Acquired Love

1.) Acquisition

November 13th, 2020

Kaya's smile fell when she walked through the door to the board room and saw the way the shareholders were looking at her. There was an awful lot of paperwork laying out in front of them, most of the faces turned away from her unable to look at her directly. "Good morning?" She asked, uncertain. "Where is Kaname?" Yamaguchi asked. Kaya narrowed her eyes at him. She liked most of the shareholders. By most, she meant all of them but Yamaguchi. Kaname always told Kaya that she was just imagining things, but Kaya insisted he was... "off" somehow. "He'll be here in a moment. Stopped for coffee on the way." Kaya paused, debating what to say next. "Is everything ok? Usually Fridays are more relaxed than this." She chuckles out nervously.

"Miss* Kaya, you should have a seat. We'll wait for your brother." Oiwake tried to soothe. Kaya smiled at her former high school teacher and took her usual seat: the one immediately to the right of the CEO's spot at the head of the board room table. The space where her brother, Kaname, was currently missing from. They sat in silence for over five minutes before Kaname arrived, two coffees in hand. Sensing the mood in the room, Kaname stopped in his tracks. He looked at his sister, her nervousness evident by the little shake of her upper body from where she was kicking her legs under the table. "Morning everyone. Didn't know there was a board meeting or I wouldn't have stopped at the café. Or at least brought enough for everyone." He attempted to laugh off what was becoming an even more tense situation before taking his seat and handing Kaya her cup.

Oiwake stood and cleared his throat, distinctly giving off the air of being a scapegoat for the rest of the board. "This wasn't a simple decision for us to come to. You know I believe in you kids, and maybe with more time and hard work this wouldn't be an issue. However, none of that changes the board's decision. As you know, Kaname, you hold 25 shares to your sister's 24. The board and our 51 percent ownership have decided to take a very generous offer from a Corporation located in Five Points." Oiwake's face falls as he sees the betrayal register on the siblings' faces. "WHY?," Kaya shot out angrily. "Haven't we brought Date Tech back to a place where we all can make money? Is that not good enough?" Angry tears began building up in her eyes.

Kaname pulls his sister's arm gently, pulling her back into her chair. Oiwake cleared his throat and attempted to smooth over the situation. "I'm sorry Miss Kaya, this isn't personal, just business. As a collective, we just aren't sure that you and Kaname will keep up this same energy for the company as the years go by. You're getting married in six months and Kaname and Kosuke are thinking about adopting. Soon you'll have other things to worry about that no one would blame you for giving priority to." Kaya sniffles, dragging a hand under her eye to remove the tears from her face. "So much for talking Kenji into waiting another year." She croaked. Oiwake gave her an apologetic look. "That would only postpone the inevitable." He stated as he took his seat again.

Kaname, who'd said nothing so far, sat with his fingertips touching, elbows on the table, and body leaned forward. "What does this mean for us?" He asked, looking up at his former coach. "Well, it's an acquisition. They aren't doing away with the Date Tech name. You'll have a new CEO. We all took the money and are bowing out at this point. We didn't ask the specifics honestly. But the new CEO assured us that as a family company themselves, there would be a place for you and Miss Kaya." Oiwake told them firmly. Kaya stifles a sob and directs her attention to Oiwake. "What's the name of this company? I can at least try to learn what I can about them online before I have to meet them Monday."

She watches Oiwake for a moment, then looks around at the other board members. "It's Seijoh Corp." He says silently. "The Oikawas?" She asks surprised. She knew they competed with them for business from time to time, but she didn't think the larger company even knew they existed. "Yes, Mr. Oikawa will be here in three hours." Yamaguchi tells her, shuddering into his chair. She looks at him contemplatively for a moment, knowing he used to live closer to Atlanta. She wondered if he knew more about the Oikawas than anyone else in the room did. Not really wanting to have a drawn out conversation with him, she decides to drop it.