Chapter 26: At First, It was Just a Sense of Familiarity That Drawn Him to Her

Izumi clenched the hem of his pajamas. He asked again.

"En, Uncle... Does Uncle has any incoming cooperation with Kasai Group?"

Kasai Group was Yuuto's father's company. His father took over the conglomerate from his grandfather thus creating a successful legacy in his hands.

Izumi didn't know much about the companies in the city or the country but he at least knew Kasai Group stood firm in the top five like the renowned Kashino Corporation.

Kasai Group was a giant mammoth while his father's company was like a small deer by its side. Their status didn't match.

"Yes. Ah, that reminds me," Kazuya let out a laugh. His eyes beamed with pride, "President Kasai has always complimented you whenever we met. He said he often heard the teachers praising you from the time you're in the second grade last year."

Izumi's shoulders jolted up as he heard his uncle's words.

"What? What did Uncle say?"

Kazuya continued, "President Kasai has seen you once during the parent-teacher meeting. You've helped him when he suddenly suffered low blood pressure on that day. He said you're a good and considerate boy. He hopes his son would learn from you. Do you know his son, Izumi?"

What did this mean?

Didn't Yuuto has always said his father was actually dissatisfied with his uncle so it would be easy for Yuuto to coax his father to not work with his Uncle Kazuya? Yuuto had even mentioned that his father thought his uncle's ideas were foolish.

A vague guess suddenly flashed in his mind.

He... lied?

"Izumi? What's wrong?"

Izumi snapped out of his thoughts. He quickly shook his head, "Uncle, I'm sleepy. I'll sleep now. Good night."

Kazuya didn't push further even though he felt Izumi was behaving weirdly.

"Good night."

He walked out of the room and closed the door properly.

Izumi walked toward the study desk. He stared at Yuuto's books.

Without completing them, he went to bed.

All this while, Izumi was afraid Yuuto would hinder his uncle from achieving successful cooperation with the latter's father. That was why he blindly followed the bully.

But...

Maybe, that boy was actually lying to him.

He had to make certain of it tomorrow!

While Izumi was boiling with anger, his uncle had already entered his own bedroom.

Kazuya threw his body onto the bed. The soft mattress curved under his weight. His eyes were staring dazedly at the ceiling above him.

He didn't want to hurt his nephew and niece's feelings so he hid the truth about their father but, Izumi would be more hurtful if, by chance, he came across it.

"Brother, how should I tell them?"

Kazuya turned on one side. He played with his phone. While he was absent-mindedly tapping on the screen, his eyes fell on the contact list icon. Without thinking, he tapped on it once.

Teacher Kato.

A string of numbers was saved under that name.

His mind wandered to the young female teacher.

Never did Kazuya expect that he would meet her again.

She was the girl he met inside the hotel room, the one who helped to hide him from those men.

That night, his mind was groggy as he fell under those scum's tactics. If he succumbed to the drugs' reaction, he didn't dare to think what would he do to the young teacher who was forced to deal with him.

He was glad because nothing happened. He stayed mostly inside the washroom or the balcony to help getting rid of the scorching heat building up inside his body.

When morning arrived, he thanked her and left his business card, thinking that if the girl needed help, he would fulfill it.

At times, Kazuya would sit quietly inside his brother's office and think about the girl who hadn't called him.

He wondered, did she notice the card and note or not?

Shuichi offered to investigate the young lady's identity but Kazuya refused. There was no need to go that far.

He was grateful for her help but, his focus was more on his brother's company, his niece and nephew as well as handling the crude foxes who bred inside the company.

The foxes were so malicious. If they succeeded with their plans that night, he might be charged with rape. What more outrageous was the fact that they had meticulously prepared three underage girls at the hotel suite they planned to trap him.

If the scandal broke, it would be near impossible to save his brother's cherished company from falling into the hands of the old foxes. Although it was just a small company compared to other established conglomerates, it was still precious to him.

In the end, the three girls were saved and the foxes were reported to the police. With concrete evidence of their crimes, they couldn't escape the punishment.

Days went by until three years had passed. No call came from that young woman. His memory on that night began to fade as his busyness increased.

Even so, there were times when his mind inevitably thought back to the strange night although he could no longer correctly recall the young lady's features.

Until he met her again.

At first, it was just a sense of familiarity that drawn him to her.

During the first meeting at the store, he felt something was familiar about her.

Then, he met her time and again.

The frequent meetings awoke something from the deepest part of his mind. He thought he had met her somewhere until he remembered that night.

It was just on a whim, but, Kazuya asked Shuichi to retrieve the record of the guests of the hotel a few days ago. Shuichi's extensive connections helped him.

That young lady on that night was really her.

Kato Himari.

Kazuya jumped out of the bed. He walked to the closed windows. The night scenery fell into his eyes.

No one knew what he was thinking.

Soon, the next day arrived.

Himari was still worried about Izumi. She still remembered how he ran away after she asked if he had problems in school. She didn't want to go that far but, she wondered if another student created trouble for him.

As far as Himari knew, Izumi was a model student since he was in first grade. Although he was currently nine years old, his manner was impeccable. He excelled academically and in sports as well.

"Teacher Kato! Problem! There's a problem!"

Himari was shocked when Daichi suddenly rushed into the teacher's room. His whole being looked so anxious.

Not only Himari, a few teachers who remained in the room felt weird as they looked at him.

"Teacher! A problem! A fight! Huh... huh..." Daichi panted as he tried to speak. Big droplets of sweat formed on his round forehead.

"Daichi? Calm down. Tell me, what's wrong?"

Himari couldn't help but guess something big had happened. This was the first time Daichi came looking for her in this frantic state.

Daichi grabbed her arm. His other free hand was pointing to the outside of the teachers' room.

"A fight! Izumi fought... Huh... Class 3-2's Yuuto!"

"What?"

There was no time to think. Himari quickly followed Daichi. They ran out of the teachers' room, down to the ground floor until they arrived at the back of the educational building.

At the end of the building, a group of students was currently reprimanded by Teacher Goda. Izumi was one of them.

Himari quickened her speed.

"You guys are still young! Who taught you to fight, huh?" Teacher Goda's loud voice exploded in the air, "Do you want to be delinquents? Your parents spent so much money to send you here but you guys fought???!"

All of the students lowered their heads. Their appearance was in a mess. They didn't dare to retaliate in the face of the fierce PE teacher. Especially when they saw the baseball bat in Teacher Goda's hand.

Although Teacher Goda was mostly a laidback person, once he got angry, even the discipline teacher didn't dare to retort him.

"Who started this fight? Tell me!" Teacher Goda swung his baseball bat to the ground, frightening the students.

All of the students didn't dare to speak. They kept looking at one another.

"No matter who's at fault, I'd still call your parents," Teacher Goda scoffed.

"No way!" One of the students yelled. He pointed to Izumi, "It's all his fault! Why must you call our parents? Do you know who my father is?"

"What? You little..."

"Teacher Goda!"

All of them turned their heads toward Himari. Izumi flinched once he saw his homeroom teacher.

"Oh, Teacher Kato," Teacher Goda raised up his brows, "Are these brats from your class?"

"En..." Himari locked her eyes on Izumi for a second before she looked at the PE teacher, "Hayashi Izumi is from my class. As the others..."

"They are my students!" Teacher Ayase suddenly showed up.

Himari and Teacher Ayase exchanged a glance. Both of them were concerned with the sudden fight that happened between the students.

"Oh, yes, I recognized Izumi because he's in the basketball team," Teacher Goda swept his eyes on the students, "This is a big matter. They haven't told me the reason for their fight. This cocky brat said Izumi was the one who started it, but..."

"Why don't you believe me?" The student shouted, "Do you think I have time to deal with a lowly child like him?"

"Yo, kiddo, you're so rude, do you know?" Teacher Goda narrowed his eyes. His lips curled up into a smirk, "I don't care who your father is, I'm going to call all of your parents and have them come to see their beloved children getting into a fight."

The boy gritted his teeth. He didn't conceal his resentment toward the PE teacher but Teacher Goda paid him no attention.

While the two of them were fighting verbally, Himari came close to Izumi.

"Izumi, did you get hurt somewhere?" Himari felt distressed when she saw the boy's face was covered in dust. His school uniform got tainted by the ground as well.

Izumi kept his head lowered. Both of his hands were trembling as they clasped one another.

Himari heaved a sigh, "I'm sorry but, I have to call your uncle."

This matter couldn't be concealed. Whether they liked it or not, they had to call the parents to the school.

Izumi kept his quiet. His eyes were layered with frustration and helplessness.