Chapter 22

Yurina felt entirely out of place at the party. She looked out of her element, which Shigeru immediately picked up. Although she seemed to have adjusted to the atmosphere somewhat, she couldn't help fidgeting awkwardly whenever a passerby would eye her from afar. Even as she kept her eyes glued to her feet and tried to keep her nerves under control, it wasn't so easy.

Shigeru peered over his shoulder at the anxious female, feeling bad that she'd been invited by Daiya at such an unreliable time. But there was also the added benefit that he could catch up with her; that he had some alone time to sort out his feelings. It was becoming quite the struggle to not find her absolutely adorable, what with how shy she'd suddenly become.

"Would you relax?" he asked gently, placing a firm hand against her lower back. He resisted the urge to rest his palm on her butt and focused instead on her face. Shigeru slowly guided her along, nodding politely at people as they approached them from every direction. "You'll be fine."

She seemed to ignore his advice, curling in on herself more. Shigeru leaned in and lowered his voice, brushing his lips against the shell of her ear. "At least stop looking like a little girl that just shit her pants, if only for my sake." The comment, albeit crude, helped snap her out of it, and Yurina straightened her spine a bit, stepping away. "Good girl."

From a distance, Shigeru noticed both his parents as they strolled around the large ballroom together. Patting the small of Yurina's back reassuringly, he whispered, "I'll be back," and began making his way over, ignoring her attempts at pleading with him to stay. Now that she was alone, her anxiety began to spike again.

Accidentally, she bumped into people left and right, the mass of bodies throwing her off. "Excuse me. Sorry, pardon me." Someone's backside smacked into her own, and she squealed, tumbling forward, thankfully not onto her face.

"Watch it!" a woman hissed, eyeing Yurina up and down. Her gaze lingered on Yurina's chosen attire for tonight, and her nostrils flared in distaste. "Aren't you supposed to be serving drinks or something? Go fetch some champagne. Do something useful."

Yurina opened her mouth to explain, but before she could, a sharply dressed man appeared by her side, flustered. "You're with the entertainment agency, right? Thank god, we need someone to stall for the performers—they're running late." He grabbed her arm and dragged her across the room.

"No, I'm not—"

"You sing, right? Doesn't matter. We need someone to occupy the guests' attention," the man explained hurriedly. Pacing back and forth, he rubbed his hands together, trying to get his thoughts in order. He suddenly started tugging on her sweater and fussing with her hair, "You could've put in a little effort with your appearance, at least." Sighing, the man gently slapped the sides of her cheeks. "Are you familiar with any ballads?"

"B-Ballads?" Yurina murmured, flinching a bit at the small slap she received. "But I'm not—"

"Forget it. Just sing that one song that's playing everywhere. It's popular." The man pushed Yurina up to the microphone in a hurry.

"S-Sorry. Sorry. Um..." The microphone screeched from feedback, turning the attendees' attention to the stage where she stood, uncomfortable. She shakily grabbed the mic, staring in disbelief at the crowd of unfamiliar faces. Yurina turned from the crowd to the stranger who'd put her out there.

Shigeru rubbed his face, the heel of his palms digging against his eyeballs. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me." He took his eyes off Yurina for one minute, and this is what happened? He felt second-hand embarrassment from her nervous behavior. Just then, Daiya slid in beside Shigeru. He looked a little disheveled, but at least he was present for the night. "Your girl's up there, performing for your pops. Surprised, huh?"

Clearly confused and a little guilty that he wasn't there in the first place, Daiya furrowed his brows and zeroed his attention in on Yurina. She stood anxiously on the podium, peering into the large crowd and struggling to hide her dismay. "Oh, shit," he muttered.

When the music started, Yurina nearly dropped the microphone. She wanted to bolt right off the stage, but the person who'd shoved her out there, to begin with, gave a thumbs up and grinned approvingly from the sidelines. Besides, everyone already saw her, so it would've been highly embarrassing if she didn't perform. Gulping loudly, Yurina listened to the ballad that played, recognizing it as a fairly popular song called 'Only I Didn't Know.'

"I tell her not to make a fool of herself, and what does she do? Makes a fool of—"

Daiya was interrupted by Yurina's singing. When she opened her mouth and started to sing, Daiya and Shigeru's heads swung to gawk at the stage, taking in every part of her. Though her outfit might not have screamed fancy or glamorous, she somehow made a regular schoolgirl look stunning. Her voice was as soft and clear as a crystal river. There wasn't a single hitch.

The entire room turned their attention to the young lady, utterly engrossed. Yurina wasn't looking directly at them, opting to close her eyes halfway and focus on the rhythm of her singing. That allowed her to relax enough to carry through. She peeked out nervously from under her lashes every so often, blushing at the number of eyes locked in on her.

Shigeru noticed her squeezing the life out of her hand as she gripped the mic, her knuckles turning white from the effort. That little detail brought a smirk to his face. While Shigeru watched her silently, Daiya's heart was beating a million miles a minute.

Who would've known someone like her possessed such talent? But, talent aside, his mind was unable to process his attraction. In front of everyone, he fell completely silent, gaping stupidly at her. And when the last note of her song died down, she opened her eyes hesitantly, blinking around at everyone before breaking out into an innocent, shy little bow and hurriedly walking off stage.

Yurina's body jittered and buzzed with adrenaline, a natural high. She walked off stage on unsteady legs, barely holding her balance. "I can't believe I just did that."

"I can't believe you pulled that off! Hey, do you think you can do a couple more songs?"

Slowly, Yurina angled her face toward the stranger, wide-eyed and shaking her head profusely, communicating that she was uncomfortable with the suggestion. "I am not the help. I am not a server, and I am definitely not an entertainer." She walked past him, heading toward the large double doors on the other side, grabbing hold of a flute of champagne when one happened to walk past her.

She quickly downed it, hoping to ease her mind enough to soothe her nerves. Her shoulders jumped up in surprise when she felt a familiar pair of hands on her arms, the tips of his fingers curling into the softness of her skin. "Chill out. It's me, freshman," she heard Daiya say in the gentlest voice he could muster, especially being who he was.

Yurina sighed and exhaled softly, finally beginning to relax. Once his grip slackened, she turned to greet him, forcing a small, tight-lipped smile. "Thank god you're here. This isn't my scene at all."

Daiya grimaced slightly and bent down to brush his lips against her cheek, leaving a gentle kiss right by the corner of her lips. "I heard you singing up there." He chuckled and tilted his head to one side. "You were good. For real." When Yurina tried to brush her shortcomings under the rug, waving him off with a half-hearted nervous giggle, Daiya became insistent that she accepted the compliment. "No, no, seriously. You can hit a damn note."

Shigeru rolled his eyes and made a disgusted face, scoffing under his breath and moving away from the pair. The champagne at the party was too weak for him to get a real buzz, at least to Shigeru. So, he decided to get some "fresh air".

In the corner of her eye, Yurina noted how irritated Daiya's friend had become. "What's gotten into him?"

"Who knows."

"Anyhow, why were you late? Shigeru said you were handling business. Everything good now?" Yurina asked curiously as they headed away from the main area. "Come to think of it, I don't even know what business you're in."

"Yeah, we'll save that topic for another day." He set his hands on her shoulder and spun her around to face the crowd. "But for now," he continued, guiding her slowly, "you should at least say something to the warden. You know how much he likes you."

"But we've only spoken once. And that was right after you—"

"Dad." Daiya snaked his arm around Yurina and rested his hand on the curve of her spine, pulling her into his side. Yurina froze, blinking back and forth between Daiya and his dad. As soon as the older man noticed the pair, his expression went from aloof and bored to joyous. Unexpectedly, you were given a hug rather than a handshake.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Anthropology. Aren't you a vision," he remarked, smiling so brightly that it made her chest feel tight with an unknown emotion. Though the praise was unexpected, she also couldn't hide her happiness. He didn't mention her performance earlier, which was much appreciated on her part. "I hope this son of mine isn't giving you a hard time. He isn't treating you badly, right?"

Yurina grinned awkwardly and shrugged, mumbling under her breath, "Define bad." Luckily, it wasn't loud enough for Daiya's father to hear, but Daiya heard her and jabbed her with his elbow. "Of course not," she quickly recovered, "Daiya's amazing."

His father grinned widely at the both of them, still highly taken aback by how polite and good-humored this woman was. "Do me a favor and keep this one," he teased. "Daiya's always been...rowdy." The younger male narrowed his eyes at his dad and laughed unenthusiastically. "Anyway, I don't remember catching your name the last time we spoke."

"Yurina," she said, shyly offering a hand.

"Yurina," he repeated. "Such a lovely name. Call me Masamune. Now, please don't take my leaving so harshly," the older male went on, excusing himself. "But I have to step away and appease certain individuals, who, in all honesty, I'm not keen about conversing with. It was nice to see you again, Yurina."

She watched as he excused himself from their conversation, disappearing into the sea of people. "Your father totally called you out in the worst way," she whispered with a coy grin. "Rowdy, really?"

Daiya groused, a tiny grin still stuck on his lips. "You witnessed it firsthand just how rowdy I could be." He dragged his tongue against his bottom teeth suggestively and cocked his head to the side. "Do you need the details?"

"Spare me."

Yurina grazed the room for Shigeru, eyes narrowing in the process, but saw no trace of him. Wondering if he'd ducked outside, her gaze traveled past a pair of swinging doors to the right, just barely getting a peek at the courtyard out the window. When she caught sight of a dark silhouette outside, she had a hunch that it could've been Shigeru. She removed herself from Daiya's grip, murmuring a quick, "Bathroom," when Daiya looked at her oddly, wondering what'd prompted her sudden escape.

She weaved around strangers, their voices and the music echoing and vibrating against the walls. When Yurina made it outside, she instantly shivered at the bite of cold weather, which pierced her like a blade. Hugging herself, she tried to ignore the frost. A tall, black iron fence wrapped around the compound, trapping them all in.

No one was in plain sight, except for Shigeru in the distance, leaning back against a concrete wall and drinking from a flask. Inhaling through her nostrils, Yurina approached him and extended her open palm. She wiggled her fingers at him impatiently when he glanced up at her, scowling. "Hit me."