Please enjoy and please me a review! Thank you! -Samron
"So then this bitch has the audacity to tell me 'It's because of your hair, you look dangerous'!" Yusuke mocked a naggy voice as he continued to spill out his frustrations to Kuwabara.
"She blamed your hair? That's all she could think of?" Kuwabara laughed in annoyance.
"Yeah!" Yusuke threw up his arms, "So that dumb bat threw me out!" He shook his head as his eyes widened in annoyance.
"Jeez Urameshi, I'm sorry. I bet you're getting tired of that." He chuckled again; teasing him.
Yusuke glared at him as he mumbled something incoherent back toward him, now picking up his soda and drinking some. He then looked at Kurama, "You've probably never been kicked out of anything." He questioned curiously.
Kurama was distracted, he barely heard Yusuke's question. Now feeling guilty after realizing he was zoning out while with his friends. He looked up to him with full attention, ripping himself out of his own head. He faked a smile and laughed a little, "I actually have, just once though. It was a class; the teacher wouldn't accept that I was an attendee—due to how young I was."
"That tracks." Yusuke rolled his eyes and Kuwabara snickered. "Of course that's the only time people would question you."
Kuwabara laughed again, "Well, looks like we've all been kicked out of something then!" He smiled fully to Kurama.
Smiling back to his friend, Kurama mentally slapped himself. He'd been distracted for little while now. It was last weekend still lingering… after his time with Marshall he'd been a bit down, oddly enough. He sighed quietly to himself as the guilt filled him once more, regretting ever submitting to his heat. He knew he had no choice, but his guilt kept him stuck in a perpetual cycle of kicking himself. He was able to quiet it some by using logic to justify his actions, but it would just start again quickly after because there was plenty he could have avoided.
First off, the fact he stupidly fell asleep with Marshall holding him. Then waking and letting the man enjoy his body for a second time… Kurama allowed himself to give into his humanly lust, and it in turn added complications and levels to something that was meant to be quick and shallow. He'd been stuck on the reasonings behind why he did that?
Why did he do that?
And then his lack in control before leaving… he still wasn't entirely sure, or he was in denial, but he was angry. Maybe at Marshall, but maybe the anger was hiding something? Regardless, he was upset with how things ended so he took out his frustrations on Marshall. In a way that he'd never acted towards any human before, or… really, to anyone since being born into this world. He hated being embarrassed, and after taking care of his heat like planned, he stepped out of line. Which in turn, ended up in him embarrassing himself.
What a fool he was.
And there was no grace to give to himself, as usual. The only comfort was that no one knew, so he was in the clear there. He could continue acting as though it didn't happen. But, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone might find out—and, he couldn't stop the guilt. He really left Marshall in the worst way. He'd never had such an inner struggle with these emotions in such a small amount of time before. His logical side argued that maybe he actually liked the man, and that's why he was struggling so much. But his emotional, prideful side, would deny that until—
"Hello?" Yusuke waved his hand close to Kurama's face, he felt the wind from it.
He perked up to look at him, making a face of apology as he laughed awkwardly again. "Forgive me, I must have not slept well last night. I'm a bit tired." He lied so they wouldn't question. "What did you say?"
Yusuke eyed him, not buying it. "I was saying that it was nice getting lunch with you guys." He stared a bit longer, making sure Kurama was okay.
He smiled, ignoring Yusuke's lingering eyes. "Yes, I've enjoyed these lunch dates. They're refreshing, and of course seeing you two more often is quite pleasant." He looked to Kuwabara too.
"Same." Kuwabara smirked back in response as he gave Kurama a thumbs up.
"But Kuwabara and I were gonna go see a movie; did you wanna join?" Yusuke looked hopeful.
He glanced at his watch. "I have my meeting with my father, remember?" He knew he'd told him that before joining them today… but, Yusuke had a habit of pretending to forget other's plans.
He immediately rolled his eyes as he threw a hand up. "Uggh, can't you tell your stepdad you're not interested? Then you could come with!" He grinned.
"That would be very rude, Yusuke."
"But you aren't interested." He reminded him.
He chuckled out. "It's still rude."
Kuwabara laughed too. "Leave 'em alone Urameshi, you know Kurama's not an asshole like you."
"Or you." Yusuke growled back to him with a glare.
…If they'd only known what he'd done last weekend…
Kurama looked away—his mind distracting him again. They were enjoying each other's company, and even though he was glad to see them, it was hard for him to focus today. And he wasn't quite sure why. It was the first time seeing them since he'd fixed his issues… so, maybe he was ashamed?
"Well, your loss. It's gonna be a good movie." He grinned at Kuwabara.
He smiled back with excitement. "I sure hope so! I've waited for this one for so long."
Kurama needed to go, so he'd try his best to act normally in his last few moments of their visit. Hopefully by this time next week he'll feel better. "Is this the odd one about the snake man?" He looked between the two while sipping his water.
Yusuke laughed a bit too loud as he hit the tabletop with excitement. "Kurama! You're so out of touch! His name is The Blue Cobra! We've told you this—and yes, this is the final one!"
Kurama smiled, proud he messed it up properly, now laughing along with Yusuke. "Oh, right." Then he set his cup down and stood, smiling to them both. "I be off then."
"Good luck, Kurama! We'll see you later." Kuwabara waved as he sipped his soda.
Yusuke stood too as he swallowed another bite of food. "I'll walk you to the station."
"You don't need t—"
"It's just across the street. Chill." Yusuke mumble, then glanced at Kuwabara, "Be right back."
"Okie Doke."
Now they waited at the stop light, and Kurama found himself at a loss of words. He liked to keep conversation, but at the moment he was too preoccupied with this meeting with this father, last week, and just overall life going in directions he hadn't hoped.
'Beep-boop'
'Beep-boop'
'Beep-boop'
The stop light bleeped, and they both began to cross the busy street. "You good bud?" Yusuke looked to him, obviously coming along to check in.
Kurama sighed to himself, frustrated that Yusuke noticed at all. "Yes I'm fine." He smiled to him.
Yusuke frowned, "Just tired?" His voice told Kurama he didn't buy it.
"I think so…" He glanced to him, "And preoccupied."
"Anything I can help with? I'm down to listen if you wanna talk." He spoke gently, in the way he really only spoke to Kurama when they were alone.
He clearly noted Kurama was distracted, which it was nice knowing his friend cared for him. But the detriment that would come to him if Yusuke had found out what he'd done last week… would probably ruin something inside him. He could never tell anyone he'd done that—and that right there made his heart jerk. Anxiety hit him, and he felt anger as he realized that even though he had to, and knew that, planned accordingly, and followed through with what he sought after. He couldn't share the weight of the rules he was forced to adhere to, due to his own pride. It wasn't his fault he had to go through his heat, but it was his fault that he was too prideful to ever speak of it—or what it did to him.
"I'm really fine, thank you, Yusuke." He smiled to him, trying harder to come off more genuine. "Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight."
He eyed Kurama again as they approached the ticket gates. "Okay." He huffed out as he put his hands in his pockets. "But don't forget, I got you if you need to talk." He smirked.
"I appreciate that."
Now Kurama was on the train staring at the ground as he allowed his mind to rest before seeing his father. This meeting was another attempt at Kazuya trying to convince him to take on larger responsibilities in his business. Kurama appreciate being treated like his son, but he wasn't entirely interested in taking over any portion of the company. Besides, Shuichi would do wonderfully once he finished his business degree. The work he Kurama had done with the company thus far has been good, enjoyable even, but he never really saw himself as a COO or even a Director of a jewelry company or really a business man for that fact.
His father saw the potential in Kurama and was being smart to try to get him involved—
Kurama's thoughts were interrupted as his eyes shot up to the annoying oppression of some stranger's eyes. It was a pudgier man who was a few people away from him, Kurama could easily hear his bated breath that huffed out of his parted lips and could smell his obnoxious cologne, even from where he stood. He felt himself prickle as he set his teeth, the man didn't avert his eyes even after Kurama glared. The man was tensed so Kurama followed his arm down, now noticing that he had placed his shoulder bag in front of himself in order to hide his hand that was in his pants, moving in a disturbing manner. Snarling openly, Kurama looked away as he tried his best to ignore the pervert who was sexually gratifying himself publicly. This didn't happen often, but he always enjoyed imagining slicing the arms off of these types of people.
Thankfully this was his stop, because he wasn't sure he couldn't handle hearing those grunts any longer.
Once he arrived he entered the large building, and into the elevator. There were several other businessmen in the elevator with him, and per usual the men didn't dare to look his way. Which was refreshing after what just happened on the train. People in this line of work, especially older men, were intimidated by Kurama due to his appearance. This building was large enough and had plenty of other companies occupying it. So it was nice that not everyone knew he was Hatanaka's son.
He normally dressed in in usual manner, but since today was an official meeting he decided to wear his high waisted business pants that opened up into a wider leg as they moved down. The grey pants fit his hips and butt tighter, then got looser as they widened—they were reminiscent of traditional Japanese pants, so he enjoyed the style. His shirt was a simple white button up made out of silk, it was a tighter fit and was tucked into his pants. He buttoned it up all the way to the Mao collar, which again he enjoyed because of the traditional style, and he rolled the sleeves up to elbows due to the hot day. His favorite part of the shirt was the beautiful golden arabesque embroidery that detailed the collar. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail in order to show off his collar, and hopefully come off a little more professional as well.
He made it to his father's floor, and the receptionist perked up immediately.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Minamino!" She smiled, pleasant like usual.
He smiled to her and approached the desk. "Good afternoon Miss Kagero."
"How are you doing today?"
"—Ahh.." He chuckled, trying to shake the nasty image of that man out of his mind.
She raised her eyebrows, surprised he didn't answer in his typical manner. "Did something happen?"
"Heh. Just some degenerate on the train… things you can't unsee." He made a face to her, attempting to lighten the mood.
She grimaced, "Oh gosh, a perv? I'm sorry. Those guys are so gross and pathetic—he didn't get you did he?"
Kurama chuckled. "Thankfully he was too far to touch me, but I saw enough." He frowned.
"Ew." She frowned too.
"Indeed. Is my father ready for me?" Enough on that.
"Oh, right, yes! He's got someone in there with him, but he said to go ahead and send you in when you arrive."
"Interesting, he's sure?" He didn't say anyone else would be in the meeting with them, but maybe it was just a random friend stopping in.
"Yeah he said it's no problem. Go on in." She waved him off with a sweet smile.
He chuckled. "Alright. Thank you, Miss Kagero."
"You got it." she said as he walked off, getting back to her own work quickly.
He went down the hallway, past other offices until he got to the big door at the end that had his father's name on it. Then reached up to knock on it with his knuckle.
"Come in!" He heard Kazuya say.
He opened up the door and walked in, seeing a larger man on one of the couches in the office. He had had one leg resting on his knee and his blazer was unbuttoned, sitting rather comfortably. They had probably been talking a while, because Kazuya was also sitting but he tended to always stay ready. So he of course was already standing and adjusting his jacket to greet Kurama.
"There you are. How are you?" He smiled as he opened one arm out to invite him over.
The large man eyed Kurama with the typical surprise that people displayed when meeting him as he stood, buttoning his blazer jacket, and quickly slicking back his black wavey hair. His skin was a dark olive, and he had beautiful chocolate eyes. When he smiled it made him look way less intimidating and his perfectly white teeth just made him look extremely put together. Especially with the expensive suit he was wearing. Kurama could only guess how much money that thing cost.
"Hello." Kurama approached.
"Shuichi, this is Mr. Dean Capo." Kazuya said.
Looking to the man, Kurama smiled and reach his hand out. "Nice to meet you, I'm Shuichi Minamino." They shook hands.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Shuichi." His voice was deep, but kind, and Kurama could hear a bit of an accent. "Kazuya, you definitely aren't the one who gave your son his beautiful features." He teased Kazuya and was obviously taken aback by Kurama's appearance. "I apologize, I wasn't expecting you to be so beautifully handsome." He looked him up and down in an appropriate manner, then made a face with a nod.
Kurama raised his eyebrows, surprised this man was so direct, but he still humored him with a courtesy laugh. "Thank you."
Kazuya laughed, waving his hand nervously. "Oh no, this isn't my Shuichi—this is Shiori's Shuichi." He laughed again, "He definitely got his looks from his mother." now smiling proudly. Kurama knew Kazuya understood how different he looked, but never treated him differently for it. It was clear he wasn't entirely sure how to handle it and the subject made him uncomfortable, and he'd get angry if anyone ever overstepped—which didn't bother Kurama.
"Ah…" Dean nodded. "Well, now I need to meet Shiori. She must be quite pleasant from all you've said." He smiled fully.
That made Kurama immediately like this man more than the average stranger. He seemed genuine, and complimenting his mother always earned people points. He was also happy to hear Kazuya talking so wonderfully about his mother, per usual.
"I'm sure she would enjoy meeting you." Kazuya smiled shyly, clearly thinking about her.
"So what brings you in to see my father today, Mr. Capo?" Kurama questioned.
"Oh please." He put his hand up, "Call me Dean. And, he asked me to stop by to meet you." He glanced at Kazuya.
Kurama looked to Kazuya curiously, "Oh, did he?"
Kazuya nodded. "Yes, Shuichi. I thought you may be interested in what Mr. Capo and his company does."
"We make natural cosmetics. All from plants, and organic ingredients. Mainly colognes, perfumes, and skin products at the moment. But we are growing fast, and one day hope to lean into the medicinal umbrella as well." He spoke professionally, "Your father tells me you're a bit of a botanist yourself?"
This was surprising. But, it did make sense that Kazuya would come in with an ace of spades to try to entice Kurama into getting more involved with his business. He assumed he could sense his disinterest in committing to the company.
"Oh, that's intriguing. And yes, my second major was Biological Science with a Botany concentration." He feigned interested to be polite.
"Second?" He looked to Kazuya with surprise.
"Yes! Shuichi is highly intelligent. He was an honors student, graduated his university at age twenty with a double major, they allowed him a minor as well. Then he went back for more and got his master's degree, which he graduated just last year with. All while working and learning business part-time, with me." He bragged professionally. "Not much to teach someone who seems to already know everything though." He smirked as he glanced to Kurama.
Looking down, Kurama sighed quietly. "Father." He smiled.
"Oh my God, that's very impressive." Dean looked genuinely stunned as he glanced to Kurama as well.
Kazuya chuckled out, "It really it. He impresses me every day with the life he's lived. I'm proud to have such a stepson." He smiled. "He's also currently working on getting accepted into a PhD program, isn't that right Shuichi?" He checked with him.
Kurama felt goofy standing there while Kazuya continued on about him, but clearly he was selling him some to this Dean guy. He smiled awkwardly but nodded to Kazuya. "Yes, that's correct. I'm still waiting to hear back if I'm accepted or not." What was he trying…
Dean looked extremely impressed. "And what is that program you hope to study?"
Kurama smiled gently this time, hesitating for a second. "Cellular Biophysics." He scratched the back of his neck.
"Oh. Wow." He looked intrigued. "You're father wasn't kidding." He laughed.
Kurama looked to Kazuya expectantly, now he knew he was trying to sell him as a potential business partner to this guy. Kazuya barely glanced toward Kurama's gaze, then spoke again. "It's like I told you. His credentials are perfectly tailored to your company's needs."
"And your other studies were…?" Dean asked.
"My first major was Organic Chemistry, my minor was in General Physics, and my masters was in Biophysics." He said more robotically this time, not wanting be involved in this buildup of himself.
"Amazing." Dean stared at Kurama, obviously taken back.
"I'd love my co-founder and team to meet him as well. Would you mind another meeting sometime soon, possibly?"
"Not at all." Kazuya tried to hide his excitement then looked to Kurama. "I do think you may find their work quite interesting Shuichi; would you humor me as your father and boss?"
He was really putting it on. He hadn't pushed Kurama like this until today, so that alone made him a little interested just due to his father being as pushy as he was being. "It wouldn't hurt." He gave in, still not entirely sure himself about what he wanted his future to be.
"That's great." Kazuya looked relieved and surprised all at once—then smiled to Dean.
Dean smirked to Kurama, then gave his attention back to Kazuya. "We… actually have a meeting with a potential investor tomorrow, my colleagues will be doing a simplistic pitch for them. It would give you a bit of a summary on who we are. If you two are interested, my co-founder and I would love to have the Hatanaka name included."
Kazuya seemed pleased, "How does that sound, Shuichi?" He was hopeful.
He barely committed to a future meeting, but now he was going to be involved in a company's pitch deal for investors? He felt a bit annoyed by the quick movement by Dean, but… he clearly was interested in Kurama's skillset. So, of course he'd try to get this in motion quickly.
"I'm interested." He nodded, more for his father's sake, but he had to admit he was curious.
"Great!" Dean shook both their hands again and nodded to Kurama. "It was nice meeting you, and I look forward to learning more about you! You both have a lovely day."
"You too." Kazuya said as he walked him to the door, then shut it after he left.
Kurama sighed. "I thought this was a meeting between the two of us?"
"It was meant to be, but Dean came by, and I wanted you to meet him eventually… so, it worked out." He shrugged.
"Father, I'm flattered. But you know I'm not sure what I hope for in the future. I may not want to be in business forever."
He nodded, barely acknowledging what he said. He tended to ignore vague statements when Kurama made them, because he knew Kurama would speak up if he was serious. This was one of the two subjects that unfortunately brought a bit of tension between the two of them. The other was Kurama's lifestyle outside of home, school, and work. Kazuya always expected to be caught up on the happenings of his family member's lives but Kurama tended to keep to himself and often didn't come home, and usually without a heads up. Shiori had always been okay with it because she trusted Kurama and knew he was smart and could take care of himself, but with Kazuya being so formal he still had a rough time accepting how Kurama interacted, or didn't, interact with them.
"We'll still have our meeting, but for now I do need to kind of humor them. They're an up and coming company that would be stupid to ignore, so a potential collaboration with them is big. They're young, but Dean seems highly intelligent along with his business partners. I know you can admire that." He gave him a hopeful look.
Kurama sighed, then nodded. Even if he didn't stick with his father's company, he could at least help him get things going for the better of it all in order to help the future of his mother and stepbrother. So, for now while he was here, he didn't see anything wrong with trying to help better the business. "I'll humor them with you." He smiled, relieved they didn't argue today.
Kazuya sighed in relief, "Great." Then he smiled too. "How was lunch with your friends?" He relaxed a bit as he walked over to his desk to sit down, now beginning to stack up some paperwork.
"Good." Kurama relaxed too, now walking to look out Kazuya's office window. "Kazuma plans to propose to Yukina this week."
"Ah really?" He forced a smile for Kurama. "That's great, you should tell him congratulations for me." He stayed busy with his paperwork. "…and Yusuke?" He forced himself to speak lightheartedly. Kurama knew he didn't approve of Yusuke at all, but he had yet to tell Kurama—so he'd continue to play oblivious.
"He's great." He smiled over to him, "Working a lot, I think he's trying to stay busy since his girlfriend left."
"Hmm. It's been almost six months, poor guy." He said a little gentler now.
Kurama felt his expression soften, and then nodded. "Yes, I feel bad for him."
They chatted a bit more, then finally had their meeting. Which was more of their typical ones of catching up on how the business was doing. Kurama had realized maybe this meeting was more of a setup to get him interested in Dean's business. He knew his father and believed that the man did just happened to stop by, which made him think about it a bit more after leaving his father's office.
"How was your time with your father, Shuichi?" Miss Kagero asked, pleasant as always.
He smiled to her, approaching the desk. "Longer than expected. And, I was ambushed." He joked while he chuckled out.
"Ohhh." She laughed, "Is that why Mr. Capo was here?"
"I believe so. Has he come around often?"
"More recently these last few months." She nodded, then put her finger to her mouth so he wouldn't get her in trouble for gossiping.
"I see." Kurama twisted his lips in annoyance, realizing his father was sneaky himself.
"Mr. Capo, and his colleagues are all great though! I wouldn't shut them down too quick, the other two I've met are quite nice. And Mr. Capo's co-founder is very handsome." She said softly as she held her cheek, reminiscing.
"You're not into Italians?" He joked.
She laughed quietly and held her hands up. "Oh don't get me wrong, Mr. Capo is extremely handsome himself. But there was just something about the guy that was very nice." She giggled.
He laughed at her silliness, enjoying having at least one friend here that was closer to his age. "Well, we may be getting more involved with them. So, you've got more to look forward to."
"And my job just continues to get better." She grinned jokingly, "But really, I'm glad so far your father has shown he's great with choosing people with good character."
"I guess that's why he hired you." Kurama did really like her.
"Aww, you're so sweet." She smiled, not ever seeming flirty with him—another reason Kurama liked her. "And back at you."
He nodded in thanks. "Have a great day, Miss Kagero."
She waved to him as she turned to greet another person coming into the main lobby. Kurama got onto the elevator. He was glad the meeting was over, but it had gone exactly opposite of how he intended. But, he had to give it time and see how things played out. Maybe the meeting tomorrow would have something that would catch his interest.