Spring Blooms When I'm With You

Tsubaki shook her head ruefully. Her eyes were focused on the screen of her smartphone. "Unfortunately, no. I hope Mr. Kitaoji hasn"t been alerted with our attempt to meet his grandfather."

Mr. Goto"s face contorted in anger. "That brat! He thinks he could do anything just because he has a little bit of money? I feel sorry for Old Master Kitaoji. What a bad luck for the chairman to have such a useless grandson."

"What could he do?" Tsubaki sighed. "But I believe Chairman Kitaoji won"t hand over his business to his grandson if he didn"t change the way of doing business."

Kitaoji Family became rich during Old Master Kitaoji"s later years. The old man developed a piece of his land as a business area and found wealth when the land was suddenly attracting the attention of some investors. Since then, Chairman Kitaoji expanded his field of business.

Even though Kitaoji Family"s social status couldn"t be compared to the ancient Fuse Family, but the elder was still respected in high society. Without his grandfather"s hard work, Kitaoji Masaru wouldn"t be able to live in luxury.

"What if the guards deny our entrance?" Mr. Goto looked anxious.

"We"ll think of something."

Both of them were on the road, heading to Old Master Kitaoji"s countryside villa. Mr. Goto"s car had just entered the highway. Instead of wasting their time attempting to call the chairman"s a.s.sistant but to no avail, it was better for them to change their approach.

"I"m sorry for suddenly changing the day," said Tsubaki regretfully.

"Nah, I"m fine with it." Mr. Goto swiftly turned his car, entering the left lane. "But, don"t you have an appointment with a client today?"

"Oh... that..." Faint colour of pink tinged her cheeks. "The client asked me to meet him earlier, so I have some spare time today."

After their dinner last night, Mr. Fuse took her home. She insisted to split the bills between them even though she knew the meals were quite expensive but he firmly refused it. He said it was his treat as he was the one who appeared unannounced. He even changed their meeting to a later date as he suddenly got an important call last night regarding his work. Tsubaki was only able to compromise when the man said he would be delighted if she could let him taste her new recipes once he visited the bakery in the future.

"It"s good then. I hope we could settle this issue without any further drama."

Tsubaki silently agreed. If they didn"t retaliate against Kitaoji Masaru, the man wouldn"t stop playing tricks with them. Their best bet was to get Chairman Kitaoji reprimanded his grandson.

Tsubaki"s phone rang. Her heart skipped a beat when she recognised the number. It was the hospital.

"h.e.l.lo?" She felt uneasy, seemed like a bad premonition was coming to her.

"Miss Hanada? This is Suzuki University Hospital." A female voice sounded m.u.f.fled at the end of the line, as if she was wearing a mask. Might be a surgical mask, thought Tsubaki.

"Yes, that"s me. It is... about my brother?" Her voice wavered.

Mr. Goto noticed the changed in Tsubaki"s expression. He slowed the car down before pulled over beside the road. He couldn"t hear the details provided by the caller but judging from her face, it definitely wasn"t something good.

Once the nurse hung up, Tsubaki looked dazed. Her mind felt complicated. Mr. Goto peered at her, worried.

"Miss Hanada, are you okay?"

Tsubaki snapped out of her daze. Her eyes felt hot. She blinked back the tears that had started to gather around her eyes.

"I"m sorry, Mr. Goto. I need to go to the hospital immediately. Do you want to go alone or do you want me to accompany you later?"

"Don"t worry about this matter. Come, I"ll drive you to the hospital."

"It"s okay, I can go by myself." She didn"t want to trouble him with her personal problems.

"You"re worried about your brother, right?" Mr. Goto started driving. He needed to enter another exit in order to reach the hospital. "Don"t feel guilty. Your brother is more important this time."

"Yes..."

Mr. Goto knew the situation of the younger Hanada sibling. The young man had been on and off admitted to the hospital. As a father of two girls, he understood the worry that clouded Tsubaki"s face.

Neither Tsubaki nor Mr. Goto spoke in their entire journey to the hospital. She couldn"t help from picturing ugly situations happening to Satsuki. The nurse who called her didn"t say anything much. The unknown nurse just urged her to come as quickly as possible.

"Do you need me to come with you?" asked Mr. Goto once they arrived at the hospital.

"There"s no need." Tsubaki unbuckled her seat belt. "Thank you for helping me. I"ll contact you later."

"Don"t worry about meeting Chairman Kitaoji. Just focus on your brother."

"Yes."

Tsubaki sprinted into the lobby. She quickly headed to her brother"s room. Even though her mind was heavy with worries, one look at the face in front of her was enough to stop her from running. She stared at him with an incredulous, annoyed look.

"What are you doing here?"