The moment Kamoi Kazuma entered the room, an air of antiquity combined with a new-age panache seemed to emanate from every corner. The man’s very being was one that oozed a confidence prematurely defiant to anyone who doubted his abilities.

And to those who doubted him be damned – a prime specimen of a successful investor in a large city was a rarity due to dog-eat-dog competition, and because of this he made his presence and achievements known wherever he went.

Meeting a new client? He wouldn’t be caught dead in a suit older than one year.

Taking a woman out for the evening? Pay for everything in the largest bills the bank was printing.

Nobody denied him. His image was one that told others “run with me to be me.”

And in these times, most everyone wouldn’t have minded to live a day, or if given the opportunity a lifetime, in his shoes.

So why would this American with a family to support shy away from whatever offer he was going to give?

He wouldn’t, Kazuma was certain.

The man appeared to be around the same age as him, perhaps a bit younger. Or older? Al, as Mieko had called him, had a face that changed slightly every time you looked at him. The muscles in his face were slightly worn, faint lines digging into his forehead and in the corners of his eyes, but at other times one would barely notice his age given how childish his smile was and how his eyes lit up as he strode over to shake Kazuma’s hand.

The bespectacled man held out his hand. “Pleasure to be meeting you! Mister….”

Kazuma took his hand in a firm shake, “Kazuma. Kamoi Kazuma...” His voice and eyes trailed away from the American in front of him to gaze at a different American.

A girl.

In a worn chair opposite the two men, a familiar pretty young lady sat with her legs crossed, except her expression wasn’t attractive at all.

His thin lips pursed into a smirk.

Quite the coincidence, and quite the reason to give this hole in the wall a fighting chance.

He welcomed her derisive stare with a mockingly joyful expression.

“Well, who would have known you were the girl Mieko’s been rambling on about! Good to see you in a less chaotic setting!”

If shitting bricks was something that was actually humanly possible, Lucy would have done so right then and there.

Mieko knows him? He’s the family friend!?

All she could do was stare and grip the sides of her chair as if it were keeping her from leaving corporeal existence.

Mieko’s excited expression wavered slightly as she took in the thick atmosphere between her two friends.

Had they met before? Lucy would never mention anything about meeting a random man in the street, that she knew, but surely Kazuma would have brought up acquainting himself with an American living in Osaka.

Her eyes flickered up to Kazuma’s face. He was composed but she could tell that he was excited to be seeing her again, so why didn’t he mention anything about the first encounter?

She puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The sly, secret keeping bastard.

The awkward silence steeping in the air dissipated as Kazuma seemingly laughed in Lucy’s face from across the room. “Not talking this time, hm?” He cocked his head to the side. “No problem at all, I like a challenge.”

Chills ran down Lucy’s spine and a blush crept up her cheeks at his predatory tone.

Mieko attempted to do damage control as best as she could, exchanging reassuring glances between the two parties. 「I...thought you could work well with them, Kazu, your personalities...bounce off each other….!」 A weak laugh finished her declaration as she popped her hands in the air to emphasize her words.

She timidly looked over to Alfred who had his elbow rested on one arm, hand cupping his chin, amused at the whole situation unfolding before him.

“Hold it.” He laughed nervously, a lopsided grin placating his features as he pieced together what he could understand. “Lucy, do you know him?”

Kazuma’s eyes shifted from Alfred over to the girl once more.

Lucy. He made a mental note.

It was an adorable name, admittedly, like something you would give a small dog.

With a loud bark and no bite.

He chuckled to himself.

Oh, how fitting for this one.

Vague hand gestures followed by a miffed groan were all Lucy responded with. The last thing she expected to do, or wanted to do today was verbally reenact quite simply one the most embarrassing moments to have transpired during her stay in this city.

Alfred continued to push Lucy for an answer.

“Well if you know him, why didn’t you bring him in!?” His exasperated, comic-like cry of desperation only irritated her more.

Kazuma peered down to lock eyes with Mieko who appeared to be losing hope for this situation by the second.

Was this brazen back and forth a regular occurrence? A business, hell, how did they even function as a family unit let alone a business? His smile tugged at the corners of his eyes as if to reassure her that everything would be fine, but for a second his confidence wavered yet again.

Both of them were snapped back to reality by Lucy tapping her heel on the aged floor in front of her.

She huffed a piece of hair from her face. “It’s not like I knew he was Mieko’s..?” She shifted her head towards Kazuma, icy stare expectantly waiting for him to explain himself.

He didn’t break eye contact with her as he flipped out a business card from his vest pocket, holding it between two fingers in front of Alfred.

“Consider me an associate of the Takahara family, I’ve done business with them for a couple of years.”

He tore his gaze away from his interrogator and towards Alfred as he gingerly took the card from Kazuma’s fingers. He laughed inwardly to himself, observing Alfred’s eyes quizzically raking over the card.

“I’m terribly sorry, can you read Japanese? I unfortunately don’t carry any English ones.”

“Of course, he can read the kanji for ‘money’ and ‘alcohol,’ what else would he need?” Lucy snarked, placing a fist up to her mouth and glancing over at Yuko. The inside joke between them was that Alfred only bothered to learn phrases suitable either for a three year old or a member of the mafia.

Before Alfred could concoct a respectable comeback, her laughter ceased and body stiffened as Kazuma hummed to himself, strutting towards her with his hands laced behind his back.

「I take it you know more? You were quite impressive the other day」

It was true. He’d met a few well-read Westerners who were familiar with basic phrases, who futilely tried to impress him at gatherings and the like, but this girl’s vocabulary and pronunciation just about dumbfounded him.

“Sorry for the change in subject…” Yuko’s smooth voice rang out amidst the tense overtone in the room. “But..." She turned to face Alfred, eyes moving over to Lucy and Kazuma.

“How did you two meet?”

Both her and Alfred looked expectantly at Kazuma. Mieko was still steaming that he didn’t say anything about meeting Lucy in the first place.

“Interesting story, miss!” He spun around flamboyantly, pointing his index finger high in the air. “I met this little lady not too far from here and not too long ago!” His finger then flew behind him towards Lucy as he waved his other hand absentmindedly.

He stretched his neck to peek back at Lucy’s reddened face.

“Well doll, we might as well go public now that the cat’s out of the bag!”