Chapter 24: In a Spot of Bother

Shizuru awoke early, to Komari's surprise. Komari was always up early in the morning to read. She believes that it best to read in the morning with her mind all clear from troubles which may arise during the day. Shizuru prepared her tea to stimulate her senses and then she began fixing herself. When she came out of the shower, Komari couldn't help but recognize the deed.

"Wow, you totally outdid yourself today," Komari commented while turning a page.

"You said that in the real world, people get up early," Shizuru replied while she plugs in her laptop to check her e-mail.

"You think I would believe that you are suddenly heeding my advice?"

"Could there be any other reason?" Shizuru replied with a small smile.

"Natsuki is coming back tomorrow and as early as now, you are too excited."

"Ara, excited people can't do anything productive. As you can see, I'm doing my homework."

"Yeah right. You can deny as much as you want," Komari said as she waved her right hand to brush off Shizuru's remark. They stayed in their room until lunchtime because their classes every Monday are scheduled in the afternoon.

"Shall we go? I'm hungry," Komari declared. She stood up and cleared her table. She grabbed her laptop bag and then she stood behind Shizuru who was typing a term paper.

"I'm almost done. Wait, I'll just check my e-mail," Shizuru said, not minding Komari getting a peek of her messages. When Shizuru's inbox turned up, her eyes widened.

"Reito Kanzaki?" Komari mumbled. "What could he want from you?"

"I don't know. Let's see." Shizuru clicked the message – Re: Graduation and Arrangements.

Shizuru

I'm attending your graduation in behalf of your grandfather. I was told that I would be assuming chairmanship in four month's time and you know that I believe in your insights and your ability. I want to assume the position with you and so I agreed with the proposal of the elders from both our families that we unite for our own good and for the company as well.

I hope that you give our relationship a chance. You know that you are a dear friend to me and I promise to take care of you and listen to your advice in business matters. You would have a say in every decision I make. I respect the fact that your family still owns the larger share and you can rest assured that I would keep the traditional foundations including the name of the company itself. I'm assuming the position not out of pride but because I want to help expand our business not only in Japan but in other countries as well. I hope that we could be in the same path Shizuru. I hope you wouldn't have any qualms in marrying me.

I'd be coming there in a month's time and then I would personally escort you back to Japan. The company is organizing an event for our return and I'm hoping that in that same event we could announce our engagement. I know that this is an arranged marriage but I'm happy that I'm marrying you and not some random girl picked by my family. I really hope that we feel the same way about this Shizuru. As long-time friends, we know how to support each other that's why I believe in the success of this arrangement.

I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

Reito

Shizuru was dumbfounded. Komari couldn't say anything so she just placed her hand on Shizuru's shoulder to let Shizuru know that she is just by her side. Shizuru pressed her temples with the tips of her fingers and she heaved a sigh. What a way to ruin a very nice morning.

"What will you do about this Shizuru?"

"I need time to think about this," Shizuru replied. She stood up and picked up her bag with an apparent change in her behavior. "Let's go. I'm hungry."

--

Komari noticed that Shizuru was spacing out during their lecture classes and she had to tap her once in a while to bring her back to her senses. In the evening, while having dinner at a restaurant near the dormitory, Shizuru talked about school projects obviously evading any question that has something to do with her current problem. Komari was growing impatient. Why the hell is she not sharing anything? Shizuru was back to her usual self – smiling and cheerful – but her façade couldn't deceive Komari.

Back at the dormitory, Komari had already formed a plan. She knew Shizuru's routine so the plan was quite easy to carry out. The only difficult part is the lying involved.

Shizuru opened her laptop and checked her e-mail and then she began to write a few notes. When she was done, she stood up to prepare her sleeping clothes which she would wear after taking a shower.

"Shizuru, do you have any data processing program?" Komari asked. She was aware that the answer is 'yes'. Shizuru was searching for clothes in her closet and only turned at her once to say "Yes." Komari was thinking of the best way to get a hold of Shizuru's laptop.

"Can I copy the installer?"

"Sure, where's your flash disk?" Shizuru asked. She was holding her clothes and towel with one hand and then she moved toward her study table to copy the file for Komari. Komari took out her 4G-flash disk and then she handed it to Shizuru. Shizuru plugged in the flash disk into one of the USB ports.

"You have to scan it first! I guess I picked up some virus in one of the internet cafes nearby."

"Okay." Shizuru ran the Anti-Virus Program and she noticed that it was taking too long. Komari was about to speak but Shizuru got ahead of her. "I'll just shower. The file is in My Documents. It's quite easy to find. It's the same program used by our professor in business research." Shizuru casually went inside the bathroom leaving Komari who was supposedly waiting for the scanning process to end.

The moment the bathroom door closed, Komari acted double time. She cancelled the scanning and she opened the browser. She quickly checked the history of sites visited and then she clicked the URL leading to Reito's message. Bingo! She copied the message in wordpad and then she saved it in her flash disk. She deleted the file from the recent documents and from the recycle bin. She also deleted the site visited from the history kept by the browser. It was a clean job. Her heart was pumping rapidly as she safely removed the flash disk and then she went back to her own study table. A few minutes later, Shizuru came out.

"You got the installer?" Shizuru asked casually while drying her hair with a towel.

"Yes. Thank you," Komari replied. Shizuru went back to her study table and she shut down her laptop. She blow-dried her hair while sitting on her study table. A few minutes later, she began to prepare her bed. She picked up a book and she read it while lying on her back.

Komari has finished her draft of one of the reports that she had to submit. She was about to ask Shizuru about the deadline but she saw that she was already asleep. She was loosely holding a book on one hand. Komari stood up to place the book on the nightstand and then she arranged her own things on her cramped study table. She held her flash disk for a while and then she plugged it in one of the USB ports of her laptop. "I guess I need to intervene."