RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Twelve: Why Are You So Familiar?

9th Century in Japan (Kyoto, Shin's Empire)

***the account below is a brief narrative of what construed during the existence of Emperor Shin***

There were only two men who had been ever truly trusted by the late renowned Emperor Shin of the 9th Century Japan. Two men whom he had fully depended on in regards to all the safety concerns and the protection of his entire empire during his ruling until the last moments before he had been assassinated. And although the loyalty towards him had been deemed questionable given the tragic nature of his death, Emperor Shin had been still very sure that both of these two men would always stay loyal, if not to him, at least to their own country.

And yes, there was no doubt on that part in their allegiance to prioritize the welfare and comfort of their fellowmen. These two men, who had been General Rei and General Kaoru respectively, did all of their best in making sure that the entire nation was completely safe and peaceful.

Emperor Shin was obviously proud and even much more complacent that he had also trusted these two men in independently deciding for what they must implement in strengthening their huge numbers of the army even without directly asking for the Emperor's own instructions. Emperor Shin knew that in that aspect, he was never going to be disappointed in relying on the efforts of the two greatest generals of his era, Rei and Kaoru.

They had grown together, fought together, worked together, and survived together. It might not be the type of comradeship that you could consider normal, but they trusted still each other for various reasons. And even when that trust had been intensely built from a lot of serious doubts, deep envy, dirty secrets, painful stones, dripping sweat, spurting blood, and superficial words, they never really needed the approval nor any kind of conversations with each other to prove their integrity for the nation. They already knew what to do and what not to do, adapting their own selves to work simultaneously and coordinately complement with one another. 

And to these three, putting all the dark feelings and ugly contempt aside, only one thing had always been extremely crucial and most significant to all of them: and that was REPUTATION.

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PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

She was taking too long inside the comfort room.

This has been the ongoing dilemma, as Kyouhei Kurosaki started to get too restless while he kept glancing towards where the comfort rooms had been located at. He felt too out of place there, the longer he just stood alone on the sidelines, sipping wine to conceal his awkwardness, and blending in the background while watching all those people continue with their own normal talks and business conversations. For quite a long while, he felt bored but he cannot go away as he had been waiting for Yuko to return.

Where is she? Kyouhei deeply thought the moment he then noticed how long he had been just standing there now. 

He was unconsciously frowning while he contemplated checking if she had already gone back to the crowd and was just strolling around talking to other people now. Maybe she had thought she did not have to stay with him anymore. Yet Kyouhei was still not convinced with that whole conclusion yet. Yuko was not the type to just leave him be in an event without giving him proper instructions of what he would do next while she will be away first. So he decided to go near the hallway where the comfort rooms were. 

In the first few minutes of the party, Kyouhei already noticed that there was a separate junction near the entryway that led the guests to another smaller hallway with the comfort rooms. He even kept checking the area from the distance, since the minute Yuko had left, and he had not yet seen Yuko came back from there yet. Kyouhei was about to walk his way there when he was suddenly blocked by none other than Ami Komatsu again, smiling up to him as she successfully stopped him in his tracks.

Kyouhei was taken aback and he looked at her with a startled face.

"Found you again," she casually said to him, her eyes fluttering as she spoke with a warm smile, "Why isn't a young charming guy like you dancing out there?"

It was pretty clear that Ami Komatsu was trying to insinuate something more in her words when she had told him that. And Kyouhei was not that dumb to not even get what she truly meant. He could read the way her eyes stare right into his, the way she was leaning closer, mouth slightly parted, and the way she was invading his own personal bubble, she was expecting him to ask her to dance.

In plain sight, this was basically a social scenario of flirting in his textbook, at least, in terms of his own expectations. Since in the past occasions whenever he had to engage himself in a rather quite bit of personal interactions with women in some certain circumstances, Kyouhei had fairly learned a lot of things from all of it. From the smiling, giggling, leaning forward, a little pause while staring right into each other's eyes, a little touching, and to the use of some sweet compliments, he had enough grasp of how to handle it.

And at times, Yuko would even teach and give him some advice about it--a simple tip about the flirting and all kinds of stuff related to that too. And based on what he had accumulated for his knowledge and understanding throughout those several experiences he had, for Kyouhei, this was clearly an invitation.

And he knew this was a really big deal because this is freaking Ami Komatsu that he was talking to. He should never screw this up and just thinking about that was totally getting him so nervous only to make sure he will never mess this up.

"Well, I, I was not really sure who to ask," Kyouhei tried to smoothly even out a good enough reason as he replied to her in vainness, "I haven't had enough time to be familiar with the ladies."

"Really?" Ami suddenly chuckled, raising an eyebrow at him as she stepped closer. A little too close for Kyouhei, actually, and he tried not to be too stiff nor even to mind it anyhow.

"What am I then?" Ami added in a suggestive smirk after a short pause while she partially smirked. Kyouhei just sheepishly smiled. It was already too obvious that she was giving him all of these provocative clues. And as he gave her this slightly lingering gaze, Kyouhei tried to look extremely flattered after hearing what she just said.

"Would you like to dance with me, Miss Komatsu?"

"I'll be very glad to," she quickly agreed, grinning wider. Then she raised her hand, with her palm down and Kyouhei just took it as he guided her towards the dancefloor.

It felt like a surreal dream, to be honest. He was never really hoping she would even go and talk to him again. She was this so huge, really just larger-than-life personality with this extremely flashy and magnetic charisma surrounding her that could pull any man towards her direction. And she certainly knew how to play around with that. She was totally in the game.

Kyouhei suddenly felt the need to be assured as he discreetly looked for any signs of Yuko's presence in the crowd around them. He knew that he should be careful although it was quite a blessing for him too. He just could not help but take pride in it. He had to admit, it felt extremely good being the very subject of this very gorgeous woman's attention and smiles.

The song that was playing in the background was a sweet instrumental string rendition of "Fly Me To The Moon". It really set a very cozy atmosphere in the whole place. Kyouhei could not feel his entire body but fortunately, his muscle moved very well through its memory. There was not much pressure to be good at dancing but it made him try to impress her a little. It was like he was stuck in such a bizarre dream. Then a certain blurry image of another woman flashed right in front of him, overlapping Ami's face.

It was creepy, but he had been drinking not that long ago so he had thought he just imagined it. Then he was suddenly pulling her closer, his arm moving around her back, like something was involuntarily taking control over his actions. Ami did not even feel any bit of discomfort as she just tilted her head up slightly, looking straight into his eyes and he immediately felt that sizzle.

It was hypnotic and he was starting to feel drawn towards the entire moment as if he had been intoxicated. He was so swept away by the combination of the sweet music, the comfy mood, Ami's dazzling eyes, and that feeling of her warmth against his… it was tempting. But Kyouhei could not still get this one single thing out of his head.

Like a warning sign with that annoying alarm ringing through his ears, he was disturbed but at the same time, relieved that it was there. It was actually a reminder of Yuko's voice warning him not to get too close to Komatsu. Yuko's familiar face kept panning in and out of his mind. And for some reason, something deep inside him was starting to make him think about it too much.

Like an omen, either for good or for bad, Kyouhei held onto that very thought of her while being unconsciously trapped into that dance with Ami, because he knew he had to be careful. And because he had always trusted Yuko more than anyone else in the world.

He knew he had to follow her, at all costs. No questions asked.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Thirteen