Imagine being an avocado. Fuckin' Rantaro. Love of my god damn life.
...
Paradise.
The building lived up to the company standards to say the least. It was taller than all the other buildings and the mass majority of the building seemed to be windows, letting all the natural sunlight in possible. The building held soft pinks, blues, oranges, purples, but mostly white.
I walked up to the front desk to find a very well kept looking man with dark hair and dark eyes, "May I help you?" He asked coldly.
"I have an appointment with Mr. Tepes for 2:30." I said.
He glanced down at his watch, "It's only 2." He stated bluntly.
"Yes, I am aware," I could feel the anxiety growing within me, "I figured it would be best to be a bit early."
He sighed, "Name?"
"Yuichiro Hiragi." I stated.
"Oh, you're a Hiragi?" He asked, eyeing me up. I wouldn't have guessed that. You lack the physical features."
Oh how I wonder why.
I obviously wasn't going to look like my other family members. I was adopted, my dad shared the same fate as me as well. We looked nothing like Hiragis. But this snarky bastard didn't need to know that.
"No, wait. Being overly early is a Hiragi trait I suppose." The man rolled back his shoulders.
"Now, now, Mr. Stafford, please do your best to not offend one of our own. He will be joining us fairly soon, I guarantee it. He is here on special request from Mr. Tepes." A man with oddly peach colored hair and the most unusual amber eyes said, "Come with me, Mr. Hiragi, I will escort you up. Mr. Tepes is dealing with a personal affair at the moment but he should be done soon."
We shared an insanely awakened elevator ride to the 16th floor, there were many, many more above it though. I didn't like this guy. He was condescending and was radiating an aura where you could just tell he thought he was better than me.
"Thank you for handling that." I said.
"Not a problem, it's my job as Mr. Tepes personal assistant to do these things." He smiled.
We got off and the first thing I noticed was how much space was in between the elevator and the door to his office, the second thing I noticed was a person shaking on the nearby couch, his face buried in his hands, "I'll be over there." I pointed in the direction of the boy.
Mikaela's assistant smile faltered for a moment, "Don't pity him too much. He practically asks for it."
I don't really know what he's talking about, but that's still a horrible thing to say about someone who looks so distressed.
I walked over and carefully sat down on the couch next to him, his hair was dyed a bright shade of red, "Hello." I said gently.
The man shot back in fear before realizing he thought I was someone else, "I'm sorry." He said very quietly.
"Hey, it's ok, you don't need to apologize for anything. Are you ok?" I asked.
He clasped his hand on his wrist and nodded slowly, "I'm ok."
I could very clearly see bruises were placed haphazardly across his body, they looked painful. And he wouldn't even look at my face.
"My name is Yuichiro, but you can call me Yuu. What's your name?" I asked, trying to make casual conversation as I surveyed his body. The state of him made me want to throw someone in jail.
"Asher." He finally looked me in the eyes and they were just as bright and green as mine. Or they would've been, if one wasn't practically swollen shut. He caught me staring and shot his head back down, "I'm sorry."
I was shocked. Who the fuck could whittle away at a person this much? "Your eyes, they're the same as mine. See?" I tried to use the same type of thing I would use on children with a physically abusive parents.
It worked as he did look me in the eyes. I was so angry, "My eyes aren't nearly as pretty as yours," he smiled sincerely, "sorry if this is weird, but you're looks are everything I wish I had."
I blushed a little, "T-thank you. I hope this isn't too straight forward, but what happened to your eye?" I asked.
"I didn't dye my hair in time," he placed a few strands between his fingers and stared in absolute hatred, "my roots were showing. He doesn't like it when my hair is dark. He thinks the bright colors are better for me. He's right of course."
"Who?" I asked.
The door to Mikaela's office slammed open, "Him." The couch was shaking with how much he was trembling, yet he still looked kind of happy to see him. It was so fucked up.
"Raymond Jamison Kendall, get your ass back in here right this instant! We are not done talking! I'm not going to let you do that to him, what the hell is your problem?!" Mikaela came chasing after the dark haired man who had just stormed out.
"Why don't you fuck off, Mikaela?! He's not your problem! I'm just making sure he knows!" The sicko defended.
The dark haired man stormed over to the couch and the urge I felt to rip his throat out was so immeasurable, "Ash, get up." He said demandingly. Asher was getting up the best he could with how hard he was shaking when the man grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him up, Asher yelped in pain and I felt a piece of me curl up and die, "I said get up!"
"I'm sorry." Asher apologized, staring down at the floor.
"Who are you?" He snarled at me.
I looked up to see rage filled eyes, a green and a blue, overall he appeared 'calm' but he had a look of anger I don't think anyone could match, "Yuichiro Hiragi." I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop from shouting.
"Well," he smirked, "aren't you a beauty? Your eyes are just like my Asher's. Although, you pull it off much better," he grabbed Asher's chin and forced him to stare into his eyes, "if only you could be like that," he roughly moved his head to face me as well, "look at him. Now that's high class, a Hiragi. If only you could try harder, maybe then you wouldn't make me so mad."
"I know. You're right. I need to try...more." He said.
I looked over to Mikaela in complete horror, I was begging him to make it stop and I hoped to god he could sense it. This hurt me so much and I just wanted it to stop. I felt a connection to Asher even after just the few words we spoke and watching Ray hurt him like this was unbearable, "Mikaela." I mouthed to try and get him to get the message.
"Ray, you are to leave Asher in my care for the next 4 weeks. I will talk to him, as will our new therapist," he motioned to me, "then I will consider letting you see him. If I ever see another bruise on him again, I will knock your teeth out and have you thrown in jail so fast your head will spin. I can not believe you would do such a thing and I'm angered at myself for not noticing sooner."
"He isn't yours, Mikaela." Ray growled.
"He's not yours either. Ray, you do not have a choice. You may have a very well polished mask in public, but mine is better." Mikaela hissed.
They were like cats and dogs.
"Tell Mikaela," Ray gripped onto Asher's wrist harder, "tell him." It bothered me how calm Ray sounded while crushing the person he claimed to love's wrist.
"Mikaela, I'm fine," Asher spoke up, "you... you worry too much. He doesn't usually do it this hard, I can handle it. It's my fault-"
"No, you're definitely staying, especially after that." The words slipped out of my mouth before I even noticed. I just wanted Ray to stop. I needed him to stop.
"It's not your choice to make," Ray sighed, "it's Asher's, and he will always chose me."
"You need to sh- UGGH," I was very upset, he was still gripping his wrist. It was his way of saying Asher had to chose him or he would regret it, "you could at least stop crushing his wrist while trying to convince us he'd go with you willingly. Mr. Tepes, can you please have Mr. Kendall removed from the building?" I asked.
"Tch. Fine," Ray pushed Asher to the ground, "I don't need him."
"Ray," Asher looked up, "I-I don't understand."
Ray squatted down and placed his hand around Asher's throat, the threat of choking him was definitely there, "Shut. Up. You sound pathetic, you look pathetic. I will be back in 4 weeks. Behave." Ray smashed his lips on Asher's then proceeded to walk away as if nothing had happened.
I felt sick to my stomach. It was disgusting.
Mikaela raised Asher up as gently as possible and led him to the couch before returning to my side, "I'm very sorry. This was obviously not an original part of my schedule. I'm ashamed that you heard me call that man my friend just last night. I have never seen him act that way, it's truly disgusting."
"I hate people like him more than I can put into words," I started biting at the nail of my thumb to try and ease out some of my aggression, "I know it's my job to be non- judgmental, but back when I was working in a psyche ward, I learned I couldn't handle former abusers, they made my blood boil. People who get into relationships just to destroy their partner and children make me so mad."
"That's understandable, why do you think we're Tepes' and not Bathorys anymore?" His big blue eyes were filled with so much hatred, "Things have definitely changed since the last time."
"I'm sorry, Mikaela, that must've been a terrible childhood. It's amazing you were still able to become so successful even in that situation." I said.
"I had some unspecified goals to reach. I was never quite sure what they were, but they drove me to do everything I could every day," he clenched his fist, "what are your parents like?" He asked.
"Well, not many people are aware of this but I'm actually adopted by Shinya Hiragi. Most people think that he's my father from another marriage, which I find odd considering out of the two of my dads I definitely look more like the other one. They're very nice, very protective as well, sometimes a little too much. My original parents had a wide variety of health problems, something I get to potentially look forward to, as well as insanely warped religious beliefs despite being found to be perfectly sane. So, ya know, when my dad came at me with a steak knife after my mother's suicide, I got thrown into the system." I said.
"Wow, you just can not get away from traumatic events." He placed a hand on my back for a second.
"It's life, there's not much you can do except live it." I said.
"Or end it." Mikaela added.
"Always look on the bright side of death, a-just before you draw your terminal breath." My brain kinda went on auto pilot for a second there.
"Life's a piece of shit when you look at it. Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true. You'll see it's all a show. Keep them laughing as you go. Just remember that the last laugh is on you." Mikaela finished.
"I see you too are quite cultured," I tried to laugh but dear lord was I angry, "anyway, you said you needed me to sign some things?"
"Ah, yeah, right this way." The blonde gestured me over.
While he was briefing me of the basic expectations and layout I was taking note of his appearance. Today's suit was navy blue and his eyes popped out against it, they were so blue today. The longer I stared the more my head started to ache, but I couldn't look away. It was like something was missing. They were hypnotic, pulling me deeper and deeper.
"Ow!" I grabbed at my scalp and had to look away.
"Are you ok?" Mikaela instantly ran to my side, "Do you need an Advil or something?"
"No, I'm," I hesitated as I met with his eyes once more, "I'm ok, Mika-" another pulse hit, "fuck! Ok, yeah, an Advil might do me some good." I chuckled.
"Mmm," He smiled as he pulled some out of his desk drawer and got me a mini water bottle from the fridge, "Mika." He said as he handed it to me.
"Oh, sorry, did I say that? I was trying to say Mikaela." I drank some of the water.
"No, no, I actually like it. No ones ever given me a nickname before," He watched me ever so intently, "well, not a very nice one anyway. I don't think satan counts."
"No, I agree. I don't really know though, it's already unprofessional as hell that I've been calling you Mikaela instead of Mr. Tepes, not to mention I'm swearing in front of you as well." I said.
"I'd like you to call me something else of you catch my drift." He mumbled.
"What?" I asked.
"I mean I really don't consider you just an employee. I already told you I liked you a lot and wanted you to come work for me. I do see you as more of an acquaintance and I... might... like... being called... Mika." He blushed again.
He's real fucking weird. But I won't lie, I do relate to him in some ways. Being at the top has to be lonely.
"I think I can do that, Mika." I said. I felt pity, I had the feeling he would've hated that but that was what I felt.
"Thank you, Yuichiro." Mika seemed happy.
"Well, if I'm calling you Mika, then feel free to call me Yuu, Yuichiro is far too many syllables." I waved.
"Yuu, Yuu, Yuu. I think I like that." He was very happy now.
How socially isolated do you have to be to be so excited about a nickname?
The therapist in me may have been working a little too hard, but it was very obvious that Mikaela didn't get enough social interaction and he probably didn't get enough as a child either.
If he doesn't do well with social interaction it's amazing how large this business has grown. He's full of surprises. I wonder what really goes on in that head of his.
...
What goes on in Mika's head: