After a long plane ride, they had finally made it to Japan. The family stepped out of the airport and took in the views around them. Mirai smiled brightly as she took Akihito's hand "My love take me to go sightseeing!"
The man laughed and squeezed his wife's hand "We will go but let's get settled first, yes?"
Mei glanced over at them and rolled her eyes, even after all these years of being married they still act like they just got together. As she started getting lost in thought she didn't notice Setsuya sneaking up on her.
"Ah!" Mei screamed as Setsuya snatched her up and hugged her, burying her face in her chest
"Mei-chan your chest is still the same!" she said with a smirk
"Setsu let me go!" Mei struggled in the tall girl's grasp, compared to her Mei was shorter and had a bit less muscle so she couldn't break free of Setsuya's grasp.
"Mei-chan you came all this way just to reject me again!" the girl whined, poking her lip at her and batting her long lashes.
Mei formed her lips into a pout and she frowned "How'd you know I was even coming? You ruined the surprise!" Setsuya finally released her and laughed, running her hands through her short brown hair.
"My dad told me you'd be here today, Mei-chan you know I couldn't miss being the first to bother you." She stated with a smirk.
Before Mei had the chance to respond, her parents came over waving towards Setsuya "Setsuya! It's so good to meet you again! How is your family?" Mirai spoke first, she went to hug the girl when she noticed her parents walking towards them.
"They are well, they actually came too, my father wants to speak with you Mr. Tetsuo" Setsuya smiled towards them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Tetsuo! We're so glad you've made it safely!" Setsuya's mother chirped happily, moving over to Mirai the two women embraced each other and chatted away happily.
"Mr. Honda, you look well." Akihito shook the other man's hand and grinned at him. "It's so good to be back."
"I'm glad to hear it, would you like to come over tomorrow after you've gotten settled?" The man asked, he casually glanced over at Setsuya and shot her a look to which Setsuya ignored.
"Yes, I will give you a call once we are settled and we can plan a dinner then." Akihito patted the other's back, giving him a reassuring look. "Don't worry Mr. Honda, the situation will be taken care of." He spoke with a low voice.
Mr. Honda nodded at him before turning to his wife "Mrs. Honda, we should let the Tetsuo's rest before we run their ears off, don't you think?"
The woman blushed and bowed to Mirai "My apologizes, I got ahead of myself, Mrs. Tetsuo"
Mirai looked at her with soft eyes and rubbed her shoulder "No no, you're fine, we will catch up soon!" The two women smiled at each other before Mrs. Honda rejoined her husband.
"Setsuya, will you come?" Mr. Honda spoke with annoyance in his voice.
"After I've properly greeted my Mei-chan." The girl responded without looking back at her father.
"Come now before you embarrass me further." He demanded.
Setsuya turned to look at her father, hate filling her eyes. "Say it again?" she spoke in a threatening voice.
"Setsu" Mei spoke, a smirk plastered on her face "Will you disobey your own father for me? You haven't even begged for my forgiveness yet! I won't accept you until you beg me to!" She smirked and held her head high.
"Okay you guys let's calm down." Akihiro said sheepishly. "I'm sure you two can hang out more in the coming days, yes?"
Mr. Honda frowned and turned away from his daughter. "My apologizes Mr. Tetsuo, we shall speak again soon."
He bowed and started to walk away, Mrs. Honda following closing behind.
Setsuya sighed and rolled her eyes "Seems I'm being dragged by the old man again." She turned to walk away "I'll see you, Mei."
Mei sighed and shook her head. 'Too bad.' She thought as they walked to where their driver was waiting for them.
Once in the car, they took a scenic route through the city. Mei stayed silent through the car ride as she still felt this strange feeling and her heart ached. 'Will I see you again?' She thought to herself again, reaching in her pocket she gave the rock a squeeze. 'I need to get a grip; this isn't like me.' She stared out the window with a blank expression and was daydreaming the whole ride.
They arrived at their new home and maids and servants started unloading their baggage. Mei got out of the car and looked around, as she walked up towards the door, she stopped to admire the traditional look of it. 'Japanese homes are so beautiful.' She thought quietly. She had been to Japan before, so when she stepped through the front door she remembered to take off her shoes and quickly replace them with some plush sandals.
She quietly observed all the maids and other workers quickly moving things about and she decided to explore her new home. From the front door were two long hallways and a flight of stairs, the hallway on her left led to an open kitchen that connected to the dining room, in it was a large floor table with cushions around it. On one side of the dining room was a sliding door that led to the main garden area, and as she stepped through it, she saw a pebble path that led to a koi pond.
Stepping back into the house she walked back down the hall towards the front door, he stopped suddenly when a maid appeared at her side and bowed to her "Mei-san, allow me to take you to your room?"
She nodded and followed the girl up the flight of stairs and down another hall, once they arrived at her room, the maid bowed once again and left her alone. As she opened the sliding door to her room she sighed. The room had white walls and dark brown wooden floors and a door that led to a private bathroom on the right side of the room. On the left side was a door that led into a walk-in closet space. She continued looking around and couldn't help but notice the massive plush pink rug that spread across half the floor. The curtains over her window were also the same pink and she wondered if this was even supposed to be her room.
She frowned slightly and glanced at her bed; it was pink too.
Her bedsheets and blanket were also pink which slightly annoyed her 'Who decided I liked pink so much?' she thought, going over to flop herself on the bed. At least it was soft, too soft, she blinked a few times, and the next thing she knew she heard knocks at her door.
"Yes come in." She said, sitting up and rubbing the back of her neck.
"It's me." Her father slowly opened the door and smiled at his daughter "How are you liking your room?"
"Who decided I liked so much pink?" She asked quickly, crossing her arms and squinting at him.
"Sorry, that was me!" He chuckled and walked closer to her.
"Hmmm, I'm 18! I'm not a little kid anymore." She scolded her father to which he put his hands up in defense.
"Okay, okay! Sorry" He laughed again "I will arrange for my not-little-girl to get a 'Grown up' room next time." He said teasingly.
She rolled her eyes at him "You'd better or I'll run away to Setsuya! Or even back to America!"
Upon hearing Setsuya's name her father sighed and showed a soft smile. The corners of his eyes wrinkling "That girl is trouble for sure, hasn't changed a bit."
Mei laughed "She used to be worse."
"Now that's true." He couldn't hold back a soft chuckle, the man looked down at the ground and then looked back towards his daughter 'Should I bring it up now?'
As he looked at her, she took notice and immediately frowned.
"Daddy, do I have to start charging you to look at me? Can I have my face back!" she said with a mischievous grin.
"You and your slick tongue!" He exclaimed and laughed at her. "Don't worry my dove, even when you're old like me- "
"I'll never be old like you!" She cut him off confidently "Even if my age is 60, I'll always be beautiful as I am now!" She smirked.
"Okay okay, my apologies Miss. Young-Forever." He shook his head; he could never win with her. "I hope you always have this confidence my dove. Don't falter for anyone."
Mei raised her brow and crossed her arms with a smirk "And who could make me falter? I'm the glorious Mei Tetsuo, the most beautiful and smartest in the world, who could ever make me falter?"
Akihito couldn't help but smile at those words, even though she was stubborn and had flaws, he loved that he could spoil her to the point where she was certain no one could knock her down.
As he was in thought his phone suddenly rang, once he took it out and saw the caller he sighed and looked back to Mei "Sorry dove, I'll have to get back to you soon. Try to rest." He said as he was exiting the room.
She nodded after him and once he closed the door she got up and went over to her bathroom, deciding to shower before calling it a night. Flicking on the switch in her bathroom she gasped in amazement at how big the room was, with shining marble floors and countertops and an oversized mirror to which she approached with a smirk. 'Perfect for me to admire myself with.'
After looking at herself for a few seconds she started to undress and when she reached her hand in her pocket, she felt the rock. Pulling it out she stared at it longingly again and wondered 'You also think I'm perfect too, right?' As she set the rock down, she gathered herself and walked over to her shower, it was big enough to fit 2 people and had marble tiles on the floor, not that another person would ever come into her shower, to begin with. She smirked at the thought and turned on the water, stepping in she sighed in relief at the warmth. She had a long day of travel and missed being pampered, she decided she should arrange for a spa day as soon as possible so she could look her best once she arrived at her new school next week.
'Not that I really need to look any better than I do, I'm already perfect.' She thought with a grin. Just then she thought about Setsuya, she and her father still disagreed and the girl was even more rebellious after her brother got married. Setsuya and her brother were twins and had lots of pressure put on them to handle family affairs. Setsuya's brother was married into a rich family, but he wasn't trusted to be the heir of their family since he lacked the courage. Setsuya on the other hand was extremely cunning and smart, she didn't want to just be handed off to some rich guy just for the sake of her family. She didn't even want to be married to a man.
3 years ago, when Mei visited with Setsuya, she found out that the girl refused to get married off and Setsuya told her that she was in love with someone else. It was the sister of the man she was supposed to be marrying and she couldn't take having the be near her every day but not being able to be with her.
'Poor Setsu.' She thought.
Ever since then she and her father had been at odds, her father found her embarrassing and ended up having to pay compensation to the man's family since it was more a business deal than anything else. Setsuya's father cared more about his status than his family and rarely showed them any attention. Mei couldn't imagine what living under such a man could be like.
Mei quickly washed up and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself and putting one on top of her head she walked back into her room and picked up her phone. It was already 10 pm and she wanted to try and fix her sleep schedule quickly, so she went and changed into a silk nightgown that hugged her hips.
Once she was finished, she went over to her bed and slid under the blankets, the mattress was very soft and soon she fell into a deep sleep.
********
Down the hall in her parent's room, her father sat in a chair, rubbing his neck and sighing. Seeing this Mirai walked over to him and draped her arms over his shoulders.
"I don't know how to tell her..." Akihito finally spoke after a while.
Mirai moved to sit in his lap and cupped his cheek in her hand "It will be okay; I know she will rebel but it's worth a shot to try right?"
"I know but, I don't want to upset her. We've already taken her from her old school and now I have to ask her to marry someone she doesn't know?" He frowned deeply and sighed again. "Maybe I should just tell Ikari no. Besides, I don't even know if his son would agree either."
Mirai's lips pulled into a sad smile "I'm sure he would be understanding but just try and see what happens, ask her to at least meet with Mr. Shinji's son, it will be good for both of our families."
Akihito looked up at her and closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her "You're right, they've been good to us, even if it doesn't work out, I'd like to still be good to them. It's worth a shot."
******