MY FATE

[Part 2] Chapter 1- What's going on?

"Something is wrong. Very wrong."

Tatsuya sighed in frustration and asked," What? What can be wrong?"

Hiroki looked at him and frowned," You seriously don't know?"

Tatsuya also frowned back at him and said," No! What is it?"

Hiroki looked at Takara and said," It's better to find it out yourself. I don't want to interfere in your family's matter."

Tatsuya glared at him in response, like a kid who was told no for a candy. But he knew, Hiroki was right. It was for better to find out what was going on with Takara by himself than to rely on Hiroki. Now, you all must be wondering, the man who didn't bother even looking at his sister once was suddenly this much worried for her? Well, it takes us back to few days..............

Tatsuya was forced by Kirihitho to visit Mr. and Mrs. Inoue at least once before they would go on a business trip to sign the biggest contract the Inoue industries had ever signed. According to Kirihitho, they were very tense about it and needed a bit of support from their son. Tatsuya reluctantly agreed only after even Sakaki( Kirihitho's mom) started pestering him.

He looked at the big house in front of him which, once, he used to call home. He grumpily walked inside and asked the maids where his parents were. Even the maids were so shocked that they required few seconds to register that Tatsuya was actually standing infront of them and asking the question which they never expected him to ask - Where are my parents?

He strode across the hallway as he was in hurry to leave the place as soon as possible. His parents were sitting in one of the gardens discussing about the contract when Elle noticed him. At first, she thought she was seeing things, so she pinched herself. Elle shouted in pain," Ouch! Definitely not a dream."

Takashi looked where she was looking and was as shocked as Elle was. He asked," Tatsuya?"

Tatsuya rolled his eyes in response and sat near them.

Elle smiled brightly and said," Oh, my! You are really here! Ah! Wait! Auntie!" She called out to one of the maids," Can you please bring some snacks for us! Which Tatsuya likes!"

"Yes, madam."

Tatsuya grumbled," I am not going to stay for longtime."

Elle still kept smiling," It's okay. We are so glad you are here."

Takashi nodded in response.

Tatsuya looked at his father and step mother's face and for the first time, felt relieved that he came here.

Elle and Takashi were very,very happy when they saw him. They were desperately waiting for Tatsuya to come at least once and now that he was here, they couldn't stop smiling and laughing.

Tatsuya said plainly," I heard about your upcoming contract. It's a huge one. I came here to say, all the best."

Elle was first shook that Tatsuya was saying this and then said honestly," Yeah, it is huge but, you know, we are not so sure about this."

Tatsuya asked in confusion," What?"

Elle sighed and showed how frustrated and afraid she was," This is a huge deal. For both of the companies. It has a lot of risk as we are gambling all of our resources and money in this project. If this is a success, that's amazing but............if it's not, your father and I will lose everything he and his family had spent years to build and strengthen. It's a high risk situation. Very high risk, actually." She laughed lightly and continued," Ahh.....we don't have to talk about this depressing topic. You have come here after so long, tell us, how is your business holding up? Is it okay? Do you need any help? You can always ask your father for any sort of help. Okay? Don't burden yourself with anything unnecessary. We are here. You can rely on us. Always remember that."

Tatsuya was going to say something insulting but couldn't. Elle's words seem very sincere that he just couldn't hurt her right now. So, he nodded in response.

They continued talking for a long time when Takara came back. She was dressed like a hooker, according to Tatsuya. Even Elle and Takashi frowned at how outrageously she was dressed. A high schooler should never dresses like that, was their thought.

Elle frowned and asked her," What the hell are you wearing, Takara Inoue?! Is this how a young lady should dress?!"

Takara looked at her mother blankly and asked," Mom, do you remember what is today's date?"

Elle asked angrily," Why does that matter?! Answer the questions which I have asked first!"

Takara rolled her eyes and asked her father," Dad, at least, you remember what is it today?"

Takashi looked at her blankly and said," Go and change your clothes. Then, we will talk."

Takara laughed a little but clearly looked very hurt. Her voice cracked this time and she asked again," You seriously don't remember?"

Elle and Takashi looked at each other in confusion. Even Tatsuya started thinking what was so special today. But, none of them remembered anything.

Takara scoffed and rubbed tears from her eyes. She stood straight and said," It's my birthday! I am sixteen, today!! Thank you so much for all the kind wishes. I will take my leave now and stop being a bother to your happy family time."
She nodded her head slightly, as if accepting the reality and left. Elle was so stunned for a moment that she couldn't process what just happened. 'It was Takara's birthday? Really?', is what she thought.

She looked at Tatsuya and smiled sheepishly," Excuse me for a moment."
She also left the father son duo alone to find where Takara was.

Takashi sighed and muttered to himself," What a mess."

In all this chaos, the only thing that bothered Tatsuya was Takara's attitude. Before, Takara would have been angry or cried or cursed all of them that how could they forget her birthday, but this Takara, she was hurt, definitely, but at the same time, it seemed that she knew no one remembered her birthday. And she just accepted that without any tantrums or demands.
It was clear, Takara was growing distant from them and Tatsuya could not digest this fact. Even though, he was an ignorant asshole of an elder brother who showed everyone that he didn't care but deep down somewhere, he cared for Takara, a lot. After all, she was his one and only younger sister. How could he see her this much hurt?