He checked the time for the thousandth time and sighed loudly. It was well past midnight. So far he'd been unable to fall asleep.
"It is time for you to start thinking about your future, Hiro-kun."
Those words kept coming back to him even hours after they became the opening statement of the most important announcement given to him in his life. That afternoon he had to listen quietly as he was officially informed of the family's expectations of what he should become and do, cutting off any possible personal choices. He was told that he should feel flattered for being appointed to that specific position within the family businesses, but… It wasn't that he was completely displeased with their plans; he just felt manipulated. It is one thing to do something because you want to do it, and another one to do it because of an order. He decided that rather than obeying, he should see this as an exciting challenge and an opportunity. He just wished they had found a nicer way to tell him.
Akito's patronizing demeanor and the sympathetic smile on her face the whole time as she spoke fueled his uneasiness and anger, overriding any other emotions, excepting one…
"Did you know? Momo-chan is back from Germany. Maybe you should pay her and Momiji-kun a visit one of these days"
When he was almost at the door, she had to make that suggestion. As if he wasn't in enough mental turmoil already! He was perfectly aware that it wasn't just a passing comment, but in fact a veiled order that went beyond a simple social call.
It was a hint. One of the most important events of his future life would involve one of the bunnies.
The fact that he had yet to see that person again after such a long absence added to the complexity of the problem. He never knew her well enough in the past, so he had no idea of what she was like either now nor then. He had no way of making a guess about whether or not things would work out for good…
…and then he had to run into her brother.
He couldn't help it but to remember that this particular set of siblings looked remarkably alike. Or so people said. He kept staring at his cousin's face the whole time as he spoke to him, unsuccessfully trying to picture in his mind a girl version of Momiji. It was scary after a couple of minutes, so he decided to stop.
He knew that Akito presented the bait to him disguised as an imposition to see if he could measure up to the challenge. He also knew that he had the intelligence and the qualifications required, and that she was aware of that fact as well. He had no intention of backing off. He was determined to prove to everyone that they had been right in choosing him. He would do everything and anything that needed to be done in order to accomplish that.
He didn't want to make anyone else do things because they had to. It was bad enough that he was being forced to mold his life into this perfect plan created for him without taking him into account. He used to have dreams and expectations too, not that they mattered now. The image that he had of his future until that morning was fading away with every passing minute. He couldn't submit anyone else to that same experience… especially not someone who was supposed to play an important role in this predesigned future of his.
Even before he reached his home that night he decided that he was going to make things happen because they both wanted to do it. That would surely take longer, and he knew that he was in for a painful process as well, but it didn't matter.
He would take over the family's law firm and have a successful career, he'd marry well and right and he'd prove to the world that he could do everything he set himself to do…