Chapter Text
Mikazuki Munechika is living the dream. People often tell him that he's lucky to be living the rich life, born with a silver spoon in his mouth Mikazuki never need to experience hardship. He could have anything he wants, and it will be delivered to him in no time without any minute to spare.
He’s blessed with good looks and money, but now Mikazuki has taken the next step of his life further. Already in his mid-twenties, it’s been predetermined the moment he came to this world that he will take over his family’s business.
The history of his family owned business started way back. Mikazuki’s ancestors built the empire during the hardships of World War II, it was when the war ended business began to grow and blossom and still standing till the present day.
His reputation came with a price for being famous. Mikazuki can’t escape the media and attention that seems to capture his every move, now that he’s the head of business, there’s no such thing as privacy in his dictionary. Mikazuki shows no fear towards the media, knowing when the cameras and spotlights aiming towards him, he’s ready to flash a charming soft smile on his face to captivate the world.
***
The morning is like a routine just like any other day. It starts with his ringing alarm echoing in his large bedroom, then a warm bath, cascading warm water running down his back. He dons his expensive suit complete with a tie, straightening up.
Mikazuki observes himself in front of the mirror as always, he looks his best. His hair styled to perfection along with his clean shaven face. He smiles softly, his reflection mirrors him, Mikazuki’s smile held for a brief moment before faltering.
Empty. The feeling he’s having, despite the money and attention. It’s not enough, this isn’t about the money he wants. But happiness, how does one achieve that? So far in his almost more than twenty years of his lifetime on this world, the puzzle pieces are still missing for him. Only time will tell when it comes by him.
Shaking his head once and all of his thoughts disappear as soon as they came earlier. Time for Mikazuki Munechika to present himself to the world.
Sitting in his fancy limousine with tinted windows for privacy, the ride is smooth making his way to his corporate building while looking through his phone for emails and meeting schedules. There’s never a rest day for Mikazuki, going to one destination to another, meeting new faces and people. After briefly memorizing his routine of the day, Mikazuki’s finger swipes away the schedule and taps on the news app on his phone, curious on what will the media wrote about him this time.
By just typing his name in the search engine, images and news headlines prompt up instantly showed. Paparazzis clearly had quite a swell job taking pictures of him almost everywhere and randomly without him noticing their presence.
There’s pictures of Mikazuki exiting from his office building and entering his vehicle, talking with other chief executive business personnels at the side walk. And of course, the camera can’t possibly shy away during his night activities.
His presence to VIP exclusive clubs a featured on websites. Mikazuki is somewhat impressed of the photography’s skills able to capture most of his physical appearance during the night, of course, they captured him with a female companion.
Locked together arm in arm, the woman who stands next to him looks beautiful. Mikazuki remembers that night now, he just met a girl. She had a bright personality watching that smile on her face which featured in the photos, she wanted to hang out and he agreed, just a simple date, nothing more. But of course, how the media works, they started a full on investigation on who is that mystery woman who’s seen with Mikazuki that night.
But it didn’t end there. There were numerous photos shows him with different women occasionally, and it became a gossip topic of him being a playboy. The stereotype of the rich and famous who are always hanging around with women because they just don’t need commitment of settling down, vice versa the women who wants to be in the company of men, looks don’t matter only wealth. It’s not polite to call woman by those titles but it’s pretty clear they’re the representation of the term “gold diggers”.
Mikazuki knows all too well, that’s how people are. And thus, he’s really careful in finding his significant other who’s truly honest about themselves, who can love Mikazuki for who he is and not for his wealth.
He’s still looking for the right person to settle down with, his soul mate. But at this moment, Mikazuki isn’t prepared for that commitment.
Mikazuki’s eyes are starting to tire him off from looking at the screen of his phone, in a car no less. He puts it aside and shuts his eyes, inhaling taking the scent of the car’s leather seat. The smooth ride almost lulls him to sleep, a short nap won't hurt a bit.
Doors open for him once the car comes to a stop and Mikazuki exits the vehicle, he stands tall and takes his time to admire the high rise building that stands before him. The Munechika tower, one of the tallest towers in the city that symbolises the success and thriving career of the Munechika’s business from decades ago. How the sun rays reflects, the windows bringing out the glow that almost looks like the tower is shining brightly for the whole city to witness miles away, its architecture is truly unique taking the modern age to signify the future of the century and beyond. A landmark that the citizens know all too well when they lay their eyes in first glance, quite possibly the world. And now, it belongs to Mikazuki.
Mikazuki takes slow and steady steps heading to the tower which is opened for him by the doorman who stands at the entrance, they greet him, he acknowledges them with a soft smile.
All are eyes on him, the moment he steps in. The workers greet him softly, Mikazuki nods his head in return as he casually makes his way to the elevator.
The elevator descends to the ground floor and the doors open, with more workers exiting from it. They take the first glance at him, politely greeting him as well. He smiles at them before stepping into the elevator, joined by other workers, Mikazuki punches the button of his floor, the highest, also known as the penthouse where his office is.
Thankfully for the elevator’s fast speed he manages to get to his floor in a short record time. A single ding and the elevator doors open. Mikazuki steps out from the elevator.
Walking up to his office, he’s greeted by his lovely secretary sitting at the receptionist.
“Good morning, Mikazuki-san,”
“Good morning,” he chimes, smiling at her and carried on to his office.
Taking his seat, the paper documents on his desk are already placed in front of him. Mikazuki fully knows what to do, reaching for his pen and uncapping it, he looks through the papers and ends it with his signature and the cycle repeats.
He hears a soft knock following the sound of high heels clicking on the marble tiles approaching Mikazuki.
“Your coffee, sir,” she places the cup of coffee on his table, leaning down lowly as if on purpose. Mikazuki glances at her sideways, catching a glimpse of her low top blouse, cleavage and bra.
He looks away, “Thank you,”
“Just to remind you that you have a scheduled photoshoot later at 2 o'clock,”
Mikazuki winces, having completely forgotten about that appointment. “I have to reschedule everything for today,”
“I already handled it,” she pipes in and hands over a sheet of paper to him.
He scans over the words once, “Thank you,” he says with relief.
The secretary smiles brightly, liking the compliment she got from Mikazuki.
“You always look good in those photoshoots,” she continues.
Something in the way she said, pipes Mikazuki’s curiosity.
She goes on, “It’d be nice if I could join you there, see you posing for the pictures,”
“But if you join me, who’s going to manage my calls, meetings and appointments? Your job is much more important than mine, and I owe you,”
Her face changes the moment he said that, from that flirty look to instant flustered, she didn’t think Mikazuki will respond to her like that. But she quickly composes herself, “You could always take me out for dinner,” she suggests.
Mikazuki gives a tight smile, “Perhaps one day,”
She seems to buy his excuse, just simply smiling, “I’ll leave you back to your work,” she excuses and promptly exits Mikazuki’s office.
Mikazuki isn’t dense, he knows fully well that his secretary is trying to make a move on him. He hates to turn her down, but there should be a fine line keeping their working relationship strictly professional, having his set of rules of not dating his staff members, doing so will affect the professional work ethic between two people.
He works in his office for the next few hours before taking his leave to the photoshoot. But not before thanking his secretary once more, walking up to her desk. Apparently, she hears him coming up to her and Mikazuki immediately sees her scuffling, rearranging her desk and she quickly sits upright, casually typing away on her keyboard, of which he clearly hears the tapping sounds.
“Thanks for the good work today as usual,”
“I’m just doing my job,”
Mikazuki glances at her desk quickly, nothing much, just a bunch of papers and files, scattered pens, other than that she's very organised. However, there's something else he sees, hidden underneath the sheets of papers, there's a cover of the magazine, he can tell by the bright colours that stands out from the normal black and white printed papers. The same magazine issue which features him on the front cover.
He tries not to smile but simply looks away and heads out of the door, “See you tomorrow.”
Time seems to fly quick. Mikazuki arrives just in time for the photoshoot. The team is very helpful and came in prepared with clothes for him to put on and makeup. He's been doing this modelling career for as long as he can remember, since he was a small child. It started off as a hobby for advertisements in print media and billboards, then it blossomed to a job as a model before taking over the business empire.
Mikazuki is a complete natural, the camera loves him. He can pose in front of the lens however he wants and it will come out picture perfect. There's just simply no picture that turns up bad by him. The whole photoshoot lasts roughly three hours. After getting the satisfaction from the photos which he has seen, it moves forward to a short interview that was a last minute planning, with his permission. Mikazuki gratefully accepts.
After that long day, Mikazuki can finally put the day to a rest. He’s exhausted, he can’t deny that. He settles for a warm bath, soaking himself in the warm waters of his bathtub easing the tension from his body, a well deserved relaxing treatment.
He pours himself a glass of wine and takes a seat on his plush leather seat of his working desk, sipping the red beverage, the warm alcohol passing through his system. Mikazuki sets the glass on the desk surrounded by more papers mirroring the condition like his office.
A boring night routine but Mikazuki doesn’t have the urge to be out tonight. He’s alone with in a single dimly lit room, going through more paperwork and signing with his signature.
He sets his pen down after that and leans his head back against his chair, his eyes remain shut and a sudden tension creeps in his brain as if the warm bath he taken earlier proves worthless for relaxation he wanted.
Feeling the tension slowly fading away, Mikazuki reaches for his glass taking another sip of the wine and stands up from his seat all together, walking away. Telling himself that’s enough for the day.
His mind wanders off as he stands facing the window, his half-visible reflection staring back at him. Looking out at the night view, Mikazuki, lets his mind drift away. He gladly welcomes the silence around him, just him and his personal thoughts.
A groan escapes from Mikazuki’s lips, his neck and shoulders are stiff and it’s preventing him from being comfortable. He stretches his neck, tilting his head and lightly squeezing the muscle between his neck and shoulder, it doesn’t help at all, he lets out a sigh.
It’s one of those days that Mikazuki has to deal with long meeting hours that last the whole day and this happens usually once a month if possible to discuss the finances and business plans.
Never he felt the relief once it ended and wanting to return back home. Mikazuki reach for his phone which has been set to silent mode for the entire day to avoid distraction. The instant his phone screen lights up, bombarding missed calls and text messages come through, it’s from the same unknown number of which he can’t identify the recipient. Only when he reads the messages that he remembers who it is.
Mikazuki curses silently to himself with his head back. There’s no way he's wrong on this. The number belongs to a girl he met couple of nights earlier, she was interested with him, vice versa. Mikazuki wants to get to know her better and decided to ask her out on a date which she happily accepted. And he completely forgot all about it.
He needs to make it up to her, an apology for his mistake. Mikazuki was raised to be considerate and sensible, respectable to everyone around him.
Glancing at his watch for the time, it’s very close to closing hour. It is a late minute decision, if couldn’t he’d just have to resort to thinking up another plan. Mikazuki hastily instructs his driver to the town nearby and hopes for the best, the shop isn’t closing anytime soon.
He surveys the row of shops, looking for the right one to get his apology gift. Row after row, he walks and with the stroke of pure luck, he finds himself standing in front of a florist shop. Mikazuki takes a peek through the transparent window, it’s empty. He takes a second look at the sign that reads “Open” and hasn’t been switched yet.
Regardless, Mikazuki enters the shop. He really hopes that it isn’t too late to get a bouquet of flowers. “Hello?,” he calls out, hoping there will be someone still in the shop.
“Hi there,” a voice perks from nowhere. Mikazuki looks everywhere to find the source of the voice only to find the person responsible to show himself, hiding underneath the counter.
A male florist. That’s not something Mikazuki sees everyday. But it isn’t the time to question that right now.
“Sorry, are you still open?” he asks.
“I was about to lock up. Do you need anything?” the other questions Mikazuki.
“Flowers. It’s sort of urgent,”
The male florist gives it a thought, “I guess I could spare a couple more minutes, why not?” he shrugs.
Mikazuki can finally breathe easily after holding his breath in anticipation. “Thank you,” he says, walking up to the counter.
“What’s the occasion?”
How is Mikazuki going to explain himself? It’s bound to be awkward, he could simply just make up a white lie. But his mouth reacts quicker than his brain.
“It’s more of an apology,” he explains.
Seconds long pause and the florist just stares. His expression is unreadable but that brief awkwardness lingers briefly before he responds to Mikazuki.
“I think I have what you need, just a moment,” he tells Mikazuki and heads to the back of the store.
A little more waiting, Mikazuki looks out just to see that the sun is about to set spreading its mix colours of red, orange and yellow. He hears a brief rustling and thumps from inside and it doesn’t take long till he hears the florist’s cheery voice.
“Sorry for the wait,” he says with his hands full and laying the flowers and paper decorations on the counter.
The scent of the fresh flowers instantly hits Mikazuki’s nostrils, it’s faint and not overpowering, it goes to show that the flowers are indeed fresh.
“They look lovely,” he comments.
“Thanks, we always have the fresh batch of flowers delivered every day,”
They come in various size and colours. Of all the flowers, Mikazuki can only identify the rose.
“I have a basic understanding on language of flowers, so these are the ones I picked that symbolizes forgiveness. It should do the trick,”
“Thank you,” Somehow he made the right choice coming here.
“Don't mind me asking, who did you upset?,”
“A girl… whom I met recently,”
The florist’s single eyebrow raises at Mikazuki’s answer, a judging look on his face.
Mikazuki continues, “I forgot about our date,”
“That’s nice,” he responds calmly. However, Mikazuki can tell that the tone of his voice tells differently. Coughing once, he clears his throat as a way to change the topic conversation.
“So tell me about the flowers you picked. I can only identify the common rose from the ones you picked out,”
He eyes at Mikazuki, then looks down at his workbench, picking the white coloured flower first, “These are white tulips. They might not look pretty in white, but like I said, they represent forgiveness and apology in flower language,”
Mikazuki remains silent and listens to his explanation. The florist works swiftly arranging the flowers before proceeding to the next one.
“Next, carnations. The pink of the carnations is just the right touch of balancing out the colours with the other flowers, sends the message “I’ll never forget you again”. That should do the trick in impressing her,” he eyes Mikazuki.
“What about the purple one?,” Mikazuki points at the only purple floral.
“Hyacinth,” he answers once, picking it up and arranging it with the rest of the flower bouquet.
Mikazuki continues to watch how expertly he work on the flowers, taking a plant pruning scissors to snip off the dry, wilted leaves and the long stem so it will fit nicely in the bouquet. Adjusting by pulling and pushing the flowers in position that stands out nicely. His hands work fast, clearly experience in this field.
He observes his bright blue hair combed to neatly perfection and the colour of his golden eyes glowed even with the sun setting.
Finally, he grabs a bunch of red roses. Impressive, he knows how to handle them without the need of gloves, barely any scratch and blood.
“Of course, finally. Some roses. A way to win a woman’s heart with love and affection,”
He wraps the flowers with the coloured papers, binding it together as a final touch.
“And there you have it,” he presents it to Mikazuki with a proud smile on his face.
“Wow. That's amazing,” Mikazuki praises.
“I did my best. If she doesn't like it, then I feel sorry for you,”
Mikazuki reaches for his wallet, by his estimation pulling out some cash a little more extra to tip him, he lies the cash on the table “I should really thank you for your help. I apologise again for taking your time when you're about to close your shop,”
“Don't worry about it. I'm always glad to help,”
Mikazuki takes the bouquet with him. But before he heads out the door, “It’d be rude of me to leave without knowing your name,”
He looks at Mikazuki, smiling, “My name is Ichigo Hitofuri,”