Chapter 2
(A/N Notes: As I said here's the double release for this story)
2 years ago
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Masahiko was inside Ryousuke's office, his father, as he had been called there to talk about his future with his father
"Masahiko, today I want you to start deciding on what you for your future"
"Hmmm, Is that so?"
Masahiko answered his father with a very uninterested and rather annoying tone, that his father ignored
"I can see you're veeeeery interested, but I want you to take this seriously, because it'll decide your future, and I want you to have a good future, especially when you're the heir"
"I get it, I get it. Can we get done with this already?"
"... *Sigh* Then I will give you a few options"
Ryousuke pushed a stack of papers stapled together on his desk towards Masahiko, which he picked up as he understood that's what his father wanted him to do
"For your first option, is for you to choose a specialization or apprenticeship course that captures your interest, with various places that provide such courses list on those papers, I recommend you taking the entrepreneurship or financing courses, as those will help you on taking care of the company"
"Huh..."
Masahiko simply looked at the pages without even bothering to read or think about his father's suggestion. Then Ryousuke handed another stack of paper, this time they weren't stapled, to Masahiko, which he immediately picked as he wasn't interested in putting effort into doing any course, as he wanted to only have it easy with his life by spending all the money that he could without a single care
"Your second option, is for you to choose a fiancée between these possible candidates, and I will say this upfront, I do not recommend you doing this now, I'm only giving you the option if you also want to help the family in forging a long-lasting relationship with another family, so if you choose this option, I please ask you to do something about your "womanizing" attitude..."
Ryousuke's words entered and left Masahiko's ears as he didn't pay single drop of attention to Ryousuke's words that came after he had said for him to choose a fiancée. Since Masahiko wasn't intent on even doing the basic chores for himself, he thought that picking a girl there to do all of his obligations for him would be the best option for him
"... ... ..."
He looked at the candidates, and he hated all of them, one had a sickly body so he would always need to take care of her, which he didn't want to put the effort into. The other had an annoying personality that would nag at him for doing nothing all day and was very short as well. Another one had the skills for doing most of his needs, but also had the personality of someone who would always complain about him doing nothing while she needs to do everything, including his job of managing the family company. Then he reached the last candidate
Her face was pretty albeit she appeared to be expressionless as well, her personality appeared to be tame in comparison to the other candidates, and the more attractive to him was that she appeared to be easily fooled, meaning that he could go out with other girls and just make some excuse to her
With all that in mind, Masahiko made his decision
"I'll go with this one"
"Let me see... Kogane Sakurako?... Are you sure about that? Don't you want to do a course instead of getting engaged"
"Yes, I am. She looks to be pretty easy to foo-...Ooforming a relationship with"
"... *Sigh* Very well, I will respect your choice. Then you're free to go"
Ryousuke glared at Masahiko, and after sighing, he let his oldest son leave his office. Having met the head of the Kogane family a few times, Ryousuke already had his contact, so he made him a call, and when he finally managed to talk to him he asked if his daughter was interested in a marriage interview
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Later that same day
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Hansuke had just returned home, and he was greeted by his wife Emma, who helped him take off his coat
"Good evening, dear. How was your day?"
"Busy as usual, though I received a call from Ryousuke-san"
"The one from the Hasegawa family?"
"Yes, him"
"What did he call for?"
"His oldest son wants to get engaged to Sacchan"
"Oh my!... Well, then I suppose you should go as her if she's fine with it"
"Yeah, I was just thinking of doing that. Do you know where she is?"
"She should still be in the studio playing her favorite instrument"
"I see, thanks"
Hansuke thanked and lightly kissed Emma, before making his way to the studio that Sakurako had requested from them as a birthday gift. When he reached he stopped in front of the door, and before entering it, he deeply breathed in and then out, then he opened the door and he was greeted by the sound of...
"DIE! DIE! DIE! MY DARLING!!!..."
A guitar was being loudly played by Sakurako as she sang the lyrics of a certain heavy metal band with her eyes closed. Any signs of an elegant and refined young lady were gone as she instead had a pretty cool atmosphere around her as she dexterously played her guitar, and as for why no sound was coming from the studio earlier, was because it was obviously soundproof, so that Sakurako could play her guitar or violin at any time of the day without bothering anyone
Hansuke seeing his daughter playing her guitar, simply waited for her to finish playing it, which only took some more seconds for Sakurako to finish the song
"... Whew... ! Ah! Welcome back, dad"
"Yes, I'm back, Sacchan... Well, I don't think this is the best moment to ask this but..."
Hansuke scratched his cheek as he said that to Sakurako as she put her guitar on a holder
"... The heir of the Hasegawa family has chosen you to become his fiancée, if you don't want to, just say it now and I will refuse their request"
"Is that so? Then... Please tell then I accept on getting engaged with the heir of the Hasegawa family"
"Can I ask you why?"
"The why? Well, you and mom have given me many things from a good lifestyle, freedom to anything that I wanted in life, and any gift that I asked even if they were unreasonable, like this music studio. So, helping the family by becoming the fiancée of the heir of the Hasegawa family, is my way of paying back for everything that you two gave me"
" "Sacchan! Uuuuuuuhhhh..." "
After hearing Sakurako's reasoning, both Hansuke and Emma, who had come just a few seconds ago, began to cry waterfalls as they became emotional over Sakurako's charitable and pure motives for getting engaged. Then they both hugged her while still crying
After that, the two families eventually had a marriage interview, the two people who would be getting engaged to each could still go back and refuse the engagement, but none of them did. Masahiko, because of his wants to get richer without having to work, and Sakurako, who was doing that for her family. The two then signed the documents officiating their betrothal to each other, by their own volition, and having been asked many times if they really wanted to go through
A week later, Masahiko would quickly betray Sakurako by going out with not one girl, but two at the same time. As for Sakurako, she wouldn't know until two years later, but she also would never form any feelings for Masahiko either. In essence, the two were by most metrics, only acquaintances
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Back to the present
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" "..." "
Hansuke and Etsuko were both covering their faces with one hand as they cried after hearing Sakurako's reasoning for accepting the engagement with Masahiko, and also from hearing how much of a jerk, their son, Masahiko was to Sakurako
"... *Slow breaths*"
Meanwhile, Kazuo was doing his best to keep himself calm from his growing rage toward his brother for being that much of a bastard to one of Kohaku's friends. But beyond that, everyone was having a great time together during dinner, but as they were enjoying themselves, one of the servants walked into the dining room
"It appears, that Masahiko, has finally returned home"
"..." (x7)
Everyone suddenly turned silent when they heard that, but then Ryousuke got up from his seat
"Well, it appears I have to go greet my son to ask him some questions"
He said that with a smile on his face, but his eyes were not smiling, as he made his way to the front door
"I'm home, dad"
"Welcome home, Masahiko. Weren't you with Sakurako-san?"
"Yes, but I dropped her at her house a short time ago"
"I see, come to the dining room. Since it was getting late, and we didn't know when you were returning we decided to have dinner without you"
"No problem, that's because I was doing my duty as the fian... Cé..."
Ryousuke passed one of his arms over Masahiko's shoulder as they walked towards the dining room while Masahiko said his usual excuse that he was escorting Sakurako to arrive late at home, but when he entered the dining room, he saw three people who weren't supposed to be there. And he focused especially on Sakurako who right now had a fried shrimp in her mouth
"W-w-what the fuck are you doing here, woman!?"
"... *munching* ... *Swallows*... *Cleans mouth with a napkin* ... Ahem. Kazuo-san invited me here"
"Why the fuck did you invite her here!?"
"Because she's my fiancée's friend and because she's your fiancée, isn't that right, you bastard?"
"...Erm..."
"Masahiko, you better tell your dad the truth of who you were with earlier and everything that you have been doing until now"
Ryousuke said that to Masahiko as the put more force on his grip that holding Masahiko's right shoulder
"Hahaha..."
Masahiko tried to laugh his way out, but it was impossible, and then he was forced to tell everyone everything that he did, and after that, he was physically punished by everyone in his family. Only after all that he was allowed to walk away to his father's office, where he was told to wait for him there
"I'm sorry for the embarrassing scene you all had to see"
"No problems, we felt very satisfied at seeing that you all punish him for his wrongdoings"
"Still, we're sorry. I will still give him more punishment for his actions"
"I see, then we will be going. Let's Emma, Sacchan"
" "Yes" "
And the three entered their luxurious car one after the other, but before Sakurako entered the car, she looked at the car in front of hers, and then at her friend
"Bye, Kohaku!"
"Nn! *Nods* Bye-bye, Sacchan! *Cof!*"
"Please don't overexert yourself, Kohaku"
Kazuo said so as he helped her get inside the car
"..."
The Sakurako saw Kazuo hit his head on the roof of the car as he tried to get out of Kohaku's car in a hurry and with a red face, as he appeared to argue with Kohaku. Sakurako tilted her face in confusion as to why he was like that, but she just shrugged her shoulders and entered her car without paying any more attention to what happened to him
Then the two cars began moving and shortly after that, both cars left and passed through the entrance gates. With the three watching their visitors leave
"... So how was your first kiss, son?"
"I-it's none of your business!"
"Haha! Don't worry too much about it, Kazuo. Your father was the same back then when I gave his first kiss"
"It's not like that!"
Kazuo entered his home, and the two could clearly see that he was extremely happy from what just happened between him and Kohaku. They stood in front of the front door for some more time before they went inside
"Etsuko, if you excuse me, I'll be taking care of Masahiko"
"Okay, then do your best"
"Thanks"
Ryousuke made his way to his office and entered it. Once inside he closed the door, and glared at Masahiko, losing all of his gentle atmospheres from earlier
"Masahiko, because of your stupid actions that you have been doing for two years now, you'll no longer be the heir"
"What!? You ca-"
When Masahiko heard that, he got up from the chair and tried to object to his father's decision, but...
"SHUT UP!"
"!!!"
His father shouted at him with anger, making Masahiko sit back down as he had a scared face
"I gave you the option to do something that you liked, but you went and chose to have a fiancé, and then what do you do after? You betray her with five other girls. And then for two years, you make use of her goodwill to have her pay for your expenses, and in the end, you accuse me and your mother of forcing something that you! Decided to have it. And not only that, you have been lying to me all this time! I don't want to hear any of your excuses anymore, do you understand this time?"
"Yes..."
Masahiko said that in a low and angry tone
"What did you say?"
"Y-yes!"
"Good, from now on, not only you'll not be the heir of the family and the company, but you'll also be now sent to somewhere else to live by yourself, find a part job somewhere and take care of your personal expenses, so that you can finally learn something useful for once, that is not being a gigolo or a liar. And don't worry, we'll still take care of most of the bills related to the house, but just that, if you want money to spend with girls, then go earn it by yourself, do you understand?"
"Yes, father"
Good, then prepare your stuff, because today is the last day you'll step here. You're already an adult with 18 years of age, now go become a decent adult for once, you're dismissed"
"..."
Without saying anything, Masahiko got up from the chair and left while looking down, and when he was opening the door, Ryousuke opened his mouth again
"Also, don't even try to do anything to Sakurako-san, because if you do... I won't consider you my son anymore"
Masahiko didn't say anything and simply nodded as he left his father's office. After the door was closed, Ryousuke sighed as he pressed his temples now that his anger was dissipating, and he began feeling some remorse for doing that to Masahiko. After long minutes, Ryousuke calmed himself once again and called for Kazuo to come to his office
"I'm here, dad"
Kazuo respectfully bowed, showing a lot of seriousness in his meeting with his dad
"Great! Kazuo, take a seat"
"Okay"
Kazuo sat on the chair and waited for his father to speak
"Kazuo, from now on... You'll be the new heir of the Hasegawa family and of the company"
"... I see, then I believe I'll have to ask a favor from you dad"
"? What do you mean?"
"If I'm now going to inherit the company, then I'll need to learn how to run a business, so I'll need to at least take some business course... But my schedule *mumbling something*... ... ... Dad, can you please cancel my cooking classes and put me in a business course that you think it'll be best suited for me to run the family company?"
"Of course, but weren't you having those lessons so that you could cook for Kohaku-san?"
"Yes, but even if I love her, I still need to take care of my family and company, besides... I can always ask Takeru to teach me some stuff about cooking"
"Oh yeah... Takeru-kun is quite a good cook, isn't he? Well, if that's your decision, then I will support it"
"Thank you for everything as always, dad"
"No problem, and you can leave already, Kazuo"
"Okay, then good night, dad"
"Good night, son"
When Kazuo left his office, Ryousuke still felt somewhat sad from what he had to do earlier to Masahiko but he felt that it was necessary for him
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The next day
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A phone was rigging in an office, and the person to who that office belonged to, answered it without delay
"Hirano Kazumi speaking, who do I talk to?... Eh? That Kogane Hansuke? The owner of the Kogane conglomerate?... Huh!? A-A-A marriage interview with my son!?... No, no! It's not a problem at all! I'll call him now! Ah! Wait, he's still probably at school right now, so can you wait until tonight or tomorrow?... You can! Thank you very much!"
And then the call ended, making Kazumi almost fall from his chair from the amount of tension that left his body
"Ichiro... What did you do to get the Kogane family's attention?"
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At another place
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"Here's your order"
"Thank you"
Ichiro just handed Sakurako a paper coffee cup of pure black coffee, and as she paid it back at the same time, Sakurako immediately took a sip, causing her face to make a delighted expression
"Fuaaa... I really missed this coffee"
"... Is my coffee really that good?"
"Yes, it is"
"Well, thank you for the compliment"
"You're welcome, then see you another time"
"See ya... Hello, what can I help you with?"
As Sakurako left, Ichiro went to serve another client at his mother's cafe
(A/N Notes: Well, I tried to tie most of the loose ends for this beginning part, and by next chapter, it'll be start of the progress of the romance between our two main leads)