One review only… but still, better than nothing :)
ConservEr1e: yes, this fic was posted before, now I'm reposting it with a few changes, and yes, I will keep on writing this time! Thanks for reading!
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Monday 2:46pm
After the rush of footsteps and long, penguin-like robes brushing along the corridors of TA Girls School, Rei finally reached the principle's office. She had never been called into it before, and was surprised by the dinginess of the external office. Her heart pounded as she walked towards the principle, she had never been in trouble, always the good, model student of the school. Her heart flipped and her stomach stopped churning when the small man in the stripped suit with his large priestly robes adorned, reached out and took her hand with a large smile. "Miss Hino, what tremendous honour you bring to us! I will not detain you for a moment later, please." He immediately opened the door to his office and gestured for her to enter.
The door opened to reveal a modest office, although it was her first visit, what intrigued her most was not what was in it, but who was in it. Two men stood to meet her, she could help but gasp at whom was standing before her. Two men who had little to do with her present life but had everything to do with her past. The door closed with a soft click behind her, the principal had left her alone with the two. She looked around her unconsciously seeking escape routes, yet there were none. She felt trapped with these men and sought to calm herself, swallowing the bitter bile that rose to mouth.
Rei found herself stiffly bowing to them, hardly knowing why when the first thing that she actually wanted to do was slap them clean across the face.
"Hino-san, I have not had the pleasure of seeing you for a long time now, I believe since your last birthday when we had dinner." Inouye-san bowed to her with the utmost propriety. Her heart clenched as she stared into his face, a hollow face, deprived of every feeling and filled with work. His blond hair swept back to reveal a long skinny face, high cheekbones and a gracious smile. His large blue eyes were obscured by the presence of horn-rimmed glasses. He had lost weight and his eyes lacked the sparkle that had captured her fascination when he was still her Kenta-kun. His athletic height made him hovered over the rest of the people in the room, at least a head taller than herself, and her father only reached up to his nose. He moved gracefully around the room to pull her a chair. Her legs immediately responded as he placed a chair behind her for her to take seat.
"Arigatou, Inouye-san."
He flinched noticeably at her cold, impersonal tone, until the previous year she had called him as Kenta-kun, but now, it was all different. He was no longer her comrade who did not want to enter politics or marry in fear of making his children suffer the same way that Rei had. He was now a man about to enter into marriage with yet another political personnel. He was only a political figure in her mind. He was only Inouye-san, the public man who had no connections to her whatsoever.
"Let's skip the formalities, child, no doubt you have read the newspaper today and saw us on the front page."
"Yes, my father is all publicity, all face. I hope that you are happy the way that the photo turned out, although perhaps a slighter angle of 5 degrees to the left would be better. But I'm sure that your people have told you that." Rei eyed her father coolly, the impeccably dressed man who carried his body with pride. His shorter figure did not disadvantage him when compared to Inouye-san, Imaruru Hino's face said it all, he was not a man to be overlooked.
His small, determined eyes narrowed at his daughter's outrageous suggestion. "I would curb that sharp tongue of yours if I were you."
"But you are not me, and you'll never be me. I'm blessed because I was always much more of my mother's child than yours."
He raised his hand to slap her and Rei did not move. She stared at him with hard eyes and contemplated the ways she would fry him to Kami with her fire-soul attack if he dared touch her. She was pleasantly surprised when Inouye Kenta stepped in and restrained him from slapping his daughter.
"That's enough! You will not make me lose my calm. My aim here today is to withdraw you from formal education for the next three months, during this time, you will be studying by correspondence and under the guidance of a tutor."
Rei felt as though the wind was knocked out of her, this was the last thing that she would have expected, "why?"
"I have no family other than you. How do you suppose I will be able to run an election campaign without at least someone with me? You will be there, as a show of family support. I don't need you to do anything in particular, just stand there and smile, kiss a few babies, wave to the public, that's all. I don't think that it is too much to ask, you cannot refuse me, after all those years I took care of you."
"Took care of me? Ha!"
"You will drop the sarcasm this minute!"
"And what if I do refuse to be a part of your political campaign?"
"You have no choice but to do as I say and you know that. You are still a minor and I will do with you as I please." Imaruru-san picked up his jacket and swept out of the room, when he reached the door he turned back to face his daughter. "Inouye-san will see you back to the Hikawa Shrine, the chauffeur is waiting. I will expect you tomorrow, Rei, with your bags packed outside my apartment. Inouye-san, will you pick her up in the morning? I think that's all, maybe you would like to have some time off, spend it with your fiancée, make sure that the old fox is not up to something, you know what I mean."
"Domo-arigato Imaruru-sama." Inouye-san bowed and watched his benefactor leave the room. He then turned his attention to the daughter of his benefactor, the raven-haired beauty with large steady eyes. Using one hand, he opened the door, and with the other, lightly touched her lower back to show her the way, in a true gentleman's fashion, "after you, Rei-chan."