RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Seventeen: Enemies or Allies?

PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

How did it end up here? 

This was awkward.

Yuko Amazawa kept her back straight as she put the best smile she could ever muster on her face and looked across the table with a pretentious appreciation. She slowly took a spoonful of soup served hot in front of her and gently sipped it while trying to keep up the façade. This was totally awkward. She subtly stole a glance at where Kyouhei Kurosaki sat on the other side of the table beside Ami Komatsu. Yes. They were having this odd lunch meeting with her, for some reason. But this was not just the three of them there, Osamu Sato was also present, sitting beside Yuko...

"This soup tastes good," Osamu suddenly remarked, breaking the ice as he smiled at the three of them. Though his timing was kind of off, it was much better than enduring the creepy silence drowning their table.

"I agree," Kyouhei responded after a moment, trying to sound delighted with a half-assed grin on his face. "Thanks for recommending this Komatsu-san."

"My pleasure," Ami said with a big smile as she glanced at both Osamu and Kyouhei, "And it's okay to call me Ami now. I really would not mind, Kurosaki-kun. Let's drop the honorifics."

Yuko's jaw immediately hardened upon hearing that. Osamu gulped and Kyouhei gaped. The silence went back. And this time, it was deafening. What more could even make this all insanely awkward now? Osamu felt a sudden rise of tension filling up the air around them as he carefully looked at Ami with cautious eyes. She looked rather oblivious but despite her innocent face and dazzling smile, Osamu felt a bit suspicious. This was really awkward.

How did it end up here again?

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TWO DAYS AGO... PRESENT, 2020 (TOKYO)

Kyouhei Kurosaki picked up the phone that early afternoon, unaware of the unknown caller who just dialed him up. He briefly introduced himself as soon as he answered and heard the static went into a cut as a female voice came in, greeting him back.

"Hello, Kurosaki-san, this is Komatsu Ami."

Kyouhei felt his heart stopped when he heard his voice and her name, but not because of extreme delight. He was suddenly just anxious and he quickly stood up from his seat in front of his office desk, making a few of the folders and papers on top of it fell down on the floor.

"K-K-Komatsu-san?" he stammered a reply as he fidgeted on his tie, suddenly struggling to breathe normally. "H-how are you doing? Why did you call?"

He had not even remembered giving her his number too, but knowing how much she was now committed to sponsoring their party list for the upcoming elections, she probably had her ways for that. He was no longer surprised. He was just extremely nervous and very unsure of where this was all leading to... He still had not even informed Yuko about her yet.

"Are you free this weekend?" 

Her question sprung out unexpectedly, and Kyouhei almost choked after hearing that. Panicking, he tried to come up with a good response. He can't possibly reject her straight-up, can he? But he cannot also just casually say yes to that... He can't ask for time to look into it, she might feel like he was trying to avoid her. He cannot afford to make her upset as well. Man, the pressure was starting to make Kyouhei dizzy as he thought hard and incessantly for a good enough answer.

"Kurosaki-san?"

"T-this w-weekend, you say?" he circled around, still thinking. "Uhm... what about this weekend? Is there something important?"

He smoothly dodged that, but he was still frazzled and bothered about what to expect from her side. 

"I was thinking if we could meet up for lunch? I have a few things I would want to discuss with you. Are you free on Saturday?" She smoothly asked and explained after a second, giving Kyouhei enough time to gather his wits and ponder over a valid reply that he could give her.

"Ye-yeah. Yes, I can go," Kyouhei hastily answered, "We can meet for lunch. But there's just one thing, Komatsu-san."

"One thing?" Ami inquired, curious. "What is it?"

"Since it could be about business, I would have to bring Amazawa-san," Kyouhei simply clarified, giving himself a high-five for thinking fast, "She mostly handles my negotiations so it might be better if you could also discuss it with her."

"Oh, the woman from the party right?" Ami retorted, "Your publicist?"

"Yes, yes," Kyouhei eagerly agreed, slightly getting relaxed as he went on, "She will be free on that day too. I will let her know."

"Okay. That will be great," He heard her willingly obliging, without skipping abeat. And Kyouhei immediately felt utterly relieved, "Then, it's settled. Saturday for lunch, okay?"

"Okay."

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"And you just agreed to go on Saturday, without even consulting me first about it?"

Kyouhei had decided to come up clear with Yuko Amazawa that late afternoon on the same day he had received Ami's unexpected phone call. He might have done another thing in an impulse, but at least he knew he was doing it for the benefit of all. And so, deciding that it would also be much better to meet Yuko at her office in person rather than telling it all over the phone, Kyouhei submissively stood a short distance away from Yuko's desk, his head partially bent low as he waited for her verdict.

"Did she say anything else that could further explain what business she would want to discuss with us?" Yuko curiously asked. Recently discovering things about Ami Komatsu changed a lot on how Yuko would want to interact with her. She was still not sure yet of what to make of her from all the things she learned from Osamu and his sources. They had to be careful, but now that Ami had started to fund Kyouhei's campaign and promotions by directly connecting herself with the Socio-Liberal party list, it certainly made things much more complicated... in a way.

It was like putting two birds and trying to hit them with one stone... Even when that kind of logic was a bit twisted, Yuko felt like she was being trapped in a dangerous dilemma but at the same time, still earning an advantage from it. Either way, it was still risky.

"She did not mention anything much about what sort of business it was," Kyouhei replied, "She just called out of the blue and I did not know what to say to her. I just kind of threw you in there because I knew it would be a safer bet."

"Alright, alright, alright," Yuko muttered back, clicking her tongue as she started thinking of a good plan. This was like going out to battle with not much of a strategy.

But good thing, she could think fast when put under pressure... Cause another brilliant plan just suddenly came up.

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839 AD, 9th Century of Japan (Kyoto)

After meeting his soon-to-be-wife, crowned prince Shin was all over the moon, thinking about her and looking forward to seeing her again. It was like he was suddenly a completely different person. And as the days passed by, he was getting more anxious and restless to meet her. Until one time, he found himself sneaking out of the palace to stroll around the capital and see where Aoi lived.

At the time, he was under disguise and was very eager to see even just a glimpse of her. He heard things about her from some of his servants that he had asked from, and the only thing he had gotten from them was that she likes strolling around the capital and that she is also Rei's cousin. Though he did not particularly like that part that she was related to his nemesis, it still did not stop Prince Shin from pursuing the young lady. He really wanted to see her again and so that was why he was now out here on his mission to look everywhere for her. Unfortunately, the village was too big for him to search through. It was already two hours since he had walked all over the streets and he still had not seen anything interesting for him.

By the time he got tired, he found himself resting on a secluded spot by the big garden near the plaza. The place was famous for being a hot spot for lovers and kids. It was like a park, with the small bridge over the stream that flows through the center of the garden. Prince Shin was trying to relieve his exhaustion as he looked around and watched the entirety of the scene before him. The sun was almost on its way to set down when from afar, Prince Shin finally saw it.

It was almost like he had a radar. And it just zoomed in, he quickly saw her and for some reason, it was like she was being highlighted by a bright halo behind her that Prince Shin almost failed to recognize who she was walking with...

And when he did notice who was actually the person beside her, his entire mood went from being spirited to being ominously dark in a snap of a finger. He was already scowling as he tried to hide behind the tree near where he was hanging around. He kept a watchful eye on them and saw Aoi laughing at something that bastard told her.

It was killing him... Yet Shin knew he can't really do anything much about it. She was close but not close enough for him to let her know of his presence. Because that damn Rei was also there...

And that just made Shin hate him even more.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Eighteen