A Friend Who Worries Is Able to Play the Bad Guy and Does It Quite Well

Hikaru glanced at the message from his friend and the photo of Hortensja sitting with Matsuo's father, working on something with complete concentration. The restaurant owner suggested that his father wasn't interested in romance, but at this rate he'd steal the girl's heart faster than a young Japanese.

The day after Hortensja and the older Akiyama mysteriously bonded, the Pole came to the restaurant right after it opened, asking if she could stay at the table for a little longer. Of course, the owners didn't mind. She was an adult after all and could take care of herself. The girl pulled a notebook and pens out of her bag and shut herself off from the world, going into full concentration mode.

At first, the old man just watched, but after a while, under the pretext of giving her tea, he decided to see what she was working on. For a few minutes, she didn't feel his presence. What's more, she didn't even hear his terrified muttering until he snatched the pen from her hand. Hortensja looked at him, distracted, but didn't say anything when he wrote the mark just like she had and then crossed it out, shaking his head violently. Then he wrote it again, changing the order of the lines, and gave the pen back to its owner, encouraging her to try again. Her hand was shaking under his watchful gaze, but the stress was worth the smile she received as a reward for a job well done.

Matsuo couldn't believe a week later that his father had been teaching the girl Japanese practically all day long, without any pedagogical training, and what surprised him even more was that they were making quite good progress. Hikaru was still swamped with work, but he managed to finish in time to grab a quick bite to eat with Hortensja and then take her back to the hotel. The restaurant owner didn't know what they were talking about, but he had watched as the two people closest to him became attached to this mysterious girl.

When his father's friends dropped by, they would of course ask who the girl was, and the old man would say with pride that Hortensja was his student. He knew Hikaru too well not to know what was going on in his heart. Matsuo had nothing against the Polish girl, so to speak, but he couldn't shake the unbearable worries that appeared in his head when he saw the happy smiles on the faces of the three. That's why he decided to verify them and waited for the moment when his father would have to go somewhere, and he would have the opportunity to talk to Hortensja alone. As always, she was sitting and studying, but she smiled friendly when he sat down next to her.

“I'll ask you right away, what's your problem?” He tried to make his tone sound serious enough so that she wouldn't try to evade with answers.

“I don't know what...” she answered, but looked away.

“You know very well,” Matsuo mumbled, folding his arms across his chest. “You showed up suddenly, and you've been hanging out here all day. You don't act like a tourist; you're not looking for a job, like you're planning to stay here. My father has grown attached to you; he'll break down if you leave suddenly.” She pursed her lips, which only made him angrier. “Or maybe you just want to have fun? Hikaru's an easy target, right? You don't seem stupid; you've definitely noticed that he feels something for you. How easy will it be for you to break his heart? When's your return ticket?”

Hortensja, standing up, slammed her hands on the table, hard enough to make the lighter items on it jump. She was furious that Matsuo could suspect her of such intentions, but after an exchange of angry glances between them, she understood that his behavior was only based on concern for his loved ones and quite rationally drawn conclusions. She fell heavily into a chair, aware that she would not win this battle.

“What do you want to hear?” Despite that, her voice was full of anger. “I'm nothing. I ran away from my toxic ex. I took all the money I got after my parents died and got on the first plane that would take me as far away from him as possible.” She knew Matsuo was assessing whether he was telling the truth. “I don't know what to do with my life yet. For now, I feel safe here.”

“That answer doesn't calm me down at all.” Matsuo stood up and looked at his watch. “Make a decision. If you're going to hurt them, at least do it quickly.”

The girl didn't know if she should stay in the restaurant, so she quickly packed her things and decided to go for a walk. She went further than usual, but she didn't try to remember the way. What she just needed was to think about the words she heard. Matsuo was right. She had to make a decision eventually, and none of the options seemed right at that moment. Staying in this place when she didn't have the right perspective and idea for herself; postponing the moment of making choice until she was against the wall until running out of resources or further escape, which would hurt the old man and Hikaru above all.

She passed a pair of cute teenagers who were holding hands and smiling at each other as if they were thinking the world of each other. Hortensja tried to remember if she had behaved like that when she started dating Kamil; after all, she was about the same age then. But something was disturbing her memories, as if she subconsciously wanted to remind herself that it was a thing of the past. Instead, her mind projected the scene where instead of those two teenagers she saw earlier, there were herself and Hikaru. Her heart began to beat faster and filled with hope, which squeezed a tear running down her cheek.

The Pole shook her head to get rid of these images and feelings. Flying here, she promised herself that she would never trust any man again, that she would never end up like she did with Kamil. And even though she tried so hard to do it, she couldn't calm her agitated heart. Her resolution was put to the test so quickly; she didn't want that, and at that moment she was ready to make the decision to leave. She didn't know where, as long as it was away from love, even though… No, none 'even though', she reminded herself.

She didn't realize she had circled back to the restaurant. She sat down at the table she recognized as somehow hers, but she didn't know what to do next. How could she tell the old man that she was leaving soon when he looked at her with worried eyes and was like a caring grandfather to her, even though she didn't remember her own?

If she had something to do, she was usually left alone, and the regulars at the restaurant had somehow become accustomed to her presence. And those who had gathered the courage to approach her gave up when they saw that her mind was elsewhere. But then she finally gave in to serious contemplation of the future and didn't notice that several young men had approached the table. She gave them a quick glance, but none of them caught her attention, not even enough to listen to their words. As if through a fog, she realized that they were complimenting her and wanted to have dinner together and then invite her for a drink, asking what she was doing there and offering to show her around the city.

“Leave me alone,” she mumbled as the mix of their voices began to make her head hurt. “I'm taken.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?” The one who was most interested in her asked. “If he's far away from here, he doesn't have to ever find out about us.” The rest of the group agreed with him with a chuckle.

Hortensja finally drew attention to them what they were aiming for in the first place. The man who asked about her private life was waiting for an answer, although he wasn't going to respect any, and the girl sensed it well, so she looked for the best way out. Hikaru unexpectedly came to her rescue, whom she had unconsciously gotten close to as soon as he appeared at the table.

“She has a boyfriend,” he announced, trying to protect her. He felt that she grabbed his jacket too tightly on the back.

“Maybe you?” He received a malicious smile in response.

“Yes, I'm her boyfriend.” Something in the way he said that one sentence made the whole group politely withdraw, ashamed of their behavior, and Hortensja knew for sure that she was lost.