Chapter 64: SS1: The Kouzuki Corp's Duo

Kazuya slept peacefully and was in the dark about the trouble that brewed after he had given his mother and his big sis presents that could protect them on their sudden business trip. Kyouko and Mei argued a lot but this was by far the longest argument they had. Both of them received such precious presents from Kazuya but the difference in one of the presents they received, ignited this quarrel.

"hehehe~" Mei happily giggled as she kept on rubbing the ring that perfectly fit her finger. She kept showing it off to Kyouko who just put on the necklace her son had given her.

"Hmph!" Kyouko was a little upset. Why did her son have to give this cocky assistant of hers a ring of all things? Now she would have to deal with Mei showing off for their whole trip.

"What's the matter mother in law? You don't need to worry about Kazu because I'll take good care of him in the future" Mei triumphantly smiled.

"You? Psh! You can't even take care of yourself!" she retorted. "Besides, Kazuya is just a child. He probably looked up popular pieces of jewelry and ended up with this so giving you a ring means nothing"

"Don't be in denial mother in law. Don't you remember what the doctors said? Kazu's a genius who thinks very maturely. He should know the significance of giving a ring. He even made it fit my ring finger at that" Mei argued back.

"Being a genius doesn't mean he knows everything. He may be knowledgeable about studies, but he is still a child who has yet to step into the world. This sort of knowledge is not included in that" she stood by her previous statement.

Kyouko refused to believe that Kazuya was mature enough to know the sentiment of gifting a ring to a person of the opposite sex. He was but a child who has yet to hit puberty and hasn't even taken home his first female friend yet.

Mei, of course, has the same thoughts but she couldn't resist teasing this son-con of a boss she had. Kyouko had a habit of thinking too much and trying to solve things on her own. This was probably genetic since Kazuya was showing the same signs himself. Since her son was the fastest way to get on her nerves, Mei would take advantage of that knowledge to stop her boss from stressing herself out.

The two of them arrived at the business hotel where the conference was going to take place. They immediately checked in and called home to check with Fujiyama about Kazuya's status. To their relief, he was resting as promised and seemed to be in a deep sleep so Kyouko didn't ask him to be disturbed.

Mei checked the contents of the envelope they were handed when they checked in. This was the schedule of their trip as well the other companies that would be participating. She passed it on to Kyouko after confirming and showed her boss the most important parts.

Despite how they were usually when they were around Kazuya, the two of them was a well-known pair in the business scene. While Kyouko was a famous personage in the corporate world, Mei was not an unknown person. Because of how well the two worked together, Mei was the role model in which those in the know would compare their employees to.

'The Perfect Assistant' or 'The Ideal Employee' was how she was known. This gave both women a big laugh when they learned about it because both of them knew how Mei really was underneath her cold facade. This reputation of hers acted as a shield against all the people who looked down on Mei in the company.

"The Aryaman group is here from overseas. They are probably here to stop our cooperation with the people from Corsair. Our partners from the Rutopia group seems to have been under negotiations with the Kurogane group's PR team because they have set their eyes on the game 'New Gods Online' that will officially be released soon" Mei reported these as well as other matters that needed to be said.

The two of them were professionals. Unlike their usual selves, when it was time to deal with the matters of the Kouzuki Corporation, their cooperation was unrivaled. Kyouko may have other assistants that work for her but when if there wasn't a need to bring any of them, only Mei was allowed to closely work by her side.

"The Kurogane Conglomerate really doesn't want to give us a break. How did they find out about our secret cooperation with NGO?"

"I suspect that they have bought one of the senior executives. I've suspected him for a while and I'm becoming more certain that it was him"

"I see… this is troublesome. His father is one of the board members. It would be hard to get rid of him without any evidence. Keep your guard up since the executives only know that we planned on a cooperation. They don't know that we played a big part in the development just so we can get the talent behind that game to collaborate with us"

"Got it. Also…" Mei hesitated a bit. "Kurogane Nagisa will be attending the banquet tonight"

"I see…" Kyouko couldn't help but frown. "Looks like Lee's significance wasn't as small as I thought. She's the most likely candidate that's behind him" just hearing that name made her think of such a possibility.

Kurogane Nagisa was no stranger to them. She was the woman who officially married Kazuya's father. She was the one officially betrothed to him so she was hostile towards Kyouko who used to have a relationship with her husband. Other than the geezer who sat at the head of the conglomerate, she was the most likely candidate to have planned to hurt her child.

"I agree. That b*tch would probably be proud of it too" Mei didn't hold back her comments.

The two of them talked about how they should handle the situation. They have been working for years and understood how each other thought. Although Mei did think her boss was a bit on the soft side when it came to sentiments, she did not share the same thought when it came to Kyouko and her work. She agreed with the fame this seemingly harmless mother at home had.

"Let's go" Kyouko walked out of the elevator wearing an elegant royal blue dress that made her look like an elegant young woman that wasn't even close to being a mother. She proudly wore the red gemmed earrings and necklace her son made for her.

"Time for battle" Mei giggled and followed behind her boss. She may have been following closely behind but the black dress she wore made sure that no one would think any less of her. The dress perfectly accented her figure and it was matched perfectly with the jewelry she didn't use to wear.

The two women turned heads wherever they went even more than they would usually do when they wore their corporate outfits. Tonight was a charity banquet for those who were well known in the business scene and would be the start of their battle to thwart the threat that has started slithering around.

It didn't take long for the two to attract the attention of every man that they passed by after they entered the banquet hall. Both of them weren't strangers to the scene so a few CEOs and corporation heads that they had good relations with wasted no time to extend their greetings.

Of course, they weren't the only ones who joined in. Various other men also tried to catch their attention but aside from pleasantries, their attempts to woo these women failed.

This was most apparent in Mei's case where those who were able to get past her freezing demeanor would then find the noticeable ring on her finger. Who could have made this ice queen to accept such a present? Was the question not only in the minds of the men who admired Mei but to the women as well.

When the two finally had some time for themselves, Mei didn't waste any time to tell her boss about the results of their current situation.

"The people from NGO said that the Kurogane people still aren't sure about our collaboration but they've been trying to dig pretty deep. The project is already done so aside from public relations, any collaborations with them are doomed to fail. They probably only want to lay their hands on some part of it so they would have a small influence once they confirm if we do have any connection with them" Mei reported.

"That's good news. I've talked to the people from Corsair and they assured that they wanted to push through with our talks tomorrow. The Aryaman people have been trying their hardest but I already informed them that the foreign group has been collaborating with our main competitors lately" Kyouko gave her results as well.

"I also have another thing I gotta report" Mei used a softer tone so Kyouko expected better news and smiled. "Kazu's engagement ring is super effective!"

"Wha—" Kyouko was caught off guard. She didn't think her assistant would say something like this now

"Barely any guy tried to flirt with me now"

Kyouko was about to retort when her gaze narrowed at the sight of the person who was arrogantly walking towards them. This was the woman who she definitely wanted to avoid but the other couldn't help but want to stir up trouble when seeing her.

"Well, what do we have here? A man stealer and her pet wearing cheap jewelry to attend such a banquet? Kurogane Nagisa didn't hold back her voice and attracted the attention of the people that were surrounding them.

Mei turned around and stood by Kyouko's side while donning a cold expression that sent a shiver down Nagisa's back. Both of them were immediately triggered because this shameless woman just insulted the one of a kind gift the sick Kazuya made especially for them.

The people that attended the banquet weren't strangers to the story of these two women. They pretty much put a lot of importance to gossip especially those in the same circle so they were interested to see how the conflict would end this time.

Kurogane Nagisa would try and stir things up whenever she would meet with Kouzuki Kyouko but the CEO of the Kouzuki corporation would always shake off Kurogane Nagisa's attempts. Most of them already knew the history between these two but such events were rare in their circle.

"Not planning on running away today?" she continued to mock. "Have you found another man to ensnare? To even let your pet serve him as well"

"Shut your mouth you human swine" Kyouko didn't want to waste any time with this woman. The anger from her son's plight that had been bottling up inside her was indeed stirred up when this woman insulted the gift she treasured.

"What did you—"

"Other than having the surname 'Kurogane' attached, what right do you have to attend such a banquet? You don't work, you don't know the business, you don't even have connections of your own so other than being a trophy wife that was used to connect your two families. What right do you have to speak to someone like me?" she looked at the woman with disdain.

Kyouko could take insults directed towards her but when someone involves Kazuya, she immediately turns into a lioness that protects her cubs. She felt that she wouldn't be able to wear the precious gifts her son gave her if she let this woman get away with her insults.

Everyone was surprised and couldn't help but take another look at Kyouko. She was one of the very few nice people that remained in the scene. She was dominant in the field but a very approachable person so her exerting her dominance like this was a sight to behold.

"Should I contact the people holding the banquet boss?" Mei followed up. "I also share the same opinion. Political tools that have already lost their purpose shouldn't be placed together with those who have the capabilities to attend this event. The minimum requirement should be that they should accompany someone who does have the qualifications to be here. This is a place to discuss business and not a place to spout profanities" Mei looked at Nagisa with disdain.

"How dare yo—"

"That's not a bad idea Mei. You can contact them on my behalf. Who here doesn't know how the head of the Kurogane family does things? I indeed had a relationship with his son but what of it? Who here has not had a failed relationship or two? I usually wouldn't put someone who has an inferiority complex against me in my eyes but I didn't think that you would have the guts to show your face to me after your adopted son did to the biological son of your husband"

"Lies! You're using your own son's misfortune to defame our name!" she knew what the repercussions would be if the people discovered what happened to Kyouko's son so she denied it like Lee did.

"I promise in the name of the Kouzuki house that my words have no fallacy in them" This was the final nail in the coffin. All those who have done deals with the Kouzuki house can use this as a failsafe in case they had doubts about cooperation or collaborations.

This was why the Kouzuki house had been thriving and had nothing but praises from people of the same field that has collaborated with them. When they gave their word, you can be certain that they would uphold it to the best of their abilities. This was something that had yet to be broken so everyone did not doubt a single word that Kyouko said.

"I haven't looked for trouble because of what your adopted son did because I shrugged it off as his own doing but after considering how you and the family you reside in does things. I just might make a personal visit to that place again" Kyouko looked at the ugly expression on Nagisa's face and smiled.

"Boss, we still have matters to discuss. Let's not waste time with used up pawns and get going" the two ladies excused themselves and headed back to their room.

The banquet hall went back to usual after the two ladies left. It appeared that nothing changed but deep in all those in attendance's minds was the side of Kyouko who they didn't expect she had. They were quick to engrave in their hearts that they should never ever wake up the sleeping lion.

Because of the events at the banquet, Kyouko and Mei were surprised to experience their business had gone smoother than usual. There were no hitches in their business trip aside from the squabbles they would normally have.