Chapter 28
-x-
Flashback
It was a sunny day, the sun shone through the window as its rays showed the image of the male that was sleeping peacefully next to her. Today was their graduation day, she managed to graduate early while he graduated a bit later than the people in his year. It was their two year anniversary, two years of the two of them becoming a couple. She looked at him as she heard her phone ring. She saw him stirring in his sleep.
"Go back to sleep, I need to take this call." She told him softly.
"What time is it?"
"Seven in the morning."
"Wake me up when you are done with your phone." He said sleepily as he go went to sleep. She smiled but that smile vanished once she picked up her phone.
"What do you want?"
"Hello to you too, is this how you greet me in the morning? Usually you are nicer than this," Said the man from the phone. She knew his voice very well. She should have put a different ringtone for his call. But it would raise suspicion from her boyfriend.
"Cut this short, what do you want?"
"You, delivered to my house." He said playfully. It made her want to pull her hair out because he was never serious about this matter.
"I told you to not call me. I don't want anything to do with you." She told him. But she knew how bad her lie was. And she knew he knew that she was lying. If she really didn't want to hear from him again, she could easily block his number. "We are going to the army base tomorrow."
"We?"
"My boyfriend and I. We enlisted ourselves to the army once we graduated." She didn't know why she told him this. She just wanted him to understand the meaning of giving up. She expected him to be angry, or just plainly annoyed. But in the army, he would not be able to disturb her and she could concentrate more on her boyfriend.
"I know about that." He said after staying silent for a while. "I saw your name."
"Good, now you know that you can't contact me anymore." She really wanted to ask how he could find out about that. But she assumed it was because of his family influence.
"But I didn't see your boyfriend's name." He told her.
"What?" How could he not see her boyfriend's name? He also sent the application and he went with her through every process. He told her that he was also a cadet.
"Your boyfriend never finished his application progress. I could send you the proof but he is sleeping next to you, right? It will be faster to ask him."
"You liar." She said a bit loud. She had planned this with her boyfriend, that the two of them would start a new career and leave the city together.
"I have no reason to lie to you." He told her softly. She could hear the sound of her boyfriend waking up as she tried her best to not be engulfed in rage. "I will be in the usual café, if you want to meet me." He told her as he ended the call. She saw her boyfriend smiling at her as he tried to give her a kiss. But she pushed him back, she didn't know why she made a big deal from this little lie. She had been with that man the whole time she dated with her boyfriend, wouldn't that mean she had lie longer than he had?
"We need to talk." She told him.
-x-
It was supposed to be sunny day; a day where she started her new life with the man that she thought would be the best for her. But she found herself entering the café, where she saw the very familiar amber colored eyes waiting for her. as if he knew she would come to him, he already ordered her favorite drink on the seat in front of him.
"Have a drink." He told her. Just hearing his voice was enough to burst the pool of tears that she had held the entire time she spent walking from her place to this place. She could never hide anything from him as she just started telling him about how disappointed she was of her boyfriend and how she had a fight with him after he ended the call. And as usual, he listened to her without saying a single word.
"And here I am, without place to stay and having to go to the army in the next two days." She told him as she saw him smiling at her.
"My bed is big enough for two people."
"I am not going to jump into your bed right after I broke up with my boyfriend." She told him. But the playful smile on her face and the amused expression on his face might have told a different story.
"Then, is it okay if I ask you out on one date?"
"You never give up, don't you?" She told him. But she knew that this time, she would not hesitate to accept his offer to be his lover. "But you have to wait until I finish my time in army."
"I could do that," He told her as he pulled out a tiny box and gave it to her. "As long as you wear this."
"Are you asking me to marry you?" Her voice raised a pitch higher when she saw the box. She saw him opening the box and there was a necklace. It was a simple blue sapphire necklace; it was not that big but it was definitely captivating with the small band around it.
"Maybe in the future." He said as he stood up and picked up the necklace and put around her neck. The chain was long enough that it wouldn't show when she wore a shirt over it. "But for now, this necklace is a proof that you are mine. When you wear this, it means you still love me."
"Aren't you so full of yourself?" She told him as she playfully nudged him. "I can't wear this thing every day. Someone will rob me or worse, I might leave this on top of a sink."
"Just wear this when you think you need to tell the world that you are mine."
"What is it with you and your possessiveness?" She asked him. But before she could hear his answer, a loud shattering sound could be heard as she felt someone push her to the floor. She could see the café window had shattered into pieces as people started to scream. She tried to scream but someone covered her mouth. She saw him covering her mouth as she realized the metallic taste coming from his hand.
"Get my phone from my pocket. Just press number one." He told her. She did as he told her and she heard someone on the phone saying his name. She saw him trying his best to stay conscious but the blood that flowed down his face as he tried to catch his breath made it harder for him to talk. Once the call ended, she tried to get up but his body pinned her down.
"I will call for help." She whispered to him.
"You just did," He coughed out some blood that splattered on top of her. "I can't let you move, they will not think twice to shoot you."
"Shoot?" She couldn't hear what he told her. This was in the middle of the city and there was shooting in public area?
"Not many people are fans of mine." He said as he tried to stay conscious.
"Who would do such a thing?" She asked him. She saw the blood and she guessed that the shooter managed to hit him. A few moments later, she could hear more shooting as some footsteps came to where the two of them were lying. She tried to in a seated position as she grabbed onto the nearest weapon - a bread knife. She could feel herself shaking as a male with long hair and beautiful eyes came towards her.
"Get away." She tried to keep her voice from shaking as she pointed the knife to the man.
"I am here to help you." He told her as he put down his weapon. "Whose blood is it?" He asked her when he saw her covered in blood.
"It is mine." She heard him talking, despite his injury. "He managed to hit me in the chest."
"What?" She saw the man move as he picked up her lover and she immediately saw the blood, his blood everywhere. She heard the man shouting as the second man came and picked up her lover. She saw him arguing with their helper as his eyes kept looking to her direction. But he couldn't fight his savior as he was taken to leave the café.
"Are you hurt?"
"No." She answered as she put down the bread knife. "He pushed me down as soon as this started."
"That explains why he got shot." He told her as he shot the enemy that managed to get close to him. "You are enlisted to the army, think of this as a warm up."
"Why would anyone want to shoot him?"
"This is an everyday occurrence." He told her. When he felt her stiffen, the man realized his mistake. "The young master never told you anything?" He asked her. When he didn't get any answer, the man knew he made a mistake of stepping over his boundary. His boss obviously hadn't told his lover about the condition of being with him.
-x-
She didn't know what to do. People were still looking at her because she had blood on her clothes and how pale she had become when the thought of what she just heard from his guards went through her mind. How could anyone be cruel enough to shoot someone just because that person had a bit more money than the other? How could he get used to people targeting him while he smiled at her as though nothing happened. She had wondered why there were some scars on his body, but he playfully told her that he fell.
"You should change your clothes." She heard someone speak to her. The same man who had told her about her lover's life story gave her bag to her, the bag that she brought when she went to the café to meet with him. "Young master is awake and he has been calling for you."
"What should I do when I met him?" She asked him. "What should I say to him?"
"The truth." The man told her. "Young master needs you to be yourself, because the only normal thing in his life is when he spends his time with you."
-x-
Present time
It is dinner time in Tokyo and a certain red haired man is waiting for his supposed guard to arrive. But as he suspected, Aomine was not someone that he could depend on when he talked about being on time. The good thing was that Aomine could drive his car really fast.
"I am sorry Akashi, I tried to call Kuroko but she is not answering her phone."
"Don't worry, we will go without Kuroko." Akashi told him as he ordered Aomine to drive as fast as he could. He was late and he had no time to think about Kuroko's whereabouts. As a professional businessman, being late meant showing weakness to his enemy, and this girl's family was on another level of being annoying. But deep down in his mind, he still thought of many scenarios of where and what Kuroko might be doing at the moment.
"I never thought that Kuroko would take this long when she visited Hanamiya's office."
"Don't worry Aomine, this is actually much better if Tetsumi doesn't come with us." Akashi said as he opened his phone, and there was no text from Kuroko or any missed call. Akashi resisted the urge to throw his phone away and he took a deep breath to calm himself. His business came first; Kuroko came after that.
"I'll try to call Kuroko again when we arrive." Aomine told him. Akashi knew it would be useless - Kuroko made it clear that she didn't want to be called. The broken phone in his office was the proof that even he couldn't reach her. This reminded him of the past; there was time when he had no idea of her whereabouts.
"Don't worry about that, Aomine." Akashi told him as the he entered the restaurant. He remembered that this restaurant was a new place in the town. And the owner of this restaurant was none other than someone he knew very well.
"To what do I owe this, Seijuro?"
"I am here to have a dinner with my acquaintance, Araki Onee-sama." Akashi said as soon as he saw the black haired woman. "Congratulations on the new restaurant, Onee-sama."
"This restaurant is to satisfy my needs of wanting to eat spicy food." Araki told Akashi as she looked at the attendance list. "Funny, I do see your name in this list."
"Of course, Akashi has made a reservation." Aomine answered when he saw the older woman.
"Hello Aomine Daiki, are you playing guard duty for tonight?"
"Kuroko is absent so I am here in her place." Aomine answered, but he could sense that Akashi was wary of something as he didn't take his eyes off Araki.
"This is even funnier." Araki said as she put down the guest list and gave it to one of the waiters. "I just met with Tetsumi and she was also in this restaurant."
As soon as the word left Araki's mouth, both Akashi and Aomine looked around the restaurant as they tried to find the blue haired female amongst the guests.
"However, she came under a different reservation. Your date for the night has arrived and it isn't my sister." Araki said this casually but Aomine could sense the disappointment from her to Akashi. Despite her not agreeing that her sister worked for Akashi, Araki still had her respect for Akashi as he was a good employer. "Should I assume that this is time for me to find her—"
"Don't even think about that, Onee-sama." Akashi stopped Araki from finishing her sentence. This wasn't the first time Araki joked that she would put Kuroko on a blind date, usually Akashi just played along with her joke. But the thought of Kuroko being with someone he had no knowledge of didn't sit well on his mind. "Where is Tetsumi?"
"Aren't you going to visit your date first?" Araki said as she gave a sideway glance to where the female that Akashi supposed to meet was seated. Akashi could see that she was a refined woman, from the way she sat and the way she styled her hair. Her white skin was not as pale as Kuroko's but it looked soft and very radiant.
"She can wait."
"No she can't. I know who she is and her family will make a big problem if their precious princess is upset in anyway. And it will be a problem for my sister if you get into trouble." Araki told Akashi sternly.
"I will look for Kuroko." Aomine finally said. "If it is okay with you?" Aomine asked the question to Araki.
"You don't have to look for her." Araki said as she looked at the couple that was seated next to Akashi's date. Akashi's eyes widened when he saw the blue haired woman was actually Kuroko. "She tried too hard to hide herself and it is interesting that she can keep a secret from you. I really want to hear the story behind this." Araki told Akashi. "Aomine, you can take a seat on the bar, order whatever you want. It is on the house."
"Who is she with?" Akashi looked at how good she was in that dress. White looked good on her and it was a sleeveless dress that made her show too much skin around her back and shoulders. He couldn't make the sense of who she was with, but he had a guess from the black hair.
"Hanamiya Makoto." Araki answered as Akashi tried his best to keep calm. "It is surprising to see her with one of your enemies. But as the old saying says, the enemy of your enemy is your friend."
Araki couldn't help but smile when she saw how troubled Akashi looked at the moment. He wanted to storm to where Kuroko was but by doing that he would let Hanamiya know how much he was affected by a simple dinner, and it would be bad if someone like Hanamiya Makoto knew about his weakness. But if he went to his date, he had to bear to look at Kuroko's questioning look when she realized that he came to the same restaurant, with another girl.
"This is what you paid for." Araki whispered to him as she watched where Kuroko and Hanamiya had been seated. There was no laughter or smile that showed in her face. "Then again, love was never part of our lives. You have to choose between love or power, because you can't always have both."
-x-
"You play this pretty well, Kuroko Tetsumi." Hanamiya told her as he ate the food on his plate. "Even when you know he has arrived and will spend the night with another woman."
"I am here to fulfill my deal with you."
"Ah yes, the deal of not involving your beloved ex-boyfriend." Kuroko tensed when she heard him mention her ex-boyfriend. "He didn't know about that, did he?"
"The deal was to be seated with you while Akashi-san accompanies her."
"True, but he is the one that agreeing on the date with her. I just made sure he gave all of his attention to her." Hanamiya said as his eyes carefully watched Akashi, who finally stopped talking to Araki and walked to the table next to theirs. "Oops, our eyes just met. Should I greet him?"
"Hey Akashi." Hanamiya call him as Kuroko flinched when she turned around to see the furious red orbs looking directly into her eyes. "It's been a while."
"Good evening to you, Hanamiya."
"I hope you don't mind me borrowing your assistant for the night." Hanamiya said as he grabbed a hold of the palm of Kuroko's hand. She could see Akashi flinch as he tried to control the rage within him. "You got yourself a beautiful date for the night."
"Akashi Seijuro-sama?" The woman called his name as she turned around and he finally had a good look at her face. She was definitely a beauty; her grey colored eyes could captivate people with their radiance. And her light colored blonde hair looked perfect with her white skin. While she could be considered as attractive, Akashi had no desire to spend any time with her.
"It is a pleasure to meet you." Akashi said as he bowed slightly. He shifted his glance to Kuroko, she just put down her knife and fork as she prepared to greet the woman.
"The pleasure is mine, Akashi-sama." Her voice was soft and calming. Akashi tried to shake off the ugly thought of what he would do to Hanamiya. He smiled as he saw Hanamiya stand up and move to where his date was.
"It is rare to see you in here, Chihiro. When did you arrive?" Hanamiya ask the woman with an enchanting smile on his lips.
"I just arrived a few hours ago. I haven't booked the hotel because my father said Akashi-sama will accommodate me for the time I stay in Japan." Chihiro said as her eyes turned to look at Kuroko. Akashi was about to speak but Hanamiya beat him by the second.
"I forgot to introduce you, this is Kuroko Tetsumi."
"I didn't know you were seeing someone, Makoto-sama?"
"I am not." "He is not." Kuroko and Akashi answered at the same time. Kuroko realized her mistake as she saw Hanamiya's evil smile. She needed to make sure Akashi and this Chihiro woman ended their dinner nicely or Hanamiya wouldn't hesitate to use her ex-boyfriend once again. She had brought the nice man enough destruction when she broke up with him. And she brought even more despair when she told him that she didn't want to stay in the same city as him because she was disappointed in him. She fed him too many lies that it was his fault that they broke up. It truly hurt him and destroyed him and his life.
"Tetsumi is Akashi's assistant." Hanamiya told her. Chihiro looked between the three of them as realization hit her.
"Do you want to share the table, Makoto-sama, Kuroko-sama?"
-x-
"Hoah, that is a mess." Aomine said as soon as he saw the four of them are seated on the same table. The only ones that looked like they were enjoying the dinner would be Hanamiya and the mysterious date while Kuroko was very tense and Akashi tried to maintain his etiquette.
"Daiki." Aomine saw the black haired woman. Behind her was her devoted assistant that brought two glasses of wine.
"Do you want that to happen?"
"No." Araki told him with a grim looking expression. "Chihiro is a nice girl. she has been living in her golden cage all this time, I strongly believe that she is being used by her family as another pawn to make them even richer. Hanamiya is just a plain rotten man to the core - if there is someone that has the hidden agenda, it would be Hanamiya."
"Kuroko has been weird all day. She went to Seirin's office and then she went willingly to Hanamiya's office." Aomine told Araki, and this soon piqued the interest of the black haired beauty.
"She went willingly?"
"Yes. She even went as far as going against his order."
"That is intriguing. Never in my life would that I imagine Tetsumi would want to step into Hanamiya's office." Araki said to herself. The last time when she and Kuroko went to Hanamia's office, someone in that place tried a lame pick up line and it ended with violence. As is, Araki knocked the man unconscious as she threatened Hanamiya to not ever let that lecherous man ever see her sister again.
"Kat-chan, isn't that Chihiro girl is somewhat related to Hanamiya Makoto?" Araki asked her guard. He took a step forward as he took a good look at Chihiro's face.
"I can't remember, Milady."
"I am pretty sure her father is somewhat related to Hanamiya's family."
"They are about to leave." Aomine suddenly said as Araki saw the four of them standing. Araki didn't think twice to walk to their table, with Aomine following her from behind. Aomine saw that her guard didn't come and follow her, which meant that this would not turn into an ugly fight. Aomine really hoped that everyone there would be able to keep their heads cool, especially his red haired boss.
"Did you enjoy the food?" Araki said with a polite tone to the group.
"It is satisfactory, Araki-sama." Chihiro answered. Araki turned to look to Hanamiya, he raised his eyebrow when he saw Araki. She knew he was challenging her.
"I happened to hear that you have not found a place to stay for the night?"
"I have not, and I am hoping that Makoto-sama or Akashi-sama would be able to help me in that matter." Chihiro answered. Araki was not a big fan of Akashi but she would be troubled to see him and her sister fight if Akashi didn't get the explanation that he deserved. Seeing her sister being civil with Hanamiya Makoto made her suspicious of the reason. What had happened between her and Hanamiya Makoto?
"Don't worry, I have room to spare in my house. It is a bit far in the outskirt of the city, but it would do me a big favor to accompany me while my fiancé is in another country." Araki said to Chihiro. It was not like her fiancé had ever come to the place she called her home. He only came back to this country whenever he had to. Otherwise he would be flying around the world, expanding his business and power throughout the world.
"I am honored. However I can't be a burden to someone as busy as Araki-sama." Chihiro looked like she was troubled by the decision she had to make. She was about to look to Makoto, asking for his opinion and this gave proof to Araki's theory that Makoto and Chihiro knew each other.
"I am not troubled; I would be delighted to show you around the city." Araki said. When she saw that Chihiro was still debating whether she should accept Araki's offer or not, she said, "Akashi and Hanamiya still need to discuss about the new CEO that Hanamiya just chose. They would have meetings the first things in the morning."
"I apologize." Chihiro looked at the two male with a troubled expression on her face. "When father told me that Akashi-sama is interested in having a talk with me, I had completely forgotten that Akashi-sama might have matters in his hand that he needs to finish. However, I must depart to London tomorrow and father has arranged for my flight to be early in the morning. If it is possible, can I have your driver drive me tomorrow morning? I would be delighted to accept your offer, Araki-sama."
"No problem at all," Araki said with a big smile on her face. She turned to look to the red head that had been silent for a while, then she turned to see the still unchanging smug looking Hanamiya.
"Why don't you and Kuroko go back?" Araki turned to tell Akashi and Kuroko. She didn't leave any chance for them to argue back when her guard came with Kuroko's jacket.
"I have something to discuss with Hanamiya, please wait in the entrance, Chihiro-san."
Both Hanamiya and Araki watched the rest of the group walk to the entrance. Araki didn't miss the look that Kuroko gave to Hanamiya before she turned around to follow Aomine.
"What do you want from Tetsumi?"
"I don't want anything from her." Hanamiya said as he sat back on his seat. "Your sister is the one that wants something from me."
"How do you know?" Araki asked him. not many people knew that Kuroko was Araki's sister. But those who knew had the obligation to keep their mouth shut under the influence of her and her fiancé.
"I just put two and two together." Hanamiya told her while he picked up Kuroko's wine glass. "It is funny that you kept so many things from your sister, and she also kept some secrets from you."
"Do you think you are strong enough to blackmail me?" Araki started to get annoyed. How arrogant can this man be? He will be waging his war against her and Akashi would be happy to help her if it meant sinking this man down.
"I don't have any business with you. I would not play a game that I know I will lose."
"Playing games with Tetsumi means that you are playing game with me." Araki put both of her hands on top of the table as she lowered her eyes to meet with Hanamiya's "I will wipe that arrogant smile off your face if I you play any of your games with my sister."
"Duly noted, Araki Masako-sama."
-x-
AN: first of all, thank you to Phoebe for editing this story. I am just happy that I still have many people reading and waiting for this story.
I was going to post this before New Year's Eve but things happen and I finally manage to update now. Hopefully you will still wait for the continuation of this story?
Next chapter(s?) will all be about the past. I have to pause the event from this chapter and give you guys the glimpse of the past, very excited to finally be able to share about what has been going on with the main pairing in here .. there has been enough tension between the two of them and many of you just wanting to know about what happened with those tow. But honestly, I am curious about what you guys think about the relationship between the main pairing?
And review please?
