I’M A BRAT AND I’M IN LOVE
Chapter 6
(The family is getting involved ??)
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Levi watched as Rika stomped out of his office angrily. He sighed to himself. What was he going to do with that girl? It wasn’t like he was her property. Why was she getting jealous? And of Yuri none the less. She was really being childish. He ran his hands through his Raven fringes tiredly and spotted her bag lying on the settee.
Jesus Christ.
She left her bag in his office? Of course she probably did this on purpose.
“Come on Rika,” Levi said rubbing his face.
She was persistent, he’d give her that. She didn’t hesitate to go out and take what she wanted.
And what she wanted currently was him.
‘Being around you makes me happy levi.’
He replayed her words in his head. They were genuine, he could tell. When he first met her, he couldn’t decipher who she really was. Now after just a few months, it felt like she had bared herself completely to him. She had opened up to him, in her own twisted way. What was that she had said? That he had treated her the way no one else had?
There was still so much he wanted to know about her, so much he wanted to understand. Normally he wasn’t someone who gave a rat’s tail about trying to figure another person out. He already had too much baggage of his own to lug someone else’s on his head. But Rika was different, and he didn’t know why she was.
She said being around him made her happy. Did she really felt so strongly about him?
He heard a clap of thunder and looked out his office window. It was already pouring outside. He was eighty percent sure Rika wouldn’t have gone home yet. He grabbed her bag, a spare umbrella and dashed outside to look for her.
He searched round for awhile before finding her standing under the cover of the roof of an empty shop. He put the umbrella over her head.
As they walked, he thought about what he would say to her. A small part of him nudged him not to say anything, that it would be best to cut her off now than to let her get too attached to him and get hurt more. He thought long and hard. His lips however, had a mind of their own and moved against his will.
“Rika.” He called out. What was he doing?
“If being around me makes you so happy, then stay by my side. I won’t chase you away anymore.”
What was he saying?
His mouth was completely doing the opposite of what his brain was instructing it to do. He watched Rika’s face light up, and he knew she was struggling to find the right words to say. His eyes widened.
This.
This was the real Rika Sato.
This was the girl behind the mask, and she was just as vulnerable and awkward as he had predicted.
In that moment he knew why his mouth had gone against his brain.
Rika Sato was one hell of a girl. But she had piqued his interest by some mysterious way. He was unwillingly drawn to her, and he wanted to protect that persona that she had so well hidden from everyone else, and up until now, him as well.
And he was going to do just that. With every fiber of his being.
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When Rika arrived home, she was over the moon. She kept replaying Levi’s words in her head. ‘Stay by my side. I won’t chase you away anymore.’
She was bursting with joy. Sure it wasn’t a confession of love or anything, but it was something! That was Levi’s power over her.
He knew how to turn her into a mess with just a few words. Today she had let her guard down around him for just a second. Yes she had feelings for Levi, but she hadn’t planned to bring down her walls around him just yet, until today.
He didn’t need to tell her he was madly in love with her, for her to feel the effect of his words. He cared about her, and that was enough for her….for now at least.
She ran into her room and stared outside while sitting on the Patio. Is this how it felt when one was in love? The world looked so beautiful, never before had she ever seen it looking as beautiful as this.
Her world always seemed so dreary and bleak until now, it felt as if she had been given a new set of eyes. Somewhere at the corner of her mind, she wondered how it had gotten so late outside. Time really flew when you were having fun! Her heart was happy, amd she soon drifted off into a blissful sleep.
The next day was a Saturday, and Rika got up very early despite the fact that she had turned in really late the previous night. She walked down the steps away from her bedroom and into the posh family room, where she spotted her mom on the chaise lounge, speaking earnestly on the phone.
“Yes. It’s to be at the rooftop venue. No no
The rooftop of the hotel. Precisely. No nevermind I’ll contact the caterer myself. Alright. See you later today.” Her mother said before heaving a sigh and cutting the call.
Rika poured herself a glass of juice from the Fridge. “That time of the year again right?” She said to her Mom.
Mrs Sato sighed tiredly and rubbed her temples. “I am exhausted honey. The Company’s 50th anniversary Gala is only three weeks away. I know we plan for this Gala from the beginning of the year but it usually gets much more hectic as the date approaches. And your father has conveniently left me to take care of most of the planning. I swear most people who tag themselves professionals are really just a bunch of amateurs! I’ve nearly gone insane with stress trying to make everything perfect!”
Rika chuckled. Every year, Sato Enterprises threw a huge Gala in celebration of the company’s anniversary. It was always a very loud affair, and the creme de la creme the society was always present. Rika had attended every one of the ceremonies since she was born, her parents had told her she needed to stake her claim as the heir of Sato Enterprises as early as possible, and what better way to do that than to be the star of the biggest event of their company’s history? She had heard from Greta once that her grandfather, Maehara Sato had usually only celebrated the company’s anniversary in a simple way with family and friends, but she guessed that tradition was lost somewhere along the way.
“It’ll be fine Mom. The party will be amazing I’m sure of it.” Rika said to her Mom.
Mrs Sato smiled at her daughter fondly and carressed Rika’s long blonde hair.
“My sweet girl. One day all this responsibility will be yours when you inherit the company. Hm. Your dad and I did a good job raising you.”
Rika handed her mom a cup of juice. “Of course Mom. You raised me to be the perfect daughter.” Rika whispered, smiling.
Greta suddenly stepped into the room, frantic. She spotted Rika and her face contorted in surprise. She ran over to her as quickly as an old woman could and whacked her in the head with a brush. Rika held her head. “Ow! What was that for?” She yelled.
“!Esta chica no será ya muerte de mí! (You this girl won’t be the death of me!) Where were you last night?! I waited up until around eleven for you! When did you get home?!”
Mrs Sato looked at Rika accusingly.
“What’s Greta saying Rika? You came home late last night? Where were you?”
Rika shrugged. “I was at Levi’s.” She answered nonchalantly.
Her dad walked into the family room at just that moment, in time to hear her answer.
“What’s all this about?” He asked, his question directed towards the trio.
Mrs Sato rubbed her forehead. “Rika was out late night. She claims she was with Levi.”
Mr Sato’s eyes darkened. “With Levi? In his house?” He asked his daughter.
Rika scoffed. “Of course not daddy. I was at his office.”
“And what were you doing there?”
Rika shrugged again. “I went to visit him. Is that a problem?”
Mrs Sato looked at her daughter like she was the most unreasonable person on Earth. “Well it is a problem if you’re coming home so late at night!”
Rika was getting irritated. These people didn’t even know that she was out late up until now. What was all this interrogation?
“I was with Levi. He’s an adult isn’t he? Why are you both getting so riled up?”
“Rika!” Her mom yelled. “What’s gotten into you?!”
Rika kept silent, regretting her outburst. She really needed to get a grip on her emotions. She got a little to carried away just now.
Mr Sato began pressing his phone.
“What are you doing?” Rika asked.
“I’m calling Levi. I want to know what he was doing with my daughter till so late at night and why he didn’t bother calling to let us know you were with him.”
Rika laughed. “He did call. But apparently both your phones were switched off. And besides, it’s not like both of you noticed I wasn’t home last night anyway.”
Mrs Sato ran her hands through her blonde locks.
“Greta you deal with her. I have to get to the office.” She said and made her way out of the room.
Typical. Rika thought. It was just like her mother to throw her responsibilities to someone else when she felt like things weren’t going her way.
Mr Sato however, lingered for awhile, watching Rika with a small frown on his face. Rika kept her eyes on him, trying to read his thoughts. Eventually he too left the room.
Rika sighed and leaned on the wall. Greta slapped her arm.
“Look what you did! You made your mother and father angry!”
Rika didn’t answer. Things had really gotten out of hand with that conversation. She needed to be more careful.
She held her hand d close to her chest and closed her eyes, picture Levi’s face in her head, the thought comforting her.
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Yuri and Levi sat in his office, discussing a case.
She smiled fondly at the ease with which the two of them conversed.
She and Levi worked like a well oiled machine, even though they sometimes had to inevitably clash due to the nature of their professions as lawyers, she being a Prosecutor and he being a defense attorney.
But even though they clashed in the workplace sometimes, they had still managed to retain the close friendship they had had since their University days.
Well, not that you could really call their relationship that.
Levi Akabane was a very closed off person. He enjoyed his privacy to the maximum, and he rarely ever let people into his life.
Most of the time before you could get him to actually open up to you, he would have to have known you for a very long time, or you would have had to prove your trustworthiness in some way. That aspect of his character made most people to stay away from him, as they viewed maintaining a relationship with him as too much work. But that was just how he was. And how circumstances had made him.
He had lost his mother at a very young age, and had fought tooth and nail to retain his position in his father’s law firm. He had it rough growing up, but he had stayed strong, too strong even, too strong for his own good to the point that he didn’t know how to let other people be strong for him again.
He was a man of few words,and even fewer expressions, but Yuri had known him for so long to know that behind the mask lay a man with a lot of emotions,who didn’t know how to show them.
He was bad with words, and almost incapable of passing across a sincere message without sounding sarcastic.
Levi didn’t have many friends back in school, I mean who would even be able to approach him when he always had that constant frown and appraising look in his eyes?
But out of the few friends he managed to acquire, she had stuck with him the longest. She just grew to understand him from who he was, and he appreciated that. He didn’t need to say much around her before she understood, and she enjoyed that comfort in their friendship.
Not that that deterred her from wishing for more, Levi was an attractive man, and somewhere along the line understanding had developed into feelings. But she knew her boundaries. For as long as she had known him, Levi had never been in any relationships, and she would rather keep her growing affections for him to herself than risk their friendship.
But then there was Rika Sato.
Something about that girl bothered Yuri.
When she had met Rika that day in Levi’s office, Yuri had paid close, unconscious attention to Levi’s expressions. It would have been easy to hide his emotions behind stoic expressions to someone else, but not to Yuri. Even the littlest of his expressions betrayed his thoughts.
She had seen the way his face had softened when Rika was in the room. And the knowing expression on his face gave her the idea that he knew Rika was going to insult her the way she did.
Yuri couldn’t help being curious, and even a little bit jealous.
That girl was just a high schooler, and she hadn’t known Levi that long. Why did she have such an effect on him? How did they get so close in such a short time?
“Levi, so….” Yuri began and Levi looked up at her from his laptop, steely eyes boring into hers.
“Looks like you and Rika Sato have gotten really close.”
She watched his face for any expressions. He was silent for a while, before looking back at his laptop.
“Is that a question or a statement?” He asked casually, the casual tone of his voice unsettling Yuri. It felt like he was trying to hide something. She chuckled and answered, “Both.”
Levi began ruffling through some files on his desk. “Well. I don’t know what you mean by close, but we have gotten to know each other a bit in the past two months.”
He said Matter of factly, and waited to hear if she had anything more to add.
Yuri sighed. There was no point in pushing the Matter further.
Levi’s personal phone rang and he picked it up.
“Akabane.” He muttered professionally.
“Oh? Yes okay. Tell them I’ll be there.” He said curtly and ended the call. Yuri wondered what the call was about, as Levi seemed surprised by what he had heard, but she put it out of her mind and continued with her work.
This was the life of anyone close to Levi Akabane, you just had to know when to drop things. She hoped Rika Sato was prepared for that.
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Rika sat hunched in the dark in her room, studying with a reading lamp.
Since the incident that morning, she had shut herself in her room and studied all day, distracting herself with her books.
Her door opened suddenly and Greta walked in.
Rika smiled. “Greta, don’t they teach you how to knock in Mexico? What if I was n@ked?”
Great laughed as she switched on the room lights. “I’ve seen you buck n@ked lots of times dearie. Come down, it’s time for dinner. And put on something pretty.”
Rika furrowed her brows.
“Why?” She asked.
“Didn’t you know? Master Sato invited the Akabanes over for dinner. Now hurry and get down.”
WHAT?! HER FATHER DID WHAT?!!!!!
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