"Excuse me."
With a feeling somewhat akin to entering a staff room or the principal’s office, I announced myself. I stepped through the door Masaomi-san held open and finally set foot inside the Special Room.
The space was in a different league from any hotel guest room I had ever seen. Beyond its sheer size, the room was furnished and decorated in a purely Western style that exuded luxury. There was even a fireplace—likely a decorative fake—and in the center sat two pairs of large sofas, each capable of seating four or five people, arranged around a low table.
Sitting there alone, watching us with a bright smile, was the man himself.
"Ah, I’m glad you could make it. Thank you for coming all this way; my apologies for the trouble. I actually wanted to visit you myself, but that would have caused an unnecessary stir."
"Oh, no, it’s not a problem..."
As soon as I entered, the man stood up and spread his arms in a gesture of welcome. This was, of course, the current President of Sawa Electronics, Shoji Satsukawa.
Seeing him up close, he seemed a bit more ordinary than he had during the opening ceremony. If not for the circumstances, the description "the friendly neighborhood uncle" would have fit him perfectly.
"...Hmm. You're more ordinary than I expected. After everything I’d heard, I assumed you’d be some kind of up-and-coming prodigy."
"Excuse me?"
...I took it back.
Regardless of the smile on Shoji-san's face as he abruptly muttered those words, his eyes weren't laughing at all. On the contrary, he was staring me up and down without reservation, as if he were appraising a piece of merchandise.
This felt a bit much for a first meeting.
"When a young man resolves a certain incident and becomes the first man Sara has ever acknowledged, it's bound to pique my interest. I had imagined all sorts of things before meeting you, but you're rather..."
"...Rather what?"
This suggestive, evasive way of talking—laced with implicit sarcasm—really grated on my nerves. But I had to endure. I had to keep my cool.
"Um... President. Is something wrong with Kazunari-kun?"
Even Masaomi-san clearly hadn't expected this development. He looked bewildered by the unsettling atmosphere that had suddenly filled the room and timidly questioned the President.
"No... anyway, there's no sense in talking while standing. Please, sit."
The President himself showed no sign of remorse as he spoke. Masaomi-san and I glanced at each other. Once I saw him give a small nod, we sat down together on the opposite sofa.
The feeling that the President was mocking even such a casual movement was probably just my own paranoia.
"First, let's start with proper self-introductions. I'm sure you already know, but I am Shoji Satsukawa... the younger brother of the previous President, Hisayoshi Satsukawa, and uncle to Masaomi-kun and his family."
"Yes. I am... no, my name is Kazunari Takanashi. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine. I’ve heard quite a lot about you from Masaomi-kun, Mayumi, and Yukie-san. Perhaps because of that, it doesn't quite feel like our first meeting... though..."
Even as he said that, the President had just finished muttering those insulting remarks. And as before, his eyes were definitely not smiling.
"Now, we don't have much time to spare, so I'll get straight to the point. But before that, one question. I'm asking this while knowing it's rude... but are you truly the young man in question?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
At the incredibly abrupt question, both Masaomi-san and I let out dumbfounded sounds in unison. I didn't quite understand what the President meant by "the young man in question."
"President, he is undeniably Kazunari Takanashi-kun. I told you that before—"
"...Is that so? I know it's rude to say this since I'm sure I have my own preconceptions, but I simply can't reconcile the image. I never imagined you would be such a perfectly ordinary young man with nothing remarkable about him..."
"P-President, that's going a bit too far..."
"Ah, Masaomi-kun, be quiet for a moment. I am talking to him."
"!?"
The friendly smile he had shown during the initial welcome vanished completely, and the President's aura transformed. His cold gaze appraising me didn't waver. Instead, he took a forceful stance, even brushing off Masaomi-san.
Was this the man's true nature? It was nothing like the stories I had heard from Masaomi-san or Mayumi-san.
"And Sara is being Sara, I suppose. To think that she wouldn't even look at the promising prospects I introduced to her, yet she went and caught such a mediocre man who could be found anywhere... After all is said and done, she's still just a child..."
"I'll admit that I'm mediocre, but could you please stop speaking ill of Sara-san?"
"...Oh?"
I wasn't indifferent to what he said about me, nor was I ignoring his sudden change in character, but more than anything, I couldn't forgive his remarks making light of Sara-san.
"I know better than anyone else that I'm not some kind of special person. Even with everything that's happened, I've only been able to overcome it because Sara-san and everyone else helped me... because they saved me."
"...Being able to evaluate yourself objectively isn't bad. And then?"
"In the first place, the reason Sara-san chose me wasn't for some calculated reason like that. It's hard to explain in words, but it's because both Sara-san and I felt that we were people who truly sought each other from the bottom of our hearts. That's why Sara-san grew to love someone as ordinary as me. President, are you going to deny even Sara-san's will?"
"It is certainly not my intention to deny Sara's will... however, Sara has a position she was born into."
"I know that! Masaomi-san and Mayumi-san told me all sorts of things before I got engaged to Sara-san. I think I understand what you're trying to say, President. Even if I don't agree with it..."
This was directly connected to the reason the engagement had even come up. It was a problem that arose precisely because Sara-san was the daughter of Masaomi-san and Mayumi-san. That was why people around us wouldn't be satisfied with a half-hearted relationship. I thought the idea of having to make others accept our relationship was nonsense, but the reality was that Sara-san's "position" made it necessary.
"I see. Then are you saying that you can prove the judgment of Sara, Masaomi-kun, and the others was not mistaken?"
"Yes... is what I'd like to say, but at the very least, I can't do that right now. It's frustrating, but there's still nothing I can do."
It was truly frustrating, but I didn't think for a moment that I could do anything right now to satisfy the President. I had only just started working hard on my studies and hadn't done a single piece of actual work; it would be arrogant to think I possessed something that could satisfy the President of a massive corporation.
"Hmm... The fact that you don't say 'I can' is the crux of it. If you were the child of an officer or someone with a significant position, this is the kind of situation where you would declare you could do it even if you lacked confidence..."
"I'd like to say it too, if I could. But realistically, even if I said something like that right now, it wouldn't have any persuasive power, would it? To someone like you, President, it would be nothing more than a joke for me to say that when I have no social experience and have only ever worked simple part-time jobs."
"That's right, exactly. Claiming you can easily do something you've never done, let alone seen or heard of, is nothing more than reckless big talk from someone who doesn't know his place. If you want to say that, you must at least have the corresponding results or ability... However."
The President took a long breath. In the next instant, the look in his eyes changed completely. The sharpness in his pupils intensified, growing powerful enough to seemingly pierce right through me. His expression was a silent, forceful challenge.
"Aren't you frustrated? While it's worth some praise that you haven't lost your cool even after being rejected for such unreasonable reasons and having your lover brought into it, this just makes you the same as any other modern child without any agency..."
"Don't misunderstand me! I'm angry! But I'm angry at you, President, for trying to deny Sara-san's will—and at my own pathetic self for not being able to prove you wrong to your face!"
"...Oh?"
He had struck my most painful nerve. The emotions I had been desperately holding back finally came bursting out of my mouth.
I had been struggling just to keep my composure.
There was no way I wasn't angry!