"The key... to happiness?"
"Yes. Everyone has one. It's that special thing that makes life worth living."
I wonder what Tomo's is...
"Tomo, what's your key to happiness?"
Tomo smiled sadly at him.
"I haven't found mine yet. That's why I'm looking for it."
Aoi frowned.
"If you don't have your key to happiness, then why do you continue living? I mean-I'm not encouraging suicide, but..."
"Well I'm not going to give up before I've found it! Everyone has to look for theirs, but some just aren't patient enough. But why would I kill myself before I've found out what I'm living for?"
Did Tomo always think this deep and psychological?
I... I want a reason to live too!
"I also want to find my key!"
Tomo gave him a big grin.
"Who wouldn't want to happy?" she questioned.
"Then lets look for our keys together!"
Tomo was taken aback.
"You want to stay with me for that long? You do realize that your key's not just gonna pop out of nowhere. This could take years."
"Of course I know that. If finding happiness was that easy, there would be no such thing as suicide. I just know that I won't want to continue living without a purpose."
Tomo stood up from her bed.
"Then let's make a promise!"
"A promise?"
"Yeah, that we'll stay by each other until we've both found our keys."
"Okay."
Tomo suddenly remembered something and motioned for Aoi to wait for a minute.
In her hands, she held out a tiny box.
"What is it?"
"Find out for yourself."
Aoi took the box from Tomo and opened it.
Inside was a silver necklace with a blue sapphire in the middle.
"This will be a promise necklace. As long as you are in possession of this, then our promise shall remain intact."
Aoi delicately placed the piece of jewelry around his neck.
"Then I will wear it with dignity."
The next day, Aoi decided to go back to Maid Latte and apologize to Misaki.
As soon as he opened the door, he was smothered in a hug by Satsuki.
"Aoi! You're back! I was getting so worried. Misaki said you left and you were upset. Then you never came back! I haven't even been getting any responses to my emails I sent your dad!"
Aoi laughed nervously, scratching behind his head awkwardly.
"Yeah... we've been a bit busy lately."
Satsuki gripped his arm and tugged him along with her.
"Come on, closing time is soon and I'm sure the others would like to hear what you've been up to too."
He was pulled into the 'Employee's Only' area where all the other workers were.
Everyone stood up at Aoi's sudden appearance.
Misaki came to greet him instantly, where as the others looked cautious about whether to approach him or not.
"Aoi! You're all right now, aren't you?"
He shrugged her off.
"Yes, yes, of course I am."
"So come on Aoi, tell us what you've been doing lately." Satsuki encouraged.
Aoi flushed at the attention.
"Well..."
I'm not really sure how I should go about this.
"Um, I..."
"Come on! You know you can tell us anything!"
How rude! Interrupting me while I'm speaking!
Fine! If they want to hear it sooner than later, then that's exactly what I'll give them.
"Well, a lots happened, but to sum everything up, some things went down and now I'm engaged."
He waited a minute for that to sink in.
"What!?" chorused around the room.
Ah, there's the confusion.
Satsuki looks as it she's about to have a seizure.
"Aoi! You can't just... you need your parents permission-"
"I already have that. In fact, they were the ones who were pushing for it in the first place."
Satsuki was breathing very heavily.
"But-you can't..."
The other workers were attempting to calm her down.
"Calm down Satsuki!"
"It's alright, just breath. That's it, deep breaths."
After Satsuki had become calm once again, Aoi tried explaining it to them.
"After I left here that day," Don't tell them about the alley, just use the story that Tomo made up. "I ran into a boy my age. We happened to get along, so he took me back to his house. It turns out that he's actually really rich. His mother took a liking to me also, so we called up my parents.
The next day, I returned with my parents and then they starting making an engagement deal."
"But Aoi, are you sure you're okay with this?" Satsuki asked concernedly.
"Yeah, he's actually really cool. My parents are also encouraging me to cross dress too!"
"But Aoi... do they know of your..."
Right... telling them this brings up this problem.
"This is kind of a secret, but he's a crossdresser too."
They gasped in surprise.
"You're both crossdressers?"
"Yeah, that was the main reason why we are engaged.
Since he is rich and everything, that means he needs to marry someone to continue on the line of there family." There is no way I could've not blushed while saying that.
"If it was a boy, like his preferences, then their family would be shunned, considering that no one included in high circles agrees with that sexuality. And if it were a girl, he would be unhappy and the girl would have to accept him.
Not to mention that if they told the family and they no longer wanted to agree to their terms, their secret could potentially be exposed. So I was the obvious choice."
"Wow..."
The employees were shocked.
"You've sure done a lot while you were gone Aoi..."
"Where are you going Takumi?"
Everyone directed their attention to Takumi who was just about to reach for the door.
"My brother would like me to meet with a supposed business prodigy. He is a boy a few years younger than me. Since we are close ages, my brother wishes for me to discuss business with him. The meeting takes place soon."
"Why would your brother want you to do business stuff? I thought you said you were no good at that subject."
He sighed. "I'm not. He probably just wants me to take after him and so I can take over the family businesses. He thinks that I'll start taking after the boy and become a business genius too."
"That's harsh."
"I wonder how good that kid is. Years younger than Takumi and Misaki, but still amazing at business. I want to meet him."
"Yeah, me too."
"Me too!"
Takumi sighed.
"I suppose you can all come along to see him."
A few cheers were heard from around the room.
They all followed behind Takumi, eagerly waiting to see this miracle boy.
They followed him into a high class restaurant.
"You could all come in if want."
The employees nodded quickly.
As soon as they entered, they were shocked at the high class place.
A few words were exchanged between the workers. They were in awe at such a place.
Takumi walked up to the man behind the table that looked like a pedestal.
I can't hear them, but I can guess they are discussing regestrations.
The man stepped away from his table and Takumi motioned for them to tag along.
They were led to an exclusive section of the restaurant.
"We're meeting here because it's usually quieter than rest of the restaurant"
They were showed to a large table with a single boy sitting there.
"Ah, I see you have brought friends. I guess it is good that I made reservations for such a big table."
"He's so cute!" Someone whispered.
I can't see his face... There are too many people.
One by one, they all introduced their selves to the boy and took a seat.
When it was Aoi's turn, he froze.
"Tomo?"
The person snapped their head up.
"Aoi?"
Tomo is the one Takumi was talking about?
The rest of the group was confused.
"Wait... you two know each other?"
Aoi blushed.
"Yeah, he's the one I was telling you about."
They were shocked.
"You're engaged to Saito?"
"Uh... yes?"
It was silent.
It's like I could reach out and feel the tension.
Tomo laughed and sat down, helping Aoi too.
"Well isn't this just a big coincidence. I never thought that I would see you here Aoi."
"Yeah, I guess it's a shock for me too."
Misaki butted in.
"Wait, wait... so you're actually a girl?" She dropped her tone on the last part.
"Yes, I originally was a girl. Not any more though."
They were shocked.
"What... but... you're so..."
"Yes, I know. I do have that 'boyish charm'. I was lucky to already have an androgynous face, but everything else came naturally. It feels as if I was never a girl. To change genders, I didn't really have to do anything. I was already born like this."
"But still... that's amazing... I couldn't even tell."
She smiled. "That is what I aim for."
Even though they now realized her true gender, the sight of her smile still made them blush.
Takumi noticed the slight drop in conversation and turned his attention back towards the person he was originally supposed to meet.
"So, I heard you were asked to teach me some useful types."
"Yes, but I'm afraid that I am not that good of a teacher." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, her cheeks darkening at the light tinge of blush.
Even while looking nervous, he makes me want to blush...
His blushing is contagious...
So I guess it's official. No matter what situation, Tomo Saito never looks bad.