Chapter Text
It was raining. The view from the fiftieth floor of the building was dull gray. The sound of traffic did not make its way all the way up here. But what one did not hear, one could imagine. The lights blinked green.
Saitou Hajime picked up his wineglass and took a sip. In front of him, seated gracefully on a high-backed chair was Takagi Tokio. She was studiously staring at a Hiroshi Yoshida painting hanging on the opposite wall. For a full minute, neither of them said a word. Then, Saitou spoke, clipping his words as though he was asking about a business transaction:
“Well, do you have any suggestions?”
Tokio pulled her gaze from the painting long enough to send Saitou a faint smile. “Are you asking me?” She asked archly.
Saitou’s left eyebrow quirked slightly in an expression of annoyance. “I thought perhaps,” he started with a sarcastic smile, “since you are an educated woman, you would be the best person to know what appropriate measures to take regarding such matters.”
“You make it sound like a business proposal,” Tokio laughed, ignoring his quip.
“Is it not?”
“It’s an arranged marriage, Hajime. I’m sure there’s a difference,” she told him.
“Hmm,” Saitou only sounded.
“I shall have to contact a nakoudo,” Tokio said after some length.
“Nakoudo?” Saitou repeated.
“A go-between.”
“Ah, a matchmaker,” he said, the light of understanding entering his eyes.
“The nakoudo will require a rirekisho to compare the qualities of both candidates.” At Saitou’s blank stare, Tokio sighed, adding, “The object of the nakoudo is to arrange a balanced marriage. That cannot happen unless the candidates are compatible with each other, both in terms of their personal and family background.”
“And I’m accused of being less than romantic,” Saitou murmured.
Tokio looked at him across the table.
After a moment, he leaned back in his chair and said, “Very well. I shall have the information drawn up for you.” Then, he added innocently, “Then, you’ll have no objection to lunch again tomorrow? I’ll give it to you then.”
“Or you could just as easily fax it to my office,” she countered coolly.
“But was it not you who said that this is not to be treated like business?” Saitou inquired politely. Without waiting for her response and seeming to have decided on his own, he continued, “I shall give it to you during lunch. Say, one o’ clock?”
Tokio leaned forward and said, “Do you realize that I have other things to do besides attend to your little requests? I have a busy schedule.”
“Not so tomorrow,” said Saitou simply.
Tokio arched an eyebrow.
“You’re supposed to be meeting with me to discuss your proposal for our latest zoning project,” he reminded her. “Let’s make it an hour early so we can discuss everything – the proposal and my brother’s miai – over lunch.”
It took a long time but finally, Tokio gave a reluctant smile. “I’ll check with my secretary.”
“Do,” said Saitou complacently.
One of the names that came up was Takani, an old family known for their medical background. The current head was a retired cardiothoracic surgeon and the director of a family-run clinic in Aizu-wakamatsu. The clinic had recently run into a major financial trouble, mainly due to bad business management. It appeared that Takani Ryuusei, while a brilliant doctor, had no head for the business side of healthcare.
There were two children. The eldest, Ryuichi, was a volunteer doctor for an international health organization, assigned in South America. The daughter, Megumi, was five months into her first year of residency at the Sanada Hospital in Tokyo.
According to the nakoudo that Tokio hired, Megumi was going to turn twenty-five years old in a few months but had shown no sign of seeking a partner on her own. Considering her line of work, it was hardly unexpected, Saitou thought, that she would have little time for a social life, let alone pursue a long-term relationship. But she was exactly the kind of level-headed woman that he was looking for.
“What about her?” Saitou said, pointing at the photograph of a black-haired, pale-skinned woman next to kanji characters that read: ‘Takani Megumi.’
The nakoudo frowned slightly. “Why, yes, the Takanis are an excellent family. The social standing of both your families certainly match.” Then, she added almost as an afterthought, “But I must warn you, Saitou-san, it was her parents who arranged this for her. I doubt the daughter herself knows.”
“Do you mean to say she’d reject an offer to join my family?” Saitou asked coldly.
“No, that is not what I meant at all,” the nakoudo quickly denied. “What I mean to say is, it’s not uncommon to meet some resistance….” Her voice trailed off before gaining again at a much quicker pace, “In situations such as this. I merely wanted to inform you so one may save face in the event that things may not turn the way one might expect.”
“In any case,” Saitou said after some length, “contact the family. Let them know of my interest.”
“Certainly, Saitou-san.”
The subject was discussed over family dinner. Megumi, who came all the way from Tokyo on the assumption that all was well and that she was merely going home to a quiet get-together with her family, was stunned into speechlessness. She gazed at her mother, who, in turn, was gazing at her father, looking every bit as surprised.
“Anata,” she said, “you never mentioned that it was this bad. You always said...you always said that...”
“I’ve had some setbacks,” Takani Ryuusei began staunchly but his bravado left him as soon as he saw the look of compassion in Megumi’s eyes. With a gesture of disgust, he said, “I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want...any of you to get involved in this.”
“How long has this been going on?” Megumi asked quietly.
“Several months,” her father answered promptly. “But we were making good. The bank still trusted us, still trusted the company name. Then, a few months ago...everything fell apart.”
“Was that around the time Takeda Kanryuu left the company?”
His shoulders slumped. “He helped the company make it back to its feet. He arranged refinancing for many of our loans. He even brought in additional capital through the pharmacy, but...”
“But he took it all away with him when he left, didn’t he?” Megumi said, more gently this time, although inwardly she felt she might burst with rage for that wretched Kanryuu.
He was her father’s business partner. Her father trusted him to take care of the family business, because none of his children expressed any interest in it. In a way, Megumi blamed herself for what happened, no matter how faultless her decision to stay in Tokyo may have been.
Her father’s eyes glittered with despair. “I had hoped...I wanted –” He thrust himself up out of the chair and began pacing the floor. “I’ve got to have that loan contract approved. It’s my only chance to get the company back on its feet again.”
“Loan contract?” Megumi asked, alarmed.
Megumi’s mother turned to her and explained softly, “Takeda-san’s share in the capital amounted to almost half of the company’s entire assets. The earnings from the clinic are not nearly enough to replenish what was lost.”
“On top of that, there are still debts to be paid,” her father interjected.
“Debts,” Megumi repeated. “But I thought you took refinancing?”
“Refinancing allowed one to make a fresh start, but it did not mean the debt is entirely erased just like that,” he said ruefully.
“So in short, you were merely piling one debt on top of another?”
“Yes, but how could I have known that at the time?” He asked with a grim smile. “Kanryuu made it sound like it was the best option. I understood only half of what he was suggesting. I didn’t pay attention to the rest. I was too busy administrating.”
“Oh, Father,” Megumi could only say.
Later that night, after her mother had gone to sleep, Megumi went to her father’s study to speak to him more about the clinic situation. That was when he told her of the strange proposal he received from one Saitou Hajime.
“Omiai?” Megumi asked in surprise.
“I realize it’s an ancient concept to young people these days,” her father said, “but back in the day, it was very popular. It was how I met your mother.”
“Yes, I know,” Megumi said impatiently. “But I don’t understand.... Father, how can this be a solution to our problem?”
Her father looked at her, his eyes suddenly cool and calculating.
Disturbed, she rose and walked to the edge of the engawa to escape his intent stare. But his voice, low and intense, reached out to her from across the room. “Do you know how many political alliances are formed through marriage?”
The idea – the very idea! It was preposterous and Megumi could not stop herself from laughing. She turned her eyes to him, but as soon as she saw the look on his face, she caught herself.
She said soberly, “Mother is forever asking me if I have yet to meet someone whom I might be interested to marry. You’ve never asked me and you never would have if you weren’t in such a situation as you are now. Why, Father, is this offer by Saitou Hajime so irresistible that you are asking me now?”
Her father had face enough to look ashamed.
Several moments passed. Then, feeling her heart squeeze with agony, Megumi ran to her father’s side and knelt, taking his gnarled, beautiful hands in her own and kissing them.
“Forgive me, Father,” she murmured over and over.
Before the miai, Megumi and her parents met with the nakoudo who told them all that they wanted to know about the man and his family. To everyone’s surprise, including Megumi’s father, the candidate was not Saitou Hajime himself but his younger brother.
“Why, is there something wrong with Saitou Hajime?” Megumi could not help asking.
Her mother, who was seated beside her, gave her thigh a sharp pinch, expressing her disapproval. The question was impolite, of course, but Megumi found it hard to believe that a man with Saitou Hajime’s background and social status would remain for so long unmarried and instead devote his time and money finding a wife for his brother. Ergo, there must be something wrong with him. Biologically, perhaps.
Megumi bit the underside of her lip to keep from smiling. Her mother must have seen the gesture or anticipated her thoughts because she pinched her again, reminding Megumi of her manners. But for some strange, mind-boggling reason, Megumi found most everything amusing that day.
The entire time the nakoudo was explaining to them a litany of all the fine qualities of the man she was going to meet for the miai, Megumi was on the verge of a laughing fit. It was only after the slightly bewildered nakoudo left that she regained her composure and her mind cleared enough to realize that she was really going to go through with the whole thing. Granted, her father told her that the miai was not binding. She was free to refuse whatever offer they might receive from the Saitous.
But after everything that she learned – her father’s financial woes and the security that the other family offered – how could she return guiltless to her single, relatively uneventful life in Tokyo?
He was not even a man but a boy, younger than her by three years. He was apparently educated abroad but what he did for a living was something that the nakoudo did not elaborate. Megumi assumed, like her parents did, that he worked for the family company, which was one of the largest construction firms in the country. The photograph that came with the rirekisho showed a pleasant-looking young man with large, brown eyes, but other than that and his family background, she did not know him.
She wondered if all those women who agreed to a miai felt like she did: stepping into an unknown path with her eyes blindfolded.
“So you got the family to agree?” Tokio asked, gazing at him from across the conference table.
The luncheon meeting, which finalized the joint zoning project between Saitou’s construction company and Tokio’s architectural firm, was adjourned five minutes ago. The employees under Tokio had gone ahead of her while Saitou’s own men left for their respective offices. Tokio lingered for a while, noting earlier that Saitou seemed distracted by something.
He told her that part of the situation was actually smoothly handled. “I’d have to commend you for finding a nakoudo with such skills,” he said, smirking slightly.
“There was hardly any effort on my part,” Tokio told him. “You should say that to her yourself.”
“Oh, I already did,” Saitou said nonchalantly. “It wasn’t much but, I figure, a woman of her means would find such a gift even extravagant.”
“Do you always feel compelled to express gratitude in terms of money?” Tokio asked in a casual tone.
“You ought to have received yours by now.”
“I have,” Tokio replied, coloring slightly.
Saitou let his eyes linger on her ears meaningfully. “You’re not wearing it?”
“It’s awfully tiny,” Tokio said with sarcasm.
“Is that so? I thought it was not nearly large enough.”
Tokio chuckled. “Anyway, how did you ever manage to get Takani-san to agree to your absurd proposal?”
“Is it that absurd?”
“You know what I mean,” she told him. “You made them believe you were the one looking for a bride.”
“Well, there was that tiny matter. But as I had hoped, the incentive that I offered served to dispel any doubts they have about the union.”
“You speak as if the whole thing is set already.”
“The miai is in three days. Am I not permitted to consider it a certainty by now?”
“There is always the possibility of refusal,” Tokio pointed out.
“The way I see it, Takani Ryuusei-san can’t afford to renege on his promise now.”
“Takani-san might not. What about the daughter?”
Saitou stared at Tokio questioningly.
“She’s a doctor, is she not? College-educated Aizu woman. Surely, someone as modern and independent as that will be less inclined to accept a subservient role in discussing such an important matter as the subject of her future.”
“Good point,” Saitou said. Then, he gazed at her intently and asked, “Is that your opinion, Tokio?”
She glanced away from his stare. Instead of answering, she said, “So how did your brother take it? Or have you told him already of the evil plan you have in store for him?”
Saitou grinned in amusement but his next words belied the expression on his face. “If he wants some semblance of a future, he has no choice but to accept it. You, of all people, should know that I have no patience for incompetent fools.”
Sanosuke was relaxing in his room, still wearing his white tennis outfit and listening to Guitar Vader on headphones when Saitou appeared in the doorway. It was almost evening. Saitou had come home early from the office and was still wearing his suit and tie. He looked completely out of place, standing there in the middle of the room with walls filled with posters of rockstars and gravure idols.
“I need to speak with you,” he said.
“What?” Sano shouted.
Saitou stared stonily at the younger man until Sano, getting the hint, finally took off his headphones, and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked up at Saitou inquiringly.
“There was a stockholders’ meeting today at 3:30 p.m. Where were you?” Saitou began.
“At the club. You know I always play tennis in the afternoon.”
“You were supposed to be at that meeting.”
“What’s the use of having a proxy if I have to attend every damn meeting you guys have?”
“Ahou ga,” Saitou said without rancor.
Sano glared at him. “What’s your problem?”
“You’re my problem,” Saitou told him. “I don’t know what kind of mother raised you but in this household, there are rules. If you are to live in this house and accept money from this family, then you better follow them to the letter. Am I understood?”
“To hell with your family and to hell with your rules. I couldn’t care less about all that. It was you who asked me to be here. I didn’t want to be here.”
“This is your family, too.”
“Says who?”
“You stupid fool,” Saitou said in a freezing voice. For a long time, he glared down at Sano who, refusing to back down one bit, glared back. Then, suddenly changing tactics, he said, “You desire independence, I take it?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Very well,” he said blandly. “I shall give you all the independence you want and need.”
Sano blinked in surprise, unable to believe his own ears.
“You shall have your own house, your own income, yours to do with as you please,” he was saying. “You don’t have to work a single day in your life, yet you’ll have all the money you need. Your membership at the club shall continue. And I shall stop interfering with how you live your life. On one condition: that you appear for family dinner every Friday here at the house.”
“Is that all?” Sano challenged.
“No, that’s not all.” And then Saitou gave a smile that was in a way more disturbing than the offer he just made.
On the day of the miai itself, both of the candidates were late to arrive. The parents of both sides and the nakoudo were already in place when Megumi, looking slightly out of breath, appeared. She apologized immediately, saying that she had to finish her morning rounds and had not realized that it was so late.
Madame Saitou was gracious. She accepted Megumi’s excuses without a single word of admonishment. Megumi sat on the place designated for her by the nakoudo, opposite a vacant spot, where her future husband should have been. She noted with relief that he was likewise late, thus saving her from further embarrassment of making him wait. Now, it was him who had to go through all that, assuming he was sensitive to basic decorum like that. His brother, Saitou Hajime, certainly did not look like he was bothered by such trivial things. Then again, he did not strike her at all as someone who was late for anything.
She stole a glance at him, trying to see whether there was anything about his face that would tell her what this Sanosuke looked like. She had seen his photograph, naturally, but it was not uncommon for people’s faces to look slightly different in person.
Finally, after what seemed like a long time, a commotion came from outside. The nakoudo was the first to appear in the doorway, followed by an out-of-breath Sanosuke.
He was very tall. It was the first thing she noticed. With a lean, athletic build. Tennis player, his rirekisho mentioned. She did not realize she was staring until Sanosuke caught her eyes and he did something – Was that a wink? A blink? A facial tick? She did not quite know what – but she felt incredibly annoyed afterwards. He took the seat opposite her and proceeded to spend the rest of the meeting looking bored.
The conversation was nothing more than a protracted version of the earlier discussion they had with the nakoudo. Even Megumi, who was used to long lectures, found herself spacing out occasionally. Then the subject of Sanosuke’s finances was discussed and there was a lengthy talk about trust funds and monthly allowances.
Megumi roused from her self-induced stupor. “You mean he doesn’t work for a living?”
“He doesn’t have to, dear,” Madame Saitou answered. She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world and that Megumi must be extremely thick not to have figured that out. Of course, the man did not have to work. He has money pouring in from the family coffers.
Realizing how the conversation could rapidly become awkward, the nakoudo suggested that the candidates should take a walk in the garden and spend some time together by themselves. Everyone thought this was an excellent idea. While the adults discussed the future of their relationship, the ones most concerned with its outcome were supposed to take a walk.
Sanosuke was very quiet. He walked slightly ahead of her, moving with a slight jaunt to his strides. Then once they were deep in the interior of the garden, he suddenly stopped and crouched behind some azaleas.
“What on earth are you doing?” Megumi asked curiously. He was, most certainly, the strangest man she had ever met.
“Shh,” he said, pressing his forefinger to his lips. “Look, they’re talking about our personal histories.”
Despite herself, Megumi found herself leaning down as well until she was at his eye level. Then she followed the direction of his gaze and indeed saw her parents and the Saitous with the nakoudo seated just a slight distance away.
“Can they see us from here?” Megumi whispered.
“No. The plants hide us from view,” he answered. “And you don’t have to whisper. They can’t hear you from here either.”
Megumi studied the scene for a moment before she sighed and straightened. “I don’t think this is appropriate.”
Sano, who must have grown tired of his peeping, likewise leaned back. “Who cares about propriety?”
She glanced at him sharply. “I do,” she said.
He lifted an eyebrow and cast her a look. “You do?”
Megumi was dusting imaginary dirt from her dress. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know what your rirekisho says,” He piped up, standing up to his full height.
She noticed with some appreciation that he was a full head taller than her.
One by one, Sano ticked off items from her rirekisho with his fingers. “Born in Aizu, straight A student, class president, Tokyo University graduate, resident doctor at the Sanada Hospital. Did I miss anything?”
“You forgot my vital statistics.”
Sano allowed his gaze to slide up and down her figure before allowing a grin to spread slowly. “No, I didn’t.”
Megumi merely raised an eyebrow.
They started walking again. This time, Sanosuke seemed content in walking beside her. After a while, Megumi felt compelled to insert more conversation.
She said, “So what was it that you studied abroad, Saitou-san?”
“Ugh, don’t call me that,” Sanosuke told her. “Whenever someone uses that name, I always think they’re referring to that irritating brother of mine. Please, Sano’s fine.”
“Sa...no?” Megumi said, hesitating over the words.
“It’s not so hard once you get used to it,” Sano told her. “Speaking of which, can I call you Megumi?”
Megumi nodded reluctantly. Dispensing of honorifics was too familiar, even if they were about to be engaged. But the man was supposed to have been educated abroad so perhaps he adopted certain Western habits.
“Architecture,” he said in answer to her earlier question. “I didn’t get a degree though. I did not attend enough of my classes to earn that. But they gave me credits for the units I did take and if I wanted to, I could finish the course in one semester right here in Japan.”
“So why don’t you?” Megumi asked.
“What’s the point?” He said, addressing the question to no one in particular. After some length, he turned to her, his brown eyes twinkling. “So you’re a doctor,” he said.
“You find that amusing?”
“No. Do I look amused?”
“You look like you’re about to burst into laughter,” Megumi answered honestly.
He laughed then. “I don’t know about you, Megumi, but I find this whole thing funny. Don’t you?”
Megumi frowned, but then remembering her own intense amusement at her situation only a few days ago, she said, “I must admit I had a bad case of the giggles when I agreed to this.”
“Now that I’d like to see,” Sano murmured, watching her.
“So what do you think?” She said, looking at him inquiringly.
“What do I think of what?”
“Don’t act dumb.”
Sano guffawed. “Wow, you don’t even pretend to be nice and quiet, do you?”
“Your point?”
Sano cocked an eyebrow at her. “You know,” he observed thoughtfully, “I haven’t seen you smile since we were formally introduced.”
Megumi felt her cheeks twinge. “What do you mean, of course I smiled.”
“Hm,” he sounded unconvinced. Now, he was stroking his chin in contemplation. “You didn’t look so constipated when I saw you that one time,” he muttered, almost to himself, before asking with seeming genuine concern, “Are you having regular bowel movement?”
“What!” Megumi felt her face going red. “How dare you –”
“Not enough fiber in your diet,” he went on as though she didn’t say anything.
Megumi sputtered wordlessly, glaring at him.
“All that vending machine meals during lunch break can’t be healthy.”
Sharp. “What are you talking about?”
Sano chuckled and disclosed off-handedly, “I don’t know how much you know about the tradition but have you heard of kagemi?”
Megumi drew a blank.
“It’s an old custom where the potential male candidate attempts to catch a glimpse of the girl in secret,” he replied.
“….You stalked me at my workplace?”
“You make it sound like it’s a criminal act,” Sano said in mock offense. “Anyway, I saw you. I even walked up to you, asked you for directions. Nah, you wouldn’t remember me.”
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said.
“What? Visited you at your workplace? Or asked you for directions?”
“Both. Without telling me who you really were,” she replied.
“Then it wouldn’t be called secret, would it, if I told you.”
When they came back from their walk, the adults all wore similar expression on their faces. Sano took one look at them and uttered the most incongruous remark anyone has ever said at a miai:
“What’s the matter? Did somebody die?”
Then, before anyone could react, he grinned and turned to the still-shocked nakoudo, saying, “Set the dates, obaasan. Make sure you check with Takani-san’s schedule. You don’t have to worry about me.”
As tradition would have it, there were three dates in total before the final decision was made. In Sano and Megumi’s case, the situation was different. The final decision was actually made days before the miai but still, they went through all the formalities.
Megumi’s parents were quite shocked by how their future son-in-law turned out to be. According to the rirekisho, he was educated abroad, but it failed to mention that he never obtained his degree for he never finished his course. He had a monthly salary, but the “salary” turned out to be an allowance from his family’s estate. And then, the nakoudo talked about his impeccable manners – an outright lie, it seemed. In short, he was completely unsuitable for someone like Megumi.
However, to their even greater shock, their daughter – cool, calm, logical Megumi – said that she wanted to proceed with the marriage.
“You don’t have to marry this man,” her father said more than once. “If you are going through with this under the mistaken belief that you are helping me, I beg you not to pursue this foolhardy decision.”
“You’re mistaken, Father, if you think that I am only doing this for the sake of the clinic,” Megumi told him.
“What is this?” Her mother interjected. “Are you saying you love this man? After only three days?”
“No, Mother,” she said, finding even the idea ludicrous. “But I find nothing wrong with him. If I have to marry someone then –”
“Nothing wrong with him? Nothing?” Her mother interrupted. She gazed imploringly at her husband, saying, “Say something to that daughter of yours, Ryuusei. Talk some sense into this girl, for the love of god.”
“Megumi,” her father started to say. He looked pained. Never in his wildest dreams must he have thought that his precious daughter would end up with a man like that.
But Megumi had made up her mind. “I have made my decision, Father. Can’t you please respect that.”
In the Saitou household, things were a little calmer – and happier. Madame Saitou was in Hajime’s study, going on about the finer qualities of her future daughter-in-law.
“The Takanis are a well-respected family. Their skills in the medical field are renowned. You say that this Megumi graduated at the top of her class?”
“Yes, Mother,” her son said, pouring himself a brandy. “She’s an intelligent woman.” Which was why it seemed completely odd that she would accept the offer so readily. Then, realizing that he did not really care about her underlying reason, he tossed the contents of his drink into his mouth and poured himself another one.
“And she’s beautiful, as well,” his mother went on. “I can’t wait to find out what my grandchildren would look like.”
“Yes, Mother.” He thought about the promise he made to Sano and made a mental note that he would have to speak with his financial adviser regarding Sano’s new living arrangements. The condo unit in Asakusa seemed best. It was close enough to the hospital where Megumi worked. As for Sano, well if he knew his own brother, he would find ways to amuse himself.
Indeed, Saitou was right. At that very moment, Sanosuke was at the bar owned by a friend, getting drunk with a lap dancer snuggled close to him. “‘Gettin’ married next month,” he slurred. “To a real high-class lady.”
“Hmm, really?” The woman purred.
“Yep,” Sano said, pleased with himself.
“Whaddya say?” Tomo, his partner in booze and dice, asked from the other side of the booth.
“I said I’m getting married next month,” he repeated with some effort. “Megumi. Yeah, that’s her name.”
“Whaa?” Tomo asked again.
But Sano was no longer paying attention. He looked around him, gazing at the crowd around the bar. He said, “Should get home.”
“What’s the hurry, baby doll?” The lap dancer asked, caressing his face.
Sano gazed at her for a moment or two before he grinned and shook his head. “No kittens for Sano tonight. Fox is waiting.”
“Fox?”
He nodded, then stood up, lurching forward.