"It's better to try and fail than to live on regretting never saying anything."
-Takashi Morinozuka & Natalia Baldoni , Of Brains and Brawns
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{No POV}
Everyting was quiet for several moments as she walked in and sat across from the young boys in front of her.
"I had turned down Takashi with the excuse of being different social classes because I couldn't tell my mom to leave my father so that she would be accepted back into the Kasanoda Family. They loved each other, and I wasn't going to get in the way of that so that I could freely love Takashi without there being not only media backlash but backlash from the elites the Morinozuka's socialized with. I was young but not stupid. I did love Takashi. He was amazing. He also made me a better person." Natalia said playing with her hair as she turned to look out the window lost in thought.
"But why not return when you became part of the Kasanoda Family, Nat-chan?" Questioned Mitsukuni confused.
Natalia's expression turned sad.
"Because I had already done the damage, I couldn't really go back and suddenly everything would be perfect again, Mitsukuni-kun... I hurt him badly, I know I did. There's no way to fix what's been broken. So I left the country and studied abroad while becoming a powerful businesswoman. I worked hard these last ten years to make my parents' dreams as well as my own come true. Now that they are reality and not just dreams, i'm ready to face him and apologize to him for what i did. Even if I can't make it up to him, I can at least apologize." Natalia said before her phone rang making her stand up.
"Hello? Reese?" She greeted in perfect english.
She was quiet for a few moments listening to the person on the other line she identified as 'Reese' before speaking again.
"Tell Woods, that he can shove that deal up his moronic arse. I am not selling the building nor it's location! Listen to me damn well Reese! Find me that snake we spoke about and teach them why no a single person ever gets away with trying to ruin my business. I also want his pets found! Express mail me the files on those involved and on the people involved with them on a personal level. We'll go from there. Let's have a video conference this friday at noon to discuss everything. I'll handle Woods." She said coldly into the phone with a dark aura encasing her frame.
She hung up and then took a deep breath before turning to them.
"Ritsu, we have to go now. Uncle Reiki wants for all of us to have dinner together as a family tonight and I have a lot of work ahead of me. Your friends can come over tomorrow to the Estate and hangout with us if they want to." Natalia said with an exasperated sigh as she dialed a number and walked out.
"Wait! Nat-chan! Will you go to Taka-chan's birthday party next month?!" Mitsukuni called out making the girl stop for a moment.
She gave him a thumbs up and then continue walking talking into her phone once more.
The hosts cheered up and said their goodbyes to Ritsu and Natalia.
Then they all conversed unknowing of the inner conflict that Natalia was going through as she worked on her business.
She was Natalia Baldoni, the head of the Baldoni Group, the nation's leading company and organization in shelters, orphanages, music, and entertainment.
She had bought out all of the record and entertainment management companies in Japan, and she now held control of all orphanages except for that of Tokyo. That was only for now of course. They refuse to grant her full ownership because they want for someone who's got a family friendly appeal. In other words, she's in the simple predicament that she needs to get married, or at least engaged in order for the city to grant her ownership of the orphanage. That, or adopt a child, but she hasn't had a chance to visit the orphanage here. Where she ended up living for a full week at only 10 years ago.
But despite everythig mentioned above, here she was sitting at her desk in her own personal study in the Kasanoda Estate, a nervous wreck for the moment she would reunite with her first love, whom she had left behind with nothing but a pathetic excuse and the pain of both heartbreak and loss all at once.
They both lost parents, and then she broke his heart on top of it all.
If she was completely honest, she was incapable of forgiving herself. Worst of it was, she still loved him, very much so. It hurt a lot to even think about what could happen at the birthday masquerade party in a month's time.
"Lady Natalia... It is dinner time." Her personal butler, a woman by the name of Yukira, announced with a knock to the door of the study.
"Of course. I'll be out in a moment." Answered Natalia.
She collected her nerves and set aside her nerves as she put away all of her paperwork properly, quickly making sure the keypad to her lab was safely and silently hidden back behind the wall thanks to the painting.
She stepped out of the study and calmly moved just one foot ahead of her butler towards the dining room.
When they got there dinner started once she sat herself for dinner. The Kasanodas spoke warmly and amiably to each other like family before turning to subjects of business. They spoke of many business things, of course, they were members of a syndicate family and Natalia ran very powerful and still rising business on her own accord.
"So have you managed to advance any further on your project?" Asked Kasanoda to his niece discreetly.
Natalia smiled.
"I am tantalizingly close to finishing it. But I just need a bit more time." Natalia answered calmly but excitedly.
Kasanoda smiled with pride.
"Excellent! I'm glad to hear such wonderful news! Well, I best go back to my room and rest for the evening, you two go train for the next two hours and then head straight to bed." Said Kasanoda warmly as he excused himself back to his room.
Natalia and Ritsu soon finished dinner and trained each heading off to different areas of the house for the rest of the night.
Natalia went back to her study and granted herself access by use of the keypad. A door opened in the wall and she went inside. Once inside she approached a table with various different objects and circuit boards on it as well as one large computer. She reached the table and sighed in exhaustion.
"This is going to be a long night." She spoke to herself before heading over to a stereo system hooked up to another computer just on the desk at the wall behind her.
She looked through a playlist of music and smiled as she found a good song called 'Rule The World - Nightcore' and got to work.
Her 'project' is fairly simple, she grew up always being a huge fan of everything science, including medical technology and biotechnology. From when she turned 15 up until now she has been working on the pinnacle of her scientific advancements which have been plenty, but under a pseudonym. She has been constantly researching and engineering in search of the result closest to perfection she could find. She had been working on this for years and she was so tantilizingly close it was slowly killing her.
She was searching for a way to use biotechnology on humans to restore missing senses or limbs.
She was aware of the potential the technology held which is why she refused behemently to report this research to anyone except her uncle who knowing how dangerous it was, was keeping everything top secret and protecting her research from harms way. She had made tremendous advancements, she even managed to implant the technology safely in her body after an incident a year ago that rendered her eyesight and her left thigh completely useless.
Now she was as well as if she had not been through anything.
Now you may be thinking that she's been using robotics with biotechnology to do this, but no. She had actually developed biochips and other biotechnological components to repair the damage and or replace the dysfunctional bodily components that are the source of the disability.
She was very proud of her achievements but terrified of them as well. It was life altering and it was extremely dangerous. It could lead to historical medical advancements if used correctly but there is no way she could ever entrust the technology into anyone else's hands because there is always the possibility they could abuse it or use it for evil purposes.
Something she WAS NOT about to let happen.
Several hours and songs later came one of her jams just as she was finally finishing work on the newest biochip in her collection that was meant to steadily help the human immune system repair itself while helping the human body heal injuries and cure sicknesses.
Her very last chip before she can seal away all of her research forever and use one of her other inventions to erase her own memories of it all.
The song was called 'Glowing In The Dark'.
She smiled as it came on and sung along to it as she began to work on the finishing touches.
You know how I get when the sun goes down
How it feels when no one's around
I know, I know-oh-oh-oh
I know, I know-oh-oh
I get kind of lost and I can't see straight
Hate it but it's just what we take
I know, I know-oh-oh-oh
I know, I know-oh-oh
Natalia's smile faded a bit as she worked memories of slaving away in this lab with only fictions of her imagination supplying her with the imaginary confort of Takashi Morinozuka on the nights she spent slaving away failure after failure.
I've been bitten by the lonely
But when I'm not the only
When I'm, when I'm not the only
One who feels it, maybe it's sick to say
But it helps that you feel the same
I know, I know-oh-oh
When the lights go out
She felt her smile return as she paused in her work memories of her childhood with Takashi and Mitsukuni filling her mind.
We're glowing in the dark
We started from a spark
We're lights that never go out
Like we've never been down
Glowing in the dark
We'll light up Central Park
We're lights that never go out
'Cause you're here with me now
She shook the memories away and smiled refocusing on her memories of her success as she returned to work.
Dark days but it's alright
So fine, every night
Oh-oh, whoa
Glowing in the dark
We started from a spark
We're lights that never go out
Like we've never been down
Glowing in the dark
Her smiled brightened further as her chip showed on her computer screen that it was functional.
Doin' 2 AM, way above the clouds
Rooftop, yeah, we're just hanging out
I know, I know-oh-oh-oh
I know, I know-oh-oh
Now we're looking down like we got no fear
We got dreams and they start right here
I know, I know-oh-oh-oh
I know, I know-oh-oh
She began to remember Takashi's words of encouragement whenever she failed when he, Mitsukuni and herself were learning Kendo, Judo, and Karate as kids.
We get bitten by the lonely
But we're not the only
Yeah we're, yeah we're not the only
'Just keep trying. If you keep trying eventually you will get it right.' His voice rang in her mind as a failure happened.
Once you know the way to get through the night
Is to bring on a little bright
I know, I know-oh-oh
When the lights go out
'Nothing comes easy, especially not courage to keep moving forward after failure.' His voice encourage in his usual quiet and monotone voice.
We're glowing in the dark
We started from a spark
We're lights that never go out
Like we've never been down
Glowing in the dark
We'll light up Central Park
Natalia suddenly felt warmth as if his warm arms were holding her to him as she continued to try once more.
We're lights that never go out
'Cause you're here with me now
Dark days but it's alright
So fine, every night
Oh-oh, whoa
Glowing in the dark
We started from a spark
We're lights that never go out
Like we've never been down
Glowing in the dark
'If it ever gets tough, I just think happy things and remember that it just means I can only get closer.' His voice rang once more in her mind as she had another failure.
When I'm bitten by the lonely
You can get to know me
I know, I know-oh-oh
She smiled as she finally noticed what was wrong.
We're glowing in the dark
We started from a spark
We're lights that never go out
Like we've never been down
Glowing in the dark
We'll light up Central Park
'Don't overthink, just take a deep breath, calm yourself and it'll come to you.' His voice came to her.
We're lights that never go out
'Cause you're here with me now
Dark days but it's alright
So fine, every night
Glowing in the dark
We started from a spark
We're lights that never go out
Like we've never been down
Glowing in the dark
As the song came to a close, she finally finished the chip and sealed it away with a smile and a shed tear.
"It's finished... now tomorrow, I lock it all away forever where it will never be found..." Natalia muttered her voice cracking slightly as she whispered to herself looking at her lab.
She finally cleaned up her mess and then locked away her research for the night before leaving her lab putting it in total lockdown once out. She hid the keypad once more and finally went to her room once more noting she would only be getting a bare three hours of sleep before she went to her new school tomorrow.
She would be finishing her 3rd year of high school at Ouran Academy.
~ 3 Hours Later ~
Natalia's alarm rang and her being the horribly grouchy riser she was, she went into 'Dragon Mode' and threw her alarm clock out the window once she was fully awake.
Effectively destroying her 18th alarm clock of the month as it smashed against the head of one of the syndicate men that was out in the yard in the direct line of fire. The man was immediately knocked out. She got up out of bed sluggishly and went into her bathroom freshening up with a yawn here and there before dressing in her uniform for Ouran which was an altered version of the male uniform that had a black skirt with black thigh highs for a bottom and a shorter elbow length sleeved blazer instead of pants and wrist length sleeves.
Once dressed she went and had breakfast with her younger cousin before heading to school walking with Ritsu.
Ritsu took a moment to examine the changes in her cousin across the years she was away in Italy.
Her red hair that was once only at the length of her shoulders was now flowing beautifully all the way down to just graze her hips. Her eyes as always a gorgeous shade of icy blue that could freeze anyone should they incur her anger to be visable. Her features that she inherited from her mother such as her face shape and body type had become more well defined over the years.
Her beauty was undeniable and she was likely going to bring all the males in school swoon at her beauty.
That worried Ritsu, and his father greatly. She was very capable and could defend herself but should anyone find out about her 'project' whatever it might be, they would appearantly do anything to get their sleazy hands on her or her work. Something that his father made clear could not happen at all. It'd be doomsday.
Ritsu only understood that his cousin's work was deadly dangerous and that's why not even he could know what it was. All he could know was the fact it existed and it was dangerous beyond comprehension.
So he left it be.
"Are you thinking about who you'll marry someday?" He asked teasingly.
Natalia smiled.
"Actually, I am thinking about that, among other things. I have to get married to finish my expansion project and for that I need to marry someone that can meet my requirements which will be difficult to find. I'd marry for love, but that's likely never going to happen, so i'm focusing on reaching my life's goals." Natalia answered calmly and cooly.
"Who do you have in mind?" Asked Ritsu noting she had likely given it a lot of thought.
"It's between Kyoya Ootori, and Clarance De Fountaine who transferred into my class only 5 months ago." Answered Natalia.
"What about Morinozuka-senpai? He isn't a candidate?" Asked Ritsu noting how she tensed at the mention of his name.
"No... he.. he isn't..." Answered Natalia slowly.
Ritsu noticed the missing part of her answer in her body language.
'...but I certainly wish he could be since I love him.' He read.
"Have you found anyone special for yourself Ritsu?" She asked.
Ritsu blushed.
"This really great girl in class 1-B... Her name's Yukia Satori. She's really smart and very beautiful. I've been trying to build up courage to ask her out for weeks now." Ritsu admitted with a light blush dusting his cheeks.
"You know..." Natalia began gently with a warm smile. "Nothing comes easy, especially courage when you can be facing failure. Just remember that she'll value your courage. Besides, nothing was ever gained from cowarding away from what you want to do. Just meet her somewhere alone and tell her." Natalia adviced to her cousin remembering Takashi's confession years ago.
'Natalia... I love you. Please be mine?' His voice rang in her mind.
"But what if she rejects me?" Asked Ritsu nervously.
'I'm sorry Takashi...I love you but.. I can't be yours... I'm not like you... I'd never fit into your world..' Her own younger voice rang in her mind.
'It's okay, I was worried about rejection, but I understood that i'd regret it the rest of my life if I didn't say anything.' His voice rang out once more.
"It's better to try and fail than to live on regretting never saying anything." She said in a somber tone that spoke of finality on the subject.
He immediately noticed the far away look in her eyes now, she was lost in memories and her eyes showed only regret.
'Just what exactly happened between her and Morinozuka-senpai that day ten years ago?' He questioned in his mind.
Then they approached the school finding themselves quickly face to face with Takashi Morinozuka himself and everyone around them all looking at them curiously and tensely.
The air seemed frozen as Natalia spoke.
"Hello... Morinozuka-san..." She said quietly showing the slightest bit of awkwardness.
He suddenly smiled and hugged her to his body gently but tightly. She tensed but soon relaxed.
"I'm glad you're alive and well...Natalia..." He said with a pause as he slowly let go of her showing her his excited and joyful gleam in his eyes. "It's still okay for you to call me Takashi." He said patting her hair before placing Mitsukuni on his shoulders and heading inside.
Natalia remained frozen in place with shock on her face for several moments before she finally sighed and smiled shaking her head no lightly.
'That guy... still as wild and shocking as ever...' She thought to herself as she went inside calmly.
TBC...
What will happen now?! Read to find out!