Chapter Four

As his father said once to him, he had to be reliable for many people as the head of the Kambe's company. He was old enough to get wedded and give birth to an offspring as his successor.

It wouldn't matter if he loved the woman as long as she could be a virtuous wife to take good care of his family. Only in this way could he dedicate all his energy to work with no worries, so that the Kambe's company could prosper in his hands.

Regardless, he sought.

For him, the happy life he had been dreaming of might just be an inapproachable vision.

When he was lost in thought, the phone rang. He stared at it for a while and then picked it up, "Mother, I've encountered her. Not bad...I've asked her for a date... Why would I lie to you ? I know...I'll hurry up. Okay. I see...Talk to you later...I'm occupied at the moment...I'll come back at noon... "

Although Daisuke had persuaded to go back at noon, he neglected to do so for a temporarily organized lunch, but he cancelled another proposal to a dinner party tonight. Now he was on the way home to have dinner with his parents and his sister who rarely returned home.

After he took over the Kambe's company and Suzue was transferred to another city, there were rare opportunities for them to have a reunion dinner.

As soon as the car went through the iron gate, his blue eyes detected the girl sweeping the ground with her body bent.

She was too absorbed in to catch sight of the car arriving from behind.

Daisuke asked Shinnosuke to honk the car horn. At the sound of the honk, the little girl whirled around and saw the car. She was frightened out of her wits and directly jogged away tugging the big broom along...

But how could a girl run faster than a car?

When the car drove past her, Daisuke looked back at her through the window. The little girl stood blankly at the roadside and was munching her fingers

'She was too old to do such a thing'

Shinnosuke was puzzled. "It was a bizarre thing. Why did she run away ?"

Daisuke didn't reply but smiled. Glimpsing the smile from the rear-view mirror, Shinnosuke was stunned.

'Sir rarely smiled. What happened today ? Maybe the blind date was a success?'

Suzue bounced out of the house as soon as she saw her brother car by the gates, her feet were light enough as she ran towards the car. "Thank God, you're eventually back. Mom has been bothering me all afternoon."

"You deserve that. You were away from home too often these days."Daisuke clambered the steps leisurely.

"Come on, She was nagging at you." Suzue took him by the arm and roamed alongside him into the mansion. "What worries her most is whether your blind date with Miss Mirai" she said.

As soon as they entered the house, Sayuri looked eagerly at her son and asked, "How about the girl you met today ? Tell Mom. Is she the right girl for you ?"

"I've told you on the phone, haven't I ?" Daisuke sat down and held the hot tea from a maid. After a sip of the tea, he answered, "Not awful. I don't disapprove of her."

"Does she like you ?" his mother instantly asked.

"Oh, Mom. So many girls are yearning for joining an elite family like ours. How could she not like my brother ?"

Sayuri glanced at her daughter and mumbled, "Are you taking her as one of those insignificant girls who just want to marry a wealthy man ?"

Suzue smiled twirling her hair around her finger "I was just going to say the most notable thing, that is she wouldn't detest such a distinguished man as my brother unless she was blind."

"That's more like it." Sayuri looked at her son with a satisfied grin "Then you need to be more enthusiastic," she added eagerly "ask her out for a dinner or movie. How about I make a date for you ?"

"No, thank you. Mother, don't bother about it. I know what I'm going to do."

"You are saying that again." Sayuri glared at him. "You weakened in every prior blind date. If you screw it up this time, I won't forgive you. I know you are still keeping your promise for that girl from the Mizuki family, I treated her so well when she was a child, but it turned out she doesn't deserve you too...."

"That's enough. You're going too far the girl had a tragic death." Shigemaru who had been silent all the time interrupted his wife lightly warning her "Let's have dinner now."

Sayuri also knew that she shouldn't have said those words. How could she know nothing about the thoughts of her son ?

She didn't mention it before because she didn't want to upset him, but Daisuke had been tormented by unrequited love for so many years. Seeing that had always made her heartbroken for her son. Today, she had had enough and couldn't help nagging him.

No one mentioned the blind date at the dinner table.

Daisuke instructed his father on the latest situation of the Kambe's company and Shigemaru nodded with satisfaction, and said, "You've done a good job, Daisuke. You are doing better than me. It has verified a correct decision to hand over the company to you. But as you know, we have a large family. It's not easy to take care of every family member. Disagreements are essential but I want you to be forgiving as much as possible. Be careful not to cause variance. After all, were are kindred of the same clan."

"I see."The son nodded. He thought it was tougher to deal with family clashes than business affairs.

Daisuke was a cold-hearted man who never put on a smile when dealing with his uncles and cousins. They didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of him, but often grumbled to his father privately. Shigemaru was easy to impact on from others and effortlessly believed what they said.

Hence, he always attempted to put them under his preservation. There were numerous times when Daisuke wanted to 'clean the company' by kicking them out of the company, but he gave up the idea in the end, mainly for concern of over-reaction from his father, who had a heart condition.

After dinner, Daisuke felt it was too humid in the house, so he went for a walk in the front yard. After walking down the steps, he saw the little girl again who happened to straighten up.

The girl looked up and was surprised at the sight of the young master.

Dragging the broom, she ran away again.

Daisuke raised his hand and called her out.

Nevertheless, The girl fled as fast as a bunny, probably not hearing him.

He retrieved his hand back not knowing why he wanted to stop her.

It was in early autumn, although it was past seven pm, instead of getting dark, the sky was reddish, like the colour of the sunset's afterglow. Opening up a leather pouch to reveal his own tobacco cigars. He lit a one and looked quietly at the tall plane Rose Tree.

"Everlasting Love, you said ?"

It seemed as if a youthful girl was sitting under the tree with her head tilted. Then she smiled at him and said, "Oni-chan..."

At that time, she was just an 18-year-old girl who started to yearn for love. One day, she came to tell him her little secret. "Oni-chan, I have a crush on a man"

At the age of twenty, he didn't know how to suppress his feelings. He was amazed by her confession but continued keeping his aloof features as cold as ever.

Unexpectedly insistent on the subject, he looked at her intently, his hair moved to the side as he tilted his head slightly.

"A man ?" He asked her curiously and asked, "Who is he ?"

The little girl redden shyly and said hesitantly, "Swear to me that you won't leak it out. Then I'll tell you."

"Fine" He put up his right hand and swore to her. He just wanted to know who the man was.

She leaned over and mumbled a name in his ear. "Hoshino Ryo"

Everyone knew this name.

As the heir to the Hoshino's Group, he was a handsome but arrogant man. But what made him so well-known was that he earned over 2 million when he first invested in stocks at the age of 15. He was therefore applauded by the media as an economic prodigy and a business genius.

This lingered as the hottest topic for quite a while.

He knew that the Mizuki family was the second-largest shareholder of the Hoshino's Group. Besides, Mirai and Ryo were also childhood playmates.

But how could she get a crush on Hoshino Ryo ? Then what about him ? What could he do ? What should he do?

He stood still and remained silent, Mirai shook his arms and said, "Oni-chan, why don't you talk to me ?"

What could he say ? Could he say 'No, I don't allow that because I like you'

His love for her lasted for years, but he didn't know when it had begun.

At first, he just thought she was a chubby and lovely girl speaking in a naive childish tone, always following him and Suzue like a little tail. At that time, he thought the reason why he treated her so well was that he adored her as a second sister. But when Suzue grew up, his affection for Mirai even increased more.

When he matured enough, he finally realized that his affection for Mirai was love, though he wasn't bold enough to admit it out loud.

The love had been bloomed and cumulative over the years. It also chaperoned him through the most courageous and innocent memories of his youth... He had aimed to keep this to himself until he was able to propose to her. And he had even visualized how delighted she would be when he proposed to her. But when she whispered the name in his ear that evening, he knew that his love would be unrequited all his life.

At that time, he was no match for Hoshino Ryo in any aspect.

Ryo was like a glittering and mesmerizing diamond, while Daisuke was like a piece of jade hidden in a rough stone.

No one could see his brilliance.

Fortunately, he did not lose his wits for too long. He remembered that he ruffled her hair at that time and teased her with his chill and indifferent voice.

"You are too young to fall in love."

Mirai glared at him before she pouted and said, "Oni-chan you are so lucky that I love you or I would punch you because you're the first one to know about my crush I didn't even tell Suzue !"

He was always the first one to be notified of everything about her. She liked to share all her secrets with him because he had been spoiling her since childhood. He always gave her whatever she wanted. So she felt closer to him. And she even let him know when she first had a crush on a man.

At that time, he realized that Mirai had always treated him as her brother.

Although he had pampered her for so many years, he was just an older brother and friend in her eyes...