Chapter 11: Bonding on Several Fronts
When they got back to the mansion, Satsuki ran off with Nana to her room. Naosuke took hold of Nasaka from Kagome's arms and headed off to put her to sleep. Her father and stepmother headed off towards their room, leaving her trailing behind them. She made it to her room and pulled out her laptop. She opened and powered it on, only for there to be a knock on her door. She stood and answered it to see Naosuke. He gestured for her to follow him, and she did into his room. They closed the door and he pulled another chair up to his desk.
"I do not like that girl, and for her to attempt to attack my twin," he started.
"She made a mistake in that regard." She was serious.
"I started looking into her and her family that day she attempted to throw tea in your face," he admitted. "Father doesn't know, but I've been learning to hack since I was like ten. I have managed across a few files you should see." He pulled up a few files to see that they were complaints to the company. Videos of women's hair falling out, rashes from make-up and allergic reactions to perfumes, despite saying there were no allergens in them. There was a list of pending lawsuits against the company, which they kept trying to stall on.
"Leak this information," she advised it. "I am sure you can find a way to not leave your signature behind?" He nodded. "We'll watch their stocks for the next few weeks. Once they are low enough, we'll make our move."
"Alright, ane." He smirked and started typing before releasing everything to the web without his signature. He was going to watch them burn.
~Satsuki and Nana~
Nana threw a pair of clean pajamas at her friend and she hustled to the bathroom to change while Nana pulled on her own pair. They wore about the same size, so it wasn't an issue. Usually when they had a sleep over with their other friends, everyone had their own room. But when it was just them, they stayed in the same room. She had her entertainment area setup and a maid had grabbed snacks and drinks. She had pillows and blankets thrown on the couches. She had a selection of movies that she usually hid when the others came over out on the table amongst the snacks and drinks. Her phone was on the charger, a spare on next to it for Satsuki's phone.
"You were great tonight," Satsuki said as she finally took up station on the other couch. "You don't usually do wardrobe changes and I thought you were wearing that other dress." She fluffed the pillow and moved the other's to make a nest around her.
"Yeah, some third year girl slashed my dress because she hates my half-sister. Why she hates her, I'm not sure. A maid showed up with the dresses and helped me," she admitted. "She made sure I looked perfect for all of the songs."
"So the maid found the dresses?" She was confused by all of this.
"My half-sister made them and sent them to the school with her. They had fit so perfectly."
"I saw. You looked other-worldly in that second dress." She beamed. "And that first one was super sexy." She was is fan girl mode. "That last dress looked so fun and like something straight out of one of the shojo manga I read secretly."
"I know. It was like she found my account on that RPG I play and modeled it after that." She squealed and hugged the pillow to her chest before looking at the bouquet her half-sister gave her. It was sitting in a vase next to her bed. The flowers that stuck out the most to her was the daffodils. She had studied the flower language in her spare time and knew that her sister wanted them to start over. She could do that. She could try to get to know her half sister better.
"Nana. I think your sister is nice. She probably would do anything for you." She didn't look at her friend, not wanting to upset her. She knew that her friend never had any attention of her own since the time she were born. She always had to share attention with her twin brother, but he admittedly got more attention because of the fact he was the one thought to take over the family business. Then Nasaka was born and even more attention was shifted away from her.
"I know. She made sure the whole family was there for the recital tonight. I didn't think they would show up." She smiled sadly. "I've treated her badly," she admitted. "She only ever offered an ear and a shoulder if I needed it and all I ever gave her was attitude. She never lashed out, instead she took a step back."
"How did she find out about the recital, or that you were participating?" Satsuki asked.
"I don't know. Maybe someone mentioned the recital to her." She shrugged and handed the movies to Satsuki to make a choice.
"Oh! I always wanted to watch this movie." She held up Ju-On. "We never could with the others." Nana nodded.
"I watched it once. Couldn't sleep for like three days afterwards though." Satsuki seemed to clap and they put it in before turning the lights off and starting the movie. They curled up in their blankets for a long night of movie watching and talking.
~With Nanao and Naruhiko~
He stripped off his suit as his wife further admired herself in the dress in her floor to ceiling mirror.
"I really love this dress. I really need to find out where this dress came from." She turned and looked at the back of it over her shoulder. She loved the color and how the top hugged her before flowing around her legs. the gold braid settled perfectly around her waist.
"I thought the same for the suit," her husband admitted as he wrapped his arms around his wife. He was just in his boxers. "This material feels soft." She nodded and started to get out of the dress, taking care that she didn't wrinkle it or get it dirty. She hung it up in a part of the closet that would keep it from touching the ground. She pulled on her nightgown and turned to her husband.
"I'm not sure how I got all my work done," she said honestly. "One day the collection is setup in my office here to appraise and the next day, it is finished. Some of the pieces were fake and I am not sure if I would have caught it."
"I thought the same with work. Folders I don't remember looking through were in my review pile but they were perfect. Contracts were balanced and it made meetings with clients easier and faster. I think Kagome was behind the appraisals and my work getting done. She wanted us there for Nana tonight. We probably wouldn't have gone if we had the amount of work we usually have," he admitted to his wife.
"Yeah, the collections that came in should have taken me another week to complete, but it was done early this morning." She pulled her jewelry off and placed it in the jewelry box before freeing her hair and running her hands through it. She grabbed her make-up wipes and proceeded to wipe it off. This was not her usual make-up. Usually when she took the make-up off, her skin would be red and angry looking. She should have gotten rid of it, but the make-up was expensive. The make-up the woman from today used left her face clear.
"I'm glad, means we can go on a date tomorrow," he murmured in her ear, placing a quick kiss on her cheek.
"We haven't gone on one of those in a while." She smiled.
"It's a date then." They got into bed and cuddled up before falling to sleep. It was a long day.
~With Kagome~
She just finished making another blend of tea and shampoo for her and Naosuke. She would check on the garden in the morning and do any weeding and maintenance she would need. She would also see if any of the tea and other things she would be using to make tea was ready. She would give him his shampoo and conditioner in the morning, as well as the body scrub she made. She would see if Nana or her friend wanted to help her in the garden. She stood from her position and placed Naosuke's hygiene items on the low table before storing the tea in the cabinet she had designated for it. She had all her recipes written down so she could replicate them and any of the other things she made.
Moving to her bathroom, she placed her hygiene products in the shower and moved out of the room, moving through her room and up to the loft area where her bed was. She had turned off the lights off on her way up here. She got into bed and turned off her bedside lamp and went to bed. She would be up in a few hours to start her day.
~Next Day~
Satsuki was up early, the television had turned off some time during the night. She was sure Nana had put on a sleep timer sometime during one of the movies they were watching. She hadn't slept over since Kagome came to live here, so she doesn't know if anything changed. She looked at her charged phone to see it was close to be lunch time. She shook Nana awake and they both washed their faces before she changed into the set of clothes she left here the last time she slept over. SHe brushed her hair and they made it to the dinning room to see Naosuke, Kagome, and Nasaka sitting there.
"Where is mom and dad?" Nana asked as she took her seat.
"They went out on a date," Kagome answered. She smiled at them. "How did you sleep?"
"Pretty good. Fell asleep watching movies." The watched as the maid came in with food for them. They ate in relative silence, Nasaka chatting about how her morning was spent with Kagome. She was apparently learning how to meditate and find her center. Kagome seemed to give Naosuke a look and he nodded before going back to eating. When they were done Nasaka sprang from her seat and went towards Kagome.
"How about we go play, Nasaka," Naosuke said as he took her hand. She nodded, excited and chatted with him about all the games they could play.
"Nana, would you are your friend mind helping me with something." She looked at her sister and her friend. They looked at each other.
"Sure," Satsuki said. "I'm Satsuki, by the way."
"It's nice to meet you, Satsuki-chan," Kagome said with a smile. She moved towards the back and headed out after Kagome pulled her shoes on. Satsuki was surprised by the massive garden that seemed to take up a portion of the back yard. There was what seemed to be fruits, vegetables, herbs, and tea growing. She was surprised. Off to the side she could see a path that went into the distance and seemed to wrap around from the path on the other side she could see.
"Father had the perimeter of the lands paved when Kagome moved in since she likes to run around it," Nana explained. "He also got her everything she needed to start a garden."
"This is an extensive garden," Satsuki admitted. There were even flowers that weren't growing last time.
"I like gardening," Kagome said. She handed both girls a set of gloves while she went without. She liked the feel of earth beneath her hands and between her fingers. "I just need a little help checking for weeds and looking for ripe fruits and vegetables." The two nodded and pulled what they knew were weeds. They didn't know really how to tell if something was ripe so they watched as Kagome moved through the rows with a basket and pulled fresh tomatoes, peas and green beans, and bell pepper, zucchini. They watched as she moved through the herbs and tea, picking enough to do something with it, but not enough to kill the plants. She smiled at them and they moved into the house. The girls washed their hands and Kagome handed them some strawberries and blueberries.
"Fresh strawberries and blueberries. What do you think?" She asked as she stored the veggies away.
"They're so sweet and juicy!" Satsuki had juice dripping down her chin from taking a bite of a strawberry and was using a napkin to clean her face. Nana had popped a few blueberries in her mouth. None of them were tart.
"I haven't had anything this fresh before," Nana admitted. She took a bite of a strawberry, one hand under her chin to catch the juice that dripped down. She smiled and gave a slight giggle. Her eyes lit with glee.
Kagome smiled as they enjoyed the strawberries while she started the preparation to dry the blueberries, strawberries, herbs, tea leaves, and the hibiscus, rose petals, lavender, and jasmine.
"What are you doing?" Satsuki inquired.
"Drying these to make tea. Usually I have more ingredients, but I make due with what I have. It should make a good batch." They nodded as they finished the fruits.
"Nasaka said you have some instruments in your room," Nana brought up.
"Did you want to use any of them?" She looked to her sister as she set a timer.
"Can I look at them?" Kagome nodded and they followed her up the stairs and into her room. They entered her room to see the traditional aspect of the room. There was no television. There were several sitting areas and they saw the instruments in the corner of the room. Nana stepped forward and caressed the wood and strings of some of the instruments. She smiled. This was her element.
"You can use them if you want," Kagome offered.
"I don't know how to play them," she admitted.
"When you have time later, I wouldn't mind teaching you the basics." Kagome offered, seeing this as a chance she bond with her sister.
"I would really like that." She smiled back at her sister. She saw a container on the table and picked it up. She opened it and took a sniff. It was a masculine scent, but also clean. She liked it a lot.
"I forgot about that," Kagome admitted, looking at the containers as Nana closed it. "I was supposed to give that to Naosuke."
"What is it? It smelled good." She watched as Kagome picked up the containers.
"Homemade shampoo, conditioner and body scrub." She looked to her sister and her friend. "What brand of shampoo and conditioner do you use?"
"Tatsuya," they admitted. "We only use it because that is what our friends use. I don't really like it. It's dried out my hair." Satsuki nodded her agreement.
"If you give me a bit of time, I can put together some for you two. Think of it as a test for something I want to do in the future." Both nodded their consent.
"We'll be in my room," Nana said as they left her room.
Kagome had set Naosuke's hygiene products down and set to work making more of what she would use. It didn't take her long and she bottled them and moved towards her door. She opened it and knocked on her sister's door. It was opened and Nana took the four bottles from her and thanked her before going back into her room. Kagome got the other set of hygiene products and left them for her brother on his desk. She moved to the kitchen to finish blending the tea.