Different World
With our conversation over, Otoha’s grandfather joined us as we exited through the front door. He’s still as lively and comical as before but in a certain sense, I didn’t feel as much pressure around him anymore. From what he showed us and the way he talked to me, those certainly shaved off the nervousness.
Obviously, that’s only for the current situation. He could still be a scary old man who could crush me at any moment, given sufficient reason to do so. Even if it would look petty, he’d set out to protect his granddaughter from being hurt.
That’s probably what he’s thinking of as the least he could do; not counting what he could still provide for her with their family’s power and influence.
Hitomi and her grandfather, who seemed to be in a silent argument against each other, waited on us and led us back to our respective cars.
As another form of respect, we waited until their car left before Hitomi drove us off, with the destination being just nearby my school.