If somebody asked me how I feel about my current situation, then I'd just take out my phone and show them the image of a cartoon dog surrounded by flames while he calmly says, 'this is fine'.
Cause after all, it's no big deal, right...?
I've been through plenty of troublesome and complicated situations before, so this is totally something I can handle…
I mean it's not like one moment I'm minding my own business and the next I'm being jumped, tied up, blindfolded and tossed into a vehicle like a sack of trash…
Isn't this a bit too much even for manga standards?!
Listen just because I got experience with cliches doesn't mean it gets any easier alright? Rom-com protagonists are typically known for dealing with being kidnapped, so I think I'm allowed to complain a bit.
Ha~ where did my relaxing weekend go?
Once again, the unpredictability of these tropes has dragged me into another annoying mess, and the only thing I can do in response is just… sit.
I did try to resist and ask who these people were and why I was being kidnapped, but things happened so fast that before I even realized, my mouth was taped shut and I could only make muffled grunts.
Not the most thrilling of experiences I got to say.
In any case, I also can't help but wonder why nothing is going my way.
I mean, wasn't this exactly the outcome I tried to avoid?
I knew getting involved with Kido could lead to trouble, so the logical move should've been to distance myself from her… and now that I unintentionally achieved that goal, it has backfired horribly.
In all honesty, I'm seriously beginning to question if these cliches can even be avoided.
As the car made a short stop, probably from a stoplight, a voice from a person sitting to my right suddenly began to speak in an irritated and aggressive tone, "this is the price you pay for belittling the young miss."
Young miss…?
Oh you got to be kidding…
Yeah, it was pretty obvious to figure this one out.
There is only one person that I know of who could be referred to with that kind of title, and unfortunately for me, I might've shattered her heart.
Which begs the question, was I kidnapped as a means to exact revenge? No, I don't think so. Kido didn't seem like the type of girl to do that and besides, her expression that day wasn't anger…
Only one reason comes to mind.
A rich family kidnapping the boy who rejected their princess and made her cry is it?
I should've seen this one coming if I'm being honest.
Families with this amount of money are known to dote on their kids, so a hostage situation isn't out of the realm of possibilities.
I do, however, wonder if this constitutes as another cliché.
After all, I was kidnapped because I rejected their ojou-sama daughter… Maybe I'll just designate it as an uncommon trope because of its rarity.
The limousine continued to periodically swerve left and right, while I just sat there helplessly with my hands tied.
At the bare minimum, the seats were pretty high-end and comfortable to sit on. If it wasn't for the blindfolds and the rope tying my hands, it would've been a pretty pleasant experience.
"Tch!" The man clicked his tongue and began to complain once again, "Why can't we simply get rid of this brat for good already?"
A calm woman's voice replied from my left. "Don't be so stupid, the boss has already asked to bring him in alive. He said he wanted to meet him first before deciding anything."
Wait.
Why did the boss have to specify I should be brought alive?
Isn't that supposed to be obvious?! Were they really considering the alternative?!
And hold on, don't tell me Kido really belongs to a family of gangsters?! That plot's been done before already!!! Don't you know we can get sued for copyright infringement!!!
The man let out a disgruntled sigh, "Consider yourself lucky, if it were up to me, things would've gone a whole lot differently." He said to me.
Is this guy actually a mobster or something?
After a while of driving, the limousine started to slow down. The ambient noises from before; cars driving, birds chirping and random pedestrian chatter disappeared, being replaced by a deafening silence.
The car slightly felt as if it inclined downwards, like we were entering an underground parking lot, and a short moment the vehicle finally stopped.
Both the man and the woman got out first, before proceeding to pull me out and guiding me forward.
Now the only noises remaining that I could hear were the loud echoing and resounding steps that we all took on hard concrete.
As they led me from behind, a ding echoed directly in front of me.
They nudged me forward again, before stopping me and making me turn around in place. Suddenly the ground began to shift, and a slow vibration could be felt before being followed by a slow ascent.
An elevator…
A full five minutes passed before the subtle shaking finally stopped and the familiar ding sound returned, to which they moved me forward, making step out of the elevator.
As I stepped out, my feet transitioned from the smooth, solid stone from before to the plush texture of a carpet.
I could hear a door creaking open ahead, and after a few more steps they finally stopped me, gently shoving me down into something absurdly soft.
A chair. Or maybe a couch. Either way, it was a definite upgrade from the car seat.
Did we arrive…?
"Naoki Kurogawa," a firm and stern voice suddenly spoke. "Take his blindfold off. I'd rather speak to him face to face."
I'll take that as a yes.
The cloth was pulled from my eyes, and I quickly began to scan my surroundings.
It was an office. No doors other than the one behind me, decorated ostentatiously with fine carpets, tapestries, and sculptures. While in front of me was a large wooden desk, with a single leather chair facing away from me and overlooking an incredible view of the metropolitan area below.
Talk about a super villain entrance…
Standing next to me were a man and a woman of around thirty years of age in fine black suits, and unfortunately for me, I recognized them.
"Ah!" The man exclaimed upon seeing me. "You're that weird kid from before that gave me the wrench!"
I don't know which is worse, the fact he kidnapped someone without knowing their identity, or that he remembers me as that 'weird wrench kid'
His female colleague, a lady with glasses and a ponytail, let out a disappointed sigh.
"I thought I told you to read the file yesterday." She responded in a tired and annoyed tone.
"Eh… that might've happened." The man replied dismissingly.
"Ta-ka-ki…" she said, enunciating his name in a cold and judging tone.
"Why do we even need a file for this? And can you blame me? Not only is the report boring to read but why do we need to file paperwork for a kidnapping!"
The woman pinched the bridge of her nose, "Because it's literally our job."
"Damn it, I really hate bureaucracy" Takaki muttered under his breath, before continuing in a confident tone. "Reading those reports are a waste of time, and besides, I don't need to know the identity of the person we were tasked to find. If they made the young miss cry, it doesn't matter who they are. They will pay."
In response. the woman let out a small scoff and smiled, "Hmph, for once you're actually saying something logical and coherent."
They both turned to look at me and I could feel shivers run down my spine.
Takaki had a full-blown gaze of animosity, like he wanted to knock some sense into me.
Meanwhile, the woman did a better job of hiding her contempt. Appearing at first glance composed and indifferent… but I could feel an even more dangerous and murderous vibe coming from her sharp eyes.
"Takaki, Tsuchida, settle down," the voice coming from the leather chair commanded.
"Yes!" Exclaimed both guards, straightening up their posture and dropping the murderous intent they had directed at me a moment earlier.
"You have to excuse them," The leather chair began to creak, and a person stood up from it, making his way around the desk and stopping once he stood directly in front of me.
"They are both simply quite fond of my daughter, to the point they are willing to make someone disappear forever."
Say what.
As I starred at this man, a man in his late forties, with golden combed hair, a grown beard with hints of white hair and a confident demeanor, my brain felt as if it was being prickled.
This man must be…
"Sir Hideaki, if I may," Takaki the male guard intervened, "I don't mean to overstep my boundaries, but I must ask, why have we taken the liberty to bring him all the way here? Wouldn't it have been simpler to simply teach this kid a lesson in a secluded alleyway away from public view?"
What the hell man?! Why are you so hell-bent on trying to beat up a high-schooler!
Kido's father, Mr. Hideaki briefly closed his eyes and let out a breath of air, "Takaki… you do realize we aren't yakuzas, right? We don't go around extorting highschoolers."
But kidnapping isn't off the table?!
"And besides" he continued, "I have some things I want to ask him directly."
Mister Hideaki directed his gaze at me, and his mere presence was enough to make me gulp unconsciously.
Somehow, it felt as if this wasn't the first time I was subjected to his overwhelming demeanor.
"I see, I apologize for my foolishness." Takaki said while bowing down.
"It's quite alright, now let us get to the matters at hand," Mister Hideaki said as he got ever so slightly closer to me.
"To think the little young boy I once met has grown into such a heartbreaker." He began to speak with his deep coarse voice, "Time sure flies past in the brink of an eye, how long has it been? 11 years?"
Tsuchida the female guard nodded at him, and in response Mr. Hideaki proceeded to lean back against his desk and grab a portrait sitting there.
"So it's been that long huh… " he said as he stared momentarily at the portrait.
Oh God is he about to monolo-
"Those were the glory days, back when my adorable daughter was nothing more than an innocent cub. Unaware of the dangers of the world and only thinking about finding the prettiest flower to gift her mama and papa. Unbothered by those annoying flies who would continue to swarm around her."
As he said that last sentence, he looked at me.
"But most importantly… when her eyes still had that shine in them."
The room fell quiet.
Mr. Hideaki's tone had shifted, no longer stern, but nostalgic, maybe even a little bitter.
Meanwhile, both Takaki and Tsuchida seemed to pick up on the change. Their expressions softened, as if they too were recalling a memory they didn't particularly enjoy.
Mr. Hideaki placed the portrait back down and turned to look at me once again.
"To be completely honest with you, I never thought we would meet again, and yet here we are. Fate works in strange ways doesn't it, Naoki?"
I cleared my throat behind the tape. "Mhmhm."
Mister Hideaki's eyes drifted to Takaki and with a flick of his hand, Takaki moved forward and ripped the tape from my mouth in one swift motion.
"Ghk—!" I gasped, blinking rapidly and trying not to cough.
"…Mr. Hideaki," I managed. "It's… been a while."
I don't even remember him to be honest.
He nodded slightly. "It has. And I do apologize for bringing you here through such an unrefined manner, but I'm sure you can guess why that happened to be."
Yeah, I'm not about to incriminate myself so let's play it safe.
"Let's say I have a few ideas," I said cautiously. "But I'd appreciate a refresher."
Mr. Hideaki didn't seem too amused by my answer, but after contemplating my response for a second, he decided to play into it.
"Alright," he replied, and began walking towards the glass panels that looked down on the city, like he was about to give a dramatic speech.
"I'm but a simple man, Naoki." He said while grabbing a mug from his table and sipping on it.
"Every day, I follow the same routine without fail. I wake up, get dressed, and before leaving for work, I eat breakfast with my loving daughter…"
He paused.
"…and wife," he added after Tsuchida cleared her throat pointedly.
"I then head off to work, motivated by the thought of providing a good future for my adorable daughter…"
Another cough from Tsuchida.
"…and wife."
"And when the day ends, I return home, greeted by the shining smile of my beautiful daughter…"
This time, Tsuchida didn't even wait, she just stared at him.
"Yes, yes, and wife," he muttered with a small wave of his hand.
I'm beginning to see a trend here.
"But a few days ago, all of that changed." He said as he dramatically grasped into his heart. "When I got home… It wasn't my daughter who greeted me… instead it was just my wife!"
Sir why are you talking as if you got jump-scared at a horror attraction.
"I immediately rushed to check on the well-being of my precious daughter, and as it turned out my little girl had locked herself in her room ever since coming back from school. Refusing to talk and eat with us."
Both Tsuchida and Takaki began to wipe their eyes with white tissues they took out from their pockets.
"I was devastated, and so as any good father does, I had Takaki and Tsuchida investigate the source of her discomfort… and that is when I heard the most curious of things."
The tone in Mr. Hideaki's voice shifted.
"Apparently, my precious, adorable daughter had confessed to some random, brainless, thick-headed, IDIOT, SON OF A B-"
Tsuchida let out a cough as if to remind Mr. Hideaki to get back on track.
"Ehem… she had confessed to another student." He resumed. "Of course, I as her father, after breaking a couple of vases and chairs, reacted appropriately and accepted her feelings for that boy, after all she is at that age I suppose…"
Just what I needed, a hardcore doting father…
"But that wasn't where the news ended." He continued while clenching his fists. "My daughter confessed her feelings… and was rejected."
I immediately tensed.
"Now," he continued, placing a hand gently on the desk, "as a father, I would've preferred not to meddle. She is strong. She is mature. She's capable of making her own choices… and also my wife warned me not to."
Mr. Hideaki suddenly stood up.
"But then I heard it was you."
He stepped closer, voice lowering.
"You, the boy who used to visit our house during the summer. The boy I warned."
His eyes locked on mine, and for a brief moment I felt the full weight of his presence pressing down like gravity.
Wait.
Warning…? Summer…?
No… it can't be…
In that split moment, the suffocating pressure that Mr. Hideaki gave off triggered something in my memories, like a box in my mind that I had kept locked away had been forcefully opened.
As such, a flood of repressed memories came back to me in an instant.
Images of a large garden filled with flowers of all colors and sizes, while I ran next to a mysterious girl with a white oversized sun hat, who held my hand.
The girl would be laughing and grinning with a brightly lit smile, while I…
I was fearing for my life.
Queue the flashback please.
I hadn't thought about that summer in years.
Partly because I was six.
Partly because, that same year, my mom passed away unexpectedly.
A lot of things from that time just got... lost in the fog.
I was also just a kid, awkward, clueless, and very much unaware of the trouble I was stepping into.
"Kid… My daughter seems very fond of you…" A young Mr. Hideaki had said to me with a smile, but I could see he had a vein ready to pop in his forehead.
"As a parent I want what's best for her and to be as happy as she can be, and you little twerp, you can't mess it up, ok?! Break her heart…" he said as he proceeded to clench his fist with a rubber duckie inside, until it inevitably popped.
"I don't have to finish my sentence, do I?" He said while looking down at me with a terrifying gaze.
As any six-year-old would naturally do, I agreed out of pure fear.
"So with that being said," he continued, brushing duck shrapnel off his palm "if my daughter wills it, you will marry her in the future when she grows up. Don't worry your father already gave his blessing."
That stupid old man.
Turns out I did know her.
Kido Tomiko. Only daughter and heir to one of Japan's biggest conglomerates, Cynax Industries.
My father had landed some kind of deal with the company and ended up working directly with the boss, which meant dragging me along to their mansion during the summer, and as a result, little ol' me ended up meeting her as a kid.
Of course, I don't remember much because as a 6-year-old kid, you tend to repress the memories of being threatened by a grown ass man with a rubber duckie, not to mention the death of my mom shortly after.
The whole thing got buried deep.
And before you ask, no I am not traumatized or have some sad story regarding my mother's passing.
Shit just happens sometimes. Besides coming to terms with the death of my mother is a plot point that already got done in my previous school, so I'm all good now.
Still… you'd think I'd remember promising to marry a girl, right?
But then it hit me.
Right after the meeting with her dad, I stumbled out of the office like a freshly traumatized ghost.
Kido was waiting for me in the hall. "Naoki, what did you and papa talk about?"
I was still rather dazed from the fright her old man gave me and wasn't entirely there.
"Naoki?"
"Uh… we talked about you and me getting married in the future." I mumbled.
Her cheeks immediately turned red, and she looked down to avert her eyes.
"You asked him to marry me…?"
"Uhh…what? Wait n-"
"Oh Naoki you're so upfront," she said as she smacked me repeatedly in the back.
"Ouch, hey! Ouch! Quit it! That's not what I mea-"
Then her dad poked his head out of the office, icy glare activated. "Is there a problem between you and Kido, Naoki?"
"No sir!"
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how an arranged marriage misunderstanding was born.
Alright end of flashback.