Chapter 21: The Next Step

Kaito was already at the kitchen table when the others came downstairs.

Three folders lay in front of him. Each had a label written in his precise hand:

Johns Hopkins.

Immigration.

Montana.

His coffee was cold.

Emiko noticed it as she took her seat. “How long have you been here?”

“Long enough to finish the first draft of the Hopkins packet.”

Hana sat beside her sister. Midori brought fresh coffee for everyone and placed a cup beside Kaito.

“Thank you,” he said.

She nodded toward the folders. “What did you do?”

“Prepared the next steps.”

Kaito opened the first folder.

“The Hopkins call is at ten-thirty. It is preliminary. They have agreed to discuss Emiko’s research and whether there is a suitable position or affiliation for her.”

Emiko looked at the papers. “They have not offered me anything.”

“No.”

The answer was immediate and matter-of-fact.

“They are agreeing to evaluate the possibility,” Kaito continued. “That is all we know so far.”

Emiko picked up the first page. Her curriculum vitae was there, followed by her publication list and a summary of her research.

“What did you send?”

“Your professional material. Nothing private.”

She looked up.

“Your curriculum vitae, publications, research summary, and the work you authorized me to disclose,” he said. “No details about our family. No explanation of anything that does not concern your professional qualifications.”

Emiko read the pages again. “Good.”

Kaito turned the next page toward her. It contained a list of questions.

“Laboratory access,” he said. “Research funding. Appointment structure. Confidentiality. Start dates. Whether any preliminary work can be done remotely. And whether the academic schedule of the family can be accommodated.”

Hana glanced at the last item. “You put our classes in the Hopkins questions?”

“I put our actual life in the Hopkins questions.”

“We are not even moving yet,” Midori said.

“Exactly. So no one should be discussing a move as though it is happening next week.”

He reached for the household calendar. The college schedule was already marked across it in different colors.

“Your classes remain fixed,” he said. “You finish the semester. No one drops a course, misses an examination, or abandons an academic commitment because an institution in Baltimore wants to learn more about Emiko’s work.”

Hana looked relieved, though she tried not to show it.

“What if they want her immediately?” she asked.

“Then they can explain what immediately means. We will decide whether it is workable.”

Emiko’s hand rested on the edge of the folder.

“You say that as though there is no reason to be nervous.”

“There is every reason to be nervous,” Kaito said. “It matters to you.”

She looked at him.

“That does not mean we pretend the result is already known.”

Her expression softened. That was one of the things she had come to understand about him. Kaito did not soothe her by denying reality. He made reality manageable by putting it in order.

At ten-thirty, the four of them gathered around the table.

Kaito positioned the computer so everyone could see the screen. Emiko sat beside him. Hana and Midori sat across from them, their notebooks open.

The call began with introductions and the expected professional courtesies. The Hopkins representative had reviewed the summary Kaito sent and wanted to hear Emiko describe her work in her own words.

At first, Emiko spoke carefully.

Then the questions became more specific.

Her posture changed.

She leaned toward the screen, her hands moving as she described the research, the methods she had used, and the questions she believed were still unanswered. Her voice grew firmer. The hesitation left it.

Kaito said nothing while she spoke.