Disclaimer: I do not own Haruka and Michiru's characters, they belong to Naoko Takeuchi. All other characters and this story belong to me.
Chapter 28
You Are Out, I Am In.
People were staring at her. That wasn't a good thing because it annoyed the daylight out of her and it was still very early in the day. So what if her hair was different and she was wearing a pencil-skirt suit instead of a pant one. It wasn't like she grew two heads. Haruka reached the executive elevator and pressed the top button. What had possessed her to go through the lobby instead of the garage? Stupidity. That and the fact that she decided to stop by a nearby coffee shop and get a cup of caramel macchiato. She sipped on the drink, taking some pleasure in the hot liquid scolding her tongue. Maybe it was worth it.
The elevator doors opened and she was met with a chaos. Another thing that apparently went wrong that morning - she was hoping for some peace and quiet, but, of course, she would have none of it. She walked inside the North Office and set her cup on the desk before walking out and questioning the secretary about the state of chaos. Instead of answering, the woman just stared back at her.
Oh, that's right.
She forgot that it was her brother's secretary and she… well, she no longer looked like her brother. She walked back in the office, grabbed her cup and her briefcase and walked past the still shocked secretary to the opposite side of the floor, repeating the process. Her own secretary seemed just as shocked, but a lot more enthusiastic at the idea of having her boss back.
"Kaioh-san came up with some new idea, so he called an emergency board meeting. Both Kaioh-sans are here today." She finally put an excited smile on her face. It had been a bit boring with Haruka gone, the young woman would never admit it to anyone out of professionalism, but she enjoyed the havoc that seemed to follow the Vice President.
"Why wasn't I called to that meeting?" Haruka asked, the fact that she had not officially been in the office for over three months escaping her again.
"I'm not sure anyone knew where to find you, Tenoh-san."
"Right…" She turned towards her office before looking at the secretary again. "Was my brother notified?"
"I don't know, Tenoh-san, but I can look into that."
"Please do." She entered the South Office and shut the door. What game are you playing now, Kaito?
She took some papers out of her briefcase and sat down behind the desk. She looked at the first two documents for a long while, reminiscing on how they came to her. It was the same bloody morning. The twenty-four hours between June second and June third seemed to be climatic of everything that happened to her since.
She listened in silence, processing what he said. He finally disconnected from the wall, walked up to the bed and threw some papers on it. "Take these with you, you will need them at some point."
She took the papers and shuffled through them, her hands shaking at their meaning.
He looked back up at her. "Apparently you two were meant to be together, much more so than even you know. This…" He pointed to the top sheet. "...is the marriage certificate. The certificate, where my name was misspelled, making you Michiru's spouse. I don't know if it would ever hold up in court, but you at least have a claim."
He took in her shocked expression. "Yeah, that would be one of the signs. Fate is playing games with us. The second one is a copy of my will. I would like you to keep it, just in case." She jerked at that statement. "Don't worry, I'm not suicidal, neither am I intending to die any time soon. I just made some changes to it and we have always kept each other's wills. I see no reason not to do so now. Put it where the last one is."
She finally nodded, accepting it for no more than it was: an update.
"I want you to know that I still love you, but you hurt me like no one else has ever done. I need time to heal."
She finally gave up and walked up to him, hugging him close with all her might, as though she could return what they had by bringing him physically close. "I love you too. I'm so sorry. I hope one day you will find it in yourself to forgive me."
She came back to reality at the knock on the door. Her right hand wrinkled the marriage certificate it was holding. Yes, meant to be together indeed. She snorted before telling her secretary to come in.
"As far as I could tell, your brother was not notified of the meeting either."
"Thank you."
Haruka watched the door close before she threw both documents she was holding on the table and turned to face the city. So, Kaito decided to make the decisions as he used to with the Kaioh Group? He seemed to be forgetting that he was no longer at the wheel; it was time to remind him of that. She took the marriage certificate and put it in the safe - she didn't need it now, probably would never need it. Next, she took the will that was bound at the top and pressed a button on the intercom.
"Yes, Tenoh-san."
"Have Hara-san come into my office as soon as possible."
Haruka disconnected before her secretary could even respond. Less than five minutes later the platinum blonde walked inside.
"Good Morning, Haruka-san."
"Good Morning, Mizuki-san." Haruka gestured towards the chair opposite her desk, which Mizuki took.
"Have you had a chance to look into what we discussed yesterday?"
"I have."
"And?"
Mizuki gave her boss a brilliant smile. "We are all set."
Haruka returned the smile before finishing her coffee.
X X X
"… it will put us in the new market where -" Kaito turned as the door opened and two women walked in.
"Sorry we are late, but I didn't seem to get the message about this meeting." Haruka smiled internally at their shocked expressions before she took a seat at the head of the table, opposite to one Kaito and Miho occupied. Mizuki pulled a chair from the side of the room and took a seat next to the blonde. Well, if you could still call her that.
"H-Haruka?" Miho seemed to be the first one to come to her senses.
"That's right."
"What are you doing here?" It was Kaito's turn to shake his stupor off.
Haruka locked her cold emerald eyes with his. "What are you doing here?"
He didn't like her authoritative tone of voice. "Young lady, I don't know where you have been, but apparently you have forgotten that I'm a shareholder and I have been giving input into everything that was going on with this company in your absence."
"Thank you Kaioh-san, your concern is greatly appreciated." She gave him a fake smile. "I'm back, so your input will no longer be necessary."
"Excuse me?"
"For what?"
"That was rhetorical, Haruka, who the hell do you think you are?" He was starting to lose it.
"Ah, as to that…" She gave the stunned board members a pointed glance. "Ladies and gentleman would you leave us? This meeting is over."
They didn't know what to do. Half of them used to work under Kaito, so to them he was still the main person in the room; the other half thought they knew Haruka, so they didn't really take her seriously. They kept looking at each other, waiting for someone to act first.
Haruka's patience ran out long before any of them decided to act. "May I remind you that Kaioh-san, though a shareholder, is not a member of this board, nor does he have an official post within the company. I, on the other hand, do. Unless you want to join him in not being a part of this company, I recommend getting the hell out of this room and not coming back until I told you to do so." Her voice was as cold as ice, as were her eyes. Not one member of the board seemed to have an issue understanding or following her directive after that. They hurriedly gathered their things and left the boardroom.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kaito roared as the door closed.
"I'm setting things straight," she answered evenly, relaxing deeper into her chair. "Sit down, Kaioh-san, I don't like when people tower over me, even if they are on the other end of the table."
"You little piece of shit, who do you think you are to order me around? You are this close..." He almost put his thumb and index finger together in gesture. "...to my forgetting that you are my best friends' child and throwing you off the corporate ladder."
To his further displeasure, Haruka chuckled at that. "Well, Kaioh-san, unfortunately for you, I don't think you can do that."
Kaito stared at her. That was just ridiculous. She may have been right about him not having an official post within the company, but he was still one of the main shareholders. His word had a lot of weight.
"I can do many things, which apparently your air-headed brain doesn't comprehend. Where is your brother? He needs to be here for this."
"Yes, that is what everyone wants to know, isn't it? That was also rhetorical, Kaioh-san, no need to answer." She got up and walked to the window, looking out at the cityscape and gathering her strength. She finally turned around and faced both Kaiohs.
"Sit down, Kaito-san, it's not an order, you just may want to sit for this one." She watched as Miho pulled her agitated husband down. "I have asked my own parents this shortly before they… have had the misfortune of taking that god damn helicopter… what has possessed them to arrange a marriage of their son. They have given me their version, I would like you to do me the honor of doing the same."
"What makes you think that you can just do that after your little outburst -" Kaito stopped as his, quiet until now, wife raised a hand.
"An arranged marriage is a family tradition that goes from generation to generation. Most times it is made to benefit the family business or to tie two sets of families for political or social reasons. Both Kaito and I come from traditional lines of old money and arranged marriages, we have never seen any problems with the idea. In the spirit of modernity we did decide to arrange only one marriage in our family, so Michiru was meant to marry your brother. I still believe that parents have an upper hand at telling who is good for their children and pair them up without any illogical considerations, such as attraction and other perceived feelings. Once two people are married, they can always work on their relationship and come out happy on the other end. Me and Kaito are a perfect example."
Well, that was a bit more upfront and better structured than her parents' explanation, but it also showed how thick-headed these people were.
"You don't know your daughter at all. Apparently my parents were not as blind as you are, so they recognized that they made a mistake." She saw Kaito get up again and put her hand up to let him know that she had a point. "My parents were coming to the oRb to talk to you about the absurdness of your decision. My brother joined them in their effort."
She watched them, waiting for the realization to dawn. Once it did, they spoke in unison, their questions reminding her that Michiru was truly their daughter. The fact that she pretended to be him seemed to bother them more than the fact that he was dead. This time, however, she didn't intend to even try and explain herself - they weren't worthy of explanation in her eyes. She raised a hand again, trying to make them stop.
"So, here is where we stand. The consequences of the marriage arrangement on the emotional scale of things is something you have to take up with your daughter. On the other hand, we have to deal with the materialistic side, this company."
"What happens to this company is pretty clear. You are out and I'm in." Kaito finally got to where he wanted to be.
"Yes, I don't think so." She walked back to her chair and took a seat. "You see, Kaioh-san, arranged marriages based on business have an interesting effect on the distribution of shares. Let me remind you what this particular marriage and reorganization did. There are ten board members, each of them holding one percent, totaling in ten percent of shares. The other ninety have been divided equally between the Kaioh and the Tenoh family. With the death of my family, all those shares have passed on to me-"
"Which only makes you have as much as our family does, so your word is still against mine. Let's see who the board will back up."
"Do not interrupt me!" She tried to gather her cool front again. "You are forgetting about the arranged marriage. Half of your daughter's shares went to my brother."
"Which goes back to her upon his death, they were married."
"You are interrupting me again. That would be true if he didn't have a will. According to his will, though, everything he had goes to me, nothing goes to his so-called wife."
"What?" Miho breathed out.
"Yes, Kaioh-san, my brother has always had a will. He put Michiru-san in it once they got married, but took her out on June second after he had a rude awakening about the failure of his marriage." She looked at their somber expressions with satisfaction. "Therefore, where this leaves us is with me holding over fifty-six percent of the shares." Now her satisfaction was openly displayed on her face.
"You little piece of shit, you don't even care about this company." Kaito's anger came back.
"What is it with you and name calling?" Haruka was irritated by it. "Despite the popular belief, I do care about this company. Your failure to see that is another reason why I think you're oblivious to the world and everything but yourself. Further, half of this company was built by my parents' sweat, blood and tears, don't think for a second that I do not care about that. Then the merger of our company with yours, in a long way that involves explanations I'm not willing to give, cost me my whole family. Don't think for a second that I will let go of it. You are out, I am in."
Both Kaito and Miho stared at her in disbelief. "Don't you think for a second that I will hesitate to take you to court."
"Feel free." Haruka answered gesturing towards silent Mizuki. "I believe you have met my attorney. She made sure that all paperwork was consistent before I came here today, so if you choose to waste your time, money and reputation in court, be my guest."
Kaito's fists balled as he was struggling to come up with a plan. No matter which way he thought, he felt like he was trapped. Worse, he himself engineered the trap by creating the reorganization scheme. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. If the will was valid, Haruka owned the majority of this corporation's stock. It unnerved and nauseated him, but it was a fact.
"You will hear from me again." He turned towards the door and walked briskly out, Miho following him in his step.
Haruka looked at Mizuki. "Well, that is done."
"Congratulations, chairwoman." Mizuki smiled at her superior.
Haruka smiled back, but she somehow felt hollow. The satisfaction she expected never came. Instead, she felt the same void she did before she entered the elevator that morning.
X X X
"What are we going to do?" Miho asked as they made themselves comfortable in the town car.
"I don't know." Kaito really didn't. "Somehow I feel helpless and I hate it. We failed to see this outcome as a possibility when we made the arrangements."
"Not being able to predict that all family members but one will die in a tragic accident is hardly an oversight." Miho looked at her husband with concern. "Are you okay?"
Kaito was a little out of breath. "I'm fine, just feel a bit uncomfortable. Then again, a little arrogant blonde just turned our world upside down, can you really blame me?"
"If our world is upside down, can you imagine what hers must have felt like?" Miho mused quietly.
"She sure seems to be dealing with it better than us." He rubbed the strange feeling in his chest away with his hand.
"Somehow I don't think so."
They both grew quiet, both thinking about the events of the past hour and the events of the past three months.
X X X
Michiru had been watching as the news of her husband's death spread with the speed of lightening over the networks. Every news channel seemed to run a story on his unexpected demise and the unprecedented cover-up that ensued by either the corporation, or Haruka, or someone else, depending on which channel you were tuned in to. She flipped the television off in disgust, throwing the remote control on the couch. Vultures. All they wanted was a story, they didn't care if it had any truth to it or not. Being in the public eye, she was used to it enough to know the true colors of media.
Her cell phone chimed as she stepped into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She set the crystal on the counter and flipped the phone open. "Hello?"
"Michi," Nanami's concerned voice reached her through the speaker. "I sent a driver to pick you up, he'll be there shortly. You need to come to the hospital, dad had a heart attack."
X X X
The only sounds in the spacious hospital room were produced by the steadily beeping machines. Kaito lay in bed; heart monitor, catheter, oxygen sensor, and IV drip were connected to his sleeping form. Unlike the man that could bestow his wrath upon anyone in his way, this man seemed old and weak.
The uncomfortable feeling in his chest and the shortness of breath Kaito was stoically, yet stupidly, trying to conceal were symptoms of a heart attack that he failed to see coming. It wasn't until he felt his chest tighten and fell to the couch that Miho dialed the emergency number. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed and all necessary medications had been administered. His life wasn't under any threat any longer, but it did nothing to relieve his family of the heavy weight on their own chests.
Michiru felt stuffy and uncomfortable in the hospital room, but she wanted to be by her father's side. Miho gave her daughters a short version of what had transpired that morning and most likely served as the cause to their father's present state. The news outraged Michiru. How could Haruka do that? Was there any sense left in the woman's head? How could she take away the only thing her father had left after he lost his friends - his company? If she felt bad about what she had said on Saturday, she now felt justified.
Michiru looked up as the glass door opened and her sister, supporting her mother, got in. "How is he?" Nanami asked, helping her mother to sit down in a chair by the hospital bed.
"Same."
"He needs rest, Michi, that's what the doctor said. His heart attack was not nearly as bad as it could have been, there were no complications. You should go home," Nanami pleaded.
Michiru only shook her head stubbornly. It was late in the evening, they had been sitting there for hours, but they all felt that they had to be near. Miho dosed off on the side of the bed, holding her husband's hand. Nanami was sketching something in her pad in front of the window overlooking the lights of Tokyo, while Michiru was deep in thought. What brought her out of her reverie was a woman clad in black suit standing on the other side of the glass, her emerald eyes locked on the picture inside. Michiru got up and stealthily exited the room, taking Haruka by the sleeve and pulling her out of anyone's earshot.
"How dare you come here?" she hissed.
The concern in Haruka's eyes was replaced by a mix of regret and sadness. "I wanted to know how he's doing."
"You wanted to know?" Michiru tried to collect herself and not break down in tears. "What do you care? You did this to him!"
"Excuse me?" Was she blaming her for her father's poor health? That was just ridiculous. Why did she come here? Would her poor judgement have an end today?
"You took my father's company away from him, you pushed him over the edge!" Despite her resolve, tears spilled over Michiru's cheeks. "You want me to suffer just like you do without a family?"
Haruka looked at the hysterical woman in front of her and felt her heart sink. On an impulse, she pulled her in a tight embrace, ignoring Michiru's attempt to free herself until the smaller woman gave up against the strong, ungiving hold and simply sobbed on Haruka's shoulder.
"I never meant for you to lose any part of your family. Just because I lost mine, doesn't mean you have to lose yours." She closed her eyes, forcing the stinging feeling to go away. Instead of subsiding, Michiru's sobs seemed to increase, so Haruka raised her right hand and caressed the back of the aqua head. "It will be okay." She kissed Michiru's temple. "It will be okay."
When the sobs subsided, Haruka tried again. "How is he?"
"Okay," Michiru forced out. She felt so comfortable in the familiar embrace, so secure. Despite everything that had transpired between them. If only she could forget about all those other things that happened. "Why did you do that?" She raised her head to look in the emeralds, to find an answer. She saw none. The masks were hard in place well before the sapphires reached the green pools.
"I did what was right - I got in charge of the only thing in my life I still can control," Haruka replied sadly.
Michiru took a step back. "You call taking my father's company away from him right?"
"An eye for an eye. He took my family away, I took his company away."
Michiru flinched from the coldness of the other's words. "He didn't take anything away from you - it wasn't his fault. It was my fault, your fault, but not his."
"Sure it was, he insisted on putting that helipad there. He provided them with a weapon, they just pulled the trigger."
"Haruka, it was an accident!" Michiru stared at the unfamiliar woman in front of her. Who was this stranger? Was Haruka as different on the inside as she was on the outside from the woman Michiru loved? "Accidents happen, how could he know that something like this would happen? It wasn't his fault!"
"Well, that's your opinion and you are entitled to have it. Mine happens to be different and I'm entitled to it as well. In either case all I did was lay out where the company stood as of today. It's not really my fault that he couldn't handle it."
This time Michiru slapped her. "Get out of here."
Emeralds and sapphires stared at each other in a raging battle until emeralds decided to yield.
"With pleasure." Haruka turned around and walked briskly to the elevator, proceeding inside as the doors opened.
"Haruka."
She looked at the hand holding her upper arm, tracing the way to its owner. Sora stepped out of the elevator and gently pushed her out as well.
"What are you doing here, love?"
"Making another mistake." She pulled her arm out and stepped into the elevator before the doors closed, leaving the hospital floor along with all her noble intentions behind.
