5.) Ted's Most Best

Kaya was surprised to see that they were going to Ted's Most Best and not some "fancy" or "Expensive" Establishment. Not that she was at all disappointed, as Ted's was one of her favorite places in town. She followed Hajime into the building, Takeru on her heels, taking in the place as he walked though. "Oh good, you're here." Toru's easy voice came forward, bringing Kaya's attention to it. She looked over at the tall brunette and saw that he was already at a table for six with a nervous looking Kaname.

Kaya gave her brother a look as though to ask if he were ok, Kaname giving her a small sad smile in return. "I hope a table is ok instead of a booth, I thought it might give more space." Toru informed the three newcomers as he made his way to Kaya's side and slid out the chair she was about to pull out for herself, smiling at her as he gestured for her to sit.

Kaya did as he bade, realizing how strange it felt to have someone do this for her. She thought about his tendency to open doors and that he'd held out her office chair that morning and begrudgingly noted he was at least a gentleman, though still an ass.

"What's good here? Kaname said you frequent this place." Toru says, taking the seat next to hers on the end and across from Hajime. Kaya looks across the table at her brother, guilt registering on his face. "Well you do." He defended, though she'd said nothing aloud. Kaya went to answer him when their server approached the table. "Kaya! It's good to see you. The usual?" He asked, smiling brightly at her. "Yes please Yuri, that would be lovely." Kaya smiled back at him, Toru looking between the two with a scowl on his face. "She's not your only patron you know." He said disapprovingly to their server.

The strawberry blonde man looked at Toru with mistrust and disdain. "Hello sir. Welcome to Ted's Most Best. What can we get for you today?" He asked in a syrupy voice. "Does Kaname have a usual too?" Toru inquired, the server looking back at him blankly. "Who?" He asked, Kaname sinking into his seat a little. "Kaname, Kaya's brother. Surely if you're familiar enough with Kaya, then you're familiar with Kaname." The server rolled his eyes at Oikawa. "I didn't realize that was her brother's name, he's always so quiet and no he does not have a usual." The server shot back coldly. "What's your name?" Toru inquired, arms folding over his chest.

The server sighed and pointed to his name tag, Toru reading the name Yuri, "Kaya even just called me by my name a moment ago." He answered. Kaya looked closer at Toru, seeing a predatory glare in his eyes. "Mr. Oikawa, is something the matter?" She asked, somewhat afraid. "Not at all Kaya." He said, giving her a reassuring smile and looking directly in her grey eyes before looking back at Yuri and changing back to the cold stare. "I'll have what Kaya is having, thank you." He told him plainly, as if daring him to speak to Kaya again. Yuri nodded at him as he shrank away from his intimidating stare, moving to stand closer to Takeru. "What can I get everyone else?" Yuri asked, wanting to leave the table.

Kaname ordered a Veggie Panni with a coke, Hajime ordered the same panni with water and Takeru opted for the bacon and egg pizza with a sprite. Yuri wrote down all the orders and scurried away as quickly as possible under Toru's glare. Kaya watched her boss as he watched the server go to a computer to input their order, catching Torus' attention who smiled at her genuinely while he relaxed in his chair. "Help you with something?" He asked her with a small smirk. "What was that all about?" She asked cautiously.

Toru observed her for a moment in silence, everyone else at the table watching the pair. "If I tell you, you can't be mad." He warns after a moment. Kaya sighs and nods her agreement. "Yuri likes you." He told her plainly. "Well yeah, I'm a good tipper." she responded, leading Toru to scoff at her. "It has nothing to do with your tips and everything to do with you as a person. He likes you, likes you and wishes he could make you his instead of Koji's" He tells her. "Kenji" She corrects. "And you're just imagining things." She adds, turning away from him and giving Kaname a gentle smile.

Toru shakes his head and presses on. "I'm not imagining anything. You just don't want to see it." He tells her firmly. Kaya looks back over at him, swallowing her annoyance as much as possible. "Even if it were true, that still doesn't explain what that was all about." She bites out at him. "What? You mean making him feel unwelcome? Kenti isn't here to do it and no one else moved to get him to back down. I was simply taking care of the situation" Toru answers in an even tone as Yuri sits their drinks down in front of them. Toru picked up his drink and sipped it, surprised by the choice of raspberry lemonade.

Kaya looked at Toru as though he'd lost it, Yuri scurrying away from the table as quickly as possible. "So let me get this straight, you, the guy who hit on me from the moment he saw me, then continued to do so after learning I have a fiancé, then decided to insinuate things about his lack of presence in my apartment feels he has the right to scare off other guys he feels have a thing for me, seeing as I'm engaged, on behalf of my fiancé you've never met." Toru looked at her, his face unchanging. "Don't Toru." Hajime warned. Toru looked at his lifelong friend and nodded, taking another drink of his lemonade.

"No, do it Toru. I want answers." Toru turned his head to look at Kaya, a sly grin coming across his face. "Toru now is it? What happened to Mr. Oikawa?" He asked teasingly. "I was simply imitating Hajime's use of your given name." Kaya answers evenly. Even so, Toru felt his heart skip a beat that she'd called him by his first name.

He smiled at her happily, letting out a sigh before answering "I've been much better behaved today haven't I? You were kind enough to help me the other night and this morning. Is it so difficult to believe that I'd like us to be friends and stop this incessant bickering?" He answers flippantly, leaving Hajime to let out a relieved sigh.

Kaya watches him a moment, trying to decide if this is some kind of trick or new test. "A friend would know my fiancés name." She countered, looking at Toru suspiciously. Toru raised his hands and held them in the air next to his head. "I said I wanted us to be friends, not me and the fiancé. Besides, I'm terrible at remembering names if I don't have the face to associate them with. Before we met I kept calling you anything but Kaya only recalling the Moniwa name." He defended.

Kaya looked over at Hajime and Takeru for clues, Hajime nodded at her seriously, recalling the many times Toru had messed up everyone's names over the years, even teachers. "Kyra, Kayla, Kasha, Klara…" Takeru numbered off counting on his fingers, pausing a moment to think then shrugging as if giving up. "There were more, but I can't recall them all. I'm not sure how he even made it through history class." Takeru finishes, Kaya laughing softly as she accepts Toru's answer as to why he can't recall Kenji's name.

"Ok, I can at least try to be your friend, if you're going to start acting like a reasonable human being and good friend instead of an insufferable asshole." She shot out at him with only a hint of annoyance in her voice. Toru pursed his lips, looking at her for a moment. "I can't make any promises that I won't be an insufferable asshole, but I'm going to do my best to be more thoughtful and try not to hit on you." He told her in a flat tone, his brown eyes showing how genuinely he meant what he was saying.

Kaya stuck her hand out to Toru, the latter taking her much smaller hand into his own and shaking it. "Does this mean you'll call me Toru now?" He asks her. Kaya sits a moment considering, trying to find the will to look away from his pleading brown eyes, something written in them that made her want to stop being suspicious of him all together. "I'll think it over." She responded as Yuri started sitting their food in front of them. Toru took his eyes off Kaya and narrowed them at Yuri, causing Kaya to giggle. Now that she knew he was trying to be a friend she found his actions silly rather than oafish.

Kaya sat in silence eating her usual of her own creation, chicken, prosciutto, garlic, cherry peppers, mushrooms, and gouda pizza with pesto sauce. Toru complimented her on her choice, devouring his own pizza and carrying on a conversation with his nephew and best friend, asking about people back in Atlanta.

Listening to the three men talking, Kaya came to learn that Tour's mother worked as the president for a nonprofit foundation that fought for the equal rights of women, minority races, and the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace, including political offices. For some reason Toru seemed to be happy that his mother was doing the work, but also worried over her for it. Takeru and Hajime both insisted that he was being too paranoid about it and saying his mother was perfectly safe in the new office they'd set up in Castleberry Hill.

Kaname became excited to hear that she worked for the foundation, his face beaming as he started to ask more and more questions about the foundations work and how it was that Mrs. Oikawa came to be involved in her work there. The more excited Kaname came and spoke, the quieter Toru became, retreating into himself and allowing the other two men to answer. Meanwhile he sat and stole looks at Kaya, who was half listening and wondering how to tell Kenji she'd agreed to a friendship with Toru when he'd wanted her to stay away from him.

As everyone finished eating Kaya realized that Toru's mood had changed, as she hadn't been paying too much attention she figured he was still concerned over his mother and decided to change the subject, asking Hajime to tell her what Toru was like as the two grew up. Hajime shot Toru a quick glance before clearing his throat and giving a simple answer. "He was much like he's been today. I'm hoping Shittykawa will soon become an old memory." Hajime gave her a smile, leading Kaya to only feel more confused.

Takeru started to laugh and tossed a balled up napkin at Hajime. "Always the best friend." He chided. "Uncle Toru is a different man now than he used to be, but we think that your friendship may get him back to the idiot we all knew and loved, rather than the 'insufferable asshole' you've come to hate within mere moments of meeting him. I liked you the moment I heard you spit in his coffee and refused to back down. A lot of women let him get away with all kinds of shit simply from finding him attractive. It's appalling really." Takeru told her matter of factly. Kaya spared a glance at Toru, who was looking at his nephew with wide eyes and a red face.

Kaya looks from Toru to Takeru to Hajime. "What made you change?" She asked him directly. Torus' eyes snapped to Kaya's, his large dark brown orbs begging her not to want an answer. Kaya felt a tug at her heart from the way his eyes begged her to change the subject. She lifted her hand from her lap and landed it softly on top of Torus giving him a kind smile. "Doesn't matter. Have you given any thought to when you might want that raincheck on the tour for Athens?" She asked him softly, causing Toru to smile back at her brightly with relief in his eyes.

"Whenever you'd like. You're the town expert." He answered with cheer in his voice, his eyes giving her a silent thank you. Kaya nodded, moving her hand from Torus and placing it under her chin to think. Lost in thought she didn't notice the way Torus face fell for her to move her hand away. Distracted by the CEO and CFO having a touching moment, no one at the table noticed the glare from Yuri, nor the fact that he used his cell phone to take a picture of the two, when Kaya's hand was still on Toru's.

"How about Thursday after work? That'll give you a little time with your guests while they are in town and me time to prepare." She told him. Toru nodded slowly at her offer, happy he'd have a little more time to talk with Hajime before spending time alone with Kaya again. He hoped his best friend's ability to pull in the reins on how out of control he could become would hold well enough that he could truly start to interact with Kaya like a normal person instead of acting like the playboy dick he'd been to her in their first couple of interactions.

Truthfully it had been on his mind since he'd seen the tears in her tired eyes Sunday night how even he was over his asshole, fuck every girl he sees shtick. Instead he very much wanted to start letting everyone see the real Toru again, he wanted the first person to see him to be Kaya. He knew that Hajime was right and that she loved her fiancé and he had no chance at being with her, but he still wanted to be a better man for her. Even if only as her friend.

Toru stood from the table and pulled out Kaya's chair, offering her his hand so she could stand. Kaya took his hand, thanking him with a genuine smile on her face, wondering if his mother taught him all of these manners or perhaps his father. Kaya and Kaname wished Toru a good rest of his day, separating from the two Oikawas and Hajime to go back to the office while the other three went to prepare the rest of the paperwork needed for the coming dismissals of employees with the Seijoh Corp attorney back in Atlanta.

Toru quietly asked Kaya if he could text her later, to which her first instinct was to insist he not do so; though after recalling she'd agreed to try to be friends and that he'd not acted inappropriately towards her all day she nodded and gave him a soft smile. Hajime watched the interaction silently, giving Toru an encouraging smile when he'd seen the approval given to text the object of his interest.

Just as Kaya entered the office building her cell phone began to ring. She checked to see who was calling and smiled that Kenji would call her in the middle of the work day, but declined his call as she didn't want to walk through the building and go up the elevator on the phone. She continued her way to her office in silence with a soft smile on her face, her brother standing next to her and observing that his sister seemed much more relaxed after their lunch.

"I'm glad you and Toru made a truce." He told her. Kaya shot Kaname a look, her brother laughing at her. "I never hated him, I don't mind calling him Toru." He tells her as he stifles his laughter. "Besides, have you looked at him? I don't know how you managed to be angry with a face like that." He tells her with a dreamy sigh. Kaya shakes her head, sighing softly at her brother. "You're a married man." She teases. Kaname nods his head. "Married, but not blind. Kosuke agrees with me." He tells her softly.

Kaya giggles at the thought of her brother and his husband discussing the way Toru looks, knowing they often share the same celebrity crushes with the feeling of jealousy rising in her. She wished she and Kenji could have more relaxed conversations about such things. Kenji usually didn't really mind her looking at another man, but he sometimes made her feel as though she left something to be desired when he would compare her to other women.

Where Kaname and Kosuke would dreamily talk about another man together, saying the things about him that was nice to look at, sometimes saying they still preferred one another over the other men; it wasn't uncommon for Kenji to look at a woman in a park or restaurant they were at and tell her that it would be nice if she had tits like the other woman, or that it might be nice to have a woman he didn't have to bend over so much just to kiss.

Kaya bid Kaname goodbye with a fake smile on her face, trying to push away the insecure feeling of recalling the things about herself that Kenji wasn't happy with. She sat at her desk staring at the wall with her mind blank when she heard her phone go off. She decided to ignore it and opened her laptop to get to work. No sooner than she'd typed in her password did her phone go off again.

Uncertain if the messages were important or not, Kaya opened her phone to see who was messaging her. She opened Torus' message first, a small smile on her face as she read "Thank you again for giving me a chance." She typed her response quickly then checked it for typos before hitting send. "It's no problem, be safe getting to Atlanta."

Kaya then opened her message from Kenji. Tears pricking her eyes before she could even finish reading it. "What the fuck? I told you to stay away from that dick Oikawa and I get a message from an unknown number of you sitting with him and a bunch of other dudes, holding his hand and smiling at him? I swear to God Kaya, if you so much as even think about cheating on me I'll call off the engagement. Then what are you going to do? Oikawa doesn't want you, he just wants to fuck anything that moves. No one wants a near dwarf with a flat chest. I put up with your shortcomings because you're a nice girl and I can trust you. Or at least I thought I could. Don't fucking prove me wrong."

With tears falling down her face, Kaya quickly called Kenji back, her call going to voicemail after the first ring. She hung up and called again, the same response three times in a row. On her fourth attempt to call him she left a sobbing voicemail. "It's not what you think Kenji, please don't be mad and let me explain. I would never betray you. I love you so much. Please talk to me, please." She pleaded.

Kaya sat the phone down and let her tears overtake her, a new message popping up almost immediately as she cried. "Stop calling me. I can't fucking talk to you right now. I don't care about your explanation. I told you to stay away, but you didn't listen. I have to think." She swallowed hard as she read her fiancé's cold response. Her heart pounded and she wondered what would come of a friendly gesture to her boss.