The school day progressed normally for the rest of the day. Eizan and Mio were walking home together. She kept looking over at him with an expectant look on her face. Eizan sighed “Do you have a question for me?”

She frowned “Didn’t you promise me you would tell me about something, after school?”

Eizan laughed “Ok, ok, you really can be persistent at times. Remember yesterday, when my grandfather came over to my apartment.” She nodded. “I have a feeling we are about to get dragged to a fancy dinner somewhere. It will probably be some kind of fancy political gathering.”

Her eyes widened “I don’t have anything to wear to a fancy dinner.”

Eizan smiled “Neither do I.”

She frowned “Then how are we going to go to such an event?”

Eizan smiled “Just wait.”

Mio frowned “Eizan, just answer the question.”

He reached over and patted the top of her head. “Promise you won’t run away?”

She gave him a weird look. “Why would I run away?”

He sighed “I guarantee we will be picked up before we make it to the apartment.”

Her eyes widened “What?”

Eizan laughed “Just wait.” About a block before the apartment a fancy black car pulled up next to them. The window rolled down, a rather rough looking gentleman in a fancy black suit was sitting in the driver’s seat. “Mr. Hashimoto and Mrs. Sakurai I am here to pick you up.” He put the car in park and opened his door. He proceeded to open the back door and motioned for them to get in the back. Mio had a worried look on her face. Eizan smiled “It’s fine. This happens more often than I would like.” He held out his hand and guided her into the back of the car.

Mio looked over at him once they were in the back of the car. She had a worried look on her face. “Where are they taking us?”

Eizan laughed “I have no clue.”

Mio frowned “That’s not a good thing.”

He laughed again “If you want to know I can ask the driver.” She nodded “Eizan rolled down the partition window that separated the driver and passengers. “Driver where are we headed?”

The driver in a calm voice replied “We are currently headed to a shop to buy you and the young lady clothes for tonight’s dinner party.”

Eizan smiled “When will we be meeting up with grandpa?”

The driver “He will be meeting you at tonight’s dinner function.”

“Thank you, good sir.” The driver nodded to his thanks. Eizan rolled the partition back to its previous orientation. He looked over at Mio. “Apparently, we are going shopping.”

She hit him in his arm and puffed out her cheeks. “That’s not enough information.”

He burst into laughter. “What kind of information did you want.”

She berated him. “I don’t know. Something like the name of the shop or maybe the location of the dinner party.”

He smiled at her softly. “Would that change our destination?”

She pouted “Well, no it wouldn’t but…” She trailed off not finishing her sentence.

He giggled a little. “You’re trying to decide if you want to marry me, right?” She had a surprised look on her face and nodded. “This is part of my life you will have to deal with, if we get married. I can say, I will try to keep it to a minimum. But I can’t necessarily guarantee things like this won’t happen from time to time.”

She looked out the window lost in thought. “This must be part of normal life for him. Getting picked up by a strange black car and whisked away to some unknown destination. How often has something like this happened to him?” She looked over at him with a sad expression on her face. “How often does this kind of thing happen?”

He looked out the window lost in thought for a few seconds. “Not to often. Maybe ten to fifteen times a year, someone from my grandfather’s entourage tries to pick me up.”

“Tries?”

He laughed “Sometimes I refuse to go with them.”

“We could have refused?”

He sighed “I couldn’t refuse this time.”

“Why is that?”

He looked over and smiled softly “You’re the reason.”

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She tilted her head “Me?”

He sighed. “I conned my grandfather and this is his payback.”

Her eyes widened “What do you mean you conned your grandfather.”

He smiled “Since this is an extended marriage interview and I had intended to deny it any marriage meeting. I put a condition of my own on you living with me. I actually acted like I might kick you out.”

She was in shock “You did what? When?”

“Last night, when you were in the restroom.”

She thought for a second. “What was your condition?”

He smiled “He has to pay for you to go to any University you wish to attend. This applies whether we get married or not. I told him that he put you through to much undo stress with this whole marriage proposal thing.”

“And you got him to agree to that? Why would you do that? That’s too much. Besides my parents can send me to most colleges I want.”

He laughed “There was more to it.”

“Can you tell me?”

He smiled “Some things are best left unsaid.”

She demanded “Eizan tell me.”

He smiled and turned towards her. He reached out and softly caressed her cheek, causing her to blush. “I got mad at him for robbing me of the chance to woo you myself, without his interference.” Her eyes widened and she turned beet red. Just as he was about to say more the car stopped. “Sadly, we will have to continue this conversation later." He opened the door and stepped out of the car. He turned and offered his hand to help her out of the car. She stared at his hand for a second before taking it. She was still slightly blushing from his last statement.

She looked up at the fancy clothing store in front of her and her eyes widened. "Isn’t this the nicest clothing store in town." He held her hand guiding her into the store. Three ladies were standing there waiting as they entered the store. The oldest lady in the middle approached the couple. “Mrs. Sakurai, I presume?” She nodded. “This way please.” She let go of his hand and was led away. She kept looking over her shoulder at Eizan as she was led away. He did nothing but smile.

Another of the ladies guided him to the section dedicated to men. A distinguished older gentleman in a nice suit was waiting for him. The man looked him up and down. “You’ve grown taller since the last time you were here.” Eizan smiled “How have you been Mr. Oka?” The old man smiled. “Just fine Eizan. I see you brought a beautiful young lady with you this time.” Eizan looked towards the direction Mio had been whisked away to. “She may be my future fiancé.”

The old mans eyes widened. “Is that so? You don’t seem to be undecided, is the young miss hesitant?”

Eizan giggled “You could always read me like an open book.” He sighed “I made my decision almost immediately. But I can tell she still needs some time, to decide.”

Oka smiled “It is a big decision. I’m surprised you decided so quickly.”

Eizan smiled “Actually, at first, I just wished she would leave me alone. But something about her keeps me…” He trailed off and didn’t finish his sentence. He seemed to be lost in thought.

Oka smiled “I see.” He paused and looked in the same direction as Eizan was looking. “Alright let’s get started we don’t have that much time.” Eizan nodded and Oka got to work.

Across the store in a separate department Mio was being led to a changing room. The older lady who had been leading the way made her stand on a small round platform. “Mrs. Sakurai is there anything in particular you would like to wear tonight?”

Mio shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t have a preference.”

The store clerk nodded “Do you mind if we choose for you then?” Mio nodded. “Alright let me get your measurements and I will find something that suits you.” The old store clerk spent a few minutes getting her measurement before standing up to leave.

Before the clerk could leave. “Just make sure it’s not too expensive. I don’t want to burden Eizan’s grandfather.”

The old lady turned around and smiled. “Mrs. Sakurai, Mr. Carter owns this store and has already given permission for you to get any dress of your choosing. Even the most expensive one in the store.”

Mio’s eyes widened and she protested “I couldn’t except such a thing.”

The old woman smiled softly “You can trust me on one thing. Nothing in this store is valuable enough to burden Mr. Carter.”

Mio still protested “I still must request that the dress you find for me is not too expensive.” The old lady sighed and nodded as she left.

The store clerk walked out of the changing room with a worried look on her face. Eizan was finished with his measurements and approached the clerk. “Is something the matter?” The old woman explained Mio’s request to him. “Ah, I see.” He smiled evilly. “Get her the most expensive dress that suits her.” The clerk was about to protest. “Just tell her it’s one of the cheapest dresses in the store. Make sure to remove the price tag.” The clerk nodded and scurried off in another direction. Eizan laughed and thought “I knew she would do something like this. Besides, we might as well milk that old demon for everything he’s got.” He returned to the men’s section of the store.

Mio was led to another room and told to sit down in front of a vanity. She looked around and was confused about what was going on. Pretty soon a rather feminine looking man approached her. In a rather flamboyant way of speaking the man introduced himself. “Hello, there young lady. Aren’t you just adorable. This is going to be fun.” Mio looked up at him with a confused look. “My name is Pierre and I will be doing your hair and makeup for this evening.”

Mio smiled “My name is Sakurai Mio. You have my thanks then.”

Pierre shook his head “No, no, no, do not thank me yet. You just wait and thank me after I am done.”

Mio smiled brightly “Ok. I will wait until you are done.”

Pierre smiled and started to play with her hair. “I see you came in here with Carter’s grandson today. Is he your boyfriend?”

Mio smiled “We are not dating yet.”

Pierre’s eyes widened “Oh, that’s to bad. Eizan is such a hunky young man. If only I was 20 years younger, I would try to seduce him myself.” Mio got a weird look on her face. “Don’t worry, I will not try to steal him from you.”

She laughed “I think Eizan is only interested in women. I can tell that from the way he looks at me sometimes.”

Pierre sighed “That’s too bad.” She giggled. “If I may ask? What are you waiting for? Why haven’t you jumped all over that gorgeous boy.”

She sighed “Actually, he might end up being my fiancé. I still haven’t decided yet. There’s nothing really holding me back. I just feel like I need a little more time to decide, if I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

Pierre sighed “Ah, yes that does seem to be a hard decision to make. But I will give you a word of advice. Eizan is incredibly good looking, well mannered and wealthy you better watch out, or some other beautiful girl may come snatch him away from you. If that happens you may be too late.”

She laughed “Yes he is all those things and more.”

Pierre gave her a weird look “Then why is this a hard decision?”

She sighed “I feel like he is hiding something from me.”

Pierre laughed “Oh, young lady everyone has something to hide. Even from those we love.”