me and slowly bowed. “
Konbanwa
. I’m Ichiro Sensei. My dojo, this is.” I could tell he was struggling to speak English, and was obviously doing so to be respectful. I bowed to him.

“
Konbanwa
. My name is Nicole. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ichiro Sensei.”

He turned in the direction of the guys and called for Jonathan.

“
Hai
, Sensei.” Jonathan quickly came to stand by my side. Ichiro spoke to him in Japanese and Jonathan turned to me.

“My sensei would like to apologize for his inability to speak much English, and he wants to apologize to you for the actions of his students here tonight. He says that our behavior is not in line with all that he teaches us and that he hopes that you do not see it as a true reflection of the art of karate. He says to tell you that karate is an artistic form of discipline and he’s very sorry we failed to represent that in ourselves tonight.”

I stood speechless, feeling terrible at the thought of contributing to what happened. “Jonathan, please tell him that I’m fine and I understand. Please tell him that I am honored to be a guest in his dojo tonight and that I hold no judgment at all.”

After Jonathan relayed my response, the sensei said a few more words to all three men and he returned up the steps and into the dojo. Hiro and Izo followed closely behind, careful not to make eye contact with me or Jonathan. I stood, unsure of what to do.

“I’m so sorry, Jonathan. I hate that–“

“No, it’s not your fault. Those guys were assholes. I thought they would take me seriously. Friends or not, I’m not going to let Izo or anyone talk to you like that. You’re important to me and they need to realize that.”

I was speechless again. His words made me feel safe...and loved, but that couldn’t be. We’ve only known each other for a little while. Plus love wasn’t real.

“Nicole, I’ll never let anyone hurt you. I know you can take care of yourself. It’s just that I want to be the one to protect you.” He squeezed my hand. “Nicole, I l–”

“Jonathan, stop. Please don’t.” I was mortified at the thought of him using the L-word. “Don’t ruin this by saying something you don’t mean.”

He released my hands abruptly. He sighed and stared at the ground. A moment passed and he glared at me with wounded eyes. “Nicole, I wasn’t going to say what you thought I was going to say. But the fact that you seem so repulsed is hurtful. I was going to say that I like you a lot and I feel a very strong connection to you.”

He looked away like he was searching for the right words. I felt the rawness of his emotion and suddenly realized I was an idiot.

“I know, there’s no such thing as love at first sight. When I was standing under that street light looking up at you, I didn’t feel love at first sight. I just felt...” He paused and my heart raced. I wanted to reach out and grab him, kiss him, press my body up against his. I wanted to tell him I felt the same way, that I wanted to let him protect me and cherish me. But… I couldn’t. Not now. Not so soon. I stood there and said nothing.

“You don’t have to come in,” he said. “I can be late and walk you back home.”

“No, I don’t want to go back home. I want to watch your class.” I grabbed his hand and closed the space between us. I pulled his hand up and placed it over my heart. “I’m not running, Jonathan. Just please be careful with this, okay?” I pressed his hand into the space over my heart, washing away the fear that encompassed it
.

Chapter Seven

I couldn’t get the night out my head. After all of these days that I had spent with Jonathan I had never expected something like this to happen. I lied in bed and stared at the ceiling for hours, tears running down my cheeks. How this night could go from great to hell-in-a-hand basket was hard to comprehend. The class was amazing, even if their sensei punished them like animals, making them do push-ups until they were in visible pain. Jonathan, Hiro, and Izo were the only ones who suffered this grueling treatment. I felt horrible sitting there, watching it. Jonathan explained to me on our walk home that it wasn’t punishment as much as it was a consequence for their poor choices.

“Sensei says that for every action there is a consequence.” There was no malice in his voice.

“I can’t believe you aren’t mad.”

“Why would I be mad? I allowed my emotions to get in the way of self-discipline. I deserved to receive a consequence. Plus, I was outside of Sensei’s dojo. It was very disrespectful of me to act that way in its presence.”

I admired his humility and the way he handled his friends. Neither came out of the dojo when class was over.

“Will you not speak to them again?” I asked.

“Oh, they’re fine. Sensei told us to stay away from each other for the night to calm our minds. He instructed all of us to go home and reflect upon our actions.”

We walked slowly and talked only sporadically. I could tell that he was tired and I still felt horrible. He stood across from me when we arrived at the front gate of the Nakamura house. I looked up and saw no sign of them.

“I’m really sorry about how this evening went,” he said. “I wanted you to have a good time and see another part of our culture, and it ended up being terrible.” He brushed a strand of my hair back from my face and tucked it behind my ear. “And I’m sorry about my friends-they made asses of themselves tonight and I’m sorry that I reacted by going all caveman on Izo. I don’t normally act that way and I’m sorry you had to see it. You make me feel a way that I’m not accustomed to feeling and it got the better of me.” He gently put his finger under my chin and tilted my head up so I was looking directly at him.

“It’s okay.”

“You handled yourself well in spite of everything they threw your way. You truly are a strong woman. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”

He slowly leaned in and kissed me on my lips, lingering for a moment before pulling back. That kiss was nothing like the one on the boardwalk. It was tender and caring, and I smiled from under my long, thick lashes.

“It wasn’t all bad, and I did enjoy the class, aside from watching you endure the consequences. I felt awful.”

He chuckled. “Trust me. We’ve had far worse consequences from Sensei. That was nothing.” At that moment, I saw Emiko walking up the narrow street. I automatically recoiled because I knew how she felt about him.

“Hi, Emiko. How was
Juku
?” I asked, smiling. She paused and glared at Jonathan, before looking back at me.