"Fuyumi... Are you ready yet?" asked Shido as he tightened a navy blue tie across his neck. He was standing outside the room and Fuyumi was getting ready in his room.
"In a sec..."
Shido looked at the time and it was around 6.40 PM. The time on the invitation letter was 7 PM, so any delay now would result in arriving there late. Shido quickly left the house and went to the white limousine care standing outside his house. Shido didn't buy this limo for the reunion but spawned it using the [Spawn Stretch] cheat.
On the other side of the limo stood Twice and Iwao. Twice was wearing a proper driver's uniform with a driver cap and on his left, Iwao was wearing a suit resembling a bodyguard.
"I don't know why I agreed to this?" Iwao complained as he slightly corrected his tight coat.
"C'mon, Uncle Knuckle... It won't be that long. Just two hours and we are done. Just help the bossman here, would ya? I am the driver and you are the bodyguard. Simple as that..." Twice tried to convince Iwao.
"Simple my ass... He is going to pretend as a rich boy in front of other rich people and we are his cronies. If our disguise blows away, then our reputation which is already on the ground just because we are poor... will go to hell."
"Well, the job may sound bad and there are some risks but look at the pay... He is going to pay your daughter's college fees."
"One Semester..." Iwao raised his index finger.
"What?"
"One semester... He is paying one semester's fee"
While the two were talking, Shido brought out his phone and called Danjuro.
Danjuro - :: Hello?::
"Kids are okay?
:: Yeah, Yeah... No problem here. You can enjoy the reunion fully without having any worries:: Danjuro tried to assure Shido but the person on the other side of the call was not in agreement with what Danjuro said.
"Yeah, I will. And I am telling you again Danjuro, You will put them to sleep straight at 9.30 PM. Understood? I don't want anything like that day where you debated on Popeye and Batman with Eri."
Danjuro felt a bit ashamed as Shido brought out his dark past when Eri manipulated Danjuro into a debate just so she could stay up past bedtime and watch Popeye to 'gather more points to debate'.
:: I understand... but did you have to bring that up here?:: complained Danjuro.
"Just reminding you... I don't want Eri to be debating on fictional characters, staying awake past her bedtime, that's all."
He then hung up the call and checked if all the preparations were done or not. Shido was dead set on giving a nice impression to Fuyumi's friends as her reputation was on the line. Limo, Bodyguard, Driver, Expensive suit... He did everything to make himself look presentable according to the standards of rich people. After making sure everything was okay, He waited alongside Iwao and Twice.
After 10 minutes, Fuyumi finally came out wearing a long-sleeved red skater dress. Her white hair with red streaks matched the red dress. The dress was something different from the casual clothes Fuyumi usually wears. Seeing her like this made Shido remember how beautiful she was and how good the decision was to get her back in the relationship after the separation.
Fuyumi locked the main door of the house and went towards Shido. With a certain distance between them, Fuyumi stopped and continuously looked at Shido with some expectation clear in her grey eyes. Well, the expectation was of being complimented by her beloved.
As she stood in front of Shido without saying anything, Shido did the same. He just stared back without saying anything. The two just looked at each other continuously. The scene was romantic... according to some but everyone has their own perspective with which they observe the world.
"What the fuck is this rom-com shit?~" Iwao whispered to Twice as he couldn't bear to watch the cliche love scene.
"Shh~ Uncle Knuckle... Let Bossman and Bosslady have their moment."
As the two stared at each other, Fuyumi broke the silence between the two and asked, "How do I look?" as the question ended, a small smile broke on Shido's face.
"Y-You look good..." Shido complimented her but Fuyumi was not so sure of the authenticity of the compliment.
"You stuttered... Giving fake compliments now, huh?" probed Fuyumi.
Shido shook his head a bit, "Nope... I was speechless because of your beauty that I just stuttered," and that line hit the spot. A small blush appeared on Fuyumi's cheeks, "Thanks..." said Fuyumi with a lowered gaze.
"Ahem. Ahem. We are getting late..." Iwao interrupted the two from their moment. Shido and Fuyumi went inside the limo and Twice drove it to the hotel where the reunion was organized.
[At the Hotel]
Two people were standing at the entrance of the hotel. One was a young man wearing a dark blue suit with a grey tie and beside him stood a young woman who had a voluptuous figure and wore a red one-piece dress.
But there was something unusual with the woman. Her head was on fire and the flames were green in color. This distinct feature made everyone present at the party instantly recognize her. She was Moe Kamiji aka Burnin, one of the sidekicks at Endeavor Agency and she was the roommate of Fuyumi in their high school days.
"Are you sure she is coming?" The young man asked the woman standing beside him.
"I am sure she is coming… but why are you so interested in all of this, Hideo? I already told her that I am setting her up with Isao," said Moe.
"Isao this, Isao that… I get it that he is handsome and rich but seriously… why do all the girls just start to fangirl over him whenever he is mentioned. In our school, everyone is rich and looks quite good. Can't you just leave him and find some other dude? Have some self-respect," complained Hideo.
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"Oh, You talk too much for someone whose proposals were rejected so many times by Fuyumi that we've lost the count. Hideo, you are the last person who should talk about self-respect," Moe replied with a snarky comment and that hit the weak spot of Hideo. But he kept his anger within him.
"Keeping my issues aside, why are you so interested in breaking Fuyumi's current relationship and setting her up with Isao? I thought you wanted him as well," asked Hideo as he couldn't understand Moe's plan since the known contexts didn't justify the plan at all.
"Well initially I wanted to do it because Fuyumi is a friend and I couldn't see her having a future where she is living in a poor house and have too many damn kids," said Moe.
"Initially?"
"Yeah, Initially. Now I've got my own reasons as well to do it."
"And what would they be?"
"Well, since I am going to be the reason for his breakup, I was thinking of soothing the man's broken heart. You know, kind of hero's duty."
"You like him that much? What do you like about him? Didn't you say he was poor and has kids? I thought you didn't date that kind of men…"
"He gives that innocent-kinda vibe. It's hard to find that kind of vibe. Me being aggressive and him being the innocent muscular twink. Nice match, right? But no long-term thing… I will play and will see how things go. I just want to know what Fuyumi saw in him, that's all." stated Moe.
"You know what, Moe? You are a bitch and I am saying that from the bottom of my heart," said Hideo and started waiting for Fuyumi.
"You're late but at least you realized," said Moe with a smile, revealing her canine.
The limo stopped outside the hotel and except Twice, everyone came out. They started to make their way towards the entrance only to find two people standing at the entrance and from their expressions it seemed like they were to welcome them.
Shido instantly recognized the woman who had fire on her head. She was Burnin, one of the prominent side characters in the Endeavor Agency Arc of the Canon. He didn't knew why she was here but if he had to guess it would be that she was from Fuyumi's batch in High School.
Similar to Burnin, Shido had no idea of the man standing beside her aside from the fact that the guy looked quite friendly and welcoming from the expression on his face.
As they approached the entrance, Burnin and Hideo came forward to greet the couple. Moe went the extra mile and directly went for an embrace. She hugged Fuyumi tightly and slightly lifted her up.
"Kyaa! Oh my god, Fumi-chan! We met after so long! Kyaa!" exclaimed Moe as she still had Fuyumi in her embrace.
Fuyumi was taken aback for a moment because of Moe's enthusiasm but she gathered herself back and returned the affection by embracing Moe back.
"Yes, Moe-chan! It's been a while!"
Soon the entrance was filled with 'Kyaa!' 'Oh! My! God!' (in an exaggerated tone) 'My God! You look so beautiful!' and other noises made by females of the human species when they meet each other after a long time.
As the two roommates were busy greeting each and catching up in their own way, Shido turned to Hideo.
"Women," said Shido and burst out a small laugh.
This made Hideo laugh as well. The two men shared a laugh and they shook each other's hands.
"Shido Kanzaki, Fuyumi's boyfriend."
"Hideo Sugimoto, Her friend."
The two men started a small talk of theirs as they saw Moe and Fuyumi still talking. After a point of time in their small talk, Hideo asked, "May I ask you something?"
"Sure thing, go ahead."
"I couldn't help but notice… that you came here in a limo."
"Is there any problem?"
"No no… it's just. Limo is something that poor people think that we rich people ride. It's a car which is rented the most by poor people who want to pretend they are rich," stated Hideo.
Shido's eyebrow rose up. "I don't see your point," said Shido and pretended as if he didn't knew where Hideo was going.
"Well, I was just stating a fact. Next time, come in a sports car," said Hideo with a smile on his face. He came forward and went close to Shido, "I don't want to see my friend's boyfriend to be accused of being a poor person who rents a limo," whispered Hideo as he tightened Shido's loose tie.
After that, he turned around and entered the hotel through the entrance. Shido turned only to find Fuyumi and Moe were already inside the hotel.
The very first moment of this reunion party was already a disaster for him. What the rest of the party held in store for him was too much suspense for him.
'It's going to be a very difficult night…' sighed Shido in his mind and walked through the entrance.