What does it feel like growing up in the Togu family?
One daughter is about to reveal it all.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Gentlemen's Alliance. Arina Tanemura does.
Italics – thoughts
Regular – normal P.O.V
Togu's Daughter
Chapter One. Meet the Council
Hello, I'm Setsuko Togu, the daughter of 'Shizumasa' and Haine Togu. I attend Imperial Academy; the school where my parents along with their friends and Aunt Komaki and Uncle Kusame had went to. Here is the secret about my 'father'. In truth, he was something called a kagemusha. He is my real father but apparently my actual father, who was supposed to be my father, passed away due to illness and then this is where Takanari ['Shizumasa's' real name had stepped in as shadow. It's a very complicated story and is never being told a word about to outsiders.
Setsuko shuffled around in her room with her monogrammed tie around her neck and the especially made uniform skirt lopsided and pieces of her hair falling out of her ponytail, which she tied with a red ribbon. Suddenly, Takanari, her father, stepped in and opened the door on free will without asking for his daughter's needed permission.
"Setsuko," Takanari called out as if he hadn't seen his daughter standing in front of her mirror with a ribbon hanging from her mouth as she adjusted her hair.
"D-DAD!" Setsuko screamed, staring at her father as he stood idly in the frame of her door. Then Setsuko's mother, Haine, had stepped in. As usual was gorgeous even for a woman bearing the age of thirty-eight. She wore one the marvelous gowns the Togu's had given to her and her hair had fell only slightly past her shoulders but was in a complicated to do by yourself hairstyle.
"Setsuko-chan, stop screaming will you? You'll wake up the whole house if you scream any louder," Haine said, ignoring the fact her daughter was sloppily dressed and patted her shoulder. They couldn't say neighbors, really, because their house was gated.
"T-tell dad to leave when I'm changing," Setsuko bristled, embarrassed as she stared at the floor of her room.
"Takanari-sama, I'll help Setsuko-chan. Just wait down stairs, ok?" Haine turned to her sweet, mortified husband and asked. He nodded and ducked his head down as he left.
"Jeez, dad's always going out of his way to embarrass me," Setsuko complained as she straightened her skirt and pulled up her knee high socks.
"Aw, no, Setsuko, he just loves you," Haine smiled and Setsuko could see it through the mirror as she was about as tall as Haine. Her mother fixed her hair and undid a few strands of hair so that they layered her face, perfectly.
"There," Haine kissed Setsuko's cheek, affectionately. "You're so pretty, Setsuko-chan." Haine marveled at her daughter for a second, she had inherited most of the Togu's qualities but she did have Haine's strive. Setsuko greatly resembled her aunt Kasuga. She wasn't really Setsuko's aunt but because Haine, her mother, was so close to her and because of her being Takanari's cousin, they considered her an aunt.
"Thanks, mom. You always tell me I look so much like aunt Kasuga-san," Setsuko tucked on strand of hair behind her ear. "But do you think you can help me?" Setsuko asked, touching the silk material of her tie.
"Uh, I always had trouble with that and asked Itsuki-san for help. Ask your father, all right?" Haine kissed Setsuko's cheek. "I'll meet you downstairs." Haine left Setsuko alone in her room as Setsuko turned to her queen sized bed. On top, she plucked off her briefcase styled backpack.
"Hey, Setsuko-chan," Keiichi Otomiya, Setsuko's cousin, plopped through from the window and grinned. "I came over for breakfast." Setsuko rolled her eyes.
"Will you ever use the front door?" She asked, annoyed.
"Nah, windows are so much more fun," Keiichi told her, that sly grin still on his face.
"C'mon," Setsuko said, holding out her hand. Keiichi was a year younger than her and the son of Kusame and Komaki Otomiya; her mother's stepsister and stepbrother who eventually decided to marry after Kusame was emperor and Komaki was his platinum in high school. Together, Setsuko and Keiichi were both on the student council. Setsuko was the vice president and Keiichi was the treasurer. Keiichi took hold of her hand as she pulled him into her room with a quick thrust.
"Jeez, Keiichi-kun, you're so heavy," Setsuko groaned as Keiichi came tumbling into her room, rolling on the plush carpet.
"Shut up, you princess," Keiichi snarled, sounding just like Kusame.
"Screw up," Setsuko hissed under her breath and stormed out of her room. Keiichi watched her for a second, his eyes somewhat drawn to her and then he followed, wandering down the familiar halls of the Togu residence. Setsuko raced down the winding, forever ongoing staircase that would lead into the largest foyer a house could possibly contain and through a few more halls and into the kitchen.
"Thanks," Setsuko said as one of the workers, from the kitchen, tossed her a ripe apple. Setsuko swerved taking the detour to the dining hall. The doormen standing before the high mounted double doors had, at once, opened the doors upon seeing her smile to them.
"Thank you," Setsuko said, observing their kindness as they drew both the French doors open for her entrance. Takanari, Haine, and Setsuko's younger brother, Seiji were the only ones sitting at the table that could probably fit at least twenty other guests.
"Ah-there you are, Setsuko-chan," Haine smiled, pulling out the seat for her daughter. "Takanari-sama," Haine whispered his name into her husband's ear. "Can you help Setsuko-chan put on her tie?" She asked at her normal tone.
"Jeez, mom. I could have asked myself," Setsuko countered, leading the way to her father who sat at the head of the table. "Can you, dad?" Takanari nodded taking hold of his daughter's tie. Haine blushed; they were such a beautiful father and daughter.
"Takataka-kun!!!" Maguri Tsujimiya, Takanari's best friend, burst through the doors to the dining hall. He noticed Takanari deep in thought as he was tying his daughter's tie.
"Ah," Maguri blushed crimson red as Haine had. Maguri ran over to meet Haine and they both ran away to the corner of the room, in hiding.
"Stop being foolish," Takanari snapped to his wife and best friend as he perfectly slid the tie into place on his daughter's uniform.
"Why are mom and uncle Maguri-san always like that?" Setsuko wondered out loud to her dad. Takanari shrugged, "Good question."
"Now, Maguri, what do I owe the pleasure?" Takanari wiped his mouth primly on his one thousand thread count napkins and stood up.
"Oh, I just wanted to visit you, Takanari," Maguri smiled, endearing the fact he had much more to say than he had let on.
"God, I always get so lost in this house," Keiichi swung open the door on his own and went to meet up with Setsuko. "You could have at least walked with me." He complained. Setsuko shrugged, sort of looking like Takanari.
"Sorry, jeez," Setsuko said, sitting in the seat her mom and pre-pulled out for her.
"No time for breakfast," Keiichi yelled, pulling Setsuko from her seat. "We can eat in Waltz Haagen." Keiichi suggested, referring to the hanging gardens that resembled one of the places in Setsuko's mother's favorite picture book, The Unforgettable Song of the Witch, which was actually written by Takanari Togu, her father.
"Fine, promise?" Setsuko pouted, not really wanting to skip breakfast at home.
"Yes, promise. Now--to the car!!" Keiichi insisted and pushed Setsuko out of the house.
"Bye mom, bye dad, bye Uncle Maguri-san, bye Seiji-kun!" Setsuko personalized her byes just like her mother would probably do and left out the other way out with Keiichi pushing her the whole time. The Rolls Royce, the choice of car, which Keiichi wanted to travel in today, had rolled up in front of the Imperial Academy gates.
"Look, look!! It's Setsuko-sama and Keiichi-sama of the student council," one girl squealed from the paths leading to the doors for the academy.
"I know, I wonder if they're going out," another one said.
"Oh, my god! Look who's in the car after them!!" one with pigtails pestered.
"It's…" the other one stammered.
"It's Ryuunosuke-sama, the koutei!" the one with pigtails finished the sentence.
"He's so…cool!!" one girl squealed once more. Being in the student council basically was a path to popularity. Except there was a catch, there was work required and planning for the school. Ryuunosuke Ishitaka was 59th emperor of Imperial Academy. His favorable qualities were that he had the wits of the 39th emperor, Kazuhito Kamiya, Setsuko's grandfather, and the kindness of the 38th emperor, Itsuki Otomiya, her other grandfather but biologically. Although a quality all on his own was that he was the school's biggest flirt and playboy. Somewhat, that happened to work out for him, he had the whole population of girls to vote for him and guys either despised him or worshiped him, it was a one way street in opinions.
"Setsuko-chan," he smiled, draping his arms around Setsuko as she stepped out of the black Rolls Royce.
"Hands off, koutei," Keiichi angrily snapped. He had not wanted a playboy draping himself over his cousin.
"Aw, Keiichi-kun, don't be so mean to your emperor," Ryuunosuke cooed, his voice chilled and soft.
"H-hi, Ryuunosuke-sama," Setsuko stuttered, she always felt nervous around the emperor, for some odd reason. "I don't know if this is the right thing to do. Miu-sama might get angry." Miu Aoki was emperor Ryuunosuke's platinum as of when he was instated emperor.
"Aw, don't get angry. What she doesn't know won't kill me," Ryuunosuke explained, as if he had all the power in the world. Keiichi had wondered why this idiot was even emperor in the first place. It was probably because his parents were founders of the rival company to the Togu family. And Ryuunosuke would obviously be heir because his elder sister could not be an heir.
"Let her go, Ryuu. We have a lot of work to do," Keiichi snapped, this was getting on his last nerve. Before Ryuunosuke became emperor, he and Keiichi were pretty decent friends. Although ever since Ryuunosuke had become the latest emperor and had flings with almost the whole tenth grade and freshmen grade as well as some seniors and juniors, Keiichi seemed to be overprotective of his cousin, Setsuko.
"You're so serious, Kei-kun! Lighten up, will you?" Ryuunosuke released his hold on Setsuko's neck and grinned.
"Will you all just be walking in without me??" Kichiro Narimiya, the son of Senri and Ushio Narimiya, asked crossly as he leaned against the back of his car and cleaned off his glasses. "You all are so polite." He grunted and slipped his glasses on over the bridge of his nose as he walked closer to his council members and friends. Setsuko giggled, "Kichiro-chan! I'm so sorry." Setsuko flung her arms around her best friend.
"And, you allow her to willingly give herself to Ki-chan," Ryuunosuke sarcastically said to Keiichi as Setsuko affectionately hugged her childhood friend.
"Kichiro-kun is different," Keiichi admitted, flatly.
"How so?" Ryuunosuke pondered, seeing the affection between the two.
"Fuck off," Keiichi growled, unsure of what else to say. He was at a loss of words.
"It's good to see you, Kichiro-chan. I missed you," Setsuko admitted, her cheeks flaming red. Having the looks of both Ushio and Senri, Kichiro was very good looking for his age and could probably have any girlfriend he could ever want. But he settled for having a best friend being a girl instead.
"But we saw each other at dinner yesterday," Kichiro pointed out and Setsuko frowned.
"That doesn't mean I can't miss you the hours in between," Setsuko brightly pointed out and that made Kichiro blush, hesitantly, Setsuko had sounded so much like her mother, Haine. "Let's--." Keiichi's voice interrupted the loving best friends.
"Let's all have breakfast in Waltz Haagen now!" He suggested to everyone, turning red for some reason. People watched, cowering from above, thinking of how beautiful it was to see all of the student council members together.
"Yes, Waltz Haagen. Wonderful idea, Keiichi-kun. Let's go," Ryuunosuke added, for some reason he was acting jumpy too upon seeing Setsuko's more loving side.
"Oh yeah, breakfast. I'm starved," Setsuko smiled at the two other boys.
"Yeah, I skipped breakfast too," Kichiro said as well and gave a small smile to Setsuko. Then all of them pranced up the steps as the two gates had all ready been open for them for quite some time.
"Setsuko-sama, of the student council, is so lucky," one of the same squealing girls had complained, staring from above at the beautiful, infamous Setsuko. "She's surrounded by the good looking guys of the student council!! It's no fair."
"But you can always ask your parents for money to get into the council," her friend had suggested. The other girl glared and then rolled her eyes, "It's not like that." She had whispered, her eyes glued to the council.
"So, breakfast it is," Setsuko declared while all different types of food reeling in her mind. "What can we get?"
"Anything you want, Setsuko-chan," Kichiro smiled while at Setsuko's side.
"American breakfast!!" Setsuko claimed, happily after contemplating what she wanted.
"Its girl's choice," Ryuunosuke said simply as he led the council down the path. People watched in awe, it was rarity to see the whole council walking into the school together.
"So American breakfast it is," Keiichi confirmed and took out his cell phone. He quickly dialed a number, ordering some food for the council's breakfast.
"Ryuunosuke-sama?" a cowering voice called from a few paces behind the council. Setsuko, Keiichi, Kichiro, and then Ryuunosuke all turned their heads to see a beautiful girl in her specially designed uniform stand all by her lonesome. She was most certainly apart of the council. She held the special place in Ryuunosuke's heart. Miu Aoki was none other than Ryuunosuke, the 59th koutei's platinum.
A/N – Well, what do you think? I actually got this idea from another fanfiction, for Harry Potter called 'Growing Up Potter'. (If you're a fan, I highly recommend reading it) Anyhow, I decided to make this spin-off on The Gentlemen's Alliance (Shinshi Doumei Cross). If you all like it, I promise I will continue writing.