Mio slowly walked towards the isle of books that she had seen Eizan walk into. She had a strange look on her face. “What’s going on? Is it all over? Do we get to stop hiding our relationship?” She slowly turned into the isle, seeing Eizan gazing down at an open book in his hand. Eizan looked up from the book while closing it. He turned towards her with a small smile on his face. She stared at him for a few seconds. “I don’t like the look of that smile. Something is wrong.”

“Hello my beautiful fiancé.”

Mio continued to stare at him for a second before replying. “What’s going on?”

Eizan sighed. “You always seem to read me like an open book.”

Mio frowned. “Is it all over?”

A small smile crept across his face. “Yeah, I’m not being followed anymore. So, in a way it’s over.”

She stared at the obviously forced smile on his face. “Why do you look so upset then?”

He chuckled. “Well…”

“Just tell me.”

Eizan shook his head. “Let’s go get something to eat. I haven’t had a decent meal in a while.” He extended his hand towards her. She stared at his hand for a few seconds before sighing. She reached out her hand and grabbed his.

“You promise you’ll tell me later?” She questioned.

Eizan nodded. “Let’s go.”

Slowly they made their way out of the library. Mio kept glancing at him as they walked. “It feels like a long time since we have been able to walk together like this.”

Eizan chuckled. “I missed this.”

Mio nodded. “Mmm.” She looked up at his face. She looked up at him and noticed the genuine smile on his face. “So where are we going?”

Eizan shrugged “Anywhere will be fine.”

She turned her head to the side. “You didn’t plan anything?”

Eizan shook his head. “Nah, I kind of shut my brain off at the moment. Let’s just walk for a little while until we find something that catches our eye.”

Mio stared at him for a few seconds lost in thought. “He’s acting so strange. Even though he seems spontaneous at times I know he’s always planning something. It’s just in his nature.”

They walked hand in hand for quite a long distance before find a small family style restaurant. After being greeted by the hostess and led to their seats Mio finally asked the question that has been bugging her this whole time. “Can you tell me who was having you followed?”

Eizan chuckled. “Yeah, I could have told you the day this all started.”

Mio stared at him with her mouth agape. “What? Then why did we go through all this?”

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Eizan smiled at her and gentle grabbed her hand. “This was all one of my grandfather’s little tests. He’s done this to me multiple time in my life.”

Mio frowned. “He’s had someone follow you, multiple times in your life?”

Eizan shook his head. “Not counting normal guards this is the first time he has done this. He had tested me in many different ways since I was a child. One time he made sure I missed the school bus on a school trip. I had to find my way home by myself. It took me a whole day. I had no money or phone and when I did make it to a phone my parents didn’t answer. If it wasn’t for an old couple helping me, I would have been stranded even longer.”

Mio frowned. “That’s horrible. How old were you?”

“Ten.”

Mio gasped. “He stranded a ten-year-old far from home? What a monster.”

Eizan burst out laughing. “Yea and you wonder why I call him a demon. That wasn’t the worst one either. He had someone pay a small-time gang of delinquents harass me for weeks when I was thirteen. I had to learn to avoid them to get to school each day. It took me a month to figure it out. After that I looked back at my life, I realized he had been testing me throughout my entire life. I never let him figure out that I knew until this time.”

Mio had a sad look on her face. “It sounds rough.”

Eizan laughed. “It was. But it was all to teach me a different lesson each time. I can’t prove anything but I think the whole incident at my last school was set up by him. I think he wanted me to get away from Minami. I don’t know if you have realized it yet but she is a little off to put it nicely.”

Mio chuckled. “I can tell. She seems like she is quite the manipulator.”

Eizan nodded. “Yeah, to say the least. She wants something from me and she is willing to do anything to get it. Actually, I think this whole last few weeks was about her. Do you know how she convinced her parents to let her move?”

Mio shook her head. “We barely talk. I really don’t know anything about her.”

Eizan chuckled. “That’s good. Stay away from her if you can.” He stared down at the menu as he continued. “She convinced her parents that she was almost raped by a boy at school. She then convinced them that the best thing for her was to move to her aunt’s house. I think she figured out what city I was in and devised a plan to follow me.”

Mio gasped. “What! Why would she do that.”

Eizan frowned. “Honestly, I think she might just be a stalker. She has been in love with me for a long time.” Eizan scratched his cheek. “Sometimes, I can be a little dense in that department. But she made it so obvious it was kind of hard to miss.”

Mio sighed. “You never loved her?”

Eizan shook his head. “No, I think of her more like a cousin. She’s family but she’s also crazy.” He started to laugh. “I mean I find all women to be a little crazy at times, but she is a special kind of crazy.”

Mio puffed out her cheeks. “I’m not crazy.”

Eizan got a deadpan face. “Says the girl who used her bodyguards to get perverts beat up at the pool.”

“That’s different. I was upset. And you’re one to talk. I’ve seen you do all kinds of crazy things.”

Eizan laughed. “I can’t deny that. I said I was smart. I never said I wasn’t a little bit of a handful.”

Mio sighed and giggled. “That’s the understatement of the century.” She looked up at him and furrowed her brows. “Wait a second.” She glared at him. “If you knew it was a test. Did we really have to leave the old apartment by helicopter.”

Eizan smiled mischievously and shrugged. “What, I thought it would be fun. It was exciting wasn’t it.”

Mio put a hand on her forehead. “It was terrifying. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”

“You enjoyed the mansion though.”

Mio nodded “It was beautiful. I had good time.”

Eizan smiled softly. “I’m glad you like it. It’s a shame though.”

Mio tilted her head to the side. “What’s a shame?”

Just then the waiter came up and asked if they were ready to order. Eizan smiled and started to dictate his order to the waiter and Mio did the same thing. He changed the subject right after ordering completely bypassing her last question. They chatted and ate their dinner happily. But the whole time Mio could tell something was off about the whole situation.