Last Valentine’s Day, Itoh-senpai told me that Hiroto would love it if Umeda and I come visit him again. I called up Umeda, and he said he’s been invited to attend a party at the Itoh family’s mansion along with his family this Saturday, so we could use this chance to visit him as well. The party starts at evening, so I have to keep my evening schedule free.

   What Umeda didn’t tell me is that the Itoh family was having a real formal party which requires formal dress code. When he comes to get me in my apartment, he’s in suits and ties.

   ‘Would it kill you to tell me earlier? Now what am I going to do?’ I ask Umeda.

   ‘Sorry, man. I thought everyone knows that there’s no such thing as an informal party for the Itoh family.’

   ‘How would I? I’m not one of you rich people!’

   ‘As for the suit, we could go back to my place and get you one of mine. We’re around the same size anyway.’

   I look at my arm, then his. Not to be rude, but his arms are much thinner than mine.

   ‘Yeah, I don’t think so. I guess I’ll be absent.’

   ‘Oh, come on! We’ll think of something when we get to my house.’

   ‘Aren’t you kind of desperate?’

   ‘I can’t help it. I’m always bored at parties since I don’t have anyone to talk to.’

   ‘Talk to Shinohara, then. Unless you tell me her family isn’t invited.’

   ‘They are, but…’

   ‘Please don’t tell me the two of you barely made any progress since then.’

   Instead of answering, he just lowers his head in shame.

   Just to refresh your memory, Umeda’s family owns a lots of hotels spread throughout Japan and some other countries. Shinohara, on the other hand is the heir to Shinohara Construction, which does all kind of major construction projects. The two of them study at Kiseki High School, a school for geniuses and prodigies.

   A few months ago, Suzu, who was a Kiseki student herself, asked me to help Umeda. Thanks to the wish I made, their families had stopped being business partners and canceled the engagement of their heirs that they decided themselves. Umeda is in love with Shinohara, so he didn’t want the relationship to end. To keep things short, the two families are business partners again at the end of the day, and Umeda got rejected by Shinohara.

   ‘Well, let’s just go to your house anyway. There might be someone who owns a suit that fits me.’

   Turns out they do. One of the butlers who work there has one just my size. I loaned them from him with the promise that I would dry clean them and everything.

   ‘Where are your parents, by the way?’ I ask Umeda after I got changed.

   ‘They’re already there.’

   ‘Are you saying that your family has more than one car?’

   ‘Yup. Three, to be exact.’

   ‘Wow. Just wow.’

   When we got to the Itoh family’s mansion, we’re greeted by Itoh-senpai. Her parents are nowhere to be seen, though.

   ‘Welcome to the Itoh household.’ she says to us warmly.

   ‘Thank you for having us.’ I tell her.

   ‘There’s still some time before the party begins, so you can talk to Hiroto for a while if you wish.’

   And that’s what we did. Heck, he’s the only reason I came to this mansion in the first place. We even came here a few hours before the party starts so hat we could spend more time together.

   As Itoh-senpai told me, Hiroto looks much better now. The circles below his eyes are almost non-existent, and he put on some weight since we last saw each other. Most importantly, the collar he had on his neck is gone.

   ‘How have you been doing?’ I ask him.

   ‘Good, I guess. I haven’t been thinking of killing myself for weeks now.’ he tells us. ‘Also, I’m going to Jindai High School this April, just like Hitomi nee-san.’

   ‘She told me that too. I’m not trying to discourage you or anything, but are you sure that you want to go to high school? It can be quite a lousy place, you know?’

   ‘It’s true that I’ve heard all sorts of horror stories regarding high school. Still, I want to try and fit in again.’

   ‘Well, I won’t stop you if you’re that determined. Just come find me if you’re ever in trouble, got it?’

   ‘Got it.’

   ‘Aren’t you going to join us at the party?’ Umeda asks Hiroto. ‘I mean, you’re not dressed up at all. Are your parents still treating you badly?’

   ‘Actually, I didn’t want to join it on my own accord. Formal parties like the one we’re having tonight makes me nervous. I can’t even relax, and I don’t know what to talk about with the guests.’

   ‘Yup. Same here.’ I agree wholeheartedly.

   ‘You two need to get out more.’ Umeda tells us.

   ‘Oh shut it, rich boy. We’re comfortable just the way we are. Besides, I do go out quite often. It’s just that I hate putting up a facade in front of strangers.’

   ‘I guess it can be quite tiring.’ Umeda admits. ‘But you have to remember this, Hiroto. There are times when you have to act like you care if you want to mingle with others.’

   ‘Thank you for your wise words.’

   ‘Is it me, or does it sounded like personal experience to me?’ I ask Umeda.

   He shrugs. ‘You could say that. Pretty sure you had those moments too.’

   ‘Yup. Sure do.’

   ‘Then you definitely know what I’m talking about.’

   ‘Suddenly, I’m kind of scared to go to school.’ Hiroto says to us while looking a little pale.

   ‘I understand your fear, but you’re the one who wanted to do this, right? You can’t back out now.’ I tell him.

   ‘Besides, you should try going to school before giving up. Who knows, you might end up having fun.’ Umeda continues.

   ‘Yes, Hiroto. Listen to the normie who has a wonderful school life.’

   ‘What’s a normie?’

   ‘Just forget it if you don’t know. The path of an anime nerd might be too dangerous for you.’

   We talked like this for quite a while. Somehow, one of us always managed to find a new topic to talk about whenever a topic is over. I don’t know about the other two, but I for one was just thinking of random thing to talk about. Even so, they’re still willing to go with the flow.

   After a few hours, we have to leave Hiroto’s room for a while since the party is about to start. Umeda brings me to the ballroom without getting lost like he owns the place.

   ‘I take it that you’ve been here.’

   ‘Multiple times. My parents wanted me to attend this kind of event as much as possible so that I can increase my social circle and connections.’

   ‘Must be tough talking to all those people you don’t really care about.’

   ‘It is sometimes. But I guess you have to go through with it if you want to be successful in the world of business.’

   The ballroom they have is quite large. I think it can at least fit one hundred people. I flinch as I see Miyagawa-san talking with some middle-aged men and women at a distance. Of course she’s here. Of course.

   I flinch again as I see two more familiar faces.

   Katsuragi Shinpei and Katsuragi Utzuki. The former had single-handedly turned a small company with only ten employees to an empire of huge companies with more than tens-of-thousands of employees all across Japan. The latter, on the other hand, are in charge of human resource. Thanks to her uncanny ability to spot talented individuals, every single employees of theirs are extremely capable. At least, that’s what I heard from television interviews.

   And they’re my grandparents. From my mother’s side, to be exact. In case you guys have forgotten, they’re also the ones who kicked my mother out of the family after she got pregnant with me.

   ‘You okay, man?’ Umeda asks me. ‘You kind of zoned out for a moment there.’

   ‘I’m fine.’ I assure him.

   The two of us are brought to a table by a waiter. For some reason, the table we got only consists of Miyagawa-san, Umeda, Shinohara and myself. There are some other young adults present at this party, but all of them are sitting with other adults. Miyagawa-san and I look at each other awkwardly before shifting our gaze. A waiter appears out of nowhere and serves us some sparkling non-alcoholic champagne.

   ‘Well, let’s start with some introductions.’ Umeda begins an ice breaking session among ourselves. ‘Bandou, this is Shinohara Chiyo. Chiyo, he’s Bandou Takuya.’

   Shinohara and I nod at each other politely.

   ‘Hello there. Noburu has told me a lot about you.’ she tells me.

   ‘Oh? Like what?’

   ‘Like you’re the reason he has the courage to confess to me. I never would have thought that he had it in him though.’

   ‘Isn’t it? I’m not trying to brag, but he definitely wouldn’t have do it if I didn’t kick him from the back.’

   ‘I can imagine. He can never act like a man when it’s needed from him, after all.’

   I look at Umeda. He’s lowering down his head while looking quite ashamed. Shinohara notices his reaction too.

   ‘But I guess one can take baby steps.’ she slowly adds.

   Umeda suddenly brightens up.

   ‘By the way, you’re Miyagawa Riko-san right?’ he asks Miyagawa-san. ‘If I’m not mistaken, your parents own the Millennium Housing Estates.’

   Ah, so her family owns one of the biggest real estate agency in Japan. A lot of the houses that my classmates live in are sold by them. I’ve rented my apartment through them as well.

   ‘I’m honored that you’ve heard of my family’s business.’ Miyagawa-san says modestly.

   ‘Of course I know of it. I’m sure most of us here are living inside the house sold by the real estate your family owns.’

   Shinohara and I nod in agreement.

   The three of them start to have a small talk about the business their family had been doing, leaving me just listening to them without having a single clue on what are they talking about.

   ‘Oops, sorry Bandou. We shouldn’t talk about all this business stuff while you’re around.’ Umeda apologizes to me.

   ‘It’s fine. You guys can just continue.’

   ‘That won’t do. This is a party, you know? You should get acquainted to Chiyo and Miyagawa-san.’

   ‘Um, Shinohara aside, I’ve already met Miyagawa-san.’

   ‘Really, how did the two of you met?’

   ‘I don’t really want to talk about it.’ I try to dismiss the question.

   ‘Come on, there’s no need to-ow!’

   Umeda yelps as Shinohara steps on his foot.

   ‘What was that for?’ he demands.

   ‘Learn to read the atmosphere, you idiot.’ she scolds. ‘I’m so sorry for this insensitive idiot.’

   ‘That’s okay.’

   Just as I was thinking on how to make the atmosphere less awkward, a man whom I assume is Hiroto’s father walks to a stage at the end of the room and turned on the microphone placed there. He then starts a speech to welcome the guests and wish us a good time in the party. You know, the usual stuff. I was barely listening as most of the things he said are related to business, which has nothing to do with me. When he’s finally done, he ends his speech by saying that we’re allowed to eat. About time.

   There’s just one problem, though. The food won’t be served to us directly. We’re supposed to get up and go to one corner of the room where all of them are placed inside large metal containers. In other words, this is like a buffet. I was hoping that I could just eat the food without having the chance of interacting with everyone else here since unlike them, I’m just a lowly peasant who’s not supposed to be here. But no such luck for me.

   I walk to the place where the food is while being careful of my surroundings. I’ve especially have zero intention of bumping into my grandparents. They might not know me, but I’m not going to take the chance.

   As expected of rich people, even the food they serve is high class stuff. I see lobsters, caviar, escargot, and other food made from all kinds of expensive ingredients. I take a plate and start filling it up with whatever I see to my liking, careful not too take too much. It’s not just to prevent wastage. I’m also trying to prevent myself from being that one guy who stands out by taking heaps of food.

   ‘Oh, this looks nice! And this too! That one probably tastes heavenly!’

   As opposed to Umeda.

   ‘Are you sure you can east all those food?’ Shinohara asks him.

   ‘Don’t worry, I got a big appetite.’

   As for me, I had to go back to my table earlier since I saw my grandparents approaching where I’m at while holding a plate of their own.

   Miyagawa-san has already taken her portion of the food, so she’s already sitting down and enjoying her food by the time I’m back.

   ‘Is that all you’re eating?’ she notes when she sees the amount of food I took.

   ‘I’ll, um, go for a second round.’

   I look at her plate too. There’s nothing but vegetables and fish. There’s no meat or any source of carbohydrate.

   ‘I’ll have to ask you the same thing. Will those make you full, or are you going for a second round as well?’ I ask her.

   ‘Not at all. This is all I’m eating.’

   ‘Seriously?’

   ‘Yes. I’m being put on a strict diet by my parents so that my body never goes out of shape.’

   ‘Are they here right now?’ I ask her.

   ‘Yes.’

   ‘Which ones are they?’

   Miyagawa-san looks around.

   ‘There they are. The ones wearing the black suit and red dress.’

   ‘Good, they’re not looking over.’

   I place a piece of the roast beef that I put on my plate over to hers.

   She stares at the roast beef, then me.

   ‘Pray tell, what are you doing?’

   ‘Come on, a bite won’t hurt.’ I encourage.

   She hesitates for a few seconds before picking it up with a fork. She then opens her mouth and puts the beef inside.

   ‘This is quite delicious.’ she says after a few chew and a swallow.

   ‘Right? And it’s meat, so you should at least have a little.’

   ‘According to my diet, the only source of protein I’m allowed to take are from poultries.’

   ‘Bah. I like chickens too, but they can never replace a good piece of beef. You want some more?’

   She swallows her saliva before slowly nodding. I gave her half of my portion of beef. Thankfully, her parents are still not looking over here after all this while. They’re too busy talking to another pair of couples.

   Miyagawa-san suddenly giggles. ‘Do you always convince others to do bad things like this?’

   ‘Pretty much. And you can’t call this bad things. My food somehow miraculously landed on your plate. And you picked it up with your fork and ate it.’

   ‘Are you saying that I’m the only one to blame here?’

   ‘It is, right? You don’t have to eat them.’

   ‘If I ever get caught, I’m going to bring up your name just so that we’ll suffer the consequences together.’

   ‘Hey, leave me out of it.’

   We share a few more giggles, and I smuggle more food to her, even if it means I’ll definitely need another trip to the buffet line. After another successful smuggle, Umeda and Shinohara are finally back.

   ‘What took you guys so long?’ I ask them.

   ‘We were caught by some parents who wanted to talk to us.’ Umeda answers.

   ‘Must be troublesome to be famous.’

   Umeda makes a face. ‘Our parents are the famous ones. We have nothing to do with it. They just wanted to talk to us so that they can butter up our parents.’

   ‘Ah, the typical life of rich kids.’

   After we’re done eating, some waiters and waitresses walk over and clear our plate and cutleries for us. They also refilled our drinks. And then, something dreadful happens. Someone skind of orchestra band go to the stage and start to play some slow music. At the cue, some men get up from their seat and ask the lady they fancy for a dance. Umeda does the same.

   ‘May I?’ he asks Shinohara while reaching out his right hand.

   I was absolutely certain that she was going to refuse, but nope, she smiles and takes his outstretched hand. Together, they head to the middle of the ballroom and join the others for a dance.

   ‘Aren’t you going to ask me, Bandou-kun?’ Miyagawa-san asks me all of a sudden.

   I stare at her.

   ‘You can’t be serious. I don’t know how to dance, you know.’

   ‘It’ll be fine. I do, so I can teach you.’

   ‘Well, just don’t blame me if I stepped on your foot.’

   I get up and reach out my left hand to her.

   ‘May I have the honor of dancing with you, fair maiden?’ I ask her.

   She giggles. ‘Fair maiden?’

   ‘Don’t mind me. I was just trying to sound fancy.’

   She took my hand and get up. Hand in hand, we go to where the other dancers are.

   Miyagawa-san starts to teach me the basics, like where to put my hands and how to move We practise for a while before dancing for real.

   ‘We’re going to dance for real now. Are you ready?’ she asks me after a while.

   ‘Not really.’

   ‘Okay. Let’s do this.’

   ‘Weren’t you listening?’

   ‘I heard yes.’

   ‘Oh, you poor thing. You’re already suffering from hearing issues despite being this young.’

   She giggles again and starts moving. I try to match her steps while thinking not to mess things up. Three minutes in, and we’re doing quite well. At least, I haven’t step on her foot yet.

   ‘You’re doing really well for someone who claimed that this is his first time dancing. Are you sure you’ve never done this before?’

   ‘Absolutely positive. I do martial art, though. I guess they’re around the same thing.’

   ‘Really? What kind?’

   ‘Muay Thai.’

   ‘Wow, that’s amazing! You must be very strong!’

   ‘Nah. I’m pretty sure there are lots of people who’re stronger than me out there. By the way, can we stop talking for a while? I really need to concentrate here.’

   And it’s really not helping that Miyagawa-san is wearing a gorgeous dress. I don’t even know where to look.

   ‘It’s better if you don’t. You tend to mess up even more if you concentrate too much.’

   ‘Are you perhaps speaking from experience?’

   ‘You can say that.’

   I’m still pretty bad at it, but I eventually start to enjoy it. Not that I’ll ever fall in love with social dancing.

   ‘Your steps are too wide. There’s no need for you to move around so much.’ I hear someone commenting on my right.

   I turn my neck to see who spoke and almost had a heart attack. It’s none other than my grandfather who’s dancing with my grandmother. I’ve been concentrating so much I didn’t even notice them.

   ‘Do I do it like this, sir?’ I ask while making smaller steps and trying to act calm.

   ‘That’s it. You’re getting it.’

   ‘He sure reminds me of you when you were younger, Shinpei-san.’ my grandmother says to him.

   He chuckles. ‘He sure does. No need to be impatient, young man. You’ll get better with practice.’

   ‘Yes. Thank you for your advise.’

   Thankfully, they drifted away after a while, so our conversations were short. I think I lost ten years of my life just talking to them for a few minutes.

   In the end, I managed to survive a whole dance session without messing up. I don’t know how, but I managed to do it. I’d say it’s quite an accomplishment. The rest of the night passed without further events, and all of us said our goodbyes when the party is over. Umeda and I made sure to visit Hiroto for a while again before leaving.