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Back This Time Will Be Different Save as PDF
Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
  6. 3
  7. The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
  20. 13
  21. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
  33. 23
  34. 24
  35. 25
  36. A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. 34
  47. 35
  48. 36
  49. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. 42
  56. 43
  57. 44
  58. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
  59. 45
  60. 46
  61. 47
  62. 48
  63. 49
  64. 50
  65. 51
  66. 52
  67. 53
  68. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
  69. 54
  70. A Note from the Author
  71. Index of Flowers and their Meanings
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. Praise for This Time Will Be Different
  75. Books by Misa Sugiura
  76. Back Ad
  77. About the Publisher

On the other hand, if the shirt is to be believed, he’d prefer for me to be dead.

“Oh, I see you’ve met!” It’s Hannah coming in from the front of the shop, alive and well, thank goodness. I can actually feel the relief coursing through my veins like blood.

“Not formally,” says the history buff.

“Ah! Well. Owen Takasugi, this is CJ Katsuyama, my niece.”

He extends his hand and says, “Nice to meet you.”

“The guy from Weekly History Minute!” That’s how I know him. Weekly History Minute comes on the midday video announcements, usually on Thursday or Friday. It’s nerdy history trivia, acted out by nerdy history kids—sometimes even in costume. It always ends with a sign-off from the host: “I’m Owen Takasugi and this is Weekly History Minute, brought to you by . . .” He always pauses dramatically before finishing with “the History Club!” as if the entire school is waiting breathlessly every week, wondering to themselves, Who brings us Weekly History Minute?

I shake Owen’s hand, still a little bewildered, but bewildered is better than terrified. I can’t believe I thought this guy was going to kill me. “You scared me half to death,” I tell him.

“Yeah, I could tell. Sorry about that.” The corner of his mouth twitches upward, and I suddenly remember seeing a flash of that suppressed grin just after I made my (oh my god) unbelievably dorky grand entrance a minute ago. I’ve done something that Owen Takasugi of Weekly History Minute is trying not to laugh at. I have officially bottomed out.

Hannah, oblivious, explains, “Owen’s dad owns Takasugi Nursery, and he was telling me about how he wanted Owen to broaden his experience in the industry, so I offered to let Owen be an apprentice! It’s perfect timing, because we could really use the extra help right now.”

“I am your humble servant,” says Owen, and he bows slightly and does a fancy little flourish with his hand, and I can tell right away that Hannah finds this incredibly charming.

I can’t decide whether I find it charming or dorky, though I’m leaning toward dorky. Kind of like Weekly History Minute, actually, which—to be totally, brutally honest—is über geeky and hardly anyone watches, but which is also often cooler than actual history class. Like this week, they did a thing about how Italian pasta actually came from Arab traders who passed through Sicily and not from China via Marco Polo’s expedition. That was cool. In a geeky sort of way.

“Well, anyway. I’m glad to have you with us. And you should know that CJ loves history,” says Hannah, and she’s not lying, but oh my god. “I bet she’d love to go out for coffee or something and chat about it with you. Right, sweet pea?”