Promises
by io sono mi-cchi
Prologue
The rivalry between the Hanakomachi and Hikarigaoka families rooted from a broken promise.
Satou Hikarigaoka was engaged to be married to Midori Hanakomachi. It was not a formal promise made in public, but both parties were both sure and passionate about their love. The two families were close even before the two were born. The engagement strengthened their bond. Since they were into politics and business, they helped each other when one of them is in a pinch.
During the Second World War, Satou was called to duty in the Philippines. They vowed under their favorite Sakura tree that they would be married as soon as he came home.
The promise never came true.
Years passed after the war when Midori discovered that Satou had married another woman. She was a nurse who tended him after the war. They met in Tokyo and their romance lasted for months until he took it to the next level by marrying her on the same day they had met after the six months they had been together.
It sounded romantic to foreign ears, but it was pathetic for Midori and her family. It was low for Satou to forget the promise he made to Midori. If he was not sure about it, he should not have made the promise, thus it would not be agonizing for the woman.
Slowly, the ties of the two families grew brittle and eventually they broke of their friendly relations. Negative feelings toward the other party emerged. True opinions came out of the secret stash of inhibited responses. Then, they also broke off their plan of merging in business. They became rivals. Their competition was cutthroat, and only a selected few could stand between the two.
Midori was still bitter. Satou was still married. The clash was actually meaningless. It would not change anything, but the others kept on going, as they were fueled with anger and a trail of emotions that came with it.
Two generations after, they never thought that they would be forced into a ceasefire by the almost same thing that started it all.
A/N: Prologue to another promising story. (It's up to you to interpret the word promising). This is something that came up while I was people watching (Believe me, it had nothing to do with the people).
Tell me what you think! :)