Chapter 89.1 - The fundraising event 1.1

Sakamo got up and bowed at them as the angry man and his shocked wife left.

He then frowned at the cheque and mumbled, “As usual for the rich ones, they always think money buys everything.”

Tokimasa had enough of Sakamo’s threats. First, he took his daughter. Second, he made their family look less than honourable. Third, he threatened his livelihood and business. Enough was enough.
Just a quick turn on his heels, and he was facing Sakamo as he came up from his bow. Tokimasa’s hands were already curling into fists. Just as Sakamo sat back down, he yanked on the chair, making sure that Sakamo fell on his bottom to look like an equal fool.

Maki said to her husband, quietly, while glancing around at all the people that were staring at Sakamo, alerted by the sudden noise of him falling, “Please, let us leave. He embarrasses our family name.”

Sakamo got up with a smile and rubbed his chin as he looked at the snorting man and whispered to the muffling-laughing girl next to him, “I guess I touched something sensible.”

Tokimasa signalled to Mae to go with them. “Come, my daughter, let’s leave before he does any more harm to our family name.”

“I’m not going anywhere! I do not wish to disrespect the Empress, and I want to meet her again as she requested.”

Sakamo slowly nodded. “I think next weekend we can go meet her, considering I always visit her every Sunday morning.”

While the Empress was making her rounds and greetings, she quickly took notice of the disturbing scene at Sakamo’s table.

She snapped her fingers and when two of her guards appeared, she sneered, “Follow Tokimasa and his wife. I want to know what makes that man tick and every aspect of his business. And escort them out.”

As they headed towards the exit, Hangaku no Maki noticed from the corner of her eyes three large men going in their direction, and she whispered to her husband, “Please hurry, this can’t be a good sign if they are coming to us!”

As the couple was quickly leaving the room, Sakamo noticed the movement near the door and hid a smile. He knew very well that the Empress sought revenge from anyone that annoyed her, as he found out every time he mocked her in private.

Mae touched Sakamo’s arm to call for his attention. “Why did you say that we were going to visit the Empress this weekend? You know we are going to Nakanojo.”

“Yes, but your father doesn’t need to know, right? I don’t trust him a single bit. Something is off about him. I bet he even has business with some shady people.”

“Well, now that you mention it, he used to have some meetings at home with guys that didn’t look as if they were businessmen. They stopped coming, though. I overheard him talking with my mother one day that one or two of them were mysteriously killed. I don’t know the details. What surprised me the most was how much you hate him. Please, don’t deny it. You were angry ever since you met him at his home. Did you ever meet him? Did he ever do anything against you?”

“I think he may not be the caring father you knew all your life. I suppose for someone in his position, he had to step on many people on his way to riches, and that may be normal in his world.”

Hangaku Mae frowned. “You know, I thought you and him would click, but instead, you two look more like deadly rivals.”

Sakamo shrugged, and his answer was cut off by the sound of a familiar voice behind him, “Sakamo-kun, so nice to meet you here! I wasn’t aware that you were going to make an appearance! And in such good company, I see!”

Sakamo got up and made a deep bow with a smile, receiving a firm handshake in return. Sakamo looked at the gulping Hangaku Mae and said, “Mister President, may I introduce to you Hangaku Mae, my girlfriend. Mae, you for sure know the fine President of our nation.”

Hangaku Mae was already bowing, and she stuttered, “M-Mister P-President, it is an honour.”

“The honour is all mine, Mae-san. Tell me, Sakamo-kun, how did you conquer such an amazing young woman? Especially because she and her family have the reputation of being very strict with her suitors. And while we are at it, how did Hangaku Tokimasa react when he met you? I am sure that was fun to watch!”

“Well, actually, she was the one to conquer me, little by little. As for her father, he hates my guts. It was probably my fault because I did everything I could to be the most obnoxious person he ever met.”

The President laughed, making the people on the other tables wonder who was that young man that had such a relationship with the always serious President. “Ahahah! I knew it! Of course, it had to be her, knowing you! You always crack me up, Sakamo-kun. You even managed to anger her father!”

The President forced himself to stop laughing, and he then approached Sakamo and lowered his voice, “Be careful with him. He is known for seeking revenge when things don’t go in his favour. Good luck with work next Tuesday. I am praying for a tremendous success.”

Sakamo made another deep bow and answered, “Thank you for your kind words, Mister President.”

The President then held Hangaku Mae’s hands and smiled at her while signalling with his head to the one behind him. “Take good care of him; we all have high expectations of him.”

Hangaku Mae gulped and gave a slight smile, realising the strange glow in the President’s eyes. When he left, she sat at the table and whispered, “I got the strange feeling that he sees you as some kind of National Treasure!”

Sakamo took a sip of his cup. “Probably, and I also think that when he runs again for President, he will try to use me as a propaganda boy, and he will fail. I am not his, or anyone else’s. Okay, maybe I am yours, but no one else is worthy of taking advantage of me.”

“One of these days, you need to explain to me why the Empress and the President have you in such high regards.”

Sakamo winked. “Maybe it’s my charming personality. It’s a pity that only your father despises me because everyone else likes me a lot.”

Hangaku frowned while staring over his right shoulder. “I see someone that definitely likes what she sees. Not only one, but a few, actually. There are a lot of girls with their parents here, and it seems you picked up their interest. I may need to have a talk with them. I don’t like seeing other women drooling over what is mine.”

“I think we have already drawn too much attention to ourselves. What about if we enjoy our dinner and pretend there is no one else around besides us?”

As soon as Sakamo finished talking, a voice came from their left, “Hangaku-chan, astonishing as always!”

Sakamo rolled his eyes because he recognised the voice. He looked up and there they were, Tashiro Saito with his stupid smile, and Sadakichi Chiba, clinging to his right arm with an awkward look and doing her best to look somewhere else.

Hangaku Mae snorted, “You again? You never learn, do you? Do I need to slap you again?”

Tashiro Saito leaned forward, dragging along the stumbling girl at his side, not caring if she was there or not, and smiled closely at Hangaku’s face. “Now, now, you don’t want to cause a scandal in front of all these people, do you? I just came to say hi, but if you do something rash, your recent fame might take a tremendous blow, and you will go down even before reaching the stars. Well, with me at your side, you could rest assured that nothing would come to harm you.”

Hangaku moved her head to the right to face Sakamo and asked, “Do you mind taking care of this? Because if it’s up to me, I will smash my plate in his head and ruin this dinner.”

Tashiro Saito slowly stood up and grinned at Sakamo. “What can he do here? This is my element. He is totally out of water. My agency bought a seat for me at this event, and they even gave me an immense sum of money so that I could cause a good impression and make them look good.”

Sakamo slowly shook his head. “Man, you really have your head in the clouds. I have never met anyone so dumb! Look around. Do you see anyone else besides us alone at a table? Everyone is sharing their table with another couple, but we are completely alone. There are people near the entrance, waiting for the hostess to show them a place, but no one is coming to join us because we want to have dinner with no one nearby. Your agency may have bought the entrance for you, but I bought the entire table!”

Tashiro Saito jolted, “That is a lie! This is a very exclusive event, and the entrance costs a tonne of money, not to mention the money for donations! You are just a student! I don’t even know how you got in! Her, I know it was because of her family’s money, but you? Don’t make me laugh!”

Sakamo disguisedly signalled one man who was near a wall, dressed in a dark blue suit. He approached while looking around as if he was checking if everything was in order.

Tashiro Saito didn’t notice his approach and kept on talking, “I bet that if I called a hostess, we would find out that you crashed this event. There is no way for you to get in with an invitation.”

Sakamo frowned at Hangaku. “First your parents, now this guy. Do I give any kind of vibe that I am poor or unworthy of breathing the air here? Because this is getting irritating! I am not sure how much his agency pays him, but it’s not enough because they failed to teach him some manners!”

The security man made a slight bow and asked, “Is everything in order, Sakamo-san?”

“No, not really. Do you mind removing this dumb fool from my sight? I want to have a peaceful dinner without getting irritated, but I am about to slice his head off.”

The security man pointed with his open palm to the exit, where the hostess was talking with a couple and checking the list. “Please accompany me. I need to check your invitation.”

Tashiro Saito pointed one accusing finger at Sakamo. “Check my invitation? Do you know with whom you are talking? You should ask for his invitation!”

The serious man opened his jacket just a bit, and Tashiro Saito gulped at the gun in the holster under his arm, as the frowning man spoke in an icy voice, “I wasn’t asking. Sakamo-san asked me to take you away, so you can either follow me in silence, or you will leave this room by force.”

Tashiro Saito turned pale, and Sadakichi Chiba clenched her fingernails in his arm while trembling all over. They both followed him in absolute silence, not daring to even look at Sakamo Ryu.

Hangaku Mae slowly shook her head. “I may need to buy a can of pepper spray. That guy keeps popping up everywhere. Annoying stalker…”

Sakamo pointed to the butter knife over the table that she was squeezing. “I have a few knives that you can put in your bag. If he gets near you again, stick it in his throat. That should do it.”

“Yeah, right, my fans would love to see the news saying that I stabbed a guy to death! Sometimes, you have the weirdest ideas! We may need to go to a doctor to check your head!”

Sakamo shrugged. “It was just a thought. No need to get so spooked about it! What if we ask the waiter what he recommends we eat? I am getting hungry with all this stress!”

Hangaku approached and whispered, “When we get home, I can do something about all that stress. It’s probably better if you eat well because you will need your strength!”

Sakamo whispered back with a kinky smile, “Promises, promises, nothing but empty promises!”

Hangaku Mae gave him a hypnotizing smile, and Sakamo felt his head going blank. He could hardly wait for them to get home.