Prestige 3

Now back at school, Arata sat back in his seat to consider things with Misei. He hoped that she wasn't too upset about her mom coming in between them. It must've been embarrassing from her point of view, but he was understanding. What happened certainly didn't impact how he viewed her one bit.

Though it seemed this was going to be another point of interest for the boy as lunchtime rolled around. They were the only two who attended that party among their friend group. Yet it was an event where some were already aware about due to other connections.

"So, I hear that you had a fun time at a company event." Said Akiba, as she got the conversation going. "Doesn't Arata's dad work there too?"

"He does." Misei knew where this was going. "And Arata did decide to join the party."

"Y-yeah, it was a lot of fun." Arata jumped. He seemed to sense something brewing as he had yet another chance alone with the student council president. The last time they learned about it, some of the girls sounded a little upset with the matter. The only exception being Misao, who was a massive supporter of this relationship. "I even got to meet her mom again."

"Her mom?" Erina looked at him like he somehow survived a nuclear bomb. "I don't want to sound mean, but she's really scary."

"I know." Yuriko agreed. "When I first met her, I thought she was going to kill me with her stare." That meant a lot coming from the girl who glared all the time. Even towards people she apparently liked a lot.

"It was fine when I chatted with her." Arata lied. Misei turned her head down and away from him after he said that. She obviously knew the truth, and thinking about what happened in front of him still filled her with shame. It wasn't surprising that it was her mother reaction to seeing him and her together, but living in the moment just hurt the girl emotionally.

"Yeah…" She backed him up. "We just had a pleasant chat together." Misei took a bite of her food to not have to continue talking as the others kept up the conversation.

"I don't remember her being mean when I met her." Said Yogi. Though it was likely she was actually cruel to him. The boy was simply just too dense to realize that someone was insulting him. An interaction not unfamiliar between him and Yuriko. "Though I guess someone running a company as big as hers would have to be strict."

"Speaking of running, when are you going to take over?" Asked Akiba. Since they had known her from the start of high school this information was common knowledge for the group outside of Arata. It seemed that there were always more things he was learning about them.

"Since we're getting close to my adulthood. It looks like I'll begin working my way up after we graduate high school."

"Really, you're not going to college?" It was a shock to think that someone like Misei wouldn't attend university. Though it really wasn't necessary in terms of landing a job when one was already lined up. Not to mention that she already was being groomed for the role already as a teen. So it really wasn't that big of a deal in terms of preparing for her future.

"You're really getting ready for the big leagues." Yogi sighed. "I guess that means we won't be seeing each other after graduation." That put a damper on the mood in the room. To think that their friendships were going to be brought to an end like that. Sure, people lost touch after graduation, but having the reality hit still stung.

With that, they finished lunch. Soon enough, the day passed on by and school had ended.

"Hey, are you going anywhere after school?" Arata found himself alone with Misei once more. Though this time they were in the student council room performing their official duties. So informal talk was out of the question. "I was just wondering if maybe we could hang out and stuff." He wasn't used to asking those types of questions. Usually it was because of the others why the boy went anywhere at all.

"I would…" She was absurdly excited on the inside to have him be the one to ask. That had to have meant there was some progress being made on him actually returning those feelings. Maybe he already did and this was simply how a boy with a quiet nature like his treated these endeavors.

"Though she also knew her mom might not be happy to hear she was getting closer to him like this. That woman already really hated Yogi because he reminded her of a certain employee. At the time, she didn't know who or what she meant by that. Though after getting to know Arata and more importantly, his dad, she got an idea and partially understood why.

So a part of her had hesitation in accepting this invitation. That small voice in her head, which sounded an awful lot like her mother, was telling her to say no.

"Uh, Misei… Are you all right?" He asked.

"Huh?" She responded as if he snapped her out of a trance.

"You were just standing there not saying anything." It had become a bit awkward for him as he also just stood there waiting for her response. "Are you feeling well?"

"Of course I am." She brushed it off and even returned a bit of her tone of high arrogance. "I don't need someone like you taking care of me."

"O-okay…" He was a little shocked to hear that coming from her again. "I guess that's a no then."

"Wait!" She grabbed his arm as the boy was about to make his leave. "I'm sorry, I was just a little bit on edge there. I'd love to hang out for a bit." The pair got themselves finished with the rest of the work and headed out. "Is no one else joining us?" Asked Misei.

"No…" He answered nervously. "I figured that you would probably enjoy some time with just the two of us." Arata wasn't used to being the one to make the first move. It seemed that all the other girls had to push themselves onto him. So the boy felt a little uncomfortable going out of his way to do this. "Every time we're alone, you're usually pretty tense. But maybe this time we've gotten used to it?"

"I didn't realize." She might not have noticed it, since it seemed she spoke about things fine enough. However, it was the subject matter that he took issue with. As cool as it was to hear her brag about her achievements or talk about doing well in school, that was already stuff he knew. After all, her reputation really did preside her.

So what Arata really wanted to hear were things about who she really was. Things that most other people might not know about. He already had opened up about his hobbies, so how come she wouldn't do that same? There was no way the boy would ever dream of making fun of her, even if he thought that stuff might be weird. After all, given what he enjoyed, that would be hypocritical.

Maybe she was nervous that being more honest might turn him away. Though it was unlikely that he could like her less just because he didn't like the same things. That was also unfair, since at the very least, he should be trying to find the perfect girl for himself. If it wasn't her, then it was a shame, but had to happen eventually. "Anyway, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, since I've never done it before…" Arata didn't actually have a plan when asking her. He was just going to wing it as he always seem to do. Unfortunately, he just had to open up his sentence with that phrase. So now the boy was left scanning around the area for place he had never gone to before. The first thing he saw that fit that criteria was what he pointed out. "How about some karaoke?"

"Karaoke?" She looked over at the business nervously. "Sure… I'll come along." Whatever the reason, it clearly gave a negative effect to the girl. Arata was certain that was the look of dread on her face as they entered the store.

"Are you sure you're fine with this?" He asked, looking at her bewildered. Misei became stiff as they walked. Normally, she already was kind of a stiff person given her personality, but this was a level beyond that. The otaku in him was reminded of a certain character in a manga that was recently announced to be getting an anime adaptation. "If you don't like it, then you can tell me so." It wasn't as if he was going to get mad if she told him no.

"No no." she assured him, her tone of voice becoming as stiff as her body. "This is fine." After all, it wasn't like going here was a foreign concept to her. Before meeting with Arata, and even after seeing as he didn't hang out all that often, the group did indeed share some days after school singing karaoke. But since they did go in a larger group, she didn't have to sing.

Though now that it was just the two of them, there was no way it wouldn't look awkward if she declined to sing. Since that would mean he could do all the work, and that would be an odd thing to do with him. So the girl took one deep breath and prepared to go into a room alone with him.

...Wait a second, they've never done that before...