S C A N D A L

Chapter Twenty

After he had taken a bath and had his breakfast, Shiro spent the whole day with his cousin Yoshihiro, sitting on the couch and watching television in the small lounge in his bedroom. His father had also sent him an email containing the current finances of the bathhouse where he painstakingly reviewed the spending versus the earnings.

Yoshihiro was watching him with admiration. After the marriage, he had almost forgotten that Shiro was a bright, intelligent young man. He had tasted independence despite living with his father since he was always alone in the house at Ehime. He even successfully managed his father's whole estate and the bathhouse and could ride as well as any man. This was why he sometimes detested what was written about Shiro online. When the society thought Shiro would be nothing but Matsumoto's doll, to be dressed and played with by Kurou whenever he chose? Looked at him now, the master of his own house and he even had a scoundrel like Kurou under control.

A knock on the door sounded and Isamu, the butler, emerged, carrying a tray of teas and cookies plus the newspaper that Yoshihiro had asked for.

"Arigatou, Isamu-san," Shiro said politely, as usual, the butler was more than impressed with his master being kind and more than generous to everyone in the house.

Today, they were served green tea and sugar and honey were provided on the side as an option if they would like to add more flavors. Although Shiro usually takes his tea without it, Yoshi felt the need to ask, "Would you like some sugar or honey with your tea?"

Shiro was still busy trying to analyze the expenditures of the bathhouse and his father's state but raised his head to think for a moment before agreeing, "Sure. Honey will do."

Not wanting to bother Shiro, Yoshi lowered the volume of the television and turned to his newspaper while sipping his tea. He hadn't figured out what section to read first but he was already choking at the front page. He started blinking fast, with wide eyes, reading as fast as he could. This caught Shiro's attention. "Are you all right?"

As soon as Yoshihiro cleared his throat, he looked at his cousin who continued to demand what was he acting up for. "Er...I'm not quite sure if you should see this..."

Shiro sighed deeply. "Give it here."

"But..."

Slowly, he put the newspaper in Shiro's awaiting hand. Shiro didn't waste time and once he saw what was on the front page, his face immediately went blank.

Yoshihiro eyed Shiro in silence and waited. But when there was no reaction for a full minute, Yoshi couldn't help but frown. In his mind, this was going to be more difficult than he anticipated. Shiro must be angry, frightened, or a mixture of both.

He was mistaken...

"So, this is Kei Nakajima?" the tone in Shiro's voice was somewhat more curious than annoyed.

Yoshi was bewildered. "Uhm, I guess. I mean, you saw his photos online before, right?"

"I did. But I haven't seen what he looks like in the past."

"So...what do you think?"

"He looks cute, childlike and innocent. No wonder Kurou fell for him."

"Are you not...worried?"

"Worried?" Shiro looked at his cousin with amusement. "Kurou is now married to me. He's nothing but his past while I am his present."

"Wow," Yoshi was more than impressed. "I didn't think you'd even say that! You used to fret about Kurou's scandals and even set boundaries not to bother you with his escapades."

Shiro shrugged. "I must set off the rights before the house rocked off its foundations with gossip."

Yoshihiro glanced at his cousin one more time. Though Shiro may seemed confident, it was evident by the way he avoided reading the rest of the newspaper that this rattled him. But he was trying to put more trust in Kurou than what was intended.