'I wanna throw my hands in the air and scream.'
Heated footsteps made their way down the corridor, their pace determined and filled with anger and purpose. Murmurs and hushed whispers followed in their wake. Curious, wayward glances. Slender fingers balled themselves into tight fists, gaining the attention of the woman sitting at the receptionists desk.
"You can't go in there!" The secretary sputtered, startled by the man's sudden, hostile approach to the large, imposing office door. "They're in the middle of a shareholder's meeting!" She squeaked feebly as the man promptly disregarded this statement with a soul chilling glare as he stalked past her.
The fingers laced in tight fists aggressively wrapped themselves around the doorknob as the door came almost violently thrust open upon the meeting in progress.
"You bitch!" This snarled insult rent the air with such destructive force that the very room was absorbed and consumed by the young man's rage.
All eyes fell upon the young man. Expressions ranging from startled surprise, outrage, and indignation at how the young man had so vulgarly announced himself. All eyes were upon him in bewilderment. All eyes...except those of pale violet, reflecting the child's own. And that cold, frigid amethyst gaze met the child in measured restraint. Calm. Steady. Unperturbed by the young man's outburst and interruption of the meeting.
"Forgive the intrusion." A steady, calm, feminine voice murmured softly along the stifling silence in the wake of the child's boisterous arrival. "I think that a small break is in order." The woman stated, her tone authoritative as it gained the attention of the people gathered for the meeting. "We will reconvene and conclude this meeting after lunch." With little room for negotiation the woman watched with steely amethyst eyes as the people around her rose from their seats and slowly filed out of the room, dismissing themselves from the growing spectacle.
The door closed with the last person to leave, enveloping the two in a solitary moment of silence. The woman's amethyst eyes held the identical violet gaze of the young man, her features frigid and stern as she met his petulant expression. Attractive in her middle age, the woman held an air of sensual, feminine grace sharply contrasted with a cold, almost distant presentation with the way she held herself in her heels and trendy fitted business dress. The silence between them was held but for only a brief moment before it was all too quickly dispersed with more angry rhetoric.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't find out?!" The young man practically screamed in outrage at the woman, her expression remaining stoic in response to his anger as she strode towards him wordlessly in her heels, her hand swiftly lashing out to strike him sharply across the cheek.
"Don't you ever speak to me like that, Yuki." The woman chided, her tone low and frosty as the young man turned his face to her once more, their gaze meeting in a violent collision of hostility.
"I'm sorry, Mother." The young man's tone came snide and mocking in his apology. "Did I embarrass you in front of the board?"
"Those people are shareholders." The woman's voice came steady and measured in the face of her son's words, her cold gaze flitting to the light rouge dusting the pale cheek she had slapped. "They are some of the largest benefactors to this company, and we must work diligently to show them that their investment in our name is worth their valuable time and money." She chided. "Because without them and their support, our financial standing would be put into serious jeopardy." Her lengthy scolding came met with a petulant stare as she continued. "You would do well to remember that before you decide to behave so poorly." And with these cold words, the child met her with an even colder, more frigid expression.
"That's really all you care about anymore, isn't it?" His voice dropped lifelessly empty from his lips. "You'd rather have me completely flawless. Cold. Lifeless. Empty." Each and every word came pointed and barbed as he continued to speak. "A hollow puppet to parade to those people you care so much about." A slender finger extended accusingly to the door the small group of people had fled through only moments before. "You want me to be perfect for them, instead of happy for myself!" His voice came indigent, his beautifully eloquent features marred by the furrow of his brow.
"What on earth are you going on about?" The woman's voice came just as indigent through her bemusement.
"I'm talking about the prenuptial agreement you drafted with Tadashi behind my back!" Yuki almost shouted, barely able to control his outrage at what his mother had orchestrated with the family's attorney, Akiyama Tadashi. "Why would you do that to me?" He snarled, his voice pained and cracked. "To her!" The woman took in her son's pain with cold, measured temperance in a moment of silent consideration before her lips parted in answer to this harsh accusation.
"Because..." She murmured lowly, her words paced in moderation as she spoke. "...you insist on following through with this reckless decision to marry a woman you hardly know." Her cold amethyst gaze met her son with heat and intensity as she continued. "And as your mother I had to take certain measures to protect you. Protect this family."
"The prenuptial agreement stated that she gets nothing if she leaves me! Nothing!" Yuki retorted angrily. "How is that in the best interest of this family?!"
"We have a reputation to uphold in this community." The woman spoke in a measured lilt. "You know this." She chided lightly. "Better than anyone else. Something that your free-spirited brother never seemed to appreciate like you and I do." And Yuki's gaze momentarily drifted to the floor in silent submission.
"You have responsibilities, Yuki. You have an obligation to this company. To our family." The woman murmured, drawing Yuki's eyes from the floor as he gazed upon her. "And every action you take upon yourself directly affects the future of this company and this family." A small sigh of contemplation towards her son's despondent gaze pushed itself through her dainty, delicate nose before she continued. "Since you clearly won't be moved to reason and reconsider marrying this woman of yours, I felt it necessary to ensure that she could do us as little harm as possible."
"How can you say such things...?" Yuki murmured, his voice but a breath of a whisper to his mother's heartless words. "How can you be so cold...?"
"Because this woman doesn't love you, Yuki!" The woman chided roughly, her calmer, more professional exterior coming slightly ruffled and exasperated.
"You can't say that!" Yuki screamed against this accusation, his hands thrown recklessly in his frustration. "You don't even know her!"
"Neither do you!" The woman practically screamed back in retaliation.
"I know her better than you can imagine, Mother." This emboldened statement came harshly snapped from Yuki's lips, forcing his mother into silence. "And I love her so intensely that I won't keep a single piece of myself from her." And a small, bitter smile managed to twitch along the ice of his frozen features as he spoke. "All that I have. All that I am will be hers. And there's nothing you can do about it."
"I could relieve you of your position and authority at this company." The woman responded, her bitter words meeting his bitter smirk of a smile.
"You could." Yuki conceded frostily. "But you and I both know that you won't."
The two stood in weighted silence for a breathless moment. Neither one speaking. Neither one breathing another word. Both knowing that the course of their future together would be irrevocably changed. Forever. And both settled themselves with this single, shattering truth, in their own way.
"There's a 'risks analysis' meeting tomorrow at nine." The woman finally murmured, her cold tone breaking the frigid silence. "I expect you will be there." And with this Yuki gave a swift, curt nod of the head.
"Of course, Mother." Yuki murmured, his tone just as frigidly cold as the woman turned her back to make her way out of the room. "And I expect that when you show up for my wedding, that you will greet my bride with the respect she deserves." And with the closing of the door Yuki was enveloped in silence as he moved towards the window to gaze at the bustling city below.
The quiet wrapped itself around him like a thin veil, lingering along his senses as time stood at a momentary still. So many times he had stood at this very window, or ones just like it. Filled with a sense of empty nothingness as he watched the lives of others unfold below him, finding that he would give away everything for a simple taste of what that must feel like.
Life.
Today. Standing at this very window. In this very office. He'd had that taste. That breath of life. And in his silence, Yuki savored how sweet it truly was.
Life.
And he breathed deeply in eager anticipation that this was merely the beginning of his journey. But before he could fully delve into the plans he had made for his own life, the opening of the door gently dispersed the silence, lifting the veil as Yuki gave a small sigh of disappointment.
"Your mother told me to come and counsel you." The deep voice resonated softly in the space as another, bitter smile played along Yuki's lips.
"Of course she did..." Yuki muttered as he sensed the figure come to stand beside him at the window. "I'm angry at you too, you know." And a small sigh of response manifested from beside him.
"I know."
"What was she thinking, Tadashi?" Yuki murmured, his voice gaining a soft sadness as his brows furrowed. "When she had you write up that document."
"You may not want to believe this, child..." The man's voice came deep, wise, and strangely paternal as he spoke to Yuki. "...but she asked that of me as a favor because she cares about you. And she's worried."
"Yeah, well she has a strange way of showing it." Yuki muttered, causing the man beside him to chuckle lightly in amusement before stillness settled comfortably along the moment.
"Perhaps she does." The man conceded tenderly after a moment of thought. "But I have to be honest with you child, your mother has reason to be concerned." His voice came a deep rumble. "I have studied the law for a very long time. Statistically speaking, marriages where the partners have glaringly different financial standing usually end. And they end very badly." A small sigh pushed through his nose as he continued, both men gazing upon the city below. "Your mother came to me asking for my legal counsel, and I told her what I'm telling you."
"But Tohru's not like that, Tadashi." Yuki murmured lightly, his amethyst gaze deviating from the window to spare the man a side glance. "When she looks at me..." His voice grew softer, a small, genuine smile playing at the corner of his lips as he spoke of her. "...really looks at me... I can feel it. She doesn't see my name. She doesn't see my money." Amethyst eyes flitted back to the world beneath him as Yuki continued. "When Tohru looks at me, she sees me. Just me. And I suddenly feel so very alive."
"Even if things were to end badly between us, Tadashi." Yuki murmured, finally turning his full gaze to the man next to him. "I would give her anything she would want." His gaze met these words in their intensity as he spoke. "Anything."
"I see." The man murmured, his expression one of fatherly concern. "I've worked for, and represented your family for so very long." He mused, his tone low and wise as Yuki listened intently. "Since before you were born, child." These words came tenderly as the two gazed upon each other in a moment of understanding. "And with the passing of your father, I can't imagine a better man coming to fill his place in your life..." His voice came measured like the swing of a pendulum as he spoke. "But, I have come to think of you very much like my own son."
"I know, Tadashi..." Yuki murmured, a tender softness caressing his words. "Don't tell Mother this..." His voice grew a little lower as he gave the man a swift side-glance. "...but I've been giving some serious consideration into relinquishing my place in this company in order to peruse a career in law." He spoke, gaining the man's wise gaze. "In part, due to you." And at this the man offered a soft, deep rumble of low laughter.
"You don't want to do that, child." He spoke with a warm smile to the young man. "You'll just end up an old fart like me. You can do better with your life."
"But that's the point." Yuki's tone came distant as he spoke, the world below calling to him once more. "My life here...at this company...right now... It's so empty. Every single thing is determined and chosen for me, and I feel like I can't breathe." An almost dismal expression crossed his features as he continued to gaze at the city beneath him as he spoke. "I won't remain passive as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life, Tadashi." He whispered lightly. "I can't. Not anymore."
"Is that why you're so adamant about marrying this woman?" The man asked lightly in the quiet of the moment. "An act of rebellion towards this life of yours?" And the small shake of Yuki's head followed this question before words parted his lips.
"You know me better than that, Tadashi." Yuki murmured softly.
"I suppose I do." The man conceded with a small nod. "And if you won't see wisdom in my legal counsel..." The man's voice grew low, that same concerned expression lingering along his aged features. "Then I would hope that you would at least heed my words as your friend." His expression grew grim with the seriousness of his words as he continued. "Have your fiance sign the agreement. If she loves you as much as you say, then she will do as you ask of her, hm?" And at these words Yuki's expression grew indignant.
"I can't do that, Tadashi." Yuki growled lowly. "I won't." His voice grew with this conviction. "And Tohru can't know about this, do you understand?" These words came all consuming in their intensity. "Make this go away, Tadashi."
"You're mother won't be pleased about this." The man sighed in resignation to this demand.
"You let me worry about that." Yuki countered with the faintest of smiles, a smile that was returned as the man saw himself out, leaving Yuki to his thoughts once more.
A/N: Guess who's back. Back again. Queenie's back. Tell a friend.
Thank you all to those still supporting this strange little story, despite the long delays! I sincerely hope you all enjoyed this, and I wish you all a most blessed Christmas and happy new year!