RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Twenty-Two: Counter Tactics & Ugly Secrets

PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

"We're not going to change plans, aren't we?"

Two days after that awkward luncheon meeting with Ami Komatsu that had ended quite terribly after the sudden departure of Kyouhei midway through it, Yuko Amazawa leaned back on her seat behind her desk, slightly taken aback by the unexpected visit of Osamu Sato. His mere presence inside her office had her immediately smirking as she watched him closely with assertive eyes. He stood not far from where she was, looking at her with a straight face right after he asked his question.

"I don't remember saying we would change anything yet, do I?" Yuko retorted, resting her elbows on top of her desk as she leaned forward. "Don't worry, if something's going to happen, you'd be the first to know right away."

"Well, that's good. Good," Osamu nodded back, sighing loudly as if to express his relief and he turned around to settle himself on the couch behind him. He took a slight pause as he caught Yuko watching him from her seat and he subconsciously crossed his leg while leveling his stare with hers then added, "What's the take with Kurosaki now? What happened to your talk with him?"

"He's fine. It's been taken care of. And he'll come around," she simply answered, not missing a beat as she flipped through some papers near her computer.

"He should be. He certainly must go through this," Sato cited, emphasizing his words with a sharp squinting of his eyes as he went on, "I've heard a lot of gossip going around the Diet again, Shin-sama. It's gonna hit the fan soon. I'm kinda worried about the effect of it, once it gets worse, honestly. Numerous issues about some members in the lower house are now being secretly investigated by prosecutors as we speak. I don't think it's all going to be rainbows and flowers anymore. Things are really turning ugly way before the deliberation even starts. And although we might have a bigger chance of leading forward now that Komatsu-san is starting to do her part, it's still going to be extremely critical and worse."

"You talked to her?" Raising a brow at the very instant she heard the mention of Ami's name, Yuko's question was heavily uttered with evident skepticism and curiosity. There might be a huge difference between the old Aoi, whom she had fallen in love with in the past, and the new Aoi (Ami) of this generation, but Shin was still very much sensitive and affected in all situations concerning his past lover's reincarnation, albeit their contrasting characters. And that was also why Yuko felt the need to inquire deeper about it when Osamu had spoken of her name so casually just then. It bothered her.

"Yes," taken aback by the sternness in her voice, Osamu blinked a few times, deciding to be much more careful with his words, "Yes, I did. She told me she's been talking to a few important people."

"People?"

"Well, she never really did try to hide it from the press, didn't she?" Osamu replied in a matter-of-fact tone, shrugging, "The ways of that woman are very sketchy, if you ask me, Shin-sama. But she can really do a lot of things with that face of hers."

"Don't talk about her in that way, Kaoru," mildly and light, Yuko's words held heavy warning as Osamu coughed back, getting nervous. And as a way of apologizing, he immediately straightened up in his seat and held his head lower towards her. 

"Never speak of her in such manner... Ever again."

"I understood, Shin sama. Forgive me," Osamu strained, sounding sincerely guilty, "I never intend to speak offensively ill with regards to the late Lady Aoi's being. It was all purely from my own selfish opinions."

"She's not supposed to be that kind of person," Yuko voiced out, her eyes downcasted as she began to ponder over it, "She's a sweet woman. I don't want her like this. It makes me feel sick thinking about what she's been doing all this time."

"Do you want me to do something about it, Shin-sama?"

"I--"

The intercom chose that exact moment to ring loudly cutting Yuko's word before she could even answer Osamu's offer, and both looked at the device distractedly with a grim expression. 

"Give me a sec," Yuko shortly said before picking up the phone attached to the intercom to address the concern.

"What is it?" she forcibly asked her assistant, evidently sounding annoyed for being disturbed all of a sudden.

"Kurosaki-san is here to meet you, ma'am," the assistant replied back in a shaky voice, alarming Yuko about another unexpected visit that had her shifting over her seat, "Should I tell him to wait until later or leave, Miss Yuko?"

Yuko hesitated, her eyes darting towards Osamu who was observing her from the couch across the room. She contemplated without saying anything yet and Osamu quickly noticed a certain change in her face. Their eyes met each other, almost as if conversing through their gaze and after a brief few seconds, Yuko finally spoke back to her assistant.

"Let him in."

"Okay, ma'am." The call ended, Osamu tilted his head. He clearly heard her words and a frown slowly appeared on his face, as he turned his head to watch who was going to enter the room. He already had a certain guess in his mind of who it will be, but he was feeling quite anxious why Yuko suddenly agreed to let him in.

What was she planning now?

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"You can come in now, Mr. Kurosaki," the assistant who slowly put the phone back to its place simply told this to Kyouhei who was waiting by the seats outside Yuko's office at the time. He had planned to personally talk to Yuko about what he would want to do now that the election was almost near. He had been thinking about it a lot in the past two days and he had drawn enough conclusions that he wanted to suggest to her, opting to recompensate for that last terrible meeting they had with Komatsu Ami.

Receiving permission to enter, he quickly walked towards the front closed door of Yuko's office and opened it with a swift turn of its knob. He was already talking even before he could even step into the doorway and formally greet Yuko inside.

"I know this is all so sudden, Yuko-san, but--" he immediately halted as soon as he was welcomed by an unlikely sight inside.

He did not notice Yuko at first, and the only thing he could see was the very image of Osamu Sato sitting on the couch inside the room with his eyes directed back at him. Why was he there? What sort of meeting was this now? 

"What brings you here today, Kurosaki?" Yuko just nonchalantly greeted him from behind her desk with a brief smile, though seemingly aware of the startled reaction of Kyouhei when he had entered the room. Kyouhei was still staring at Osamu, his face unreadable while Osamu just raised a brow at him.

"Is this not a good time?" Kyouhei expressed, giving Yuko a dumbfounded look as he turned to her, "I actually wanted to talk to you... alone."

Sharing a glance with Osamu from the distance, Yuko's lip thinned as she gave Kyouhei a tight smile, out of respect. 

"Well, we just finished our negotiations, so it's okay.," Yuko concluded, standing up from her seat, "Right, Sato-san?"

"Yes... Yes," Sato nodded in return, giving both Yuko and Kyouhei a wary grin as he stood from the couch where he had been sitting on and moved towards the door. "I've already done my job here. Have a good day for both of you. I'll take my leave."

Osamu bowed and exited the office right after that, simply smirking at Yuko, who was the only one who could see it from behind Kyouhei, who, on the other hand, did not even spare to give the man a formal greeting. He remained his ground, facing Yuko until Osamu finally left the premises. As soon as the door had been closed, he eventually raised his concerns about the man.

"What did you two talk about today?"

It was quite rare that Yuko would invite someone in her office like this. And to which, made Kyouhei extremely bothered about such fact. What were they up to? Just what is going on between them?

"Business," Yuko immediately answered, her voice purely held no ounce of doubt or guilt, and she returned to her seat, briefly sighing, "We talked a lot about you actually."

"Me? Really? Just the two of you talking about me?"

Kyouhei's reserved doubts were reasonable and Yuko understood his suspicions about the guy. It was not fair that they were both scheming things this way despite knowing the obvious conflicts and unnecessary pretense they had to keep up and with other mild repercussions of this ambitious pursuit for their prolonged revenge feat. However, both Osamu and Yuko knew it was inevitable and they had already accepted that in order to achieve the best payback they could get from all of this, they must ascertain things straightaway. There was no room for sympathy nor even the slightest bit of feeling of pity. 

"Yes, and what's wrong with that?" Yuko inquired, staring at Kyouhei with a serious face.

"A lot," he unexpectedly revealed, catching Yuko off guard as she gawked at him.

"A lot?" she scoffed back, quite unsure if she heard him right. Was he angry?

"He's not a good person, Yuko-san," Kyouhei admitted, expressing his distrust with a very solemn expression on his face, "And so is Ami Komatsu. I don't trust them at all. I read a lot of things about Komatsu-san, and I don't feel comfortable around that guy. He's onto something, I'm telling you, Yuko-sa-"

"Enough."

Her voice came out so loud and ominous that Koyuhei was abruptly shut out of his words. And as he stared at her in disbelief, he met her unfazed gaze.

"Excuse me?"

"Grow up, Kurosaki," Yuko rudely remarked, not even changing her expression as she spoke, "We're already here now. There's no going back. Either you take it or leave it... I only want one thing in this whole damn business, and that is for you to become the Prime Minister."

She was definitely out for blood.

---------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Twenty-Three