Anger and Reminiscence

As Ryuji went to get ready for the engagement, he unexpectedly left his phone behind. Thomas Albertini stared at the phone in front of him for a long while.

Several minutes later, Ryuji was all ready for the engagement. He was wearing a very fancy ensemble.

“ How do I look, Albertini-San?”

…

“ You look very handsome, young master, but you should wear a coat on top of it.”

…

“ Wearing a coat would ruin my whole ensemble. —------- The last thing I want is for my father to feel ridiculed because of me.”

…

“ I’ll take my leave now, Albertini-San. See you later!”

…

Downstairs—--------------------------

“ I’m ready, father. We can leave whenever you want.”

Tatsuki Fujimiya looked at his son from top to toe. He was very satisfied with the ensemble he had put on.

“ Then, let’s go!”

“ Yes, father!”

…

Meanwhile, at Sono’s Estate, Sasaki couldn’t make up her mind about what to wear for the engagement.

“ What do you think I should be wearing tonight, mom?”

“ It’s your engagement, isn’t it? Whatever you wear, I’m sure your fiancé will be very much pleased.”

“ This doesn’t really tell me what to wear. Help me out, please!”

…

“ As my baby girl insists so much, as her mom, I should help her make up her mind.”

Several minutes later—------------

Sasaki’s mother has chosen for her daughter a purple dress with the accessories that went with it.

“ Thanks, mom! I like the dress you picked for me. With this, Ryuji won’t be able to take his eyes off me for the entirety of our engagement.”

…

“ I can’t wait to show him how pretty I look in this dress.”

…

In the Grand Hall, Sasaki walked down the stairs with grace and pride. Her father was mesmerized by how pretty his daughter looked.

“ You’re looking very beautiful today, Sas.”

“ Thanks, dad!”

Sasaki started looking out for something or someone. Her father noticed how agitated she looked.

“ Don’t get so impatient, Sas! If he didn’t run away before, it’s not now that he’ll do it.”

“ Dad, stop teasing me already! It’s not very funny.”

“ Sorry, you’re right! I was just trying to get you to relax.”

“ It worked, dad, thanks. I’m very much relaxed.”

“ Don’t stress yourself and wait patiently for Ryuji to turn up. After he gets here, you guys will be getting engaged.”

“ Yes, dad!”

An hour later, Ryuji and his father showed up for the engagement at Sasaki’s house. Upon seeing him, Sasaki jumped in his arms. Ryuji held her tightly so she wouldn’t fall.

“ Careful, Sasaki!”

“ Finally you’re here. I was waiting for you with much impatience.”

…

“ I can see that. Would you let go now? People are watching.”

“ It’s okay! All the people present here, how much we love each other. I’m sure they don’t mind us acting lovey-dovey.”

(Lovey-dovey?)

“ I don’t mind either, but I’m kind of suffocating here.”

Hearing that, she let go of him and uttered in apology,“ Sorry, love!! I let my excitement get the better of me. I’m very sorry!”

“ It’s okay, Sasaki. You didn’t hug me too hard.”

“ You’re too kind, Ryuji. That’s exactly why I fell so hard for you. Your kindness is contagious.”

…

Sasaki’s father put on music to make it sound more like the occasion they were celebrating. The atmosphere drastically changed as a result.

“ Good thinking, dad!”

“ Anything for my baby girl—-----”

…

“ Shall we dance?”

Sasaki extended her hand toward Ryuji for a dance. He blanked for a minute before graciously taking her hand. The two went to the dance floor.

A song played, and the two started their dance steps. All was going well in the first half of the dance, but suddenly, Ryuji’s movements started slowing down.

“ What’s wrong, Ryuji? Are you not able to keep up?”

“ I’m fine, don’t you worry!”

“ Okay!”

The dance continued, but Ryuji was unable to keep up with his partner. Not only was the pain accentuating, but he was starting to feel dizzy as well.

“ You’re not able to keep up the momentum at all. Should we stop?”

…

Ryuji wanted to articulate his answer right away, but taking a slight glance at his father, he looked over to his fiancée, who was expecting his reply.

“ No! Let’s keep going! There’s one last movement to make.”

“ Alright!”

Ryuji made Sasaki twirl twice before concluding the music with a pause. All the guests clapped at their performance.

Ryuji stepped aside. His father came to him for a discussion.

“ You made me worry there. For a moment there, I thought you wouldn’t make it.”

…

“ The slowing movement was probably part of your strategy to impress your fiancée, Sasaki, wasn’t it?”

…

The dizziness started again, but Ryuji kept it under control. He didn’t let anything show that would betray him.

“ You’re right, father! It was part of my strategy, just like you implied.”

After resting for a bit, it was now time to exchange rings and make it official.

“ Sasaki! Ryuji! Both of you, come up on stage!”

Ryuji and Sasaki did as they were told and went up on stage for the exchange of rings.

“ We’ll start with Sasaki.”

Sasaki’s father handed the ring to her daughter. Sasaki approached the ring towards Ryuji slowly and furtively. Ryuji’s condition was getting worse, so much so that he started seeing double.

Sasaki touched Ryuji’s hand gently and just when she was about to put the ring on him, he started losing his footing and almost fell. Fortunately, he was caught by someone just in time.

“ I’ve got you.”

……” Sakamoto-San!”

That’s right! The one who caught Ryuji in the nick of time as he was about to fall off was none other than Josiane Sakamoto.

“ What—- are you doing here?”

“ What do you think?”

…

“ I’ve come to recover you.”

…

Josiane caught Ryuji from the back so, to make him face him, she twirled him in the opposite direction.

“ Who is this woman? How dare she interfere with my daughter’s engagement?”

…

Sasaki’s father was furious at the sudden turn of events. Sasaki was very much displeased as well, not to forget Ryuji’s father.

“ Who are you and why are you so clingy to my Ryuji?”

…

“ Who am I, you ask? I’m Ryuji’s friend and I go by the name Josiane Sakamoto.”

“ His friend?”

“ Seeing your expression right now, you must be the rumored fiancée, everyone at school has been talking about, Sasaki Sono, am I correct?”

…

Ryuji in Josiane’s embrace was burning up. Josiane was starting to feel extremely hot due to his body temperature, which was starting to escalate.

“ Excuse us, everyone! We’ll be going now.”

“ Where do you think you’re going with my son?”

(That must be Ryuji’s father. Knowing beforehand that he wasn’t in quite a good shape, he still dragged him here. What an insensitive father!)

…

(Due to your insensitiveness, his condition got this bad. Had he let him rest at home, he might have almost recovered from it all.)

“ Sir, excuse my rudeness!”

…

“ Why did you force Ryuji to come here, knowing perfectly well that he wasn’t in the state to?”

…

“ What? Is Ryuji ill?”

“ Wow, Sasaki Sono-San, you’re incredible, you know that. You claim to be his fiancée, but you didn’t even notice such a minor detail.”

…

“ Who were you about to get engaged to? Were you about to get engaged to someone you don’t even know?”

…

“ Shut your trap! Just because I was distracted at the moment, that doesn’t mean I don’t know my fiancée. I know him better than you think.”

“ Because you’re childhood friends. That’s it, isn’t it? If it weren’t for that, you wouldn’t know him at all, would you?”

…

“ Between a father who doesn’t care one bit about his son’s wellbeing and a fiancée who cares about nothing else than playing pretty, this whole engagement doesn’t make any sense.”

…

Sasaki’s father got irritated and called on security to drive Josiane out of the estate.

“ You don’t think these small fries are going to cause me trouble now, are you?”

…

“ You’re sorely mistaken if you think I’ll be taken down that easily.”

…

While holding on to Ryuji firmly with one hand, she took the trash out with essence and elegance in a couple of seconds. Everyone was stunned at the scene in front of their eyes.

“ Ryuji’s condition is deteriorating. If you don’t believe me, you can touch him to check the veracity of my words.”

…

Sasaki approached Ryuji and touched him. She took her hand away immediately.

“ He’s burning hot, more like he’s melting.”

Ryuji’s father was shocked to hear that. He couldn’t have guessed that his condition was this serious.

“ How are you able to hold him like that? Aren’t you burning?”

…

“ That’s what differentiates you and me, Sono-San. You’ve known Ryuji since childhood, but regardless of all that, I can affirm knowing him better than you do. Had it been you holding him, you would have dropped him long ago.”

…

I lifted Ryuji, who was very much unconscious. Everyone looked at me as I silently walked out of the room, holding Ryuji in my arms. The ring on Sasaki’s hand fell to the ground. The sound it made was the last thing I heard.

“ Sweaty, are you alright?”

Outside, a car was waiting for me. The one waiting for me was Thomas Albertini, Ryuji’s chauffeur.

“ How is he?”

“ His condition is worrisome. We must go to the hospital asap.”

Thomas helped me put Ryuji inside the car, and he drove off to the hospital soon after.

On the way to the hospital, Ryuji was reminiscing, more notably the one with his father.

Years off to the original storyline

“ Dad! Dad! Look at my drawing!”

“ Not now, Ryuji. I’m busy. I’ll look at it later.”

The young Ryuji walked away as his father asked, but later on when he came to him.

“ I have a meeting to attend, Ryuji.”

“ But you promised to look at it once you were done with your work.”

“ Ryuji, I told you that I can’t right now.”

The father accidentally threw his son’s drawing to the ground and walked off.

“ Young master, are you okay?”

“ Yes!”

To the present, Ryuji, who was still very much unconscious, was shedding tears. The tears fell on Josiane’s lap. Josiane gently wiped off his tears.