"You know…I have to admit. I thought it was a little weird seeing you and Tsukasa together. I mean just even in the same room, I can't think of two people more similar." Tsukushi felt her eyebrows twitch as she looked up from where she'd been looking this past 5 minutes- at the coffee in her hand. The coffee cup had been reassuring, warm, and reliable- pretty much everything Hanazawa Rui and his…friend hadn't been.

"And...how would we be similar?"

"To be fair you're both lawyers, incredibly tenacious and both look incredibly frightening when you're dealing with people who've angered you in anyway." Tsukushi almost spat out her coffee. She wasn't frightening was she? Oh dear god, the man she thought had pretty marble eyes thought she was the female incarnation of the devil himself.

She refused to say his name, she refused to even think it because she had become entirely aware of the fact that even imagining his name in letters in her mind led to many other thoughts related to how she and the devil lawyer who was the context of this very conversation had danced very well together and those thoughts were best kept locked away.

To be fair, what did she expect from the guy? The devil was a rich boy, player extraordinaire who for some god forsaken reason had decided he'd been head over heels for her for exactly 18 hours?

It wasn't that they'd slept together that bothered her – hell she'd do it again if she got the chance but it was the part where he pretended – where he – god – pretended he wanted something with her!

That was what had pissed the shit out of her. Hell she'd almost fallen for it! She'd thought that he saw her as something real and for a second – just for a second- this was something that had excited her more than the prospect of just sleeping with him.

Maybe that was the most disappointing part, it wasn't him- it was her. It was her falling for a class piece of asshole yet again. As if Junpei hadn't been enough pain, heartache and headache for one lifetime. "Tsukushi-?"

Oh right, Hanazawa-san. He wasn't an asshole – just oblivious and pretty and trying very hard to have a decent conversation with her. "Sorry Hanazawa-san, what were you saying?"

As if intuitively sensing her resistance to talk about his best friend, the pleasant man with the chocolate coloured eyes simply shook his head. "You're in your own world aren't you?" She blushed a little and Rui felt a small smile float on his face. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Whatever is bothering you?"

Oh you mean how your friend hasn't called me in three weeks even though I've willingly left him three voicemails all related to a case that we were supposed to close weeks ago that my father constantly asks me about because he's running into slow and certain financial ruin? Again? And he only responds to unfeeling emails? "If it's okay with you...I'd rather not." She awkwardly laughed and at Hanazawa-san's faltered expression of kindness felt the need to explain herself further. "We don't really have that sort of friendship…do we?" She expressed uncertain how else to explain why she'd just shut him down.

He nodded and she felt appeased. "So...we can start now." He was teasing her, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips that was melting some of her frustration away.

Later that night, Tsukushi found another audience. One that was far less willing to listen but yet found herself facing the brunt of the truth of what was really running through Tsukushi's mind. "You know – I really thought he meant it." Tsukushi grumbled over rice with Yuki as she saw the slightly younger girl yawn. "Are you seriously yawning?"

"This is the sixth time you've mentioned this Tsukushi! Just go do something about it if you're feeling so bad about it. You know where he lives!"

"Actually…I really don't. Did I leave out that part? None of this happened on a bed."

"My god Tsukushi." Yuki giggled blushing red. She had heard worse but she'd never expected it from Tsukushi who was about as vanilla as you could get. "You're worse than the girls at the bar now."

"Well…why hasn't he called?" Even as she said it Tsukushi cringed. She should have just left that morning, god why did she have to go have breakfast with him and listen to that crap? Maybe that was his sadistic way of leaving women…giving them hope.

And she'd fallen for it? That beach crap and the crap in the office and the rubbing alcohol on her feet? What an asshole- what a piece of work- what a- could she charge him with something? False representation? Treason? Maybe some dirty insider trading?

"I thought you said he did call." Yuki interrupted her thoughts as she played with the grains between her chopsticks.

Tsukushi immediately corrected her. "That's different. He called to confirm we're still on for tomorrow. That my friend...was a week ago." The more quietly, in an almost ashamed tone that she was bringing this up she added. "He didn't even ask me how I was." She bit her lip accidentally when she was trying to break through a chunk of caked rice from the rice cooker.

"Well there's your opening." Yuki raised her eyebrows as she slowly considered her own situation between a completely different set of boys. "Make him regret every decision he's made these last three weeks."

"Treat him like shit?"

"And then some." Yuki grinned pointing her chopsticks at her friend for emphasis as Tsukushi giggled unsurely.

She wasn't too sure she could do that convincingly either.

Another day, another omiai, how would he get out of this one?

Tsukasa turned to look at the iridiescently pretty Fukuyoshi Marisa. She peered up at him brilliantly with glassy eyes that made her look like she wasn't from this planet, skin shimmering white like a pearl. Indeed she spoke like an alien too, and it gave him the insane urge to sarcastically respond to all of her oblivious questions like. "Neh, we're supposed to get married right?"

"No. I was brought here to ask you if you liked pancakes." He muttered quite seriously and was shocked to find Marisa had excellent hearing.

"Really?" She blinked quickly, her perfectly formed curls bouncing cheerfully in tone with her voice. "Well, I LOVE pancakes."

"Great." He grinned brightly. "If there's nothing else-" He was just about to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone when Marisa's hand leaned a little too inappropriately across the table to touch him and he felt his eyes flash somewhat dangerously.

In the past few weeks, he'd felt himself change back into a person he hadn't been in a long time. "Sure there is, do you like pancakes?"

For one, he couldn't believe someone so stupid was approved by his mother to actually marry him. "Sorry Marisa," And then for two, because he couldn't really explain himself, he got up and left the room.

This was his third omiai in three weeks.

What had changed that had caused him to be abused with three weeks worth of bullshit dates?

Well it could be any one of two things.

The first was very obvious. Mostly because he'd been careless and impulsive with the little Makino princess. Mind you this was not a decision he in anyway regretted but it was somewhat of an inevitability that his mother had found out he'd slept with Makino Tsukushi and gone into overdrive to get him married to an incessant idiot lest he break free and go rogue with 'new' money.

To be fair she didn't have too much to worry about, it had been three weeks since he'd slept with Makino Tsukushi and not a peep had come from her since…and to be fair he supposed he hadn't contacted her either.

Well okay that wasn't entirely fair. She had sent him a response to his latest email proposal saying she presented the new legal documents to her father. She also added that she had appreciated the additional clause that indicated Domyouji Zaibatsu would take care of the financial hit faced by the Makinos on their Kyoto freeze.

But that was EMAIL – that wasn't why he'd sent her all of these concessions. He'd even called her but she'd sounded so uninterested he'd hung up immediately.

When she'd read his new proposal in all honesty, he'd expected her to come knocking down the door to his office, kissing the very ground he walked, using that delectably plush mouth of hers to suck the life out of him while he reciprocated in equal measure till the both of them were sweaty on the carpet of his office just like last time-

What was she doing now anyways? Would it be entirely inappropriate for him to barge into her house uninvited?

He shook his head a little as he felt the fog he delightfully called Makino's body flitter from his mind as he focused on the second reason his mother could be abusing him with these women.

Shigeru.

After she had all but made a mess that morning he'd seen her with Makino, Shigeru had vanished before his very eyes. He'd gone back to the restaurant every week twice in an attempt to find her. The Shigeru he knew would never have been in that sort of arrangement - but she had taken the chance to talk to her out of his grasp.

That hadn't meant he'd go down without a fight and so he'd learned a few things from his own sources...but as was often with Shigeru he found his mind wandering to the memories he had of his only relationship.

"Shigeru- Shigeru - JUST LISTEN - god please, it's not over come on - it's okay we can still do this- I still want to do this. ME. I'm not going to listen to her. It's okay!"

"No, it's not okay." She shrieked loudly pushing him at his shoulders. "How the hell can you think it's okay that you hurt him so bad that he's sitting in a hospital unconscious right now? Are you mad?! He's my best friend Tsukasa! My husband-to-be just put my best friend in the hospital! How can you think that's okay?!"

"He was making moves on you- you fucking know that. He's always fucking tried to make it look like we're just a transaction and because my mother's trying to break us off! He's testing me that fucker-"

"YOU should know better than that. YOU should trust me. YOU should trust you. This isn't even the first time you've done this! How am I supposed to trust you?"

"Oh come on you didn't even know the last guy I beat up for you Shigeru – he was just some idiot who started kissing you in the middle of the club? What did you want me to do? Thank him?!" He couldn't believe she was bringing that up. He would have thought she would have been happy he taught that idiot a lesson.

"He's an idiot your mother had to pay half a million dollars to keep his mouth shut." She silenced him with a look as she shook her head and he felt a cold creep into his heart. "I can't do this anymore, I can't…I'm not okay." She'd crumbled in front of him begging, pleading to be released as he saw her bound tight by large ribbons of white silk. "You need to listen to your mother. We need to end this. You're mental Tsukasa- you need help. Why are you so angry? I've tried. I've tried to understand your anger, love it, calm it - but I can't control it."

He leaned down to her level as he saw her shake in tears and he grabbed her by her shoulders roughly pulling her up as he saw her gasp and look at him in fear. It broke his heart that she thought he was going to hurt her- she should have understood. She should have understood how much he loved her, how much he cared for her - how much he did what he did for her - for them.

"You want to leave?" He growled and saw her eyes widen as her sobs silenced. "Go the fuck ahead."

He felt his hands burn as he gripped her so tight he could feel his nails puncturing her skin and he saw her flinch. "Tsukasa-" He felt his eyes burn next, slow wells of water built up and he shut them quickly. Her voice was weak, echoing in his mind as he remembered all the other ways she'd said his name before but never like this, never desperate. "Tsukasa- please - you're hurting me."

He felt his eyes flash open as he grinned. His red eyes managing to mimick the rage in his mind perfectly. "Good." He pushed her away from him, letting go of her just as she asked with a little too much force as she landed against the wall and he barged out of the room without a second look.

He shook his head – inexplicably the past three weeks had been filled with flashes of Shigeru running through his mind.

Mostly he felt sorry for her as he remembered what Soujiro had told her about Shigeru. Her father's business was crumbling, she was exiled from her family because she'd broken off a rather profitable marriage between the two of them and now apparently she had been working at that diner…he didn't need much more than that to piece together the rest.

Now he just had to find her.

Or ignore her.

But the idea of ignoring her felt wrong and it made his skin crawl uncomfortably like it was covered in ants. In fact, he'd felt uncomfortable since he'd seen her.

She hadn't been wrong in that room, he had needed help. Ironic as it was, it had taken her leaving him for him to go seek the help she'd desired for him and now he felt like he was a in a better place for the most part. He still felt irrational bouts of anger spring up charging his muscles up and preparing him for fights his joints so craved to take part in.

But he could curb those impulses in, he could think rationally – he could remind himself that beyond the next thirty minutes he would regret the decisions he made if he acted on those impulses.

His phone binged breaking him out of his reverie as he slipped into his car and took a look at the message.

Please make sure that you are prepared tomorrow with your seal, we will bring ours. Straight to the point, the Makino princess appeared a little too curt in her message and it made him frown.

Okay. He responded sighing. Tomorrow the paperwork would be finalized. Then her fledgling company with her father would be well and true off their hands.

With the sale complete there would be no reason for him to ever see her again…and the way things were looking it looked like that was exactly what the little Makino wanted despite his best efforts.

"They're meeting again tomorrow to finalize the sale Kaede-san but that's it. There have been no plans to engage in a relationship from our point of view. I've been keeping a very close eye on Domyouji-san's communication with the Makino daughter and it looks like it was a one time occasion."

"Excellent job Sakurako! I'm proud of how far you've come in your assessments!" Kaede grinned brilliantly as her daughter rolled her eyes in front of her. "Thank you for as always being an excellent assistant."

"To who? Doesn't she work for Tsukasa?" Tsubaki remarked as her mother shrugged.

"We are the same employer to Sakurako, Tsubaki, Sakurako works for Domyouji- not one specific person. You are dismissed." Kaede bowed her head towards the young girl who had been working hard to climb the corporate ladder. She'd make sure to tell Nishida to reward her at her upcoming appraisal. Without her help, she would have found it a far more trying exercise to deal with Tsukasa and those country bumpkins.

Honestly, sleeping with the enemy lawyer! He was trying his hardest now to make a mess of his life wasn't he? And on company premises too – like he was trying to slap her in the face – and then he thought he could get away with giving into all of their demands!

Well – if it made sure the girl wouldn't end up coming on their doorstep with a pink stick and a baby carriage in her hand maybe it was worth it. It could all end here if Kaede was smart and patient. She'd already made the two of them feel like they were distant from each other and that was half the battle won if she could keep it that way at their meeting tomorrow.

Sakurako made her way out of the room and Kaede Domyouji savoured her steak which felt particularly delicious today. Tsubaki rolled her eyes. "Honestly mother, you have become a control freak. I mean we all knew you were one, but this is a little ridiculous. He's just doing his job. For all you know this could be part of his strategy."

"Tsukasa giving away dollars has never been part of his strategy." Kaede scoffed. "What you call a control freak I call a micromanagement style that has managed to earn both you and I a very esteemed status in this world- and if I can give Tsukasa the same then why wouldn't I?"

"Because we are not robots who follow your every order with no complaints."

"Pity…I really should have adopted. I've heard those kids are more grateful." Appparently this joke did not fly well with her daughter as Kaede laughed. With all this talk of how she was no fun she would have thought the show of humor would have helped. "Tsukasa's always needed a bit more guidance than others- in fact- Nishida?"

"Yes Kaede-sama?" Her assistant spoke up ever faithfully from his perch behind her.

"I'll be dispensing some of this much required guidance in person...please mark Tsukasa's meeting with the Makino family into my calendar. I think it's time I finally met the girl whose been giving him so much trouble." Why her children demonized her Kaede would never know...could they not see the foolish consequences of their own actions?

Regardless, despite herself, Kaede found herself oddly looking forward to meeting Makino Tsukushi. After all, she could respect to some degree the strength with which the female lawyer had strong holded her pitbull of a son into caving into her demands. "Tsubaki?"

"Yes mother?"

"Pass the salt."

"Don't go around burning down houses for no reason."

Kaede laughed, shaking her head as she saw the anxious expression on her daughters face only grow ever more prominent. "My dear, I never start a fire if there's not already smoke."