He strode purposefully toward his office, oblivious to the nervous looks and hurried motions to get out of his way. Silence reigned while he passed; even his secretary's murmured "Good morning, sir" wasn't enough to break the silence.
He briefly turned his bright amethyst eyes to that secretary. In brisk, cool tones, he instructed her, "Inform me immediately when Nishikawa makes his call, then in five minutes, have the Advertising department meet me in the conference room." Without even waiting for the secretary to acknowledge the order, he went inside his office.
As soon as the doors closed, the silence broke slowly, as if the other employees were still afraid that he would hear, though the doors were designed to shut out every noise from outside. One employee nudged at an open-mouthed applicant, who seemed struck by the person's aura and all the others' regard of him.
"That is Kenshin Himura," he said to the applicant, in reply to the unspoken question written all over his face. "Be prepared to work for the most cold-blooded executive in this company, if you're lucky." After a moment's consideration, he added, "Or maybe not."
"Busy day today, isn't it?"
Kenshin turned to the voice of the newcomer, who, without any permission, threw himself on the leather-cushioned sofa on the space that served as a reception area in his office. Inwardly really glad to see him, but with his face still retaining that irritated expression because of the report he was holding in his hands, he looked as serious as he sounded when he said, "If you were really busy, you wouldn't be this cheerful enough to forget knocking on my door before you entered. Or even telling my secretary to buzz you in."
Akira Kiyosato, the newcomer, burst out laughing. "If you were that busy as well, you wouldn't be able to joke around at this time and place."
Kenshin couldn't help but smile at his carefree, happy-go-lucky friend. "You know, with that kind of attitude, one would never guess that you are the president of the Kiyosato Group."
"True," agreed Akira, "because they'd guess that was you." He smirked at Kenshin. "Honestly, you do my work as well as your own, that I don't even need to think about it."
Kenshin shrugged. "It's the least I could do," he replied quietly.
Akira laughed again to shake off the seriousness in the room. "If that's the least, I couldn't imagine what would happen about the most you can do."
Kenshin shrugged off the compliment. "What can I do for you, Akira?" he asked, to change the topic.
Akira grinned. "You always cut right to the heart of the matter, don't you?"
"That's my trademark," Kenshin retorted wryly. He looked up from the report he was reading to find Akira nervously fidgeting. "Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Akira assured him. Then he smiled as he added, "Actually, it's something right, if you know what I mean."
Kenshin just stared blankly at Akira. "No, I don't. Why don't you just cut to the chase, Akira?"
"Okay, okay," Akira said, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm just nervous to ask you this, but I'm wondering whether you'd be free at 7 pm later."
"That's after office hours, Akira."
"Well, yeah, but sometimes you go home so late –"
Kenshin cut him off. "I'll be there," he said. "But why do I have to?"
"I want to introduce you to someone, and I want your presence as my brother. You're the only family I have left, and it would be nice to be with family, right?" Akira stood up. "See you then."
"Wait," Kenshin called out, before Akira could go out the door. "Introduce me to who?"
Kenshin glanced impatiently at his watch. Of all the days for the Marketing group to present to him sloppy work, they had to pick this day. As he walked as fast as he can to his car, he couldn't help but hurl mental abuses to the Marketing group once again for an overtime that was totally unproductive.
It was 5 minutes to seven already, and he had to rush. He got in his car and turned the key in the ignition.
As they say, whatever can go wrong will go wrong. And it did go wrong, when his car refused to stir to life.
Kenshin let out an expletive. Furious with the world in general, he slammed shut the door to his car and, still cursing silently, ran to the elevator then out of the building. Impatiently, he waved for a cab, any cab, to take him to the Crown Hotel, where Akira was waiting. And he hated to think of Akira waiting for him.
Mercifully, a cab stopped in front of him. Before he could get in, though, Kenshin was promptly surprised to see another push to get in before him.
"Excuse me, miss—" for it was a woman "—but I believe that I called this cab," Kenshin said icily.
Dark blue eyes met him defiantly. "You're not too much in a rush, are you?" the woman replied quite breathlessly. "Please let me have this ride – I have to be somewhere in five minutes –"
"No," Kenshin replied adamantly, and yanked open the cab. An arm shot out to stop him from entering.
"Please?" the woman pleaded, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
The cab honked. "Are you coming in or not?" the driver called out, not too nicely.
Kenshin closed his eyes and sighed. "Get in."
The woman smiled. "Thank you," she breathed out, and got in.
"Where to?" the driver asked.
"The Crown Hotel," Kenshin and the girl said at the same time. Equally surprised, they looked at each other.
"That's mighty convenient," the driver remarked as they drove away.
Kenshin glanced at his watch again. Of course, he didn't expect to be at the Crown in less than a minute, so he simply sighed and thought of at least texting Akira that he was already on his way. As he was pulling out his phone, though, he couldn't help but glance over his companion. She was staring out of the window, her fingers nervously fidgeting and her teeth biting her lower lip. Every now and then, he could hear her sigh. Phone forgotten, he simply found himself eyeing her overall appearance. Her hair, swept up in a ponytail, looked girlish as compared to the sophistication of the backless navy blue dress she wore – but as she turned to him, the effect was simply elegant on her.
"Is there anything wrong?" the woman asked him as she caught him staring at her. He quickly turned his eyes to his phone. "Nothing," he replied. "To wonder why you'd be dressed like that would be none of my business, I suppose."
The woman looked down at herself then turned to him again. "Actually, it's my first time to dress up like this," she explained. "I couldn't just walk in the Crown in jeans, right?"
"It must be a very important occasion for you," Kenshin said.
The woman shrugged. "Quite, I think. I'm going to meet my fiancé and his brother today."
"A fiancé," Kenshin mused. A smile turned up the corners of his mouth. "Congratulations, then. I wish you both all the happiness in the world."
The woman smiled back. "Thank you."
The cab stopped. "We're here," the driver announced. Kenshin glanced at the meter, then stopped the woman from reaching out for her purse. "I'll pay it," he said, and to cut off her protests, he handed over the driver their fare. "Keep the change."
"Thank you again," the woman said when they were in front of the hotel.
"No problem," Kenshin said. As they walked in, he turned to her and asked, "Where would you be headed?"
The woman looked confused. "I'm supposed to meet my fiancé at the Diamond Hall, but I have no idea where that is."
Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "I'm headed there as well," he said, marvelling at the bizarre coincidences between them, and saw it mirrored on the woman's face. He chuckled. "What a strange day."
"Indeed," the woman agreed.
"There you are!" Akira's voice echoed through the lobby. Both of them looked up and saw him going down the stairs to meet them.
Kenshin stood immobilized as the woman stepped forward and called out to Akira. "Yes, here I am, as you told me to be," she said smiling.
"I thought you got lost," Akira said as he embraced the woman and looked tenderly into her eyes. "I know how much you dislike finery like this one, but this is a special occasion."
Turning to Kenshin, who was slowly gathering his composure at the unusual turn of events, Akira introduced the woman formally to him. "This is Kenshin Himura, my dearest friend who I call brother."
It was the woman's turn to start.
"Kenshin, this is Kaoru Kamiya, my fiancée."