Jun stood there staring at the door that Iori had just closed, and from the sound of it, she was pushing something against it.
He waited for the anger, hurt, or indignation because she treated him like that, but, all he could feel was his heart racing at the cold distant look on her face. She completely put of it, as if you too Iori out and left a shell of a person. A machine that was operating on autopilot and that under the lightest interruption, she would go into overload mode and explode.
That's why Jun stepped back. and that's why he released her hand when she wanted him to. Although he wanted nothing more than to pull her closer and tell her that everything was going better.
A completely useless action that would have comforted no one but him...
As Jun stood there he didn’t know what to do. The sound coming from Iori’s room stopped for a few minutes now and he sat in the living room trying to think about what to do.
Because he nee
"I'm sorry to introduce myself under these circumstances, I'm Satou Haruki, Iori's brother," Said the young man in a suit before him. A small smile on his face as his eyes kept wavering toward the Iori's bedroom door,"Jun Kamikoi, nice to meet you. Please come in." Jun said impressed that the man waited for him to give his permission to remove his shoes and step into the apartment."How is she?" He asked"She had been silent for the last hour. Rina-san said that she should be okay, but I'm worried..." Jun responded honestly.Haruki smiled at him and gave him a confident look, "Iori has never had aversions to hurt herself. Her survival instinct and will to live were always strong... Some would say too strong seeing as she's still fighting for her life so fiercely after all that happened...”The last words were said with a dark tone that alarmed Jun. Haruki looked like the friendly type. The type of person who would be happy leading a no
Iori opened her eyes to a head-splitting headache. She looked around her to see her room clearly lit by the city lights seeping through the window.Iori took a deep breath and sat down fighting against the pain in her head. She cracked her eyes open to look for the water bottle that was always on her nightstand to find it there along with two pills and a note.Memories came flashing back to her as she saw her brother's handwriting.If her brother was there then that would mean that she had another episode. She still remembered her one-sided argument with Kurosaki-san. The last thing she remembered was needing to close the door. everything after that was blank in her mind.Taking the pills she laid back down and closed her eyes waiting for the medicine to take effect.If her memory was right, Jun was still in the room with her when she went to close the door. Did she do or say something to him?That thought snapped her eyes open, something sh
Iori could feel his soft breath on her face, their faces were still so close she could feel the heat of his presence in her space. They both paused as if frozen as the ringing phone kept echoing in the apartment like some background sound that was supposed to tell them something but it was barely heard. Jun's eyes never left hers as their darkened blue hues sucked her into a vortex of desire that she hadn't felt in a very long time. Her heart was racing loudly in her ears and her mind was going on overload at the closeness of his face to hers. Just a few inches, If they drew close just a few inches they would... They would what? Iori blinked her eyes heavy and her berth deep. her stomach was clenched in knots and butterflies were dancing inside of it happily. She sucked in a deep breath as the haze in her mind started to lift. A voice at the back of her mind was screaming at her to pull back but she still wasn't sure why she needed to do that. T
Jun woke up to the rays of sun tickling his face. Did he not shut the drapes before he went to sleep? He snapped his eyes open and lunged for his phone on the nightstand. It was eleven AM. He fell asleep. and he overslept... He sat done feeling so refreshed, it had been a long time since he got this much sleep in one night. He still remembered the dreams that filled his sleep the previous night, and he wanted to bang his head against the wall at a certain memory that wasn't quite a dream. Or was it... The smell of miso soup and fish waffled his nose making his mouth water. Iori was awake and she was making breakfast. Damn... It was supposed to be his turn today... He went into the bathroom and showered, then went out to the living room. Iori had her back to him as she filled two bowls with rice and Jun had to gulp down at the sigh of her neck that peeked between her ponytail. The strands of short locks that fell on her nape and the lig
"Hello there! My littlelovebirds!" Iori heard the president say loudly as soon as Jun opened the doortotheir apartment.She heard the door slam back down and there was some knocking instantly. Here we go again... "Jun! let him in before he informs the neighbors and anyone who cares to know who we are..." Iori said and Jun sent her an offended glare. Then mumbled something under his breath making his pleasure more than apparent. Honestly... She felt like she spent most of her time around these two mothering them like some brothers who didn't get along. Jun opened the door and the fifty-something years old man burst inside as if he wasn't his age. He ignored Jun at the side of the door and flew toward Iori taking both of her
A few days passed since the incident and Jun was beginning to go out more often. The security detail still followed him wherever he went but, it was better than being confined to the house the whole time. Iori on the other hand never left home. It was as if she was growing comfortable inside and any mention of stepping outside disturbed her. Jun knew that the depth of her fear ran deeper than he would ever imagine. But, he was worried about her... "Hello, handsome..." Said a female voice from beside him snapping him out of his thought. He turned around to find a woman he vaguely recognized but still couldn't place her name. "Hi," Jun said awkwardly as he gripped his coffee mug and stole a glance at his laptop where he had been trying to write the next scene in their book. He changed the page quickly and looked up at the woman who come up to sit in front of him leaning her elbows against the table and pushing her cleavage out for him. Jun wanted to gro
"Our family's history goes back so far that most of us had given up on studying it in depth. In fact, Iori was the only one interested enough to dig deeper into the family's history," Haruki said, "We used to be a family of warriors and Priestesses protecting the Satou mountain. Some even say that our family stayed recluse from the outside world to protect the national secrets and treasures of the sacred arts. I'm not sure how accurate is that though..." "His family's influence grew and that's when our great great grandfather made his entrance into the business world as a way to keep up the Main house's presence and influence. he had a sister and they both decided to divide the sacred part of the clan and the business side. This sister stayed in the mountain and maintained the household's heritage, while her brother went into the world and made sure that the family stayed strong enough and prominent enough. It's a tradition that the firstborn da
"Don't tell me that you were dating her without knowing who she is," Shou said putting down the mug he was drying and threw the towel over his shoulder leaning forward."I don't know what you're talking about. Do you know Iori from somewhere?" Jun asked trying to follow up with his friend's reasoning."let's jog up your memory a little bit..." His friend said, " Do you remember certain lazy evenings at the school's library, especially in the spring, there was a sakura tree near the library windows and the light breeze always brought petals into the room whenever the windows are open... One day, as you headed toward the corner where you usually sit, you saw a beautiful raven-haired girl standing there and holding a book in her hands...""Which one of us was the writer? Because I'm beginning to wonder if our careers got switched for a moment," Jun
“How…” She whispered,“I picked him up on my way from the airport. He made his way up the mountain on his own and waited for me to come and pick him up so that he could come in.” Her father explained and Jun smiled.“You went through all this trouble…”“Sorry I couldn’t contact you, there was no cell reception on the way and I couldn’t reach you or your brother,” Jun said coming into the room as her father made way for him and went outside,“I’ve missed you,” He said, “God you look so beautiful,” He added and Iori laughed throwing her arms around him.He was there, he came for her… Iori felt on top pf the world.“How have you been?” He asked her“Fine! How have YOU been! I was worried about you, how did things go?!”“I settled everything,” He said‘What did you exa
Iori leaned against the wooden walls of her room in the mountain estate her eyes on the scenery in front of her, the beautiful cascades of the mountain forest views as they peeked through the misty presence that always seemed to cover the mountain early in the morning left Iori breathless whenever she looked at it.Usually, this view was enough to make her feel so fulfilled and empowered that she could take on anything that may come her way. But these days she couldn’t help but note the loneliness that was taking root in her heart.Her mind kept wandering to Jun and wondering how he was doing, how his meeting with Tohru’s father went. Since he had contacted her to ask if she arrived well there had been no signal from him. It’s been three days since then. Iori’s phone had been taken away two days ago. Her aunt claimed that she needed to disconnect from the city and reconnect with the mountain spirits.In any other circumstances, Iori would
Iori stood beside Jun as he spoke on the phone her hand on his tense shoulders silently reassuring him."So everything is settled? How about Kokuro are they going to plead guilty?" Jun asked and waited for the answer,"If they want to settle things with money drag them on for a bit longer and make sure that they will be under our hands next time. Tabloids can be valuable in the trade for the long term, I don't want to destroy them. Just make sure that they take a big hit... a public one..."Iori sighed, Jun was out for blood, after both the tabloid and Tohru fell for his trap, he was playing with them like a cat playing with his meal until he falls hungry and devours them. Who knew Jun could be so ruthless in business, he surely seems to be his father's son.But, Iori was worried that this was more than that. She was worried that Jun was exercising his revenge in the most rightful way he could find, not even daring to admit to himself that he was taking h
A few days later Iori walked out of the elevator with her brother walking beside her. Haruki nodded at the slightly surprised secretary and they went straight for the office. Then they went inside without knocking.Inside, the president sat alongside Jun as they talked. Iori and Jun’s eyes met for a brief moment but Iori quickly averted her gaze from his. She wasn’t there to exchange gazes with him, she was there for a reason and she couldn’t afford to let her feelings for Jun be in the way of what she needed to do.“Iori, I know we had an appointment but I didn’t know that you were bringing a guest,” Satoru said with a welcoming smile his poker face ever-present.“Since I came to the conclusion that you can’t be trusted, our meetings can’t go on unwitnessed anymore so I brought my lawyer with me to ensure that everything is legal here,”“Don’t you think that’s
Jun guided Iori toward the side of the terrace and they descended down the stairs that led to the Japanese style garden.“No one will bother us here,” He said and Iori smiled up at him.Jun led her toward a bench where he leaned and spread his arms for her to lean on him and she obliged relishing in the comfort of his arms around her.“Are you cold?” He asked as she snuggled into him.“No,” Iori answered her eyes closed as she breathed in the scent of his perfume. A scent that became so familiar to that she would sometimes miss it at night whenever she’s alone.“Back then all I could think about was how if I hadn’t wanted to become a writer none of this would have happened” She finally said and Jun squeezed her tighter and she felt his protest before she heard it.“There’s no way that any of tat is your fault,”“I know now… But back then it was
“Where are you taking me?” Iori asked Jun as they walked toward the center of the room.Jun grinned at her and she looked up at him in confusion. A small smile broke on her beautiful rosy lips making Jun want to wipe the make-up off them with one fell swoop of his mouth.He had been trying to hold back since the evening started, but he was reaching his limits. He wanted her more than anything, so at least he could have her all to himself for a few short moments like this before she had to return to her duties.“May I have this dance?” Jun asked her extending his hand to hers.Without hesitation, Iori put her hand on his which made him inwardly smile. Iori never hesitated to take his hand anymore, no matter the reason, Jun was always sure that she would reach out back to him if he extended his hand.It may seem like a small gesture, but to Jun it meant much more than that. Iori’s honest and instinctive reactions to him
“I would like to announce approaching retirement from my position as the second clan leader,” Akagi-sama said and a wave of gasps filled the room.Iori felt calmness fill her, she knew this was coming and she couldn’t describe how nervous she had felt when Akagi-sama had told her about her plan when she arrived the previous day.She had agonized over whether she was ready or if she was going to be enough, but, when she felt the moment come, all f her doubts disappeared and she felt herself being surrounded by a calmness that felt ethereal.This is her duty, the role she had been ready for for a long time. There was nothing to be scared about, there was nothing to fear because she was born to be the mountain clan’s leader. More importantly, she was born to be the priestess of the mountains.“I had been the leader of the mountain clan for such a long time that I feel that it’s long overdue for me to leave my place to some
Silence reigned over the room as soon as Akagi-sama stood there in front of them her presence reassuring and welcoming, yet at the same time overwhelming and imposing.It’s been a long time since Iori felt as if her aunt’s presence was imposing to her. Her training and frequent contact with the older woman had assured that Iori doesn’t view her aunt like the others do.Rather than saying that Iori got used to her presence, it was rather that Iori began to look at her aunt like an equal and sometimes a rival. And without the respect that had been ingrained in her back when her mother was still alive, she would have overstepped the bounds with her aunt long ago.That’s because that’s how things were supposed to be in their case. They may be mentor and disciple, but they were also a leader and her successor. And a few clashes between them were inevitable.Iori knew that her aunt liked her, she even considered her like the daught
“I hear your talk with akagi-sama went well?” Haruki said as he made his way toward them with Rina by his side.They both looked like a couple out of a spy movie, both tall and elegantly dressed. Her brother and his fiancée may have a peculiar relationship, a relationship where it was hard to decide whether they were together because it was decided for them or because they were the only compatible people who could put up with each other. But there was one sure thing, they both suited each other to the point of it being even perfect to look at.“Gee, thanks for the support,” Iori mumbled under her breath and Rina laughed,“Oh come on Iori! We all know that no one is willing to confront Akagi-sama other than you. I face cold blooded criminals on a daily basis and I can’t stand to have a talk with that woman for longer than necessary. She sends chills down my spine every time she looks at me with that piercing gaze o