My DOJO Princess [ON-GOING]

Chapter 19: It's Not Like I Don't Want To

= Haruhi's POV =

"Can I stay here with Ken-kun's place?" I asked my mother through the phone.

"No problem dear." She said. "Just don't do anything to my horror."

"Mother, I'm already twenty five!" I said.

I was at the balcony to avoid interrupting Ken-kun's neighbors.

"Are you raising your voice to me?" She said in a hurt tone.

"N-no." I said. "I'll be back there tomorrow at 6am."

"Good!" She said cheerfully. "I'll ask Rei-san to pick you up."

"Understood." I confirmed.

"Also, tell him if he does anything suspicious, I'll send all of our two hundred and six bodyguards to salvage him." She said. "Hope he knows how to swim in the middle of the ocean."

"Mother!" I said.

"I'm just joking. Take care!" She said and cuts the call.

"Why did I agreed to call her to report my every move?" I sighed.

I came back inside and saw Ken-kun seated on the sofa and staring at his phone.

Does he somehow miss his family? I thought.

I took some drink inside his fridge and sat next to him.

A while ago at the curry diner, he cheered me up. Uh- also, I just realized a while ago that I've been glaring at him way too much for the past days. Somehow it was just a while ago I felt embarrassed for the first time when staring directly to his eyes.

Keep your cool Haruhi! I instructed myself.

"Here you go." I handed him a can of lime soda.

"Uh thank you." He said. "But actually, you already gave me one."

He picked up another can of lime soda on the coffee table.

"Oh." I said.

I forgot I already gave him one before I made a call with mother.

"Don't worry, it's fine." He said. "Anyway, about my family."

"Go on." I said and listened attentively.

"Are you familiar with the Oda Brew?" He said.

"You mean that sake and mirin company?" I asked.

"Yup." He confirmed. "My family owns that."

"Eh?" I said in surprise.

To explain to you all, the Oda Brew is a sake (rice wine) brewery company famous in Japan. And the guy sitting next to me is from the family that owns it?

"Well, the reason why my parents didn't want me to leave was so that I can help them manage the business." He said. "They made me take up business course in college but I secretly enrolled to the literary arts department."

They way he's talking was like the time I told him about my family.

"Eventually my parents found out." He said. "My mother took time to accept it but my father became cold as ice to me."

"Did you try to talk to your father properly?" I asked.

"Have you?" He looked at me as if he's asking the same question on me to my own father.

"No." I answered.

"Somehow, we're one of the same." He laid his back to the rest of the sofa. "Both of us are tied with the chains of high expectations from our respective families."