Red Strings ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Thirtieth String

Sitting in the back of a Rolls Royce while wearing what felt like an extremely expensive dress, Kuina could not help but feel out of place even though the only other people in the car were Kurenai and her driver.

She had worn plenty of dresses before, but none as expensive as what she was wearing right now. And although Kurenai said that she could keep the dress, Kuina was not sure if she would. She was having enough anxiety as it was right now, trying not to think about the drinks and food she was going to spill on the dress. She was too afraid to ask Kurenai the exact price of the dress too; that might just send her straight to the hospital with a heart attack.

Thank God they did not wear the same size shoes. While it was almost every girl's dream to own a pair of red bottoms, Kuina was pretty sure it would be her nightmare if Kurenai were to give her a pair.

"So...let me get this straight." Wanting to get the dress off her mind, Kuina started a conversation instead. "Your boyfriend left you, so you're going to a party to heal yourself. I guess rich people are not that different from us."

"Not just any party. My engagement party."

"What?!"

That was the last thing Kuina expected.

The plot seemed to be moving a little fast. As far as Kuina knew, her boyfriend met with her father the day before yesterday. She spent all of yesterday trying to reach him but could not. And now they were on their way to her engagement. What kind of drama bullshit was this?

Kuina honestly thought Kurenai was just taking her to some exclusive rich people club.

"Hang on a minute," Kuina sighed, closing her eyes. She was getting a headache just trying to process the entire situation. "So your boyfriend accepted money from your father to leave you, and you can't get in contact with him. So now you're getting engaged to someone else?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

"Because my father said so."

"I still don't understand. Why must you listen to your father? You're a grown person, surely you can leave any time you want and say no to anything you don't like."

"Then why didn't you leave your home earlier?"

There were times when Kuina regretted sharing her story with Kurenai. This was one of those times. She regretted not because Kurenai judged her. In fact, she was one of the handful people who accepted her for who she was. Kuina's story was just...Kuina's story.

No, she regretted telling Kurenai because she would throw it back in her face whenever she tried to advise her to say bye to her father. Just like she did now.

It was true that it seemed a little hypocritical for Kuina to tell Kurenai to just leave when it took her a long time and immense courage before she decided to be who she really was. And it was not without struggles. She struggled with her transformation and being accepted by her peers. She struggled to find a job and keep herself alive because of discrimination. It was easy for her to tell Kurenai to leave now that she found stability.

"Just one more question then," Kuina said. "Why are you bringing me?"

She felt uncomfortable and unfitting enough in the dress, imagine her in a room full of people from the high class society. She never attended etiquette class. How was she supposed to know what utensils to use when? What if she said something wrong? Surely she would cause more trouble for Kurenai.

"You're there as emotional support."

"Am I some kind of therapy dog?"

"Yeah."

With a glare, Kuina smacked Kurenai on the back of her head while the other woman let out a soft laugh. The first laugh she let out in the last two days. She did not know what it was about Kuina, but she always felt better just talking to her. Perhaps because they both had their own struggles and somehow that bonded them together.

Arriving at the venue, it was just as Kuina expected.

Everyone at this engagement party was dressed just as extravagant as Kurenai was, and with her dreads, Kuina stuck out like a sore thumb. She was garnering a few looks and whispers followed her everywhere she went. Kurenai taught her, however, to just hold her head up and chest out. Walk with confidence and they will eventually stop talking, was her advice.

About half an hour into the party, Kurenai was called up to the front and stood next to Ichiro while her father was making a speech to thank their guests for attending, and how excited he was to announce the engagement between Kurenai and Ichiro.

"You went through all that effort to make sure your father knew I pushed you and where did that take you?" Ichiro asked, whispering right into Kurenai's ear. To everyone else, it just looked like two lovebirds whispering to each other. "Right back to me."

He placed his hand on her waist but Kurenai put her own hand on top of his, holding his middle finger in a way that would cause his pain yet concealing her actions from everyone else. If she pulled back any further, his finger would break.

"Touch me again, and I will break every finger of yours."

"Keep it up, Chuya Kurenai," Ichiro hissed, pulling his hand away. "You'll want to be nice to me. Especially since we're getting married soon."

His tone of voice was meant to be threatening, though Kurenai could not help but laugh. Did he really just try to intimidate her? If they really were to get married, his life would be miserable. Hers would be too, but like hell Kurenai would let herself suffer more than him.

"Now, let's hear from the soon-to-be married couple."

Handing the microphone over to Ichiro, Atsushi gave Kurenai a look that she was too familiar with. He was telling her to behave, that this was more than just her. This was his reputation and the company's on the line. Any mistake from her, and their stocks could be plummeting.

While Ichiro was making a very self-centered speech, the press seemed more eager to hear from Kurenai. After almost ten minutes of just talking about himself, Ichiro finally handed the microphone over to Kurenai. Instantly, questions were asked left and right.

"Miss Chuya! Sources say that you are actually dating a doctor, is that true?"

"Over here, Miss Chuya! Is it true that you fabricated the story of Mr. Morita pushing you when you were held hostage? Why did you help the assailant after the ordeal?"

About half of the reporters present wanted to ask about Chishiya, while the other half was more interested with her 'fabricated' story. Atsushi was about to have his assistant dismiss those with irrelevant questions when Kurenai spoke up.

"I never lied about being pushed," Kurenai said. "Morita Ichiro is a selfish coward, and he definitely did push me. As for why I helped the man legally, it's because I don't think he deserves the punishment. He lost his wife and he was hurt, he had no intentions of hurting me. The system tends not to be fair to people like him, and I wanted to make sure that his life did end because of Morita Ichiro's mistake."

Her father was obviously not happy with her answer. Neither was Ichiro. But Kurenai was not stopping. The press went into a frenzy now that they got a statement from her, and more questions arose.

"Why are you marrying Mr. Morita if he is a selfish coward as you said?"

Amongst the chaos, someone suddenly stepped out from the crowd and grabbed Kurenai by the hand. The man was still in his scrubs, and he looked exhausted with marks all over his face. "She's not marrying that idiot," he said, taking the microphone from her before dropping it.

As cameras were flashing in their eyes, and as the crowd of reporters was following after them, the man Kurenai thought had abandoned her pulled her by the hand, leaving the hotel.