A/N: An idea I had for a while, but Blue Tapioca's kind words prompted me to actually write this out (thank you so much, loves you all).
I don't know much about BDSM, so this story won't be similar to a certain novel of the similar name (plus I've never read the novel or seen the movie). So Usui and Misaki will definitely switch up, if you know what I mean (I can't ever imagine Misaki being truly submissive). I apologize as well, as I fear I can't be consistent with my updates even with winter break. But I will always ensure my updates are up to the quality to make the wait less bearable, so thank you for the understanding, my lovely readers~
This story will put a strong emphasis on healthy relationships with plenty of communication and consent. Always consent. And wear protection if you're having unprotected sex and test for STDs if you do. (ps the webtoon Boo! It's Sex is really educational and comedic and should replace some of the horrid sex education that's out there, would recommend it for 10/10)
Now that the lecture is over, enjoy!
Misaki didn't believe in fairy tales.
Ever.
Most of them always called for the dashing prince to save the poor maiden's life. If that was true, Misaki's life would have been better already and her family would be living in the lap of luxury since she turned sixteen. They always called for the female protagonist to be rescued or something when they were sixteen. Well, now Misaki was 27 with no prince in clear sight.
That was okay with Misaki. She didn't need to rely on anyone but herself to get to where she was. Men were just all hassle or minor characters in her life at best. Her father had left the family since she was 12 and the only few males she consistently spent her time with were her apartment mate Hinata Shintani, friend Aoi Hyodo and a few work colleagues. She'd make an exception for them, even if Shintani had a knack for causing trouble and she was the one who had to sort it out.
Besides, she was living well as a senior team manager of a fairly mid-size advertising company. She paid off both her and Suzuna's college fees and interests and even got her mother a nice townhouse. She could afford to share a two-bedroom apartment in the thick of the city with Shintani. She certainly didn't care if her male colleagues called her work-aholic or demoness or whatever. Suzuna could take care of giving grandchildren to their mother if she wanted. It was a blessed life already.
Maybe that's why Misaki didn't expect to meet the equivalent of a prince on a rushed Monday morning.
Shintani had somehow attracted pigeons on the balcony when he tied bundles of corn to the balcony roof to dry them. It ended up being a morning of the two chasing out the pigeons and Misaki getting some unsightly poop in her hair.
"No worries, Misaki, when you come back for dinner, I'll make you rice porridge stewed with dried corn!" Shintani had said. His brown eyes were bright with excitement and hope and another emotion she didn't have time to decipher.
Misaki watched bemusedly at the ruined corn in Shintani's hands, now speckled with beak marks and scratches. Her stomach turned. "Please...don't. Thank you for the thought, but no."
Shintani never wasted any food that could be deemed just barely edible, which made Misaki doubt some of the dishes he concocted.
But all of this had made her very late for the one day she couldn't afford to be late to.
Her team had been preparing for the arrival of their biggest client yet. Her boss, Hyoudou Satsuki, had her nerves frayed for the past two weeks. The Walker Corporation had established an international branch in Japan three years ago and had already become a well known name in the market. But why they suddenly decided to switch advertisers to a mid-size company like the Hyoudou company was beyond Misaki's comprehension. But no matter the reason, she was determined to do the best of her ability, pigeon poop or no pigeon poop.
The Hyoudo company was quite lucky to have the patronage of the Walkers. With strong competitors like the Igarashis, the mid-size company had been in the financial red line. Misaki had even been worried that she would have to be putting herself on the job market again. Succeeding would mean keeping the company afloat for at least another good decade or so, not to mention the publicity and other potential customers that could be gained.
As soon as the subway doors opened, Misaki dashed out the station. Those who saw her that day claimed that they saw was close to a dark blur. But all she cared about was making it to the company on time. Judging by her trusty watch on her wrist, she should just make it to her office with 6 minutes to spare to get a hot cup of coffee.
"Hey!"
Just before the doors to her company building, Misaki saw a man on a motorcycle snatch a briefcase from two men just exiting some type of foreign car. The thief already had a bright pink purse and another briefcase, which Misaki was pretty sure did not belong to him. But he was coming her way. She looked left and right on the streets. A few cars were coming, but they were still far away. She paused for a second, then launched herself into the streets with a flying side kick.
THWACK! The thief went down and the motorcycle went skittering down the streets. Cars honked so Misaki nimbly made her way to the thief.
He struggled to stand up, groaning. Misaki quickly disarmed him by pinning both hands behind his back and with one foot placed on his spine.
A man ran up to them. "Oh thank you! Thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done if the briefcase was lost. Thank you, miss!" It was the young man from earlier, his eyes bright with admiration. He reminded Misaki of a small harmless puppy. The stranger took the briefcase. "Please, allow me to thank you."
"That's all right!" Shoot, her watch now let her know she barely had time. "Actually, do you mind calling the police for me? I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer or else I'll miss my meeting. Thanks!" And with that, she dashed towards the company doors.
"Oh, wait! Drat," the man murmured. He trudged back to the imported Tesla where his employer stood. "I have the briefcase, Mr. Usui." The thief was already being accosted by some policeman and bystanders. "Oh no, your suit, Mr. Usui!"
The blond man took the briefcase. "Thank you, Yukimura."
He looked down at his Italian wool suit, where his iced coffee had been flung into his chest when the mysterious woman had appeared out of nowhere to take the thief down. A bright pink purse had unexpectedly knocked his coffee right out of his hand. Thankfully, the coffee wasn't hot or else that would have been a nasty burn.
"Don't worry about the suit. I have others."
"But your meeting! I-it's going to start in 18 minutes. I'll call someone for a replacement right away sir!"
The suit was inconsequential. The briefcase was far more important with his documents and laptop. It would have been a hassle to replace even if he did have backups.
He turned his forest green eyes back to the company building where the mysterious woman had disappeared. How interesting, Usui thought.
Misaki walked into her office with a minute to spare with the clock declaring 8:59am. Kanou, her assistant, had her coffee already in her favorite mug, a cute little number with a kitten that her sister had gotten from some lottery.
"Thanks, Kanou," she took it gratefully. Normally she got to the office 10 minutes early to make her own coffee. After having been treated like crap as an intern, she was resolved to never treat her own assistants or secretaries the same way she had been treated.
Kanou shrugged. "You're rarely late."
When Kanou first started work, he barely spoke anything to the female employees. To have a female boss almost scared him away from taking this job. But he needed the money, and Misaki never pulled pranks or did any of the other scary things other women did when they saw his handsome face. He was loyal to Misaki and her only. Misaki didn't mind as long as Kanou worked hard.
"Okay, we have 15 minutes before the 9:15 meeting with the Walker corporation. Let me review the proposal plans again while we walk to the conference room."
Soon they were comfortably seated in conference room A when the doors opened. And in walked the blond prince with green eyes with a rather large coffee stain on his otherwise immaculate white shirt. Misaki wasn't immune to beauty, but she didn't trust good-looking people. Like that Igarashi Tora bastard. This new blond man exuded that same air that Igarashi did, hair slicked back with not a single hair out of place. His jawline was chiseled and he had a strong chin, with a straight nose. He looked part Japanese, part European.
Misaki had a weird feelings about him already. He was probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth, never had to live in a decrepit house that had given her ankle an infection when she broke her ankle stepping on a rotting floorboard. What could he know by hard work?
She was far more interested in the coffee stain. She thought that the Walker Corporation would send more professional people than him. A girl, a new employee on her team, giggled and sighed, apparently taken back by the handsome man.
Then Misaki's eyes slid onto the nervous man behind the blond man. It was the same man who had his briefcase stolen, and indeed he was clutching the same briefcase as before. The secretary or second-in-command clearly. Even with a coffee stain, it was clear the man in charge was the blonde.
"Hello," the blond man bowed. "My name is Usui Takumi, the CEO of the Japan branch of the Walker Corporation."
"I-I'm Shoichiro Yukimura, the VP." The nervous man bowed as well, nearly dropping the briefcase on his toes.
"Please pardon my appearance," Usui said smoothly. "There was an incident in front of the company just earlier, where my briefcase was stolen. But thankfully your employee saved the day." His green eyes turned towards her.
Misaki blinked in confusion. Oh, he meant her. Yes, there had been two men exiting the car. When she had knocked the thief out of his motorcycle, out of the corner of her eye, she remembered seeing the purse fly and landing in the vicinity of the men. Oops.
"Oh no, it's no trouble, at all! I am Hyoudo Satsuki, the President." Satsuki said, waving her hands frantically. She was so nervous that her voice ended on a squeak. This was the man who could decide whether the Hyoudo company would still be standing in a few years later. "Ah, Misa-chan has always been the most reliable worker."
"Then I must thank you, Misa-chan. You have done the Walker Corporation a great service." The blond man bowed again, his eyes bright with amusement.
Misaki stiffened, keeping her expression under control. He must be teasing her for that dratted nickname that Aoi had given her. Now the closest friends to her in the company would use it, although she half-heartedly protested it. (Expect for the male employers who were too scared of her, not that Misaki knew or cared)
"My name is Ayuzawa Misaki. I am the senior Team Manager who will be managing your company's case, and this is my team. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She kept her voice cordial. Mentally, she smirked at the flash of surprise in her new client's eyes. Certainly, he had not expected someone like her to be the senior Team Manager. Very few women made it to the top of hierarchy in the world.
Usui's eyes flashed again with a sort of thoughtfulness she didn't understand. His secretary murmured something in his ear, and Usui nodded. "Then if you'll excuse me for delaying our meeting by 5 minutes. A replacement set of clothes has arrived for me. I would not dare besmirch the reputation of the Hyoudo corporation by wearing such stained attire."
"Oh, no, not trouble at all! We'll wait for you right here." Satsuki dipped a few times. The men from the Walker Corporation left, and Satsuki immediately sank into a chair in a sigh of relief. "I was so scared there! Oh, Misa-chan, it seems like you did us a huge favor! Getting their briefcase back will certainly curry favor with them!"
"Will it?" Misaki muttered.
She was also the one who had also spilled coffee on their most important client in the history of the company. And the Walkers did work with the Igarashi advertising company in the past. With the Igarashi company being one of the most powerful if not the most powerful advertising agency in Japan with global branches, why had the Walker corporation chosen Hyoudo?
"And also, Satsuki-chan, you might not want to call me Misa-chan in front of the clients again."
Her boss put her hands in front of her mouth. "Oh, dear me, yes that would be unprofessional. I-I'm just so nervous, really."
The clients soon came back into the conference room. Usui now wore a striped navy blue suit that fit his lean physique well. Misaki caught one of her new female employees gawking at the client, and she warned the employee with her eyes.
Somehow, she knew she was bound for a lot of trouble.