Togami remained still a couple of minutes. A cough from his father stirred his resolve: casting an angry stare on him, he turned to his sleeping classmate, extended a hand…
…and pulled her braid painfully.
"Are you going to sleep forever, you nitwit?"
Touko closed her eyes firmly shut, in pain from the hair tussle. Frowning, Byakuya pulled harder, making her whimper.
"Nnnghh…" The writer finally opened her eyes, blinking in surprise to see her One and Only sitting by her side. She giggled dreamily, staring happily at him, but his sharp cough made her aware that the Family Head was right there, staring at them in a regal, unattached manner.
She immediately changed her mood, eyeing him with her disgusted face. Togami Kojiro had tried to gain advantage of her frailty. Now she felt she hated him as much as she loved Byakuya.
"Mic test. Once you two are ready, we'll begin the – broadcast. I suggest you take less than two minutes"
"Broadc-" Fukawa eyed Togami with concern.
"Just don't open your mouth unless commanded, if you want to do me a favor…" Byakuya pressed, turning around to face his father.
"Wise move. Now get your girl to hurry—" He did not finish the phrase. The Heir interrupted with a hiss.
"Definitely not my girl, she isn't a book that has to be named in a category. 'Girl' has a name. Call her Fukawa."
Kojiro raised his neck in a display of conceit. "I don't have to name-her. You said you would be in charge of her. It's your duty to get her moving-I spoke only because you two seem-petrified…"
He smiled maliciously. " And for you, Heir… to be spotting differences… Touko-shi, girl, object… isn't everyone, or rather everything, the same?"
Two irate blue eyes blazed at the calm, mocking blue-green eyes behind the golden spectacles. His fingers fussing with Fukawa's red neckerchief to make it look less unkempt, he looked back and spat:
"Once I gain Headship…I swear you'll have to respond to me for all of this!"
Touko's eyes started welling again, in humiliation more than pain.
"Byakuya-sama… I didn't w-want to b-bother you that much…"
"You are a bother all right, as long as you breathe. And didn't I tell you to shut your blabbering trap?!" he grunted, handing her a Kleenex from the nightstand.
"Thirty seconds to go." Kojiro's voice raised, his hand over the camera button.
"Put it on. She's ready" Byakuya's tone tried to match the cold, indifferent drawl with which his father had been addressing him, but he was too angry to steady his voice.
Kojiro nodded regally, turning to face the camera. "Recording announcement in three, two…"
He raised a finger and stared at the camera with a neutral expression, cold eyes fixed in the two high schoolers.
"As Present Head of the Togami Group, I'm presenting my final decision in the matter of Touko Fukawa, latest subject of System Scanning. I requested to finish the exam on the grounds of her being retained one hour past regular time, causing said subject to faint. I conducted my examination on the subject as required, all due details are satisfactorily recorded and filed for review."
Touko was grinding her teeth hard. A tug on her sleeve by Byakuya reminded her to stay quiet. How cold could this people be? How uncaring…how harsh?
Looking up at Togami, she could sense this was normal for him, but also that he knew it was messed up for her. He was holding her sanity in place in some way by being at her side, but she trembled when she thought of the consequences this could bring to her One and Only. If only they had been less conspicuous… now she knew why Togami was so fond of keeping outside the radar.
"Being the Head, I also have a say in this matter, as long as it doesn't oppose the principles and rules our Family and Group goes by. It goes without saying that my opinion is final." He glared at Byakuya and Touko.
The writer knew the camera was shifting to them by the way the scion straightened his shoulders and raised his chin. But over all, because he dropped her sleeve and was no longer looking at her. She tried to raise her chin, but it wouldn't stop trembling.
"Touko Fukawa, also known as Super High School Level Writer, will not be known as "the subject' from now on. In regards to her performance, the request is for her to be moved to "acquaintance" to the Heir, Togami Byakuya, for a reasonable period of ten months. After that, it will be a decision on the Heir's part whether to pass her on to the "match" tier or remove her altogether as a possibility. She would be then added to the roster of 31 previous candidates that the Heir rejected. "
He turned to his son, whose face was overtly neutral, still avoiding Touko's eyes. "This is Togami Byakuya, Heir to the Togami group, speaking. I'm aware of the decision and I agree with the terms aforementioned. I offer my word as a warrant of compliance with this contract, upon my honor and prestige."
"As you can see, all parts have been informed. Archive and make copies in triplicate. Togami Kojiro has spoken." He pressed the button again and fumbled slightly with his Astor tie, while his eyes softened a bit. Byakuya was looking at him just as if he wanted to bite him.
"Are we done? I'm getting suffocated just by the thought I'm sharing the same air you're breathing…"
Kojiro returned a neutral, contemptuous stare at his son.
"Well, if you want…" He interrupted his phrase as the door opened, and Byakuya instinctively stepped back, his back towards Fukawa. It was the woman that had bought the tea tray, Kojiro had said her name was Maya. The blonde's eyes narrowed as she simpered and bowed in her playful way at him.
"So you were in the plan as well… siding with him as usual. You are never going to side with me, it seems."
"How ungrateful of you, Bya-chama" she smirked. "Always thinking the worst of everyone. On your side and by your side always! Just came for the teatray... Please, allow me room, Kojiro-sama… you are in the way…"
"Tché…" was Byakuya's comment as Kojiro obediently moved away. "Amusing. Someone pass me a camera..."
"Well, if you want to move that badly, then by all means do it" there was a note of resent in Kojiro's voice. "And I warn you: Insult me as much as you want, young man, but you don't dare to badmouth ladies in my presence"
"Double standards, huh?" Byakuya smirked cruelly, a mirror of his father's previous malicious grin. "You can but I can't?"
"Passing the exam makes all the difference. Remember she was a subject, and subjects have no rights whatsoever, unless they pass to the following stage... For the Ten Gods' sake, Heir, you have been at this stage fourteen times counting this, and you still claim you don't know the drill…?"
Touko stared in awe at Togami. Not the first time he had a prospective wife chosen…?
"And I have failed them all, do I have to remind you that as well?" the blonde stated calmly.
"Until today… But you never cared that much if the previous subjects were badmouthed… In fact, you badmouthed them nearly as much…"
Maya giggled in the background, and Byakuya threw a sour glare at her.
"I fail to see the joke, honestly"
She laughed heartily at his protest. "Ah, Bya-chama… You wouldn't recognize a joke even if it was dancing in front of you, waving a flag that says 'I'M A JOKE'!"
To Touko's amazement, Byakuya did the same thing his father had done when confronted to Maya: heave a sigh and look away. Treating a servant with such delicacy… Byakuya-sama sure was a prince…
A tug at her braid bought her back into her senses.
"Fukawa, you nitwit, where in the world has your brain flown to?"
Oh yes. A prince with a harsh tongue was the absolute best…
"I said we're leaving – unless you want to spend more time with this fine people…"
"Uh… as you say, Byakuya-sama" she mumbled.
"Kawaii-ko!" was Maya's comment, as she passed by with the tray and bowed as playfully as before to both Kojiro and Byakuya. "On se veut, messieurs!"
The Head sighed, resetting his glasses, as the Heir merely cringed slightly.
"Well, then. My duty is over, if you want to leave, feel free to do so. I left several issues unattended because of you, Heir, don't look at me like you're the only one losing your time here." He stepped closer to the two youngsters, making his son clench his fists as well as his teeth. "And tell the girl to put something on her. You surely spend a lot of time together if you're starting to reek of her smell, too…"
Byakuya bared his fangs, just as Kojiro was displaying his gleeful smile. "What in the world are you waiting for, Fukawa? I said – we are leaving!"
"I suppose she wants this" Kojiro pointed to the cotton paper and the Aurora Diamenta. "Is that so, Touko-shi?"
The writer would never know why she did what she did or why she reacted like that. But she did. She calmly walked to Kojiro and took the paper and the pen from him. Byakuya's eyes bulged in bewilderment.
"What the… Are you accepting a gift from him?!"
"I won't reject a gift, even if it was p-partly to con me, Byakuya-sama. As nothing beautiful comes without pain… I will take the pen and the paper… and I will use them to create something beautiful… I-it will be a reminder for me - of everything that happened today…"
Kojiro handed her the paper and the pen without a word, looking at Byakuya, who was still astonished. "Please lead the way… I'll be just – behind you, Byakuya-sama"
"Fine, let's go back to the Academy. To think I will have to ask Naegi for his notes…" he mumbled, with a final glare at his father.
"Safe trip, Heir"
Furious glare and clenched teeth, his son turned to reply:
" Just don't. For the Ten Gods' sake, keep the sweet talk to yourself, Head"
As the door closed with a bang, Kojiro sat absent-mindedly in the bed where Fukawa had been lying, lost in thought. Until Maya came back with a cup of tea, and found him lost in thought.
"I just hope and pray it was the correct thing to do…" -he confided, taking the tea from her hands, her clear eyes fixed to his-" and that it doesn't mean I'll have to plan a burial instead of a wedding"