Meieki, Nagoya
Hana arrived at Café Aria ten minutes late, which was actually five minutes earlier than she expected. The cold January air had made her eyes water, and her wild, auburn curls-half-up, half-fighting-for-their-life-were rebelling against both gravity and the laws of thermodynamics.
She yanked open the café door, the warm scent of espresso and overpriced pastries slapping her in the face as she scanned the room. There he was. Tech Bro. Sitting at a window seat, dressed in what she assumed was his best attempt at "effortlessly casual"-a Patagonia vest over a button-down, jeans that were too stiff to be comfortable, and the unmistakable presence of venture capitalist energy.
Hana sighed and pulled off her coat, revealing a simple black turtleneck tucked into her jeans, an outfit carefully curated to say I am making an effort, but not too much effort, because I don't actually care. Her black ankle boots clicked against the floor as she approached.
"Hey, sorry I'm late," she said, dropping into the seat across from him.
Tech Bro was already struggling. "Uh. No worries."
The date started as expected. Horribly.
Within fifteen minutes, she had learned:
1. He "dabbled" in crypto.
2. He once visited China for a business trip and now considered himself "fluent" in Mandarin despite only knowing how to order a beer and say thank you.
3. He thought lawyers were "overpaid for just reading documents."
4. He had "some thoughts" on feminism.
Hana kept her sweetest smile plastered on, sipping her coffee at a pace that suggested she was weighing the pros and cons of throwing it in his face. Yuna owed her. Again.
Tech Bro, oblivious, leaned in slightly. "So, Hana. What's your five-year plan?"
"Oh, easy." She rested her chin in her palm. "Win the lottery, buy a tiny island, and live the rest of my life harassing seagulls."
He chuckled like she was joking. She was not.
It didn't matter, though, because midway through his unsolicited TED Talk about how Japan should embrace a "hustle culture" like Silicon Valley, his phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen, muttered something about work emergencies, and excused himself.
He never came back.
Hana checked her watch, stirred her now-lukewarm coffee, and exhaled through her nose. Men never fail to amuse her. If they weren't leaving her on read, they were leaving her in cafés. Honestly, she preferred the silence of ghosting to the secondhand embarrassment of watching a man mansplain the Mandarin language like she wasn't conversational in Mandarin herself.
-----
This was the fourth blind date in the past month that had ended in spectacular failure.
One guy had spent the entire evening talking about his ex.
Another had proudly declared that he "wasn't like other men" and then immediately tried to neg her.
One particularly ambitious disaster had brought his mother.
And yet, here she was, still agreeing to Yuna's matchmaking schemes like a moron. Maybe because some part of her still wanted to believe there was someone out there who wouldn't run the second she opened her mouth.
But that was a Tomorrow Hana problem. Right now, Present Hana was going to enjoy her overpriced coffee in peace.
Her phone rang. Unknown number. Great.
-----
She answered, bracing herself for either a scam call or a recruiter trying to sell her on a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" in real estate.
"Am I speaking with Hana Sukehiro?"
A male voice. Deep. Crisp. A little too polished to be a scammer.
"Who's this?" she asked, leaning back in her chair.
"Kai Sato. Lawyer, Hasegawa and Sato Law."
Hana blinked. That name was familiar.
Wait. Was she being sued? Oh, God. Was it Tech Bro? Had she finally gone too far? That couldn't be it-she hadn't even been that mean. (By her standards.)
"Am I being sued?" she asked, frowning.
A sharp, amused laugh came through the line. That was never a good sign.
"No," Kai Sato said, still sounding entertained. "I believe I have an opportunity for you. You were just made redundant, right?"
Okay, that was creepy. Even for a lawyer.
Hana narrowed her eyes. "Creepy, but I'm listening."
"Let's meet. Name your place."
Hana tapped her fingers against her coffee cup, eyes flicking toward the window where Tech Bro had vanished into the void. She had nothing to lose.
"Well, I'm at Café Aria now," she said.
"Awesome. Be there in ten."
And then he hung up.
Hana stared at her phone. She exhaled and took a sip of her now completely cold coffee. Okay. So, best-case scenario? This was a legitimate job opportunity. Worst-case scenario? She was about to be murdered.
Well. At least she'd get a free coffee out of it.
-----
Hana knew the second he stepped into Café Aria.
Everything about him clashed against the cozy, softly lit café. The businessmen nursing their post-lunch espressos, the university students hunched over laptops, the elderly woman by the counter chatting with the barista-they all looked normal. But he?
He looked like a mirage. The kind you'd stumble upon in an alleyway and think, Wow, I'm about to get conned, aren't I?
Tall, broad-shouldered, long-legged confidence wrapped in a custom three-piece suit that was a little too sharp for a casual meeting, a little too effortless for a lawyer. His black hair-far too pretty for a man-was slightly tousled like he'd run his fingers through it just enough to make it look charmingly disheveled. And his dark brown eyes-warm, amused, just this side of dangerous-gave away nothing while suggesting everything.
Then there was the smile.
Hana knew men like him. Men who smiled too easily, too charmingly, like the world was their playground and they were just here to have fun. She could already hear the red flag alarm blaring in the distance.
Good thing he wasn't her type.
Kai Sato approached her table, "You must be Sukehiro."
"Yeah."
He slid into the seat across from her and immediately flagged down the waitress.
"Black for me," he said, then glanced at her. "And for you-"
"I've already had my coffee," Hana cut in. "But a croissant will do."
The smallest smirk tugged at his lips.
Ah. It was the way she pronounced 'croissant.'
He leaned back, one arm draped casually over the chair, and for a brief moment, Hana wondered how many women had fallen for this exact pose. If he weren't a lawyer, he'd be a con artist. Or a cult leader.
"So," Kai said, finally getting to business. "Fujiyama referred you to us."
Hana snorted. "He hates my guts."
"Exactly," Kai said, eyes gleaming with amusement. "And he also said, unfortunately, you're the best legal secretary he's ever worked with."
Hana rolled her eyes. "Wow. That's the nicest thing that bastard's ever said about me."
"So, can we do a quick interview?"
"I'm not hired yet?" Hana said, quirking a brow.
"Not yet."
She clicked her tongue. "I should have prepared for this."
"Nah." Kai waved a dismissive hand. "I want to see how quick you are."
Oh, fantastic.
Hana straightened, tilting her head slightly. "Hit me."
Kai laced his fingers together, considering her for a moment before his first question dropped.
"You're juggling three M&A cases, a high-profile litigation, and a regulatory compliance nightmare. Your boss-who is borderline unhinged-demands real-time updates on all of them at any given moment. How do you keep track?"
Hana barely blinked. "Sticky notes, a running email draft, and a color-coded nightmare spreadsheet. Also, I memorize everything."
His brows lifted slightly. "You memorize everything?"
"I have a system," Hana said.
"Fair enough." Kai smirked. "Alright, next-your boss has a deposition at 9 AM. It's 8:30 AM. He's nowhere to be found. What do you do?"
"Check the office, check his usual smoking spot, check any café" She exhaled. "If all else fails, I track his phone."
Kai blinked. "...You track his phone?"
Hana sipped her coffee. "I said what I said."
A beat of silence. Then - Kai laughed. Properly laughed.
Hana smirked. Points for her.
"Alright," he said, still grinning. "Hypothetically, your boss is in a meeting with a client who is wasting everyone's time. But he can't outright say that. How do you get him out?"
"Oh, that's easy," Hana said. "I fake a call from 'his next appointment'-which is really just me, standing outside his office. I say something urgent like, and boom. Escape secured."
Kai grinned and leaned back, nodding slightly.
She had passed.
Hana knew it before he even confirmed it. There was a certain shift in energy when someone realized they needed you.
"Graduated Todai Law three years ago. Top of your class," Kai murmured, pulling up something on his phone. "Worked as a paralegal, then a legal secretary until you were made redundant. Native French speaker, fluent in English, conversational in Mandarin-"
"That's me."
Kai set his phone down. "Alright. Let's talk terms."
Now we're talking.
Hana leaned in slightly, grinning like she was about to make a deal with the devil.