Ken stared back at the pair of eyes behind the glasses that had been staring at him for almost five minutes with a frown. Ken refrained from being provoked.
Five minutes ago, the guard asked for his identity as well as his entry card. Since he was not given any information other than being required to be present on time, Ken answered honestly that he did not have any access cards and only gave the guard his student card. As a result, Ken was prohibited to entering the building and only given a suspicious look by the guard.
Ken was annoyed. He could hardly bear the embarrassment of being stared at by pairs of eyes that could only pass him by. Feeling no other option, he reached into his pocket for his phone.
He quickly returned his phone to the pocket as a large and tall figure appeared to walk out of the building. Ken looked at the man, then glanced at the guard who was still standing in front of him with a sharp look full of suspicion.
"You ... let him in."
"Aoki-san!" The guard instantly turned around, surprised. He glanced at Ken, then turned again towards his superiors. "This kid ...?"
"Our freshman."
With just that short answer, Aoki Daisuke as the vice chairman of Higami immediately pulled Ken in without the need to add much further ado. At that very moment, Ken breaks away from Aoki's sturdy hand.
"Thank you for bothering to come down and help me get in, Aoki-san," Ken said as politely as possible. "But from here, I can walk on my own without the need for your company. I don't want them to think that Higami's superiors are favoring me, even before the inauguration of the new members begins."
The man was silent for a while, then looked around. Any teenagers who passed around the lobby, without exception, focused on staring at them with question marks. Aoki looked back at the teenager beside him who was raising his jacket hood. Then, the man laughed.
"I also have no obligation to escort you from the beginning to the end of the event," Aoki said, putting his hand in his pocket. His lips were raised slowly. "Anyway, there are still about ten minutes left before the event starts. It's at the end of a straight hallway right there."
After saying that, Aoki got into the elevator which took him to the third floor. Ken turned his gaze towards the hallway Aoki was pointing at, then walked over there.
At the end of the hallway that Ken was going through, he could clearly hear human noises and the sound of the loudspeakers just being turned on. The closer he got to the end of the hall, the clearer the sound became and the noisier it sounded in his ears. Ken tried not to care about it and began to observe the surroundings and the faces that had been present there.
"Ken!"
Someone from the side grabbed his shoulder quite hard. Ken looked surprised for a moment, then smiled at one of his best friends.
"Yo, Chika! Already here?"
In contrast to Ken, Chikara did not seem happy at all. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "You ...! Where were you going yesterday?"
"To my grandpa's," Ken replied nonchalantly. "You were looking for me yesterday? What's the matter? Miss me?"
Chikara is trying hard to contain the overflow of his emotions that would explode if he acted recklessly. For the second time, an annoyed cluck was heard from his mouth. He suddenly turned his gaze in another direction.
"It doesn't matter. Forget it."
Years of friendship with Chikara taught Ken to recognize and understand that his friend is covering an important issue. However, Ken just kept quiet and did not try to dig deeper. At least for now.
Ken sighed, began to inject positive thoughts into his head and discarding any negative ones.
"Why did you come here first and not wait for me?" asks Ken, trying to break the ice by shifting the topic in another direction that is more relaxed and not burdensome for the atmosphere that overshadows them.
"I went to your house at 8:20, but your mom said you left at eight. Then, why did you just arrive?"
"Ah ... I went to Yasu's house for a while," Ken murmured, but after that his expression turned sour as he recalled the incident a few minutes ago. "But when I finally got here, the bald guard in front of the building blocked me in since I didn't have a pass."
At first glance, there was a faint frown engraved on Chikara's forehead. He didn't seem to care about Ken's annoyance at the guard which made him have to wait until Aoki helped him in. Chikara touched and scratched his chin lightly, busy with his own thoughts.
"What business did you have early in the morning at Yasuhiro's?" asks Chikara after struggling with his thoughts for a while. Ken was silent. His annoyed expression just disappeared. "Is it because of you two ...."
Before Chikara finished his remarks, the ear-piercing loudspeaker's shrill buzzed. Everyone who was there turned their heads in the same direction, while the perpetrator who made the sound acted as if nothing had happened and continued his work towards the stage in front of the room.
Chikara and Ken both published their resentful expressions while rubbing each other's ears.
Not long after the loudspeaker incident shocked the ears of everyone in the room, the sound of many people's footsteps from the hallway made all heads turn and wait for the owners of the steps to appear in the room. They walked confidently, climbed the stairs to the podium, and then stood in front with different expressions. One of those who walked last separated himself from those who had lined up neatly and stood directly behind the pulpit.
A brief deceptive voice rang out before the big and tall man began his opening sentence. "Welcome. Good Morning."
It looks different from ten minutes ago, Aoki who was still busy pouring his welcome sentence in front of the pulpit seemed to be covering his gray shirt with a black suit. A dark red tie was attached to the collar of his shirt. That man appeared more formal than a moment ago when he drew Ken in or a few days ago when he spoke with Ken face to face.
Suddenly, that pair of eagle eyes pointed right at him. At the same time, all the eyes around him also gave full attention to Ken. Ken, who was confused because he didn't listen to Aoki's words at all, could only gawk in surprise. Fortunately, Chikara hurriedly nudged Ken's stomach from the side while whispering, "You were told to go up!"
Like a fool, Ken stepped forward and climbed one by one of the five low stairs that took him up to the podium and to the pulpit that Aoki still occupied. At that time, Ken did not heed the strange gaze of many eyes that began to whispering him. He was too busy guessing for what reason he was forced to step up and come to the podium only to do something he didn't like: show his face in front of many people he didn't even know.
Aoki gave a small grin to the teenager standing awkwardly next to him, before bringing his mouth back to the microphone and speaking loudly with a booming tone full of emphasis in every fragment he said.
"He is the representative of our Higami's ancestor, Imai Ken!"