I sit on the sofa. It feels like the spotlight is suddenly on me. I am vulnerable. A deer in the headlights, alone and threatened. I should run.
I get up and dash to the door but fall. I raise my head slightly and see that I'm face-to-face with some serious high heels. To hell with them.
A voice purrs "Oh dear..."
I try not to glare at Lady Igarashi.
Many thoughts spin through my head. My parents' company is ruined...what will happen to Dad and Mum? Are they okay? Does my older brother Haruto know yet? I think about Akane too. She was going to marry my brother. But then a thought hits me. Who's money were they using to buy the dresses and the honeymoon tickets? Surely not-
I feel a gentle hand on my arm, pulling me up. Tora slides his arm around my waist and faces his parents. "Mother, why'd you trip (Y/N) up? She hasn't done anything!" he says, and for a second I see his perfect composure slip. In the next second, though, it's back to the normal calm expression.
Lady Igarashi's eyes widen in mock surprise. "Oh dear, I did?"
I speak up. "If you'd just get to your point, madam. I should leave soon."
Lady Igarashi taps at her phone. I recognise this tactic. She's ignoring me, trying to make me angrier. Although I'm already so pissed, I don't really think she can provoke me any more.
Sir Igarashi finally says, "Tora, we want you to cut off your ties with this girl. You will dismiss her from her position in the Student Council and avoid her. She is now a-"
I listen to all this, until I can't take it. "I know I'm almost a beggar now,okay?" I cry out.
I feel so bad. I know how hard my parents worked, I know how much my brother was looking forward to his wedding.
Choking back a sob, I make another attempt for the door.
And then a perfumed, manicured hand grabs my arm, leaving red streaks on my arm. "Girl, you are not to talk to our son," she orders.
I crumple onto the ground, sobbing. Why are they doing this? I just want to leave!
I hear the voice again. "Seems that she is very delicate. Unsuitable for our son."
At this, my anger boils. At the fancy dinner, Tora's parents were trying to find out more about me, and I know they had liked me. Before the company crashed, I had seen in their eyes that they were judging whether I was worthy to date their all-perfect son. Of course, though, that was all just fake, right?
I can hear Tora screaming, something I've never heard him do. He never raises his voice. But it all seems very distant, like I'm not there.
I feel myself being lifted and carried out of the room. A gentle voice says "It's okay. I'm here."
I realise that I'm crying so hard to see. I swipe at my eyes furiously and see a blurry image of Tora. His golden eyes are peering at me in concern.
We enter a new room and I think he locks the door. He puts me down on a soft chair and I curl up, not speaking. Tora walks over to me and pats my head softly, almost tenderly.
Then he says something so unexpected. Something I've never ever heard him say. Even more unlikely than him yelling at his parents. The words come out of his mouth easily, but with sincerity.
"I'm sorry."
I stare at him in shock. Wh-what?
He continues standing next to my chair, looking anywhere but at me. His voice breaks. "I really am."
I pull myself up and shake my head at him, trying to tell him that this isn't his fault. It's his parents that I hate. Tora slips my hand into his own and tugs. I stand up reluctantly and my legs move automatically, but I'm too numb to think.
He leads me to the school gates, then I pull away from his grasp wordlessly. He seems to understand. Tora turns away, but I can't miss the sadness and pain in his eyes. Some part of me thinks that he deserves this pain. And yet he has been so sweet to me. I don't know what to think of him anymore.
But I know one thing: I'm not going near that Igarashi family if I can help it.
