"Is this life really is? Just a pointless, empty life?" Koushirou mused to himself as his fingers tapped furiously on the keyboard. "Is there more to life that it really seems?"
Work, work and work. That is what his life consisted of. Just another huge stack of papers waiting to be signed, to be edited, to be approved of. While others longed for a steady, stable life that he has, he envy their wild, unpredictable jobless state. People would compliment him, praising him for his high status life, his award-winning company, blah.
"That is Izumi Koushirou…"
"Not the Izumi?"
"The one who founded the Izumi Corp.?"
"Are you pulling my leg?
"Oh, he's so rich. And gorgeous. Wonder if he's available?"
Not that the last sentence was heard so often.
Sure, he has everything that a person could have wanted. More than a billion dollars in his account, a perfect, sexy and gorgeous Spanish woman in his arms, and the hip and happening buddies. In fact, he was often envy by others. If he's a nerd in his high school years, today he's the man to be seen with.
But is that it?
People say that his life is interesting. He meets loads of new people per day, travel to the four corners of the world, and dines with princes and politicians. Koushirou can't deny it. His life is interesting, but it has lost its sparkle when his business boomed like a firecracker. Izumi Corp. is fast growing as one the hugest company in Japan, not to mention the world. He's satisfied with what he has. There's only one exception.
He hated the fact that his life revolves around his company.
People know him as the bold founder of Izumi Corp., not the computer-addicted Koushirou.
When his successes were acknowledged by the Wall Street, his own private, solitary life was thrown out of the window.
He's beginning to despise his own creation.
Mercedes Perez is beautiful.
That's all he could say about his partner in bed.
Tanned skin, long, dark hair with a pair of seducing brown eyes, she's simply the woman that every man dreams of.
He was one of those men.
Time changed. That's all he could say to defend himself.
It's the looks that caught his eyes first. She was flirting with a man a few years his senior. She had thrown other laughing guests an envious look. Smoothing down the dress that she called 'her little black dress' and looked up. To find that her partner have found a new company.
It was him. Izumi Koushirou.
Later, she told him that she knew him from a magazine interview. While sipping her hot cappuccino, she revealed that she was looking forward to meeting him. He's forgotten the magazine's title when his own brown eye caught hers. I'm a journalist, Mercedes told him. My editor assigned me to interview you tomorrow. He'd forget that he was going to an interview tomorrow. She laughed and teased him. Your life is like a ship. A very tight ship.
She was right.
He'd admit that now.
When he first set his eyes on her, he was struck with owe. She was a beauty queen. The perfect girlfriend material, his partner in crime, Ado would tell him. A must-have woman.
As her seductress eyes travel from her companion to him, he'd turned to her with a nonchalant look. Mercedes, she told him, shaking his hand. Good to see you, Izumi-san. Quietly deciding to ditch her old companion, they both started a long session of courtship. She, being a natural Siren, gave him her seducer look while he switched on his Casanova attitude buried deep inside of him.
She was taken aback by him. He knew it because she'd admit it when they were enjoying a movie together, at his house.
When he still has his live to himself, and not to some burly businessman.
When she haven't yell at him for spending so much time in his office, instead of with her.
When she was still the sweet, innocent and adorable girl that he found when all her masks went out of the window.
It is too late. She has already left his life.
There's nothing he could do about it. He cared for her, loved her even, but he didn't want her to waste her life for a non-committal man that he is.
She was still reluctant to leave in the last moment they shared.
He gave her the final blow that pushed her to the limit.
He has another woman.
He lied, of course. He would never want to break her heart. He cared for her too much to do such a thing. Still. He had to do the decision. She was too precious for him, though he didn't want her to go. He found the softer side of her that he loved more than her features.
They're over, though not officially.
"Izumi-san?"
Koushirou shot up, plunged back to reality by his assistant voice. He was caught with surprise and anger. When did she enter? Most importantly, when did he call her in? Fighting to control his easily awaken anger, he looked at her in the eye.
"What is it?" he toyed with his Dunhill pen, a gift from Mercedes. It was as a tease, he recalled, given to him back in January. She knew how he hated these branded things. The high price that we paid for them is not what we paid for the item, he told her. When we purchase an item, we purchase the brand, not the item.
To put is simply, they are popular because of their brand. God, how he missed her.
"You have a meeting with Koruya-sama tomorrow, eight o'clock. His secretary called to make an appointment." The girl said cautiously, knowing that her employer's fury is a common subject in the office nowadays. Even Perez-san has stopped dropping by, she realized. She made a mental note to tell the rest of the girls this important issue.
"Oh." Silence. The girl, whose name is Hereto Suzuki, fidgeted with her hair nervously. She gulped visibly when he coughed suddenly. His brow shot upwards when she suddenly stood straight, as stiff a poker.
"Anything else, Suzuka-sama?" she jumped literally when he spoke up.
"Um, do you want anything?" she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. She bit her lower lip when she noticed how idiotic her question was.
Koushirou stared at her for a long while. His cold face breaking into a smile, he chuckled.
"Only one." Suzuki braced herself for the blow.
"Yes, Izumi-san?"
"Did you knock?"
Leaning back into his seat, Koushirou sighed, exhausted. He watched as more passengers started to drifted into the commuter, as exhausted as he was. A woman in her twenties settled down into the seat next to his. Too tired to look up, he took no notice of her.
His crimson eyes traveled from one passenger to the other, taking in the features into his mind with interest. It has been a long time since he last took a public transport. Usually, he would call Komamura, his chauffeur to pick him up. Today was different. He was tired of the glossy, shining black car that he travel in. The bloody car reminded him of a four-wheel coffin.
Some punk heads were talking animated in the corner. It was loud enough for him to hear from a distance.
"That idiot was freaking stupid!" There was spitting noise.
"Probably why his name is idiot." His companion snickered.
"He should be skin alive for being a traitor!" There was a war hoop. Other passengers turned to them, curious. Chuckling softly, he diverted his attention to a pair of lovebirds.
"You yelled at me!" the female teenager shouted. Some dozing passengers were aroused, rubbing their eyes.
"No, I didn't. I raised my voice a little bit higher, that's all." The male counterpart argued tiredly. Koushirou guess that the same argument took place everyday. It must be boring. Glad that he and Mercedes weren't like that, he watched as a mother tried to soothe her crying baby.
He was delighted that he took the commuter, he realized as he smiled at the mother who looked up to him. It was like a veil was being pulled open. A light in his darkness. As an unknown feeling replaced the emptiness inside of him, he was confused. It was a familiar feeling, though unrecognizable.
What could it be? He turned to the woman beside him, as if she knows the answer. His gaze traveled to her face, trying to study her personality.
What he saw next shocked him.
"Hikari?" he stuttered for the first time in years. The woman stared at him for a while, trying to recall him from a memory. Slowly, a smile crept into her face.
"Koushirou! It's you!" she laughed, pulling him into a hug. He hugged back awkwardly, trying to stop the obscene train of thoughts. She still haven't lost her joviality, he grinned. Still the same, old Yagami Hikari.
"Yeah, me. Old, nerdy Koushirou." he joked. Pulling herself away from him, she inspected his appearance, trying to deduce clues on how his life is.
"You're very well to do." She exclaimed, delighted for him. Her brown hair is longer than before, he noted. She has grown, he grinned wider. Taichi's little sister has became a woman!
"That's all you got, Sherlock Holmes?" she giggled at his remark.
"Where have you been?" she asked in a friendly manner. "We have been wondering where you have landed yourself. Onii-chan said you are probably in Mars. Yamato-san said no. He said you are already in Pluto."
Koushirou chuckled as his companion chattered on and on, filling him in with his friends' developments. "Really? You really want me to go that far?"
She grinned and shook her head vigorously. "Onii-chan and Yamato-san said, not me. I was worried sick when you didn't reply to any of my phone calls. All of us are!"
This is what his career has done to him. Destroyed his social life thoroughly, without any pity.
Seven years ago, he left his college, looking for a job. He was still in close contact with his loyal friends who stood by his side all through the crucial months. They'd comfort him, laugh with him and criticize the people who refused to employ him. You're a genius, Takeru-chan said to him. They are fools for not realizing it.
When he came home to the house that all eight shared together, he would find Mimi-chan chatting with Hikari-chan about the latest fashion. Sora-chan would be poring over her sports magazine, while Taichi-kun would be arguing with Yamato-kun about the last soccer match over Takeru-chan's head. Jyou-kun would be absorbed in his study, no one dared to disturb the medical student. They would all look up when the front door shut, no matter how quietly it was done. Murmuring greetings, they would continue with their daily chores.
How he missed those times.
At the ripe age of twenty seven, he'd started a small business with only two employers. A company that is focused on technology, he told the gang, excited. They'd pat his back and wished him luck. Whenever he's in trouble, one of them would bail him out. They are the reason why his business grows into an enterprise. He could never pay back their priceless deeds, he realized.
Then, he has to move to Osaka. His business was growing. They needed more space. They threw him a party. There were only eight guests. Taichi-kun, Yamato-kun, Sora-chan, Jyou-kun, Mimi-chan, Hikari-chan, Takeru-chan and him. Tears in his eyes, Koushirou lifted his share of the sake. Forever friends, he shouted. They all drink to it.
He was the one to break that oath.
As his company expanded, his life became busier. He moved from one place to the other, one minute in Shinjuku, and the next minute he was in Hokkaido. At first, his relationship with the rest was still working. Then, quietly, it withered. He has never seen them since.
"Koushirou-san!"
He perked up instantly, blinking under Hikari-chan's gaze.
"Huh?"
"I was asking you how's your life." She folded her arms.
"Fine." He replied automatically.
"Really?" she raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah." He said slowly.
"Oh, well. If you don't want to tell what you've been doing these past years, fine." She pouted. Grinning, Koushirou chuckled.
"You're a woman now, but you still act like a kid."
"Whatever." She glared. "The others would be delighted to see you." She eyed him closely. "Want to come?"
"Where?" he asked, although he knew the answer.
"Same, old place, dummy. Where do you think? Anyway, would you give us the pleasure of your company?" she asked again.
He considered it for awhile. If he can recalled properly, he has dinner with someone important.
Who cares? He wants his life back. His friends are more important than his career. He'd rather beg in the streets than desert his precious friends. He has already lost Mercedes; he doesn't want to lose his friends.
Taichi Yagami. The brown haired leader with the goofy grin.
Sora Takenouchi. The motherly peacemaker of the gang.
Yamato Ishida. The brooding, cold lone wolf.
Jyou Kido. The voice of reason.
Mimi Tachikawa. The ditzy princess with the weird taste for food.
Takeru Takaishi. The angelic and cheerful boy of hope.
Hikari Yagami. Their light in darkness.
And him. Their gang would be complete if all eight is present.
Which is what he's going to do.
He nodded, grinning form one ear to the other.
He must have looked like Taichi-kun, because Hikari-chan broke into laughter.
How was it? Give me some feedbacks, please.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.