Risa had never really imagined her wedding day.
Instead of dreaming about a handsome groom, her girlish fantasies featured the King of Sweden and the phrase 'Nobel Prize in Chemistry.' Shuffling her weight to keep her sensible black pumps from pinching her toes she reflected that if she ever had dreamed about it, she was sure she would have pictured things like a gorgeous dress, an exotic location, a man who adored her and multitudes of friends and family smiling benevolently.
Standing in front of a steel and glass government building wearing her most conservative business suit while her groom-to-be stood a half-block away arguing with his best friend wouldn't have come up in her daydreams at all.
She stared resignedly at the two men fighting just out of earshot. Technically, she supposed it was more of a harangue. Kyoya simply stood there with his arms crossed looking increasing irritated while Tamaki gesticulated widely. If the blonde flapped his arms any harder he'd take off.
"He's trying to talk him out of this, isn't he." It wasn't really a question and she didn't expect the brown-haired woman standing next to her to answer. The statement was only a way to fill the uncomfortable silence that had stretched between them for the last ten minutes. Risa wanted to get along with her fiancée-almost-husband's best friends but the constant feeling of being judged made it hard to warm up to them.
She checked her watch for the third time, hoping the man coming to open the Family Registry desk just for them would get here soon. It turned out that Ootori money and influence were enough to get some poor civil servant out of bed at six on a Sunday morning just to be sure her marriage was made one-hundred-percent official before the nine a.m. board meeting. She rolled back her shoulders to ease the tension already forming and sighed.
"Do you trust him?" asked Haruhi suddenly, startling Risa out of her thoughts.
It felt a bit like she was being led into a trap. "I'm not sure what you're asking," she replied guardedly.
Haruhi turned the direct gaze that made her a fearsome courtroom opponent entirely on Risa. "I'm not an expert, and god knows I gave Tamaki a hard time over the years, but it seems to me that the only thing that keeps a relationship from failing is trust." The older woman looked over at Kyoya with a slightly sad expression. "You need to decide if you trust him and if he can trust you."
The words reminded her of Kyoya's statement when they'd first started their partnership. She'd trusted him then and look how that turned out. Since then she'd learned that he was was arrogant, dictatorial, calculating, ruthless, and a very good liar. How could she possibly trust someone like that?
But…
Whenever it counted, he'd always let her make her own choices without pressure. It didn't matter that he constantly lied about why he did the things he did or downplayed them. He'd taken care of her when she needed it most, comforted her, protected her, and had kept every promise he'd made.
And right now he was the only person she believed was on her side.
"I suppose I do trust him," she replied with a wry smile of self-realization. "At least, as much as I trust anyone."
The brunette looked at her piercingly for a second then shrugged and headed down the block to the two men. She laid her hand on Tamaki's arm and spoke to him. He ran his hands through his hair, which only enhanced his typical rakish appearance, and relaxed his shoulders. Risa could practically see Kyoya's eyes rolling as he said something that made Tamaki agitated again, then the raven-haired man turned sharply on his heel and headed towards her. As he approached, a taxi pulled up and disgorged a rumpled looking man who yawned sleepily.
Trust him or not, it was too late to back out now.
~oOoOo~
"He may be the Chairman's adopted son, but Shigeru-san has nearly brought this company to bankruptcy." Okita, a close friend of her grandfather's since childhood, slapped his hand down on the table to emphasize his point. After an hour of debate with neither side budging both the room and its occupants were getting heated. "How much worse would it be with him in charge?"
"All due respect, but it is the Chairman who was most responsible for Sakura's financial difficulties." Her uncle's crony, Miura, replied smoothly. "Sadly, he was too caught up in visions of grandeur and over-invested in high risk technology." Risa did not miss the pointed look in her direction and gritted her teeth.
Things were not going well.
Initially, everything had gone to the plan Kyoya had outlined on the car ride to the emergency conference. First, they'd held off on announcing the marriage until right before the meeting began, preventing her uncle from having a chance to regroup. The look of shock on his face had been all the sweeter for the surprise. He'd blustered, but the board agreed that Kyoya should be considered a candidate.
Both men had a chance to present their case. Not expecting a challenge, her uncle was woefully unprepared while Kyoya had stayed up all night outlining a daring and meticulous plan to turn the company around. Personally, she had thought it was brilliant. Pity she seemed to be the only one.
It had all been downhill from there. As soon as the two candidates had been dismissed to the waiting area, Miura pounced. He proposed that Risa's vote be excluded due to conflict of interest. It had carried four to three.
Since then the debate had raged on with the sides deadlocked. In Kyoya's corner were the elder Ootori, Okita, and Ueda. The latter man typically sided with the more conservative voters and Risa had no idea how Kyoya had managed to persuade him. It was probably a bribe of some sort. Or blackmail.
On her uncle's side were Miura and the two oldest board members, both staunchly traditional men who believed in experience and 'paying your dues.' They wouldn't recognize innovation if they sat on it.
Throughout the meeting Risa kept her eyes lowered demurely to the table alternating between anger and despair.
Miura was still expounding on how her uncle would run the company and she reluctantly dragged her attention back to him. "We simply don't have the resources to be a cutting edge company," he proclaimed. "Shigeru-san will trim the budget for speculative research and use that plus the recent cash influx to restructure the company back to a traditional pharmaceutical firm."
The budget being cut for her department in the company she would technically own. She idly tried to determine whether that would count as irony.
"Gentlemen," Yoshio's voice cut sharply through the sycophantic spiel. "Might I remind you that the money you are so freely discussing came from the Ootori Group under certain expectations."
"You got your seven percent, Yoshio-kun, and a seat on the board," said one of the two elderly board members with a tang of resentment. The most the rest of them owned in the company was five percent. Then again, they hadn't paid as much for the privilege. "Besides, I'm sure we could arrange for your son to remain in his present role until he has a chance to prove himself."
Kyoya would hate that, she thought. He would be handed all the responsibility of the Presidency with no power to fulfill the role and his direct superior working to undermine him at every turn. It was worse than kicking him to the curb. A despairing laugh threatened to bubble up and ruin the image she was trying to project.
"That's a good compromise," said Ueda excitedly. For the last fifteen minutes Risa had sensed he was looking for an opportunity to switch sides and now he'd been handed one. "Age and experience at the helm will keep youthful impulses and idealism in check." The fearful glance he shot Yoshio made it clear that he hoped the move would also appease the Ootoris.
Miura jumped all over the idea before it could gain traction. "His wife has a majority share in the company and voting rights on the board. It wouldn't be right for the President to have more power than the Chairman. Stability is what we need and that would be had if the presidency goes to Kei-san."
It was all falling apart, but she didn't know how to change it. Her mind kept wandering down different outcomes for her future, each one worse than the last. The board was swaying towards half-measures and compromise that would satisfy nobody and leave her crippled. What she needed was a way to force them into a corner and make a clear choice.
'Oh!'
A seed of an idea took root and began to grow.
'Oh, Lords of Kobol!'
It was desperate, it was terrifying, it was a million to one chance… but million to one chances succeed nine times out of ten. She kept her head lowered to prevent anyone from seeing the smile she couldn't hold back.
Like the old man says, 'Sometimes, ya' gotta roll the hard six.'
She stood abruptly, shocking the men into silence. "Gentlemen, please excuse my interruption." She bowed low and gathered every ounce of her courage. "I did agree to abstain from voting, but I didn't give up the right to express an opinion. Before you make any decisions, please permit me to say the following…."
~oOoOo~
Risa stepped out of the double doors and closed them behind her, focusing on not letting her legs collapse from under her. The two men in the waiting area, one pacing with fists clenched behind his back and the other coolly leaning against the wall studying his cell phone, looked up at her expectantly but she shook her head. "They're still debating. They asked me to step out during the final deliberation."
Hoping her legs wouldn't tremble visibly she made her way towards the door. Kyoya stepped in front of and blocked her path, reaching his right arm across her body and wrapping his hand around her left bicep until she met his questioning eyes. "They excluded my vote," she said sotto voce. A brief flicker of disappointment crossed his face before he replaced it with his typical implacable façade.
She didn't tell him what she'd done. Everyone would find out soon enough one way or the other. "I'm going to go get some work done in the lab," she told him. The whole day had left her feeling more tightly wound than DNA around a clump of histones. If she stayed in this waiting room it would just get worse.
Kyoya could tell there was more to the story, but with Shigeru pacing the room like a feral animal it was not the time to ask. He nodded imperceptibly and released her. "I'll come find you after the decision." He saw her struggle to give him a reassuring smile before walking out the door.
He walked over to stare out the window, hiding his face from prying eyes. He refused to allow the frustration coursing within him to gain a foothold. As much as he'd tried to stack the odds in his favor it was a risky plan to begin with and there was no point in wasting energy on wallowing in regret. But…
'Damn it!'
He'd been so close! Six months of being acting President and he would have had the board members eating out of his hand. One week to prepare for this meeting and he'd have found enough material to blackmail all of them. Less than twelve hours to pull off a coup d'état had been a stretch, he conceded, even for him.
Now the only thing left to do was crawl back to the Ootori Group with his tail between his legs. The sour bile of defeat turned his stomach. Yuuichi and Akito would exult in his failure and never let him forget it. Family dinners would be hell, even more so than normal. Nobody could stick the knife in quite like a triumphant Ootori.
There was only one way to salvage his standing now. He would need to convince Risa to sell the company. She was a practical woman, he reasoned, and she would understand that some promises just couldn't be kept. At least their marriage would give her some protection. The thought did very little to soothe his conscience. Even if it couldn't be helped it felt like betrayal.
He stared into the distance until the doors opened yet again, this time spilling out board members chattering about their plans for the rest of the afternoon. The first man out of the room was his father, but Yoshio was never one to let either happiness or disappointment show and gave no hint to what had occurred. Of course, there was no telling which outcome his father would have preferred in the first place. Kyoya stood up a little straighter and hid everything firmly behind his 'public' face, steeling himself for the results.
"Gentlemen, we've reached a decision." The most senior and oldest of the board members, one he knew to be Shigeru's ally, had the privilege of announcing the vote. The pinched look on his face and sour expression caused an unexpected burst of hope to grow in Kyoya's chest. "After due deliberation, we have unanimously elected Ootori Kyoya as the next Chairman of Sakura Pharmaceuticals."
Only a lifetime of training kept the astonishment off his face as five board members converged around him to offer their congratulations. He murmured appropriately polite yet humble responses to their well-wishes while frantically sorting through every conceivable scenario. None led to this outcome.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Miura approach Risa's uncle and the two engaged in a fierce, whispered conference before Shigeru turned on his heel in a huff and stalked out the door. Miura hesitated for a minute staring after the now deposed president with indecision before shaking his head in disgust and resolutely moved over to join the crowd surrounding the new head of the company.
Nobody wanted to stay long and soon all the board members but one left, citing family or business reasons. Kyoya guessed at least half of them would be heading off to mistresses, golf, or other similar entertainments instead.
"Surprised?" asked Yoshio when they were alone.
"A bit. At most I expected four-to-two in favor. Unanimous was outside of my calculations."
"Interesting." Yoshio gave the barest hint of a surprised laugh. "So it really was all her gambit?"
His father was enjoying this far too much. Kyoya was operating on no sleep for over twenty-six hours and was unwilling to play the usual one-upmanship game that passed for familial bonding. "It pains me to admit it, Father, but I am at a loss as to what you are referring to."
Yoshio shook his head in remembered disbelief, a near microscopic smile tugging up the corner of his mouth. "It was quite remarkable. The board was trying to hammer out some compromise but your wife stopped it cold. She formally assigned the proxy vote for her shares and her seat on the board to whoever was elected chairman." The smile grew broad enough to crack Yoshio's granite visage. "Then she followed it up by declaring that if we didn't elect you unanimously we were 'fools lacking the vision needed to direct the company' and she would hand in her notice."
Kyoya could almost picture the fire in her eyes when she said it and the uproar it would have caused. "She forced the board to choose between her and her uncle." He clamped down on the laughter bubbling up within him. It was an absolutely brilliant move and something he never would have asked of her.
"They may be hide-bound and skeptical of anything new," Yoshio continued, "But they aren't stupid. They all know who the key to the future of this company is." He waved his hand dismissively. "After that, it was only a matter of convincing Miura-san that she wasn't bluffing."
"She wasn't," Kyoya replied confidently. When it came to things that mattered, Risa was incapable of anything other than sincerity.
"So I surmised. Horrible lying skills for an Ootori, even one by marriage." Yoshio looked at his watch and sighed. "I need to be going. Your mother has some art show she wants me to attend. She's found yet another bright young thing who's set to take the art world by storm." His mouth and nose turned up in a sneer. "Hopefully whatever monstrosity she wants me to buy this time won't be too costly."
It was a regular game his parents played. Every time his mother found out about another one of his father's affairs she had him purchase a piece created by her latest protégée. The cost was directly proportional to the magnitude of the indiscretion. Since his father's latest fling was with one of her friends the price tag would be hefty.
His father paused on his way out the door and looked back. "I was skeptical when you first convinced me this marriage was a good idea but I've change my mind. You made a good choice." With that he walked out the door, leaving his son alone.
"Yes. I did," Kyoya replied softly to his father's departing back.
~oOoOo~
Risa perched on a stool with her latest journal from the American Chemistry Society open before her on the counter. There was an interesting article on the dynamics of photoinduced charge transport in DNA she'd been waiting for a chance to read but, instead, she stared off at nothing while drumming her fingers on the table. The more time passed since her ultimatum the more doubt set in.
It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
The likelihood of that serving as a good defense was roughly nil, she thought wryly. With her proxy, her uncle would have power to do whatever he wanted – restructure, sell, do nothing and let the company fully slip into bankruptcy...
Kyoya was going to be pissed. Even if it worked, he'd probably still be angry that she took the risk. Risa groaned and thunked her forehead against the counter. This was why she didn't want to handle the business side of things. Sometimes when she swung for the fences she'd get a home run, but most of the time…
The door slammed open against the wall and she jerked upright. Shigeru stood in the doorway, chest heaving as if he had run the whole way from the top floor down. She didn't know if he was angry because he'd lost or because he'd won but lost her research. Either way, Risa wanted to be on her feet when she faced him so she slid off her stool. Her left hand nervously clutched at the counter to brace herself.
He stalked over to her swinging his right arm towards her face. "You little bitch." Risa's head whip-lashed to the side as the sound of the slap reverberated off the walls. "How could you betray your own family like that?"
Eyes watering, she rubbed at the sting in her left cheek. "I take it my strategy worked, uncle?" The pain wasn't enough to keep the smile off her face, which only enraged her uncle further.
Shigeru reached behind her and twisted his hands in her chignon. Pins clattered on the floor and her long black locks tumbled down her back. He pulled hard and forced her head back as far as it would go, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Don't you know what you've done? How am I going to live now?"
Involuntary tears trickled down her face as he gripped her hair until it felt like it would come out. Risa closed her eyes tight against the spittle flying from his mouth. "I'm sure there will still be a place for you…" she said unconvincingly, hoping to soothe his temper.
"As what? Some desk-sitter middle manager?" He released his hand abruptly and pushed her away from him. Risa barely maintained her footing when she crashed against the stool. Her uncle turned and agitatedly paced the room, flinging his arms around in a way that made her fear for the delicate equipment surrounding them. "That won't be enough to pay my debts."
"What debts?" Risa scoffed. "Your food, your housing… everything was taken care of by Ojii-sama."
"Stupid little girl." Another wild gesture had Risa cringing when his hand almost thudded into the centrifuge. "You have no idea what the real world is like. No idea what expenses there are for a man of my position!"
Too many years of being belittled, underestimated, and discounted rose up and choked off any sense of restraint. "You mean mistresses and gambling, uncle?" She sneered, "I am well aware of your proclivities in that area." He raised his hand to slap her again and she shut her eyes tight against the blow. As stupid as it was to provoke him the chance to finally tell him what she really thought was worth the hit. The anticipated strike never landed. Instead, she heard a sharp cry of pain that jolted her eyes open.
Her uncle was on his knees before her; right arm twisted behind his back as far as it would go and anchored in place by a tall, fair-haired man in a black suit. Pain lined her uncle's face and his whimpers sounded like the whine of a beaten dog. Behind them, the new Chairman stood in the open doorway radiating anger in every line of his body.
"I think that is quite enough." Kyoya's voice chilled the room to subzero in an instant. "Tachibana, please escort the former president off the premises. Personally." The smile he gave sent chills down her spine.
"With pleasure, Kyoya-sama." The security chief roughly jerked Shigeru to his feet by the collar and pushed him out the door without releasing his grip.
In a few strides of his long legs Kyoya was standing in front of her. He gripped her chin between his finger and thumb and jerked her head to the side. "Are you alright?" Eyes as hard as flint glared at her cheek as if he'd been personally affronted.
Risa pulled out of his grasp and stepped back. "Please, it was just a slap. I'm made of sterner stuff."
As anticipated, he was pissed. While she didn't want a fight, she wasn't going to beg for forgiveness either. "Look, I'm sorry if what I did came as a surprise," she said while trying to keep her voice reasonable. "If I'd thought of it beforehand I would have discussed it with you"
The coldness coming off Kyoya in waves imperceptibly lessened and he sighed. Removing his glasses, he ran a hand over his face. "I'm not upset about what you did. It was an excellent strategy." The redness ringing his eyes reminded her of just how little sleep he'd had. Putting the glasses back on, he offered her a tight smile. "I didn't anticipate that your uncle would come down here. He should never have been in the position to hurt you."
Her lips twitched at his not-quite-apology for being unable to meet the impossibly high standard he set for himself. "I'm very disappointed in your lack of omniscience. You know, you aren't living up to your press."
The last of the dark aura surrounding him dissipated with a small chuckle. "The press release was supposed to say nearly omniscient." The bemusement on his face faded and he studied her with serious eyes. "Why did you do it?"
"Oh." She chose the first explanation that he might believe. "Well… they we're equivocating and it looked like Ueda was about to fold, so…"
"Please," his gentle voice cut her off, "Don't lie. Why were you willing to give up everything for me?"
She wasn't sure how to explain it, even to herself. Too much listening to Pooja and Haruhi was probably to blame. "We really are partners now, aren't we? Two atoms with a covalent bond forming one molecule. At least, I think that's what that little piece of paper we filed this morning means. " Realizing how nerdy that sounded she rushed on to the conclusion. "I just… I just couldn't see how I could succeed if it meant you failed. "
The statement sat between them for a minute. When he didn't respond, embarrassment washed over her and she turned back to the convenient journal. The pages rustled as she flipped them with slightly more force than was necessary." Besides, it wasn't everything. There's always Boston and the nanotech project. I also have some truly revolutionary ideas about organ cloning…"
Kyoya knew his silence had made her feel awkward and he reached out his hand to cover hers, trapping the page beneath her fingers and interrupting her nervous babbling. No easy pleasantry, no polite phrase could capture what he wanted to say. If he opened his mouth, he'd reveal too much of himself. There were many who trusted him, but never to that extent. Nobody had so much faith in him that they'd put the thing they cared most about on the line to fight for him. It both humbled him and made him feel like he could level mountains with a wave of his hand.
Leaning forward, he used his other hand to turn her chin towards him. "Thank you," her murmured against her mouth before gently brushing his lips against hers in their first kiss as husband and wife. An electric jolt ran through his body and rocked him to his core. The brief touch of their lips lasted forever, wrapping him in something raw and intimate and unbelievably pure. He could feel her swaying towards him but for once he withdrew without deepening the kiss.
Stepping back, he turned away slightly and made a show of cleaning his glasses. He had only intended…
He wasn't quite sure what he'd intended. He'd just wanted to let her know that, despite her protests, he understood exactly what she'd been willing to sacrifice. It wasn't even much of a kiss, just a brief brushing of lips too light to really be felt.
Why, then, did it make him feel the way he had at fourteen after he'd finally worked up the courage to kiss his first crush?
Shoving aside his confusion, he reached for the polite composure that was always at hand only to find it harder than usual to assume. Thankfully Risa, who was blushing and plaiting her fallen hair into that horrid braid, seemed equally befuddled and didn't notice anything wrong.
They should leave, he decided. She'd want to go back to the hospital and he needed at least a couple hours rest. Everything would be clearer after some sleep. He was fatigued, she was emotionally drained, and that was all there was too the almost communion-like feeling which had passed between them.
He hoped.
A/N: I feel a bit like Elle Woods – OMG you guys! I received so much wonderful feedback after the last chapter it revved me up to finish off this arc.
Thanks to AusllyBeliever, Deedee, nanirios10, and the two lovely guest reviewers for keeping me going. SarahELupin – I really tried to give Risa's friends some of the diversity you see in the science/tech fields. I'm glad you appreciate it.
Thank you to all the reviewers and new followers and favoriters. Each notification that crosses my inbox makes my heart flicker like a magnesium sparkler.
I am. such. a. nerd.
Coming up in the next story arc – the return of the host club, Risa encounters two very different people from her past, and all sorts of skullduggery and corporate espionage will abound as both of their feelings towards each other grow.
Maybe.
Or they fight, get a divorce, and she moves back to America. Then Risa and Amy unwittingly unleash the Zombie apocalypse, nanotechnology version.