Four, three, two…

Yuko waited with bated breath until the old grandfather clock finally tolled twelve, a battle cry for victory to the young woman and a grounded, polite “get the hell out” for the unbearable man beside her.

“In any case, I hope your aunt and uncle take me up on my offer, Yuko.” Mister Kawai bowed before making his way out of the room.

“Thank you for your time. Be careful going home.” Still comfortably perched on the sofa, Yuko flashed him a stony grin as her eyes followed him out of sight.

No use in getting up anyway, she’ll be on my case in-

“He left early.” Yuko’s aunt shuffled into the drawing room, her eyes ablaze with suspicion and arms crossed above her bejeweled chest. “Why is your uncle seeing him out so soon?”

“So soon? Auntie, my legs fell asleep he was here so long!” Yuko groaned as she inspected her nails. “It’s a miracle my brain didn’t follow suit. All he talked about was himself, one more minute of listening about his diploma-.”

“It will be a miracle if he shows you any interest at all after this stunt! You didn’t even give him the grace of showing him the door, and moreover, look at you -” A bony hand motioned towards Yuko. “Hair astray, collar askew, and for goodness sake, close your mouth when you smile, girl!”

“I didn’t realize samurai were alive and well in Chicago.” Yuko reluctantly brought a hand to her lips, allowing herself a sneer hidden under her palm.

“And that attitude is certainly not doing you any favors either!” Her aunt snapped back. “Mister Kawai was the second one this week you sent running. What am I to tell you father the next time I write him?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all!” Yuko’s uncle made his way from the hallway and into the fray. “Aren’t you forgetting Kazuhiko explicitly said he had no interest in an American son-in-law?”

Yuko returned her uncle’s smile as he shot her a knowing wink. Even if they weren’t related by blood, her Uncle Ryuji had quickly earned Yuko’s preference over her Aunt Nasuko.

“Oh, her father says that now, but he’ll sing a different tune once Uncle Sam’s dollars start rolling in!”

“Huh?” Yuko was becoming increasingly exhausted with her aunt’s weird English phrases.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“It’s nothing, Yu-Chan, I’m just afraid that with no daughter of her own, your auntie is simply living out her maternal flights of fancy through you.” Ryuji laughed.

Nasuko stepped to the window, fiddling with its heavy curtains as her mind wandered.

“A dashing suitor with wealth to spare - any other woman your age would be thanking me.”

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?” Ryuji sighed with a hand to his forehead. After sneaking a glance once more towards Yuko, he was relieved to find his wife’s words lost on the poor girl. “How is it that I know more about what your brother wants than you?”

“Well, Kazuhiko could use a son in law like that! His salary doesn’t match his title ever since the university hired that Irish chemist to teach half his classes! I’m simply doing this to help my family.” Nasuko’s longing gaze returned to Yuko. “Yuko, darling, won’t you try to be agreeable with the next one? For me? For your father?”

“Next one?” Yuko’s tongue tripped over itself as the words tumbled out of her mouth. “You called on more?”

“Mercy me, no need for a thank you!” Nasuko settled herself next to Yuko.

“Despite what your father is thinking now, I have a hunch of what’s to come in the future, and I am determined to do everything in my power to help that poor man in any way his mediocre pension will fail him. And on top of it all, no wife around to raise his daughter, why, it's no wonder you haven’t the slightest clue about social graces. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, my dear. I mean no shame at all.”

Behind her vacant smile, Yuko cringed once her aunt’s bony hand traipsed atop her arm.

Gee, thanks…

“You’re gorgeous, you’re poised, and you're smart. All three make the perfect woman, but most men will only care about the first, and the first is fleeting.” Yuko’s cheeks prickled with a burning blush as her aunt’s hand moved to pat her knee. Every year, Yuko counted the new creases adorning the edges of her eyes, a new vein atop her hand, another failed matchmaking session.

A tally of time lost.

“Nasuko-” Ryuji feebly raised a hand to reel his wife in, but to no avail.

“Just please, woman to woman, listen to me, Yuko.” Nasuko continued in a hushed tone. “Your father will not be on this earth forever. And you know better than anyone how much this trip of yours cost him. Make it worth his while.”

Despite every fiber of her being urging Yuko to harbor ill will towards her Aunt Nasuko, perhaps the older woman did have a point.

Am I being selfish?

Did her father secretly hope she would become engaged? Was the adamant opposition against a “foreign son-in-law” a coverup? After three decades of her father putting her needs before his own, Yuko began to think she shouldn’t put it past him.

With a deep breath and a heavy heart, Yuko nodded resolutely. “I will see another one.”

The words shocked her uncle and overjoyed her aunt.

“Well, knocking some sense into you was easier than I thought!” Nasuko smacked her hands together as her wheels began to turn. “Missus Albert’s son seemed quite intrigued when I mentioned you the other day. And lucky for you, his mother’s family is all in Kyoto! Half your relatives in Chicago and half in Kansai. You get both sides of the coin.”

And then some.

Nasuko rose from her seat and started for the telephone.