RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Five: This Is Never Going To Be Romantic

Two days after her lunch meeting with the schmuck, Yuko Amazawa found herself stuck in an interminable fiasco.

For the past week that she had been trying to reach and ask for an appointment with Osamu Sato, she had been already rejected by his office for the complete five attempts. The first three had been done by her assistants who were all equally stressed out after being strongly dismissed or put on hold for hours. The last two were finally done by Yuko herself which, on the other hand, had only ended worse. She was not even given the chance to say the reason why she had called. 

Yuko finally felt the annoying pressure of this challenge to her. She had never really thought it was going to be this hard to please the spoiled well-bred son. In fact, she never even had been rejected this too many times in the years that she had been working in this industry.

That damn Osamu Sato. Why was he being so picky?

Yuko could only scowl as she let go of the task she was doing over her table inside her office and decided to take a short break for a while. She turned on her chair to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows behind her and let the view of the city give her some temporary kind of distraction. At twenty-six years old, Yuko finally felt extremely exhausted the very first time and she completely realized how it is to be severely disappointed when things never go your way.

Of course, she had already been used to the frequent troubles that Kyouhei does and gives her, and even knew how difficult it was to work from the lowest and pursue to get to the top. She had been through a lot, but for some reason, this entire chore with that Osamu Sato was making her feel these sort of ugly feelings. As if she was not doing enough... And her efforts were always lacking.

She was being sentimental... And she hated it.

Admitting to that, Yuko tried to erase all those unwanted thoughts away but before she could even force herself to get a short nap, someone suddenly entered her room.

"Come back later," Yuko commanded right away, not even bothering to ask what was it going to be, "I need to rest for a moment."

"Hard day at work?"

The moment she heard the voice she quickly sat up straight and turned around to look at the person who was standing by her doorway. She immediately made a scowl and sneered at the presence of the person. As it turned out, this day was getting worse than she could ever really tolerate.

"Aren't you supposed to be in your office with the Socio-Liberal Party members?"

The Socio-Liberal Party is the name of Kyouhei Kurosaki's party list and the one he represents in the Lower House of the National Diet (Japan's bicameral legislature). He had been under his service for only a few months since he had been given the post, but even with such a premature experience, Kyouhei had already been making a prominent name in the circle. At least, for a young passionate political personality that he was, especially at times that he had ended up having his name published in several articles and controversial issues in the past year, he was being recognized by a lot.

 "We concluded the meeting earlier than expected," Kyouhei explained, settling himself down on the couch while he looked at Yuko across the room. He was wearing this kind of expression on his face that made Yuko felt a little uncomfortable, "It's my day off tomorrow."

Same as hers. Coincidentally, it was also going to be her day-off tomorrow. So what was he trying to say by bringing that up?

"That's good to know," Yuko coldly remark with a shrug of her shoulders, "But I don't care. Do whatever you like just don't add more troubles this time."

"Let's have some dinner tonight," Kyouhei insisted, and Yuko abruptly gaped and stared at him as if he had grown two heads. She almost snorted but resisted as she tried to absorb what he just told her.

"What the hell are you saying?" she, later on, replied, feeling quite bothered at this strange atmosphere between them.

"Dinner," Kyouhei dumbly repeated, not even missing a beat, "At my place. My treat."

What? Yuko started laughing, a weird sound coming out of her mouth as she shook her head at him, feigning interest. Was he nuts?

"You surprisingly seemed to be taking all this well, Yuko-san. Is that yes, then?" Kyouhei brazenly remarked with a presumptuous grin.

"Are you insane?" Yuko bit back, sneering, "What even made you think I'd say yes to that? We aren't in that sort of relationship to even have some cozy private dinner at your place."

And come to think of it, this was also the very first time he had voluntarily asked her to come to his place. In the past seven years that they had been working together and got acquainted, they had never really crossed that line of this platonic relationship. All of their engagements and meetings were done outside and at restaurants or in her office. Never had even once she was asked to meet him during free days. This was weird, and she did not like the entire idea of it now.

"Then it's a friendly, not-so-romantic dinner. Have it your way, but let's set that right up," Kyouhei persisted, and judging by his face, he was not going to back down. And this was beyond ridiculous. What was he trying to do right now? What the hell was this?

"I'm not going," Yuko quickly stated, watching as Kyouhei was preparing to leave her office after his quick and disruptive visit. And instead of accepting her choice and reply, Kyouhei only walked away with a wave of his hand, completely convinced that it was going to happen.

"Seven o'clock, I will pick you up by the front of this building," he told her, and ignoring her repeated protests that she was not going to agree with it, he left without turning back. That damn bastard.

She was already having a bad day and he just came in with no care of his actions to bring more annoyance to her life. Yuko took a deep long breath as she tried to calm herself down. She needed a nap, and furious now that she just wasted a few more minutes of her day talking to nonsensical stuff with Kyouhei, she pressed on her intercom and immediately demanded to her secretary that she should not be disturbed in the next fifteen minutes. 

Could this day be any more aggravating than how it was already?

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825 AD, 9th Century of Japan (Kyoto)

They met on that one summer day in the royal palace when they were both at the age of eight.

That was how their fateful encounter began. When the young and still gentle Crowned Prince Shin had been strolling with his mother, Empress Eri, on the expansive palace grounds, the event took place. It was just a usual day in the summer season, and on that specific afternoon, they had come face-to-face with the presence of the then, Royal Minister, Jin Takugawa, the well-known royal official along with his first-born son, Rei Takugawa.

"Your Highness," the royal official had greeted right away with a surprised face, together with his company and guards as they bowed to the Empress upon seeing her. At the time, the young Rei Takugawa was so enamored at the sight of the Emperor's family and had been smiling so wide as he looked at the beautiful appearance of the Empress.

Prince Shin was also in awe, for he had always been hearing many good things about the famous Minister Jin Takugawa. It was as if seeing his admired hero, who was the person he had always wanted to meet. He was really to see him in person and felt quite proud that he had been given the chance. Next to the Emperor, Minister Takugawa was also the person Prince Shin had always looked up to.

"Is this your son, Minister Takugawa?" the Empress asked with a bright smile on her face, which Rei equally mirrored when he met her eyes. She was really lovely and he found her intimidating despite having those pleasant and very soft eyes.

"Yes, Your Highness," Minister Takugawa politely replied with another bow, and he soon let Rei stepped forward as the young kid obediently did a formal bow towards the Empress and the Crowned Prince.

"I am Rei of the Takugawa household, Your Highness. And I am honored to meet you," the young Rei said.

"What a really beautiful name," the Empress remarked, staring at the kid before her with a sincere smile. Then she gave a short glance to her son, who was standing beside her, and immediately expressed her good wishes for the two of them.

"I hope you and my son will become great friends until you grow older," she relayed, her eyes glinting with delight, "Just like how Your Highness, the Emperor, and Minister Takugawa are to each other."

It was as if gods had been listening to her at the time. Yet it was just a harmless wish on that very normal day. She never really meant anything about it that much. However, little did they know, that her words would have actually turned into a really terrible omen. But neither the young Shin nor the young Rei had ever thought at the time that two years from that first encounter... they would become strong rivals.

From then on, their impending tragic future had already been decided for these two naive beings. The manifestation of that horrendous night of ultimate betrayal that will become a remarkable mark in history. The story that was to be remembered for the next centuries: the fate of Emperor Shin and General Rei.

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PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

She was really glad that her schedule today ended on time and she did not have to endure another overtime like she always had in the past few days recently. Yuko sighed as she finally took her bag and left her office to get home as soon as she can. She was already idealizing the things she would do right away once she arrives at her place: a nice and long warm soak in her tub, a good plenty order of ramen, and an early sleep on her bed.

She was going to make the most of it and let herself relax for a change. She had been looking forward to this day-off for weeks now as she had always been occupied by doing more paperwork in the last three day-offs that she got. She was now exiting the elevators and was about to give Mr. Sugine a call as she pulled out her phone but a certain face who came meeting her on her way out of the building surprised her. Damn it.

She actually forgot the entire thing that had happened earlier. She never really wanted to accept that offer, however, seeing that Kyouhei Kurosaki was now waiting for her at the lobby of the ground floor, wearing that annoying grin on his face, Yuko realized how trapped she was now. Was he really serious about that?

"I told you I'm not going," Yuko informed him as soon as he approached her. She was already scowling again as she spoke, "Leave me alone."

"I already told Mr. Sugine that I'll be driving you home," Kyouhei told her instead, which only made her more furious.

"Then I'll take a cab," she evaded, "Have your own dinner and let me have mine. Good night."

Can this day just finally end? She wanted to leave as fast as she can, but the walk to the door felt so long.

"Wait," Kyouhei then gently grabbed her on the arm to stop her as he looked straight to her eyes, "Just this one time. Please, let me treat you for once."

What the hell was he on about right now? Yuko frowned at him. But instead of lashing back, she felt the sincerity in his words and it felt like this offer was too important for some reason.

"What is this for?"

"Just a treat, Yuko-san," Kyouhei insisted, his eyes searing into her as he tried to convince her with his very smooth tone, "It's only a dinner. Please, just let this be for one time."

She wanted to say no. She wanted to leave, but there was just something in the way he kept staring at her, that made her stop. She did not like it, but she also did not hate it, to be honest. She only wanted to have her own time to enjoy her free day, yet here she was, feeling too conflicted if whether she was supposed to go with him or not.

And he seemed like he won't ever let her go away without putting a fight.

"Fine," she eventually obliged, feeling the weight of the dreading offer. She let out an exasperated sigh and pulled her arm off from his hold, "Just one dinner. And after that, I'll go home right away."

"Thank you," Kyouhei quickly beamed, as if the mere acceptance had granted him success. And that just made Yuko feel much weirder, and she quickly shook that uncomfortable feeling off of her. They were already walking out but before they could even exit the building, she abruptly turned around and demanded one last thing.

"You don't have to drive me home after," she specifically told him with a warning voice, "I'll just take a cab, so let's just make this quick."

He only nodded, smiling at her in that easy way he always did. At that exact moment, Yuko felt herself slightly going against her rules. She was not supposed to come with him to his place tonight. Yet for some reason, this day had been an exception. In fact, she was even surprised to realize how much she actually needed the company.

But she was never going to tell him that. Ever.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Six