His aunt answered the call almost immediately as if she'd been expecting it. She eagerly asked about his well-being and was even more enthusiastic when he mentioned wanting her to arrange a blind date.
"Are you serious? I thought you wanted to evade this until you turn thirty-five?" she asked in genuine astonishment.
"Yes, I am serious. If possible, I would want one arranged as soon as possible," he replied without hesitation or taking her manner of speech any more seriously than necessary.
"I already have a suitable candidate, I think it would be possible before the end of this week," she agreed. "I am not sure about your type of woman. Is there anything you want me to take into account?" she asked a bit worried since Haruki had reached out to her first.
"No, just a woman from a good family," Haruki replied. After a short pause, he added, "Her parents have to be interested too."
His family was powerful, but many established families couldn't forget the frightening Yakuza image and might hesitate to let their daughters marry into his family. He couldn't imagine enduring the same ordeal his grandfather faced before marrying his grandmother.
His father might have been so in love to risk both his safety and the safety of the hundreds of men he was connected to just to be with a woman but that was a stress he was unwilling to involve himself in.
"Don't worry," his aunt laughed sounding relieved that he did not give her any specific request like the color of her eyes, height, and many requests men have made. "Her mother specifically told me to get you two involved."
Haruki was shocked by that. The relationship the girl's family shared with the royal family might be as distant as a great grandfather's connection but it was still a flex and yet the girl's mother had requested for that?
"Did she tell you the reason?"
"Oh, she said her daughter is very difficult to control and a bit coldhearted, and having someone who can handle her attitude would be the best. I have met her and she is a very intelligent doctor, very pretty too but she is two years older." His aunt's voice got lower when she got to the last sentence.
He could finally understand why a mother would push her pampered daughter over to him. He found it interesting as he asked, "Is she open to this arrangement, you can't force her."
"Yes, she is. She wants to get married too and I don't think she is interested in anyone so be rest assured."
"Okay," Haruki's voice was back to his usual cold indifferent self with that response and his aunt wished him a good day before hanging up.
Haruki looked down at the steering he held and he felt a strong urge to park on the roadside to regain his composure as he felt a mix of so many emotions he had been trying to hide since he left the party venue which came flooding in with the such of securing a blind date.
Locking up those emotions with a tighter grip on the leather of the steering, he pressed on the accelerator. He changed route and headed back to the family's mansion, the best place to remind him of the life he had to live.
Someone must have informed Ren of his arrival before he got to the house before Ren and some of his underlings were waiting for him. He parked and got down earning a deep bow from all of them.
"I'm hungry," he told Ren when he passed by him to get into the comfort of the home that felt more like where he was to be, what he was supposed to be. It might feel colder than it should with all the feelings he had raging from within, but it felt like where he truly belonged. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the chairman of Yugen's holdings being the chairman.
***
When Haruki arrived at the venue for his blind date, it was ten minutes early and the lady had not arrived. It was five minutes after when his aunt told him the lady had arrived. He wanted to be as respectful as possible to the lady not treating her like his past lover so he did not ask for her contact details willing to have the lady give it to him herself.
He had no idea what delayed the lady but it took her another three minutes before he finally saw her walk into the high-end four-star restaurant he had rented. The venue was large but since the place was empty, he saw her immediately.
He had seen her having a friendly almost too intimate conversation with Dr. Yamamoto. That night, she did not appear anything like the aloof appearance she wore when she stepped into the room.
She met his gaze and her lips formed a small smile that did not warm the coldness in her eyes. Haruki, analyzing her every attitude and action as she approached, concluded she knew he was the one she was meeting, though he didn't know her. The coldness in her eyes remained, revealing her irritation, even as Haruki smiled back.
When she arrived at the table, he tried to broaden his smile although he did not feel the need to considering her attitude and this was the first time he got such obvious hate from a woman. He stood up like a gentleman and introduced himself to her before giving her a slight bow.
Her smile broadened but there was something about the freezing coldness in her eyes that made him dismiss her smile as she returned an even slighter bow that seemed like a nod.
Haruki had expected something simple and easy – two people with similar goals getting together. The lady had requested a blind and so did he but her attitude was far from being aloof and proud, it was hate. It was something he had seen in the eyes of his cousins before he graduated high school and what he saw in his uncles' eyes as a result of their envy.
The menu was brought and he waited for her to make her order before ordering a Western meal just like she did. Waiting for the meal to arrive, he learned backward in a very relaxed state.
"I'll get straight to the point," he started, drawing her gaze. "I need to marry, though not immediately, but I must get engaged soon. Are you interested?" He could easily give up on the blind if she refuses.
"I have someone I'm interested in so no."
Her response could have been a direct no, as he wanted. He was close to asking if she liked the doctor, but he simply smirked and nodded just as the meal was served.