So, the next chapter is out! So, Oishi gets a rival now, though it's obvious who it is. -.-
I'll be staying in China during the holidays, so I don't think I'll be able to update. Sorry!
Anyway, merry christmas to everyone!

Chapter 7: How to deal with a narcissist and plotting mothers

Rin was looking at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a dark blue dress that complimented her figure. It was sleeveless and had some flower ornaments stitched on it. She was also wearing a white, elegant jacket with long sleeves. Her black hair was exposed, part of her forehead covered by bangs, and she wore light make-up.
She didn't understand why her mother would exaggerate so much, it was just a dinner. She even went out of her way to go shopping with her.
"Hurry up, Rin. The car to pick us up has arrived!"

"Yeah, coming."
Rin left her room and rushed the stairs down. Now came the worst part: She had to wear shoes with heels. She didn't hate them. Normally she didn't wear them, but today her mother insisted. They were pumps with a small bow on them, thank god the heels weren't that high, but Rin still had some troubles. Finally she managed to stand up and wobbled, just in time her mother grabbed her.
"Come now, young lady, or else we will be late." She shoved her daughter in the car and took a seat beside her. The chauffeur closed the doors and started driving. Rin stared put of the window. She was asking herself why she had to dress up, usually her mother didn't care about her looks that much. What was she planning?

20 minutes later the car stopped in front of a big mansion, and by big, I mean really big. At least as big as Seigaku's school building, if not bigger. It was surrounded by a large garden with fountains. The drive through the garden took minutes before they reached the entrance.
They entered the house and were greeted by butlers and maids, lined up on each side. One of them stepped forward and led them to the dining room. They passed a lot of doors, Rin counted 10 in total. Seriously, for what do people need this many.
In the dining room was a large square table, 6 sets of plates and cutlery were on it. She and her mother sat down. "I will get the others from the salon, please wait a little." The butler said and left.
"Mum, who are we eating with?" Rin looked around uncomfortably.
Everything was decorated in western style, not the japanese setting she was used to. She was impressed, but also wondered who this family exactly was. She didn't remember anyone so wealthy. The door opened and four persons entered. One of them was her dad, she was glad to see him because he usually was at work, hardly at home. The other three, a man, a woman and a boy around her age, looked familiar, but she wasn't able to remember their names.
"Rin, this is Atobe-san, his wife and his son Keigo."
Now Rin knew who they were. The Atobe family owned a company, present in all parts of the world, being one of the wealthiest families in Japan. She didn't know her parents were friends with those people. Then it hit her: Her mother probably wanted to set her up with this Atobe guy, that's why she had to wear so fancy clothes and make-up. She had tried this a few times before, but never had it been successful. She mentally sighed and snapped out of her thoughts.
Staying composed she introduced herself, earning some compliments about her manners. She was seated across from Atobe Keigo, who was smirking at her with the 'I'm-better-than-you'-look. Rin didn't like him. Her mother was to her left, vis-à-vis to Atobe's mother. The fathers sat on the leftmost side of the long table and were talking about business. The women chatted about their children, fashion and lots of other themes, sometimes asking Rin or Atobe a question. She was quite relieved when dinner was served. The parents stopped talking and concentrated on eating, making comments about how great the food was. It had three courses, a soup, the main dish and a dessert. Rin especially liked the last one which was a small apple pie. It took nearly two hours for them to finish.

After dinner the adults left for the salon and they were sent to the living room, where they sat down on a big leather sofa, each of them on the opposite side. There was an awkward silence.
"...Your house is big." Rin tried to start a conversation.
"It has to be suitable for ore-sama." Rin mentally rolled her eyes, thinking about other things to talk about.
"So, to which school are you going?" She regretted asking this. He went on and on about his Hyotei Gakuen. That it was equipped with only the best, that his father had donated a lot of money to this school, that he was the 'king' there, that he was student council president and that he was the captain of the tennis club which was one of the best in Japan. Most things were about him and his greatness. He was the first narcissist Rin had ever encountered. Of course she knew some arrogant people, but not with this much confidence. His ego surely had to be the size of the sun, perhaps even bigger. She tried her best to keep her tone polite and to show interest, but slowly he got on her nerves.

"Aren't ore-sama amazing?" Rin was interrupted in her thoughts; she looked at him with bored eyes.
"Did ore-sama render you speechless?" He asked again with a wide smirk. "Sure, your life is so interesting. I think I'll die of excitement." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Atobe frowned at her tone; he was used to people being all over him, not disinterested like her.
"Is that a pimple on your face?" Rin teased him.
"What?" He grabbed a mirror, there were quite a lot of them in the house, in a panic and examined his face. She hid her laughter by holding her hand in front of her face, but he still heard her giggle. He turned and leaned over to her. "Tricking ore-sama? You are a brave girl. Now I'm interested in you."
"Sorry, but this feeling isn't mutual." She answered shortly and moved away from him, nearly falling off her seat.
"Oh, ore-sama like girls with a strong personality." He was beside her again; his fingers touched her cheek, then lifted her chin. She shifted away from him, trying to put as much distance as possible between them.

In that moment the parents came in, finding their children in quite an awkward position. Rin was half lying on the sofa while Atobe bent over her, still holding her chin. The fathers raised their eyebrows at this and didn't say anything, but the mothers exchanged some pleased looks while trying to contain their happiness. Just one meeting and they were already this friendly with each other. If everything went smoothly, a little bit more and they would be together, marry later when they were older and get children. Both mothers dazed off in their daydreams.

Rin stood up and bowed politely, a slight blush showing on her face, Atobe just nodded. The mothers thoughts went back to reality.
"Keigo, there will be this fantastic exhibition of this famous artist, his paintings are incredible. Why don't you take Rin-chan with you there after tennis practice on Sunday?" Atobe's mother proposed.
"Oh, that sounds nice, doesn't it Rin? You really like art and you're free too on that day, right?" Rin's mother accepted the invitation, ignoring her daughters shocked look.
"B-But I-" She still tried to get out of this, but her mother immediately interrupted her. "I will send her to Hyotei at twelve o'clock, then you can visit the museum right after lunch together."
"That sounds nice." Atobe said and smirked at Rin who sent him a glare saying 'Go to hell'.
"Then it's settled. Well, we will be going home now, it was a very nice evening." Rin and her mother bid farewell, while her father stayed. He still had some business with Atobe-san and after that he would leave for a business trip in Europe.

In the car Rin talked to her mother.
"Do I have to spend time with him?" She asked.
"The sooner you get to know your future husband, the better it is." She simply answered.
"WHAT!" Rin let out a high pitched shriek which made the driver almost lose control over the car, almost. It only scratched a lamp post slightly and continued driving on the road. The passengers were shaken a little bit and the driver sent Rin an accusing look. She looked away filled with embarrassment, she didn't want to scream like this, but it came out before she could stop it. Her mother's statement had surprised and shocked her at the same time.
"Rin, just think about it. He'll certainly make a good husband and he's so handsome-" At this her mother let out a dreamy sigh. "-also you don't have a boyfriend, then why not him? He's perfect."
Seeing that she wouldn't be able to talk herself out of this date, she gave up and thought about ways to get Atobe to hate her. That was the easiest way to get rid of him, then she wouldn't have to worry about things like marriage. School was already tiring enough, especially maths.
That reminded her of something. "Damn, I haven't done my math homework yet." She cursed in her mind.

At home she finished the assignments left and prepared herself for school. After this she went straight to bed and set her alarm clock. Few minutes later light snores could be heard in her room.