The female violet-haired victim of a near car crash who introduced herself as Misa was not calming down any time soon judging by appearances. As the elevator doors closed with them inside, her reaction did not go unnoticed by him. Small balled up fists, tightly shut eyes and she stepped to the side quite quickly once he advanced towards her. She was starting to see the situation for what it really was. Was he really deemed to be a kind stranger who carried a girl into his car to seek medical attention? Preposterous. There was no such thing. It was wishful thinking at best. "That's certainly very kind of you...but I think I'm fine, more or less... though trauma will be the least of my concerns..." The corner of Hiro's mouth was tempted to shift upward. It was a poor choice of words as her concerns increased by his doing, by the minute.
He felt her shiver from his touch when he let her borrow his coat and watched as she moved away from him again. Hiro let her be. She wasn't going anywhere, anyhow. "W-What choice do I have?!" She had such a meek voice that he barely understood what she said. But before he could answer one of her better questions, the elevator doors opened and he stepped out followed by everyone else as the three subordinates in the elevator with them in particular, stayed behind himself and their guest. Once out, he looked down at Misa first as the item not originally included in his itinerary. "You seem a little red, Misa. I hope you don't have a fever or else... you might have to stay." One more subordinate appeared walking briskly towards them from down the hallway. The man stopped to bow politely then joined Hiro's side to delicately mutter, "We are running behind schedule." Hiro nodded, turning back to Misa before he goes about the rest of his day.
"Take her." He ordered the three from the elevator, pointing in the general direction of one of the conference rooms. He then directed the others to follow his lead down the hallway from which the one man came. They didn't have a psychiatrist conveniently twiddling their thumbs so he made a quick phone call to a family friend that he could trust to keep the matter contained. "Hara-san, can you come to the hotel?" She was the daughter of one of his biological father's friends who also took an interest in the field of social sciences. She was in her mid-30s, had a friendly disposition and a sharp mind. They rarely communicated but she was always dependable, and it was no different this time as she accepted the task and agreed to arrive no later than 10 minutes.
Hiro ended the call and entered the penthouse, greeted immediately with a warm embrace and a strong pat on the shoulder by his stepfather and the PM of Japan, Nakajima Asahi. "Son. You didn't answer my call. I was so worried." Son. It was an unnatural greeting under Hiro's standards. Did aunties greet their nieces by calling them, nieces? Did grandfathers greet their grandchildren by calling them, grandson or granddaughter? No. It was only natural for the younger person to address their elders like that. However, by his stepfather's standards as a man who had no children of his own, it was natural and had become a term of endearment. His stepfather always said it so proudly too. "Father, I apologize for worrying you. Everything has been taken care of." Endearment returned. It was a fair exchange for power.
Hiro and his stepfather sat on the lounge chairs across from each other with tea prepared, discussing the day before delving into politics.
"Nuclear power is still a divisive issue."
"If the polls are anything to go by, the overall favorability is low, to begin with."
"Hardly surprising. The people haven't forgotten the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant crisis."
"A result of simple carelessness. Had it not been for that, well..."
Hiro took a sip of his tea. His stepfather enjoyed talking more than the silent company and it didn't bother Hiro in the least especially as it was comfortable, talking like equals instead of letting age dictate the wisest man in the room.
"We have the Harigaes now. I hear they're selecting a new head of the family."
"Are they now?"
"Indeed. Let's hope they choose wisely."
A subordinate, the same subordinate from before who had been sent to bring Hiro spoke up after watching the clock on the wall tick away. "Apologies for the disruption Prime Minister, we must move on to your next meeting with the U.S ambassador." Asahi got up from his seat and smoothed out the creases in his suit. "If I must, take care son." Hiro stood up as his stepfather gave him another pat on the shoulder before leaving. The room was engulfed in silence as the subordinates scattered. Some left to attend to the PM and the other half, positioned themselves outside the penthouse to guard and serve Hiro. He sat back down on the lounge and picked up a book titled, 'Beyond Good And Evil' by Nietzsche for some leisure reading. “Men have hitherto treated women like birds which have strayed down to them from the heights; as something more delicate, more fragile, more savage, stranger, sweeter, soulful – but as something which has to be caged up so that it shall not fly away...” He read for a while longer until he heard his phone. It was Hara-san's psychological evaluation of Misa received as an email. Then there was a knock on the door, presumably his guest now that the evaluation had been completed. "Come in." he said, looking at his phone screen once more before gesturing the girl to take a seat. He set his phone on the coffee table face down, the notification also effectively removed before she could be in visual range of it.
He felt her shiver from his touch when he let her borrow his coat and watched as she moved away from him again. Hiro let her be. She wasn't going anywhere, anyhow. "W-What choice do I have?!" She had such a meek voice that he barely understood what she said. But before he could answer one of her better questions, the elevator doors opened and he stepped out followed by everyone else as the three subordinates in the elevator with them in particular, stayed behind himself and their guest. Once out, he looked down at Misa first as the item not originally included in his itinerary. "You seem a little red, Misa. I hope you don't have a fever or else... you might have to stay." One more subordinate appeared walking briskly towards them from down the hallway. The man stopped to bow politely then joined Hiro's side to delicately mutter, "We are running behind schedule." Hiro nodded, turning back to Misa before he goes about the rest of his day.
"Take her." He ordered the three from the elevator, pointing in the general direction of one of the conference rooms. He then directed the others to follow his lead down the hallway from which the one man came. They didn't have a psychiatrist conveniently twiddling their thumbs so he made a quick phone call to a family friend that he could trust to keep the matter contained. "Hara-san, can you come to the hotel?" She was the daughter of one of his biological father's friends who also took an interest in the field of social sciences. She was in her mid-30s, had a friendly disposition and a sharp mind. They rarely communicated but she was always dependable, and it was no different this time as she accepted the task and agreed to arrive no later than 10 minutes.
Hiro ended the call and entered the penthouse, greeted immediately with a warm embrace and a strong pat on the shoulder by his stepfather and the PM of Japan, Nakajima Asahi. "Son. You didn't answer my call. I was so worried." Son. It was an unnatural greeting under Hiro's standards. Did aunties greet their nieces by calling them, nieces? Did grandfathers greet their grandchildren by calling them, grandson or granddaughter? No. It was only natural for the younger person to address their elders like that. However, by his stepfather's standards as a man who had no children of his own, it was natural and had become a term of endearment. His stepfather always said it so proudly too. "Father, I apologize for worrying you. Everything has been taken care of." Endearment returned. It was a fair exchange for power.
Hiro and his stepfather sat on the lounge chairs across from each other with tea prepared, discussing the day before delving into politics.
"Nuclear power is still a divisive issue."
"If the polls are anything to go by, the overall favorability is low, to begin with."
"Hardly surprising. The people haven't forgotten the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant crisis."
"A result of simple carelessness. Had it not been for that, well..."
Hiro took a sip of his tea. His stepfather enjoyed talking more than the silent company and it didn't bother Hiro in the least especially as it was comfortable, talking like equals instead of letting age dictate the wisest man in the room.
"We have the Harigaes now. I hear they're selecting a new head of the family."
"Are they now?"
"Indeed. Let's hope they choose wisely."
A subordinate, the same subordinate from before who had been sent to bring Hiro spoke up after watching the clock on the wall tick away. "Apologies for the disruption Prime Minister, we must move on to your next meeting with the U.S ambassador." Asahi got up from his seat and smoothed out the creases in his suit. "If I must, take care son." Hiro stood up as his stepfather gave him another pat on the shoulder before leaving. The room was engulfed in silence as the subordinates scattered. Some left to attend to the PM and the other half, positioned themselves outside the penthouse to guard and serve Hiro. He sat back down on the lounge and picked up a book titled, 'Beyond Good And Evil' by Nietzsche for some leisure reading. “Men have hitherto treated women like birds which have strayed down to them from the heights; as something more delicate, more fragile, more savage, stranger, sweeter, soulful – but as something which has to be caged up so that it shall not fly away...” He read for a while longer until he heard his phone. It was Hara-san's psychological evaluation of Misa received as an email. Then there was a knock on the door, presumably his guest now that the evaluation had been completed. "Come in." he said, looking at his phone screen once more before gesturing the girl to take a seat. He set his phone on the coffee table face down, the notification also effectively removed before she could be in visual range of it.
