Hello! Science fair's done in school and broadcasting seminar's ongoing! Pretty busy right after overseeing the former and that's why I'm again late. Anyway, here's a chapter I wrote about Inoue's new life as... (just read it.) And more with the brothers.
I hope you find this interesting enough. :)
The Rose In Between
by four-eyed 0-0
CHAPTER FIVE
Inoue woke at seven-thirty and got down to the bathroom and the dining room without disturbing Hiro. It was her first day in the office and needed to be there at nine o' clock. Once she was done, she went to her son's room and left a note before kissing him on the forehead and instructing Rosella of the things she needed to do. She then got to the car and pulled out of the driveway, excited and anxious about the first day of work as CEO of a group of companies.
One of her worries was Hiro. Once she sat in her office she would be confined in the business and it meant that she would spend less time with her son. Hiro was in such a crucial stage right now and she did not want him to grow up detached to her. She had wormed her way to being as close to him as possible even as she studied but now, it seemed so impossible. She feared he would seek another's attention. And with this she should always make sure she was the one to take him to school and be the one to make him breakfast, snacks, and dinner. She should be the one to fetch him after school. And they should go out swimming or go to a theme park no matter how exhausted she was every Sunday. She should make sure he felt loved no matter what. She only had him and she would not take it if he got fed up with her.
She reached the parking ramp where the guard greeted her and was then walking toward the lifts. Most CEOs would have chosen to have a driver but she did not. And she chose not to have a special parking area.
She got inside the lift and almost at once was in the lobby. Several employees quickly took notice of her and expressed their greetings while she too smiled and bowed at them. She made her way to the receptionist and the woman smiled at her, bowing feverishly.
"Thank you," said Inoue, "and good morning to you too. I just wanted to sign the attendance, dear."
"Of course, Takizato-sama," she uttered, promptly bringing the book to her. She signed the space allotted for her at the very top of the first page for today. She smiled before leaving and went for the elevator that would take her to the twentieth floor of the building. Just as when the elevator door opened, the sound of cheering and clapping made her jump a little. In front of her were the employees and the members of the board, champagne flutes in their hands and smiling at her. From the wall was a huge red banner bearing the words, "WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, MISS INOUE TAKIZATO!" Before she could do anything, she was pulled to the group by a person who was undeniably the chief of the directors and was handed a bouquet of flowers.
"Thank you," she said over the clapping. The board members swarmed over her and shook her hand rather vigorously. Once done, she had the chance to speak to everyone else. "First of all, I want to say thank you for the very warm welcome." Her voice was rather shaking and tears were pooling in her eyes with the memory of her adoptive mother. She must've been really nice to her colleagues that they were so glad to welcome Inoue. "I know that I never had any experience in managing a company this big and undisputed, but I promise you that I will do the best I can for my mother's memory and for the future of each and everyone of us who work for the betterment of this enterprise. These, of course, will not be accomplished without you, my dearest partners, and thus, I wish we all work hand-in-hand for Takizato Group of Companies."
She was handed her champagne and she raised it. "To success."
The rest followed. "To success!"
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"Kokoda, will you please stop?"
The aforementioned did stop his pacing and turned to his stepbrother. Kurama merely raised his eyebrows at the younger man and leant back on his swivel chair, one leg over the other.
"I can't believe you're being calm and everything, ni-chan!" he said, almost yelling at him. "She's coming. The investors are coming. And you and I will do the presentations. How can you not even be a little nervous?"
Kurama closed his eyes and sighed. Of course he was nervous. They would be facing Inoue and her consultants! And this whole deal was such a crucial point for the growth of their hotel and restaurant company. Having the Takizato Group as investors were every other enterprise's dream and they chose the Hatanaka Corporation of all firms. And today was the day they would make one big step for the company they had worked hard for years now. Everything depended upon the two of them and it was so much a trouble that Anikka was the one to face them. It could not get any harder, could it?
The kitsune opened his eyes and looked at Kokoda. "I am nervous. However, I do not pace back and forth to wear the anxiety off. If I exhaust myself because of the main purpose of calming down, how will I ever get through the presentation?" He sighed and cocked his head to the side, challenging Kokoda to try defying him. The latter heaved a heavy sigh and walked down to the chair across him and sat down silently. The redhead leant back on his chair and closed his eyes yet again.
"Ni-chan."
Kurama opened his eye a crack to take a look at the now bothered Kokoda. "Hmm?" he muttered as he closed his eyes again.
There was a scuffling and probably a hand descended on his desk. "I'm not nervous just because of the presentation. It's Inoue."
"Huh?" interjected Kurama, his green eyes now blinking against the light. "Come again?" he stammered, unable to control himself. His stepbrother could not be talking about that again. He could not bare knowing that Kokoda indeed took a liking to his ex.
The younger of the two did not seem to notice his being discomposed. He just stared at something down the floor, Kurama could not tell since the desk was between them but had the very impression that it was his shoes. Kokoda looked at him and bit his lower lip. "I think I really like her."
That was all it took for Kurama to blanch. His stepbrother had always been true to him. He told him all his problems, all his secrets, even though the elder would not. Kurama had always been his confidant and adviser. But now, he did not know how to react. Or even how to hide his true stand about the issue. Of all girls his stepbrother would choose, why should it be the mother of his son?
Then a chill ran down his spine. "She's the very first girl you talked to me about," he whispered more to himself. He shook a little at the thought. There was no way that this was happening.
Kokoda merely shrugged. "Yeah, and that's why I'm being so nervous and all." He turned to Kurama, utterly apprehensive. "What if I stutter? What if I commit a mistake as I present? I would turn her off."
He was grasping for the correct reply to his brother's dilemma. Any man who loved the same woman as his friend would have gladly given the worst statement or would have come up with the right scheme to win, but Kurama was not like that, not when it was his brother. He could not afford hurting his only brother. Especially that it was Anikka they were talking about. Clearly, the single mother did not want to dwell on their past, even if it involved Hiro.
"Kokoda," said Kurama, still working up on a statement, "you should keep your calm. It would be normal for someone to stutter or shake when faced by such distinguished businesswoman. I, for a fact, am really nervous right now. And whatever it is that happens in the boardroom would not have something to do with how she would consider you as a person. She would not be judging you with how well or bad you present in a matter of an hour or two. Building a relationship" ― he almost choked at the word ― "takes months or even years. Knowing a person full well does not happen in a spark of a second. Sometimes it even happens when you already are attached to that person."
Kurama cleared his throat as he stared at his brother who seemed to be absorbing all of his speech. Even with the pain in his chest, he still gave his brother such an advice. This was such an absurd situation and he could not help but feel really pathetic. Would he be the hopeless romantic in here?
"Well?" he said, willing him to speak now. He did not like being all suspended in mid-air when it was Anikka being talked about.
Kokoda sighed and smiled at him. "That was wow, ni-chan."
Great. Now he really did a great job for his brother with being selfless yet again. How many times would he be so unconditional? His brother never did anything bad to him or to anyone else, so why should he?
Just then a knock on the door was heard making the two of them look up. Kurama's secretary was standing by the door, looking all polite. "Yes?" he asked.
"Inoue Takizato and her consultants are now here, sir."
Kurama and Kokoda took their laptops and some papers.
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Inoue thought that the moment she entered the boardroom, Kurama would be the first to greet her but it so happened that Kokoda was rather quicker than the fox. The younger of the two shook her hand enthusiastically and almost blushingly and she could not help but feel like he was being shy because of her very presence.
When she was through with Kokoda, the kitsune had his chance and simply took her hand in a little more than two seconds, which was very much unlike the way his stepbrother did, clutching her hand in a whole minute as he made a friendly conversation. The redhead nodded at her and led her to the swivel chair right at the very end of the table, so that she had the direct view of the presentation. She smoothened the skirt of her sleeveless dress and tugged at her long-sleeved coat before taking the seat. She muttered a low "Thank you" and Kurama took his post right at the center.
Inoue absent-mindedly reached for the chignon at her nape as she watched him speaking. She did not want to keep looking at his green pools all the time, but she knew that even he did not want to keep eye contact with her, if only he could. But she was the client and the investor, and he needed to attend to her like any other businessman would.
Yet no matter what, she still could not help herself drifting away from the course of the discussion and back to the night of his birthday. She could still feel his lips upon hers and she could still feel the love and passion in it.
She suddenly sat up straight when a rather frightening thought crossed her. Did he remember anything? He should not. It was utterly stupid of her to succumb to her emotions and if he remembered anything, it was a great pandemonium.
Deciding to find out later, she went back to listening to the redhead who was now speaking about the advantages of constructing an environmental-friendly resort.
"Not many resorts would have considered going all green. From its motif, its furniture, to the tiniest bit of bathroom tiles, a resort with extreme calmness and cleanliness will be much favorable for recreation, and of course, for vacation." He paused, laying his eyes upon her as though trying to read her expression. She simply nodded since she needed to hear more. Kurama proceeded. The projector flashed some slides on the whiteboard, which bore images of the planned resort. "Besides, being built in a First World country such as our Japan will give the people a clear view of the beauty of going green." Inoue's consultants nodded and she cleared her throat discreetly. "This resort shall be one of the most unique in this country and will stick to the standards of being environmental-friendly," said Kurama, motioning to the presentation, which was now showing how litter monitors would work. Once a guest drops a piece of litter, an alarm would ring from a ceiling monitor. Outside, trees bore the same monitor and would pick up the signals. She found it fascinating. Kurama, being the demon fox who specialized in plants, would have been planning the resort for a very long time already. It held his passion for greenery.
Kokoda then stood up and greeted them all, and started to discuss about the time frame and details of the construction of the resort. Even as he discussed, Inoue could not help but notice how his knees shook from utter nervousness. For years, he had been attending to clients but now her mere presence made him so uncomfortable. From how she saw it, she could really now attest to her thinking that he liked her. And she did not know whether to be glad or be disturbed by this. Kurama was his stepbrother, for crying out loud!
Inoue rubbed her collarbone with a finger and breathed heavily, focusing to the presentation.
"Will there be any questions?" asked Kurama, now standing with his shaken brother. He was scanning the room for any response, and Inoue did not waste any time to raise her hand, quickly speaking.
She cleared her throat. "You said that this resort will be built in Kyoto ― the Old Capital," she began, shifting her gaze from him to Kokoda and to her consultants. She fiddled with a pen, leaning cozily on her swivel chair. "Kyoto is renowned for its ancient temples, Shinto shrines, and Japanese-temple-inspired hotels, which are all subjects to tourist attraction. How, with all due respect, do you think that this resort will outdo any of those?" She knew asking this thing was a little bit pointless, but she needed to hear from them.
Kurama promptly answered. "Takizato-san," he said coolly, making her eyebrow twitch, "that simply proves the point of building this resort in Kyoto where all other preserved and ancient architectures are. The resort is as modern as it could be and will suit the equally-modern people without neglecting the preservation of the greenery and beauty of the place. It will be something out of the ordinary that will surely be a subject to tourist attraction."
Inoue smiled, satisfied. She looked at her consultants who all nodded. "Congratulations, Minamino-san and Hatanaka-san. You have the deal."
The two men grinned and bowed, chorusing, "Thank you, Takizato-san."
She stood up and Kurama was the first to reach her. He lent a hand and she took it automatically, surprising herself for doing it with ease. She smiled at him and he did the same.
Then Kokoda's hand descended on the redhead's shoulder. Inoue was so sure that she saw the disappointment on Kurama's face regardless of his prompt backing away. He made his way to the consultants and shook hands with them as well. Suddenly, Kokoda's hand was right in front of her. She looked at it and then at his smiling face. It would be better to be done with it so she shook it.
"Thank you so much, Takizato-san. We promise this will be one, great success."
Inoue simply nodded, now being awkward and all. "We'll be going now, I guess."
He beamed again and waved at Kurama who was now fixing the projector and laptop. The redhead quickly made his way to them and smiled, saying, "It's great to have you here, Ma'am."
"Your company's worthy of investment. You are all worthy." She beckoned for her consultants to come over. "We'll get going now, Messieurs. Thank you for the great presentation."
The two men shrugged and with that they went away.
Heh. This is some sort of a filler, isn't it? :D
Kaori Minamino: Thank you so much for the review! And yeah, I pity Kurama and Anikka (Inoue) as well. And your suggestion? Well, I've got something planned out like that some sort. Wait for it. Haha. LOL.
KuramaEnzanBlues: They still love each other. Haha. And see the next things to happen after this. Haha. (I'M PURE EVIL. Poor Anikka/Inoue for having me as her creator.)
So, that's it everyone. Purely business-y. Haha.
May I have a nice review out there? I haven't much since last time.
See you!
~four-eyed 0-0