Hiiragi Shuichi eventually got into the Aoba family’s black car and rode with them to the banquet venue.
They’d spent a long time getting him dressed up, and even as a male companion, he somehow had a touch of upper-class polish.
Like Jack from Titanic, he’d been homeless just days ago, and now he was among the nobility.
Hiiragi Shuichi had no idea what a male companion was supposed to do.
When Aoba Tomoyo saw him arrive, she was surprised for less than half a minute before accepting the situation.
Then she ordered him to do nothing but wait for her on the balcony.
And Aoba Mother didn’t object at all.
If anything, after Aoba Tomoyo arrived at the banquet venue, she and her mother seemed like strangers…
Even strangers would make some effort to interact at an upper-class social event, at least keeping an eye on each other.
But the Aoba mother and daughter didn’t interact at all, as if neither existed in the other’s world.
Standing on the balcony outside the banquet hall, Hiiragi Shuichi straightened his suit sleeves.
He wasn’t used to wearing them.
The evening breeze blew in from Tokyo Bay.
The air was warm and damp, perhaps warmed by the city’s neon lights.
He looked up at the starry sky and politely declined several enthusiastic invitations from elegantly dressed young women.
Whenever Hiiragi Shuichi brought up Aoba Tomoyo, the wealthy young women gave up on trying to flirt with him.
“Wait… Hiiragi, you’re Miss Aoba’s companion?” the wealthy young woman in front of him asked.
“Miss Kotobuki, I’m only accompanying her, but I’m afraid I can’t accept your invitation.”
Hiiragi Shuichi tried to speak with the kind of politeness he understood.
Basic manners in human society should be universal…
After he politely declined a few times, she left, disappointed.
As Miss Kotobuki was leaving the balcony, Aoba Tomoyo happened to pass by after finishing her rounds.
As the two crossed paths, Miss Kotobuki greeted her with a welcoming smile.
But the moment their eyes met, her smile vanished, and she looked at Aoba Tomoyo with something close to disgust.
But Kotobuki didn’t matter.
Right now, the important thing in front of Hiiragi Shuichi was Aoba Tomoyo.
Aoba Tomoyo wore a dark blue evening gown.
Hiiragi Shuichi couldn’t name the style, but she reminded him of the tide at night, slowly spilling onto the shore.
If he didn’t leave soon, she might eventually engulf him.
With her hair pinned up, her shoulders and neck were bare, and a pair of pearl drop earrings shimmered like starlight in the moonlight.
“What’s wrong? You seem completely captivated.”
At that moment, Aoba Tomoyo carried herself with a noble air.
It had been so long that Hiiragi Shuichi had barely registered the fact that she was a young lady from a wealthy family.
Today was the first time he’d truly felt the vast difference between them.
That made sense.
Young ladies these days didn’t enjoy the old privileges of princesses, free to do whatever they pleased.
In a way, Aoba Tomoyo was pretty down-to-earth.
At least, she didn’t act like a spoiled young lady.
Just then, Hiiragi Shuichi recalled everything about the Aoba sisters…
Oh, right.
Didn’t the Aoba family have no sons?
Which meant…
“Hiiragi, would you like to have a drink with me?”
Before he knew it, Aoba Tomoyo had come to stand beside him, leaning against the balcony railing.
The nearby waiter was quick to catch on and soon brought over two glasses of fine liquor.
“Senpai, don’t joke around. We’re not adults yet, are we?”
“Aren’t we too young to drink?” Hiiragi Shuichi politely declined.
“I’ll be an adult in two months.”
“Let’s see… It’s July 7 this year. Less than two months away.”
“That’s practically the same thing, right?”
Aoba Tomoyo used that excuse to tell Hiiragi Shuichi her birthday herself.
“All right, all right. I’ll remember your birthday, Senpai…”
“But doesn’t Japanese law say you have to be 20 to drink?”
Hiiragi Shuichi didn’t want her drinking.
There were too many unpredictable factors, and he couldn’t help imagining her getting carried away and drinking herself into a stupor.
Aoba Tomoyo laughed and said, “Hiiragi, you’re such a spoilsport…”
Then she turned to the waiter and said:
“Excuse me, could you bring me coffee instead?”
“Two Guatemalan coffees, one plain and one with extra sugar.”
“Senpai, I don’t drink coffee… You don’t have to add extra sugar for me.”
“Huh? Who said the sweet one was for you?”
“You can drink the plain one.”
“The plain one.”
“Ahaha…”
Hiiragi Shuichi felt awkward for misunderstanding, but this wasn’t a place where he belonged anyway.
Whatever Aoba Tomoyo said went.
Tokyo Tower glowed orange-red in the distance, and rows of office buildings stood beside it, like dominoes lined up one after another.
Applause came from the banquet hall, followed by laughter and conversation.
But by the time the sounds reached the balcony, they had scattered through the air and sounded muffled.
The night breeze loosened a strand of hair over Aoba Tomoyo’s forehead.
She quickly tucked it behind her ear.
The atmosphere between them was heavy.
Neither seemed to know what to say to the other.
After a while, before the coffee arrived, a young man in a silver-gray suit came out of the banquet hall with two glasses of champagne in hand.
He looked impeccably composed.
He walked over to Aoba Tomoyo and offered her a glass, speaking as if they knew each other well.
“Good evening, Miss Aoba. I was looking for you earlier but couldn’t find you.”
“So you were over here… And who’s this gentleman beside you?”
As he spoke, he glanced at Hiiragi Shuichi.
“Sorry, Nishio. I don’t drink.”
“This is Hiiragi, my companion.”
Though Aoba Tomoyo said she didn’t drink, she still accepted the glass.
She also gave a brief introduction for Hiiragi Shuichi, who followed her lead and nodded in greeting to the man named Nishio.
He didn’t look like a high school student, but he was quite young, probably around 20.
He had the air of a promising young man.
But Nishio didn’t back down.
Instead, he offered his glass to Hiiragi Shuichi, his teasing tone perfectly measured.
It didn’t sound offensive, yet it suggested a certain closeness.
“What about you, Hiiragi? You can have a couple of drinks, can’t you?”
“Or are you a good student who doesn’t drink?”
From what he said, Nishio clearly knew Hiiragi Shuichi was still in high school and couldn’t drink.
Yet he deliberately used the phrase “good student who doesn’t drink” to needle him.
It was practically a compliance test…
“Thanks, but I’m not thirsty.”
Hiiragi Shuichi accepted the glass, then gently set it on the balcony railing.
He hadn’t said he couldn’t drink.
He’d simply said he wasn’t thirsty, so he wouldn’t.
Sure enough, Nishio’s expression darkened slightly, but he quickly recovered.
He looked at Aoba Tomoyo and added lightly:
“Miss Aoba, my father insisted I come over to say hello…”
“About what we discussed last time, I hope you’ll consider it again.”
“Mm, I’ll think about it,” Aoba Tomoyo replied simply.
Hearing her agree, Nishio beamed.
“Haha, that’s good.”
“I won’t keep you two any longer, then.”
He turned and returned to the banquet hall.
Aoba Tomoyo sighed and set her champagne on the railing, pushing it beside Hiiragi Shuichi’s glass until the two stood side by side.
Clear droplets slowly slid down the sides of the glasses in the breeze.
Hiiragi Shuichi could more or less guess at the relationships among the upper class.
Nishio had probably proposed to the Aoba family.
But it was someone else’s family matter, so Hiiragi Shuichi didn’t intend to ask.
But who would’ve thought Aoba Tomoyo would bring it up herself:
“That man likes me.”
“Then he really doesn’t value his life…” Hiiragi Shuichi blurted out.
“What?” Aoba Tomoyo’s expression suddenly turned sour.
“No, it’s nothing…”
Hiiragi Shuichi hurriedly denied it, making Aoba Tomoyo giggle.
She didn’t bother with a young lady’s decorum and slapped him hard on the shoulder, making it sting.
“Hiiragi, you’re more interesting when you don’t hold back.”
“I don’t think people would dislike you.”
“Haha… Maybe…”
“So, just for tonight, stay and talk with me a little longer, okay?”