.
Kazuya returned to school the next day after a day's rest. He had already recovered and it was already close to the exams before summer vacation but there were quite a number of people concerned since Kazuya rarely ever took a day off.
"Thank you for everyone's concern but I'm fine" he said politely while smiling to everyone.
Contrary to Kurumi's expectations of having something to start a conversation with him, the classmates from class B immediately surrounded Kazuya as soon as he entered the classroom. This was already secondary to all kinds of students who approached him as soon as he entered the school. He already answered the question she was hoping to ask so she lost the opportunity to approach him.
"(Is he really fine?)" Kurumi wondered.
She had observed him for a long time and started to have these weird sensations whenever Kazuya's emotions would fluctuate. From what she could tell, he was not in a pleasant mood so she refrained from annoying him by her approach.
Little did she know that her feeling was quite accurate as Kazuya was indeed in a foul mood. This was primarily caused by his grandfather and his sudden intervention after learning a few things from Shiroyuki Jirou.
Kou immediately solved their lack of manpower and even provided numerous people that made their security company a real force to be reckoned with. There were already quite the number of trainees who signed contracts as well as active personnel that kept Kazuno Tech and their employees safe.
This was good for the security company because they even had a few known companies ask for their services but this was not the reason Kazuno Tech existed. It was merely a security company on the outside, it's real purpose was to be a force that was for both Mei and Kyouko's companies. Kou's move had attracted unwanted attention to the security company and Kazuya expected their enemies to look into them instead.
If that wasn't bad enough, Kou even assigned a couple of people to Kazuya and Kyouko. This severely limited the number of ways Kazuya thought of dealing with the two who were already planning on dealing with him. Though Sacred Forest Academy didn't allow any personal security to enter the school, that didn't mean that the people Kou assigned would not wait for him outside.
Kazuya really couldn't blame his mother for informing Kou of Kurogane Shishio's probable visit to their home. She even told him of his approach because Kou was the one who waged war on the Kurogane family because of her. To Kyouko, her father was her biggest supporter against the Kurogane family as long as Kazuya was still a boy, even though he wielded such abilities.
*tug tug*
"Hmm?" Kazuya turned to Tomoyo who was sitting by his side. "What is it?"
Tomoyo handed him a piece of paper. It was the schedule for this summer's training camp for the Kendo Club. She wanted to ask him if he was participating but Kazuya never really attended one because he would rather train alone or with Jirou during vacation days.
"I can't. I'll be busy over the summer since that old man came back home bringing all sorts of trouble" he sighed. "Has he been a good guest in your place?"
*nod*
"Have you been slacking off with your training since I haven't been around lately?"
*shake shake*
"Really?"
*nod*
"Good. I'm looking forward to seeing how much you've improved once I'm done with the business I'm dealing with" Kazuya patted her head. He could feel the steady increase in her mana so he knew she was working hard. This girl always lived up to his expectations and rarely disappointed him. The only problem he had with this robot girl was the slow progress of her using her own voice compared to the increasing growth of her mana.
Classes were about to start as the chimes started sounding but Takaya made it into the classroom in the nick of time. He had an excited face and immediately approached Kazuya who already started reading one of the books he borrowed from the library today.
"Huh?" he stopped to think after reading the title on the book. "You sure do have weird and random tastes in whatever you read" he commented. 'H prefecture local architectural designs' was the title of the book and it included buildings such as the Aoki theatre group's academy and theatre.
"What's with that annoyingly happy face you're wearing?" Kazuya wasn't looking at him but he saw this annoying guy's face from his peripheral vision from when he entered the classroom.
"I've finalized the—"
*Slide* Miyamoto entered the room to begin class so Takaya's momentum was cut short. Kazuya smirked at him because he intended for this guy's exciting news to be cut short.
"I'll definitely get you back for that" Takaya sat down looking a bit annoyed. He was a little concerned for this friend of his since his visit to the hospital wasn't a secret but since he didn't seem any different from usual, Takaya had no reason to worry about this sadistic friend of his.
-
At the large mansion and current headquarters of the Kurogane family, a suave looking gentleman that resembled Kazuya sat in a table along with other family members of the Kurogane family. He had just returned to the country after a successful endeavor overseas that lasted for a few years.
Kurogane Tenma, the illustrious head of the Kurogane family sat at the head of the table. He looked at the two most likely candidates to succeed him.
"Good work Shishio" Tenma praised his son without changing the neutral expression on his face. "Your success should be rewarded but you also caused the current predicament of our family"
"Father! Wasn't Shishio also responsible for bringing our two families together?" Nagisa tried to interject only to be met with condescending stares from the others.
"Are you really thinking this through, sister-in-law?" Shishio's brother and closest competition to the fight for the family head's seat spoke. "If it were not for Shishio's failed attempt to fool the now famous Kouzuki Kyouko, would we have to wage war against that madman Kouzuki Kou?" this man was Shishio's elder brother; Kurogane Sousuke.
"What Sousuke said is correct. Had Shishio handled his attempt to take over the Kouzuki Corporation from the inside well, we would not have had a troublesome enemy to deal with" Tenma commented.
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"Not only that, you even took in such a worthless kid from your wife's extended family. Do you know how much that kid cost us?" Sousuke took advantage of the situation to pour more salt in his brother's wounds. "He took more than he can handle and self-destructed."
"What about you then elder brother? What have you done?" Shishio ignored his comments and turned to look smugly at his own brother. "Not only have you returned early after failing miserably overseas but you also failed to defend against the attacks of the woman I left behind without the help of her father? You dare speak of my failures when you yourself don't have anything to brag about?" Shishio retorted mercilessly.
"You…" Sousuke was irritated. Not even their father could have defended against the combined forces of the Kouzuki corporation and Stockton International but he couldn't say that out loud or he might incur the displeasure of Kurogane Tenma.
"Besides, that trash Lee may have self-destructed but he didn't completely fail his purpose" Shishio grinned.
"Oh?" Tenma raised an eyebrow. "You must be thinking of the boy as well"
"Yes father. Lee was originally sent to the Kouzuki corporation to make use of Kouzuki Kazuya in the future. From what we've learned from him, that boy is an exceptional child like his father" he shamelessly praised himself.
"That is indeed true" Tenma of course had already looked into Kazuya's achievements. He couldn't deny that the boy was indeed a person who was worthy of bearing their name even though he was an illegitimate child. "Can you make use of him though?" he asked.
"From what I know about him, it would be in his best interest to go to our side. That way, not only will we get control of the Kouzuki Corporation without a fight in the future, we will also gain the allegiance of Stockton International if we betroth him to their princess" he smirked and revealed his plan with confidence.
"That plan indeed sounds plausible. How confident are you in making it work?" Tenma looked favorably upon this plan because of the benefits it will bring them in the future.
"I dare not say I have a 100% certainty" Shishio took a step back. "But I will know as soon as I meet with both the boy and Kouzuki Kyouko"
"Tread carefully Shihio. Kouzuki Kou has returned recently and we can't afford another war with them before we officially become family with the Muimina family" Tenma warned.
"I understand father. This plan would require a bit of time anyway" he turned towards his elder brother. "I don't think I need to remind you of the rules of our family right?" Shishio grinned. Now that his plan was out in the open, he was protected by the family's rule of no interference. This was similar to the Kouzuki clan's unbreakable promise but only applied within the members of the Kurogane family and their associates. Anyone who would interfere with plans that involved their family's prosperity would be severely punished or worse, banished.
"You should talk to your own wife" Sousuke retorted. "You dare bring your illegitimate son into the fray without siring a legitimate one with your official wife" he couldn't do anything to his younger brother's plans but he could sow discord at this moment.
Nagisa who remained quiet frowned. She didn't plan on showing her displeasure or disapproval to this plan while Tenma was around. Now that Sousuke pointed it out, how could she remain unaffected? This had to do with her own status after all. Kouzuki Kyouko was a person she hated and this includes the son that was sired by her own husband. What would her place be if he was brought into the family?
"(I'm not going to allow that bitch Kyouko's offspring to have a better standing than me or my future children)" Nagisa thought as she held back her anger towards Sousuke's words.
-
Unaware of the brewing plot towards him, Kazuya had lunch together with Tomoyo and Takaya. He could sense Kurumi who was a lot farther than she used to be so he ignored her since he really wasn't in the mood to deal with the troublesome girl.
"Read this" Takaya handed over a thick bunch of papers to Kazuya.
"A script?" Kazuya flipped through the pages. He wasn't unfamiliar with scripts since he did take classes in Takaya's theatre group after all.
"Mom and Dad were really excited after I told them that I got you to agree to a small part. They helped a lot in finding the perfect one for you" this was what he was dying to tell him when he arrived in the morning.
*GRAB* Kazuya grabbed his friend's uniform over his chest. Takaya already expected such a reaction from him because of the bold letters written on top of the script.
[Script for Character: Princess Yazuka]
"Looks like you're really looking to die" Kazuya raised him up in the air.
"You o-owe me… right? For saving the S-stockton girls" Takaya nervously reasoned with him as he was lifted into the air.
"Tsk…" Kazuya clicked his tongue. As he saw the script, his role was small and only required a few words. What he needed to do more was the expressions on his face because the character's communication heavily relied on facial expressions. Kazuya couldn't help but look at the girl who had gotten used to their banter that she peacefully ate as the two boys bickered.
"You still have time to study the role. It will begin this summer so you have time to learn the role" Takaya tried to straighten himself up nervously.
"Did I say that I accepted?" Kazuya wasn't convinced. "This role is for a TV production. I told you that I would do a small part but this…" he frowned and looked at Takaya with an annoyed face.
"Think about it for a second" he tried to reason. "You know that our group travels around to perform in various parts of the country. I know you would refuse such a role so I told my parents to get you one that will let you stay here"
"Does it have to be a television production though?"
"That's just how much my parents look up to your talent. They thought that a small part in a local play wouldn't do you any justice. I also know that you're quite busy so this is the best I can do with your time conditions. Rather than a long and continuous production, you just have to act in front of the camera and you'd be done"
"I get what you're saying but" a hint of killing intent emitted from him. "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE A GIRL ROLE!?"
.