âGrandfather, I brought my partner with me today.â
âI see.â
Shino-sanâ Grandfather nodded and stared at me. I felt like I was going to be overwhelmed by that line of sight, but I had to act as her partner properly, so I put up with his face that seemed a bit scary, and smiled with a beautiful smile and gave my greetings.
âMy name is Kohaku Hatano. Today, I was invited by Toukain-san. I knew that I might be presumptuous, but thank you for having me today, and nice to meet you.â
I said that and bowed.
I didnât raise my head until I was called out.
âHmm, please raise your head.â
It was a voice that seemed to permeate your heart. When I heard the words and finally raised my head, he continued to speak.
âI am Housei Toukain. Iâm glad that a child like you will join us as Shinoâs partner. And, please enjoy yourself today. â
âThank you.â
I said thank you, but Shino-sanâs Grandfather kept staring at meâŚâŚ.. Why is he staring at me so much? Can he stop it already?
âHmm, whatâs wrong?â
ââŚâŚ. nothing.â
Really? What was that short silence then!?
âOh, itâs okay if you want to leave.â
When she heard the words, Shino-san bowed her head.
âI understand, then I will leave now.â
I also bowed my head and said thanked him before leaving the room.
âThank you very much.â
âYeahâ
After that, when I left Shino-sanâs Grandfatherâs room and returned to the room I was in earlier, I finally could relax.
âI was so nervousăźâ
When I said so, Shino-san reacted to it.
âI was more nervous than you! I was wondering what to do if Kohaku-kun didnât get approved by my grandfather!â
Really, Iâm glad that I was recognized.
âBut, wait⌠Was that good enough?â
âYeah! Yeah! You gave a really good impression!â
âŚâŚ But, I feel like Iâm only having a short formal conversation.
âYou see, it was the first time I saw my grandfather having such a friendly conversation with the person he met for the first time.â
So that was a friendly conversation huhâŚ.. But, yeah, it was more normal than I expected. At first, I was wondering if he would say, âHow dare a common people came here.â
Was there something that he liked from me? Even though I just greeted him normallyâŚ
Well, anyway, it seems that it was good. For the time being, I was a little relieved that nothing bad happened.
âŚ..So, only the party itself is left huh⌠Well, at the party, it seems that Iâll be okay as long as I smile next to Shino-san, right?
After that, I was talking to Shino-san in the room for a while until the party started, then we decided to head to the venue.
When I entered the party venue, Shino-sanâs grandfather, who I met earlier, started giving his speech.
All the people at the venue were looking at him, so I didnât stand out as soon as I entered.
Even so, the people at the venue were listening to the speech seriously. Aside the fact that he was a man, but he was also respected as a pure entrepreneur. At the end of the speech, a young woman with brown hair began to giving her greetings. Perhaps because Shino-san resembled her a lot, I can guess that she was her mother.
âShino-san, that person, is she your mother?â
âYeah, thatâs right.â
âIs it okay if I didnât say hello before the party started?â
âItâs okay, my mom was busy preparing, so she didnât have time to spare.â
âThen, letâs go say hello later.â
âYeah, please.â
When I was talking about that, the greeting was over and we made a toast. Cheers!
After the toast, the venue gradually became noisy.
First, I planned to approach Shino-sanâs mother to said hello, but she was already surrounded by a lot of people.
âWow, she was already surrounded.â
When I said that, Shino-san replied me, âitâs okayâ.
âAt first, I have to go to say hello to other with my mother. Iâm sorry, but could you accompany me giving my greeting?â
âOh, okay, I understand.â
âAh, donât worry, you just have to be next to me.â
I noddedâŚ. But is it really enough to just stand next to her? Well, itâs better than doing something unnecessary and causing trouble for her.
âŚWell, I guess I just need to keep smiling. While keeping that in mind, I put a smile on my face.
âMom.â
While I was thinking about that, Shino-san was calling her mother.
In response to Shino-sanâs voice, her mother came toward us.
From a distance, I could only guess it, but Shino-san really looked a lot like her.
âAra? ara araď˝.â [TN: so, you could translate it as âHmmm? Oh, well, well.â, but Iâll leave it as âAraâ]
Shino-sanâs mother who came here took my hand and dropped a kiss on the instep while saying such a thing.
Her gestureâŚ. It was too noble!
When I was impressed by her gesture in my heart, Shino-sanâs mother muttered to me.
âCould you spare me some time after the party? I want to have dinner together with you.â
Of course, meals were also served at this party, so I wondered if this invitation was something like a âone-nightâ invitationâŚ.. But for her to gave such an invitation in the middle of partyâŚâŚ She really impressed me in many ways.