Prestige 2

So the pair continued their chatting as the get together went on through the night. Misei couldn't possibly be more happy as she attempted to make a move on him. So far, whenever they were in public, she was quite quiet on her feelings for him.

However, this was what she had been hoping for a while now. As someone with a lot of responsibilities, there were few times where she was alone with him. Sure, the boy worked with her in the student council, but a lot of their talk ended up being about business. That wasn't romantic at all, nor did it lead to any development.

"You really never knew what your dad did?" Now she had the chance to get closer to him. So it was time to open up, just a tiny bit more. "I thought it was normal for parents to discuss their careers."

"Well, I can see why she talk about it with you." Arata imagined that given their living situations, there would be no way to hide that fact. Meanwhile, the boy wasn't all the interested in his dad's work anyway, so it wasn't like he ever asked. "I take it your mom really pushes a lot on you."

"She… Does." She answered with a bit of hesitation. It was almost like speaking poorly of the lady was foreign to her. He was already aware of the time her mom got mad for apparently getting second on some contest. That gave him a bit of an idea of how she treated her daughter. Then there was also the time he actually met the woman. Back during the Christmas party, she seemed to be absolutely miserable.

"Oh, I'm not trying to insult your mom or anything." Arata took note of her negative change in mood, so he attempted turn it around. "I'm sure she's a lovely lady."

"She's very well respected." She replied. "I wasn't all that different from her when we first met." Given how she acted in official capacity, the only change came about with only him. In fact, it seemed that she was more strict with students after the elections. Probably because she didn't actually win, so this was an attempt in 'proving' herself to everyone.

"Well, my dad seems to like her." Though the man never hid away whenever his boss got mad at his behavior. He still spoke very positively about her. Odd, seeing as their personalities were at odds with each other. "And I can tell she's done a good job at running things."

"Yeah, and she's done a lot with teaching me about the business." She used that statement to especially brag to him about her experience. After all, as the woman who owned the location here, it was expected for her next-of-kin to take over and continue the line. So Misei had been getting trained over it ever since starting high school. It was no wonder why everyone considered her to be so great at being the student council president. Leadership was practically taught to her at a young age, if not born with it.

Though it was hard, she seemed to be glad that this was her life. There was little missing for her. Well, other than the lack of finally winning the heart of her crush and seeing her family. "And I've done it while acing all my classes."

"Yeah, it is pretty impressive." He replied. She really was a capable girl, but something was missing that kept him from getting closer to her. And that was despite all the progress they had made not just in the romantic field, but also as friends. A bit of a shame, especially after seeing her in this dress, his body wanted to get a little closer as well.

"What's going on here?" As they were chatting, a voice came in and cut into their conversation. The pair looked up and saw Misei's mom, who asked the question, accompanied with Arata's dad.

"Oh, mother." Misei's tone sounded very submissive as she responded and greeted the woman. "I was just talking with one of my friends here."

"Alone?" She had a icy stare that pierce fear into him. And he wasn't the one she was looking at. "It's quite rude to hide away from the rest of our guests who took the time out of their lives to come here tonight."

"I understand." She replied. "It's just that he's the only one who's around my age."

"No excuses." Her mom responded with scolding. "Now, go and make sure everyone is enjoying themselves." With that, Misei silently nodded her head and stood up from the bench. She headed towards the area with most people with head hung down in disappointment, but perked up as she began chatting with others.

"So Arata, are you enjoying yourself?" His dad had a much different tone compared to the woman he was with. He didn't seem to react much to how she talked to her daughter, but it was likely due to not wanting to get between parent and child. After all, it might not set a good precedent if he stepped in like that in front of his own son.

"I was…" Arata replied also disappointed like Misei. It was an important conversation he was having, as well as one that he was having fun with. She truly was a wonderful girl, and the boy was wondering if he might begin finding what his heart was truly feeling.

"He really is your son, isn't he?" The tone that Misei's mom, Minai, had gave him pause. It sounded as if she really didn't like the boy, even though they had barely talked to each other.

"Of course." His dad responded obvious to the way she spoke. "He's a real great kid. You two have met before, right?"

"We have." She said, giving Arata a real side eye. "And he's rather… Unimpressive." That was absurdly mean of her to say that about him.

"I think that he's amazing." Even his dad couldn't just ignore that comment. "In fact, there's a real bright future for him if you ask me." Arata felt a little awkward sitting there while they talked about him as if he wasn't right there in front of them.. As much as the boy wanted to slip away, it wouldn't go unnoticed.

"I doubt someone with his… Hobbies. Could find themselves in a position of success." With that, she walked away to leave the pair alone.

"Um, did you tell her about my… Otaku stuff?" Arata asked, shocked that she would even reference it.

"Well, ever since you decided not to hide it. I mention it from time to time at work." While Arata didn't mind it, since he wasn't going to be ashamed of his interests anymore. This did seem to have a negative impact on the way that woman perceived him.

"Look dad, don't take this as me being rude. But how do you work with her?" The way she spoke to him directly like that. It would be one thing to talk about him behind his back, but she didn't hold back at all despite their age and position differences.

"I love my job, and honestly she can be nice when she wants to."

"So basically never then."

"Things have been challenging for her ever since the divorce. So we all try to be understanding." Plus, despite her personal issues, it never leaked into work and affected business in any negative manner. "I know you think I'm just defending her because she's my boss, but she's also my friend." During this time, Arata had a hard time believing she considered his dad to be one of her friends. From the way she was acting, it was hard for him to believe that woman had any friends at all.

"Then I just have one other question to ask you." He said, sounding a little irritated with what he was hearing tonight. "You're not trying to push me towards Misei for the sake of your job, right?"

"Of course not." His dad replied quickly, and with the same tone as he always answered things. So unless this man was a good liar, it seemed to be a genuine response. "I just thought that you might be interested in her. From what her mother said, she seems to be popular with boys. So since you happen to have a bit of an edge with my job, I just wanted to help out."

So as it would turn out, they were using this to help him out, not the other way around. Though Arata was still a little against the idea that they would do that, since it would be an inconvenience to Misei if she didn't already like him. At least on the bright side, that girl probably welcomed their support. It was certainly more than she received from her mother.

"I'm happy you want to help me out." He responded with a mix of gratitude and annoyance. "But I can make my own decisions, and hopefully I'll find someone I like." Who knew if Misei was the one? That girl was truly tremendous at school, and even here tonight the boy was glad that she was the one by his side.

"Like that's going to stop me." Unfortunately, his dad was also rather stubborn. No wonder his boss seemed to have a bit of disdain for him, but at that point, why keep him around at work? She did have the last say when it came to who was and wasn't employed. So maybe how his dad was like at work was massively different than how he was with treating his family. "Now how about the two of us join everyone else and enjoy the rest of tonight?"

"Sure thing, dad." Arata got up. While it wasn't a cute girl he was hanging out with anymore, at least he was family.