8. The Triangle Part 1

Day: 4

Morning

"throughout heaven and earth... I am the unloved one..." the girl chuckled to herself as she tried to make light of her situation.

"Do not make fun of your status child! Can you not see your father and me are stressing out!" shrieked the middle aged woman at her daughter, before burying her face into her hands and weeping again.

Naoko sighed as her mom continued with her dramatic display at the breakfast table, she fidgeted with her pink bangs.

In her head it made sense her mom and dad feeling a bit nuts that her watch did not pop up with a name for her suitor, at least for the first couple of days. It was now legit the 5th day and her mom was acting as if she was going through labour.

Naoko herself never was a romantic, so whether she got a name or not on her watch did not matter as much to her. She understood how important it was to her to find a partner but in all honesty, with the actual nutcases she has seen some of the guys in her school end up being, she might be better off without a lover.

Naoko imagined initially that her lack of interest at guys in her class could potentially mean she could be barking up the wrong tree. She wanted to test this theory then by reading a few "spicy" books. 

Her conclusion was that she was straight.

 So her issue was that her standards were probably too high and the guys she were familiar with were not delivering, which made her feel like shit.

Great...either I am a crazy queen bee who is the stereotypical annoying girl who only values high standard people, or I am just stuck with a bunch of losers who are ruining my perception of men. Fingers crossed I can leave the school hellhole and find an actual decent guy that perks my interest.

Naoko however knew how much this meant to her parents.

She was the daughter of one of the biggest companies in the country. Her father and mother both are co-CEOs of the Maurk Company, which is a company that deals with surveillance and maintaining of security in most of the cities in Japan.

Due to her being their only child, there is so much riding on her when the time comes for her to succeed her parents and become the new leader of the company. For her future, they wanted the watch to be the guiding indicator for her to find the perfect suitor. They knew that with the right person, she could handle the company well. A lot of other men and boys would try to ask for her hand be it from other rival or allying companies, and so they had counted on the watch answering this big challenge.

But alas, the watch right now did not even display a single name.

So they were all in the dark, needing to figure out this problem of theirs themselves.

"Your father and me had worked tirelessly for the government and had provided them with so much aid, and yet they cannot even aid us in the important decisions in life??" Her mom muttered while shuddering from her tears.

"Almost as if a relying on a Big Brother overseeing government could cripple your ability to make decisions..." Naoko responded.

"Alright! That is it! You are not taking your future seriously so I see no point in keeping you holed up in home! We kept you here for the past few days because we thought we could arrange a meeting with the government to figure something out, rather than having you be embarrassed in school. All this is useless as they are not responding back about this specific issue your father spent days raising up, so go see if you can enjoy school now!"

"Thought you would never let me go" answered back Naoko as she got up and stretched, her mom's gaze boring into her.

"When did I raise such a rude child?" The mother spoke out loud, almost surprised at her daughter's nonchalance and attitude at the current situation. 

Naoko raised her eyebrows and then spread her arms in a questioning manner, as if to say really mom? are you seriously asking this?

Her mom's blank face gave her the answer and Naoko sighed.

"Almost as if a parent's negligence to a kid is proportional to the same kid acting out, its not even rocket science..." Naoko said condescendingly as she left the breakfast room to prepare for school, leaving her mom in awe at her rudeness.

*****

I think I should pull off the stereotypical silent treatment, if anyone approaches me at school asking about me, I will give them a blank stare and be like those kuuderes.

Naoko was contemplating to herself as she made her way to school, she wanted to take public transport as she was pissed and did not want to have her parent's butler driver her to school. It would be a constant reminder of home and how cagey it had felt the past few days.

Not that she wanted to be rude, In all honesty, her parents are mostly chill. Granted, they barely are at home as they are busy with the company but they apparently are nice at least for the most part. What trip Naoko off is how they just get so worked up and bothered about her future, it feels controlling and strict and reductive to her growth.

She wants some autonomy in her life, she does not mind them at all being involved since of course her future is important from the company's standpoint.

But goddamn they need to take a chill pill.

Speaking of acting like a kuudere, guys pretend to say they like kuuderes in anime since they are usually 'mysterious and cool'. However, having a girl not respond to you at all and rather act like a block of ice in real life would destroy most guys ego and the excitement of a potential convo in the first place.

Naoko saw this as a complete win, no guys bothering her and her having to not talk about her watch being dysfunctional? Perfect.

"Holy shit are you the Maurk girl?"

Naoko felt like swearing at whatever higher being there was as she turned to face whoever was sitting right next to her on the public train to school.

It was an extremely ordinary looking boy. She wished she could describe more but she felt like she was staring at an Isekai self insert.

The black hair was so telling and bland...

The boy wore no accessories or anything to make him stand out, in fact it was as if he was moulded with the goal to make a perfectly boring looking character.

The one thing off about him was that he was holding a huge bundle of papers that apparently had a QR code on it.

She would be up in arms and defensive with this random guy recognising her like this in public but she figured out how he might have come to recognise her which did put her at ease, slightly.

He was in fact wearing the same school uniform as her.

Shit, should have thought of the fact that there might be others from the school on public transport...ah well best time to do the kuudere act.

"Who are you?" Naoko acted super cold and kept a very bored expression on her face.

"Oh shit are you pulling the whole kuudere act now? Or is this like how you usually are?" The boy asked, motioning his hand to her with a stupid grin on his face, as if he could read through her.

"Oh I don't know...are you playing the act of a tsundere? because you are trying very hard to piss me off" Naoko replied curtly whilst looking around the busy compartment of the train they were in right now.

No other unoccupied seats, and standing up would be a nightmare having to push against people, especially creeps.

Not worth the risk unless this stranger pisses her off more.

"Right princess, let me do this over..."

"How about not? Is this how you normally talk to people?" Naoko whipped to face the guy again, saying that sentence with malice, heavily disliking his laid back attitude.

The guy sighed as he formed a forced apologetic look.

"Sorry..."

"You are not, asshole..."

"I do really want to reply with a funny bite back but yea maybe I overstepped, had a rough morning and been a bit off...probably deserved"

Naoko maintained her cold look but was now studying the guy next to her. She was now able to see his average first impressions and her eyes scanned his face. She can now see that there was a layer of tiredness on his face. It looked like he did not sleep much last night. His face was pale and his eyes were red.

Either he was crying or had barely any sleep.

"Well...I guess I am sorry for calling you an asshole... had a rough morning too" 

Well dammit I literally dropped the kuudere act so goddamn soon, I should have probably have said something that would have have him rethinking his life before showing my emotions (dramatic but just like the anime)

"Apology accepted, but to answer your question, I am in the class next to yours, I know of you because my friend is in the same elite circle as you so he did mention to me the rich kids that do attend our school. Not that he is close to any of y'all but he did let me know. You might know him as Daiki..."

Naoko eyes now met the guy's as he was explaining himself, his average black eyes stared into her ice blue ones.

"...my name is Kenzo."

"..."

"Why the dramatic pause?" Naoko asked, when he did not budge after dropping his name.

He sighed and then slumped against his seat.

"Was hoping there to be a flash of recollection across your face as you remember our childhood promise of getting married when we became adults"

Naoko is having severe whiplash with this guy.

"I mean even if I did, you are so average looking I probably have forgotten" she said as if it was a matter of fact.

Kenzo smirked in her direction as he flashed a thumbs up in her direction.

"That was a cool comeback"

"Would be cooler if you, you know, talked normal?"

"Where's the fun in that? We are living our childhood in innocence, rushing to grow up or forcing yourself into a strict path would just make you hate yourself"

Weirdly enough, out of everything that she has been told the past week, this random stranger from her school was the one who said something she could finally relate to. 

"Touché, you have a point there Kenji"

"There is no way you just forgot my name immediately..."

To hide her mistake, Naoko changed the subject.

"Why are you looking like a zombie so early in the morning? This route is a 40 min trip from the outskirts of the city, I assume you live nearby the school, would it be not useless for you to take the train?"

Kenzo's eyebrows shot up at her assumptions.

"How do you figure I live nearby to the school?"

"Not to play into class stereotypes, but you do have the vibes and speech pattern of someone who are from the nearby suburbs from the school."

Kenzo was impressed at her deductions, eyebrows raised and head nodding, as he goes into answering the questions she asked.

"That was well said Naoko, I mean I normally never take the train. This is a one off thing. Woke up really early and decided to take a trip around the train line so I can distribute these QR papers to people interested. Been doing that for a few hours so I look like a mess right now..."

Naoko nodded before pressing further.

"What is the QR code for?"

Kenzo sighed as he chuckled and waved one of them in front of her.

"This is a link to a quick website I coded last night that registers you to join a school club I basically set up. Need to get members including today, all the way till Monday. It's a race against the clock and I have been trying to hatch little plans to get people to join. This is my mid week plan of getting as many eyes as possible from people commuting and hoping they join. I got like about 2 members with me so far, but need 3 more. It has all been negative with no one wanting to scan the code this entire trip so I am just super tired."

Naoko contemplated what he dumped as Kenzo now seemingly eased a bit in the chair, as if he was able to vent the issue he had been having.

Usually most people would talk to their friends and all to get a club started, it never really is a huge issue as far as Naoko is aware of. She should not be surprised, but it seems that Kenzo did not have that luxury, and was asking any of the people commuting to the school to give the club the chance.

"Any other plans of yours that did not work out?" Naoko asked, curiosity now overtaking her.

"Well I did a stupid yaoi bait in front of the school gate, but that backfired badly. Thought the negativity would at least get some people interested but never worked out. A tip to all authors out there, never bait the ships, either commit or don't" Kenzo trailed off realising he was going off on a tangent before he continued. "...However, the one plan where I basically wrestle someone to join worked so I am mostly happy, was jittery yesterday but again its a whole new day and zero progress is haunting me..."

"You really want this club to work out huh? What does this club mean to you?"

Kenzo finally looked serious for a second. The rattling of the train filled the silence before he spoke again.

"It gives me a sense of freedom, it gives me purpose...its a lot of things but it is something that I think would be a good protection for me. Is it selfish? Absolutely, but if my selfishness can help me and others, I think its good to be selfish for this." Kenzo finally seemed to speak from a genuine place, under the layers of jokes there was a soul yearning for a purpose, a distraction from what destiny had piled onto him.

Naoko could relate to that.

She had wanted the freedom to be herself for a long while. To not be defined as the girl who is to inherit the company. Who would be a puppet to her parents or the government.

To not let destiny carve her path without her having a say in it.

That could be the exact reason why her watch did not have a name on it.

"What was the name of your club?" She now asked, her tone more gentle, finally feeling that she could open up slightly to this stranger who, while extremely weird and anti social, had maybe gone through the same things she did.

Kenzo now out of his depression daze, sparkled at her interest in the club. His eyes darted in her direction and before she could react, he stuffed a paper to her hand.

"Scan it with your watch and you can find out! It has all the details on it, I hope you do think of giving it a shot as a member!"

Seeing Kenzo beaming was a nice change of mood from the gloomy version a few seconds ago, it fit him much nicer. Naoko found it slightly infectious as she found herself slightly smiling.

"Well I will give it a look and let you know, no promises though. My name is Naoko Maurk by the way..."

"wait, for real?" Kenzo exclaimed, his eyes shot open with recognition of the name.

"I thought you said you recognised me..." Naoko asked, bewildered.

"I mean I knew how you looked and your connection since Daiki did mention you once, but hearing you full name I just made a crazy connection.."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"Well, we are heading to school anyways so you will find out soon, but your name is actually on a watch of someone I know!"

This revelation changed everything. Naoko was shook when she heard this.

She grabbed Kenzo by the collar, her icy glare boring right into his eyes as he yelped at her suddenly grabbing him.

"What do you mean?! Are you saying there is someone who is my partner!"

"Why are you asking me? Are you not supposed to know...but yes! One of the names on his watch is yours!"

Wait what one of the names?.... 

"His name is Hiro!"

Naoko felt like she was about to crash out.

What in the actual hell does any of this mean?