Ch 09 :
Reika gingerly sips some cold water. She hasn't even touched the champagne her date had especially ordered.
The man that is clearly a few years older than her doesn't notice the tenseness in her muscles and the forced smile on her face. Then again, even if the man did notice, both of them couldn't do anything to change the situation because the man in front of her is the one her father had chosen way before his death.
She was engaged to be married to this man even before her birth.
She was lucky she wasn't currently in a relationship or else she would have been subjected to choose between love and duty.
But then again, she wouldn't have been in this predicament if only she had been in a relationship.
"Shall we take a walk?" The man smiles sweetly. "I hear that this restaurant's garden is like it was cut out of a fairy tale"
Reika smiles thinly at her date. "Sure"
The date ended in what Reika could only phrase as : agonizingly fucking slow.
It wasn't because her date was unattractive or boring.
It was just because she wasn't interested.
"How was it?" Her brother asks as she stepped in the common room.
"It was..." She shrugged, unsure. "fine?"
"Are you telling me or are you asking me?"
Reika shrugged again as a response.
"Do you have any complaints about him?"
Reika thought it over, scuffing her doll shoes on the carpeted floor. There wasn't anything wrong with the guy. If anything, something was wrong with herself. The guy was tall, has a pleasing personality, has perfectly toned muscles with a healthy tan. A 100/100 in any woman's books.
She wasn't just interested.
But she (of course) could not say that to her brother. So she just shakes her head, pretends to be another woman, forces a smile and says: "He's perfect"
"Are you sure?" Her brother asks worriedly.
Her smile softens as she could see that this is as hard to him as it is to her. So she nods her head, and softly says "yeah" because any louder than that and she knows her voice would crack and her brother would be in more pain than she is.
Her brother nods solemnly. "We'll discuss wedding preparations in a few days"
Her throat tightens and she could only nod in response. She doesn't reply when her brother sent her to her room with a soft "good night".
Tears brims her eyes as she walked up the stairs, she let them freely fall when she was finally in the safety of her room.
"I'm sorry, will you repeat that?"
Tsuna wasn't sure what he thought of this arrangement.
His mother, Nana, has her arm linked with a very familiar woman.
"I said," Nana rolled her similar brown eyes, "You two should marry"
Judging by the woman's resigned expression, Tsuna has a vague idea how she was roped in to this.
"Mom" Tsuna pinched the bridge of his nose. "Please let Kyoko-chan out of this"
Nana pouted. "But whyyyyy?" She whined. "You've loved her for as long as everyone knows!" She turned to her captive. "Right, sweetheart?"
Sasagawa Kyoko smiles nervously but doesn't reply.
"Mom" Tsuna stresses. "Let her go"
"Fine!" Nana grits bitterly as she let the other woman go.
"I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan" Tsuna apologized. "Will you leave us for a moment?"
Kyoko nods before excusing herself out.
"Mom" The brunet Don looks at his mother expectantly.
"I just want you to find a great woman and settle down" Nana looks at her son pleadingly. "Don't you want to start a family of your own?"
"Mom" Tsuna sighs. "I'm already settled down" His shoulder sags tiredly. "I'm content where I am" He looks at his mother in the eyes. "Of what I have"
"And a family?"
"I already have one" Tsuna smiles as he gestured at all the framed photos on the wall and his desk. "It's a rather high-maintenance family but I wouldn't want it in any other way"
The older brunette continues to stare at her son pleadingly but Tsuna wouldn't budge. Sighing in resignation, Nana left the office dejectedly. She didn't even say goodbye to her son as she left the office.
Tsuna on his part, watched worriedly as his mother left him in silence.
