RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Nine: Love In The New Lifetime

It was a really very exclusive and profligate party filled with champagne flutes, over-the-top decorations, and exquisite dresses and suits. 

Before they even got there, there was also a very strict layer of security that Yuko and Kyouhei had to go through first to be able to gain access into the party. Media people were strictly prohibited from entering and they will only let people who were listed down and identified in the master list that was registered in their system to bypass them. A hefty surveillance team was even hired to surround every nook and corner of the hallways to make sure any unwanted attention will be ceased. It was quite a bit of a hassle, but it was necessary.

After all, the party was a VIP event. And as soon as Yuko stepped her foot inside the event hall, she saw a place that looked like heaven for her. Dazzling people and expensive dresses, she was immediately filled with overwhelming awe and thrill. She was definitely in the zone tonight.

Roaming her eyes around, she immediately picked out so many good targets from all directions and it gave her the quick recall of who to negotiate with first. The expanse of the hall had suddenly looked like a wide sea filled with big fishes to catch. And Yuko was really going to make the most of this night. She will have to win them all.

"So anyone you may know around here?" Kyouhei, who was then a bit nervous as he stood beside Yuko, spoke over the chattering noises and the orchestral music background filling the air around them. Yuko rolled her eyes and turned her head to give Kyouhei a deadpanned stare before she directly addressed his question.

"Did you even do your research?" she bit back. And she sounded a bit annoyed despite the fake smile she had on her face as she tried not to show her displeasure after hearing his concern, "If you did your homework, then you don't have to ask me about anything. Just do your part, 'cause I got things to do."

And with that, she took off, leaving Kyouhei's side to focus on more significant matters, since that was the only reason why they were even there. Yuko went to enter the battlefield with her several targets in mind. While Kyouhei just helplessly watched her with a dumbfounded expression on his face as he tried to blend in the background alone. He was still not yet comfortable with the entire environment so he tried to adjust himself to the blinding party scene. And while taking his time, he struggled to mentally improvise a standard introductory statement in his head that might help him once he can muster enough confidence to start talking to a few people there. 

Unfortunately, doing that also made him lose sight of what was really going on around him. And when he finally came back to his senses, he suddenly tensed up. It felt as if someone had been staring at him for so long. And when he tried to take a look around, his gut was actually right.

Someone was really staring at him, and he did not have to search that too far to even find the very person who was doing it... Since that person had just been standing right beside him when Kyouhei had glanced on his left.

"Hi," the person sweetly greeted him in that very striking smile directed at his face. And for a second, Kyouhei felt as if it had been just an imagination. But the person suddenly reached a hand out to him, which was a surprisingly very westernized way to greet someone in Japan. Yet Kyouhei still unconsciously took and shook it with his. And with not that much of a word to say, he found himself losing half of his logic after sharing that very quick contact with that soft hand of this stranger and he just blurted something out of his mouth that sounded entirely stupid.

"You're really pretty."

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839 AD, 9th Century of Japan (Kyoto)

(***both the Crowned Prince Shin and the noble warrior Rei of the Takugawa descent were twenty-one years old during this time***)

They grew up very close to each other: Rei Takugawa and Aoi Takugawa.

Both being raised in the upper class and from noble descent, Rei and Aoi had always known how they were related to each other. Rei's father, a Royal Minister of the Imperial court, was the older brother of Aoi's father, an elite samurai from the military class who was known for being noble and prominent in the field. Both of their fathers had the same distinguished statuses in their own respective designations and their extended family had always been recognized to be strictly tight-knit and strait-laced.

Rei was only two years older than Aoi, so it was never really that hard for them to quickly connect to each other's thoughts and share a few interests. It might also have been a little safe to say that they were definitely very close to each other. Aoi treated Rei as if he was a very dear older brother to her. She saw him as her confidante, a best friend, and a trusted ally. She had always looked up to his good-mannered and gentleman traits who would always love telling stories about his misadventures and funny anecdotes which would then always c***k Aoi up no matter how many times she had repeatedly heard them.

 However, if for Aoi it was platonic and strictly just a familial affection, for Rei it was forbiddingly much more than that. Little did Aoi know, deep within Rei's tainted feelings, he was actually strongly infatuated with his own cousin.

He consciously knew that it was completely wrong to even feel any slightest bit attracted to her, like how a man would feel for a woman, but he just could not stop himself. It had not been until he had turned twenty-one years old that Rei realized about his tabooed feelings. What he felt for Aoi was actually not the same thing as what she had been feeling about him. And that certain knowledge immediately had him thinking how he was treading on dangerous grounds and harboring such carnal emotions.

It was a bit too much for him to handle and it soon brought him into a state of severe angst and rebellious phase.

Though, it was not that worse at first. Rei had only started to go under such violent tendencies brought by his overgrowing insecurity that would always make him aggressive, when Prince Shin began to make advances and even went as far as strongly expressing his deep attraction towards his cousin, Aoi. It was only at that point, that something had brought the sleeping beast out of Rei all of a sudden. 

He never really knew that he had that in him... not until when that one terrible night happened.

That very night... that Rei could never let go from his memories. The night that made him loathe the Prince so much and so deep, to the point that he almost went to kill him.

And he had never gotten over that hatred since then.

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PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

"Thank you."

At first, Kyouhei Kurosaki could not get himself to speak. He was still stunned at the sudden appearance of the woman beside him. He was very conscious and he immediately recognized her. He could not believe it and he started wondering why she had chosen to greet him out of nowhere. 

He had never met her in person before... never. Not even once in any kind of event he had been to.

So imagine his confused thoughts and utterly flattered state upon being the receiving end of this woman's attention who was no other than Ami Komatsu. Yes, the Ami Komatsu, herself... who was not so long ago, was also the same person whom Kyouhei had been reading about on his phone while having a drink. 

What a terrific coincidence. 

And she was smiling up to him as if she knew him personally and well enough to strike up a casual conversation.

Kyouhei suddenly felt awkward. Despite being in the political circle, he was not really comfortable meeting new people at once, especially when he was all by himself. Most of the time, he would just follow Yuko around in any gathering that they would attend to and will let her do the thing. He would just go with the flow and try to give short words in conversations where she would mostly do the introductions, the talking, and the transitional switch of topics until Kyouhei would eventually feel comfortable to share more of his thoughts.

At least, in the past seven years, that was how it mostly went on. But at this point, he was in a different situation. And this somehow made him feel trapped in a strange bubble of awkwardness. He still had no idea how to act in front of this beautiful young lady or even what to make of her sudden interest in talking to him. Yet, he still tried.

"Uhm... yeah," Kyouhei nervously chuckled as he tried to think of something much more sensible to say. He kind of ruined and made a fool out of himself with those first few words he had blurted out dumbly but it was not really that big of a deal since it had been a really sincere though quite naive compliment. He truly meant it... She was really pretty... even more in person.

"I... uh... I..." he stammered a bit before clearing his throat, and she just gazed back at him with that unfazed smiling eyes of hers, "I'm Kurosaki Kyouhei, a representative of the Socio-liberal party. I am a member of the Lower House in the National Diet."

"I know," The woman sincerely responded, her lips slightly smirking at him that had Kyouhei paused and felt taken aback by that. And even when he tried not to think too much from it, he was actually very pleased to hear her say that. So she knew him? That had certainly boosted his ego, though only in a very good way. He liked that she knew him.

"I know you too," Kyouhei returned the words back with a glint in his eyes, sounding confident since it was also the truth. He just had been lucky that the very first person he was talking to right now was also the same person he had read so much about recently. Ami Komatsu grinned wider as well, right after hearing Kyouhei's words.

"You're the famous, Miss Komatsu Ami," Kyouhei added with a slight curtsy, and Ami slightly giggled at his goofy gesture. "Nice to meet you, Miss Komatsu."

"Nice to meet you too, Kurosaki-san," the elegant woman replied. She smiled some more and immediately took two champagne flutes from the tray carried by a waiter passing by them. She gave one to Kyouhei without another word and playfully winked at him.

"Let's have a toast, Kurosaki," Ami initiated, raising her glass towards his direction, "In commemoration of our first meeting and this newly-found acquaintanceship."

He did not seem to mind the sudden odd toast, though he was still rather confused. Yet he still clicked his glass of champagne with hers and drank. She kept staring at him even when she took a big gulp of the liquor. It was a sweet taste mixed and enhanced by the bubbly acidulous flavor, and it tasted money right at first sip. Kurosaki mirrored back the smile he had been given the moment he was done drinking, and the more he just stayed there staring back at Ami, the more awkward yet rewarding he felt.

He really did not know what else to say, but it seemed like she was not planning to let him go out of her sight anytime soon yet.

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Yuko, at that same moment, had been going around by herself, talking and meeting anyone that she would find quite worthy of her time and effort. And every time she would move and turn her head to look for more familiar faces passing by her, she would always find someone else that would steal her attention right away. And then, she would eventually move on, faster than the speed of light, as if the previous person she had been talking to have never really existed.

That was how long her entire attention span can only take. And when it came to business and profitable negotiations, Yuko had always been too quick to move on and let go. For her, being fast and direct in any kind of approach would always double effective results. And as long as she could find something that could benefit her in many aspects, she would continuously keep it. But once it had finally lost its appeal and value to her, she would ultimately leave it at a drop of a hat.

That was her rule and she had never changed her ways ever since. Yet as for Kyouhei's case, the only reason why she had been still sticking with him, was because he was her utmost prizest possession. He was very crucial in the fulfillment of Yuko's plans, especially in her revenge that had taken her twelve hundred years apart before she was able to be given the opportunity to begin it.

Kyouhei had always been a very special case... Like an oyster's pearl, in this ocean of many fishes. He was the most valuable.

The immediate thought of him had also instantly brought Yuko into worrying over his impulsive nature at the same time. She had been too occupied to observe and gain more contacts in the party that she had quickly forgotten to check on Kyouhei from time to time especially when she had left him alone to fend for himself. Realizing that, Yuko started searching for him in the crowd. And luckily, it was not that too hard to pick him out of the mixed guests filling up the entire hall.

Yuko was already marching her way in his direction when she also noticed that he was not all alone. He was actually being accommodated by someone else. He was talking to a woman in a red dress, smiling in that signature smile of his, that Yuko immediately felt a little skeptical and annoyed about it. Was he actually flirting with someone right now?

They were there for business. And feeling like she was doing the job by herself, it felt unfair. But as soon she landed her eyes on the woman in question, Yuko quickly recognized her face and the appearance of the woman suddenly changed in her vision. 

Yuko quickly stopped in her tracks.

She suddenly felt as if time had warped itself back and everything immediately faded out... except the woman who was now laughing with Kyouhei in that pure and delicate expression shown on her strange yet very familiar face. Yuko knew who she was the second she got a clearer look at her. But it was not her present appearance nor the way Kyouhei was casually having a conversation with her that had immediately halted all of Yuko's thoughts and senses as she gawked at them. 

It was actually the fact that she could see that through her soul and Yuko got a vivid image of who the woman was in her past life. And Yuko's heart suddenly pounded so loud. The woman's reincarnated soul was not just someone Emperor Shin knew just by his eyes... He knew all of her by his soul too, with his heart and his whole mind. It was her past lover, the Lady Aoi of Takugawa household. His wife. The love of his life. His soulmate.

He could clearly see her but Yuko knew that she was a totally different person now. And the fact that she was getting close to Rei right away before Yuko could even have the chance to beat him to it, pissed her off.

So even with the comparable differences from his two lifetimes... the great Emperor Shin still lost to Rei. They were still, as it seemed, had been fated to meet, despite the things Shin or even his present self, Yuko could have possibly done just to stop it... Those two were still destined to cross paths.

And Shin can never really do anything with what fate had already been decided. Because it already happened right before his eyes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Ten