.
Shishio couldn't believe what he just heard. He never expected his father to give him advanced notice of his succession. It was only until he was able to recall what his father had said earlier did Shishio realize that there was sothing wrong.
"Temporary?" Shishio asked. This had never happened before. Though the forr head had the right to revoke the qualifications of the successor he nad, that will only be applicable if it is within one year of the appointnt or the new clan leader was found to have broken the main clan rules.
"Looks like you realized it quite faster than I thought you would" Tenma scoffed. He knew just how ambitious this son of his was. Shishio even sacrificed his own wife who although was betrothed to him for benefits, was still the wife he had chosen among all the candidates that were given.
"Though you are indeed the one with the most success over all the other candidates, your thods can be far bit too extre and although effective, still has so risks towards our clan" Tenma spoke. "I am willing to give you so ti to accomplish so tasks that only you should know about. After they are completed will be the day you will be officially the next head of our clan" he stated.
Although Kurogane Tenma saw Shishio as the most capable amongst all the candidates for succession, he found him to be a little too ambitious for his own good. He had a bad habit of executing plans that involved high amounts of risk than Tenma would have liked. Though these mostly worked out in Shishio's favor, a cautious and paranoid man like Tenma couldn't see this as sothing the next head of the clan should continue doing. He would bear the whole clan on his shoulders once he took the position after all.
*KNOCK KNOCK* both n turned towards the door. This manner of knocking was from one of Tenma's most trusted attendants.
"Pardon my intrusion but an incident has occurred that I thought you should be aware of Tenma-sama" the butler bowed politely at the two and gave his report on the incident between Kazuya and Sousuke.
Shishio was indeed correct in his assumption that Sousuke would try sothing after being humiliated. Tenma on the other hand couldn't help but sigh after hearing another disappointing move from his eldest son. He wondered where he had gone wrong in raising the eldest to be the most useless whereas the youngest to be the most useful.
"Cancel all of that idiot's spending privileges imdiately" Tenma ordered. "If he wants to spend money, he should first make his own without relying on the clan from now on" he really didn't know what was going through the head of Sousuke because he was as useless as he was when he was with his first wife.
Unlike most of Tenma's other progenies, Sosuke was the eldest so he was heavily favored. He was probably the only one amongst his children to have been allowed to take a wife of his own choosing regardless of whether she had been useful to the clan or not.
Who would have thought that he would have suffered humiliation when it turns out that the firstborn daughter he cared so much about turned out to be born from another man. This twisted the proud man as he crippled his wife who tried protecting the daughter of soone that wasn't his.
"Right away" the butler bowed politely and left after receiving his orders.
"At least your boy knows how to hold back now" Tenma comnted after the door was closed. He could more or less guess what Kazuya whispered to his eldest son but this was the reason why he had summoned Shishio alone. "You should have expected this to happen right?" he scoffed at Shishio who also knew that Sousuke would try sothing.
"You knew that elder brother would threaten Kazuya?" Shishio was a little surprised. He knew that Tenma had already taken a liking to Kazuya so why would he let the arrogant Sousuke threaten him?
"Who do you think raised all of you? This has sothing to do with the task I'll be using as your test so it is better that you are aware of it. It has sothing to do with the boy's relations with the Kouzuki family"
"Relations to the Kouzuki family?" Shishio didn't seem to understand what his father ant and tried to clarify.
"With Nagisa gone, that kid is now officially your first-born son. Why haven't you done anything to redy that situation? I already know that you are fond of the boy and although I have avoided eting with him, I am aware of everything he has done as well as the plans you have for him" Tenma looked his youngest son in the eye which made Shishio a bit nervous. "Surely you aren't going to allow your successor to bear the na 'Kozuki' right?"
"I…" Shishio couldn't reply because he already knew about that problem but has been avoiding it since he was too focused on his plans regarding both Kazuya and Tenma's relationship as well as handling most of the problems of the Kurogane Conglorate.
"Though I believe you are capable, I don't want to hand the clan over permanently to soone who has a successor that is capable yet not officially bearing the na he should" Tenma made his stance clear. It wasn't that he ignored what Sousuke had to say, rather, he was already aware of this problem thus avoiding Kazuya for the past three years.
"Although my relationship with Kazuya had indeed improved over the years. He has only recently acknowledged by referring to as father not too long ago. It might take so more ti for to convince him of taking the Kurogane na so I haven't really talked to Kazuya about it yet" Shishio decided to co clean because he knew that his father was serious about this and there was no way he could fool him otherwise.
"Looks like actually having a son has affected your way of thinking like you used to" Tenma grinned. "What's funny is, you don't even realize it yourself" Tenma gave a mocking laugh at the son who didn't dare show any emotion when it ca to sentintal things. Shishio, though still focused on his ambitions, had strayed off his usual path and started to act like a father although still a twisted one.
"...?" Shishio couldn't believe it as he thought about what his father was talking about. He really didn't find his actions different from what he would have done in the past.
"You don't need to think too deeply about it. I can just tell you that you started caring about what your son thinks about you. This is why you still haven't thought of the fastest way for him to accept his identity as a Kurogane" Tenma spoke.
"…" Shishio stopped. He couldn't deny it and thought deeply about what he had been doing to make sure that Tenma's observation was indeed correct. He thought for a while but the fact that he indeed cared about what Kazuya thought of him more than proved Tenma's point. He tried pleasing the boy to gain his favor and was extrely careful with him even more than he was careful with his father.
"So you haven't realized it until now." Tenma smiled. He could see this ambitious son of his finally realize his status as a parent and therefore hoped that he could understand his own point of view at tis. The only thing that was missing to make him a complete parent was the complicated situation this excellent son of his had with Kazuya's mother.
"By the fastest way of Kazuya accepting his identity as a Kurogane…" Shishio thought for other solutions other than the first idea that ca to his mind. There was nothing that would have worked in the deadline that was stated other than the thod he initially thought of. Shishio was almost sure that his father was thinking the sa thing because he was raised by this man after all. "Do you an…" his voice trailed off because it was sothing that was very risky.
"That's right" Tenma gave him a deep nod. "After the boy loses his mother, you will be the only parent he has" Tenma didn't say it outright but the father, son and even the grandson who leaked out an intense amount of bloodlust on the other side of the property was clear on what was implied. "Be warned, it should even be more convincing than what happened with Nagisa or with the boy's wisdom, he will find out"
"But what about Nagato Tsuna?" Shishio was very cautious of this man. He believed that Tsuna's existence was also part of why he never even thought of touching the Kouzuki family. His bold declaration of ending their clan wasn't sothing that could be ignored after all.
"As long as it is done properly, even if he suspects it, he can't do anything without proof" Tenma stated. "His warning was only concerning any harm that cos to Kazuya who even we don't want to lose now. Once Kouzuki Kyouko is out of the way, that old fool Kou will grieve and most likely leave for another journey until he dies this ti. Nagato Tsuna's hands will be tied because the boy has already started treating us as family"
Shishio didn't want to admit it but Tenma had a point. It wasn't that he had gone soft but he indeed had started to care for Kazuya. He was proud of him and wanted the boy to experience and show him more things. The only problem he had with Kazuya was that he was still closer to the Kouzukis more than he was close to the Kurogane clan that it was only three years later did he agree to stay with them for an extended period of ti.
Kouzuki Kyouko still had complete monopoly of her son and was even in charge of when he was able to visit. Things have only been going smoothly until now because she valued what Kazuya wanted and as ti went by, Shishio was getting more confident in his influence with the boy.
"Take these" Tenma pulled a bunch of papers from his desk and showed it to Shishio. "These will be the foundation of your plan so that you wouldn't be suspected of anything" This made the son look at his father in shock.
Shishio's confidence was shaken. He thought that he had gotten a grasp of everyone in their family yet his father has been showing him that things were not as he thought they were especially now that he was shown this hand. Tenma had taken an interest in Kazuya long before he even pushed for the two to get along and these docunts proved it. Tenma had indeed planned for this ahead of ti.
"This…" he was utterly speechless. Tenma had not lost his touch and it made Shishio wonder just how much more his father was holding in his grasp.
"You really didn't think that you've actually surpassed , right?" Tenma gave a smug laugh. "I've been the head of the clan for a long ti and from how I raised you and the others, how can I not have so asures of my own? I do have to make sure that the clan's rules are followed after all" Tenma's statent was a reminder as well as a warning. He was still the head of the clan and even though he might pass it on to soone else, he was still capable of making everyone of them uphold the rules of their family.
"Are you going to leave things for to decide?" Shishio tried to make sure because with these in his possession, it would save him a lot of ti in trying to make sure that he was going to be implicated.
"What kind of test would this be if I did it all on my own?" Tenma scoffed. "It is best that you take care of things flawlessly because if you don't… I have another candidate who I think will do even better than you given ti"
Kazuya who was listening in on the other side of the estate was trying to hold himself back from barging into Tenma's office and finishing those two off. The Kurogane estate was indeed Tenma's domain as the paranoid head riddled his territory with an insane amount of security caras.
It would be hard for Tenma not to know everything that was going on under his roof and anything unexpected that would happen might implicate him so Kazuya tried hard not to make a move as he heard of the two's plot. What made him even more anxious was that the two never discussed what it was that was handed to Shishio.
"Another candidate?" Shishio's eyes narrowed as he had never heard of anyone that could have compared to him when it ca to abilities or achievents.
"Don't be too sensitive about it" Tenma laughed as he slightly applauded this youngest son of his' ambition. "If you fail this test then I would be naming Kazuya as the successor so that he may take the Kurogane na despite your failure. He may assign everything for you to handle but once he is capable enough, your reign will co to an end sooner than you would have hoped" he crossed his arms.
For Tenma, regardless of Shishio's failure or success, he had plans of making Kazuya take the Kurogane na. He believed that even Kyouko would encourage him because even though they had gone through a rough patch, the Kuroganes were still a clan that could stand toe to toe with any family in the country. It would also remove any suspicion towards Shishio who would have failed his test.
Shishio didn't know what to feel. He focused his whole life for this and it was almost within his reach. Kazuya was the perfect candidate to take over after he was done with his reign in the Kurogane clan but his failure would lead his son to skip over his ti as the clan head. he was confused for a ti but there was one thing that he knew, he had to make sure to pass the test that Tenma had given him so that everything will go the way he designed it.
"I will make sure to finish this task perfectly" were the words that ca out of Shishio's mouth as his eyes was filled with determination.
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