Standard Disclaimers Apply

"…Now?"

Kazama knew his father was a busy man, so he was very grateful when he came to see him the next day. He served him his special tea (which only Chizuru and himself have tasted) to thank him. It was the least he could do.

As Kazama laid out his findings on the tea table, his father wordlessly examined them, sipping at his beverage. ("Very clear and soothing. A nice fragrance," he commented.) Kazama had a variety of articles printed out, all about the Yukimura, Nagumo, and Kazama family from the years prior to the fall to a few years after. Awaiting his father's remark, Kazama looked up and silently urged him to speak.

Noticing this, his father placed the cup down onto its associated saucer.

"That's a lot. You do not expect me to read them all now, do you my son? Summarize for me instead."

His father was no stranger to these articles, Kazama knew. He was just testing to make sure he understood.

"The Yukimuras…" he started. "...had the public's well deserved and undivided adoration. Although financially second to the Kazama family, many considered the Yukimuras higher. The Nagumo family who was ranked third at the time was also subject to the public's constant comparing. An indirect result of the Yukimura family's success only seemed to highlight any negative attention on the Nagumo and Kazama businesses.

"The Nagumos had been expecting a son for a long time. When a daughter was announced instead, their disappointment was not missed by the public eye. It was too late for an abortion. The press would be all over them, so they decided to proceed with the pregnancy. Nagumo Shizuka was born a disappointment to her family as a result. In contrast, the Yukimuras could not be any more ecstatic with Chizuru's birth. The public clawed at the Nagumos, calling them sexist leaders who associated success with the male gender.

"As for our family, it seems like mother had a little…disagreement with another company." The distaste was not hidden from his voice. "Do you really want me to continue, or is this good enough for you?"

His father sighed, a migraine already erupting in his head. His son really outdid it this time. When he had coached his son on the ways of society, he hadn't expected him to research the Yukimura's fall. Things just got a lot more complicated. "That's fine, Chikage. I can see by the sheer amount of articles here that you've dug up a lot more controversies. You did well."

His father's words did nothing to sooth his irritation.

"You're right. While the public loved the Yukimuras, they began to hate the Kazama and Nagumo family. On the outside, the three families seemed to happily cooperate even while vying for success in society. However, any insider could tell that the hatred ran deep in some of the Nagumo and Kazama family leaders."

"Are you one of them?" Kazama spoke dangerously.

There was no hesitation in his father's reply. If anything, he found his son's question outrageous. "Of course not! We were long time buddies and classmates before any of this competition started happening."

"Mother then," Kazama pressed. That would explain her attitude towards Chizuru when she found out that a Yukimura was going to be living with them.

Sighing, his father gave up. "That's right. She was in on it…the plan. One family would not be enough to take them down, but the collaboration of two would have done the deed. Your mother had been…acting suspicious behind my back for some time, but I didn't think too much about it. I thought it would have been harmless…"

"This one was too successful, too loved. That was both their strength and weakness. Jealousy is a dangerous thing, especially in the upper classes of society."

He remembered his father's words clearly. At the time, he had a suspicion of what they could mean but now he truly understood.

"Sometimes, being too loved is not good," his father reaffirmed.

"Why didn't you fix it? Couldn't you have done that with your power?" he accused.

"I tried. I couldn't reverse what your mother did since she had used the Kazama name to do it. If the Nagumo family didn't step up to take them in, I would have."

"And Chizuru?"

"I…couldn't find her."

"Bullshit," Kazama spat uncharacteristically. That took his father off guard for a moment before he recomposed himself.

"Don't let the press hear that."

He ignored his father's suggestion. "In the first place, you should have taken them in yourself. Who knows what the Nagumo head would do to them?"

His father furrowed his eyebrows. "Surely, they won't-"

"We're talking about the ones who planned their demise here."

"Well in that case, we lent a hand to their demise as well. We are just as unqualified to support them as the Nagumos are."

He couldn't deny that, but it still did not explain why his father hadn't looked for Chizuru.

"You could have found her easily with your men," Kazama seethed through clench teeth.

"And what? Support the girl whose life was ruined because of me?"

"It wasn't you. Chizuru knows who to trust. Tell her the truth and she won't blame you. Hell, I don't think she would even blame the Nagumos. She's too forgiving."

His father was silent.

"But I'm not as forgiving. You didn't help her when you could, and for that I will not forgive you."

Chizuru woke up with mixed feelings. Finally seeing her parents last night had been great, but their stories about their experience with the Nagumo family was not. Obviously she was not happy at the fact that the Nagumo family hadn't treated her parents well. She wasn't sure what to make of Kaoru's attitude either.

When she brings Kazama his tea, he is so heavily indulged in his work that he almost did not notice her come in. When he does, he only offers her a sly remark and a smirk before returning to his work. That was strange. Kazama was unusually…behaved. Usually, he would be all over her, at least in a conversational way. He was keeping quiet today…too quiet.

It didn't take an idiot to figure out that Kazama was hiding something.

Feeling a little courageous and impatient, she moved to his side of the work desk and sat on the table, effectively obscuring his view of the documents. Being interrupted from his work was new to Kazama. People normally avoided him in fear of his wrath of being disturbed. Chizuru would usually politely interrupt…this was new though.

Arching a perfect eyebrow, his eyes urged her to speak.

She crossed her arms expectantly. "Out with it."

His expression hardened, and for a moment she thought she was done for, but then he smirked teasingly at her.

"I didn't know you wanted me so soon," he replied.

"Wha-?"

He started stripping.

"OH MY G- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she quickly looked away and kicked his stomach while she was at it, anything to get that finely sculpted body away from her.

"You said 'out with it'. I could only presume you were speaking of my pe-"

"No! I meant your secret!" she screeched, horrified.

It was silent for a long time. When she didn't hear any signs of movement, she began to retract her leg - only to have it captured by his strong hand. Before she knew it, he had placed her on the couch.

Turning to look for him, she was both relieved and a little disappointed to see his clothing back in place.

"I can never hide anything from you, can I?" he sighed. Plopping down next to her, he stretched an arm behind her to rest on top of the couch before proceeding to tell her everything he had learnt.

When he finished his report, she was quiet. The whole time, he had kept his eyes fixed on her to make sure any signs of unease, pain, or anger would not go unnoticed by him. He was a little surprised when he found her expression void of any of these.

"What do you want me to do?" he offered. In truth, he already had a plan formulating in his head, but he wanted her input as well.

"Nothing."

His eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Nothing." Chizuru turned to look up at him, strong unwavering eyes meeting his own. "I will be the one to fix it."

He felt a surge of pride well up. Her confidence was one of the many things that made him fall in love with her all over again after all. However, he didn't know if leaving it up to her was a good idea. Although Kazama didn't doubt his fiancée's abilities, he didn't know if she would be able to solve a large scale issue involving 3 of the highest esteemed families, and a particularly large sum of money, by herself.

He voiced his concern as gently as he could without ridiculing her capabilities. She shook her head at him but did not seem angry at all. In fact, she even giggled.

He eyed her strangely, wondering if all this serious talk lately was getting to her head. "What's so funny?"

"It's just…you're worried I won't be able to fix this because I'm 'powerless' against them, but why would I even need such power? In the first place, it's that power over society they sought for that caused this whole mess."

Her grin grew.

"I just need to get through to them, the Nagumos, your mother, Kaoru…all of them. It's that simple."

A/N: Thanks for reading!