A/N: Let's see some nice character development for the next 10-20 or so chapters, eh? Enjoy!
Usui Takumi was used to women being submissive. The types of women around him were usually submissive towards good-looking men, money, and power, all three of which he had. That was fine with him. He liked being in control, from what type of life he lived down to which side of the bed he usually slept in. Perhaps the preference of control came from his childhood, where he was just the bastard child, a pawn to be used in the Walkers' hand.
Oh, who was he kidding? He was still a pawn now. He was working for the Walkers, wasn't he? In the end, no matter how much he rebelled, he still ended up the CEO of a Walker company, making money for his blood relatives who rejected him as real family.
Whatever. He still had the money and the women to do what he wanted. But what did he want, really? His life didn't have much meaning to it.
That was probably why Takumi liked to have control. The majority of his childhood was spent in the shadows, tucked away from normal society. He gained the best education, clothing, staff, basically anything the Walkers needed to introduce him to society as a mere pawn. The Walkers left him alone as long as he produced a steady stream of profits and kept his scandals low.
Perhaps that was why Takumi instantly noticed that Ayuzawa woman and her strange quirks. He'd observed from her first appearance that she wasn't like any of the money-grabbing or power-hungry women he had met or unlike the female intern that batted her eyelashes when she got him coffee. Of course, he had met women who were high in moral uprightness and all prim and proper, but never one who had such immense strength and courage to match. Not to mention few men had such comparable qualities.
"I'll pay back the damages to your suit," Ayuzawa had said after the meeting, bowing in respect. "I apologize, I should have been more careful."
"There's no need. Like I said, the briefcase was far more important." Indeed. He could get others made and fitted within an hour, with all expenses probably costing the amount of the woman's apartment. "I thank you for that. In fact, if there is anything that the Walker corporation could gift you, I will personally oversee that you will be paid handsomely."
And there was that. He was sure the Ayuzawa woman would ask for money, some fancy bauble or something like that. Once, a woman had asked to be by his side forever. He had cast away that former submissive as soon as possible. No feelings attached, their contract had read. No doubt, the Ayuzawa would ask for something similar. It was no matter, money was ample for him.
The Ayuzawa woman studied him with her amber eyes. No, more like calculating if what he said was true. He had seen similar looks in other people, as though whether they could use him. For connections, for money, for power. But Ayuzawa's was more more wary, as though she was deciding whether he was an enemy or not. It seemed to be the latter, for now at least.
"Thank you. That's very generous of you, so I will take my thanks by asking for your trust in my team's capabilities. I assure you, my team and I will perform our utmost best."
With a bow, the dark haired woman let a small smile on her austere face. It was the first real smile he had seen on her face all day, and it brought a pretty light to her face. It was a smile full of determination. The sincerity was blatant even for his jaded perspective; she really was going to keep her words.
"Then, I look forward to working with you more, Miss Ayuzawa." He let a small glint of warmth into his usual plastered smile that betrayed little of his true feelings.
With a polite nod, she then left. Takumi glanced at her while she walked away. When she smiled, she seemed like a normal office worker. Yet, he had clearly seen her take down a speeding motorcyclist with fascinating accuracy. There was clearly some martial arts experience there. But even the most skilled or trained would take such a risk. No feat had been more brave. Or more foolish.
What an interesting woman, he thought. He liked things interesting. Still, he was here on business, he had to remind himself. It was rare that he mixed business with pleasure.
Pity that fate had other plans.
As far as bad Mondays go, today wasn't the worse for Misaki. At least her client had promised not make her pay for the irreparable damages to his suit. It was quite reasonable, all in all. Misaki hadn't expected that. Some of the wealthy clients she had meant were extremely snobbish. If the Walker client had been like one of those people, she was sure she would have had to take pay cuts in her salary to pay for the suit even if she had saved their briefcase.
One time she had saved some young woman's teddy bear from falling from a balcony. The young woman had made such a fuss that Misaki hadn't been able to protect the teddy bear from all harm, with just one teeny tiny strand of thread coming loose from the teddy bear's bow tie. Thankfully the woman's older brother distracted his sister from embarrassing herself any further. It was a good thing he interfered because Misaki was about to blow a gasket from the woman's unreasonable demands. It was probably working in this industry, being trampled by those in power, that she felt herself building a slight bias against both males and the wealthy. She was sure that some of those people were fine and dandy, but she couldn't help the exasperation that built up at times.
What could have been an extremely bad Monday was made up for by the preparation Misaki's team had made for the meeting. For the two weeks since they had received the Walkers' request, they had devised the best advertising strategies they could think of. That involved finding out why the Walkers had chosen them for their advertising agency. What had happened with their old partnership with the Igarashis?
Misaki analyzed the report Kanou had given her. There were a few flaws here and there that she detected in their previous advertising plans. In fact, though the flaws were few, they were at crucial points. No wonder such a plan had failed. So the Hyoudo corporation made sure to fix such flaws and learn from their mistakes.
Their client had seem pleased about that. At the end of the presentation Misaki had given, Usui's face had seemed less wary and had a satisfied look. Even a glimmer of respect, Misaki noted with triumph.
Take that, she thought triumphantly to the Igarashi company. Before coming here at her current company, she had worked in one of the Igarashi branches for advertising. She always tried her best, working her way from an intern during college to a member of a senior team for advertising and managing just a few years later.
Until her team leader had taken credit for all the team's hard work and ideas, and the rest of the team ended up being passed over for a promotion.
And before she could protest, she was transferred to another branch by her former team leader/now VP before she could reveal his deceit. Misaki had gnashed her teeth in frustration. Her family had always called her stubborn. She could have just taken the transfer and quietly moved on. With a couple more years, she could have risen as well. To hell with that, Misaki thought. She gathered the documents of evidence she had attained, whistleblew the shit out of her former boss and then quit the Igarashi company in spectacular fashion.
With 5 years in the Igarashi company, she had accumulated plenty on her resume to be easily hired at any of the other large advertising agencies. Still, many of the large companies were reluctant to hire her because they were afraid that she might whistleblow their dirty secrets as well.
Luckily, the Hyoudo company had been on the up and rising and needed people with experience. Satsuki merely glanced over the fact that she had been a whistleblower, impressed with her moral uprightedness. She was hired right on the spot. (Though she was still unsure if it was her experience that the Hyoudo company really needed or whether Satsuki liked her because she resembled a certain erotic anime character. Misaki didn't really want to know which reason it was. Satsuki had once pleaded with her to cosplay in a skimpy maid costume that covered almost nothing for a Halloween party. She complied reluctantly, knowing that it was the same outfit of that anime character Satsuki liked so much)
Part of the reason why she wanted to do her best with their newest client was because she just liked to put her all in working. But another part was for a petty reason. She just wanted to make sure the Walkers succeeded, thereby making the Hyoudo company succeed where the Igarashi corporation had failed.
A text dinged on her phone.
When are you coming to get fitted for your banquet dress? The banquet's only like three weeks away! Bring some food when you come over. - Hyoudo Aoi
Misaki grinned. She was going to enjoy going to the annual charity banquet for once. And laugh in the face of her smug former boss since he was going to be there, too.
Fridays were supposed to be the night of relaxation. The night of preparing for fun on the weekends. The opposite of what Takumi currently felt.
He had decided to eat out for that night, engage in one of his favorite pastimes of people-watching, and then turn in for the night. Friday nights two years ago would have been date night with his submissive. He currently wasn't in a Dom/Sub relationship, considering that his past lover from two years ago had decided to keep him forever by not taking her birth control pills and pricking holes in their condoms.
That violated their contract and non-disclosure agreement. No falling in love, and no children. No matter how pitiful Maria looked, with her doll eyes brimming with pitiful tears and arms desperately trying to embrace him, he had kicked her out. Dom/Sub relationships were not completely built on controlling others, but on trust from both parties. And Maria had certainly broken his trust with him. She had lasted the longest with Takumi, nearly a whole year.
He had thought he had finally found the one, perhaps the one submissive who could live with him and all his quirks yet understand what he could not give in a relationship. No...it wasn't love per se. Takumi wasn't heartbroken after he kicked Maria out. More like resigned as though he already knew that it was going to happen. Everyone around him would leave, as they had done in the past. All they wanted was more money, more power, or his love. Something that he could not give. Trust that he had built up and then broken.
Which was why Takumi was certainly less than pleased to see Maria approaching his dinner table. He knew he should have reserved a private room for dinner instead of one of the tables on the balcony.
She approached him with her eyes downcast as though she were a virgin approaching the groom at a wedding. This made Takumi snort. She was certainly not virginal. Not before she was with him, and certainly not after. By the next week after he had left Maria, she had found another man to fund her lavish lifestyle. Many men and women were now staring at her as she made her way across. She was indeed beautiful, her voluptuous figure scantily clad by an offending red slip that dared to call itself a dress.
Food only halfway finished, Takumi got up to leave.
"Wait," Maria grabbed his arm when he passed her.
He shook of her grasp roughly. "What do you want, Maria?"
Her eyes were as bright as a puppy's. "Oh, you do remember me, Master!"
"Do. Not. Call me that. Move out of the way," he growled. She had the nerve to say such things out loud in a public space.
She only held onto him tighter. "B-but it's me, Maria. I-I made a mistake, Master. I truly loved you, really! Please, I've made a mistake, won't you forgive me?" Maria's bright eyes pleaded again and her dark red lips pouted. A year ago, Takumi would have found those lips seductive and inviting. Now they just made him sick as though her lips were blood red from biting into her prey.
"Leave, Maria." With that, he finally pried off her grip and strode away quickly before she could catch up. Thank goodness she was clumsy and her 6 inch high heels definitely hindered her progress to try to catch up.
Maria stumbled on a chair or table or something. Not that he bothered to look back to find out.
"I'll see you at the banquet!" Maria called out, right before he could exit the restaurant.
Takumi grimaced. The banquet in two weeks. How he wished he could skip it, but as the representative of the Walkers in Japan, he couldn't. The Walkers had far more power than he liked to admit to make him bow to their will. And now he would have to deal with his ex-sub there.