"The moment I saw her, a part of me walked out of my body and wrapped itself around her. And there it still remains."
― Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Chapter 1

Togami Byakuya was only eight years old when he fell in love. It happened unexpectedly and with a commoner no less. Still. That didn't deter him. He was Togami Byakuya, heir of Togami Industries, and he always got what he wanted.

He and his father had been on their way to a gala in their name when their limousine had stopped.

"What's wrong?" his father asked. Despite the scowl on his face, he was still remarkably handsome. He had gelled his blond hair away from his face today, allowing one to see his blue eyes more clearly. Togami was the only one among his siblings that had inherited both traits from his father. The rest of his siblings had all inherited the same light brown hair and hazel eyes from their mother.

Beside his father, Togami narrowed his eyes. What is that incompetent driver up to Togami thought just as the side door opened and said incompetent driver stood there looking apologetic.

"I'm terribly sorry Mr. Togami. It seems the engine has stopped working. I've already called a tow truck but it may be a while sir." The driver said bowing lightly.

Byakuyas father was not pleased. After he was done berating the man and calling his all sorts of names five years old weren't suppose to know of yet, he and his father exited the car. While his father was busy making calls and informing the people at the gala that they were going to be late, Byakuya looked at their surroundings.

It seems they had stopped by a park. According to his watch, it was nearing eight thirty pm. They were definitely going to be late. With nothing better to do, Togami looked both ways and made his way to the park. Just as he was nearing one of the benches to take a seat he heard laughter. Startled, but not letting it show, Byakuya scowled in the direction the noise had come from and his blue eyes locked on a set of green eyes.

There, under the slide was a little girl with brown messy hair looking at him with wide eyes. Byakuya felt his face grow warm. The girls' eyes were such a beautiful shade of color, he felt like he could look at the them and never grow tired of it. After a bit of staring, the girl beckoned him over with her arm. Slightly in a daze, Byakuya made his way over and crouched by the girl.

Before he could utter a word, the little girl pulled him to her side and shushed him.

"Shh!" she said. "She'll find us if we talk." Confused, Byakuya tilted his head and whispered "Who?"

"My sister silly, we're playing hide and seek," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She has a nice voice, Byakuya thought. He could listen to her for hours and he wouldn't mind one bit. Shaking his head to clear him of those thoughts, Byakuya remembered he was a Togami. And Togamis never acted like this. And they certainly didn't get captivated by mere commoners like this little girl whose serious expression on her face made her look all the more cuter. Stop that he told himself. You're a Togami, act like it.

With a scoff, Togami looked at the girl and tersely said, "And when did I agree to play this childish game of yours?"

"When we locked eyes," she said seriously.

Byakuya had a lot to say for that comment, but before he could say anything a shadow appeared in front of them.

"Aha! Found you big sis!" a voice said.

Byakuya and the girl next to him, whose name he still didn't know, both looked up to see another girl in from of them. She had short, dark brown hair, and desaturated green eyes. She was currently grinning at said sister when she noticed him.

"Who's that sis?" she asked.

The girl next to him looked at him and blinked. Like she'd just noticed something. "You know, I'm not sure. I forgot to ask. Sorry about that. I'm Naegi Makoto and this is my little sister Naegi Komaru. What's your name?" she asked with a smile.

"Byakuya Togami" he said curtly.

"What are you doing here Togami? Are you lost?" the older of the Naegi sisters asked.

"Of course I'm not lost you idiot. My father and I were on our way to an important party when our car broke down, I'm just here to waste time while the tow truck arrives." Togami said while crossing his arms.

Deciding to ignore the idiot comment, Makoto nodded wisely and crossed her arms. "Ah I see. I bet daddy can help with that though. He used to work with cars after all."

"That's right!" Komaru said excitedly. "I'll go get him, be right back!" and with that she took off in a run leaving the other two to talk among themselves.

After dusting off her dress, Makoto turned to Byakuya and asked him what he did for fun. Byakuya heard what she said, but all his attention was on her hair. Her messy, twigs everywhere he could see, disastrous hair. Before he could fully comprehend what he was doing, his hands were on her hair, attempting to fix what he could.

"Stop squirming!" Byakuya scolded her. "How dare you walk around with this nest of a hair in public, have you no shame!" Makoto instantly stopped squirming and apologized.

Seeing her so dejected shouldn't have made him feel like he just kicked a puppy. Wanting to make that frown on her face disappear, Byakuya softened his voice and said " You'd look prettier if you actually bother to fix your hair is all I'm saying, and does this strand ever go down?" he said in an attempt distract Makoto from the blush currently adorning his face. Makoto blushed and looked down. Byakuya found that he rather liked making Makoto blush and wondered how he could do it again when Komaru and who he assumed were her parents made their way over to them.

"Daddy!" Makoto said as she broke away from Byakuya's hands and ran towards her father who scooped her up and tossed her into the air, causing Makoto to let out a squeal of laughter.

"Daddy, this is Byakuya and his car broke down. Can you help him? Please?" Makoto said while adorning puppy dog eyes at her father. Makotos' parents both smiled and laughed.

"Well who can resist those eyes?" Makotos mother said while scooping Komaru up.

The Naegi family had this warm aura surrounding them that it was almost blinding. Byakuya wasn't used to seeing this. His father wasn't like this. And from what he remembered from his mother, she didn't exhibit any of these traits either. It made him uncomfortable but he wasn't going to show it. He wouldn't let them see it.

"So what's this I hear about a car?" Makotos' father asked him.

"It broke down in the middle of the road, our driver has already called for a tow truck though," he said.

"Ah, well let's see if I can fix it before it gets here yeah?" Makotos' father said as he put Makoto down. As soon as Makotos' feet touched the ground, she ran up to Byakuya and took his hand.

"Is that ok? Can you show us the car?" Makoto asked him. Byakuya flushed and fixed his glasses before looking away.

"If you insist," he said. Makoto beamed.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Mikonos' parents gave each other knowing smiles.

And with that the Naegi family and Byakuya made his way across the street towards the car. Makoto didn't let go of Byakuyas hand once, though to be honest its not like he minded all that much.

Upon their arrival, Byakuyas father turned from where he was making a call and raised an eyebrow at them.

"I'll call you back.," his father said before looking scornfully at the Naegis. "Who are you and what are you doing with my son?" he angrily asked. Before things could get worse, Byakuya quickly explained to his father of the situation and his father gradually calmed down.

"Very well. If you think you can fix this, then by all means" Mr. Togami said gesturing to the car.

It seemed being unfazed by any kind of negative attitude was a Naegi trait, because Makotos' father just smiled and made his way to the front of the car where the driver was currently attempting to fix said car. After introductions were over, Byakuyas father made his way over to where the other two men were in order to avoid making small talk with the children or said mother of the children.

It took about fifteen minutes to get the limo fixed. Apparently it had just needed a starter and they could finally make their way to the gala.

Byakuya looked up from his game of paper fortune that he was playing with the Naegi sisters when his father called for him to say they were leaving. Byakuya made his way to his father and stood by his side. His father thanked Makotos' father and said that he would be in contact to thank him for everything that he done for them. Makotos' father brushed it off with a smile and said it was no problem at all.

"So does this mean we'll get to play again?" Makoto asked.

Byakuya's father looked down at her and said with a small smile "Perhaps." Byakuya tried not to let his shock show. He hadn't seen his father smile in a long time.

Makoto smiled and before Byakuya could see, she ran up to him and placed a kiss on his cheek. It almost made him blush. Anyone else with less self-control would have, but Togami Byakuya was better than that. And besides, this girl had made him blush more than once already. He couldn't let her have any more control over him than she already did.

"Isn't that great Byakuya? We'll get to see each other again!" Makoto smiled at him.

Byakuya raised a hand to his cheek where Makoto had placed the kiss and cleared his throat.

"Yes I heard, I was here as well you know." He said.

"Well, thank you very much for your help, but we must on our way. Byakuya come." Mr. Togami said as he stepped inside the car. After offering a small wave of farewell to the Naegi family, Byakuya made his way to the car and stepped inside. And with that they drove away.

"Are you going to call them father?" Byakuya asked. His father glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

"Yes, Togamis always repay their debts. Why are you asking?" his father asked him.

Byakuya looked away. "No reason." He said.

"I see." His father said giving him a knowing look. Byakuya chose to ignore that look and took a look at the scenery out the window all the while imaging what his next meeting with Makoto would be like. He couldn't wait to see how she would surprise him next time.