Sasaki’s Suspicions!

“ What did you say? I think I might have heard you wrong just now.”

“ I said, let’s get engaged soon. I want to be your fiancé officially.”

Ryuji was keeping up with the pretense as much as he could. He began to sweat so much that Sasaki began to worry.

“ Are you okay, Ryuji?”

“ Yes, I’m fine. The sun is too strong today. I should get home and rest for a bit.”

“ I’ll see you later.”

Several hours later, I was finally home from all the ruckus. I lay flat on my bed and thought about my day.

(Engagement! I have no intention of getting engaged with you, Sasaki. This has gone a bit far.)

“ Young master, dinner’s ready!”

“ Coming!”

(I hope she didn’t share the idea with anyone else besides me.)

I went for dinner with everyone else in the living room. My dad was radiant and grinning to himself, which got me a bit worried.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the surrounding atmosphere. I had my dinner silently and in the middle of finishing up, my dad suddenly spoke up.

“ Son, I heard the good news.”

?

“ Good news! What news are you referring to?”

(I hope it’s not what I think it is.)

“ Sasaki told me about your intentions to get engaged officially.”

(Since when was it my intention to get engaged? Don’t mix up anything here. I never talked about any intention of getting engaged.)

“ We’ve planned a dinner party with Sasaki’s parents next week, in which the two of you will be exchanging rings officially.”

…

“ Next week? Isn’t that a bit too soon?”

“ What do you mean? Don’t you want to get engaged with Sasaki next week?”

…

“ Of course not, dad! Why would I be against it? It’s just that I may not be available that day.”

“ What important business do you have to take care of that day?”

I was lost for words regarding what excuse to make and give. After thinking thoroughly enough, I said the first thing that came to my mind and that was—--------------

“ There’s a group project we’ve been working on, and it has to be completed by next week.”

“ A group project?”

…

“ According to Sasaki, you guys don’t have any projects coming up any time soon. Are you sure there’s a project?”

…

(Oh shoot! I forget that most of my classes are with Sasaki. I didn’t think it through enough. I should make up an excuse before dad starts doubting me.)

“ You’re right, dad! I must not have looked at my schedule thoroughly enough.”

“ I’ll be expecting you next week for the engagement.”

…

“ Yes, dad!”

Soon after I finished my dinner, I retired for the night. I lay on my bed once more, thinking about how to annul the dinner party. Just then, someone knocked on my door.

“ Young master, may I come in?”

(Albertini-San? What’s he doing here at this hour?)

“ You may come in!”

I sat up straight on my bed as Albertini-San entered my chambers. He stood there with a concerned expression on his face.

“ What’s the matter, Albertini-San? Did you need me for something?”

…

Albertini-San stared at me with the same worried expression as before. He wanted to tell me something but was keeping from saying anything.

“ What got you so troubled? Is everything okay?”

…

After nearly keeping silent for three whole minutes, he finally spoke up, and what came out of his mouth didn’t surprise me much.

“ Young master!”

“ Yes!”

…

“ Will you be getting engaged to Sasaki-San next week?”

…

“ Of course not! Why do you think that? I have no intention of getting engaged to her.”

…

I shouted a bit, despite how late it was already. Fortunately, no one heard me shout, and more importantly, Albertini-San was feeling more at ease than a few minutes ago.

“ If you’re not getting engaged, then where did the news of the sudden engagement come from?”

“ Who else? It was Sasaki’s idea.”

I told Albertini-San about my day with Sasaki yesterday. I also told him how the engagement topic came up while we were out together.

“ Sasaki-San truly wants to get engaged to you. She must genuinely like you.”

“ It’s all in her head. I never viewed her that way. For me, she’s just like a little sister and nothing more than that.”

“ Then, shouldn’t it be about time that you confess your true feelings to your father?”

…

“ You’re right about that, Albertini-San! I should truly tell him the truth now.”

“ Good luck with everything, young master!”

“ Thank you!”

Following Albertini-San’s meticulous advice, I tried talking to my father over the coming days, but every time, he was super busy, and I couldn’t bring up the topic of discussion. It went like that for three days straight.”

“ How did it go, young master? Were you able to talk to the master?”

…

“ Unfortunately, no! He’s very busy with work these days and doesn’t have time for me. I did everything I could.”

…

“ We have to come up with a way somehow. There are only four days left at our disposal before the dinner party.”

“ I know, Albertini-San. I wish I could talk to my father about this, but there’s nothing I can do if he’s that busy with his work.”

“ We might have one more way up our sleeve.”

?

“ Judging that you can’t talk to your father directly about this, then you might want to try out Sasaki-San.”

“ Sasaki?”

“ Don’t tell her bluntly how you feel about the engagement. Let your actions speak for you, young master. Do you understand?”

I couldn’t quite understand what Albertini-San wanted to tell me specifically with his words. After thinking through it some more, I got the meaning of it.

The following day, when I bumped up into Sasaki, I ignored her as if I couldn’t see her at all. Even on my way home, I did the same thing as in the morning. Sasaki started to find my behavior quite odd.

(What’s the matter with Ryuji? Why is he avoiding me?)

When I got home that day, I told Albertini-San all about how I handled Sasaki at school, and he was very proud of me.

The next day, Sasaki was in the cafeteria having lunch with her friends, Anna and Emma Takanashi. Both of them are sisters and are always hanging out with Sasaki, even outside of school.

“ Why aren’t you having your lunch, Sasaki?”

“ Is there something on your mind?”

Due to how Ryuji had been behaving with her, Sasaki became suspicious of her fiancé, with qualifying reason and logic.

“ My fiancé has been ignoring me lately.”

“ Do you mean Ryuji?”

“ Yes!”

“ What happened between the two of you? Did you fight?”

“ No! We’ve never fought with each other.”

“ What seems to be the problem, then?”

Sasaki told her friends everything without leaving any details behind, plus how Ryuji has been avoiding her afterward. Listening to her speak, they seem to have understood the root of the problem, which the latter didn’t quite get.

“ What we’ll tell you might not seem too pleasing to the ear, but you have to hear it.”

“ It’s indispensable that you know what might have caused Ryuji’s recent behavior towards you.”

…

“ Ryuji doesn’t want to get engaged with you, Sasaki.”

“ That’s quite true! He doesn’t want your relationship to evolve into something more.”

…

Sasaki was beyond shocked by her friends’ revelations and didn’t want to believe any of it whatsoever.

“ What? You must be mistaken. Ryuji loves me immensely.”

“ How can you be so sure that he loves you?”

“ Did he ever imply that he loved you in the same way you do?”

…

Sasaki had no response to her friends’ questions. She then suddenly reminisced about what her mother always told her, that Ryuji might not feel the same way towards her. Comparing it to his recent behavior, she started wondering whether it might be true.

“ Think, think, Sasaki! All your dates and outings until now were initiated by you and you alone.”

“ Ryuji never took the lead to invite you anywhere. You were also the first one to make the first step, and that didn’t change.”

…

“ You went ahead and discussed the engagement with your dad and mom without wondering what Ryuji's true feelings were about all this.”

“ Just because he wasn’t against it, you went ahead and assumed that he was up for it, didn’t you?”

…

Sasaki’s friends kept talking, but the latter didn’t say a word. She kept listening to all their blabbing.

“ I think you should cancel the engagement for now.”

“ Talk it out with Ryuji, just to make sure the two of you are on the same page.”

…

Later on that night, Mr. Fujimiya came to visit Sasaki at her house. The purpose of his visit was to discuss the upcoming engagement next week, but Sasaki was all down and depressed.

“ Good evening, sir!”

“ Same goes for you, but you don’t seem too happy to see me, am I wrong?”

…

“ It’s nothing of the sort, sir. I’m happy that you came to visit, but my parents are not home.”

…

“ Is everything okay, Sasaki?”

…

On the other hand, Ryuji was extremely satisfied with himself. He had set everything up and was now waiting for results.

“ You did well, young master! With how you behaved with Sasaki-San over these coming two days, she might have understood by now your truest feelings and will herself annul the engagement.”

“ I hope you’re right, Albertini-San.”

What neither Thomas nor Ryuji knew at the time was that their enjoyment would be short-lived.