My "Ikemen" Butler

Chapter 17: My Mistress' Homecoming

          “What are you laughing at?” Hiromi asked his cousin Tetsuya as he kept giggling for himself as he stared outside the window of their car.

            “It’s just, I still can’t get over Tristan’s face when he realized you topped the exam and not him. It was so funny,” Tetsuya said laughing his heart out making Kaoru laughed along with him. Hiromi was trying to hold back laughter too.

            “You showed him couz,” he said again still laughing.

            “We’re here mistress, master,” said the driver after awhile and they’re laughter finally died down. They’re back at their house at the heart of the city in London once more.

            “I’ll go pack up ASAP! I can’t wait to go home to Japan,” Tetsuya said excitedly as they were heading for their rooms.

            “Me too! Once we’re there I’ll go visit Shibuya immediately and buy tons of Lolita outfits, then I’ll go to Akibahara to check out the latest anime events and stuff…” Hiromi answered but her sentence was cut off when someone said, “I wouldn’t be too excited if I were you. You need to talk to your dad first.” They all turned their head to where the voice was and who was there but the grandmaster himself, their grandfather, as he was being wheel chaired by Takeshi.

            “What do you mean grandpa?” Hiromi asked her grandfather confusingly.

            “Just go ask him yourself,” he said and he signaled Takeshi to take him away. They passed by them with no more words to say but an alarm on Takeshi’s face indicates that Hiromi’s dad is planning something Hiromi won’t like again.

            “Looks like you’re in for another storm couz,” Tetsuya said worriedly.

            “Brace yourselves then, you might be in for a bumpy ride too,” Hiromi answered as she looked at Tetsuya and Kaoru but especially focusing her gaze on Kaoru. If Takeshi was worried, Kaoru looked horrified for what is about to happen.

            Hiromi immediately went to her dad’s office right after she got settled in. She had no time for chit chat so she immediately went straight to the point as she opened the door.

            “Why did grandpa say I need to talk to you? What are you planning of doing again?”

            “Oh Fiory! So glad you’re finally here,” Mr. Kokubo said with a huge grin on his face. It was unusual for Fiory to see his dad in such a great mood like that but what’s more unusual is the fact that they’re not alone in his office at that moment. There’s someone there, sitting and drinking tea in his office lounge.

            Mr. Kokubo stared at where Hiromi was staring at and laughed saying, “Oh, I see you noticed Mr. Avalon. I guess this will be a great time to introduce you too.” Mr. Kokubo already had a huge smirk on his face now.

            Hiromi went white. Although she had been expecting this to come for a long time already, she didn’t expect it to happen now. She knows who Mr. Avalon is. She had heard of him before and she had been dreading the day that she’ll meet her but the time has finally come.

            “Who are you marrying me off to?” She said straightforwardly.

            “Don’t worry, you’ll have a variety of choices but we’ll meet up tomorrow. I have an appointment scheduled right now you see. After all, it’s that season again,” he said as he fixed his glasses, bowed at Mr. Kokubo saying, “I’ll be back tomorrow to fix everything,” and left the room at once.

            “Heh, you look like you’re not in a shock at all,” Mr. Kokubo said with a grin on his face as he looked at Hiromi straight in the eye.

            “How could I when I’ve been expecting it my whole life? It doesn’t mean I approve of it though. I would never approve of such things. Just to let you know, since I knew this was coming, I have a bag of tricks up in my sleeve. I’m gon’na make this into a fun game. You’ll get entertained for sure,” Hiromi said with a confident smile on her face and walked out of the room immediately like she heard nothing. It’s on! She thought to herself.

            She was about to go back to her bedroom when she heard voices calling out her name. “Hiromi!” The voice said and she looked around just to see her cousin and her butler there.

            “We saw him! We saw Mr. Avalon, the matchmaker. You’re dad is marrying you off isn’t he?” Tetsuya said worriedly.

            “Yeah, but don’t worry about it. I have a whole set of game plan set for this. He’s not gon’na win,” Hiromi answered.

            “That’s good! We’ll help you out no matter what. Right Kaoru?” Tetsu said confidently.

            “Right Kaoru?” He repeated when he didn’t receive an answer but there was still no answer from him. Both Hiromi and Tetsuya looked at him confusingly but he continued to stand there, looking at the ground with a horrified look on his face.

            “Kaoru daijobo?” Hiromi asked confusingly but still no answer.

            “Kaoru?” She repeated again and that’s when Kaoru seemed to come back to his senses. He shook his head and looked at Hiromi with a smile on his face, trying to hide the worry that was evident earlier. “Hai, ojou-sama?” He asked curiously.

            “Daijobo? You were spacing out just now,” Hiromi said worriedly.

            “Ah hai! Daijobo desu,” he answered with a huge smile on his face.

            “Are you sure? Are you sick?” Hiromi said putting his hand on his forehead to fill his temperature but it was normal. Kaoru took Hiromi’s hand on his and said once more, “I’m fine mistress. Don’t worry about me.”

            “O—okay,” was all Hiromi could answer.

            “I’ll go bring you some tea,” Kaoru said as he bowed at Hiromi and left without another word.

            “What’s with him,” Tetsuya asked as he stared at Kaoru’s back as he continued to walk away.

            “I have no idea,” Hiromi answered worriedly still.

            This is bad! If that guy sees me he might still recognize me and if he does, he might reveal my true identity. I could end up being sent back to the grasp of that guy. I can’t! That can’t happen. I don’t want it to. I need to be careful. I should avoid Mr. Avalon no matter what. Kaoru thought to himself, his mind in a panic.