May 31
Hideo was shocked when an old woman opened Takara's door and said, "Hideo Nanako? Mr.Ootori's been expecting you."
Hideo and his friend had been barely scraping by and they'd been living inside Kai's car–with fake license plates of course–visiting Takara was basically his last resort before banging on each of Kyoya Ootori's doors.
Now he sat awkwardly in a study, every bone in his body telling him to run. He looked around the immaculate room and took a deep breath to try and calm himself, what had he gotten himself into?
How did that woman know who he was?
And why hadn't she contacted the police?
He knew he was risking it all to visit Takara, but she was his last chance to figure out where Hanae was, and Takara had been ignoring all his calls.
Hideo looked outside the window and wondered how risky it would be to jump out of it, considering he was on the second floor.
But his escape plans were cut short when a man with dark hair and dark eyes walked into the room, Hideo stayed quiet as he eyed the man up and down.
Yuuichi Ootori... Japan's Deputy Prime Minister, and Kyoya Ootori's brother.
"Welcome, Nanako." He said his voice as smooth as silk, as he took his seat in front of his desk.
When Hideo didn't utter a word, Yuuichi continued to speak, "I'm certain you have a lot of questions... Well, you see my wife has been so distraught lately, and I asked myself, why? So I decided to look over her phone and found a thousand missed calls and messages from a blocked number. I took one look at some of the messages you left, and then it didn't take long to connect the dots... You're Hideo Nanako, the man Hanae Sasaki was going to run away with on her wedding day."
Hideo's blood went cold, how did this man know so much?
Why on earth would a politician like Ootori care about his life?
"You're probably asking yourself how I know so much," Yuuichi said practically reading Hideo's thoughts.
Hideo scowled.
Yuuichi smirked and took that as a response, "Well let's just say we share a common interest,"
Hideo scoffed, "And what would that be?"
He'd never met this man before, and he thought they shared anything in common?
How ridiculous.
"We both want to take Kyoya down."
Every muscle in Hideo's body clenched, he didn't know much about Kyoya Ootori aside from what everyone already knew, he was a calculative, detached, and influential businessman who owned Ootori Medical, but that didn't stop Hideo from wanting to choke the man every time he saw a picture of his come up on the news.
"I couldn't care less about Kyoya Ootori, I just want Hanae back," Hideo practically spat out Kyoya's name.
Yuuichi cocked his head to the side, "And you think she would choose you, a convicted criminal, over arguably one of the richest men in Japan?"
Hideo swallowed back the pain those words had caused him, those were the same words that kept him up every night, the same words everyone around him kept telling him.
That his love for Hanae was nothing but ill-fated, but Hideo shook his head. She was the only good thing in his life at this point, Hideo had to have faith in them.
"You already know Hanae was willing to leave that man on their wedding day, what makes this any different,"
"Time is everything, in this world Nanako. There's not a doubt in my mind my little brother is fucking that girl right now, and you–"
It had happened so quickly that Yuuichi heard the crack of the vase behind him before he was able to process what had happened, but instead of cowering in fear as Hideo had hoped, Yuuichi laughed, "Julieanne wasn't lying when she said you had guts,"
Hideo's hands shook with rage as he stood up, his breath ragged, "Julieanne? You know that insane woman?"
"Of course I know her, I sent her," Yuuichi admitted nonchalantly.
Hideo couldn't help the laugh that spilled out of his mouth, how on earth had he gotten involved with such deranged people?
"You sent that lunatic to kill me, but you're still asking for my help?!"
"Calm down commoner," Yuuichi rolled his eyes before he continued, "Listen we all know you've never been quite the catch, but now that you're an escaped felon you're even less desirable. I doubt Sasaki would run away with you now that she's had time to think about how stupid her decision was,"
"Get to the point," Hideo managed to say through his anger.
Yuuichi looked at him indifferently, "I can clear you and your friend's name, I can erase any past indiscretions either of you have made, and afterward I can give you fifty-million yen to get you and Sasaki started on your pathetic life as a couple."
Hideo attempted to organize his thoughts as he processed all the information that had been just dropped on him.
"What–What do you want in return? I have nothing to give you," Hideo struggled to catch his breath.
"Kyoya is currently living in our family's country house, about two hours away from the city. I'm guessing he picked such a remote location to get Sasaki as far away from everyone as he could, she's practically living on lockdown: no phone, no money, no way to get in or out of the house. And guess what? Lucky for you, his foreman died."
"What does that have anything to do with me?"
There was a stiff silence for a moment, as Yuuichi eyed Hideo up and down as if he were the stupidest person to ever step foot in front of him.
"Congrats on the job, Haru Uchida," Yuuichi threw Hideo a folder full of papers.
Hideo opened the file to see an identification card with his picture, a resume, and a birth certificate, all under Haru Uchida.
"Kyoya, if this is some weird sex fantasy of yours, I swear to God I'm going to beat you," Hanae said as Kyoya wrapped a blindfold around her eyes.
"Just wait I promise you're going to like this,"
He continued to lead her outside of her room, careful to keep her from tripping as he led her into their living room.
She began playing with her wedding band when he told her to stop walking, and she nervously waited for him to remove the blindfold.
She had a thousand thoughts running through her mind, but when Kyoya removed the blindfold she gasped when she saw the familiar shape under the silk sheet. "Kyoya, you didn't!"
She ran to the present and wasted no time yanking the sheet off to reveal an enormous black piano, Hanae's face flushed looking at the familiar instrument sitting in front of her and she beamed. "It's beautiful!"
Hanae nearly slipped in her rush to sit down on the bench and gestured for Kyoya to do the same. and when she placed her hands on the keys, she felt a thousand memories flash in her mind.
She remembered when Akise and her awkwardly learned how to play, she remembered how excited her father was when he would hear her play, how Mary forced her to play Rihanna songs, how she had even driven her mother to tears once, how shocked Hideo was when he found out that 'such a pretty girl could be so talented', and lastly, she remembered the way Kyoya had looked at her the first time she played in front of him
"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" She pulled him into a tight embrace, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, he let out a small chuckle as he looked down at her glowing face.
"I noticed you've been bored lately," When he looked down at her, he could hardly believe that he was married to such a lovely person.
Although he could tell she was ecstatic over the present, Kyoya didn't tell her he'd gotten the piano months ago, and it was intended to be a wedding gift. He didn't tell her how he spent weeks looking for the perfect piano and how he'd even asked Tamaki for help so he could pick out the best model for her, for his wife.
But when she turned to look at him, her green eyes instantly pulled him out of his thoughts.
"You–You didn't have to."
"It was worth it."
She tilted her head to the side giving him a questioning look
He smiled and pushed a stray hair out of her face, "I got to see you smile again."
Hanae could feel his intense gaze and the way he looked at her made her breath catch in her throat, and without thinking her hand went up to hold his face.
Her fingers lightly brushed over his lips, and she ignored the knot in her stomach as her lips met his own, and her legs went weak as Kyoya pulled her towards him, holding the back of her head in place before claiming her mouth, again and again, making her shiver against his frame.
Time seemed to stop, and–if only for a second–it was as if it were only the two of them alone in the world.
Kyoya got so caught up that he pressed her back against the piano keys, making an awful clang, so loud that it made them both freeze.
Hanae's eyes widened and she looked down at the keys below her and then looked back up at him, she blinked before she broke out laughing.
She pushed him off her to try and calm her laughter, and as he sat down on the bench, watching Hanae try to stifle her uncontrollable amusement, Kyoya remembered why he had spent so many nights losing sleep over her.