Chapter 9: He, who leads the life everyone dreams of.

You'll be glad to know that I channeled my tears into this, guys. I really don't feel like lengthening this note right now, but know that your love and support is always appreciated. Always looking forward to the response.

"Mr. Walker, thank you for answering our questions earnestly. Our next question is, what drives you? What inspires you do work as hard as you do. What is your fuel of life?"

"I think that the question is self-explanatory. When you're someone who is running an entire corporation, there is a responsibility involved. You have the future of thousands of people in your hands, you have a lot to think about, a lot to lose and a lot to gain. What matters the most is the ability to know what's good and what's bad, and more important is to know what is good and profitable. A CEO is not a single person, he is the soul of an entire organization. So, I guess, it is the people who work with me, that drive me." He smiled as he placed his arm under his chin—elbow resting elegantly on the armrest of the sofa.

"Wow, you sure are a very thoughtful person. It truly explains why Mr. Walker is who he is now. A round of applause for the successful bachelor!" The interviewer clapped elatedly and Takumi merely smiled. The shooting ended and the show was a wrap.

"Thank you for having me" He shook hands with the interviewer and walked out of the hall, bodyguards trailing behind.

"Thank you" Kayla, Takumi's publicist was the next to shake hands with the interviewer and trailed behind him.

"You killed it" she said happily as the car doors opened, Cedric stood in front—holding the doors open for him.

To this, Takumi gave her a dispassionate and lazy smile. He got in the car and Kayla waved from outside.

He took his iPhone out and unlocked it. A smile came on his face as soon as Misaki's messages lightened up his inbox.

Misaki~ when will you be free? I won the case I told you about. Let's meet at your place.

Takumi smiled as he loosened his tie, oh how much he was proud of her! He began typing with a fond smile.

Takumi~ I do not know, I have another meaningless fancy dinner to attend with some business partners. I'm proud of you, Misa-Chan (:

He sighed as he locked his phone and tossed it lazily on the car seat. He had another fucking event to go to… You better keep it short, Kayla. He groaned.

Misaki made herself comfortable in Takumi's living room as soon as she reached. There were no maids to grill her, no Cedric, no Takumi. She sighed looking at the empty living room and island kitchen. It sure was lonely here today.

She traced the kitchen counter top with her hands with a fond smile. How many times had Takumi cooked for her right here? The answer would be countless. She imagined an all alone Takumi trying to cook some typical desert while he was alone at home. Was he ever alone at home? She looked at the untouched kitchen, was he ever free enough to stay home and cook deserts? The answer would be no, gone were the days when Takumi was so idle that the only work he had on his schedule was stalking her. Hell, she was sure that if he always continued to be this busy, she'd have to stalk him!

She took off her heels and picked up a magazine and curled up into a ball on the sofa. It was the new issue of Times Magazine. Takumi made it to the front cover of the magazine. He looked mesmerizing as ever, blond hair pushed back and all. A blush came over her face as she traced his image on the glossy pages of a magazine, to her, it looked as he was looking right at her. Right now, all she wanted was for him to jump out of the magazine! She chuckled at her own thoughts, that's how much she missed him. With the thought of Takumi in her mind, she dozed off, holding the magazine in her hands.

Takumi sipped his champagne as he moved away after he conversed with yet another executive whose name he couldn't even recall anymore…what was it again? Naka…Nakamura. Right. This was Mr. Nakamura. How could he not remember when the dearest daughter of Mr. Nakamura was clinging on to his arm as if her life depended on it? He tried to be as professional about it as possible, but this was getting really annoying for him. The girl, Natasha Nakamura, talked and giggled and flirted all she could with him, but he was deaf, blind, and dumb to her. He smiled, nodded, and sipped his wine. Her perfume nauseated him to no end, but he tried his best to ignore it.

"Are you even listening, Takumi?" Natasha squealed in delight.

"Yes, Miss Nakamura. It was a pleasure meeting you" He gave her a practiced hand "I shall escort you to your father" he spoke politely as he took her hand and walked towards her father.

"Oh it's alright! I'm sure father's busy, why don't you keep me company?" she asked as she twirled her fingers around her curls flirtatiously.

"I'm afraid I have some matters to tend to" he said as he looked at his watch. It was 1:45AM for fuck's sake.

"But you just got here" she complained, Takumi sighed. How did he manage to babysit such a girl?

"I apologize, I must leave. Miss Nakamura." he said as he let go of her hand and moved away before she could cling to him.

"Have a good night" the executives around him spoke in unison, and a few more spoiled girls attempted to come his way, he ran a hand through his hair, "Likewise, gentlemen" he said as he lifted his glass up, everyone cheered and he placed his glass on the tray a waiter carried.

Misaki rubbed her eyes lazily as she sat up. The magazine she held fell down on the floor and she made a lazy attempt of picking it up while lying down on the couch. The horns of a car were heard and her ears perked up, she lost all balance and ended up falling down. She scowled looking at her arm, which she couldn't see in the dark, but was sure that it got bruised. The lights were turned on and she placed her hands in front of her eyes. "What the hell…" she grumbled as her eyes began to water due to the intensity of the light.

"Misaki?" Takumi walked inside with his shirt unbuttoned, his tie hung free on his shoulder. He ran towards her as soon as he saw her sprawled on the carpets.

"What happened?" he said softly as he made her get up from the floor.

"I just fell from the couch when I was sleeping. Can you switch off the lights?" Misaki said sleepily.

"Cedric" Takumi said and the lights were dimmed and the two were left alone.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine" she grumbled "Stupid magazine falling down and bruising me" she mumbled incoherently as she rubbed her arms unconsciously.

"Are you hurt? I can't understand a word you say" he said as he ran a hand through her hair. He noticed that she was still in formal clothes, meaning she'd come straight from office. He felt guilty now.

"I said I'm fine" she growled "Where were you?" and then inquired, more softly this time.

"Oh I was just…you know. Work." he smiled as he picked her up "It's bed time for Misa-Chan" he cooed as he walked towards his bedroom happily.

"What the hell…I was sleeping just fine until you came and interrupted my sleep" she mumbled with a yawn.

"I apologize for interrupting your sleep, Misa-Chan. The couch's isn't comfortable anyway. Why didn't you sleep here?" he said as he made her lie down on the bed.

"Oh I don't know…" she yawned again as she took out the hair tie from her hair "…I guess I was waiting for you and lost the track of time" she mumbled as she looked away while Takumi took off his shirt.

"I'm sorry about that" he looked at her sincerely as he took off his shirt and went to the bathroom. "Let me grab something for you. Can't have you sleep in that."

Takumi was back with a loose t-shirt and placed it on the bed. "Are you going to change or do you want me to strip you myself?"

"Sh-Shut up!" she yelled as she took the shirt from him "I'm not changing in front of you!"

"Okay why don't you change here while a take a quick shower?" he smiled fondly as she blushed.

"Okay…" she said and he disappeared in the bathroom.

After a good ten minutes, Takumi came out from the shower to find Misaki asleep with his shirt in her hands, she hugged the shirt as if her life depended on it. Takumi smiled. "You sly girl" he laid next to her and tried to remove the shirt from her hands.

"Mmm, your shirt…perfume…weird" Misaki said, still asleep. The more he tried to snatch it away, the tighter she gripped it.

"Yes, yes, now sleep" he shushed and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Mmm…alien…mine…ou….me" she mumbled.

Takumi chuckled "Yes yours…always".

Misaki woke up to an empty bed dressed in a button down shirt which was open from the middle. She turned red. Hadn't she slept in a t-shirt? She looked around the room but found nobody. She began to button up the shirt she'd been wearing and sniffed the sleeves. Did she wear perfume last night? She couldn't remember.

"Good Morning" Takumi said as he bit an apple. He wore a black T-shirt and his hair were a wild mess as ever.

"What the hell!" Misaki yelled as she covered herself with the bed covers. She was naked, damn it!

"Nothing I haven't seen before" he said fondly as he bit his apple again. Misaki looked away, what was that even supposed to mean!?

"Takumi" she looked up, with an unsure expression on her face, her hands gripped the sheets and Takumi raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" he sat on the edge of the bed and placed the apple on the nightstand.

"I was thinking…"she trailed off, and looked at the ceiling.

"That?" he urged her as he looked at her.

"That maybe I could stay over with you this week" she ran a hand through her hair "I don't know, I thought that it was a great idea last night" she said biting her lip.

"It is a great idea" he smiled and kissed her on the lips "I'm going to keep you occupied" he smirked.

"Don't be weird" she said as she placed her hands on his chest to push him off.

"But is it my fault, really?" he spoke softly as he leaned in, taking the bed covers from her grasp, "That you drive me fucking insane without even knowing it?"

"What the hell are you talking about" she said, face red from the blush that played on her face as she backed off.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Ayuzawa" he said darkly as he held a strand of hair and sniffed it "Why are you so fucking addictive?" his hands found the hem of the unbuttoned shirt that came loose on her, she looked away blushing, and bit her lip.

"Don't bite that lip, Ayuzawa" he warned, and she let go of her lower lip immediately. His long and elegant fingers traced her lower lip as he sighed.

"Are you angry?" she inquired as she cupped his hand that was on her cheek.

"I'm just sulking, as always" he said, smiling.

"Why are you sulking then?" she said, her own breathing ragged as his fingers trailed her neck down from her lower lip and kept going south, making her ticklish all over.

"Do you even know what you do to me?" he hissed as his fingers reached below her neck.

"What do I do to you, Usui?" she inquired, her eyes were now closed.

"You do a lot of things to me, Ayuzawa" he confessed as his hands found their treasure. She sighed at the feel of his hands on her chest and urged him to continue "You drive me insane, you make me angry…so fucking angry…I feel like punching the wall till it collapses sometimes. You make me lose my mind in every way possible…how did you manage to get me addicted to yourself?"…He murmured against her neck and his breath only worsened her current state.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she said, her mind didn't register her thoughts anymore, all she felt was his hands, his really good hands.

"I'll tell you all about it some other time" he said as he took his hand out from her shirt and placed his two fingers on her lips. "It'll be a secret till then" he said as he got up, his eyes full of promise, and left the room to pick up his phone that had been ringing for the last couple of seconds.

Misaki groaned as she turned her face and buried it in the pillow "Urgh!" she got up from the bed and headed towards the bathroom…she had office after all.

With a cup of coffee in hand, Misaki walked around in the campus of her building, a newspaper occupied her other hand as she strolled the campus ground. As soon as she found a good spot under a tree in the garden, she headed there.

She sipped her coffee with a smile on her face. Her sandals lay next to the spot where she sat cross legged, the newspaper was in her lap. She opened the paper and scanned through the main headlines until one specific photograph caught her attention.

""CEO is not a single person, he is the soul of an entire organization." –Takumi Walker (CEO, Walker Corporation).

The CEO of Walker Corp has recently started accepting interviews which is how we were the first ones to grab a chance to have a little chat with the young businessman. In his interview with our network yesterday, Takumi Walker said:

Interviewer: What drives you? What inspires you do work as hard as you do. What is your fuel of life?"

Takumi Walker: "I think that the question is self-explanatory. When you're someone who is running an entire corporation, there is a responsibility involved. You have the future of thousands of people in your hands, you have a lot to think about, a lot to lose and a lot to gain. What matters the most is the ability to know what's good and what's bad, and more important is to know what is good and profitable. A CEO is not a single person, he is the soul of an entire organization. So, I think, it is the people who work with me, that drive me."

Later that day, the young CEO was seen at a VIP event hosted by the Nakamuras. [Image] Takumi Walker with Natasha Nakamura (Daughter and heir to the Nakamura group of hotels). We are positive that the bachelor was spotted with a lady for the first time. What does this mean? Is something cooking between the young CEO and the Nakamura heiress or is it plain friendship? Keep yourself updated with us by staying tuned on the latest updates on Takumi Walker."

Misaki sighed looking at the tabloid that was published in the newspaper. Didn't these people have any real news to publish? She looked at the photograph of Takumi standing next to some girl she didn't personally know. If Takumi would have told her about some Natasha Nakamura, she was positive that she would have remembered. She turned the paper to the next page biting her lip. It's nothing. Just another tabloid.

Is that where he was last night? She skimmed through the page going through the main headlines of the stories that were published. She didn't want to over think. Why didn't he tell me he had a long event to attend? At least I wouldn't have waited…with a sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose. Involuntarily, her hands went to the hem of the newspaper and turned the pages back and opened the page on which Takumi's photograph with some other girl who clung to his arms.

It's probably nothing, she told herself as she placed the newspaper back in the reading area of her office and headed back to her cabin. If it was something important, he would have told her.

Is that why his shirt smelt funny last night? Misaki stopped dead in her tracks as she picked up a case to work on. I shouldn't think absurd things, she told herself as she began to read through the case.

"Divorce case…cheating wife…" she murmured to herself as she read the file as if she was studying for an exam. Perfume on his shirt, her eyes widened. She was surely over reacting.

"I shouldn't think about irrelevant things" she chided herself as she looked in the mirror and splashed some water on her face to freshen herself.

"It's nothing" she told herself as she wiped her face with a napkin.

Its' nothing…

The papers laid spread on her table as she went through each and every paper properly. Misaki had a hearing the next day and it was very important for her to win. Her client was an important asset to her firm, and she couldn't manage to fuck things up.

"Client's name Tadashi Nakamura…45 years old…caught his wife…" She murmured as she switched the lamp lights on. It was dark outside and she couldn't see the words written on the paper anymore. She lifted her head up to look if anyone was still on her floor but she found nobody. She got up to switch the light of her cabin on. With a sigh, she pushed her tables to the side and placed her things on the floor. She held up her hair into a tight bun and sat down cross legged. Tonight, she had work to do.

At 3:55am, Misaki finally got up. Her eyes were sleepy but at least she was more than ready for court today. She decided to gather her things and go to her apartment for a quick change of clothes. She picked up her phone from the desk drawers and switched it on to find more than 50 missed calls and over a hundred text messages from the one and only. She sighed, oh well. She would handle Takumi later, she yawned and exited the office.

The engines roared back to life with the twist of her key, Misaki drove out of the campus and held her phone in another hand, going through his texts.

9pm: Takumi~ It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight with you. (:

9:45pm: Takumi~ where are you, Ayuzawa?

10:01pm: Takumi~ did you go back to your apartment after office, I thought you were staying over for the week?

10:15: Takumi~ why won't you answer my calls? Are you okay?

10:45: Takumi~ I just came back from your empty apartment, where are you?

12am: Takumi~ Ayuzawa? Did you go to a friends'? You could have at least informed me?

12:36am: Takumi~ Why can I not locate your phone? I need to know that you're safe. It's not funny.

1:54: Takumi~ Its fucking 2AM in the morning and I am this close to losing my mind. Why is your phone switched off?!

And many more texts followed, Misaki bit her lip in anxiousness as she tossed the phone back in her purse, she turned right and drove towards Takumi's house. Today was surely turning into a long night for her.

The engine came to a halt in front of Takumi's mansion and Misaki got out of the car. The lights of the entire house were on and she saw a few of Takumi's bodyguards standing in his driveway. She decided to ask one of the maids about what actually happened.

"Mrs. Jones?" She called out as she pushed the glass double doors and entered inside. She saw a few maids cleaning pieces of glass from the floor. Misaki's heartbeat quickened, was there a robbery? Where was Takumi!?

"Oh my god Miss Ayuzawa!" The British lady exclaimed as she threw her arms towards the poor girl and hugged her tightly. Misaki awkwardly patted the middle aged woman's head in attempts of soothing the panicking woman.

"What all happened here? Are you all okay? And where is he?!" She asked, a bit more worriedly this time.

"Cedric-san! Please inform him!" Mrs. Jones squeaked and Cedric magically appeared before them from the corridor.

"Miss Ayuzawa is here" he spoke in his microphone and stepped closer to Misaki, "Miss, are you in any way hurt? Physically?"

"I'm fine, Cedric. Why is everything a mess here?"

"Were you threatened by anyone? Did anyone try to hurt you?" he asked impatiently.

"I said I'm fine. Where is he?" She asked, gripping the heart shaped necklace in her neck. God, please let him be okay.

"Oh there he is!" Mrs. Jones exclaimed while weeping as she ran out of the living room. Misaki hurriedly followed the humble lady.

Misaki found herself standing in front of the driveway where a black Mercedes came to a halt. Takumi stepped out of the car sloppily, his pace was too fast, and his steps were sloppy. He left the car doors open and walked so fast towards Misaki she almost thought he was running. He looked freaked out and scary, with his eyes a dark mix of charcoal and forest green under the lamplights. He gripped her shoulders and looked at her face, arms and legs. Cedric stood right behind Misaki, speechlessly. Everyone froze in their spots, wanting to ask him if something was wrong, but didn't. Nobody dared to approach him.

"Are you hurt?"

"No"

"Are you in pain?"

"No"

"Did someone—"

"Takumi, for God's sakes, I am fine!" Misaki yelled as she pushed his hands off her shoulders. "What all happened here? And are you drunk!?" she screeched, looking at his unusual state of un-collectedness. He was a complete wreck with his shirt half stuck out of his denim jeans, top three buttons unbuttoned, his hair—a wild mess as ever. His words were slurred, anxious. And Misaki had never seen Takumi like that in her entire life.

"No…I'm fine. Well, I'm fine" he said as he cracked a smile and pulled her close "I was so fucking worried" he confessed in her hair. Misaki patted his back timidly and everyone walked away giving the two some privacy.

"Are you drunk, Takumi?" she asked softly as she let go of the tote she was carrying in her hand and embraced him fully.

"A little" he confessed as he held her tighter, he didn't let go for moments but when he did, the panic in his eyes was replaced with anger.

"So what happ—?" Misaki was cut off by the harshness of his tone, and she looked at him with widened eyes.

"Where the fuck were you, Misaki?!" he said as he looked at her with his arms crossed.

"I was in the offi—"

"Do you even know how worried I was?! You weren't at your home. I went to Tora's, and Kuuga's to see if you had gone to meet them without telling me. I've been searching for you in the entire fucking town. But did I find you?"

"I was working on a huge case Takumi I—"

"No, Misaki, then I tried calling you. Why the fuck was your phone switched off!? Do you even know how much that scared me!?"

"Takumi, can you please calm down?" She sighed, okay. She probably deserved it but that didn't mean he should start yelling at her in the middle of a driveway.

"How can you expect me to calm the fuck down, Misaki!?" he yelled as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't but I do expect you to stop yelling at me in front of so many people! It's 5am in the morning and you're continuously creating a scene for everyone to laugh!"

"Do you think that anyone in this house will have the audacity to laugh right now?" he said as he looked at her in the eye.

"Can't we just talk about this privately later on?! I have a hearing in the court and I have to be there by eight! God, I just came by to get a change of clothes! This is it" she yelled and bent down to grab her tote, she turned on her heel and stomped her way out.

"You want to talk about this privately? Fine. Let's have a private chat, Ayuzawa." His words were mocking, but his tone was dangerous. He walked right behind her.

"I am not doing this right now!" Misaki yelled back as she walked faster.

"No, Ayuzawa. We are doing this right now." he threatened and held her wrist, he turned her around but this was it for her.

Consumed with anger, Misaki's hand moved on its own, her palm connected with his face and the sound of a slap echoed in the morning air.

"I said, I am not doing this right now." She said, her voice was heavy and her heart was in her throat. She turned on her heel and walked away. The security guards panicked and opened the gates for her. With that, she was gone. She unlocked her car and turned the key. The engines roared to life and the façade broke. Her tears fell down and she made no attempts of wiping them.