Chapter 88 – Preparations for the event

In the afternoon, Sakamo’s classmates were in the gym, and he was seated on the benches, studying. Now and then, he would raise his head from his books when he heard a shout or laughter because they were divided into two groups, playing dodgeball with a twist. They had to use their less dominant hand, creating some funny and weak throws that were easily avoided by everyone.
They were all having problems with throwing the ball, except Hangaku Mae. She was as strong with her left arm as she was with her right. On more than one occasion, she hit a classmate with one ball and another one right after, in quick succession. In the end, she was the only one in the middle of the gym with a big smile and raising both arms.
…

Thursday arrived, and another simulacrum at School disrupted the routine of the students and Teachers. Some were complaining that it was becoming increasingly annoying to have simulacrums every single day.
When School finally ended, Hangaku Mae left by car, avoiding talking to the reporters. Sakamo went as usual with Takechi and Tomiko, and left them in front of Takechi’s restaurant, walking alone to his house.
He went straight to his office to check the last emails he had waiting for him and got completely distracted until Hangaku arrived home. She shouted his name as soon as she entered, and when she found him in his office, she signalled to him it was time to go, and he still needed to take a shower and change clothes. Sakamo turned off his computer and got up with a smile, doing a little twirl and showing that he was ready. It was only missing a bow tie and the jacket.

Hangaku Mae clicked her tongue and made a kinky smile. “Tsk! Looking like that, and you want to go out. I can only think about undressing you because you look so good that I could eat you!”

Sakamo pointed at the door. “Go take a quick shower and get ready, or I will go alone. I bet there are a lot of pretty girls there to keep me company!”

Hangaku wrinkled her nose and went to the door. “Yeah, do that, and you will see what happens. I don’t like it when my man looks at another woman, let alone letting him be with one besides me!”

Sakamo put on his bow tie and grabbed the jacket that was hanging on a hanger on the wall behind him. He went down the stairs while fixing the bow tie and heard water running coming from the bathroom. He smiled and grabbed his phone, checking the news as he sat at the dining table.
Not even thirty minutes later, Hangaku Mae came down the stairs, trying to put one earring on and with her shoes under her right armpit. Sakamo looked up and his jaw dropped. She noticed his stare and smiled as she put on her shoes. She fixed her light yellow long dress, with an opening on both sides that reached half her thighs.

She pointed at the crystal on the necklace and asked, “Do you think this light blue goes well with my dress? I don’t want to take it off. I even chose a pair of shoes and a small purse in the same colour tone.”

“You look amazing, Mae. Is that a new dress?”

“Yeah, my mother sent it with the rest of my clothes. I think she bought this thinking that I was going with them. I suppose she wants me to look good at that event we are going to. Did you already call for a car?”

Sakamo pointed at his cell phone. “No need. My driver already sent me a message saying that he is outside, waiting for us. Shall we go?”

Hangaku Mae approached him and gave him a quick kiss, backing away immediately to escape his grasp. “No, no! Behave! I don’t want you to ruin my lip gloss or my makeup! I just put a tiny bit, but I don’t want to correct it because we would be late!”

Sakamo went to the door, and as he opened it, he made a slight bow and pointed with his open palm. “Your carriage awaits you, Milady!”

Hangaku raised her chin and walked straight, as if she was modelling, giving him a light touch with her hip as she went past him.
Outside, the driver quickly opened the door for them and closed it as soon as Sakamo entered.

When the driver went to his seat, he looked at the rearview mirror and said, “Sakamo-san, you and Hangaku-san are going to enter through a back door that leads to a corridor. Through there, you can easily access the main room. There will be a hostess to guide you to your table. For obvious reasons, you can’t be seen or photographed at the main entrance. That’s why we have to go through a different way.”

Sakamo nodded, and Hangaku frowned. “Wait a minute, I can’t enter through the main door like everyone else? I want to show off Ryu-kun! I want everyone to see us arrive!”

The driver vigorously shook his head. “I am sorry, Hangaku-san, but that won’t be possible. I am not sure how much Sakamo-san told you, but he can’t be seen by the general public attending such an event. It would surely raise a lot of questions that we wish to avoid. I hope you understand.”

Hangaku Mae leaned back with a frown. “We are going to have a serious talk about this when we arrive home, Ryu. So much secrecy is annoying.”

“Yeah, unfortunately, this is kind of usual. I am involved in a lot of things that our government wishes to keep secret. They want to avoid questions from reporters and the public. Can you imagine the scandal and the trouble it would cause if everyone knew that someone as young as me was in charge of our most important calamity simulacrum up to this day? Not to mention the interest from other countries. My bodyguard even mentioned once that I could be kidnapped by a foreign country, allied or not, if they knew what I was capable of.”

Hangaku raised one eyebrow. “At least it will become easier after the simulacrum next week? Or will it only get worse?”

“It will get easier, for sure. I made a contract stipulating that. I may need to lay low for a few weeks while the software guys take care of their part, but until another project appears that needs my big head, I will only have to put up with my bodyguard and this serious driver following me around.”

Hangaku slowly nodded. “I see. Well, I hope you can at least go with me to a social event if my future awesome career demands it. I don’t want to go alone to every boring party or social gathering my agent sets me up!”

Sakamo gave her a light kiss on the lips. “That, I can do. Unless your career suffers when your fans find out that you already have a boyfriend.”

Hangaku Mae leaned her head on his shoulder. “If I have to choose between my career and you, I will always choose you.”

Sakamo felt his heart squeezing. He was feeling divided between the love he felt for her and the doubt if she knew what her father was doing in Azurath, or if she helped him somehow. He looked at the window and tried to calm down because it was doing no good to his mood, thinking about that possibility.
He struggled to imagine that Hangaku Mae could work with her father, or being trained by him, or even worse, if she had already gone to Azurath and helped him make more dark Magical Orbs by killing Mage Summoners and their contracted Spirits.
Hangaku noticed his unusual silence but thought he could be worried about what she said and didn’t ask anything. Instead, she took a small mirror from her purse and checked her makeup.
After a few minutes, Hangaku put the mirror back in the purse again and stared at the window on her left, looking at the light poles passing by, the few cars on the street, and the occasional pedestrian walking on the sidewalk, going somewhere.
She made a slight smile when she saw a man holding hands with a woman, and they were both happily talking and pointing at the window of a shop with wedding dresses.
Hangaku felt her heart skip a beat when she imagined herself in one of those white dresses, walking along the aisle, with Sakamo dressed in a dark blue suit, waiting for her near a Priest. She then imagined that she was looking to her right, in search of her father, who was for sure with her on that walk, and a face was there, enveloped in shadows. Hangaku jolted and blinked a few times, trying to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes. She quickly took a small handkerchief from her purse and gathered the tears before they could ruin her makeup.

Sakamo noticed her uneasiness and asked, “What’s the matter? Nervous?”

Hangaku answered while closing the purse. “No, just daydreaming. Or, in this case, nightdreaming? Dreaming for sure. Don’t worry, it’s just girl’s stuff.”

Sakamo frowned for a while, and then he looked at the window again. He could perfectly see that something was bothering her, but if she didn’t want to talk, he wasn’t going to insist. They had been living together for only three days, but he already knew that when she didn’t want to talk about something, it was no use insisting, because she would rather leave the room than answer him. And considering they were in a moving car, it probably was not a good idea to pressure her, because she could open the door and jump to get away from his questioning.
The car slowed down as they approached a big Convention Centre, and as the car went to a side street, Sakamo saw in front of the main entrance a huge crowd of reporters and flashes of cameras, as luxurious limousines depleted their guests, one after the other.
The driver stopped the car near a door where Sakamo’s bodyguard was standing, waiting for them. He touched his earpiece and mumbled a few words, opening the car door right after.

When Sakamo was holding Hangaku’s hand to help her get out, the bodyguard said, “The path is clear, Sakamo-san. If you don’t mind following me, I will guide you to the main dining room. There, a hostess will guide you to a table.”

Sakamo nodded and held Hangaku’s right hand, and they both followed the serious and silent bodyguard.
After the door, there was a small hall with boxes and crates. It was probably used as storage. After the next door, Sakamo saw a long corridor with several doors, with people walking from one door to the other, carrying trays, piles of napkins, and boxes with plates. The corridor led to another door that the bodyguard unlocked with a key he took from his pocket. After glancing back to see if no one was looking at them, he opened the door and let them pass, locking the door afterwards.

He pointed with his open palm to the front, where the noise of conversations was reaching the large decorated wall full of vases with plants, where they were now. “The event will take place in there. Go ahead. I need to get back to my station. I will be one phone call away if you need me.”

Sakamo asked, with a slight grin, “Do you want me to bring something to you? A chicken leg, for example?”

The always serious bodyguard hid a smile. “Maybe a crate of beer, if you can. It will be funny if I am caught drinking or eating while on duty.”

“I will see what I can do. I saw a few crates with beers in that small hall where we entered, and maybe when we go home, we can rob a few crates if they are still in there and hide in the car's trunk.”

The bodyguard left them, doing his best not to laugh. Sakamo frowned and mumbled, “One of these days, I will make him crack up with laughter. Let’s go, Mae. I want to see if we can get a nice and quiet table.”

“No, I want one right in the middle for everyone to see us. I want to show you off because I want everyone to see the stunning man I grabbed!”