Alice and Ryo go to Alice's first awards ceremony.

A nine-year-old Ryo tugged on the collared white shirt he was wearing, buttoned up to the top button. It felt almost suffocating, along with the tailored blue coat. How Alice's dad survived in clothes like these were so baffling to him. It wasn't that it was hot; Denmark could be cold, so he was used to putting on winter clothes. It just felt so… stuffy.

"Huuuh, you actually clean up nice!" A gleeful little Alice looked approvingly at him, but then looked a bit more concerned as she looked up at Ryo's hair. "Hmmm, but maybe we should do something about that hair, it just seems a little too messy."

Ryo immediately backed away, almost defensively. "Nope! We are not going there, missy! Dressing up is one thing, but you're not touching the hair!"

Alice was already holding onto her white bunny brush. "Aww, but Ryo! You'd look so good! Also, it's 'Miss Alice', okay? You can't screw up on the big day!"

"...Yes, miss," Ryo said, but he gave her a slight roll of his eyes. "I don't even know why I have to be there. It's you who's getting an award, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't invited."

Little Alice put a hand to her hip. "Of course you need to be there! You're my aide, remember? I need you to assist me and stuff."

"What the heck does an aide even do, and why the hell does it have to be me?" Ryo asked. He gave in, and finally unbuttoned the two top buttons of the white shirt. "I don't recall agreeing to this, miss."

Alice pouted. "You're my aide as long as I have more wins against you in food battles, okay? Until then you can't escape!" She walked over to him, and buttoned back the buttons he just undid. "Ryo, you can't wear it like that! It's indecent."

"You're indecent!" He pointed back at Alice, and the expanse of chest the neckline of her dress showed. She was also trying on her own dress for the award ceremony.. "Talk about some double standards you got, miss!"

"Girls are allowed to dress like this from time to time, especially on big days!" Alice said, as she made a twirl, obviously showing off the dress. She even had some 'big girl' shoes to match, a pair with a moderate heel. "I might finally catch up to you in height, Ryo!"

"In your dreams," Ryo said, as Alice stood beside him with her heels. When she saw that Ryo was still taller, she only let out a whine, and said something about asking her mom to buy higher-heeled shoes.

Ryo quietly let out an amused huff as he just watched Alice drone on and on about the awards night. She had recently won a competition on molecular gastronomy, and was of course going to be attending an award ceremony for the event. It got on Ryo's nerves at times, since she wouldn't stop talking about it, but it was also the most excited he'd seen her be.

"Ryo? Are you okay, dear?"

Ryo snapped from his thoughts, and he realized he'd been dazed in the middle of attempting to answer his workbook from his tutorial sessions. Alice was already done with her schoolwork, and it was only Ryo left there, with Leonora, who had been quietly sipping on her afternoon tea.

"O-Oh, yeah, miss," Ryo said. "I'm fine."

Leonora smiled sheepishly at him. "You don't look very well-rested, if I may say so. Has Alice been bugging you a little too much?"

"Hah!" Ryo actually chuckled, but then caught himself just in time, thinking of how rude that might be in front of Leonora. "...Uh, I mean... I guess. A little bit. She's really excited about that awards ceremony thingy."

Leonora only smiled, and then glanced down, as if thinking about something. Ryo watched her curiously. He was starting to know them by now, and knew that, like Alice, Leonora would usually go ahead and say whatever was on her mind. If they were taking time to think on it, it meant it was probably something serious.

"...Has Alice told you anything at all about her time in Japan?" Leonora asked him.

"A little bit, I guess."

Leonora threw her head back and looked as if she was thinking of things long past. "You see, Nassan and I left her in Japan because we were a bit too busy to take care of her, since Nassan was just starting the company here. Probably some rather bad parenting on our part," Leonora had a rather sad smile. "Of course, we kept in touch, and Alice called very often. But whenever she had to go to an event, she would always call me after, and be crying nonstop. She honestly doesn't like events and formal parties."

Ryo looked surprised. Alice--the energetic, bubbly Alice he knew--seemed like she'd be the life of these parties, and would live for them. "Why is that, miss?" he asked.

"...Have you heard of her cousin, Erina?"

Ryo had definitely heard her name. He would see Alice penning her letters every so often, and see her face painted with disappointment and hurt whenever she checked their mailbox, only for her to receive no reply. The name Erina left a bad taste in Ryo's mouth, for some reason. "Yeah, I've heard that name before," Ryo said.

"She's…" Leonora paused, as if trying to figure how to go about her words. "...She's a very special child, let's put it like that. She has quite a unique gift. Even if Alice is the daughter of the eldest Nakiri, all eyes are on Erina. Alice used to tell me that whenever she attended gatherings, they would always just ask her how Erina is, or where Erina was. Poor Alice would keep crying on the phone for hours."

"...And yet she still keeps sending her letters," Ryo said, a bit confused.

"Alice is a kind young girl, isn't she? She's not the sort to hold grudges," Leonora said. "But she basically begged Nassan to take her to Denmark with us, so she can finally step out of Erina's shadow, I guess. This award is the first time people are finally going to notice her, you know? Alice deserves her own spotlight. I'm sure she's really excited. Just… bear with her a little, okay, Ryo?"

The big day eventually came, and unfortunately for Ryo, Alice (and Leonora) won against him, slicking back his thick hair with some hair mousse. Ryo fought the urge to run his fingers through his hair, as he watched the awards show from the audience. Awards shows were now officially boring, in his book. There were a lot of speeches, and so much time wasted. And there was so much clapping. Ryo wondered when it was going to end, or when it was going to be Alice's turn.

When Alice's name was announced, Ryo sat up straighter, finally setting his eyes on the stage. Beside him, a very enthusiastic Leonora brought out her camera. Alice finally came out on stage, in that "indecent" little dress, and a silk scarf around her neck that Ryo was sure cost far too much for a strip of cloth. She received her trophy, and went on to deliver her speech, one that Ryo was very familiar with, since she'd been trying to practice it the past few days.

The words went right past his ears, since he already knew what she was going to say. Leonora's words replayed in his head.

Alice deserves her own spotlight.

"Mom! Did you see me out there?!" Alice was finally reunited with Ryo and Leonora, at the awards ceremony after party. She immediately made a beeline for them, and Leonora took her in a tight hug. "I hope I didn't mess up my speech! Did you take pictures?"

"I sure did, sweetie!" Leonora said. "I'm so proud of you. Ugh, it's such a shame Nassan couldn't be here! But I'm sure he's proud of you as well."

Alice parted from her mother's embrace, and then turned to Ryo. He gave her a small smile. "Congrats, miss."

She gave him a big, bright smile. "Thanks, Ryo!"

A woman suddenly called out to Leonora, as if they were acquaintances of some sort. Leonora waved in recognition, and told Ryo and Alice that she needed to say hello, and would be back quickly.

"So, what now?" Ryo asked. He scanned the party venue quickly--the place was full of adults. Not many kids into molecular gastronomy, I guess.

"I don't know about you, but after making that speech and everything, I am absolutely famished," Alice said. "Let's go find the buffet!"

They were about to head off, with Alice reaching for Ryo's arm, until a woman called on Alice's name.

"Alice Nakiri? From the Nakiri family in Japan, correct?" The woman asked. Ryo looked at her, and noted that she seemed to be Japanese, as well. "Congratulations on the award, dear."

"Oh, thank you!" Alice said. "I'm really so fortunate to receive it!" Alice beamed with excitement.

"I heard your cousin Erina won a similar award earlier this year as well," the woman said. "She is quite something else, isn't she?"

Ryo noticed all of the excitement suddenly drain from Alice's face, replaced by a hurt little expression, the same look on her face whenever Erina failed to write back to her again.

But quickly, Alice forced on a smile. "Yes… Erina sure is something," she said. It sounded friendly enough, but Ryo could tell that she was seething through her teeth.

"Could you say hi to her for me, dearie? I would really love for her to go visit our restaurant," the woman went on and on. Alice struggled to maintain a friendly expression, but she'd never been good at her pokerface. Ryo could clearly tell that she was pissed off.

"I don't think Miss Alice wants to talk with you right now, ma'am," Ryo boldly spoke up, putting himself between the two ladies.

"H-Huh?" The woman was clearly taken aback, by this boy who looked like he just showed up out of nowhere. "Who--"

"If you wanna talk to Erina, go talk to her yourself," Ryo went on, unfazed by the fact that he was talking down on an adult. He was used to this, at the pub. "Does Miss Alice look like some sort of messenger to you?"

"How dare--whose child is this?!" The woman was clearly offended, being talked back at so directly by a boy. "Who are you, even?"

"Her aide," Ryo said, without an inch of hesitation. "If you have business with Miss Alice, you could bring it up with me, ma'am." He turned back to Alice now, who was standing there, looking stunned. He offered her his hand. "Shall we go, miss? You must be really hungry by now, right?"

Alice just nodded, and wordlessly took his hand.

"These parties suck", Ryo said. After grabbing some food, he and Alice had found a quiet spot at the balcony. Ryo was leaning against the railing, while holding onto a small plate of shrimp, which he stuffed into his mouth with a fork between sentences. "Adults are so dumb."

"You're not wrong, Ryo, but sadly it's just one of those things I have to keep going to because of family standing," Alice said, eating a slice of chocolate cake, with way more grace than how Ryo was eating. "Honestly… I hate it. Brings back a lot of bad memories."

Ryo watched Alice's features darken, and he remembered what Leonora had told him. Seeing Alice look like this felt so odd to him--she was rarely ever seriously sad, or upset. She threw tantrums, of course, but those passed quickly, and she forgot about them in the blink of an eye. This was something else altogether, and Ryo could tell that much.

"...I think you should speak up more," Ryo said. "If those adults aren't making you feel good, no need to smile and put up with it. Just say what's on your mind. You always do that with me."

Alice just stared at him, as if surprised by this statement. But then she smiled right after--and it was a real smile, now. She went over to his side, and poked Ryo's chest. He'd already undone the top button of his white shirt.

"And you should speak up a little less!" Alice said. "Or, at least speak up a bit more politely! Now everyone's gonna gossip about how I have a very rude boy for an aide!"

"Hey, I was being very polite earlier."

Alice looked shocked. "That's your version of polite?!"

"Could've called her a bitch," Ryo muttered under his breath. It took every ounce of control for him to not even yell earlier, as he was far too used to yelling at grown men. "And by the way, I am so not your aide."

"Nuh-uh! 'I'm her aide', you said! Those words are forever etched in my mind now, Ryo!"

"Whatever, Miss Alice," Ryo said dismissively, but he was smiling now, too. "I promise to be more polite if you promise you're not gonna let those adults step all over you, you hear?"

She went to his side, leaning against the balcony railing just as he did. Quietly, she said:

"...Thank you, Ryo. It's a promise."

a/n:

random note: I love that episode where Alice talks back against Azami and then later you it shows Ryo just standing there with the others and SMILING like he's so proud ahsjdkskdoa i love