Chapter 62: Unknown Number
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
My eyes widened after seeing my teammates congratulating me as soon as I entered our club room. "Congratulations, Noelle and Leslie for passing the preliminaries." Coach Samantha said as she wrapped her arms around Leslie and my shoulders. "As expected of my students." She added, making me smile even more.
That’s right, Leslie and I passed the preliminaries and our team also passed for the relay. "I can feel it; we’re going to the championships!" Ericka said, making everyone hyped up. The semifinals will be in February and after this, we’ll be having our Christmas break.
"Maybe we should go eat out or something." Ericka kept on staring at coach Samantha as if telling her to treat everyone to some good food.
"Fine. Let’s go."
Everyone screamed happiness and we packed our belongings. ’Wait, am I allowed to go with them? I mean, I can’t bring Kaoru with us since it’ll be exclusive for the team.’ I thought as I followed them from behind.
"What’s wrong?" Leslie turned to me and asked that.
What should I say? "Umm, is it okay for me to ask for my guardian’s permission first? They’re expecting me to go home early today so—"
"Okay. I’ll tell them to wait while you call your guardian." Leslie said, without scowling at me. I stood still in the hallway and that’s when I realized I didn’t have Kenji’s or Kaoru’s number with me. I don’t know where Kaoru went since he said he’ll meet me and that’s it.
I can only go to Night right now. Since he’s from the advanced class, he’s still at school even though tomorrow will be the last day of school, and it’s Christmas break.
I rushed to the advanced class’s building and, as expected, Night was still in his room, but he wasn’t alone. His classmates were still with him. ’Ugh, if Kaoru’s here, it’ll be easier. Where did he even go?’ I thought as I started biting my finger. I don’t want to make my teammates wait too long for me. ’When are they going to leave Night alone?’
"I’ll go now. See you next month, Night." They started giving their goodbyes to Night, and I eventually got the chance to talk to him.
As Night got out of the classroom, I blocked his way. "Hey, I didn’t want to disturb you but—" I couldn’t finish what I was saying when he walked past me as if he didn’t see me. "Are you ignoring me right now?" He’s been doing that after we came back from the school trip. ’What’s his problem this time?’
"I’m not making you do anything big for me. I just need you to tell Kenji that I’ll be coming home late." Even if I keep talking, Night continued walking away. "Hey!" I shouted at him but he still ignored me. ’I can’t believe it.’ After kissing me without my permission, he’s going to ignore me as if I don’t exist.
"Suit yourself! Jerk."
I don’t care anymore. Don’t tell them then. I strutted back to where Leslie and the others are, and I didn’t expect to see Kaoru with them. "What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"He said he’ll be coming with us, and that your grandpa wanted to use his money for us to celebrate," Ericka said with excitement. Grandpa Kenta did? "Let’s go and celebrate!" Ericka pulled me into our club’s bus and Kaoru came with us. ’Is it even fine to use the swimming club’s bus like this?’
Even with those questions inside my head, we still headed to one of the most expensive restaurants in this city. "The oyabun—" Kaoru shook his head. "Noelle’s grandpa said to make sure that she and her team will enjoy their celebration." He said. I’m just glad they ignored what Kaoru said the first time.
"Is Kaoru your cousin?" Ericka asked.
I shook my head. "He’s the son of my father’s friend." I’m glad I can still remember the excuse I made to Ace and Andy.
"Is it really okay for us to order steak?" Leslie asked with her forehead creased. "Won’t your grandfather get mad?"
Kaoru’s the one who answered for me. "Of course not. Noelle’s grandfather is benevolent." He said with a proud look on his face.
Leslie raised an eyebrow. "What are you? Her servant?"
"Yes—" I covered Kaoru’s mouth. He almost admitted that he’s indeed my servant.
"L-Let’s just eat."
"Before that." Coach Samantha stood up in the middle. We’re in a VIP room so it doesn’t matter even if she stood up anywhere. "Let’s congratulate our team again for successfully passing the preliminaries. But this is not the end."
Everyone cheered. "Let’s go to the championship and of course, win!"
We even received a huge cake to eat, it was ordered by grandpa Kenta. ’I wonder why he’s showering me with all this stuff. It makes me somehow uncomfortable, but I appreciate it.’ I thought as I watch my teammates indulge themselves in the delicious foods.
"Remember not to eat too much junk food, okay?" Coach Samantha told us as we come back to the school grounds. I think Kenji’s still waiting in the parking lot so I’m glad we went back to the school. ’I mean we’re using the school bus so.’
"Thanks for the treat." Ericka ruffled my hair. "See you in January."
We all bid our goodbyes. Tomorrow will be the last school day for this year. I should spend some time with my friends. If Ace isn’t busy, I’ll ask her to eat ice cream with me. Even if Ace forgot her promise to me, it doesn’t matter anymore.
All I want is to spend time with her and Andy before I go to Japan with Night. Right, why is Night ignoring me? "Did something bad happen to Night?" I asked Kaoru while we were on our way to the parking lot.
Kaoru tilted his head. "Nothing that I know of. The young master’s fine." He said while holding my pink bag.
"But why does he keeps ignoring me?" I said that as soon as I got inside the car, and Kenji heard it.
Kenji looked at me. "The young master’s ignoring the lady?" He asked, and I nodded. "That idiot." I heard Kenji muttering which made me tilt my head.
"Do you know something?"
Kenji didn’t say anything so I didn’t push him to tell me. ’It’s not like I need to know. Since Night’s ignoring me, then might as well ignore him back.’
"The lady’s bridal lesson will soon come to an end. You must learn how to wear the proper attire for the wedding too, and you must practice for the wedding." He said and I just nodded.
The moment I stepped foot in the Yamaguchi household. I heard my phone notifying me. Someone sent me a text, so I rushed toward my room. "Who could it be?" Maybe it’s El. I opened my phone and looked at the messages, however, my forehead creased. It was from an unknown number. ’Should I open it? I mean what’s the harm?’ I thought as I opened the message and it said:
Give me what I want and I’ll give you back your freedom.
I raised an eyebrow as I sat on my bed. I don’t get it. Who would send such an ambiguous text like that? Maybe they sent it to the wrong number. That’s when I received another message and it was from Leslie. ’Right, we exchanged numbers before going home.’ Even if Leslie is kind of uptight, she’s really kind and caring towards me. She congratulated me again and she even said that she’ll be training hard to defeat me.
"What’s with that?" I chuckled as I removed my clothes.
I’ll be attending the bridal lesson; I don’t even know if I’m learning anything from it. Tomoe’s really random when it comes to the lessons.
"Right, I forgot to shop for casual clothes," I said while wearing a pink-laced dress like usual. "Let’s not forget it next time."
When I was about to put my phone on my desk, it notified me again that someone messaged me. ’What now?’ It’s from that unknown number again saying:
You have something I own. You must give it back to me.
Reading that gave me chills. I don’t know, maybe it’s someone who wants to prank and scare me. "Let’s just block it." I blocked the number and placed the phone on my desk. I’m used to people pranking me before because my phone number’s really well-known at school. ’I wonder why though.’
I heard a knock on the door before I could even open it. "Yes?"
"Young miss, it’s Rika." Rika opened the door with a weird expression on her face. "The oyabun wanted the miss to go to his office. Everyone’s waiting for you." Everyone? Who does that include? I followed Rika to grandpa’s office, and as soon as I entered, I saw Night, Kenji, and Asahi standing near grandpa’s desk, while grandpa Kenta’s sitting on his chair.
"Come in, dear."
What’s this weird vibe? It’s creeping me out.
"I don’t want to shock you, but we’ve found some clues on your pursuers," Grandpa said making my eyes go wide.
"R-Really? Who are they? And what do they want?"
Grandpa made Asahi talk instead. "We caught some of their men, and we learned that they’re from an Italian mafia group."
