IT went without saying there was no school on Saturdays, but Satsuki was in for a surprise to find her father home. He almost always went to work on Saturdays.
Satsuki was home with her mother and father. After the three finished their first family breakfast in ages, her father wanted to speak with Shindo privately. The other attendants were ordered to stay with Satsuki in pairs. Even in her own home, the Tsujikawa heiress was never—not even for a second—supposed to be left unattended. But just like always, Satsuki gave the two attendants the slip when their backs were turned and went into hiding.
“I don’t need any other attendants if Shindo won’t be long,” Satsuki mumbled under her breath as she entered the courtyard. In reality, the security on their property was bordering perfect. It was hard to imagine the possibility of an intruder posing a threat within the perimeter.
“It’s not like anyone beside Shindo could protect me, anyway...” she whispered in a hushed voice to the cherry trees standing with calm composure in the courtyard. Still only a handful of blossoms peeked through branches handsomely dressed with leaves.
“Wouldn’t you agree?” she asked the trees for their assent.
The cherry trees rustled noisily despite the lack of wind. But the rustling was not restricted to those trees synched with her...
Rustle! The cherry tree directly in front of Satsuki shook violently; a man leapt out of the bushes next to it!
Frozen like a deer caught in headlights, Satsuki gasped in fear! It was a tall man! He was wearing a moss green suit with a lustrous, beige necktie. Although a pair of sunglasses hid his eyes, going by his nimble movements, it was easy to tell he was young. In all likelihood, he was in his twenties.
The man swiftly reached out his hand, latching onto Satsuki’s right arm!
“What...are you—” Satsuki started to demand, but was cut off when the man yanked her arm, pulling her toward him.
Satsuki jerked her arm away in hopes of breaking free of his grip while bringing her left hand up to punch him! But the man effortlessly caught her hand! The hand that previously held her right arm now held both her wrists!
“Let go...of me!”
Whack! With a loud crack, Satsuki’s hands were slapped out of the man’s grasp! Now that she was free, Shindo planted himself protectively in front of her!
“...Shindo!” Satsuki cried as she rubbed wrists sore from being held so tight. She peeked around the protective barrier Shindo created to observe the man on the other side.
The man quietly grumbled, “Ow, that hurt!” as he shook the hand Shindo harshly slapped in the air.
With a dry smile, he said, “Jeez, you’re heartless...Mr. Shindo.”
The man chuckled softly as he removed his sunglasses. They revealed a young man with such a pretty face, it was truly the image of “handsome beauty.”
“Good morning, Satsuki.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“WE’VE been expecting you. It is a pleasure to see you again, Master Manabu.” Serving as the butler for the Tsujikawa family for generations, Mizuno greeted Manabu at the door with the most elegant of bows.
“Good day, Mr. Mizuno,” the young man greeted amiably, flashing a smile that could steal the hearts of all the women in the world. Twenty-four-year-old Manabu Hayama was Satsuki’s one and only cousin.
“You didn’t have to come out to welcome him, Mizuno!” Satsuki snapped.
She stormed past Manabu into the house. Whipping around with her hands on her hips, her cheeks still burned red as she glared at her cousin. She rounded on him, shouting, “How dare you jump out at me and make such a violent entrance! I was terrified you were an attacker!”
“Really? Did you think I was going to assault you?” he teased.
“I-I most certainly did! Isn’t that obvious?” she raged with her cheeks growing even redder in humiliation.
As she tried to defend herself, Manabu thrust his face directly in front of hers and tapped her on the forehead with his pointer finger. He jeered, “I’d never attack a little girl who gets her panties in a knot over child’s play like that!”
That only served to add oil to the fire of Satsuki’s raging temper, but Shindo was even angrier than her. There was simply no way he could forgive an insufferable lout who had the gall to tease his precious mistress.
But as could be expected of someone with nearly eighteen years’ worth of experience teasing Satsuki and her retainer, Manabu knew when to back down. Before Shindo could lunge from his position diagonally behind Satsuki to strike, Manabu cleared his throat with a pronounced “Ahem!” as he straightened. He patted Satsuki on the head like a child and said, “I’m just teasing.”
Then he shifted his eyes to Shindo and gave an impish grin before continuing, “You’ve grown into such a pretty lady, Cousin. If you didn’t have Mr. Shindo around, I might try to steal you away from here.”
Shindo’s eyebrows twitched with further disgust, but what Manabu said next brook no argument that he had “absolutely no interest in going after Satsuki.” He smoothly added, “Assuming I didn’t have a fiancée...that is.”
He naturally wasn’t interested in his cousin, but he sure did enjoy getting a rise out of Shindo.
Manabu Hayama was the son of the Hayama Group president, which included industry giant Hayama Pharmaceuticals. He was essentially set to follow in his father’s footsteps. Upon graduating from university, he received the position of Managing Director at Hayama Pharmaceuticals and served as his father’s right-hand man.
Manabu’s father and Satsuki’s mother were siblings, falling into the traditional image of “big brother” and “little sister.” Satsuki’s father, on the other hand, was an only child. Much like Satsuki and her father, Manabu was also an only child. As a result, he was her one and only cousin.