RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Seven: The Unspoken Rift In Between

826 AD, 9th Century of Japan (Kyoto)

***the conclusion to the first sparring battle between them, both were seventeen at this time***

It did not feel real at first. But he knew that the fight was over.

He already knew it since the very moment he had lost his balance and took the fall. He had unfavorably lost his tight grip on his own sword which had caused such fault. And as he looked up to the person who stood above him, contempt and hatred instantly overtook his whole soul. He did not want to admit that it had already ended. He still wanted to re-do everything once more, even when it was impossible. He knew... that it was all too late.

He had already lost... in this very crucial fight: Rei had won over him.

Prince Shin could feel the deep humiliation swallowed him whole as he felt the whole world mocking him at once--along with the gods watching him at that time. And instead of accepting the hand that had been offered to him to help him stand from lying flat on the ground, a valid proof of his defeat, Prince Shin rudely rejected it.

He never needed his help. He can't even bear to straightly look at him. So he just fled from the entire scene out of intense embarrassment. He wanted to get out of there, to forget that it had ever happened. He wanted to make this all disappear.

Then, out of rage, he suddenly exploded. Bearing no means of releasing the weight of his heavy emotions, Prince Shin screamed and violently threw his wooden sword away. He did not even bother if he had hit someone or something from lashing out, but he could hear the gasps and the attention he had gathered from his sudden roar.

He did not care.

He knew that it was such an unmannerly thing to do, to act that way right in front of a small crowd inside the royal grounds. But Prince Shin had been driven by so much anger inside him that he forcibly refused to face the entire reality of the situation. He had lost.

That should never happen... but it did.

Prince Shin felt it seeping deep into his skin, and into his flesh, and completely through his bones. He could not ignore the infuriating feeling it made him suffer, how one complete mishap and mistake turned out to be his worst nightmare. He can never lose again... He can never lose face again. He will get back and take revenge against Rei the very next time.

And that was how it had all eventually started, down from its ugliest roots. That was how it all had turned into an intense and unrewarding battle between them. The competition had never really stopped with just that one fight. Instead, it had only ignited the burning fire that they had been holding against one another inside of their souls.

He and Rei... they can never really compromise. Their relationship since then had only continued to severely progress towards a much uglier connection. And the ill feelings they had grown inside them will never be healed...

For it will become the fuel to the impending tragedy that will conclude both of their fates in the inevitable history that was yet to unfold. An ongoing rivalry that had never seemed to find resolve.

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PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

She wanted to keep her thoughts to herself. And deep inside, she had to unwillingly admit, she liked the meal that Kyouhei had prepared for her. She had always preferred the traditional Japanese cuisine. And during that dinner, his taste for the soup and the Katsudon (Japanese rice bowl topped with pork cutlet), had her almost feeling like she was suddenly on cloud nine. It was her comfort food, and she had never expected him to get her easily feeling this way with just a simple meal.

Yet she totally did not like how she was suddenly turning quite warm towards him. She got to remind herself that this man was General Rei in the past. She should reserve all positive likeness towards him and must maintain her hostility. She should never like him.

As she slowly neared the end of the whole four-course meal, she tried to briefly distract herself from the awkward silence in the atmosphere between them by gazing towards the pictures and portraits hung on the walls surrounding the dining area. Despite having not much furniture around, Kyouhei actually filled its lack thereof, with the things he had decorated all over the walls. There were pictures of him from when he was really young, some of it was from his teenage years, long before they even met each other.

Yuko can even point out the changes in his appearance, the way his hairstyle had evolved from the overly grown fringe and his medium-long locks that went just mildly past his ears, and to the short buzz cut that he had worn after some time during his high school years. That should explain how he had the shorter crew cut style in college too. Since they first met, Yuko had only seen Kyouhei in that same short hairstyle. He never really tried to grow it out anymore... And now that she thought about it, Yuko suddenly tried to imagine what he would have looked like if he ever did try to let it grow.

"Find it interesting, huh?" Kyouhei's words abruptly ceased her thoughts as she got interrupted by him from across the table. He must have been observing her while she was staring at the pictures of him. Yuko just smirked as she tried to sip on the glass of juice that she had asked for instead of getting some wine.

"You looked like a dork when you were young," Yuko frankly remarked, and that quickly sent Kyouhei into a fit of laughter. And despite being quite a rude comment, it was also undeniably true. Kyouhei was really scrawny, though strikingly taller than his age in the old pictures. And he looked really kind of weak when he was young. But compared to his age now, he totally got buffed. And of course, that was what going to the gym, eating more than enough, and working out would do to his growing body. However, Yuko did not want to acknowledge that part of him this time.

She never really liked thinking about his present appearance in any way, no matter how truly pleasing it was to the eyes... especially to a woman's eyes. And knowing such a fact, Yuko sometimes really felt that being a woman at this point in time had been a disadvantage to her, especially when she still had this unrelenting desire to avenge her previous tragic fate because of him. But that was also something she could not fully ignore at all. And for some parts of her life, she really had to acknowledge that she was actually a woman. 

"Who made those paintings?"

Feeling the need to drive her thoughts away from thinking about her new gender and Kyouhei's looks, Yuko tried to change the topic by switching to a far more unlikely subject. She actually gave no interest over it at first glance, but now that she started looking at it longer, she realized how striking the art of each painting that was displayed around them really was.

They were all abstract, though some were visually expressing a vivid yet distorted version of humans' faces and body parts. Yuko tried to understand its impression, but she really had no word for it yet, the only thing that came to mind was how it felt so emotionally disturbing and quite dark. She can't really tell how this somehow relates to Kyouhei's personality. For all she knew, he never really gave that kind of feeling that he was into this kind of abstractness.

He had always been the goofy, easy-going, impulsive guy that she could always read right away.

But this time, it felt like she had discovered something incomprehensible about him, which was a first. And she still did not know what to make of it nor even feel about it. She suddenly wanted to ask questions, but she stopped.

She did not want to get much more personal with him. 

"It's just some collection," Kyouhei quickly concluded, obviously trying to avoid getting too detailed about it. He shrugged and gave her a short tight smile and went on, "It's nothing symbolic or anything. Just bought it 'cause it matched the tones of the wall paint."

Yuko never really bought that excuse and she already guessed that there was more to it than just "matching the tones of the wall paint". But she no longer tried to ask more about it, because she never really want to delve deeper anymore. She wanted to know less of what Kyouhei was at a personal level since it would certainly blur the line between them if she tried to. And for Yuko, drawing the line was crucial. It was the only thing the had been setting them apart from being too friendly and to just being colleagues and strictly business partners.

As soon as the dinner had ended, Yuko quickly announced her departure and strongly rejected Kyouhei's one last attempt to drive her home. Of course, she already expected him to insist on the offer despite her initial demand that she will have to take a cab home. Kyouhei was left with no other choice but to let her be because he knew she would never let him do it.

Well, no further harm on just trying.

And she left as fast as she could. She did not even bother to say thank you as she just walked out of the door with a rushed goodbye and a prompt escape. Yuko felt like she just came out of a really terrible and awkward atmosphere and she quickly sighed in utter relief after she entered the elevator. What a dinner night, she thought.

That was the first, and if she had stayed for even a few more minutes, she would have gone nuts. She was really uncomfortable. Prince Shin inside her was still shaking in pure distaste. He certainly never liked, not even the slightest bit, the fact that he and the reincarnation of that traitor just shared a cozy dinner for quite a long while.

What the hell did just happen? That was just so random. For the past seven years, she knew and worked with Kyouhei Kurosaki, this had never happened before. So what had made him ask her out to dinner all of a sudden? That was still one of the greatest mysteries Yuko had yet to figure out... but she already wanted to move on.

Let's just forget that it ever happened, she strongly told herself with a firm nod. After all, this total bizarre moment had been something she never really want to repeat anymore. Knowing that it had been spent with the same man, if not completely him, made it really worse and bothersome. This same man who had made Prince Shin lose face in front of his subjects in their past lifetime... The same man he had always hated so much.

The same man he should never have cozy dinners at all. Or ever again.

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A week after that, Yuko was not looking anything good as she stared out of the windows inside her office, feeling like the entire world and fate was completely going against her.

Aside from being bombarded by different calls from several media companies and TV stations asking for interviews with Kyouhei since he was now raising awareness about the poverty issues and environmental controversies that were on the most searched topics on social media in the past few days, she was also still under a pre-existing battle with the phone calls she kept making to get at least even just a single short appointment with that damn Osamu Sato. She was totally in the depths of her patience and it was driving her insane. The thin remainder of her thread of confidence was slowly diminishing and even though giving up or surrendering were not really part of her vocabulary, she was feeling the limitations overwhelming her.

She knew she had to take a break from all of it somehow... She knew she really had to, just to keep her mind away from these insufferable stressful things. She needed a breather.

However, the continuous events that were listed down in this very busy month filled with social gatherings scheduled in this coming week had Yuko feeling that she can never really take even a short break anytime soon. She had to prepare for more... But she still was not sure how much she can take for now. The more they went on, the heavier it weighed over her.

Taking the uneven path towards the highest position really takes a hefty toll on everything: physically, emotionally, financially, and mentally.

She already knew about that: the consequences, the struggles, and the entire price that will cost her for this ambitious journey. But going through this hurdle somehow had Yuko felt like she was slowly losing focus on what was important. There was only one goal.

"Miss Amazawa?"

The soft hesitant call of her name made her dread what was to come, Yuko slowly turned on her chair and looked over her desk to her assistant who was standing near the door. She gave her an indifferent stare and waited for her to speak as she raised a brow at her fidgety assistant.

"Mr. Horiuchi is now on line 1," the assistant informed her, carefully taking one step forward into the office, "He said he would like to update you about an important gathering coming this weekend."

Gathering? Important? If Horiuchi Asahi was calling her all of a sudden, it only meant something really good was going to happen. She always looked forward to his calls because she knew she was going to hear good news. And at that point, it felt like a blazing ray of sunshine in her gloomy day. She quickly lit up and accepted the call, prompting her assistant to connect it to her right away.

As soon as she had him on her line, Horiuchi immediately informed her about it.

"I knew you already have set your sights on the privileged Sato's heir, and I got a good lead for you," the man on the other end explained and his delightful words abruptly had Yuko sitting on the edge of her seat.

"Give it to me," she assertively demanded, her voice hyping up as she patiently waited with growing anticipation.

"This Saturday," the man carefully told her without missing a beat, "At the Pen, all-red western-themed party, bring Kurosaki with you, beginning at seven in the evening. Many business conglomerates and political names will be present there as well. I already got your invitation confirmed on the master list."'

Thank gods for Horiuchi, Yuko mentally prayed and she was dreamily sighing with a smile on her face as soon as she heard his words.

"We'll be there," she confirmed right away. And the call quickly ended after a rushed goodbye. Seconds after it, Yuko was already spinning on her chair, grinning with her fists up above her head. She could slowly feel the exhaustion dawn over her but she did not mind. She was beyond exhilarated. This was definitely a sign.

And as soon as she realized that, she was pressing on her intercom again. Her secretary picked up after the second ring and Yuko abruptly gave new orders to her. Judging from the tone of her voice, the secretary could immediately tell that something good had happened to her boss.

"Call and inform Kurosaki about an event on Saturday," Yuko detailed in an upbeat sound, "All-red, western-themed at seven in the evening. He also needs to look into the master list that I will be sending him soon, so make sure to remind him about that. Capisce?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the secretary just affirmatively replied and quickly did what she had been told to.

How convenient, Yuko thought afterward. The tables had been turned and now the odds are favoring her all of a sudden. For some reason, the gods were choosing her side and she can never really ask for anything more.

This was more than enough already... for now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Eight