I ordered a glass of red wine. If I was going to talk with my father I needed some alcohol in me. My father was drinking the same thing. He would swirl the glass before bringing it to his lips for light sips, says it helps enhance the flavor. I call him a liar.
I never got along with my father; he was always working long hours. No time to build a relationship with his son. The only male role model I had was Tanaka or the tutor. Even when I left the house he did not keep much contact with me. The usual 'congratulation' gifts for holidays or my awards. "How is your work coming along?"
"I did not come here to catch up." That was another thing that always annoyed me. Even in awkward situations, father always tries to make light conversations. Like the matter at hand is not that important. Well this is important to me.
"It is rare we see each other like this, what is wrong with seeing how my son is?"
"Why bother now?"
"Still so cold. I was surprised to receive your call yesterday. I assumed you did not want to talk to me after yesterday."
I could not contain the growl under my breath. I was tired of these situations happening to Misaki. She deserves none of this. "If I don't then you would find some way to go to Misaki again." I thought it was cowardly, putting down a younger girl because you could. If he is a man he should of came to me about this first.
"She is easier to talk to. And it is nice being in the company of cute girls." Another growl. "But I never imagined you would put yourself in this situation. I vaguely remember your declaration not to have children."
That was when I was first accepted into the University and left home. Tanaka made a comment that my child would be just as smart as me and I replied not to hold his breath about that.
"That is none of your business."
"So you say but that child is still part of this family whether you like it or not."
"Family? You told Misaki to get an abortion."
He took another sip of his wine. "I simply suggested it; it is the easiest solution and might be the best."
"That is not for you to decide."
He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Akihiko, you do not realize what this will cause. I know this from experience," I know. I remember when he brought Haruhiko, a child from one of his affairs, into our household. It was a scandal and it pulled the family further apart. I do know but this situation is different. Our child was not created out of shame or lies. "Having a child in an unorthodox way will cause grief."
"Again, this is none of your business. It mean nothing to me that this is your grandchild. My child will not be raised to run your company."
"You never know."
"I do know. Misaki and I will raise our child away from your issues."
He laughed, "Good luck. Are you sure Takahashi is even ready? She is only nineteen and a college student. It will not come as a shock when people call her a gold digger or maybe worse."
I was not going to tell him that it was already happening. "Then I will do what I can to protect her. Misaki is a lot stronger than she looks. She decided to have this baby despite all of that."
"It is one thing to say it Akihiko, another to live it. She might decide to run away, with or without the baby."
"Misaki would not do that."
"Or she'll stay and be miserable and depressed."
"No."
"Maybe start an outside relationship."
"Don't talk about her like that."
"Akihiko, please look at reality. You are not at the age to be running around with college students. You should be settling down with a wife and a child, but not like this. I would overlook this if we could arrange a marriage between two powerful families but this is just a girl who was raised by her brother. They have no wealth, no solid background. Their parents were office workers" I was not surprised he had her family investigated.
But I had to laugh, the way he spoke about her. "'You have an illegitimate child with an office worker in your company. Are you really going to tell me to reflect on my choices?"
I must have struck a nerve; his smile was long gone. "Fine. Be stubborn. Let this blow up in your face down the road. That child, illegitimate as well, will not be accepted into this family. I will not acknowledge such child as part of our legacy."
"Is that a promise?" Why would he think that would scare me? It is what I wanted from the beginning. "Then there is no reason to ever go near Misaki again. Create whatever contract you need. I will sign whatever you want to legally disown me from any rights to the family. I will even give you the Usami name, but you better not ever go near her again. "
I took one last sip, bigger than usual, before standing up. "You would choose that little girl over your own blood?"
"I choose to protect my family." I left before my anger could boil even more. Who was he to tell me what was right when it came to a family? He is mostly to blame for my fear to ever start a family. I saw almost no love between my mother and father, the few times they were in the same room. And then my dad brings in my brother, a child born from his affair. If that was a family, then it was not worth it.
Misaki is worth it. The child we are having is worth it. I am scared but if Misaki can talk about being strong then so can I. I did not care about money or inheritance or even my own name. Misaki and I will be fine without them. I grabbed a cigarette when I got in my car. This was too much and it was still morning.
I was thankful I did not have to hear from Aikawa today. I would get no work done either way. I needed to go somewhere to de-stress; I did not want Misaki to see me like this.
"Why the hell did you come here?"
"I needed to get out."
"Then go somewhere else." Tsk. What is the point of being a best friend if she is going to bitch about seeing me? I set down one of the books from Hiroki's shelf. She narrowed her eyes, picking up to go put it back in the bookshelf. She gave me a cup of coffee. "What's your problem now? This is one of my rare days off that I would not like to play counselor."
"And I see no Kusama around?"
"He was not so lucky. Got called in for an emergency." I could not do that. If I could not see Misaki everyday I would lose my mind. "So, you going to tell me why you came here?"
"How rude. Maybe I just wanted to see how my friend is doing with her wedding planning?"
A small blush appeared on her face as she started messing with her ring. "I would believe that if that was true. Something must be going on."
Hiroki was always good at noticing when something was wrong with me. I could never hide anything from her. "I just got back from a meeting with my father."
"Oh shit, what happened?"
"He knows Misaki is pregnant."
"How did he find out?"
"He has been secretly meeting with Misaki behind my back. We were at the hot springs when I guess another woman Misaki met let it slip."
"Meeting with her? What the hell is your father doing meeting up with a college girl?" Good question. "So what did he say? Cannot be too good knowing him."
It was said before that Hiroki's family did not like mine. My father thought because Hiroki and I were close he would set up an arranged marriage. He cancelled it immediately after meeting her family and hearing what they do. He told them to their face their business was too small and not worth being part of the Usami family. The look on Sara's face as a maid held her hands before she could throw items at my father. Hilarious. It was obvious my father was no longer welcomed.
I sighed, leaning into the couch. "He even kidnapped Misaki and her friend yesterday."
"What the fuck!?"
"And he told Misaki to either leave me or get an abortion."
"The fuck?! Your family is insane!" Says the one who was kidnapped by her own parents. "What are you going to do?"
I went to grab my cigarette but she glared at me. Hiroki always hated the smell of smoke. "I thought you were going to quit?"
"Impossible to quit now." I thought about it but the stress was too much, "I told him he could disown me and take any inheritance I had."
She gasped, "are you sure you want to do that?"
"I am sure."
"That is big decision Akihiko. Are you really ready to cut it off with your family?"
"I am."
"Did you think it through?"
"Did you think it through when you told your parents you would disown them for not accepting Kusama?"
She opened her mouth but closed it back. Nothing to say now? "What did Takahashi say about this?"
"She doesn't know. I didn't tell her I was meeting with him."
"You think that was smart?"
I sighed, "I know it is. She will blame herself for my decision. She has a lot on her shoulders right now and the last thing she or the baby needs is more stress." If only she would stop trying to make everyone happy.
"Go home Akihiko." She stood up and grabbed my cup of coffee.
"That's rude." I was not done with it.
"I am not the person you should be talking about this to. You and Takahashi need to sit down and fully realize what bringing this child into this world will mean."
We both turned when we heard the door open. "I'm home." He sounded tired.
"Welcome back." Hiroki left to head to the front. "We have com-ah!" I had to laugh to myself as I heard a bang. "No-." Hiroki could barely get out one word. I took a note to write this scene later. I did write a story before using Hiroki as inspiration and Aikawa has been pushing me to write another erotica since mine and Misaki's were so popular. These two were perfect.
"We have company!"
The two came into view. Hiroki's back was towards me with Kusama's arms wrapped around. She was looking back, trying not to fall, with a red face. Kusama was latched onto her neck. When he did look up I could see the dark circles underneath his eyes. He did not look embarrassed. "Good afternoon Usami-san."
"Hello, hard morning?"
"Shut up Akihiko!" I thought it was a good joke. I stood up to straighten my suit. Now that the fiance was here I was obviously in the way. "Just remember what I said Akihiko."
"I will, thank you Hiroki." I was glad to come over; I was able to clear my head before seeing Misaki.
"Welcome ho-ah!" Misaki could not finish as I hugged her. She was yelling something into my chest.
"I missed you."
She pushed back to take a breath. "It has not been that long. Stop being so dramatic." If only she was a little sweeter. But this spicy attitude is sexy too.
"How was the meeting?"
"Boring." She shook her head and went back to her domain, the kitchen. She was making a sandwich and I felt my face cringe as I saw those disgusting green onions. Why did she have to suddenly love those? "Did you meet your deadlines?"
"Of course not."
"Of course not," I chuckled as she mumbled under her breath. I think we both know I will never meet a deadline unless something important was at stake. I sat on the couch and set my cigarettes on the table. Maybe I should stop smoking, when I am no longer stressed out.
Misaki sat down next to me and began to eat. It was easier to see a bump when she sat down. I was excited to see it grow, our child growing inside.
Having a child in an unorthodox way will cause grief.
You and Takahashi need to sit down and fully realize what bringing this child into this world will mean.
My hand twitched; the cigarettes looking good right now. "Misaki, are you happy?"
She stopped mid-chew, turning to me. "Wha.." It was unclear with the bite in her mouth. She swallowed. "What?"
I leaned back and turned my body towards her. "Are you happy?"
"Why would I not be?"
"I just worry; you threw up two days ago and I heard you complain about the weight gain. I also heard you were worried about going out with the girls yesterday because you did not want others to find out."
"You heard that?!" I nodded. "Um, I did have those fears but I think they are normal. I have not been feeling nauseous today so they might have passed and Hidori and I are already looking at a workout program to lose the weight as fast as possible. And if I wear baggy clothes then no one can tell."
She spoke fast, laughing, trying to make things better. "When you return to school, it will be more noticeable."
"Yeah but I am confident I will be able to hide it." If I had it my way she would not go back to school. Just stay here so no one could have the chance to hurt her. "Usagi, are you happy?"
I pulled her over for a kiss. "I am beyond happy Misaki. No words could describe how I feel. I just want to be sure you are okay with all of this. My father said a lot yesterday."
Her eyes grew sad when I mentioned my father. "He is...eccentric."
"I do not want what my father says to influence any feelings you have now."
She looked down for a moment and I was surprised to see them tearing up. "I...he did say that this child will cause problems in your family. I know I am not rich and Usagi-chichi will probably never approve of me, but I don't want this pregnancy to be a bad thing."
"It is not."
A tear dropped. "But, what will happen to this child when its born? What will your father do? Your mother? What if they disown you or steal our child or steal you or hired someone to take them out?" Someone has been watching those cartoons again. "I am scared what will happen to them, and to you."
I grabbed her arm to drag her into a hug. "Oh Misaki." She wiped her face in my shirt. "Misaki, Misaki, you worry about the wrong things as always."
"WHAT'S SO WRONG WITH WORRYING ABOUT YOU?"
I kissed her forehead, "Because you forgot to worry about the most important person of all, you. You are the one who is pregnant. You decide if this child will be born. You will have to bear the negative comments because of my name. I have never hated my name as much as I do now. I am sorry for what pain you have dealt with and what you will deal with, because of me."
"You don't have to apologize, I know it is not your fault. I am proud of all you have accomplished. It just means I have to work hard to become someone who can gain your father's approval." I growled, nipping her neck. "Usagi!"
"I thought I told you the only approval you need is mine. Having you by my side is all I need. We will move somewhere out of the prefecture, out of the country, if it means going somewhere you never have to deal with this. I will kill anyone who dares try to put you down because of this child. I want this child and I know you want this child. Unless, I am wrong…"
She shook her head. "I don't want to get rid of them. I want to have your child, I want to watch them grow, I want to be this child's mom. I am just so scared Usagi."
"Me too. Me too. I don't know if I will be a good father. What if this child hates me? What if I fuck up? I am scared too Misaki, but I want a child, I want a child with you."
We sat there crying, well, she was crying. I rubbed her back, my shirt getting wet. If I was being honest, I hoped my father created the papers to sign my rights away. I would not be upset and it would mean they had no claim to our child. Misaki would not have to worry about them trying anything. "Misaki, I promise to protect you."
"I know."
THE NEXT DAY
"Ew, you look so out of place." Shiima giggled as she sat down opposite of me. She was not wrong; I cannot remember the last time I went to one of these "cute" cafes. I wanted to talk to her and Aikawa was able to get Misaki out of the house to some pastry shop. I had called Shiima but she was at work, so here I am. "What can I do for sensei?"
"I need you to go back to reporting back to me about Misaki. I will pay you more than last time."
Her eyes went wide, "Whoa, I thought we weren't going to do that again?"
"I know but things have changed?"
"This has to do with your dad doesn't it? If I see him again I am kicking his ass."
That would be something to see. "Yes but once word gets out about our child I cannot say for certain Misaki will not here negative comments. Just as I am certain Misaki will hide it from me. You hang out with her the most, she will tell you before she tells me."
"And you want me to tell you when it happens I get it. I don't know sensei, last time we did this we both almost lost Misaki."
"I know but I am desperate."
She sighed, "sensei, Misaki is a lot stronger than she looks. She does what she can for others without thinking about herself. You have to have lots of strength to do that. So don't worry about those nasty comments, Misaki can take them on. And you can bet your ass I will be beating up anyone who so much as looks at her wrong."
I chuckled, "Thank you Shiima." It was great Misaki had her as a friend. A little too loud but someone Misaki could trust.
She smiled when another waiter came over. "Shiima, stop playing around."
"I'm on break Shino!" The boy laughed but I did not miss the slight blush on his face.
"Are you serious?" All three of us turned to see Misaki and Aikawa at the front. Misaki narrowed her eyes and stomped over to us. Shit. Fucking useless editor. "What are you two doing together?"
"Talking about my new spy job." Damnit Shiima.
"Spy job? Me? I thought we were done with this?!"
No point hiding now. "I want to make sure you are safe."
"Don't worry Misaki, I won't let anyone call you a gold-digging whore and get away with it."
"What? No more meetups! I can't trust you two to be alone!"
"Misaki no!" Shiima jumped up to hug her.
"Sensei! You said to get Misaki out of the house so you could work on your manuscript! It is due next week!"
No one is talking to you Aikawa. "So I have until next week."
"You won't do it!"
"QUIET DOWN!" Another voice echoed the cafe.
"How come we never see your manager?" Misaki wondered.
"Shiima is going to get fired." The waiter laughed.
"Can it Shino!"
"Sensei!"
"Fuck." I grabbed Misaki and left before we made a bigger scene.
"Come on Usagi, can you please stop trying to hire my friends to look after me. I am a big girl."
"I would stop if you actually talked to me and stopped trying to handle things on your own." I pulled her off to the side so we did not hit others passing by. "I love you and I want to make sure you are safe and I will do anything. From bugging your phone or hiring your friend, I will do what I need to accomplish that."
"Bugging my ph…" I stopped her from speaking. "Let's go home."
"You aren't going to get out of this." She said. As I held her hand and dragged her to my car, I could tell she was going to be wrong.
HIDORI
I sighed, the manager can sure talk your ear off. The same old "if your uncle did not own the cafe your ass would be out." It is not like I did anything wrong!
I clocked back in since I was on break while talking to sensei. "Still around?" Shino snickered.
"Don't sound too disappointed ." I rolled my eyes and opened my locker to grab my apron.
"What was going on?"
"Someone's nosy."
"Just concerned."
Since when has he been concerned with me? "If you must know that was my best friend and her boyfriend. They are having issues with his family accepting them."
"He rich?"
"Yup."
"Always sucks when money is involved." You are telling me. I do not see normal people kidnapping girls in the middle of the afternoon. "You should stay away from them."
Did he just… "Why is that any of your business?"
He shrugged. "I assume that was the same boyfriend whose dad kidnapped you a few days ago. Who knows what else could happen? You might get hurt."
"I am a big girl Shino." I had finished tying it when light was cut off. Turning around, Shino was towering over me. I did not expect him so close, I could smell his breath. I think he ate a mint. "Shit!" I backed up until I hit the lockers. He followed, placing a hand above my head. I could not read his eyes.
"I am really worried about you Shiima. I saw you getting kidnapped the other day, it scared me so much. I know that Takahashi is your best friend and I know you are the type to do whatever you can to help others but please don't push yourself. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
This was the first time I have ever seen him so serious. Not even when we spoke about heartbreaks. Any remarks I had stayed on the tip or my tongue; I felt I would be the asshole if I said something sarcastic.
"I will be fine Shino."
He did not look satisfied but pulled away. I hoped we had no customers waiting for us. "Um Shiima, before I forget, can I have your number?"
"Why?"
Was he blushing? "I'm worried about you. Who knows what could happen and if you need anything you can call me."
"Shino, you don't need to be involved in this."
"I know but I want to be." I really did not want to give him my number, I do not think Misaki would appreciate if we got more people involved in her business, but he bent down and gave me the saddest puppy eyes I have ever seen. He even beats Hiromi. I was such a sucker to them. "Fine."
Puppy dog eyes gone, replaced with a large smile as he pulled out his phone. I had to roll my eyes when I saw the little chef swinging. "So if you need anything, feel free to message me."
"Um, thanks."
"GET TO WORK!" Shit! Where did he come from? I quickly put my number in before the manager could yell some more. Shino's smile annoyed me the rest of the shift. It was too big. Who is so happy from receiving a number from a coworker?
Work went by quickly and I was soon changing out of my uniform. A bath sounded nice. "Hey Shiima, wait up." I turned around before I opened the back door. What did he want now? "Are you heading to the station?"
"That is the plan."
"I forgot my bike so I have to take the train too. Let's walk together."
"Huh?!"
"Hurry up before you make us miss the train."
"Don't rush me!" He laughed as he held the door open for me. I checked my messages to see one from Hiromi and Misaki. I really hope she was not truly angry with me. I did turn down the spy job.
"Look out!" I tensed when he grabbed my arms and pulled me back from the pole a few feet in front of me. "That was close."
It would not be the first time I ran into something for not paying attention. Hurts every time. I looked up at Shino; we were so close. He looked back down, "clumsy."
"Shut up."
He laughed when I noticed he had not let me go. "Um, Shino, you are in my space."
"What's so wrong with that?" I think I am going to hit him. I jumped when I felt a vibration from my hand. A text from Hiromi. Bring back those cakes from the convenience store. What a glutton! I just bought those two days ago.
"What cakes?"
Nosy. "These sponge cakes. I brought them once and Hiromi fell in love. She is going to take all of my money." My bath will have to wait.
"I know those! They are delicious. The convenience store near the station will have those, let's go."
"Wait, why are you comiiiiiinnnggg." I lost my footing trying to catch up to him and almost hit the ground had he not caught me.
"Careful you klutz!"
"Shut up!" Damn my two left feet. He let go without me telling him to but not before he made sure I was balanced. A huge smirk on his face. "What?"
"Aren't you glad I am here?"
I had a comment prepared but my mouth would not open. It must be my eyesight because something seemed different as I stood so close to him. I could see the smoothness of his skin, the white in his teeth, his brown eyes had more of a honey color. He looked, dare I say, cute. Something must be wrong with my eyes. "Not at all."
Sorry, it has been awhile since I last updated.
I like Hidori she needs some stories for her own!
