Chapter 4: A Surprising Revelation

September 4, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

I walked into Alumni Hall at DePaul University at 7:30am, and was promptly greeted by Ailea.

“Good morning, Sensei Steve!”

“«Ohayō gozaimas»,” I grinned, bowing.

“Do you still have your red gi?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She handed me a black armband.

“It’s good to see you,” she said. “I wish you would relent and have lunch with me occasionally.”

“The summer was very hectic and there are still issues at home that I need to deal with.”

“Would you come to Grandfather’s house to have lunch next weekend? Perhaps on Sunday afternoon?”

That seemed about the safest possible place, and would give me a chance to get a refresher on some of my Japanese phrases.

“I suppose that could work. I rescheduled my trip for next June. Make sure it’s OK with him, please.”

She smiled and I went into the briefing room where other officials were gathering. Both Royce and Marnie, whom I’d met at the Thanksgiving tournament walked in a few minutes later. I greeted them and we sat together while Sensei Ichirou and the other organizers went over the schedule and rules. I was happy to see that the schedule hadn’t changed, and I’d be able to get to my house by 2:00pm on Monday for our Labor Day cookout.

I wasn’t surprised when my first assignment was judging kata for black belts with Royce and Marnie. As I had at the previous tournament, I focused on technical details and left the aesthetics to others. This time there were three competitors who received perfect marks from me, and two of the three won medals. The one who didn’t had been technically perfect, but had moved in an almost mechanical fashion, which had cost him. I would probably have had a similar fate, given my penchant for being technically correct without worrying about how graceful I was.

During the lunch break, I met Mitsuko and Miyu at a café not far from the venue. Miyu and I were both wearing our gi, though we had on tennis shoes.

“«Konnichiwa»!” I said to greet them. (“Good day!”)

Both of them giggled and greeted me in English.

“I know very little Japanese,” Miyu said. “It’s just not a priority.”

“I have no choice as the dutiful eldest daughter,” Mitsuko said.

“Miyu, I see congratulations are in order for your promotion!”

She was sporting a blue belt that was still stiff and looked like it was fresh from the supplier.

“Thank you, Sensei Steve!” she replied. “I was promoted two weeks ago. But now I have to spar in a more senior group!”

“I think you’ll do just fine,” I said. “You were very good last year!”

“Thank you!” she said again.

“You don’t drive home each night, do you?” I asked.

“No,” Mitsuko replied. “We have a hotel room. At Thanksgiving, we stayed in my dorm room because my roommate was away. But the dorms don’t open until next week.”

“You’ll be a Junior, right? And I don’t recall ever hearing your major.”

“Yes, a Junior. And I’m majoring in environmental sciences. My plan is to get a Master’s degree once I finish.”

“Miyu, I know you’re just starting High School, but do you have any idea what you want to do?”

“I was thinking of microbiology or genetics. They sound really cool and I love biology. But I have a lot of time to decide! Your degree is in computers, right?”

“Yes, from IIT.”

We ate our lunch and chatted about school, karate, and Aikido. When we finished, we walked back to Alumni Hall and Miyu went to her next event while I went to the sparring area to judge contests for yellow and green belts. I was actually glad Miyu had been promoted, because at this point, I would have needed to recuse myself so as not to give any appearance of favoritism. I was sure numerous people had seen us leave together and that meant being extra careful.

At the end of the day, Mitsuko came to find me.

“Would you take us to dinner?” she asked.

It was Guys’ Night which meant I really couldn’t do that.

“I actually have plans this evening. I could do it tomorrow, if that would work.”

“Sure!” she said. “Would you walk us to the hotel?”

“Let me change and I’d be happy to do that.”

Ten minutes later I met Mitsuko and Miyu and walked them to their hotel, then walked back to where my car was parked and headed home to hang out with my friends.

September 5, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

At the end of the second day of competition, I met Mitsuko and Miyu in the lobby of the hotel and asked what they wanted for dinner. We decided on seafood, so I took them to Shaw’s. I was dressed in business casual and had brought along my sports jacket. Both girls were wearing colorful skirts and white blouses, with scarves tied around their necks.

For the first time, I noticed that Miyu was just as beautiful as her sister, only about six years younger. When she’d worn her gi, she’d had on no makeup and had her hair pulled back in a severe ponytail. Now, she had on just a hint of makeup, and her straight black hair hung loosely over her shoulders, just as Mitsuko’s did. I pushed the fantasy that popped into my mind right into the area of my brain reserved for such things, and escorted the girls from the hotel lobby to my car for the short drive into the Loop.

“How did your competition go, Miyu?” I asked.

“I finished third in the kata competition yesterday, and I have not lost any bouts so far. I need to win three tomorrow morning to be champion again.”

“She has not had so easy a time as she did last Fall,” Mitsuko said. “There are purple belts in the same group as she is.”

“She can do it. After all, you managed to throw and pin me several times!” I grinned.

“And I have been working more on techniques to counter your style,” Mitsuko said with a grin.

“And I’ve done the same thing!” I chuckled. “Our next match should prove very interesting.”

“I talked to Sensei Jim on the phone last week about coming to classes on Saturday mornings. That works well because my Aikido club meets on Saturday afternoons. College students do NOT want to get up early on weekends!”

I laughed, “I understand that! I’m a morning person, though. I like to be up before the sun.”

“Not me!” Miyu said. “I hate having to get up early to get on the bus and go to school! I like school, just not at 7:20am!”

When we arrived at Shaw’s, I was happy to see we were early enough not to have a lengthy wait. I’d known there was some risk, but I’d been there often enough with Dante that I knew how to get a table if I really needed one. And it wasn’t by throwing a fit as Dante had. We were seated quickly and ordered our drinks while we perused the menu. The waiter brought our drinks and he took our orders a few minutes later.

Dinner was excellent, as it always was at Shaw’s, and the company was certainly better than my usual dinner companion at this establishment! When we finished eating, we ordered dessert, and I ordered coffee. Both girls ordered tea. Once the waiter had taken the orders, Mitsuko excused herself to use the ladies room.

“My sister really likes you,” Miyu said quietly. “And I can see why! You’re super nice!”

“I like her, too,” I said warily.

“Why don’t you ask her out? She wants you to! She’ll say yes! I would, too!”

I held up my left hand to display my wedding band, “That’s why.”

“Oh! I didn’t see that before!”

“I don’t wear any jewelry when I’m in my gi,” I said. “Otherwise you would have seen it at lunch yesterday or today.”

“But Mitsuko must have seen it before!” Miyu said, the implications clearly dawning on her.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I’ve mostly seen her at the dojo, or at competitions.”

We sat quietly until Mitsuko came back. Miyu gave her strange looks, but I was sure Mitsuko had no idea why. I wasn’t about to raise the topic and create an even more uncomfortable situation. We had our dessert and coffee, and after I paid the bill, we left our table. I stopped in the men’s room, and when I came out, I saw Mitsuko and Miyu in agitated conversation. They didn’t see me, so I ducked back into the men’s room and combed my hair. I waited a couple of minutes, then walked out to see them standing quietly next to each other.

I assumed that Miyu was berating Mitsuko for being interested in a married man, and at this point in my life, I would be very happy if that were the case. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t LOVE to be with Mitsuko; it was that, in addition to having put her off limits, I also was trying to keep things in my life simple. And, more importantly, figure out what to do about Michelle.

Michelle and I had been dancing around the topic, carefully, for a couple of weeks, neither of us willing to actually ask the question or start the discussion. For me, it was a matter of putting off a decision that could have serious unforeseen results, and might create some significant problems. For her, it was a waiting game to see what I would do. There was no rush, and I wanted her to get into a regular routine before we even broached the subject.

With Mitsuko and Miyu I felt there were two different things going on. For Miyu, who had turned fourteen the previous December, it was certainly a teenage crush, and those were fairly easy to deal with. I could simply remain ‘Sensei’ and eventually the crush would fade away. With Mitsuko, everything went back to that kiss on the back of her hand. I’d opened the door, and she appeared to be interested in walking through it. She was either 20 or 21, depending on when her birthday was, and well past the ‘crush’ stage. But again, I could simply ignore any hints or flirting and remain her friend.

We walked out to the car in silence, and neither girl spoke as we drove back to the hotel. I pulled up in front of the hotel and Miyu said ‘good night’ as she jumped from the backseat.

“See you tomorrow?” Mitsuko asked.

I debated asking if everything was OK between her and Miyu, but that might open a can of worms I didn’t want opened.

“I’ll be there!”

She smiled and got out of the car, and followed her little sister into the hotel.

September 6, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

I saw Mitsuko, but not Miyu, on Monday morning as I walked down the hallway towards the basketball court set up for the final sparring competition.

“Good morning,” I said.

“Hi!”

“Where’s your sister?”

“Changing. Do you have a minute to talk?”

I looked at the clock and the wall and nodded. We stepped into a small room and she closed the door.

“I’m sorry if my sister upset or embarrassed you last night. You seemed distant during dessert. She told me what she’d said while you were in the restroom.”

“I wasn’t upset. I think your sister was, though. She didn’t realize I was married until I held up my left hand. I don’t wear my rings, necklace, or watch with my gi per Sensei Jim’s instructions. It’s a safety thing.”

“Sensei Daniel has the same rules. I’ve seen the rings you wear, but I wasn’t sure what your situation was until I first came to your dojo. You and Crystal were having coffee and going to dinner, so I thought perhaps the rings were for something else. And the way you kissed my hand, well, that had a big impact. By the time I figured out that you were married, I had already told Miyu what I thought about you. It was my fault, really.”

“Don’t worry about it. Seriously.”

“May I ask you a very personal question?”

“You may ask, but I can’t guarantee I’ll answer.”

“Why would you cheat on Professor Adams with Crystal? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

I smiled, “Without going into VERY complicated details, I wasn’t cheating. Kara - sorry, Professor Adams - was aware I was having coffee and going to dinner with Crystal. Feel free to ask Professor Adams about it if you don’t believe me.”

“But Crystal implied...”

“Whatever happened with Crystal is between her and me,” I said gently.

“I feel like a fool,” Mitsuko said.

“You aren’t a fool! You evaluated the situation and didn’t have all the information you needed. All the signs pointed exactly the way you thought they did. Your little sister had the same problem, in that she didn’t have all the information, either. I’m sorry she was upset with you. I know you two had a heated conversation.”

“How?”

“I came out of the men’s room and saw you faced off with each other, so I ducked back inside and waited a couple of minutes. I figured you two needed to sort this out between yourselves.”

“She confronted me about wanting to be with a married man. I told her it was none of her business, and that I had said those things before I knew you were married. She didn’t believe me.”

“And ever since you found out, you’ve been acting properly. I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve done nothing to encourage you or even hint at anything like that.”

Mitsuko smiled, “I know. Which is why Miyu said something to you! She knew I wouldn’t say anything, but she didn’t know why.”

“Well, she knows now. It’s out in the open so there won’t be any problems.”

She smiled and gave me a quick hug. A hug that telegraphed what I’d seen in her eyes as we talked. She DID want to be with me. And she knew I wanted to be with her. The problem for her was the ring on my left hand. We left the room and went to the sparring area.

The competition completed on time, and Miyu had finished second, losing to a purple belt by 3-2, with each match being decided 3-2. I congratulated her and encouraged her to work hard so that she’d win the next competition. After the awards were given out, I changed and walked Mitsuko and Miyu to their car. Miyu hopped in the passenger side and shut the door.

“Thanks for talking to me earlier,” Mitsuko said. “I appreciate it. And thanks for not being upset about it.”

“There was nothing to be upset about! Forget it! I’ll see you in a few weeks when school starts!”

“And this time, I’m going to pin you to the mat!” she smiled.

We both laughed and she got into the car. Once they’d driven away, I walked to my car and headed home for the Labor Day cookout.

“Is everything OK with Mitsuko?” Kara asked, as I was changing in our bedroom.

“Yes. I talked to her this morning before the finale events. It turns out she had talked to her little sister about me back when I was seeing Crystal and didn’t realize I was married. She did ask me why I would cheat on you with Crystal. I didn’t want to get into a detailed conversation, or hint that I was available in any way, so I just told her it was complicated, that I wasn’t cheating, and she could confirm that with you.”

Kara laughed, “That will be an interesting conversation!”