A Knight in a Suit

...

Ryoutarou looked at them, parking the car in the round half crescent moon that was their driveway. He looked at Asuna, "Good luck. You're a strong girl you'll make it."

She just sighed, "These are my parents. You've met them."

Kazuto gripped her hand, "We've got this."

They walked out of the brown Toyota sedan, and Ryoutarou drove off sorrowfully.

The two young lovers felt like they were making a slow death march to an executioners block, but they still held each others hands the whole time. Servants bowed as they pulled doors open for Asuna, the girl walking to see a dreaded pair of faces in their dining hall.

A small fire crackled in the corner of the room, providing the only bit of light for the entire dining hall. Shouzou and Kyouko were perhaps the sternest looking people to have ever been born, sitting there side by side in their wooden chairs like blinking statues almost. Wearing simple yet formal clothes that appeared to have cost a lot of money.

Asuna sat down in front of them across the mahogany wooden table, taking Kazuto's hand confidently as she sat down to speak to them.

"Father I can ex-"

"I wouldn't." The man said calmly, "I truly am curious as to what you have to say. But I'll save ourselves some time from that won't we?"

His wife blinked, eyeing Kazuto coldly, "Did he have to come?"

"Yes mother he did."

"Foolish." Shouzou admitted, "Is this some sort of...rebellion? What have we done as parents to deserve this sort of treatment from our only daughter?"

"You haven't done anything wrong." Asuna spoke, "You two have been excellent parents. It's just I wished to spend the night with him."

"Really? By fornicating?" Kyouko asked, "Do you have any idea how you made us seem?"

"I'm sorry mother." She said looking down into her lap, avoiding her gaze.

Kazuto squinted at the brown haired woman across the table, "She doesn't deserve to be shamed."

"I'd stay quiet if I were you boy," Shouzou mumbled calmly, "And thank the heavens we haven't banned you from ever stepping foot in this house again."

"Yes and I'd.-"

"Oh a retort?" Shouzou leaned forward slightly, his room darkening gaze commanding so much respect that Kazuto became silent in seconds, "Thought so."

Kyouko gripped her arm rest, "This is how you repay us? By running off with this...low life?"

"Mother I only wanted to stay with him."

"Why again? We've offered you reams of eligible bachelors. Some of which, actually all of which are more eligible than him." Shouzou noted, "Why would you do this to us?"

"They never made me feel like how I've felt for Kazu." She declared proudly, gripping his hand tighter.

"Is that really necessary?" Kyouko asked in disgust, seeing their interlocked fingers displayed like some sort of flag.

"So you let emotions dictate your actions. Emotions, pah!" Her husband scoffed, "If I acted as irrational as you, I would've ran Rect Incorporated into the ground. I'm sure I'd be living like this peasant you're with."

"Would that be so bad?" Asuna asked.

Shouzou nodded, "Of course it would. It would be the cruelest fate for any man of noble birth. Now, can you give us an excuse as to why these actions are...excusable?"

"They were right." Kazuto and Asuna murmured together.

Kyouko sighed, "Asuna this is frankly absurd to say the least, you've known this boy for what? Half a month, if that?"

"I've known him for years mother, since first grade."

"Yes, you've been in the same class for years. That doesn't count as interacting or even speaking to him for years. From what the Ishoyamas have told me the boy is practically mute besides talking to their son."

"I'm right here. No need to reference me as 'boy'." Kazuto admitted, raising his shoulders for a second.

Shouzou nodded in agreement with his wife, "I think we'll address you as we think we'd like to adress you. Especially after you've defiled our daughter. Now-"

"I didn't defile her! She pushed me into doing it, and it ended up being the most emotional experience of my entire life."

"Well then she's cruel." Shouzou spoke calmly in his deep voice, "To have dragged you into such a thing when she'd knew it would never work. It's the equivalent of throwing a street beggar a piece of meat, only to tear it out of his hands when he's about to eat it."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Well then what would you say?" Shouzou asked Kazuto.

"I'd say she's the kindest person I've met."

"Well then I'd say you're a fool." Shouzou shook his head and breathed out exhaustively, "I apologize for the actions of my daughter, I honestly feel I've failed as a parent if I've allowed this to happen. If she truly cared for you she never would've started doing this...thing with with you, whatever it is, for the sake of not wasting your time. But children are always foolish."

Kyouko moved her gaze from her husband who finished speaking to her daughter, "Asuna, this goes without saying but this is the most irrational unprofessional relationship conceivable. And we've never been more disappointed in you in our entire lives."

Her husband nodded quietly in agreement.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, "It is?"

"What else would it be? This goes without saying too, but your punishment shall be given before you return to school on Monday." Her husband mumbled.

"Punishment?" Asuna asked.

"Of course," Kyouko shifted herself atop her seat, "Did you seriously think we'd let something like this happen again?"

"We're transferring you out of Yojimi and sending you to the best private school in the country. It's a nice place out in Shikoku, far from here. You will stay there for the remainder of your high school career and then we'll find you a proper husband, not him. You'll probably know whoever his is the same amount as him... well not exactly as well but probably just as well."

"Father you can't!" She screamed, trying her best not to cry.

"And why not? We are your parents and this is our decision. Could you expect another reaction from us? After all you've done?" Kyouko replied.

Seeing Asuna cover small bits of tears with her hands, moving it from his own, Kazuto frowned as Asuna stammered, "M-My parents are right. This was cruel, I'm sorry for wasting your time Kazuto."

"This...this..." Kazuto grunted, balling his fists before barking at them as he had no other way to say it, "This is bullshit!" He slammed his fists down on his armrests.

"Oh it is?" Shouzou asked as his daughter tried her best to hold the tears back, "Well, as much as I hate to use low class low cunning vulgar language, I must say this is indeed...not...what you said it is..." He trailed, not even bringing himself to curse in his own home, "I'm so sorry for how my daughter has treated you. It was disrespectful and cruel to lead you on like this only when she knew it would end in such a way. Now please, leave my household quietly."

Kazuto just sat there, a single tear running down his cheek as he gripped Asuna's hand that fell from her tears. Silence filled the room before it was broken suddenly.

"Uh sir..." The servant murmured, still poking his head inside the door, "Mr. Ishoyama is here to see you, says its urgent."

Shouzou sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Tell Rinzo I'll be with him in just a minute." He glared darkly at the two tearful teens in front of him, "This won't take much longer."

"It isn't Rinzo sir...it's his son."

Shouzou and Kyouko looked at each other in confusion, "Taisuke?" They both asked.

Kazuto and Asuna's tear stricken eyes met once more, seriously confused.

Shouzou nodded, "All right then. Tell him to enter at once please."

"Yes sir." The servant murmured, nodding and bowing, opening the wooden door to the dining room.

"My word!" Kyouko exclaimed, fanning herself and trying her very best to not look flustered in front of her husband.

An incredibly well dressed Taisuke entered the room, wearing his best formal attire possible. Due to the ludicrous wealth of his family, he was able to buy the best looking suit imaginable, his somewhat wild and untamed mess of brown hair trimmed down perfectly, and not a single hair lay on his otherwise unshaven face. Other than looking like the son Rinzo would always be proud of, Taisuke appeared to be one thing: A professional adult. Almost as if he'd aged three years in a single day.

Taisuke bowed perfectly like a true businessman would, "Mr and Mrs. Yuuki." He then walked to a very flustered Kyouko, picking up her fluttering hand and pressing his lips to it, "You look very beautiful Mrs. Yuuki."

"Th-thank you." The woman stuttered.

Shouzou saw this with a frown and grunted to the boy, "Might I ask why you are in my household Mr. Ishoyama?"

"To talk to you." The tall boy murmured as Kyouko calmed herself quickly.

He fixed his stiff posture on his wooden chair making it creak, seeing Taisuke switch sides of the table and stand behind Asuna and Kazuto's chairs, "And what are you here to talk to me about Mr. Ishoyama?"

"I'm here to you talk about love Mr. Yuuki."

Shouzou bunched his brown eyebrows together in confusion, "Love? What do you know about love boy? You've never even had a girlfriend before from what your father's told me."

"I used to know very little about it." He smiled to the boy who used to be his friend, seeing the tears sit there next to his black eyes, "Now I know a lot. And what do you know about love Mr. Yuuki? I mean, just look at your marriage."

"Excuse me?" Shouzou asked in surprise, "You come into my household and interfere with my affairs, and then question my marriage?"

"Forgive me, as I mean no offense." The boy bowed respectfully again, before rising with a shining smirk, "But I must say this as it seemed like your wife nearly blacked out upon seeing me."

Shouzou ignored the joke and eyed the clock above the fireplace, "Can you make this quick Mr. Ishoyama? I have a lunch meeting in an hour and I shan't be late."

"Time." Taisuke smiled and huffed some air out of his nose by snorting lightly, looking down at the same shoes that probably cost the same as an old bicycle, "Time is a funny concept. I used to think I had a lot of it... but then high school began."

Asuna's father bit his lip in thought.

I ask him to not waste my time. And then he proceeds to waste it...

"The first thing I remember you telling me Mr. Yuuki, is that the reason I'm rich isn't because of what I did, rather what my parents did. And their critical wisdom in becoming rich was that they managed their small amount of time better than...what were your words again? Peasants."

"So what're you saying?" Shouzou asked, putting his hands together and resting them on his lap.

"That you were right. That we don't have a lot of time on this planet you know, none of us. Time skips forward so fast you could swear weeks become minutes! I remember playing that piano over there when I was only six years old, and now look at me, I'm on my way to inheriting a banking conglomerate. Mr. Yuuki, when my father's banking company is gone, and your tech company is gone, then what's left of us when we die?"

"Our legacy." The man said promptly, scratching his strong proud jawline.

"Exactly! And what is our legacy pray tell?"

Shouzou blinked, "Our children."

"Yes. And you're currently making your poor daughter miserable." He noted, raising a hand to indicate a quietly sobbing Asuna, "She's not even going to inherit your fortune or your company, you have Kouichirou for that, I've spoken to him before and he's more than qualified to run Rect Corp by himself!"

"Asuna's happiness is determinant on what her choices are. She made a very foolish mistake running off with this..." He eyed Kazuto in a cold squint of disgust, "Boy."

"Well then at least let them spend some more time together. Shouldn't you let a flower blossom before snipping its petals off and calling it a dead rose? While I woke up in my room last night, after having passed out from whiskey, I stared up at the roof of my bedroom. And then I realized that without Kazuto in my life I wouldn't have a single friend. Not. One. What kind of life would I have where I couldn't be allowed to have social contact with a single person? To strut about life talking to no one I cared about, treating business deals and meetings as some sort of idealized friendship. It would be one of pain would it not?"

Shouzou shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I have spent the past seventeen years turning Asuna into quality marriage material. I'm sure your father has done the exact same with you, just look at you in your perfect state of dress. I am not going to throw away the Yuuki names prized flower like some meat packer throwing an alley dog a rotting steak!" He ended his sentence strongly, not with a yell but a slight raise of volume.

Taisuke scoffed a little, looking to his side before meeting Shouzou's cold black eyes with his own striking orange ones, "But you're not. Who would you have her be with then?"

"Well, if I'm perfectly honest, someone like you. You have grades this boy could never dream to have, you're of the right background, and you're an incredible athlete of the right age and name. I'm sure you could provide what this boy could multiple times over, for my daughter of course."

The bankers son shook his head, "I've already said no."

Asuna and Kazuto whipped their heads to him, "What?" They asked in unison.

Kyouko nodded, "Indeed, we've offered you to Mr. Ishoyama here many times."

"Yet I always rejected her hand in marriage. Do you want to know why Mr. Yuuki?"

Shouzou nodded repeatedly, muttering in a cold voice, "Yes. Yes I always wanted to know why."

"Because I knew she would never love me. Since the moment we met we hated each other, on that piano bench that she pushed me off of, right here in this room. Why would I ever force her into something we would both hate?"

"Because it's right!" Shouzou snapped, making Asuna gasp as for the first time in her life she saw her father get agitated, "How do think the upper class has stayed the upper class for the past century boy? By not letting filth like him infect our bloodlines!" He snapped again, whipping his nose up to indicate Kazuto.

"Mr Yuuki..." Taisuke rested his hands on Kazuto and Asuna's shoulders, "Give me one good reason why these two should not be together."

"Because it's wrong!" Shouzou said coldly, standing up out of his chair, "You must realize Mr. Ishoyama, that Asuna belongs with someone like you, not dirty peasants! Exactly like him!"

"Hm...Is that so? So you'd rather have Asuna marry me then?"

"Of course I would."

Taisuke smiled weakly for a moment, "I'm not your average pretty looking rich boy Mr. Yuuki, I know this. I'm not what I seem sir, I can assure you of that."

"Really?" Shouzou sat back down again, "Then what do you really seem like then?"

"I'm abrasive and very selfish. I'm a nihilist and a bit of a pervert, one of the most petty people you'll meet. I can sing really well, but only when I'm drunk, which I tend to become the second I crack under emotional stress. I have no consideration for the well being or safety of others. Just ask Kazuto or Asuna here, I'm sure they can both attest to this. I also write scripts for dirty movies, and sometimes I steal hot dogs and food off the street, just because I like to. There are many other things..." He trailed, "But they are too vulgar for a professional conversation I'm afraid."

Shouzou chuckled suddenly, alarming his own wife and daughter, "Ishoyama Rinzo's only son is a degenerative sociopath that writes scripts for the indecent film industry." He chuckled again, "Preposterous. Absolutely preposterous." He scoffed, looking aside in disbelief again.

"I'm just the best case scenario for your daughter in terms of arranged marriage, what if I was really crazy and beat her and hurt her? What would you do then? Don't you have any concern for her safety or happiness? How can your own flesh and blood be nothing more than numbers on a piece of paper?! I mean good god sir, if our family names raise us above the 'dreck' of society as you so call it, then how can we treat our family members as cattle?!"

Shouzou said nothing, continuing to tap the table nervously.

Silence filled the room for a few minutes and Taisuke just brushed some hair off his expensive suit. The small clock in the room ticked above the fireplace, creating long shadows that stretched across the hall.

"Come on now Mr. Yuuki! We don't have a lot of time in this world, shouldn't we be doing the people we love?" Taisuke paused, seeing the look on Shouzou's face that turned slowly to him, "I-I mean the things we love? The things!? Being with the people we love? Living the lives we love? Surely there must be something beyond money here. We can't take it all with us, just the things that are important in this world, like the ones we care about. Like our children right?"

Shouzou shook his head, "You're not making any sense to me."

He drew a long breath, before speaking quickly, making firm eye contact wth Asuna's father the whole time, "I mean that when we're sitting in the ground. When we're dead. When we've passed away, and the only thing that remains of our bodies and our lives is rotting in the ground. The impact we've left on people, the lives we've created and the lessons we've taught, that's what's important. That! Do you really want your daughter to learn the lesson that she should marry me, someone she hates who will probably never give her an ounce of love in her lifetime, and stay away from someone who she adores? When you've died, do you truly want that to be your legacy? Your impact on this world?"

After Shouzou refused to answer Taisuke stared off into the crackling fire place, his orange eyes seeing the flames dance in the reflection of those tangerine colored orbs, "I learned this all last night. An old voice I thought I lost whispered kind words to me after I woke up from all the alcohol."

He stopped for another moment, still seeing the fireplace with his eyes and letting the clock tick for a moment, becoming the only sound in the room.

"If you still don't understand what I'm saying...then allow me to contextualize what I mean. After the dance, I felt horrible. So sad...and lonely...that I thought I was going to kill myself." Kazuto and Asuna whipped their heads to him in shock but he kept speaking regardless, "And I knew that something like this would happen when they left together, and that Kazuto would most likely do the same if Asuna one day had to leave him. I sat in an arm chair by the fire, and looking into it I thought, 'What did I do to deserve this?' And I knew the answer right away, I wasn't a good person, and I wasn't a good friend either. So I knew that I had to make it up to Kazuto, or I'd never forgive myself."

Everyone stayed silent as he kept speaking from the bottom of his heart, "Kazuto is the right man for Asuna. Why? Because they love each other. Key word there Mr. Yuuki. Love. Love is the answer. I spent the last two years of my life believing that physical attraction equated to a most deep of feelings...and for a moment...I knew that...Asuna became truly wiser than I ever will."

Hearing Taisuke finally act and speak humbly made Asuna smile a little through the tears, "She learned to love. She learned to follow her heart. And for that reason I will support them in the defense of their relationship. From now...until I'm playing a harp with my older brother up in the sky, and thanking him for whispering to me last night. And I'm sure that these two would be willing to die together if it meant they could find each other in another life. In that special place on the clouds where I'd pluck those golden strings. That inspires me. More than anything."

Shouzou tried to ignore his words but they pierced the air like lightning bolts, "This world doesn't exist without love. How can it? Without the love of my parents I turned to the love of my friend. Without the love of my friend I almost turned to suicide. I...am nothing without love, and neither are these two. I could die happily tomorrow knowing I brought these two together. In fact, I'd be willing to choke on my Miata's exhaust fumes till I croaked, if it means these two will spend the rest of their lives together."

"You're a fool then." Asuna's mother spat disgustedly, "Rinzo should be ashamed to have raised a boy who grovels to the most shameful and illogical of ideals. To have a raised a foolish. Addled. Imbecile. To die for something so stupid and pointless, to die for someone else? For a love that's not even yours?"

"Let him speak Kyouko." Shouzou murmured calmly, resting his head on his hands and looking at Taisuke deliver his speech, "Let him speak."

He nodded, continuing.

"For the longest time my only friend was Kazuto. And for the longest time, I believed that we were going to die alone...but at least we'd die alone together right?...So when I started to lose him over the past two weeks...I felt like I had lost a piece of my heart. And when he ran off with your daughter last night...I wished to take my own life, so at least I'd die with some dignity, so that if I was reborn I could have a friend in the next life. Another chance at not being arrogant or selfish. Another goddamn chance...was all I wanted. So that if there was indeed a heaven in this world... I'd at least be able to see my older brother again in another one." Taisuke looked up with a proud sparkling tear in his eye, "And I knew that suicide could've been an option. I was alone, no one was going to ever be with me. Friend or not. Because I truly felt like it was all my fault."

Kazuto frowned, "Taisuke I-"

"Quiet boy." Shouzou snapped again, ending Kazuto's interjections.

"That's just the thing isn't it Mr. Yuuki? The thing that's wrong? The mistreatment of others based simply on their class or name? You'll allow me to speak and deny Kazuto a chance to give his voice based on our upbringings?"

Kyouko tried to open her mouth but her husband shook his head.

"I know what's right. I know this because...I'd be willing to renounce my family name and die alone someday...if it meant they'd be happy together." Taisuke smirked, flicking the memory of his brother off his eye, "Love can't be shot down if it's right. Love is what truly allows these two to be happy, I'm sure they broke down in tears when you told them they couldn't be together. Love is the thing that has enhanced my life to the point where I don't just appreciate Kazuto for being friends with me...but because he truly wished to put up with me for years...and that must only be a respectful display of love. And...I think I love them both for inspiring me."

Shouzou said nothing, blinking as Taisuke then sniffled, allowing tears to run down his face, speaking out while choking, "E-Eshiro...Eshiro shot himself in the head. Eshiro shot himself." Taisuke paused, his voice breaking up, "B-Because he was going to be married off to someone he didn't know, and then his true lover couldn't stay with him ever again, father forbade it like you forbade Asuna's love. If there is a single reason in this world as to why you must keep them apart...then damn it it's wrong! If you're going to keep my Eshiro-nii-chan away from his lover then..."

Taisuke roared so loudly through his tears the whole house shook, "Then end my life! And send me up in the sky to see him again!" He kept yelling through his sobs, "Eshiro-nii-chan is my everything! Don't you dare steal him away from me for the second time! I can't stand it if I lose another loved one to the cruelties of this world! I don't know what I'll do! I don't know what I'll be!"

He bit his lip before barking at them again, "My older brother was the strongest person I ever knew! You could hit him over the head with a baseball bat, and it would be as if nothing had happened! But love drove his heart, and love forced him to take his own life, so that he could spare himself from a life where none of it existed! That's how I know love is that strong!"

The boxer forgot his high class dignity, swiping a hand across the air before making Asuna's parents freeze in fear of his strikingly strong words, "If you steal my Eshiro-nii-chan away from me, if you keep these two apart and force them to kill themselves, then I'll kill myself!" Tears flew off his face, "And if no one cares about my life then so be it! I never meant a thing to anyone anyway! At least understand that through all of it, out there in the valleys the hills, in the country, if a double shooting star strikes, or a single pair of strung fates spins my heart away, and that fate is ended, I will be crushed by it! If two hearts are touched by fate, then nothing can ever keep them apart! No matter how hard you try these two will never stay apart! Nothing can ever defeat that fated power, not laws, armies or even the higher ups of society like you two!"

He sniffled, continuing to yell, "The strong, the rich, the powerful, these people lord over us like gods, I know this because I was raised to be one of them, but these two will break through their will to get to each other! I've never been more sure of anything in my whole life! If you take my Eshiro-nii-chan away from me again... I will be nothing. Not my Eshiro-nii-chan, not my Eshiro-nii-chan! I beg of you not to kill him again!"

As the heir to one of the world's largest fortunes sobbed quietly into his hands for a moment, Shouzou just stared at him blinking calmly as Kazuto and Asuna sniffled as well, almost shattered at seeing their most masculine of friends cry.

He kept crying, wiping tears off his face that seemed to keep falling before speaking tall and proudly, "Eshiro died for an ideal that I wish he was alive to see now! My older brother stood for something that these two embody. The power of love against all odds. Huey Lewis wasn't wrong, he was right. The courage I saw last night at the dance shows that! To declare their emotions so openly, and to ignore the consequences of everything around them! And until my dying day I will not stop believing in that ancient power! It is my strength! It is my fist, my power! It is what I fight for! And if Eshiro were here right now he'd smack you both upside the head for trying to keep these two apart. How's that for logic Mrs. Yuuki? How's that for an ideal to grovel to? Are you going to insult my brother's memory again? Are you?"

Kyouko stayed so quiet it was if her mouth stayed frozen shut, same with Shouzou's, the boy speaking so eloquently it was if every brain cell he had had formulated the ultimate strategy: to convince by speaking from the heart and mind, a perfect combination of both so strong that it quieted one of the most powerful men in Tokyo.

The heir to the massive Ishoyama fortune stood so tall it appeared as though he could reach the sky and touch the two glowing fates that spun in his heart, "I won't stop fighting for that belief, my friends are all I have. I need nothing else, not the admiration from my peers, a lover, not even my father's money! The only solace I need in this entire world is to know that every string of fate will keep those that are meant to be together, together! Just look up Mr. Yuuki, we are all under the same starry sky, seeing the same fates strung! Could you exist without the love of your daughter? A true father, nay, a true person cannot exist without this string of fate called love! If you sacrifice that then you are nothing other than a robot who claims that wealth creates our happiness. Could you truly claim to be that person?"

Taisuke stomped his foot and it appeared the world shook under him, "No matter how hard you try I will not stop fighting for this. There are two halves to every whole, and well I probably will never attain to find mine...let these two strings of fate intertwine. I hold these two more dear to my heart than my own life, so please, don't forsake what my brother stood for. Don't forsake what I stand for, what Asuna and Kazuto stand for...what your flesh and blood stands for. If a cord of my heart was struck with me from these two, because of my own flesh and blood," The boxer raised a hand to indicate a sniffling Asuna, "Then by all means, please, for the love of your own daughter sir, a cord should be struck from yours."

Silence resumed as Taisuke blinked, his tears ending. He hadn't remembered crying that much in years, but he was so impassioned that he had no choice. "I've said my piece." He mumbled in his masculine voice, the last tear swept aside, "And I want you to say yours now. What defense do you have against my argument? So, what do you say now Mr. Yuuki?"

Shouzou sighed deeply, resting his arms on his chair, "Your words are...powerful. I shall not lie, you could be an orator." Shouzou met his eyes again and turned his gaze to him, "Truly, Rinzo has raised you well, and I can see your older brother shine through you, from what I remember of him. You know very well how to formulate an argument based on a good development of logic and emotion..."

But he shook his head, "But I cannot allow this relationship to happen. Not while I the Yuuki name exists. Not while I still have a bloodline to keep pure. Not while I still live and breathe will I renounce the ideals I was raised upon. I am bound to my own logic as you are bound to yours I'm sure."

Taisuke sighed too, his crying having ended only moments before, "I had a feeling you'd say that. That why I had a back up plan in case Operation Inspire didn't work out."

"Don't!" They all shouted.

Everyone at the table rose from their chairs, Shouzou, Kyouko, Kazuto and Asuna yelling loudly as it seemed like Taisuke was going to reach into his black blazer for a gun.

"Relax...Since money is the only language you seem to speak, I decided to becone fluent in it."

Instead of a pistol, Taisuke withdrew a large packet of papers and placed it on the table gently. The boy in the perfect black suit slid the packet across the table and Shouzou turned it around, his black eyes widening when looking into it.

"What is this?" Kyouko asked, seeing her husband flip through the large pamphlet of papers.

"It's the loan deal I've been trying to work out with Rinzo for years...where'd you get this boy?"

"My father gave it to me. Where else would I get it?"

"Hmm...no..." Shouzou gasped, reaching the final page and touching the ink in awe, his fingers above his business partner's name.

"Yes. My father has agreed to sign it. However, before you put your own name down, I'd check the fine print on Section 6 dash 1..." He smiled to Kazuto and Asuna, "I added a little something."

Shouzou obliged and read it aloud, his words rising in volume in combination with his shock, "I, Yuuki Shouzou, shall condone any relationship my daughter deems necessary?! Are you insane boy?"

"I'm a simple fellow." Taisuke shrugged, "If you strip these two away from each other you'll miss out on the largest business deal of your life. Father won't loan you a thing if you don't let Asuna choose her own path."

"But I...this is ridiculous." Shouzou bit his lip angrily.

Before digging his hand into his pocket and pulling out a pen, making Asuna and Kazuto gasp in shock and start to tear up in happiness.

"Fine!" Shouzou grunted, gripping his pen so tightly it almost broke under his fist, "Fine! Fine! Fine! There!" He grunted again, throwing the pen down on his signature, "You can all waste my time on another day then!" He fixed his tie with a clenched jaw, glaring at Taisuke angrily, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lunch meeting to get to. Good day Mr. Ishoyama." The man spat.

"Oh Mr. Yuuki?" Taisuke noted before he left, turning to him.

"Yes?" The man asked with a defeated sigh.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you." The boy added with a smirk.

"Don't ever come to my house again Taisuke. I'm sure you'll run your father's banking business like a chicken with its head cut off, after doing something as illogical as this." Shouzou said thinly through gritted teeth, leaving in a huff, disgustedly watching Kazuto and Asuna hug as he walked off.

Kyouko stood up out of her chair, "Ishoyama Taisuke. Why would you ignore my daughters hand and avoid a life of eternal wealth? Of perfect children and success?"

Taisuke smiled for a moment, "Because I am not part of the same whole as Asuna. That half belongs to another, I know this. They belong to each other, if they were willing to defy me, someone of such strength and skill, then they must be truly brave. That courage has inspired me, their actions are so pure and human that nothing else in this world, not even money, can be able to drive my actions regarding this decision of mine. My brother's spirit shall haunt me for the rest of my life if I don't do what he stood for, especially since I know it's right."

"You're a fool. And if you're willing to spend your life around low life trash then you're the greatest fool of an Ishoyama to ever live." Kyouko frowned down her nose at him.

"Yes, I'm sure no man in my families history had the balls to pull something so selfless. I'm sorry Mrs. Yuuki, I think I might start being friends with your daughter from now own, and I don't think she's low life trash. She's the smartest and kindest person I know."

Ignoring Taisuke's classic snark, Kyouko left after her husband, scowling under her breath, "Foolish children."

The boy in the perfect suit bowed respectfully before leaving, not even saying goodbye to Asuna and Kazuto who cried out of happiness in their hug.

They parted for a moment, thinking.

Asuna frowned, "Are we forgetting something?"

The two of them gasped and looked at each other, "Taisuke!"

Feet pattered as Asuna and Kazuto sprinted towards the half moon crescent that was the Yuuki Manor's driveway. Still wearing their dress clothes from the dance before, Asuna's dress still wearing the punch drink stain and Kazuto's suit still ragged, they ran as fast as they could to talk to him before he left. Hall ways with long glass mirrors showed their bodies flying as they ran towards their recently reacquainted friend.

"Taisuke!" They shouted, running towards him as he took his keys out of his pocket. Taisuke made the Miata chirp as unlocked it, but Asuna and Kazuto turned him around, "Taisuke!"

"Guys..." He groaned.

"Oh wait we can't use your given name right?" Asuna gasped.

He shook his head, shifting his foot on the ground for a second, "You can use it...for a week. Or for this semester...or the rest of our lives." Taisuke sighed, smiling for a moment.

Kazuto looked at him, "Everything you said in front of them...was it all true?"

"Nope! It was all a joke byeee!" He smirked, turning around and trying to walk away but Asuna's hand shot out, grabbing his shoulder.

"We're serious Yama-Tai."

He nodded solemnly as they gasped, "Taisuke..."

"I'm fine guys really." He muttered, looking up at them, "I'm sorry for acting like an ass at the dance yesterday. If you two want to ignore me for the rest of the semester then that's okay...I'm sure that dress wasn't cheap." He noted, seeing the punch stain was still there.

Asuna shook her head, "No. How could we do that to you? That would be awful of us to do. We thank you for what you've done, and now we wish to be friends once more! You said no one cared about you, but that's not true, we care about you!"

As Kazuto nodded in agreement, the tall boy moved his eyes from the tops of the heads to their eyes, onyx and amber alike, "Guys, you two really should just let me go my own way."

"Forget that." Kazuto declared, "Your brother. If he was alive man, he'd hug you so hard your ribs would break."

Taisuke nodded, "I know. A hug from Eshiro is the only thing I miss from elementary school." They kept smiling at him, but he just sighed, "Guys you don't need me, I don't need you, just let me be an asshole in peace. Honestly you think I need you? I-" They cut him off with a hug, making him gasp and cringe, "What're you doing? No! Ugh! Guys this is gross no stop it! No...no! No...No!" Taisuke groaned raising his arms in surprise, being half a head taller than both of them.

"We love you Taisuke." Kazuto joked, wrapping his arms around his back.

"We are never letting go." Asuna whispered, smirking into the rich material of his chest, hugging him tightly.

"Guys this is gross no!...I'm not kidding you're ruining my suit and it cost a lot of money!"

"How?" Kazuto smirked while hugging him.

"You two still smell like you did it." He admitted, making them jump off him and brush their own clothes from the dance wearing red faces. Taisuke smiled, "I'm glad you two can be together now. I finally feel...whole."

"But you're not." His shorter friend shook his head.

"Yeah you need a girlfriend." Asuna nodded, catching onto what her newly legitimate lover was saying.

"No, nothing's changed, I'm still the same narcissistic, nihilistic, sarcastic prick you two love to hate. I don't need to be anybody's all right? Plus who'll date me?"

"Well then what was that whole speech about love? Huh, huh?" Asuna smirked, poking her elbow into his stomach.

"I'd call it...enthusiastic rhetoric." He admitted, pulling a serious look like someone of his class would, fixing his red tie.

Kazuto smiled, "Hey man, if you ever feel lonely, just look at that starry sky you talked about. Someone, somewhere is looking right at it too I'm sure...Or you know, just write another one of those scripts." He winked jokingly.

"I never said that, that was just rhetoric! Nothing's changed, I won't have anyone like you two will!" Taisuke shouted, turning around and refusing to show an unprofessional blushing face, raising a finger into the air, "I'll fly solo till I croak watch me! I'll still be the same person at school on Monday! Again, nothing's changed!"

"Everything's changed!" Asuna laughed in a happy tone, throwing a hand off her shoulder towards him as he walked to his Miata.

When he turned around, and Kazuto could've sworn there was another manly tear in his eye, "Thank you two so much for inspiring me!"

"No problem Yama-Tai." Asuna smiled.

They held hands as Taisuke started to drive away in reverse gear, but he just smiled and poked his head out of the car, "Hey guys?"

Kazuto and Asuna turned around, pausing their walk back to her home, "Yes?" Asuna asked.

"I wouldn't do it again, just for a few weeks, let all your folks settle in for a moment."

"No promises!" She joked, reaching behind her and grasping Kazuto's black slack wearing bottom, making him gasp while the four bullet brain train crash built in red faced surprise.

After he drove away, they held each others hands and Asuna spoke, "Kazuto, can you promise me something?"

"Let me guess, you want me to stay with you forever?"

"H-How'd you know?" Asuna gasped.

"Because I was just about to ask the same thing." He kissed her for a moment before whispering against her lips, "Yes. Now and always." They hugged, embracing each other tightly before shedding victorious tears of joy onto each other shoulders.

"Wh-why are we crying?"

Kazuto laughed through his tears, "Because we won! There isn't a single thing in this whole world that'll keep us apart now!"

She nodded in agreement with a bright smile on her face, laughing and crying with him, her heart racing out of her chest still wearing the punch drink stain, the midday's rays shining on them.

...

Their friend had meanwhile driven all the way to the cliffs above the ocean. He had parked his Miata in behind the guardrail, hearing the waves crash against the cliff below, located somewhere north of the city.

An empty flask smelling of aged whiskey was tossed into the rocks below from the boy above, sinking deeper into the dark abyss of the sea.

Taisuke started scrolling through a social media web page on his smartphone, when he came across a picture his friend Kazuto had posted a few minutes before. Him and Asuna had decided to smile at the camera and take a picture using Kazuto's phone, and he stuck his tongue out at the camera with his eyes closed, his cheeks burning red as Asuna kissed one of them when he snapped the picture.

Obviously Kazu-crashes could still exist in this world, after all, they were to spend the rest of their lives together.

The tall rich boy smiled like a small child witnessing the opening of his favorite birthday presents, "Aw...so sweet."

He instantly decided to downvote the post and submit a meme filled troll comment not five seconds later. Just to mess with them and say, "Wrecked."

Suddenly a notification at the top of his screen pinged. It was a message from his father Rinzo, which read:

Taisuke. I am very proud of the decision you have made. Please note that you will be meeting her and her parents tomorrow at 17:00 sharp. Our home, wear your best formal attire. The engagement rings will be presented to you two, and you will find the forms you need to sign for business school attached below in a PDF file. You are now truly ready to become the next owner of my company and my fortune. You are now finally part of the Ishoyama family for once.

-Thank You. Ishoyama Rinzo.

He just sighed, "Well, I guess pro boxing is out of the equation. Oh well."

The tall boy knew he shouldn't complain. He could have all the money in the world, a rich wife, and Asuna and Kazuto would be dating each other, still friends with him the whole way. If he needed anything more than that he simply did not know what it would be. And for the girl he just sold himself like a cheap piece of meat to, well he'd have to love her no matter who she was, or what her family name was. That or...embrace a painful ideal.

He'd have to throw his whole heart into loving this girl he'd never met but had to marry, otherwise he might succeed in being the greatest hypocrite of all time.

The decision was made. And he knew the decision was right. Taisuke knew this as he stared out over the ocean, his proud orange eyes becoming lost in the horizon as he put his foot up on the guardrail, his perfect extravagantly expensive suit rustled by the light wind.

His new well kept short brown hair became tossed by the wind as well, as he continued to think and stare out over the ocean contemplatively.

There was no other choice really. To be an owner of one of the world's largest banking firms, one needed to be flexible. Taisuke just hoped he didn't bend himself so far he broke.

If anyone at school would look at Asuna or Kazuto funny and gossip behind their backs about hooking up so quickly, Taisuke would just flex loudly and crack his boxing missile like knuckles in their direction, Soviet Orchestra Speech at the ready. If anyone made fun of them, he'd flame his or her entire social media page anonymously after hurling trash at them. If they ever needed help on an assignment he'd give it to them.

If Asuna ever scored higher on an assignment than him, which would definitely happen a lot that semester, he'd just shrug and laugh it off. If Nokine or any basketball jocks tried to push them around he'd be there, iron like fists at the ready.

Every single aspect of Asuna and Kazuto's decision had consequences. The judgement from their peers, the judgement from their parents, their society. What had Taisuke done? He had literally fixed all of it for them himself.

Why? Why would Ishoyama Taisuke, one of the most selfish and arrogant people on the planet do this for his friends?

Exactly for that very reason. Because they were his friends.

Taisuke remembered a very important lesson about friends on that piano, only eleven years before...

There were two six year olds playing the piano in the dining hall of the Yuuki Manor, Asuna smiling as Taisuke sat next to her, playing notes with her. Shouzou and a middle aged stern looking Rinzo watching with biting teeth, knowing their futures depended on this union.

"You suck at playing notes!" The little brown haired boy taunted, trying to play faster only for Asuna to glare at him.

"Faster isn't better!" She whined, crossing her small arms and huffing.

He smiled and turned around to Rinzo, "Papa? Do I play piano better than Asuna?"

The man looked to his business partner that stood biting his nails nervously next to him, "Uh...yes perhaps son."

"Ha! I knew it, I'll always beat you at everything! Waaagh!"

Asuna pushed the little boy off the piano bench in anger, making him bawl and run to a tall young man of about fifteen, "Onii-chan! Onii-chan, Asuna's being mean to me!" He whined while hugging his pant leg, looking up at him with tears in his eyes.

Eshiro brushed his brown bangs aside and sighed, kneeling to put his hands on his brothers smaller and less broad shoulders, "What did you do Taisuke?" He asked in his kind deep voice that sounded exactly like Taisuke's when he was older.

"Nothing! I just said the truth about how I played piano better and she pushed me off the bench!"

His older brother smiled and looked into his eyes, blue meeting orange for a moment before he pushed his lips to his forehead and made eye contact once more, "Taisuke, you probably did something to anger her. Your friends define who you are, don't ever push them away. Let their love empower you little brother."

"But I hate her for pushing me! She's being a meanie!" Shouzou and Rinzo face palmed as the six year old kept stomping his foot on the hardwood floor in a little temper tantrum, "I hate her! I hate her! I hate her! And I will never want to be friends with her for pushing me!" Little six year old Taisuke ran crying to Rinzo's pant leg, "Papa! Papa! Let's go home! I don't ever want to come here again!"

"But I..." He looked to his business partner who gave him an apologetic nod.

"Sorry, but maybe it's too early to decide. This won't affect the loan deal won't it?" A younger looking Shouzou asked hopefully.

Rinzo took his youngest son's hand with a cold frown, speaking in the same calm masculine tone as all Ishoyamas did, "Yes it will, that daughter of yours seems like a rebellious one by the way. Let's go Eshiro." He ordered, making the boy sprint to his side like some sort of lap dog.

And then eleven years later, that very same little boy had grown up and learned, finally listening to words from years past, an alcohol induced hangover creating a whisper of an imagined ghost. He stood at the guardrail thinking.

He decided to mutter a few words as the wind rustled his brown hair, wearing closed eyes, the boy started to speak to it, "I closed my eyes in this world of robotic logic and deprivation, hoping to wake up in one of love. The result sung true, thank you for what you have taught me Eshiro-nii-chan. No matter where my other half may be in this world, I will be searching for her."

Taisuke smiled, still closing his eyes as the wind tossed his brown hair about, "I love you Eshiro-nii-chan." He whispered to his brothers spirit.

He opened them onto the Pacific Ocean smiling as brightly as the sun that shone over it.

...

The End.

...

Japanese to English (Vice-Versa) Index:

Mr Ishoyama: Ishoyama-san

Mr. Kirigaya: Kirigaya-san

Ms. Yuuki: Yuuki-san

Mrs. Yuuki: Yuuki-sama

Mr. Yuuki: Yuuki-sama

Eshiro-nii-chan: Big Brother Eshiro

Little Brother: Ototo

Onii-chan/Aniki: Older Brother

I love you: Aishteru

Goodbye: Sayonara

Thank You: Arigatou

...