Blue and Grey

Two

CW: forced marriage

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"I grew up."

Nothing has ever been more annoying to Satoru than that one phrase; not because it was too vague an answer with too many possible meanings behind it(which he didn't have the patience to ponder over), but because of the fact that it's been incessantly repeating itself in his head over and over again.

It was like an echo, hitting against the walls of his skull day and night, ringing in his ears constantly even if he was talking to someone else. Sleep has never been more difficult to have than now.

With every break the man had, every meal sitting, anywhere that simply allowed him to revel in silence, his mind would grovel over Aki's unexpected return.

Ruffling his hair frustratedly, Satoru sat up from his lounge chair that faced the large window pane of his bedroom, a cup of coffee in hand as his eyes glazed over the Tokyo skyline- though, his attention was never on it since the second he sat down.

His head raced back to the day of his engagement party, that moment when the face of the ash grey haired woman came clear to him. He recalled her icy stare which remained ever so impassive even as she was being provoked. It was as if he was still unable to accept that she was back.

Fuyumi Aki came from a family who had deep roots within the Gojou family's circle of friends. It's a fact that while the GI group was the leading company in major investments and economics within Japan, the Kingston company was only second in tow. In order to continue to ensure monopoly over Japan's economy, it was needless to say that good friendships had to be entrenched between the two groups.

Hence, It was also no surprise that their children were friends since the day they learnt to walk. Her and Satoru were no different, often going to each other's mansions to play whilst their parents talked over tea.

Rather than being made friends out of the benefits of a business partnership, the two had always been closer than just that. The man in his teenage days would even admit out loud that if he were to choose between Suguru or Aki, he'd choose the latter because unlike the boy, she knew his family in and out, as did he.

That's why when the girl had disappeared into thin air without a trace on one of his most important days in his life, Satoru was left dumbfounded; there were no letters, no texts or calls from her, not even a hint of her departure in their conversations days before. Her social media accounts were wiped clean, and her phone number had changed. There was no news about the disappearance of the daughter of the Kingston Company's chairman, except for his death, along with his wife's suicide.

Aki simply disappeared, leaving her brother whom the man rarely saw face to face to run the show(not like said brother wasn't happy about it).

Just the thought of it, the thought that after all the time they've spent together, she wouldn't even say a word of goodbye or even an announcement to him, it made Satoru clench his fists so tight, his knuckles turned white. It made him wonder how she could have such audacity to turn up on yet another milestone in his life so causally, with no signs of remorse for what she'd done.

Standing by the dressing table in the large, spacious room, Iori watched her fiancé's behaviour with worry. Despite Aki's seemingly calm and friendly appearance at the engagement party, it certainly had an impact on the man's mood. He hadn't been entirely himself for three months now, often distracting himself with work to shun away the intrusive thoughts.

It's three days before the wedding, and with Satoru still behaving like that, the woman wasn't sure if it was okay to proceed- she didn't want a magical night for the both of them to be ruined like that.