FANFIC[MC]~~ 志 (KOKOROZASHI)

As the man stood there, removing his shades, he smiled kindly at Hikaru and said, “Ah, Fukazawa-kun, long time no see.”

Hikaru was confused.

“Eh?”

He didn’t remember doing anything wrong in a job interview… or anything impressive at that thought. The worst thing he had done so far was accidentally kicking a Chihuahua at Morita-san’s pet shop.

“Anou, sumimasen—”

The man chuckled, cutting Hikaru off. “I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself properly. My name is Teruyoshi Yamamoto. You must be Hikaru?”

Hikaru blinked. Before he could answer, Sho limply walked out, with a cane on the left hand and a watering can on the other. “Hikaru, I was wondering where my car—” Sho was surprised to see a black limousine in front of their house, but he smiled at the sight of the man who was talking to his brother.

“Yamamoto-san?”

---

Kei walked to the bus stop and waited. His whole family had been asleep when he left. He didn’t know what time they arrived and where they came from the previous night, but he’s a good boy so he’ll let them snooze some more. It’s the last weekend of summer vacation, and his last weekend as a high school student. He’ll be studying in Keio soon. Being a loyal son, he decided to follow the footsteps of his father and brother.

He spent the morning exploring Keio. He checked out their library, cafeteria, and the different classrooms. He brought his schedule along with him and he timed himself as he went from one room to the other. When it was almost noon, he decided to pass by the administration office and go home.

As Kei walked in the hallway, he was reading some announcements when he heard someone running from the back. When he turned to see it was, they bumped each other and both of them bounced down to the floor.

“O-ouch.” Kei’s eyes squinted and he once again got back on his two feet. He looked at the person who he just knocked in to. It was a charming girl in pigtails, wearing a forest green shirt and skinny jeans.

“I-I’m really sorry.” The girl said as she picked up the books she dropped.

Kei knelt down and helped her. “Nah.” He said with a chuckle as he stacked a notebook on top of her Science book. It said ‘Yuuna Takeda’ and they were in the same class. He stood up and offered her a hand. The girl named Yuuna flushed down her face and took the gentleman’s hand. “You must be new here, too.” Kei smiled.

---

Hikaru placed a cup of tea on the table for the still unfamiliar guest.

“Please, help yourself.” Sho said as he sat in front of him. Hikaru did too beside his brother.

“As I said earlier, I wanted to talk about something very important.” The man who called himself Teruyoshi Yamamoto said with a calm smile. Sho and Hikaru exchanged looks.

“Let me start with a brief history. The Yamamoto family had been living in affluence and supremacy ever since the very first generation. It was all because of another clan, who had helped out that Yamamoto family to live. That family had helped them find work and food. That family was the Fukazawa family.”

Yamamoto-san had a sip of tea and continued, “Three generations ago, the record of the Yamamoto family’s debts to the Fukazawa family had been lost due to an abrupt fire in the village that it was kept. The verification of the liabilities to your family had been lost track. Consequently, the whole clan of the Yamamoto had decided on a proposal to your family.”

Hikaru looked at his aniki who was listening intently.

Teruyoshi folded his hands on the table and he leaned a little closer. He looked at Hikaru fixedly and carried on, “We would like the Fukazawa’s to join our relations through matrimony.”

Hikaru looked up to the man. “A wedding?”

“You want us to be family?” Sho asked with a gaze of irresolution in his eyes.

“Hikaru-kun here appears to be the perfect groom for my daughter, Airi.” Teruyoshi smiled. “When the two of you become part of our family, all that is ours will also be yours. This is only a proposal, and I would like Hikaru to give the final word.”

Sho glanced at Hikaru who was looking down to his hands at that moment. “I think he would need sometime to think,” he said.

“Oh, there is no need to rush on the verdict,” Teruyoshi added as he saw the doubtful Hikaru. “I would like the both of you to get to know one another. I’ve already talked about this to Airi and it is good that she has never had a boyfriend,” he joked.

Hikaru once again looked at his brother and then to Yamamoto-san. “I… I will be able to tell you by tomorrow,” Hikaru said as he closed his palms on his knees.

Sho looked at the seemingly satisfied Yamamoto and subsequently to his younger brother, “Are you sure?”

Hikaru nodded.

---

“Thank you for today, Izumi-san,” Yuuna bowed in front of Kei despite the crowded train station.

Kei smiled, “It’s a pleasure. I’m glad that I know someone from class already. I was worried since I was in Okinawa with my family during my scheduled orientation. I thought I wouldn’t be able to catch up with everyone.” He freshly laughed as Yuuna smiled down her feet. “I’ll see you next week, alright?”

“Un,” Yuuna responded with a little nod.

“Jaa, send me a mail if you need anything! See ya!” Kei said. He turned around to leave as Yuuna waved good-bye. ‘How cute,’ he thought to himself.

---

“Now, what was that book again?” Airi whispered to herself as she browsed the books one by one on the lined up set of history hardbacks.

Airi Yamamoto had a lot of things in her mind the whole day. New classmates, new teachers, and new lessons. The different environment. The sudden notice from her father. It was all happening too fast. The library was the perfect place to unwind.

She was disturbed by a sudden buzzing noise on the shelf.

---

“It’s not here!”

Daiki Arioka started to panic as he violently looked through his school bag. “Chikusho! My phone! I can’t find it.”

“Mou~ Where did you last use it?” Chiaki said as she filed her nails with an impatient look on her face. Daiki ignored her and started taking the things from his bag one by one.

Chiaki Kurokawa’s a model for their family’s clothing line. What’s hot and what’s not? Fashion and music? She knew all about them. It showed in her appearance, too. The dyed hair. The shiny lip gloss. The main-stream outfit. The cat walk. You do the math.

However, every time her mouth opened, the all-that girl became not so all-that.

Daiki ran out of the classroom that they used for the week’s summer orientation. He had to leave soon or Izumi-shachou will scold him for sure. Instead, he just had to lose his precious phone and listen to that girl’s complaints.

That girl.

Flashback…

Daiki grabbed his books from his lockers in the hallway of his junior high school days.

“Ne, Dai-chan. Why Kurokawa-san?” Nozawa leaned beside Daiki’s locker with a teasing smug on his face.

“They look together, that’s why. Everybody knows that. Na?” Sanada answered as he puts a heavy arm on Daiki’s left shoulder.

Daiki shut his locker closed and walked away, pulling from Sanada’s hold.

“Oy, Dai-chan. Wait for us!”

End of Flashback.

Daiki stopped in his tracks as he sees the library entrance.

“Ari-chan! Saki mailed and the party’s already started!” Chiaki called out from the end of the hallway as she ran edgily.

“Give me your phone,” Daiki said though he had already taken it from her hand.

Chiaki just let out a pout as her Daiki called his phone from hers.

“Hello?”

A girl from the other line answered.

“I own that phone. Are you a Keio student?” Daiki asked. “Tell me where you are.”

“I’m at Keio’s library history section and—”

Daiki handed back Chiaki’s phone and hurriedly ran in, searching for the location previously given. He stopped at an aisle where he saw a familiar girl on a white summer dress, with his phone on her left hand. It was a girl from the orientation a while ago. ‘Yamamoto was it?’ he thought.

He walked towards her and held her shirt. She pinned her hard to the wall opposite the shelves.

“If you have some plot against me, you might as well reconsider.” Daiki said as he grabbed his phone with his free hand.

Airi pushed herself away, having Daiki move a few step backwards. “You may be a pop star and a lot of people may be at your feet, but you have no right to assume things that way.”

Daiki sniggered. “I was kidding. I know you like me like all those other girls and I—”

Airi cut him off with a slap on his face. She couldn’t take anymore all the things in her head, let alone this big-mouthed jerk. “Don’t push it, bastard. A simple ‘thank you’ would’ve been easier.”

Daiki narrowed his eyes as he touched his reddening cheek with his palm. Airi walked to head out of the library.

“Better watch your back, little miss.”

---

“Tadaima!” Kei proclaimed as he removed his shoes. He was greeted by Jam and An as usual.

“Deary! Okaeri!” his okaa-san said who was cooking something at the kitchen. “How was today?”

Kei grabbed some plates and bowls, “Oh, it was great. I met someone from class so I was relieved.”

His mom glanced at him with a face of approval, “So, who is she?”

Kei laughed, “Okaa-san, you can read me too well.”

---

Hikaru spent the day in their room for the first time that summer. He didn’t go job-hunting that day due to the offer of the Yamamoto family. The idea of a boy like him being engaged to a girl he had never met never crossed his mind. Sure, he never had luck with any girl. But this?

As he lied down on his futon, he looked out the window. The sun was setting and he should be making soup by that time. He wanted to move but he can’t. All the thinking had worn out his energy. He had never felt so tired. He was even wearier compared to all the work-search he had done all vacation.

The Yamamotos are obviously wealthy. Saying yes to their offer could help him and his brother live a better life. Both of them would be more comfortable. He may even find a better job because of the many connections that family could have. Nevertheless, the thought of marriage was stuck to his head.

Hikaru rolled over with his back up. “Hikaru, you’re so darn selfish,” he said to himself. He remembered his mom saying that wealth isn’t everything. But his brother was everything to him. Without his Sho-niisan, he would be nothing. In that certain situation, wealth could be the answer. Marriage could be the answer.

“Mom, dad… Please help me,” he whispered as a tear rolled down his face.

---

The sky was already hovered by the dark space. The light posts, the passing vehicles, and the fluorescents from the houses illuminated the streets. It was dinner at the Izumi residence.

“Oh yeah, where have you been yesterday? You all left me and never came back until morning.” Kei said as he grabbed a piece of meat from the served dish.

His parents stopped munching their food. Her mom drank water and his father slowly placed down his chopsticks. His brother, Tatsuya continued eating, pretending that he wasn’t affected by Kei’s question.

“You see, Kei, deary,” his mother started. “We were supposed to tell you about this when you turn twenty but…” she said as she looked at otou-san.

“But we suddenly discovered something,” his father said.

“Eh?” Kei stopped eating and placed his bowl of rice on his table. “What do you mean?”

“Tatsuya is actually not your only brother, honey,” his okaa-san said. “We thought he had passed away a couple of years back, but it ended up as a misunderstanding.”

Tatsuya stopped eating and also placed down his food. “We’re three brothers, Kei.”

---

For Hikaru that morning, the rooster from the Takedas backyard made quite a racket. It must be because he had never paid that much attention to the sounds in the mornings. As he opened the window in their living room, he fished his phone from his pocket with the attached chain that he got from a gacha gacha machine. He stared at Teruyoshi Yamamoto-san’s number for rather a moment and pressed a button to give him a ring.

“Moshi moshi? Hikaru-kun?” Teruyoshi answered from the other line after around three rings.

“Yamamoto-san. I have decided.”

---

sumimasen – “excuse me”
chikusho – An expression that I suggest you google and not use it in public. :P
okaa-san – mom
otou-san - dad
gacha gacha machine - toys and other stuffs in capsules you get from a small vending machine