New World's Worth: Chapter Two
World Forsaker
"It's also designed with pivotal lasers and cameras that continuously scan the area, offering a wider range of coverage." The young man presenting sounded entirely pleased and looked smug as he sat down.
Satoshi wasn't impressed and continued flipping through the portfolio as he paced. He finally stopped in front of the window, turning his attention to the city. It hadn't changed much from what he remembered – even the people looked the same. An additional building here or there, a few different names or signs, but the layout was something that would likely never change. The sea was just visible at the horizon, though if he went to the top floor he'd be able to see it more clearly. He was about to turn back to the others when his eyes were drawn to someone walking out of the building, the red hair familiar against the outrageous clothing.
Daisuke. He knew instinctively it was him; his body reacted the same way it had years ago, his heart pounding and making him just a tad bit breathless. And the longing was enough he ached. The only thing different was the lack of pain caused by Krad trying to claw his way out. And without that pain, the near unnatural response of his body was almost overwhelming. Without anything to focus on or fight against, he couldn't do anything but feel, and that was something he didn't do well.
It was enough to let him know he was, in a word, screwed.
"Sir?"
Satoshi sighed as he realized the room had gotten quiet as they waited for his response. "Toys," he said, turning to face them. He watched the confusion that passed over their faces before continuing. "You're giving me nothing but toys. Pivotal lasers and cameras? Those aren't new, they're not used because they're unreliable. I asked for software, gentlemen, not these sup-par gadgets." He waved the portfolio around to emphasize his words before tossing it to the table. "Now, develop software that can reliably convert the output from these – video, audio, heat, pressure, the whole nine yards – and you may be on to something. Until then, I better not see you in my office again."
He turned back to the window in dismissal and listened as the silence was slowly replaced by the sounds of them leaving. Once the door closed, he rubbed at his eyes, no longer hidden behind glasses. He'd discovered he could look a hell of a lot more intimidating without them.
The door opened again as he was pouring a glass of water. Sonya, right on time. "Daisuke came by?" he asked, the brief pause in footsteps confirming what he already knew. He took a few sips of water before turning to face his secretary of five years.
"Yes, he wanted to see you. He gave his number and said… tell you 'welcome home.'" Her nose wrinkled a bit as she added in English, "His clothes were horrifying."
Satoshi's mind was still stuck on "he wanted to see you." He'd been here barely a week and already Daisuke had tracked him down. Or more likely, had happened by the building. He wasn't prepared to deal with Daisuke yet, but he knew Daisuke wouldn't give up either. And really, how could he prepare for facing him again after so long?
"Set up a meeting," he said, switching to English as well.
"Sir?" Sonya looked truly surprised, but he couldn't blame her. It wasn't every day he agreed to meet someone, let alone privately.
"I'm free on Friday. Around four, at the sushi restaurant near the University."
Sonya opened up the folder she carried and set it on the table to find the day, scribbling in the appointment. "Shall I schedule the car for you then?"
"I'll drive myself." She scribbled more notes that he knew he'd never be able to decipher. Give him a computer code and he'd break it in twenty minutes, but for the life of him he couldn't read Sonya's shorthand. Not that it mattered. She'd proven just how capable she was over the years.
"Takahashi called and is interested in a meeting." She pulled out a small pile of notes from the calls she'd taken. It took five minutes to go through them all – partners accepting deals and offers, clients asking for a piece of the pie, though in far too many words. Most of them could rot in Hell for all he cared. If they hadn't supported him from the beginning, they weren't getting anything. Forty million annually was a lot, but it didn't take much to shrink it.
By the time they were finished, his week was full, though he'd left all of Friday afternoon and evening free. He wasn't sure what to expect from his meeting with Daisuke, but somehow he knew he would need it.
Done for the day, he returned home to an apartment much larger than the one he'd had ten years ago – it wouldn't do to look like he had to save money. He didn't need the space, but it was comfortable for the times he actually used it. It didn't lack for anything – top floor, master bedroom, balcony with a view to die for, and a bathroom that would make any woman green with envy.
He shed his suit jacket as soon as he was inside, the expensive material hardly making a sound as he tossed it over the back of a chair. Dinner tonight was a thick beef stew, kept warm in a pot on the stove. Sonya had convinced his cook to come to Japan and for that he was grateful. He may have gotten better at taking care of himself, but making a sensible meal was still beyond him. He turned the TV onto the local news for background noise and took his computer off idle as he sat down with his meal.
The additional information he'd been collecting on Daisuke was finished and he skimmed over it. He hadn't stopped keeping tabs on the redhead, not even when he'd married or had a kid, even if common sense told him to. Daisuke was a part of a past he couldn't have let go of even when he'd wanted to. When someone saved your life in more ways than one, it was impossible to forget them, but it was also impossible to think of Daisuke without the fleeting fear and panic that Krad would wake up inside him again. He knew Krad was sealed, just as he knew that gravity was a law, but when you were falling, it wasn't really the first thing you thought about. Still, he'd learned to take the good when it came, because it made the bad more tolerable, and out of everything that had happened in his life, he could honestly say Daisuke had been the best.
So he'd continued keeping tabs, written hundreds of letters and bought a dozen birthday cards that had never seen an envelope much less the mailbox, and he'd continued with his life, such as it was.
He'd never married, but had a dozen companions because it was expected of him, though he'd slept with only a handful – all of them redheads.
Part of him had hoped he wouldn't have to see Daisuke again, had hoped Daisuke would forget about him, while another part dreaded it. What was there to say after a decade that would mean anything anymore? Dark and Krad… the memory of them was like a bad nightmare, every moment painful in its clarity. And the frightening part was… he'd live through it all again, every horrifying, mind-numbing, excruciating moment, so long as it meant Daisuke would be happy in the end. Because the smallest part of him, the part he couldn't let grow for fear of it breaking him, was happy Daisuke remembered, that Daisuke wanted to see him enough he'd walked into one of the most expensive corporations in the city wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sandals.
It was enough he almost smiled.
He finished his dinner, put the leftovers in the fridge, and got ready for bed. He'd gotten used to early nights and early mornings, with barely any time to breathe, but Sonya had a strict rule about him being out of the office and away from work by seven or eight. It used to eat at him, leaving unfinished work just to go home and sleep and come right back to it, but finally, a year into his business, he'd promised to go two weeks of doing things her way, and he'd never gone back. Even just a few hours a night he could count on having away from work had done wonders for his health.
He methodically removed his clothes and tossed them to the hamper, enjoying a quick, hot shower before sliding into bed. Usually, he didn't dream, but he wasn't surprised in the least when he fell asleep to dreams of Daisuke – of when they were in school, of trying to capture Dark, of those few stolen moments between Krad sleeping and waking in a rage. And strangely enough, he woke refreshed. At peace. The past may have been mostly dark, a living Hell of pain and possession, but he'd always known his goals, even if Daisuke had kept him from them. He'd been desperate, grasping for anything that would just make everything end, but Daisuke had found an alternate path that kept them both alive.
He owed Daisuke, more than he'd ever be able to admit to, and he felt like an utter ass for disappearing from Daisuke's life, but he'd honestly never expected to return. He'd wanted to, had almost come back for the wedding, but at the last minute couldn't bring himself to get on the plane. And when their child was born, well, that had pretty much sealed his conviction that he would only be an unwanted distraction in Daisuke's life. He wanted more than Daisuke could give, and while Daisuke could be dense and naïve at times, they were old enough now he surely would pick up on that.
He sighed and climbed out of bed, dressing as the scent of breakfast and coffee drifted into the bedroom. Friday and Daisuke could wait, he had more important things to focus on for the moment, but he knew it was still going to be a long week.
