Omiai
by koalting
DISCLAIMER: I came up with the plot in a dream and I summed up the general idea of the story in a whim with raw scenarios in my head.
I'm still in the process of coming up with the proper details and sequence of events as the story progresses.
My ideas tend to change from time to time and sometimes too many ideas come to mind that I just end up deviating and complicating my storyline.
hahaha. Bear with me on this. :)
~ CHAPTER 1~
Hyuuga Natsume
"Where are we going Okaasan?" asked a crimson-eyed 5 year-old boy with hair black as ebony.
He was Hyuuga Natsume, only son of the Hyuugas and heir to the Hyuuga Corporation ~ a company specializing in jewelry manufacturing.
"We're heading over to the Yukihara's Natsume" answered Kaoru, Natsume's mother who also had brown eyes from which he inherited his
from.
She was fiddling with the locks of her diamond encrusted necklace as she placed it around her neck.
Her husband, Mr. Hyuuga came to the dresser she was seated and helped her with it.
"They just came back from the States Natsume." explained his mother.
"It's been 3 years since we last saw them right Otosan?" she added.
"Yeah, 3 long years" Natsume's father reminisced.
"Yuka gave birth there at the States right? I wonder what their daughter looks like." he added. .
"She takes after Yuka of course! I won't allow my godchild to look anything like Izumi" snapped Kaoru as she and her husband laughed at
the thought of it.
The Hyuugas maintained a very close relationship with the Yukiharas, Izumi and Yuka.
Like them, the Yukiharas were also the owners of a big time company in Japan with a different area of specialization.
Both companies liked to do business with each other and because of this, their companies have prospered immensely and have developed a very
tight partnership as well.
"Natsume, are you ready? We gotta get going now" asked Natsume's father.
"Natsume?"... Natsume...
"Natsume-sama"…
"Natsume-sama…" said a loud voice.
"Your limo is here. Are you ready to go now?" asked a guy wearing a tailored black suit with matching black sunglasses and an earpiece – a
typical high-class body guard.
"Ah-yes. Yes I'm ready" replied Natsume who snapped out of his gaze outside the window of their family library.
On his hand was a file folder containing personal information of the daughter of the Yamada Corporations.
He left the folder at a nearby desk and headed for the door leading to the front yard.
"Natsume-sama" bowed politely the head butler of the Hyuuga house.
"Rei-sama is waiting for you in the limo" he added.
"Jinno-san, I'll be back soon" assured Natsume to Jinno the butler.
"Yes young master." Jinno-dono bowed again.
"Anna-san" he called out.
"Make sure to prepare a warm bath when the young master comes back" he ordered to one of the chamber maids.
"Yes, Jinno-dono" replied the chamber maid and quietly went back to the house.
"Where to Serio-sama?" asked the chauffeur as soon as Natsume was inside the limo.
"At the Café des Amis" ordered Rei Serio, Natsume's guardian and Uncle who is in charge of taking care of Natsume while his parents are at the
States.
"And step on it! We're already late" he added as he glared at Natsume.
"It's not polite for a gentleman to be late Natsume…" Serio began.
"Especially during one of these Omiai (Japanese blind dates / arranged marriages)"he continued but Natsume just remained silent.
He never really listens to one of his uncle's sermons.
It was his uncle's idea in the first place anyways, the Omiai.
He gave the idea of an Omiai between Natsume and any heiress of another major Japanese company to Natsume's parents.
He said it would be good for the company to have a more stable partnership with another as well as the merging of affluent families.
Both Kaoru and Natsume's father didn't think it was a bad idea at all. Plus it would be a good way for Natsume to find his potential wife.
So they agreed to let Serio arrange "blind dates" between Natsume and some company heiress.
"Try to look smart will you!" snapped Serio as he tightened Natsume's tie.
"Now hurry up and get going" he added as he slightly pushed Natsume out of the limo.
"Watch over him. We don't want anything to go wrong like the last time" ordered Serio to Natsume's body guards.
"Yes Serio-sama" and with this they accompanied Natsume inside the café.
As soon as Natsume stepped into the coffee shop, almost all of the customers stopped what they were doing.
Suddenly the ambiance became stiff and awkward and the murmurs could be heard in hush voices.
They couldn't take their eyes off of the man who just walked in.
Everyone knew and heard of the heir to the Hyuuga Corporation but to see him in the flesh and out in public was such a rare sight to see and
hence it attracted a lot of attention.
"Good Morning Hyuuga-sama" greeted the shop manager.
"We've reserved the VIP lounge as requested by Serio-sama" as he lead Natsume and his bodyguards away from all the other customers to a
more secluded area of the coffee shop.
Seated at one of the tables in the lounge was a beautiful and elegant looking girl with long straight golden hair and brown eyes.
Seeing her from a far, one could tell that she came from a wealthy family. She dressed in the finest clothes and moved with such demure and poise.
Some of the customers that followed Natsume to the lounge tried to take out thei camera phones in the hopes of getting his picture taken.
The bodyguards easily noticed this and blocked their view.
"Keep away all distractions"they remembered Rei Serio saying to them.
"Hyuuga-sama" said Maria Yamada politely as she stood up and gave a bowing gesture at Natsume.
The girl motioned for her and Natsume to sit down and as soon as they did, the manager came for their orders.
"Good Morning Hyuuga-sama. Yamada-sama" he began as he handed out the menus to both of them.
"Please order anything you want. It's on the house" he assured them.
"I'll have your house special Caesar salad with some mango vignette" ordered Maria as she glanced at Natsume who wasn't really looking at
the menu.
"I'll just have coffee. Black" Natsume ordered before the Maria could say anything.
"I'll have your orders prepared immediately. Please excuse me" bowed the manager as he was handed back the menus.
He then quietly exited the lounge and disappeared into the kitchen.
Inside the VIP lounge was a pianist working his magic on a white grand piano.
He created a very warm and relaxing ambiance for the two customers as he serenaded them.
Maria began talking on and on about her and her family; her hobbies and likes and dislikes and just about anything under the sun.
Natsume was pretending to listen by nodding his head ever so often. Under the table, he played with his phone by flipping it out and closing it and
then flipping it out again.
He carelessly let out a yawn but Maria didn't notice since she was too busy talking.
"…and so papa just bought me some – "continued Maria but she was immediately cut-of by Natsume.
"Excuse me for a while. I'll be heading to the rest room" Natsume stood up and excused himself.
"Oh yes-of course Hyuuga-sama" answered Maria.
"Privacy" glared Natsume at his bodyguards who motioned to follow him to the restroom.
"Yes Natsume-sama" obeyed his bodyguards who instead stood by outside the restroom.
How long do I have to stay here? thought Natsume as he splashed water to his face.
I knew this meeting would be just as boring as the last one.
And the one before that..
and the one before that…
His thoughts trailed off.
He was about to get back to his seat when something caught his eye on the mirror's reflection.
Just above one of the cubicles was a window frame leading to the back alley of the coffee shop.
I could fit into that thought Natsume as he took a closer look of the window. He began to take the window frame apart and made a bit of a ruckus doing so.
"Natsume-sama? Is everything alright?" asked one of his bodyguards outside.
"Yes. Everything's fine. It's just the toilet seat" he lied.
Natsume was able to take apart the window frame and immediately jumped out of the hole. He landed with a loud bang on the ground as he
bumped into some garbage cans.
Again the body guards outside the restroom were disturbed by the ruckus and started to worry.
"Natsume-sama?" "Natsume-sama?" they began calling out.
They knocked a few times on the door and turned the doorknob but it was locked.
Natsume wasn't answering anymore to their calls. By this time, Natsume was running away from the coffeeshop.
One of the bodyguards called immediatley for the manager to open the restroom. The manager got a bit rattled that he kept fiddling with the keys
on his hands.
One of the bodyguards ended up nudging the manager to one side and kicked the door. The door swung open and Natsume was nowhere to be found.
"Oh shit! He's done it again! He ran away again! Exclaimed one of the bodyguards. He saw the hole Natsume crawled out of and saw the back
alley.
"The young master ran away. I repeat he ran away. He's on foot. Keep a look out for Natsume-sama. " another body guard radioed into his intercom earpiece.
"Wha-what's going?" asked Maria who noticed the small commotion.
"We're sorry Yamada-sama but the young master had to leave for an emergency meeting" lied one of the bodyguards and then quickly ran away.
RING! RING! RING!
Natsume glanced at his phone while running on foot. It was Rei Serio calling him.
So he already heard..thought Natsume as he pressed the ignore button on his phone.
Natsume turned around the corner and caught a glimpse of his body guards from afar who were looking for him.
Natsume ducked behind one of the fruit stands along the street when one of his bodyguards glanced his way.
Natsume's cover could have been blown had it not been for a female customer. She blocked the bodyguard's view when she approached the fruit
stand and brought fruits.
The bodyguard who spotted him earlier approached the fruit stand, walking in a slow pace. Natsume could hear footsteps getting nearer and nearer.
Damn! He thought.
Just then, a red sportscar pulled out of nowhere.
"Natsume!" a blonde guy with sapphire eyes called out to Natsume.
He was the same age as Natsume and no doubt belonged to a rich family as well.
In contrast to Natsume's strong features though, this fellow had such soft features that he sometimes could be mistaken for as a girl.
He was none other than Ruka Nogi ~ heir to the Nogi Corporation and Natsume's best friend.
"Ruka!" Natsume called out in relief.
"You're late. What are you waiting for? Get in!" Ruka said as he opened the car door and motioned for Natsume.
As Natsume ran for the car, he bumped into the female customer who blocked the bodyguards view earlier.
The girl fell to the ground and landed in a loud thud. Natsume was in such a hurry to escape his bodyguards that he had no time to help her up let
alone apologize.
He just took a quick glance at the girl and finally made it into the car.
"I found him!" yelled the bodyguard who now was running towards them.
"Natsume-sama!"
"Natsume-sama!" they called out.
"I owe you one Ruka!" sighed Natsume as he jumped in the car and they drove off.
"That was close" he said in relief as he looked back to where he left his bodyguards.
"How'd you know where I was?" asked Natsume to Ruka.
"I heard about your blind date at the coffee shop. Knowing your fight and flight response, Of course you'd ran away like this" smiled Ruka.
Natsume just smirked and took a deep breathe as he sunk into the comfy car seat.
"You know you have to say sorry to that girl you just bumped into a while ago" reminded Ruka to Natsume.
"You might get sued!" he added and then laughed.
"Yeah well whatever. It's not like we're going to see each other or what" answered Natsume.
His phone rang and it was his uncle again. He ignored the call and switched off his phone.
"Boy am I going to get it this time" he murmured as he dozed off to a nap.
Natsume knew very well that he was going to come home to an angry uncle.
End of Chapter 1. Please give reviews. The storyline is still in the process so there might be sudden changes in details in the previous/following chapters and some minor inconsistencies.