“Hello. You’re Yuzuru-kun’s friends… and his girlfriend, right?”
The person who appeared to be a staff member coming to collect the dishes said this with a friendly smile.
Arisa, Ayaka, and Chiharu each offered their greetings and thanks.
“So, this is your first time here, right, miss girlfriend? I’m Hiromi, the manager. Yuzuru-kun is always a great help.”
The androgynous-looking man directed that at Arisa.
Arisa smiled back and gave a small bow.
“Yes, nice to meet you. …Sorry for intruding while you’re busy today.”
“No, not at all.”
Then Hiromi’s gaze was naturally drawn… to Arisa’s left hand.
On her ring finger sat a beautiful ring.
Even someone like Hiromi, who wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about jewellery, could tell at a glance that it was high quality.
A ring on the left ring finger—there was no way he didn’t understand what that meant.
“Could that be… an engagement ring?”
When Hiromi asked, Arisa gently placed her right hand over her left and gave a shy smile.
As if to say, “Oh, you noticed? I wasn’t trying to show it off or anything,” she gave a small nod.
“Yes, well… it is. I got it on White Day.”
“…I see.”
(I get it now,) Hiromi thought.
So this was why Yuzuru had needed money.
“…Do your parents know?”
It was the sort of question any sensible adult would naturally ask.
If it were just a pair of silly high schoolers joking about getting engaged, you could brush it off with a wry smile.
But giving an expensive piece of jewellery as an engagement ring—that wasn’t something you could just laugh off.
It was far too serious.
As Hiromi considered whether he should give Yuzuru some kind of warning, or perhaps even inform his mother, Arisa spoke with an embarrassed expression—
Yet her tone was firm.
“Yes, of course. …It’s a political marriage.”
“P-po—political…?”
You’re serious?
With that written all over his face, Hiromi looked towards Yuzuru’s other friends—Ayaka and Chiharu.
Meanwhile, the two girls exchanged glances… then gave strained smiles.
“Well, it’s not that unusual, you know?”
“It happens pretty often.”
In truth, it wasn’t that common—but it also wasn’t shocking enough to leave you speechless, so that was how they answered.
Inside, though, they were exasperated.
(That was way too blatant…)
(You didn’t have to push it that hard…)
Of course, neither of them said it out loud.
“Wow… that’s impressive.”
Hiromi voiced his admiration.
It was both surprise at a world he didn’t really know—and admiration for the girl who had marched in wearing an engagement ring as Yuzuru’s girlfriend.
“I look forward to being in your care for many years to come.”
“Yes, likewise. …Takasegawa-san?”
“Ahaha… that’s a bit soon.”
Arisa replied with a slight smile tugging at her lips.
Meanwhile, Ayaka and Chiharu watched her with matching wry smiles.
After Arisa and the others left, and Yuzuru’s shift had ended…
“Your fiancée is quite the beauty.”
Having changed out of his uniform into casual clothes, Yuzuru tilted his head at Hiromi’s comment.
“…Did I ever say I had a fiancée?”
“She was wearing an engagement ring, and she said so herself. A political marriage, apparently.”
“I see.”
Yuzuru, who hadn’t even noticed Arisa was wearing the ring, nodded in understanding.
It wasn’t something he particularly wanted to broadcast everywhere—but it wasn’t something that had to be hidden either.
So his response was rather matter-of-fact.
“A political marriage… is that true?”
“Yes, well… about this time last year, I think? We met through an arranged meeting. At first, it wasn’t like we were in love or anything.”
Yuzuru briefly explained how they had met.
Naturally, he left out the more complicated parts—like the fake engagement and Arisa’s family situation.
“I see… so you really do plan to get married.”
“Of course.”
Yuzuru nodded without hesitation.
Then he gave a small, awkward smile.
“Ah… do you think we’re rushing things?”
“No, not really. …Come to think of it, Ayu-san was the same.”
Yuzuru’s parents, Kazuya and Ayu, had also married through an arranged—political—marriage.
And Hiromi was an old friend of Ayu.
“Ah, right… but…”
“…Something wrong?”
“Well…”
There was a hint of hesitation on Hiromi’s face.
Should he say it, or not?
After mulling it over for a while, he finally spoke.
“I might be wrong, but… your girlfriend—she’s probably the possessive type.”
“Huh?”
Caught off guard, Yuzuru let out a surprised sound.
That said, he wasn’t under any illusion that Arisa was some saintly, flawless person.
“Well… yeah, that’s true. She does have that side to her.”
She could be a little selfish, a little possessive.
But Yuzuru thought that was part of what made her cute.
“…Probably more than you realise, though.”
“Is that so? …How can you tell?”
Yuzuru understood his fiancée wasn’t perfect.
But hearing her spoken of negatively still rubbed him the wrong way.
His mood souring slightly, he asked the question, and Hiromi scratched his head.
“Well… she wore that engagement ring here, didn’t she?”
“…Is that strange?”
“Strange, or rather… why do you think she wore it in the first place?”
“…For fashion?”
When Yuzuru answered, Hiromi shook his head.
“That might be part of it, but… it’s probably a warning.”
“…A warning?”
“She’s saying, ‘This man is mine!’ She wore it to make that clear, I’d bet.”
In other words, she wore the ring to show the girls at his workplace that Yuzuru already had someone—no, a fiancée—and to emphasise how close they were.
When you put it that way, it wasn’t impossible.
“And… maybe she’s feeling anxious.”
“…Anxious? That I might cheat?”
“Hmm, not so much that. More like… she’s worried you might leave her.”
Yuzuru tilted his head.
Naturally, he’d never been the type to fool around with other girls.
And he believed he expressed his love to Arisa properly on a daily basis.
“Hmm… I don’t think I’ve done anything to make her feel that way.”
“Even if the man hasn’t done anything, it’s pretty common for the woman to feel anxious on her own.”
(Is that how it works?—) Yuzuru wondered, tilting his head again.
“…Speaking from experience?”
“Something like that. …I once had a girl try to stab me, after all.”
“That’s because you were dating three girls at once.”
Yuzuru shot Hiromi a half-lidded look.
Hiromi waved his hand dismissively.
“Anyway, just be careful. Girls like her—the type who bottle things up—they tend to explode all at once. If something feels off, come talk to me anytime, alright?”
“…Right. Well, if it comes to that, I’ll take you up on it.”
And so Yuzuru gave a suitably noncommittal reply to the advice of his elder.
