Domyouji Tsukasa was on a blind date, and how he was roped into this he had no idea. He thought that it started with the snide line on his mother commenting on his lack of ability to lock Makino Tsukushi into any sort of realistic legal arrangement that was binding with her company.

I'm not paying you to order take out with her you know that right…regardless it's time we started thinking of your marriage.

She'd thought of it once and already failed miserably. He'd thought that would have taught that woman a lesson that when it came to relationships she'd best leave it alone because she'd only cause more of a mess than she was willing to clean up.

The woman in front of him was eagerly chattering away as he leaned closer to feign interest in her words. "So you see, our fathers have been friends at the squash courts for years but isn't it hilarious we've never spoken till now? Well once though I did come to a Domyouji party but you were with-"

"Yes." He interrupted smiling widely. "Obviously." He didn't like people saying her name. He'd come to control his anger for the most part but hearing his ex's name always brought up old feelings that he'd very carefully kept locked up and he always found it more difficult than necessary to put them away.

It was just easier to not think of her. She was brash, kind, and a strange sort of person in the circle of the elite of Tokyo but she had been imperfectly perfect and in some ways she reminded him a lot of another girl he found himself spending more and more time with, unwillingly mind you.

He'd come to realize that was the reason he had flashes of heat when Makino Tsukushi was around him. It would come in odd waves, like when she rolled her hair into a bun, or when she would breathe heavily when he said something particularly distasteful.

Really actions that from any one else but her should have disgusted him but because they reminded him of his ex he couldn't help but feel his heart jump in his throat and he hated that he didn't have enough control over himself.

Because Makino was not that girl. Not at all and the sooner his mind stopped confusing her the sooner his body would learn what was the appropriate way to behave with her, which was to crush the little weed under the heel of his freshly polished Oxfords.

His phone buzzed on silent and the girl continued to prattle on, not noticing his preoccupation with his device as he read Rui's text message. How's the date going?

Like most omiai's go. Like fucking shit on a horse stick.

I wish I could swear like you. Tsukasa cracked a smile and saw the girl smile back at him. Ah how adorable, she thought he was smiling because of her. He would allow her misconception to rest. It wouldn't do to treat her too badly, her father was probably involved in some deal the old hag needed pushed through.

Can you call me?

Like clock work his phone rang and he opened his phone up. "Hello?"

"Why'd you need me to call you?" Rui's voice carried through the phone. "I'm in a dinner meeting."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl shift closer to the edge of her seat in concern. "Is everything okay?" She mumbled and he nodded understandingly.

"Hai- yes Tanabata-san you said it's an emergency? What's happen to my sister? She needs my help right away. Where are you?"

"La Vecchia…but Tsukasa I'm with someone and you'll have to play nice if you come."

"Okay I'll be right there, thank you for calling me. I appreciate your help with this." Tsukasa turned grinning back to the girl now with the widest smile. "I'm sorry something horrible has come up." God this wasn't believable at all was it?

Why the hell did he care? He just wanted out and spending an evening with Rui without Soujiro and Akira sounded like heaven to him right now. He needed time with the only one of his friends who wasn't completely sex crazed. (Though he was being unfair to Akira when he said that)

And La Vecchia was only about a 15 minute drive away anyways.

"So you're leaving the firm?"

"Next month it's finalized but I just wanted to go over the details with you in your office Hanazawa-san, this dinner- it's too much." Tsukushi blushed. If she was being honest, this was exactly what she'd dreamt of many times after sitting in Hanazawa Rui's office. After speaking with Yuki last week and countless meetings with Tsukasa that were pulling just a little too late into the night she thought she'd visit her most favoured client.

When she was placed on their account two years ago their financials were a mess and on purpose, Hanazawa-san's father had been embezzling money into offshore accounts from the company and the only way to resolve the issue while keeping the company in a relatively safe state had been well to plead guilty for a reduced sentence.

So now Hanazawa-san's father rested in a white collar prison fit for kings and his son ran their business. The past year or so had been relatively quiet but she'd wanted to make sure she settled her business with all her clients as she prepared to exit the firm. "Nonsense, you saved my family."

She managed to awkwardly blush and cough out. "Well, I put your dad in prison."

Rui scoffed. "Not like he didn't deserve it. He put us in a situation that was almost irreversible. We would have been bankrupt if it wasn't for you."

That was another thing about these rich people she'd inevitably ended up working with, their disengagement from their parents was something she absolutely couldn't relate to. The way Domyouji spoke of his mother, the way Rui spoke of his father. There was no way she could imaging speaking that way to her family. She'd definitely get slapped.

Still this had been the dream so in someways she was happy that at least once in her life, she got to sit across from the marble-eyed prince and have dinner with him like a real life princess. "Ah I have a friend who needs my help sorry this'll just be a second-" She nodded to indicate she had no problem with him making the call and she saw him mumble to his friend and glance her way worriedly.

When he ended the call he sighed and she was shocked when he leaned over the table in a surprisingly affectionate manner and held her hand. "Tsukushi-san, I apologize but my friend will be making his way over here." She tried to keep the disappointment out of her face but she wasn't sure she did a convincing job because he kept explaining. "I would have declined but he sounded stressed and he's trying to get out of a rather worrisome omiai."

At that she almost spat out the sparkling water in her mouth. Did people still have omiais? This time she really had to put effort in to make sure she didn't laugh right in Rui's face, after all she was sure he probably participated in omiais himself. "It's no worry at all... I'd be happy to have your friend join us." Was that too much…maybe…why should she be happy there was no reason at all...maybe she looked like she was trying to hard. Divert the conversation to something work related Tsukushi, she chastised herself. "Do you have any questions about your account with us beyond what we've discussed Hanazawa san?"

"Well to be honest, I would have liked for you to handle the transition legal documentation for our senior counsel next month but since you're probably swamped between all your clients we can forget about that for now." Ah, how considerate all the other clients had more than dumped their share of work on her.

"I really appreciate that Hanazawa-san-"

"And then it's not like we can't keep in touch, I do have your personal cell phone number right?" She quickly scrambled for a pen through her bag and scribbled out numbers on a napkin and handed it to him smiling. "Thank you…but an email may have sufficed." Though his words were intended to cause embarrassment in any self respecting female, Tsukushi could only giggle girlishly.

Ah well there was no reason to be worried about looking eager at this point, still she had to admit the idea that Hanazawa-san wanted to keep in touch with her beyond their lawyer-client relationship had her heart fluttering away in her chest. Maybe this long-time crush with his beautiful demeanor and even more handsome face would come to fruiti-

"And what the hell are you doing here?" She heard someone say behind her and turned around to see the devil himself glowering down on her. She couldn't help but feel like she'd been caught red-handed.

Tsukasa Domyouji looked positively livid with her.