"Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood."
D.B.HUDSON
Once upon a time, there were two very good friends, Nishikado Shigure and Takashimizu Takeshi. They had first met as kids and had been inseparable ever since. The responsibilities put on their shoulders were just a little part of what they had in common. They were both the single heirs of their wealthy families and as such they were expected to behave in a certain manner. Our two characters though, rather than obeying the rules, decided to make their own. As children they skipped school and went in search of adventures in town, and after growing up, they chose the same lifestyle, that of the adventure, but this time with women. The sole constant in their lives had been this friendship and they couldn't have been closer if they had been brothers: helping each other in critical situations, comforting one another, making trouble and solving problems together. The one thing they could wish for was to strengthen the bond between them by uniting their families, and they planned to do this the usual way: through an arranged marriage, of course. Fate decided otherwise though, and played a trick on them by giving them both as offspring two precious sons. So they decided to put this "little" dream of theirs on hold for their future grandchildren, God willing!
In present days they still hold on to the hope that some day their families will be united. Takeshi is a respected widower with a passion for coffee cups. After his much beloved wife's death – his only true love – he retired from the chairman position in his company, leaving Tokyo in favor of the smaller, much more tranquil Nikko. There he spent many days surrounded by memories of his wife, Kinu, till he reached the conclusion that, although he will always love her, life is too short not to enjoy it. And so he returned to his old habit of courting attractive, stylish and now younger ladies.
Sitting in his stone garden, Takeshi was suddenly interrupted by his butler:
"Takashimizu-sama, I regret to disturb you with such trivial things, but there is a tea cup placed in the collection of coffee cups. I wanted to remove it right away but one of the maids informed me that it was you who put it there, sir."
"Oh no, Hisoka. That tea cup deserves a special place. Please leave it as it is. It is a present from my adorable Yuki-chan."
"As the master wishes. Please accept my deepest apologies for my ignorance."
"No harm done. You may go now."
The butler, one of the eldest servants in the Takashimizu household, bowed politely and retired from the garden, leaving his master contemplating in silence.
Takeshi's one regret was that he did not have his grandchildren by his side. The eldest, Shinichi, was always away on business like his father. And his granddaughter, Yuki, had been taken away from him when his son had divorced. He consented on Yuki living with her mother because he had realized the girl's need to be raised under a female guidance. Kagura was a proud, stubborn woman though, and she rarely accepted the financial help offered by him or Kazuo. Because of some reason unknown to Takeshi, Kagura had chosen to keep Yuki away from the social circles of the family, judging that it was best for Yuki to live a normal life, without the luxuries that her grandfather intended to give to his beloved granddaughter.
xxx
"The Matsuda Enterprise has merged with the prestigious Nishihara Financial Group. The CEO of the Matsushima Company stated that now is one of the most suitable times to start negotiations with the West European giants."
The economic column of the daily paper was, as always, devoured by Shigure Nishikado in the comfort and silence of his study. Of course this silence could not last forever, a good thing never does. A sudden tap on the door announced that his tranquility would inevitably be disrupted by his lovely, but really energetic wife, who was far more informative than the newspaper in front of him. A nice little woman's head peeked from behind the door:
"Honey, I brought you a lovely plate of assorted fruits. I cut them myself. See how perfectly arranged they are?"
"Thank you, sweetheart. Please leave them on the desk."
Mrs. Nishikado did as she was told and then took a seat in front of her husband's desk, being careful not to wrinkle her elegant dress. She waited patiently in silence for almost five minutes, for her husband to finish what he was doing. Seeing that after such an immense amount of time she was still being ignored, she first tapped softly her fingers on the precious mahogany desk (picked by her). Afterwards followed the tapping of the foot intermingled with small, ladylike coughing.
Noticing his wife's sure signals that she had something to say, Shigure raised his head from the newspaper, took off his glasses and asked:
"What is it, sweetheart? Do you have something else to tell me?"
As he said this, he mentally prepared himself for the storm of words that would surely follow.
"As a matter of fact, I do. I've been on the phone all morning with our daughter-in-law and the news she gave me was simply devastating. I'm telling you, your grandson will be the end of me. Apparently, his official girlfriend found him in a nightclub surrounded by an army of women, partying like he doesn't have a care in the world."
"What official girlfriend? They have been together for only two days!"
"Exactly my point. Why can't your grandson keep a steady relationship? Isn't it enough that our first grandson has run away, God knows where, does this one have to be a womanizer? I'm telling you this family is cursed. Someone up there hates me."
"But sweetheart…"
"I'm not done yet. Look at the Domyouji heir! He's been engaged for more than four years now. He will get married this fall. Granted, to a low-class plebeian, but still, she has a promising career as a lawyer in front of her. And how about Hanazawa Rui? He keeps traveling to Europe, he must have a rich, aristocratic, European fiancée whom he keeps visiting. European! Can you imagine?" and after a pause: "Do you know whose fault it is that my grandson isn't settling down? Mimasaka Akira's of course! He is the one who drags my poor innocent Soujiroh to all those filthy nightclubs. I've told you a million times before, he is a bad influence on our grandson."
"They have been friends since childhood. Do you know how hard it is to find a loyal friend?"
"Of course you take his side! They remind you of Takeshi and you when you were young. But you have been lucky, you found such adorable wives as Kinu and me. Although he meets plenty of women suitable to become his wife, Soujiroh seems to ignore them and drive these poor creatures away. It is time to take the matter into our own hands. We can't allow the Nishikado heir to remain a bachelor forever."
Taking advantage of the fact that his wife stopped the verbal assault in order to breath, Shigure said:
"It is alright sweetheart, I already got the answer to all of your problems. But first there is a small moving matter to be arranged."
His wife, who was just biting on a piece of pear, remained motionless, starring at her husband with big, childlike eyes.
"Moving? …but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Don't bother that pretty little head of yours. Go make the necessary arrangements. We are going to visit Takeshi. There is a property near his I want to buy."
"A new house! How wonderful!" exclaimed Mrs. Nishikado with sparkling eyes. "But Shigure, I still don't understand how is that going to solve anything."
"Patience, dear…patience. Don't you want to go see the house first?"
"I would love to decorate a new house. I've been feeling very creative lately. And I'm bored with Tokyo's high society anyway. All those gossiping ladies who secretly envy me for my beauty and energy! This project will keep me busy for weeks."
Mrs. Nishikado was a very efficient lady when given clear and precise instructions. So that, by the end of the day, not only had they arrived in Nikko, but also visited the mansion, decided to buy it and now, while Mrs. Nishikado was invoking her muses to help her envision their future home, Mr. Nisikado was enjoying the evening with his old friend, Takeshi.
"I thought that I was going to have the opportunity to see your lovely wife as well. Hasn't she accompanied you?"
"Of course she did. You know I can't bear to travel without Madoka. And you'll surely get to see her. We decided to buy the house and we're going to be neighbors. She is still at the mansion trying to figure out how she will decorate it."
"Such wonderful news! Let's celebrate! Have another sake!"
A few sakes later, a slightly dizzy Shigure and Takeshi were going down memory lane. One thing led to another and it wasn't long before they remembered their old dreams:
"We're not getting any younger, Takeshi. If we want to finally unite our families, now is the time to act."
"Madoka's still nagging you about your grandson, huh?"
"Did she ever stop? Apparently Soujiroh is something of a Don Juan."
"Like they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Yes, but even I am a little worried about him. I hate to agree with Madoka, but it is about time my grandson had a good woman by his side. And to be honest, I don't want to die without seeing our dream come true. It's only your fault it hasn't already."
"Mine? How is it my fault?"
"Of course we can't bring our grandchildren together if you have such a cold relationship with Yuki. How many times have you seen her in all these years since Kazuo's divorce?"
"Not as often as I should have, I admit, but I wouldn't call our relationship cold. My Yuki-chan is a sweet girl, she writes regularly to me and she even sent me a beautiful tea cup for my birthday. Not even my son remembered my birthday. Besides, it's not only my fault. Is not that your grandson is very keen on marrying."
"Alright, so maybe the both of us erred. But it's time to set things right. We can't afford to wait anymore."
"I've spent much time thinking about this, and I already have a plan. It might not work but I think we might at least try it. Want to hear it?"
"You know I do. Go right ahead."
The grandparents are up to something ... curious? Don't worry you'll find out soon.
Many of you must have noticed Nishikado Madoka's slightly resemblance with another fictional character from "Pride and Prejudice". It was not our intention, but this is how she came out, probably the result of a whole semester on Jane Austen. lol
Please review. We are anxious to know our readers' and fellow HYD fans' thoughts.
Until next time: Bye, bye!