Prestige 5 (Misei End)

"Mother?" Misei was in complete and utter shock in seeing her mom here. This hardly sounded like the type of location this woman would be seen frequenting in. So why was she here now of all times?

"Hmm? Oh hey it looks like our kids are here." They got their answer the second Arata's dad spoke up. He didn't seem to mind the situation of seeing his son here with Misei at all. "Funny running into you two."

"I should be asking you that." Arata responded, dumbfounded at the lack of care his dad seemed to have in this moment. "Why are you two here?"

"Well, since it's a down week for the company. I offered the idea to come here and enjoy some karaoke." His dad answered. While she seemed to be against the idea, everyone else liked it and wanted to bring along their own friends and families as well. So Misei's mom allowed it and joined in to make sure they wouldn't do anything stupid when not under her watch.

"Anyway, how about we return to the subject at hand here?" Speaking of her mom, the woman had a harsh tone in regards to what she was seeing her. "What are the two of you doing here?"

"We were… Singing karaoke." Misei gingerly answered.

"Well isn't that nice?" His dad responded first. "We're just about to do the same thing too, so how about you go grab your friends and we can have fun together?"

"Actually, dad…" Arata didn't want to clarify, but there was no getting out of this. "It's just the two of us."

"That's what I figured." Her mom crossed her arms unhappily with this information. "As harsh as this sounds, I don't quite like you spending so much time with this boy."

"M-mother." Misei got nervous now that the woman was speaking so openly her disdain for Arata. "I don't see what's so different with him and the others."

"For starters, I already know how his father can be." She responded. "And I think it's a waste of time to spend so much of it with people like them." Arata wasn't sure what exactly she meant by that. Perhaps it was just something related to their class differences, or maybe she just personally held a lot of disdain for that man.

Either way, what she was saying was rather preposterous to be saying about someone in public. Let alone right in front of them. There seemed to be something she had against the young boy, especially when it came to the time he was with her daughter. "Now, let's go home now, Misei." The woman took her daughter and began to walk away.

"…" Arata was near speechless from her actions. The girl didn't want to defy her mother, and it seemed that his dad wasn't going to say anything. Most likely as to not jeopardize his job or interfere in parental actions. "Wait." However, the young boy wasn't going to let them slip away so easily.

"Hmm?" Her mom stopped and slightly leaned her head back towards him. "I see your father never taught you manners." Her voice sent chills up his spine. The boy's mind wanted to give up already, but he did everything he could to continue to speak. "You take issue with my parenting?"

"Why are you so adamant that she can't be with me?" It wasn't even an implication of them dating. As far as most people were aware, they were just friends from school. "What's wrong with me?"

"Misei shouldn't be wasting her time with people who have dead ends for hobbies." Was being an otaku really that bad? It seemed to be the case from this woman's eyes. "Honestly, most of the boys she hangs around really aren't good influences." At least he wasn't alone in being a part of her ire. Though why Akaki was a part of it with him and Yogi was unknown.

"It's not up to you to decide who she wants to spend her time with." Arata argued. "I mean, if she wants to be with me or not, that should be up to her."

"You teens are always making mistakes." She countered. "I see no problem with giving you all some guidance, unlike how your father views the world."

"And I'd say that I'm right in seeing things that way." Arata's dad finally spoke up. The boy wasn't sure why now. Was it just because she brought him into this and he wanted to defend his pride? The more accurate reason was that he was now stepping in because his son was now a bigger participant in this discussion. "Look, I get that you're a little scared about this."

"Me? Scared?" She scoffed at him for even bring up the possibility. "I'm not scared of anything. It's just that these two really shouldn't be together as much as they have been."

"B-but mother…" Misei spoke up. "The truth is… I… I really like him." Judging from the bright red color covering her entire face. It was clear for them to see that it wasn't easy for the girl to say it out loud to her.

"That's only your immature body telling you things." She replied. "It's not as if you can expect a lifetime with this boy."

"Minai." Arata's dad brushed his hand on the woman's arm. "I know it's been tough with what you've been going through." No one at work wanted to mention it, but her divorce did indeed change the woman. Yet she didn't want to seek any help about how she was feeling after the separation. "You just don't want her to feel the same way you do now."

"Dad…" Arata quietly said as he watched his father speak out in a calming tone. This was something he rarely heard from the man. From the looks of what he was telling her, it seemed that he was waiting for the right time to come out and say it. The young boy was beginning to understand how this man handled parenting.

"Arata." He turned a bit to address his son. "I was hoping that maybe you could be the one to show her… That it's worth it to open your heart." This was the most serious he had ever seen his dad in his entire life. But, he was right. After all, the man knew how they both felt in this situation. How couldn't he? When Arata's mom, his wife confessed to him her feelings, as well as the fact that she'd be leaving his life due to circumstances out of their control. It was then when he realized what he too had been trying to hide away from. "We're all scared of getting hurt, but it's absolutely worth it to fight for who you love." His silence following that statement was the only thing needed to tell Arata what was the next question.

"I…" The boy began to speak up as he thought about his hesitations. All the girls around him, he was so worried about hurting them because deep inside, he didn't want to have the pain of being the one to cause harm. Yet, it was what was needed to find what his heart truly wanted. "I like you, Misei." Finally, he was able to find what his heart truly was seeking.

"But…" However, despite finally hearing him say the words she was waiting for this whole time. There was hesitation coming from her because of prior actions. "In the booth, you rejected… My advance." This sent another glare coming from her mom. Though this was different than the other times. It wasn't anger, but concern of seeing her own daughter be rejected.

"I was… Scared too." Arata admitted his fears. "If I accepted, that maybe I wouldn't be able to take it back. But now I see now, that I'm ready to take that first step." The boy walked up close to her. There was a little bit of resistance from her mom, which prompted him to ask an important question. "I know that you probably don't trust me yet." He spoke to the woman. "But, I know now what I really feel." This was where his decision had to be made. "So please, give me just one chance."

"…" The silence between them lasted forever as she contemplated her answer. "I'll allow it." He smiled hearing to get her blessing, but she wasn't the one with the final say.

"Misei?" He looked at her, quietly pleading to forgive him for making her wait as long as they had.

"I…" Tears began to form in her eyes as she began to give him an answer. "I'm so happy." Her tears were those of joy as she smiled beautifully at him. "I love you so much."

"And I love you too." Arata replied by giving her a kiss. A first coming from him this time.

"Ahh, it's nice to see a happy ending." Arata's dad somewhat ruined the moment when he spoke up as a person watching. "I'm crying over how my son's grown up so much." He wiped the tears that were falling in a waterfall over his cheeks.

"He's really a lot different than that recluse of a boy you used to talk about."

"You told her about that?" Arata was a surprised that something like that would ever come up as a conversation at work.

"Well, everyone kind of figured that one out since I never took you to any of the corporate gatherings." His dad laughed it off as if it never really mattered in the first place. "Now, to celebrate the two of you becoming a couple. How about we all go enjoy some karaoke?" It wasn't how the two teens expected their first love to begin, but then again, nothing in their lives were ever expected.

"You're right, let's go."