.
It was currently the weekend and Kazuya was staying inside his research center. i and Kyouko had taken over the basent for their magic practices so Kazuya chose to let them hone their skills as he caught up with other things.
Kouzuki Kou hasn't shown himself since the day he left the Kouzuki household with Jirou and Tomoyo. Kazuya didn't give him a deadline for when he should give his answer but him not coming back would also be considered so kind of confirmation. He didn't ask about this troubleso grandfather of his even when he was sending Tomoyo ssages.
Even though he was becoming a little impatient in finding out more about this mysterious grandfather of his, he tried holding back because he didn't want to back down from all that he said. He may be Natsu or even related to Natsu but that doesn't excuse him for doing what he had done to his family in both lives.
Kazuya decided to log on the ga he didn't have ti to visit lately. It would be a good ti to catch up with the employees that could play today because he was only able to see the departnt heads in the eting. He booted up the trusty computer the two girls practicing magic below gave him and entered the ga.
The mont the loading screen faded however, Winter Fog was imdiately spamd with ssages. He may have not logged on as frequently as he did but he was still soone who people didn't forget in the ga. While his employees spamd the guild chat, private ssages from known players tried to pick his brain on how to deal with the dungeons that they have yet to co close to beating the records he and his guild set.
[Autumn Mist: Well, well, well! Look who decided to grace us with his presence]
[Winter Fog: Not like you've been logging on regularly. How's school been lately?]
[Autumn Mist: Oh, now you're worried about now?]
[Winter Fog: Hey it's truly been a busy couple of months. School and all other activities are really taking up my ti]
[Autumn Mist: Well that's true… It really sucks how much studying I've had to do this year alone. I feel kind of nervous knowing that in a year or so I would be moving to the next level you know]
[Winter Fog: Not really. It is what it is. Hesitation will only hold you back so brace yourself and embrace it]
[Autumn Mist: So insensitive! I'm not an honor student like you!]
[Winter Fog: How did you know I was an honor student? A-are you a stalker?]
[Autumn Mist: You're a stalker! Your big sis is a stalker!]
Kazuya laughed out loud at her childish retort. They t up at the guild house where barely any guild mbers were online and hanging out. Void Android and Squid God didn't take too long before they logged on as well. They were both stuck in the office but that didn't stop them from eting with their boss.
[Squid God: I see the guild master wasted no ti and imdiately started flirting with his online wife as soon as he logged on]
[Void Android: Yeah… Here we are busting our asses off with our boss' sudden decision to release our secret projects early. I can't believe the guild master would do this to us]
[Autumn Mist: Who's flirting!? He's just bullying ! (#｀x´) ]
[Winter Fog: Oh? It seems like you guys personally want extra work for yourselves huh…]
[Void Android: No!]
[Squid God: No way!]
[Winter Fog: Hey Autumn, it's ti to fulfill the promise I made to you]
[Autumn Mist: What!? You're going to play the piano and sing for !?]
[Winter Fog: I never promised anything like that! I'm talking about your soft friend]
[Autumn Mist: Really!? You guys completed your project?]
[Winter Fog: We did but you have to swear to keep it a secret and never let anyone have it because our project has yet to be released]
[Autumn Mist: Of course!]
Kazuya wasn't really worried about her plushie getting dissected because he planned to put a spell on the materials they would be installing on it. Everything except the plushie would be unidentifiable if soone were to open it so it really wasn't much of an issue.
[Autumn Mist: But… how am I going to send it to you when I don't even know where you are]
[Winter Fog: Have it sent to Void Android's office. He and Squid God will work on it]
[Squid God: ┗(•̀へ •́ ╮ ) ]
[Void Android: ( ͒˃⌂˂ ͒) ]
[Winter Fog: The two of you shouldn't have any problems with this since you've had your fun right? (⁎˃ᆺ˂) ]
The two grown n wanted to reject it because they currently had too much on their plates at the mont. Kazuya's acceleration of various technological projects has already forced the employees to fight over the beds available in the office already. This was a natural deterrent over those who were targeting their employees as well as a way of fighting back against their current opponents.
[Void Android: We'll take care of it boss]
[Squid God: I'll do my best to help…]
[Winter Fog: Good. Then be sure to send the information over to Autumn in a private chat]
[Autumn Mist: Huh!? Your office is in the sa prefecture as I am!?]
[Winter Fog: You live in H Prefecture?]
[Autumn Mist: Yeah! You guys too?]
Kazuya was a little shocked. All this ti, this person had lived so close to him. He always wanted to know more about this person in real life but she was always so airtight about her own details even towards him. She always claid that it would ruin their friendship so he never thought about asking more since he didn't want to lose the only few friends he had in his past life.
[Winter Fog: I told you not to reveal personal information too easily little girl]
[Autumn Mist: You're the little girl! （;>＿>) ]
Contrary to her version in his previous life, she was like a naïve girl who would tell him anything about her if he asked. This made Kazuya feel a bit awkward since he felt like he ssed up sothing that should have happened in her life. He was afraid that it was sothing very crucial for her but seeing her carefree made him think that whatever caused her to be so closed up in his previous life was avoided.
[Autumn Mist: Are you really that against eting ?]
[Winter Fog: I haven't even t these guys yet so what makes you think that?]
[Autumn Mist: Hmph! Who knows if you're telling the truth or not]
Though she knew that they worked together, she really didn't think much about it. She thought that he was ashad to et anyone because the company they were starting shouldn't be that impressive yet. She really didn't mind because everyone had to start sowhere right?
[Winter Fog: Let's stop here and go do dungeons before the next update. It's rare that we can gather up here like this so why don't we pick up another mber to make a party of five?]
[Autumn Mist: I haven't seen SumrBreeze in a while. I wonder if he's buried himself in books again]
[Winter Fog: Sumr won't be on for a while. He went traveling for the research he was doing]
[Autumn Mist: Really? He didn't tell anything]
[Winter Fog: Yeah. I was planning to ask him to join our group officially once he cos back]
SumrBreeze's autobiography ntioned that before he was successful, he ran away and traveled around the world. His main motivation after coming back was when he fell in love as he was traveling. Kazuya was initially afraid that their eting would have affected the future like it did with Autumn so he didn't really interfere much with SumrBreeze's affairs until he ca back after half a year of traveling.
With Void Android and SumrBreeze working together, Kazuya was confident that Kazuno Tech's rise to fa was inevitable. He had already had so relations with SumrBreeze so convincing a dedicated researcher and inventor like him with their current terms would only make him happier.
The inevitable clash with the cooperation of the Ringo Corporation and the Kurogane Conglorate would be a battle their competitors never expected. This was the main reason why Kazuya had chosen to accelerate the production of their technology. Soone like SumrBreeze wouldn't be able to resist the temptation since his research was the last piece of the puzzle that would propel the company to new heights.
Of course, there was still a possibility that SumrBreeze would refuse. If there was one thing that Kazuya understood is that humans were complicated creatures. The best he could do now was make the pie he was offering as mouth watering and attractive as he could. It would be over once soone takes a bite out of it.
[Autumn Mist: I want to travel around too…]
[Winter Fog: Then let's go and travel to the next dungeon]
[Autumn Mist: You insensitive idiot!]
While Kazuya was concentrating on the ga, Kyouko and i had their alone ti inside the training room. It was awkward at first since both of them fought over Kazuya who almost got suffocated when they first moved to the master bedroom. Kyouko was still feeling a bit jealous because of the enormous advantage her assistant had gotten by being part of her son's secret for the past few years. i on the other had had so trouble because she couldn't act as she wanted while her boss was now around.
"Kyouko"
"i"
Both of them chose to spoke at the sa ti. They both tried to let the other speak first but they did at simultaneously as well which made the atmosphere a little more awkward. Both of them were taking a break because despite i's lead, Kyouko's blood relation to Kazuya made itself clear since her talent with Mana was obviously not that far away from hers. Kazuya told them that it was Kyouko's natural advantage but she still had trouble accepting it.
"What did you want to say boss?" i addressed her like she did at work giving Kyouko no choice but to take the hint that as the boss, it was her that needed to speak her mind first.
"Are you two still hiding sothing from ?" Kyouko decided to ask.
"I see…" i giggled unexpectedly which dispelled the awkward atmosphere. "I actually wanted to discuss sothing with you that I wasn't able to tell you back then because of the circumstances. Now that Kazu has finally let the cat out the bag, it would be ti to co clean"
"What are you talking about?" she just asked the question for the sake of making sure. Kyouko didn't expect that there was still actually sothing else that she didn't know about.
"Do you rember the talk we had in the office about Kazu's dream?"
"You an about Kazu's dream? His fears?" Kyouko really didn't know why this was being brought up after so long so she felt a little worried. They never really thought about Kazuya's lost mories ever since they heard what he said in the video.
"Yeah that one" i looked a little nervous and looked at the closed trap door. The magic training room was sound proof but she still made sure that Kazuya was staying put. "I wasn't completely honest with you at that ti"
"What do you an?"
"I an… I didn't know what to tell you at the ti because it was when Kazuya told about a few things. He didn't know the things you were worried about and left it to to decide what to tell you so I only told you part of what he told at the ti" i confessed.
"What else didn't you tell then?" Kyouko had half of her attention towards the recovery exercise her son taught her but after hearing what i said, she completely turned towards her assistant.
"Well… Since you know about mana already, there was another reason why I thought Kazu was a ntal enhancent type. Even though Kazu is basically the one who taught us everything we know about mana right now, there are so theories I thought about when he first explained this to " i breathed in deeply. She was still nervous about telling Kyouko about this because Kazuya knew nothing about what she was thinking about.
"Your own thoughts? Why?"
"Because I believe that the dreams Kazu saw wasn't a dream but a premonition of the future. He didn't think much of it at first but when he tested it out, it proved to be really accurate" i saw the skeptical look on Kyouko's face and sighed. "I knew you wouldn't believe when I talked about it because I didn't even consider it possible until I blurted out my suspicions and Kazu affird them"
"He confird them? How?"
"By predicting sothing that was out of our control or knew nothing about"
"Like?" Kyouko tried to remain as calm as she could. She was aware of Kazuya's fears because of those dreams. i had abandoned her after she took care of him after she died. If this were true, then would she eventually have to leave her son to fend for himself?
"Like events, news, people. These were the confirmation that convinced that his dreams were a very accurate premonition. I thought he was the sa type as you because like the na implies, ntal enhancent types have abilities that don't seem like magic yet seem like it at the sa ti" i tried to explain as best as she could.
"Then that would an that I would…" Kyouko trembled.
"No. That will not happen now" i placed both her hands on Kyouko's shoulders and pressed on them.
"Kazu and I already took asures to ensure that would never happen. We believe that we already changed the future because…" i told Kyouko about the tragic story that Kazuya had told her.
Kyouko couldn't help but shed tears after hearing the story. She died and left him alone while Lee received all of the benefits and discarded him like a piece of garbage. The only salvation he had in his life got taken away from him and he was eventually left alone. Though Kyouko had a lot of questions, she couldn't help but shed tears of what her son had seen in his visions.
"My Kazuya…" though she still wasn't completely convinced, just hearing about what Kazuya saw in detail left her heartbroken. She now completely understood the hostility her son felt towards her father. Even though he didn't care much for Kou, he felt bitterness towards him because of what he saw in his vision. Where was her father?
"Don't beat yourself up over it. Kazu already changed the course of history the mont he first ca in contact with that scum Lee. Don't you rember what happened back then?" i reminded.
"That…" It was then that Kyouko rembered what happened. "Wait a minute… you said that he lived with you in his visions… was that the reason he knew so much about you?" Kyouko's question made her assistant give a dry laugh.
"That's what I thought as well. I don't know If Kazu realized it but it seems that all his mories were probably replaced by those visions. I'm not really sure if it was his awakening to mana that did it or Lee's beatings but Kazu seems to have spent a long ti in his visions and rembers most if not all of the details on it. This is why I'm sure that it really was a vision instead of a dream" i presented her analysis in hopes that Kyouko would realize sothing that she had been thinking about for a long ti.
"Things finally make sense" Kyouko said after she started recovering. Learning about mana as well as what i told her made her finally understand things that has been bothering her. There really was no use in going to doctors like i said because even Kazuya didn't seem to fully understand and was at the process of learning everything about mana.
If the existence of magic had been proven enough that they could do it themselves, then why couldn't she believe sothing like predicting the future? Kyouko may not completely trust these things and thought that she would one day wake up and realize that this was all a dream but she was sure about one thing, she trusted her own son.
Now that she learned everything that her son was doing was towards protecting her and i, how can she have any doubts towards him?
"Wait a minute…" Kyouko suddenly shuddered. She turned towards i who t her eyes. "You said that Kazuya rembers everything that happened in his vision in detail but how long…"
"What Kazu told only lasted until he left my apartnt. I don't know anything that happened much after that. He only said that after graduating middle school, he decided to leave Sacred Forest Academy"
"Then from the ti of the accident… he should have spent a couple of years as…" Kyouko looked at i awkwardly. She knew that they were thinking about the sa thing. This thought hadn't crossed their minds because though Kazuya seed mature, what made them unsure about this theory is that he never acted like soone who was supposed to be a high school student. At least not from what they could observe.
"I've mostly tried figuring it out with his reactions ever since I ca up with this theory. From what I can tell, Kazu being his current age prevents certain hormones from going wild but he definitely is not as ignorant when it cos to certain manners as we thought" i couldn't help but giggle. Just rembering his reactions put a smile on her face.
"You… You…" Kyouko trembled as she pointed a finger towards her assistant. "You pervert! Shota-con! How can you tease and test my Kazuya like that for years!"
"I didn't think It would really be like that so I had to be sure. I do sleep on the sa bed as him often after all" i explained. "Don't worry. Kazu is really good at trying to pretend not knowing anything but the sleeping version of him is another matter hehe"
-
In the Shiroyuki Dojo, a gathering was taking place. Training sessions for the classes ended early because of the gathering of old friends were supposed to take place today. The instructors had to help with everyone because the people that were coming today were people that are currently or were personalities that once stood amongst the best in today's business warzone.
These individuals either passed on their work to the next generation while they silently moved behind to watch over them or still actively dominate their field as their old rivals slowly get replaced by the new blood. Either way, these were very respectable individuals and they all were coming to et with old friends due to the return of the infamous Kouzuki Kou.
"Are you sure you want to do this old friend?" Jirou sighed as he drank tea with this troubleso friend of this. They oversaw the preparations and waited until it was ti for their old friends to arrive.
"Why wouldn't I? You know Jirou, I'm not one to show my sincerity through just words. I'm going to make that cocky grandson of mine accept with a bang!" Kou laughed as he tried to imagine the look on his grandson's face once he learns of the events that would take place today.
"Just don't make any sudden moves that will ss up his plans. I can tell that he only lets off what I need to know. Ruining the current plans he has will only let him hate you more than he already does" Jirou warned.
"What's there to hate? I'm already gathering allies for us" Kou tilted his head.
"That's the problem! Do you even know how much attention this eting has already gathered? I only allowed it because it fits your profile but do not make your grandson hate you even more you hear? This is a gathering and I'm warning you not to do anything reckless"
"Oh? Is old Kou planning sothing crazy again?" Komori arrived and sat to join the two.
"Old bat, this guy is going to help us with the company's business" Jirou regretfully inford him.
"What!? Why did you tell him? Even if it's his family that's involved, this guy would only make things worse" Jirou shared the sa opinion but he had to tell this friend of his because of what happened in the Kouzuki house.
Komori already t Kazuno i and was shocked that the illustrious assistant was capable of doing sothing like this while still maintaining her unmovable position in the Kouzuki Corporation. He was inford of the future alliance between the two companies which got the old man excited. He actually couldn't wait to see the Kurogane Corporation's reaction after the announcent that Kazuno Tech was actually a secret company owned by the most loyal employee of their nesis.
"I had no choice. This guy was kicked from his ho by his own grandson. He didn't even know what they have been through all this ti so I really couldn't bla the kid" Jirou retold the story of what happened and the two laughed at their old friend.
"Ahahahahaha! Serves you right!" Komori pointed as he tried to recover his breath. "That kid really does know how to talk" Komori continued laughing.
"You two…" Kou couldn't say anything because he really was soundly defeated by his grandson physically and verbally.
"So have you decided old friend? Are you going to get disowned by your own grandson or are you finally going to be a responsible person again?" Komori asked him in a mocking tone. The answer should have already been obvious but he still wanted to hear the words from this troubleso friend of theirs to make him feel even more embarrassed and maybe reflect on his actions.
"Hey! I only lost because I was caught off guard okay!" he reasoned out. "But as for my answer, I've decided to answer him with my actions. I'm going to help out with i-chan's company"
"Speaking of your grandson Old Kou, would you like to et my granddaughter? She's only a few years older than your grandson and she's extrely talented. My Aya is at the top of her year in Sacred Forest Middle school and is uncontested at the Kendo Tournant National tournant" Komori sneakily endorsed Aya.
"Huh? What's this? Why are you suddenly setting up my grandson with your granddaughter?" Kou was confused. Jirou was one thing because he was the person who originally got forced to accept his promise but Komori was one of the people that was relieved when Jirou drew the short end of the stick.
"Oh no you don't you old bat! The promise was made a long ti ago and even I planned to go through with it if the boy t all the conditions. It's too late for you to do anything now" Jirou stepped between the two of them and snorted.
"Komori knows my grandson as well?" Kou asked.
"They faced each other when the old bat's granddaughter was in the elentary division for kendo. She took a liking to your grandson after she felt his internal energy and she has been eying him ever since" Jirou reported.
"Hey it's not like that! my granddaughter said she felt sothing else that had little to do with internal energy" Komori didn't really know how to explain it. "You rember when you brought that old explorer you t the last ti you were here right Kou? He was the one that told my granddaughter that she would be able to feel and communicate with a destined person"
"That…" Kou was a little startled. He did rember that incident. "Your granddaughter already knew how to feel mana when she was that young?" Jirou was shocked.
i, Kyouko, Kazuya, Tomoyo and now Aya. There were suddenly people he knew that had an affinity to mana. While he was travelling around, they were rarely ever sensed by him. There were actually five of them in his own town and two of them were related to him.
"Yeah, I believe that's what you call it. So why don't you consider it okay?" Komori asked his friend. Aya didn't forget to remind him to ask since their gathering wasn't a secret.
"Would you stop that already!" Jirou was getting annoyed.
"Why? Are you forcing them just because of the promise? Weren't you the one who said that your granddaughter has to like him as well? What about the kid then? What if he likes my granddaughter more than yours?" Komori retorted.
"Ha! Fat chance! The two are inseparable enough as it is already. Why don't you just be like and let nature take its course" Jirou crossed his arms and looked at Komori confidently.
"Says the person who only got lucky that night"
"I didn't see you arguing about the results of that night. I accepted it because I planned to let the children be the ones to decide it. You should do the sa. If your granddaughter really likes the kid then she should not count on you to try and involve us adults in this"
"Enough you two" Kou sighed. He really couldn't believe it but things really have changed a lot. His old friends are now fighting over his own grandson.
From what he heard, his grandson truly was a capable person. For his friends to fight over him like this was sothing that was surprising though. He knew these friends of his were hard to please so them not having a problem with him and even trying to get on his good side was sothing new.
"What about you Old Kou? You didn't have a choice then but you have a choice now. Do you want to et my granddaughter before you decide?" Komori asked. Jirou and his granddaughter already had an overwhelming advantage since they were in the sa grade and even the sa class. He wanted to at least give Aya more of a fighting chance before the kid had co to his senses and started awakening towards love and such emotions.
"I'll think about it. For now, it looks like our old friends have started arriving"
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