A/N: Not mine.
Mrs. Irie was pensive during the ride home. If not for her lighter hair and air of sophistication, the elder Oizumi granddaughter was exactly what she imagined Aihara Etsuko's daughter would have looked like at that age. For some reason this evening had brought up several not-so-comfortable memories. As her husband had predicted, Aihara Shigeo never returned to the island of Honshu. Less than five years after his wife left him, he was caught in a heavy snowstorm while at her tomb, and soon his name joined hers and their daughter's. If only little Kotoko had not disappeared…
None of this, she chided herself, I may be more inclined towards the livelier girl, but I would do her a disservice if I look at her as a substitute for that poor child.
The Irie matriarch's preference for the one girl was echoed by the men of the family. Yuuki had found no common ground in Sahoko, and Mr. Irie had seen a light of interest in Naoki's eyes for the elder granddaughter (which put paid to his wonderings if his son's inclinations were otherwise).
Meanwhile, the young man in question was considering how best to juggle Oizumi's expectations and his own interest.
Kocho held the triangle pose for the required number of seconds before answering her cell phone. "Hello, Daddy," she said. "What's up?"
"Can't I call my beloved daughter for no reason?" Akira asked.
"Ha! Yes," she chuckled, "but I think this time it's a cross between simple curiosity and meddling nosiness."
"Suspicious, isn't she?" Dylan asked, joining in. "We trained her well."
"Frivolity aside," Akira spoke, "we wanted to hear what happened at the big matchmaking party."
"Da-a-ad!" she drawled. "No one got engaged. Although, if Grandpa gets his way, you don't have to worry about me. He definitely wants the Irie heir to pick Sahoko."
"I thought the one your age was not the heir," Dylan said.
"That's the way it is now," she confirmed, "but I have a feeling that if Jiisan ensnares him for Sahoko, he's not going to have the choice. And it's too bad," she added after a pause, "because he seems like a nice sort."
"Oh?" Akira's one syllable held a world of meaning.
"Okay, Dads," she sighed loudly, " if we had met in different circumstances, I could definitely see potential."
"Trust Father to mess things up," he complained. "Do I need to come to Tokyo and straighten him out?"
"No," she quickly replied, "you and he are getting along fairly well now. This is nothing I can't handle."
"Very well." Although he sounded reluctant,he was inwardly relieved. Several years earlier he had cut down his hours with the Saeki holdings when he had received a lukewarm welcome back into the Oizumi business and was now handling the worldwide distribution of the firm's various products. Luckily, he was not required to be present in Japan except for the quarterly board meetings. At those times he also had to convince his father–once more–that he was still mourning his fictitious dead wife.
"The Irie family," Dylan spoke up, "how do you read their characters?"
"Upright," she answered promptly. "They care for each other greatly, and the firm's present financial circumstances seem to have been caused by a market fluctuation. And in the almost quarter century since Pandai's founding," she added, "this is Mr. Irie's first misreading of the signals."
"So their company would make a sound investment?" he pressed.
"Of course. The younger boy has the knack for thinking up ingenious product ideas. Should his brother avoid parson's mousetrap, when he takes over the helm I would imagine they will give Hasbro and Mattel stiff competition."
Kocho was placed on a brief hold while the two fathers held a quick conversation. Dylan soon spoke. "Kocho, your twenty-first birthday is upcoming. As your father and I trained you over the last decade and a half, we trust your instincts. We will be expressing you the forms which release to you the authority to manage your investment portfolio without our oversight."
"But…why?" This was not something she was expecting for another four years.
"You are ready," Akira assured her. "Just…consider carefully before you make any decisions."
[Flashback to when Kocho first met her grandfather.]
"Do you think Jiisan will like me?" Six-year-old Kocho asked Akira, concern on her face.
"Of course he will," her father assured her, hugging her as close as he could in the limousine. "Why would you be worried about that?"
"Because you and Daddy D looked grumpy when you talked about it, and I have to tell him a story. You always tell me not to make things up."
"Ah, Kocho," he sighed, "this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with how my father won't like the fact that you have two daddies."
"That's a silly reason for me to have a pretend memory," she argued.
"I agree, but that's just the way it is. Remember what Daddy Dylan told you when you could only pick one kitten to keep."
She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. "Life is not fair."
"And neither are some people. Please, Kocho," he gazed intently, "this is important."
"Okay, I'll remember. But, Daddy," her expression turned canny, "do you think I can get a new paddle board when we get home? I'm getting a little big for the old one."
"I believe that's possible. Pink again?"
"No, Daddy, pink is for sissy girls. I want blue!"
Oizumi sniffed as he observed his two granddaughters sharing a snack. "So you ran out on the exceptional match I had made for you and married a half-blood American?"
Akira's jaw clenched. "Aoi's family–members of Fushimi-no-miya, by the way–emigrated to Hawaii five generations ago."
"Bah!" The man waved away the relationship to the now non-imperial connection. "You and the Nagamori daughter would have connected us to a powerhouse company which is revolutionizing technology."
"You know, the Saekis are not poverty-stricken; quite the opposite, and Kocho is her uncle's heir."
"So you are not here to badger me for more money?"
Akira took a deep breath. "No, my mother's trust fund serves me well. We only visited so you could meet your other granddaughter."
"And why so tardily?" he riposted waspishly, disappointed that he had lost a financial weapon to bring his son in line.
"I was deeply affected by my wife's passing, plus I felt it best to keep my daughter away from my occasionally problematic family until she was older. And then the Great Recession hit, so we tightened our belts temporarily to keep our workers at full salary."
His father nodded, almost reluctantly. "Caring for your employees; at least you learned something from me."
"Indeed," Akira agreed.
"Well," he sniffed, "better late than never. I still lack a grandson. What are you planning to do about that?"
Eyes narrowed, Akira questioned, "And have you asked Chiyoko the same?"
"It is of no use. Your brother-in-law's foolish infatuation with ultralight flight has ended his ability to father another child, yet my daughter remains with him."
"I suppose it would be considered uncouth to have a series of sons-in-law to take on the family name. As for me, my love for Aoi endures yet, and I am by no means ready for another romantic venture."
He smacked his cane on the floor. "You had your fling with 'love'. Now, are you going to dishonor the family by letting its name die?"
"The girls–"
"A female child's best worth is to enrich the family by making good connections."
Akira snorted. "And you wondered why I delayed bringing Kocho to visit." He stood. "We shall not 'dishonor' the family's presence any longer. Come, Kocho!"
"Impetuous boy! How dare you leave like this? Her antecedents may not be ideal, but she is an Oizumi and will be educated here."
"Daddy?" Kocho asked in a small voice, eyes wide.
"No, she shall not," Akira averred. "She is my child, and I shall determine her path until she can tread it alone."
Oizumi could no longer stare his son into submission, so he finally said, "As you wish, for now. If I feel that she is bringing shame upon the name, we will revisit this matter."
Realizing that his father had made a great concession and that there was little he could do an ocean away, Akira bowed before he and Kocho left the family estate.
A/N: I am totally unaware if Nagamori Shigenobu has descendants of marriageable age (and gender) for Akira. His firm Nidec started out manufacturing micro motors for computer applications and is currently (as in, now, not when this scene is set) concentrating on motors for electric cars. Consider his inclusion as a bit of "local color".