Shihou is on his way to Tsugami Arihiko's office. It's been a week since their break up, and he still hasn't done anything yet to take back Mayumi and make her his again. He can't think of anything until Sumi tells him he still has an option that Shihou needs to discuss with Arihiko. Because, after all, Shihou asks her hand in marriage first. So if he explains this to Arihiko, he might still have a chance to take her back from Tennou's grasp.
"Arihiko-sama?" He lowly called out for the man. There inside stood Tsugami Arihiko. Seeing the man enter the room, he smirks as if he already knows why Shihou seeks out him so they can talk. It caused a shiver to run down Shihou's spine.
Does this mean that he already knows and just waiting for the confirmation?
"Shihou-kun, what are you doing here. Do you need anything?~~" Arihiko asks in his playful voice, but still, the smirk remains on his face. The looks he's giving him make Shihou nervous as if he has fallen into a trap he wasn't aware of.
Shihou shakes his head; he's been stressed out that he's been thinking nothing but negative things! Looking at Arihiko and seeing him in the same expression makes him more nervous. Shihou looks down, not sure if he's still going to do this. If he asks Arihiko about his request, it might affect his family. But didn't he already ask permission earlier to them? And they already gave him their consent, so what's stopping him right now? Is it because he feels somewhat selfish?
"Is this about Mayumi-chan?" surprised, his eyes widen as he looks up at him. How did he know? That's the only thing in his mind right now. Maybe he already knows about it? After all, he is Tsugami Arihiko. He has eyes and ears everywhere!
"Umm... Arihiko-sama, does the agreement of the future marriage of Mayumi and Tennou can be voided if I told you that I first asked her to be my bride?"
Shihou stood firm, waiting for the answer to his question. He knew how the Tsugami family always prioritizes the Miya family. He wasn't sure why but he was told as a child that they prioritize the Miya family because they're the wealthiest in the country, and even if the Tsugami is also a wealthy family, they still can't beat them. If they're a part of the 12 families, they only stand behind the Miya family.
Meanwhile, the man looks at Shihou. Shihou's face is full of determination and somewhat nervousness. He's not sure if he will still be full of confidence after saying what he's about to say. He felt terrible, but there was nothing he could do to change anything.
"Mayumi-chan agreed, right?"
"Y-yes...."
"Even you didn't announce it sooner. The agreement can be invalid if the other person agrees; you should have witnesses as proof! And I'm sure that you have one or two, right?" Hearing this, a spark of hope began to rise through him, slowly nodded his head.
"Then we can invalidate it!" Arihiko said with a smile. He was about to smile himself when suddenly Arihiko spoke again.
"But you know, right?" He asks, glaring at him.
The hope that rises to Shihou's body suddenly vanishes like a speck of dust as he looks at the ground, frustrated.
"You know that Tennou wants her to be his bride. But despite this, you still ask her, and to add it up, you didn't ask Seichi about it, which is one of the essential parts. Did you forget about that law, Shihou-Kun? All the things you did are misdeeds, and you still did it even knowing this! It might affect the status of your family, not only the status but also their lives." Arihiko lightly taps his shoulder before turning back and sitting on his chair. He looks at the devastated boy as he continues.
"However, I will overlook it this time, Shihou-kun, since I like you so much! In exchange for that, I will not annul the marriage engagement. I won't give you special treatment! It will become unfair for the others."
Shihou clenches his fist. What does he mean by not giving him special treatment? Since when did that ever happen? Not even the other families receive such. Only the Miya family receives such treatment. They always gave the Miya family one because they're the number 1 family. Isn't that what you call unfair?!
"And also there is this law that if a Miya found their spouse and they wanted to cancel the agreement, whether they still like them or not if they already announce it. The marriage agreement can't be revoked and will remain intact unless the betrothed is from a noble family. But Mayumi-chan is from the 12 families and not the nobles, so I still won't be able to grant your request. So if you have no more to say, you may leave now because I still need to do many things!"
"Y-yes, please excuse me..." he said, still looking down. He is mad. No, he is furious. Shihou clenches his hands as he walks out of the office. When he is already outside, he punches the wall next to him.
"Tennou, you bastard! You plan this all from the start!"
Mayumi is walking around the school looking for her father. Her father asks her to bring him the documents. She has been looking for him for hours but still can't see him. Where did he go?! When she turned in a corner, Mayumi saw her. That girl wearing eyeglasses with long strawberry blonde hair up to her waist is now a short ash brown that ends on her chest. And she's not wearing eyeglasses anymore. Instead, she wears a green contact lens. Despite these changes, Mayumi can still recognize her. When she spots Mayumi's presence, she begins to walk away.
"Wait! Hikari!" Hikari stops walking and looks at her with a stoic face. Mayumi frowned. Where's the smile she had seen before? It's as if the one standing in front of her is a different person.
"What is it? Do you need anything, Mayumi-sama?" Mayumi is taken aback by her facial expression and speech. It was as if Mayumi was talking to a completely different person.
"Hikari, I thought...." she doesn't know how to form the words she wants to say. She doesn't even know what she wants to ask her.
"If you don't have anything to say, then I'm leaving!" Before Hikari can leave, Mayumi asks her a question she doesn't want to hear the answer to because she fears what she will hear.
"Why did you two do that? Even though you knew...." Hikari looks at her before she turns her back and answers.
"I'm the one every 12 family members doesn't want to interact with; I'm a nobody. I think that's why...." She said with a sad smile and began to leave. Mayumi looks at her back, dumbfounded, wondering what she meant.
"Kitty?" She startles and turns around to see Tennou looking at her, confused.
"What are you doing standing there?" Tennou asks her, standing next to her with his usual smirk.
"Ah, no. It's nothing! Umm, can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?" Tennou asks as he offers her a stick of mitarashi dango. Mayumi quietly accepts the offer and looks at Tennou with a confused face. Before looking down at the ground and asking him.
"Hikari told me she's the one every 12 family members doesn't want to interact with and that she is a nobody. What did she mean by that?" She asks, looking up to Tennou. Determine to get an answer.
The smirk on Tennou's face falters before looking at her expression. Seeing her facial expressions made his smirk resurface, but this one was not as confident as he usually had; this was the first time he saw a different emotion in her after the announcement.
"You know the laws, right?" Tennou asks as he sways the stick of mitarashi dango in his hand repeatedly while looking at her with a smirk.
"Umm... Yeah..."
"There's one law that everyone must always keep in their head. A family head shouldn't have an affair with anyone, and they shouldn't have a child with the mistress, right?"
"Don't tell me..."
"Haru Hikari's real name..." Tennou said and pointed the stick to Mayumi.
~~~•••~~~•••~~~•••~~~
"Shihou! Do you even know why Hikari was pulled into this?" Keisuke asks.
"I think I have an idea... We are not allowed to interact with someone like Hikari. After all, that's one of the laws..."
"What do you mean, Shihou?" Rokuhiko asks, confused.
"Maybe Tennou knows that Hikari is an illegitimate child of one of the 12 families. We have a law that we shouldn't interact with the illegitimate child of a 12 family member. If he knows, then maybe he used it to blackmail her. But how did he find out about it? He shouldn't know about it! Especially after what happened to him!"
"Wait, illegitimate child?!" Benihime asks in surprise.
"Yeah, Hikari's real name is...."
~~~•••~~~•••~~~•••~~~
"Shima Himari...." Tennou said, making Mayumi's eyes wide. Shima? Is she related to Sumi? What's the meaning of this?