Eizan and Mio were still sitting at the table awkwardly. Eizan could tell she was still angry with him. She definitely had something she wanted to tell him. The atmosphere was really strained by the fact that a small box was still sitting on the table. Finally, he stood up and grabbed the box. He headed towards the bathroom to put it away. She sat there at the table awkwardly thinking. “I still want to reprimand him, but his grandfather made things really weird.” He returned and sat down next to her nervously.

After a few minutes, she relaxed a little. “I have a question for you?” Eizan looked at her curiously. She sighed. “How did you know Ren and I would show up with Sano?”

Eizan smiled. “I saw you sitting in the window of the coffee shop.”

She frowned. “Why didn’t you just walk over to the coffee with Sano?”

Eizan thought for a second. “I knew they were following us. I also knew you two would follow once you saw Murata. I know you’re mad at me. I couldn’t think of a better way to show you and Ren his true personality.”

Mio reached up and flicked him in the head. “You idiot, you could have just told me. I would have believed you. You could have gotten hurt.”

Eizan got a sad look on his face and looked down at the floor. “You might have believed me, is a more accurate statement.”

She shook her head. “I definitely would have believed you. You don’t have to handle everything alone. You need, to learn, to trust others.”

Eizan laughed sadly. “That’s not so easy for me, anymore.”

She got lost in thought after seeing his sad expression. “Did the incident at his last school cause him to be this way? He did have people betray him.” She shook her head at him. “I have one last question. Why did you drag Ren into it?”

Eizan looked up at her. “I had two reasons for dragging her into this mess. First, she needed to know how he felt about her. That way she wouldn’t keep following him around, like a love sick puppy. I would like to apologize to her. I didn’t expect his answer to be that harsh.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Sadly, people aren’t that easy to read.”

Mio smiled. “You know for someone so smart, you’re an idiot.”

Eizan laughed. “Yeah, you might be right about that.”

Mio looked at him, with a confused look. “You said there were two reasons.”

Eizan titled his head. “I did?”

She gave him an angry look. “Eizan, what’s the second reason?”

He smiled mischievously. “I was just playing matchmaker between an honest loudmouth and a swan.”

She hit him in the leg. “Can you stop giving people weird nicknames? That’s a messed-up way to play matchmaker. You need to stop manipulating people. I don’t like it.”

“You sound like my wife.”

She blushed. “That’s not fair and you know it. And who knows, I might end up being your wife.”

Eizan laughed. “Your right, we are in the middle of an extended marriage meeting.” Her face turned completely red. “Now I have a question for you? Did you really get kicked out for a month?”

She looked away, trying to act innocent. “What do you mean, of course I got kicked out?”

He looked at her with a mischievous smile. “You didn’t answer my question.”

She sighed. “Fine, I ran away before they had a chance to kick me out. I’m not even sure if my father was actually going to kick me out. He is a kind man and I doubt he has the heart to kick me out.” She looked up at him with a pouty look. She could tell he still wanted a better explanation. He smiled. “Mio, just be honest.” She sighed. “I chose to stay with you for a month, after I found out you were one, of the candidates. I already knew I didn’t want to marry Towa. But…” She went silent.

Eizan was lost in thought for a few seconds. “You didn’t know anything about me. You wanted time to make your decision.” She nodded. She looked worried about what his reaction would be. He smiled at her softly “Sounds like a good idea to me.” He reached up and tapped her lightly on the forehead. She puffed out her cheeks. “But.” The worried look appeared on her face again. “I hope you realize.” He leaned in a little closer, making her blush. “I’m also, going to spend a whole month, making a decision about you.”

Her eyes opened widely and her thoughts ran wild. “That’s true. I hadn’t thought about the fact, that he’s also evaluating me, as a marriage partner. Crap, I can’t cook or clean. Am, I even wife material?”

Eizan burst out laughing. “What’s with the worried look? I’m not going to judge you on your wifey skills. Those things can be learned later.” Her worried look slightly disappeared.

Knock, knock, knock. Eizan frowned “What now?” He stood up from the table and walked to the front door. He looked at the camera screen with a curious look and thought “Who the hell is this?” He cracked open the door. “Can I help you?”

A tall serious looking man was standing there silently. He had dark black hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a nice-looking business suit. From behind Eizan, he heard a soft voice over his shoulder “Eizan who is it?” Eizan opened the door more as she approached him from behind. Her eyes widened in surprise “Dad, what are you doing here?”

He smiled softly “Can a father not come visit his daughter?” Eizan thought to himself. “Can this day get any more hectic?”

Eizan bowed. “Hello, nice to meet you sir. My name is Hashimoto Eizan.”

Mio’s father stood tall, with a serious expression on his has “Nice to finally meet you. I am Mio’s father Sakurai Jotaro.”

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Eizan invited him into the apartment and offered him some tea. Father and daughter are sitting at the small table. Eizan is making tea for them in the kitchen. Jotaro smiled softly. “How have you been my dear daughter?”

Mio looked at him strangely. “I have been better.”

Jotaro frowned. “Is he not treating you well?”

She sighed. “Eizan has been nothing but a gentleman. But I can’t say, the last 48 hours hasn’t been stressful.”

Jotaro sighed. “I am sorry Mio for causing you such distress. I should have taken your feelings into consideration. I put you through a lot of stress and for that I apologize. If you want to return home, you can at any time.”

On the other side of the wall Eizan is standing with a tray. He’s listening in on their conversation with bated breath.

Mio smiled. “I have decided to live with him for a month. I plan to follow through with it, until I have decided.”

Jotaro nodded. He looked towards the wall. “Are you fine with that young man?”

Eizan rounded the corner with a weird look on his face. “I already made my decision the moment I let her stay.”

Jotaro’s eyes narrowed. “I am assuming you know, of the marriage proposal?”

Eizan nodded. “I found out from my grandfather a little while ago.”

Jotaro’s eyes widened. “Carter was here?”

Eizan laughed. “Knowing him, he’s still nearby, waiting to see what will happen.”

Jotaro looked at him suspiciously. “Did you know about it before today?”

Eizan smiled. “I had my suspicions last night.”

Jotaro examined Eizan’s demeanor closely. Eizan just continued to smile. “Sometimes, you seem easy to read. Other times you seem difficult to read, just like your grandfather.”

Eizan frowned. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment?”

Jotaro laughed. “It’s mostly a compliment. Being hard to read is both a blessing and a curse. It makes others suspicious of you. But it can also make it hard for others to take advantage of you.”

Eizan smiled. “Ah, that does make a lot of sense.” He looked over at Mio and smiled.

She shook her head. “I don’t find you to be suspicious.”

“You say I am hard to read, but she seems to be able to see right through me sometimes.”

Jotaro laughed. “Yeah, she’s just like Kagami. Her mother could always see right through me. Other times she’s completely clueless.”

Mio gave her father a dirty look. “Neither of us is clueless.”

Jotaro and Eizan just laughed. Sakurai puffed out her cheeks angrily. They sat around chatting for a while. Eizan was questioned extensively by Jotaro. Finally, it seemed like his questioning would come to an end. Jotaro smiled. “You seem like a fine young man.” Then his face became stern. “I will give you a warning. Do not go too far, I will expect you to take responsibility. Even if she had agreed to marry you at the meeting. I would not have let you live together before hand.” He sighed. “Things seem to be out of my control since Carter is involved. But I will say I am not happy about you two living in this apartment. I must apologize, I was one of the reasons you were forced to move.”

Eizan smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind moving. I just didn’t like the way my grandfather went about things.”

Jotaro finished his tea and stood up. “I have to bid you farewell. I have an upset wife to soothe.”

Mio looked at her father with a sad look. “I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

Jotaro smiled. “Don’t worry about your mother. I will keep her content for now. But please come visit us for dinner soon.”

Mio nodded. “I will.”

Jotaro looked at Eizan. “I expect to see you there to young man.”

Eizan gulped. “I will definitely accompany her.”

“Goodnight, I will see you soon.” Jotaro left the apartment.

Mio and Eizan looked at each other and laughed. Eizan couldn’t help but say it. “At this rate, we may not be able to sleep tonight with all the visitors.”

Mio laughed. “I know what you mean.”

Knock, knock, knock they both looked at each other in shock. Eizan laughed. “I think I jinxed it.”

Mio burst out laughed. “They better make it quick I am starving.”

Eizan looked at the camera screen. “Oh, it’s just the loudmouth and the swan.”

From the other side of the door. “Who you calling a loudmouth.” Eizan opened the door.

Ren was standing there thinking. “Am I the swan?”

Sano grumbled. “And here I thought I was being nice by bringing you pizza.”

Eizan laughed. “Thank you, Ome. Please, come in. I have some tea ready if you would like?”

Sano lifted up a plastic bag. “We brought soda.”

Ome and Ren entered the apartment. Ren gave Eizan a funny look when she entered the apartment. Ren ran over to Mio and gave her a big hug. “Mio, I missed you.”

Mio gave her a funny look. “It’s only been about 2 hours.” Ren gave her a pouty look. Mio laughed inside “She’s always like this when she’s upset.” Eizan and Ome couldn’t help but stare at the sight of two teenage girls hugging.

Mio glared at Eizan. He thought to himself “I bet she wants me to apologize.” He sighed and kneeled down on the floor. “Ren, I have something I need to apologize to you for.” Ren picked up her head from Mio’s shoulder and gave him a surprised look. “I shouldn’t have brought your name up earlier. It was not the right thing to do. I didn’t think he would react in the way he did. For that I really regret my actions. Please forgive me.”

Ren frowned. “How am I supposed to yell at you if you apologize so sincerely? Damnit, that no fun.” She lifted herself off of Mio and made direct eye contact with him. “I want to be mad at you. But I feel like a should be thanking you.” Eizan tilted his head in confusion. “You saved me the embarrassment of confessing to him and getting rejected. I can’t say, I wasn’t hurt but still, I want to thank you.”

Eizan smiled softly. “I thank you, for your kindness and you are welcome.”

Ome was lost in thought watching the scene in front of him “What the hell is going on? Where is my arrogant bastard of a friend? Where did the stubborn and proud swan go?” He looked over at Sakurai. “Is it her fault? Did he change because of her? Damnit, this is to complicated.” He jumped up and exclaimed. “Alright enough of this gloomy bullshit. It’s pizza time.”

They ate pizza and sat around having a great time. Smiling and playing video games like normal teenagers were supposed to do. Mio glanced at Eizan and gave him a curious look. “Eizan is something wrong?” He smiled. “Nope I’m perfectly fine.” He had been sitting there thinking. “This is exactly why I don’t want to graduate early.”

Across town at a karaoke bar 4 teenage boys could be seen in a karaoke room. Ryoma and Toru were singing a popular pop song. Hanzo and Towa were watching them sing with smiles on their faces. Hanzo leaned over toward Towa. “Cheer up buddy. You can’t win them all. Tomorrow is a new day.”

Murata looked at him and smiled. “You’re right. Thanks Hanzo.” Hanzo smiled and slapped him on the back almost making him fall off his seat. Hanzo laughed hysterically at this.

Driving a luxury car staring out the window, at the lights of the city, Carter smiled. “Ah, to be young again.”