Cash Connection
Part 1




A glass slipper, a handsome prince and everything that you dream of...

Everything that you wish for...


~~~~


"I see a person who will change your life forever," the young girl whispered to Sakuragi Hanamichi who was sitting in front of her as she hovered her fingers over the crystal ball on her desk. She and her redheaded friend were in a classroom along with half of their classmates, waiting for the class to start and to kill time, Haruko, the 15 year old brown-haired girl decided to practice her future reading skills on the boy. "Luck is on your side, Sakuragi-kun. Tomorrow something good will happen that have never happened to you before."

"Oh?" the red-haired boy grinned warily, "That's what you told me last week."

"Honto ni?" blinked the girl before she broke up in sheepish laughter, "Umm... but it's for real this time! I could see it very clearly!"

Flipping her brown hair over her shoulder the girl named Akagi Haruko continued, "I am the third generation of a family well-known for fortune-telling. If Akagi Haruko says so, it will become true."

Hanamichi shrugged and tipped his chair back sighing, "Gomen ne Haruko-chan, but I'm a guy and I don't go for this stuff. Probably Fujii or Matsui..."

Haruko tsked, "Sakuragi-kun, it doesn't matter if you're a guy or a girl. Everyone's fate is already sealed and it's up to that person on how they would want to handle it."

"Ah," the redhead smiled, "So what about your future?"

The girl winked, "I can't tell you that. I can however tell you what I wish for."

"And that is?"

"To go out on a date with Akira Sendoh!" giggled the girl taking out her purse and slipping out a photograph out from it before handing it over to her friend, "Isn't he handsome?"

The left side of the boy's lip tilted in a sneer, "Eh, he's ok. Who is he?"

Haruko plucked the photograph from the redhead and gushed, "I can't believe you've never heard of him! He's an 18 year-old actor and he always plays in those action type movies. I heard that he rarely use any extras in his stunts!"

"18 years old?" scoffed Hanamichi, "He's too old for you."

"Jealous?" teased Haruko.

The redhead blushed and turned his head away in a huff.

"Here."

Sakuragi turned back to his friend to see a locket on a chain dangling from her fingers in front of him and before he could ask she said, "This is a good luck charm from my family's temple. Take it."

The redhead took that locket from her reluctantly, "This is so corny."

"Just try it," Haruko smiled.


~~~~


The next day Hanamichi woke up late in the morning and rose from his bed make his way heavily towards the bathroom. His mind was still muddled from his sleep that he didn't see a body kneeling in front of his room until he tripped over it.

"WAH!! What the hell-!"

The redhead turned angrily towards the object of obstruction and saw his father looking at him with guilt on his face.

"Hanamichi-kun!! Gomen nasai kudasai!!!" cried the middle-aged man kow towing before his own son, "I've done the most horrible thing that you can ever imagine!"

"H-huh?? Wh-"

"A friend of mine wanted to start a business and he asked financial help from me so I gave it to him for the inital model! But last three months he disappeared with our savings and I haven't heard of him since!"

"Our savings are gone??!" shrieked the redhead, "Who is this friend of yours?! I'll go find that jerk!"

"His name is Tody and I met him four months ago at a coffee shop," sniffed the older Sakuragi.

The redhead looked at him incredulously, "You only know him for one month and you already trust him with our savings?!"

"He gave me a signed letter-"

The redhead snatched the letter from his father's grasp and scanned it before his shoulders slumped dejectedly, "This is just a statement of promise to return the money owed! There's no address! And you only know his first name! For all we know, it might not even be his real name!"

When he heard a creak on the floorboards a few metres away from him, the boy's head snapped up to look at his father who was creeping away with a suitcase on his hand.
"Where do you think you're going, old man?!!" he roared.

"I need to leave now!" cried the Sakuragi senior as he ran down the stairs in a hurry, "With our savings I also borrowed some money from the Kanagawa bank. They'll be looking for me soon. You take care of it ok?"

"WHAT??!! YOU COME BACK HERE!!" yelled the redhead running after his father but when he finally reached the front door to their house, the man was no where to be seen.

"K'so!" panted the redhead after running all over Shohoku looking for his father, "Damn that stupid old man! And damn the Akagi powers for lying to me about today!"


~~~~


From behind the tall gate, Hanamichi looked at the enormous white house in front of him and frowned. After going to the bank to plead his father's case he was ordered to go to the director's residence to settle it with the director himself. He thought it was odd to be going there on business but if that would help with his father's debts, then so be it.

With a deep breath he pressed the intercome and waited for someone to answer it.

A cultured voice answered him with a clipped tone, "Yes?"

"Uh... I'm Sakuragi Hanamichi. The director of the Kanagawa bank asked me to come here."

"Oh yes. Come through and I will meet you at the front door."

Sudenly there was a buzz before the gate swung open to let him inside. Cautiously, he stepped into the compound and started on a long walk towards the front door of the house.
As promised someone was already waiting for him there, dressed in a butler's uniform, and he was instantly ushered inside and led towards one of rooms at the west wing of mansion.

The butler opened the door for him and when he entered he was presented with the opulence of the study room and standing in front of a big oaken desk was a young man in a grey suit with short dark hair, his blue eyes boring onto Hanamichi in scrutiny.

"Sakuragi-san, I'm Kanagawa Hisashi, director of the Kanagawa bank. Please sit down."

"No way!" cried the redhead, "You're too young to be a director of a bank!"

The young man with a small scar on his chin arched an eyebrow, "I'm already 18 and I graduated from Harvard early. I've been working under my father for years and I know everything there is to know about banking."

The redhead scowled at the arrogance of the young man and slumped on the chair that was offered to him earlier, "Ok, so what can I do about my dad's debts?"

"Do you know how much your father borrowed from us?" asked Hisashi.

"Iie."

"100 million yen."

The redhead's brown eyes grew wide, "One-One H-Hundred M-Mill-"

"Million," smirked the young man as he moved to sit behind the big desk seperating him and Hanamichi, "So, what valuable possessions do you have that you can give to us?"

The redhead scratched his head in embarassment.
"Eto.... there's nothing actually. Without my savings I'm practically bankrupt."

The dark-haired man smiled and Hanamichi thought that he looked evil as his blue eyes looked at him closely.

"I see... perhaps we can make another transaction of some sort."

"Huh?"

"What if I buy you for 100 million yen to pay off your father's debts?" asked Hisashi, stapling his fingers under his chin.

It took the redhead one minute to let those words sink in his head and less than that to lift the heavy oaken chair he was sitting on in a threat to throw it to the person who dared to put a price on him.

"You crazy bastard!" roared Hanamichi, "Is this what you do?!! Buy and sell 15 year-olds for business! I'm gonna pound you till you're dead!!"

"Chotto!!" cried the brunette, shooting out of his chair to stand away from the crazy redhead, "I haven't finished talking yet! What I said were just words! What I meant was that I need you to pretend to be a boyfriend if you're willing!"

"Pretend to be a boyfriend?"

Hisashi tugged the tie that was around his neck and breathed a sigh of relief when the redhead decided to put the chair back down on the floor.

"Yeah. So are you in?"

"For how long?" asked the redhead skeptically.

The scarred-face man slowly took his seat again and replied, "For two years. If you play your role right you can leave after that and the debt between the bank and your father will be gone."

Hanamichi went silent.

"What's the matter?" asked Hisashi.

"Ano... it's just that... I've never thought of having a boyfriend before. I like this girl...I don't having anything against your kind or anything-"

The brunette went red in the face, "Hey! I don't mean you be my boyfriend! I've already got one! You're for my brother, Kaede."

"Oh," the redhead blinked before his face turned thoughtful. In two minutes he stood up, startling Hisashi who was afraid that the redhead was about to do something crazy again.

"Yosh, I'll do it!"

"Good!" clapped Hisashi, pleased, before he stood up to walk towards one of the windows, motioning for the redhead to join him.
"Let me show you Kaede."

When Hanamichi was standing beside him, the scarred-face man shifted the curtain to the side so that the redhead could see a man with his back turned towards them walking on the expanse of green below.

Hisashi suddenly threw open the window and called out, "Kaede!"

The person turned and Hanamichi was surprised to feel a sudden catch in his throat at the handsome face of the young man looking straight at him. Even from the first floor, he could see that the young man's blue eyes were more startling than Hisashi's and the marble like face looked pure and clean as if the person has never stood under the sun for too long. His dark hair held a hint of blue in them and they nearly covered the blue eyes that were framed by the longest lashes Hanamichi has ever seen on a man.

However, before Hanamichi could inspect the young man further, his to-be-pretend-boyfriend turned and walked away, miffing the redhead of his arrogant behaviour.

"You agree, right?" Hisashi reminded him as he moved back towards his desk.

The redhead turned and crossed his arms across his chest, "I said I'll do it and I will. And since I'm to be your brother's boyfriend I should call you Hisashi-kun."

At the scarred-face man's scowl, Hanamichi grinned.


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