Reiki tried to reach for the bag of potato chips Kiru took from him as she moved the bag closer to her. He said. “You’re going to starve a kid, for not answering your question.” Kiru glanced at all the stack of neatly folded potato chips along with the large mug filled with root beer, she said. “I fed you somewhere between twelve to thirteen thousand calories. If you were normal, the only way to burn those off in a day is to exercise for nineteen hours.” Kiru lightly shook the bag of potato chips to tempt him.
She said. “Don’t forget, we’re having dragon meat for dinner.” Reiki used one hand to pick up the large mug by the handle, he said. “... How many kilograms of meat are you going to give me?” The corner of Kiru’s lips curled into a slight smile, she said. “I didn’t ask for much, so Asami only gave me thirty kilo-.” She was interrupted by Reiki’s stomach which let out a loud growling sound. Kiru gave him an odd look and thought. … Was… Was that his stomach?... Reiki suddenly tried to steal the bag from Kiru’s hands which vanished.
Kiru's lips formed into a taunting smirk as the rest of the bags of potato chips on the coffee started disappearing one by one. She snapped her fingers as the mug Reiki was holding onto faded, he let out a sigh and said. “Really? The drink too?” Kiru let out a chuckle and said. “The only way you get to eat or drink in my house is the moment you answer all of my questions.” Reiki stared at her as the sound of the show on TV filled the room, he said. “I want twenty kilograms of-.” Kiru let out a laugh as she gave him a couple of pats on top of his head.
Kiru wiped the corner of her eye and said. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard a joke that made me laugh…” She let out one long exhale, Kiru continued. “The answer is no.” Reiki shrugged his shoulders, he made himself comfortable on the couch and said. “Ok, I helped Asami and Arashi by giving them a method to eat six hundred grams of-.” Kiru let out a scoff, she said. “You are lying.” Reiki leaned on the backrest of the couch and crossed his arms.
He said. “You’re close with Asami, right? Give her a text and see what she says.” Reiki gave her a mysterious smile while Kiru’s gaze narrowed slightly. She thought. … Making sure won’t hurt… Kiru took out a smartphone from her pocket as she turned it on and quickly started typing on it. A door was barely opened as Kanzei was staring at them from the kitchen, he thought. Good… Reiki’s annoying her, if I make some of Ojou-sama’s favorite food she’ll forget about me spilling she doesn’t have an affinity with any element with him. He slowly closed the door shut while Kiru tapped the button on the side which turned the screen of her phone off.
She thought. … Shit... He was telling the truth… With a wave of Kiru’s hand, an opened bag of potato chips appeared in her palm as she passed it to Reiki. Kiru said. “I’m open for a bit of negotiating.” Reiki took the bag of potato chips off her hands, he said. “I want twenty-five kilograms of meat.” Kiru’s left hand blurred as she stole a handful of potato chips from the bag, she said. “Five kilograms and I’ll return your mug of root beer.”
Kiru ate the chips one by one using her other hand while Reiki gulped down a mouthful of chips and said. “Small bit of information, I was the one who told the other two how many grams they could safely consume daily.” Kiru ate a piece of chip, she thought. … Why didn’t that bitch tell me that?! She took out her phone and quickly tapped on it while Reiki quickly emptied the entire bag. Kiru sent a text and waited for Asami to reply while Reiki stared at the empty bag as he let out a sigh and started to fold it.
Kiru read the text as she let out a sigh and pocketed her phone, she said. “... How am I supposed to know that Asami isn’t in on this?…” Reiki placed the neatly folded potato chip bag on the coffee table and said. “You think she’d play along with my antics?” Kiru moved her gaze to the TV while Reiki stared at her pockets. She said. “I could always ask Asami for the method herself.” Reiki kept his gaze on her pocket, he said. “If she would’ve told you, then how come it wasn’t the first thing you texted?” Kiru kept a straight expression, she thought. Shit, I shouldn’t have acted on reflex.
Reiki looked up at her and continued. “Can I at least have my mug of root beer back? I only drank one-third of it.” Kiru turned her head to look at him as she placed her hand inside her pocket and passed him a large mug of root beer. She said. “Here.” She thought. I hope it goes down the wrong pipe.
________________________________________________________________________________
Luxurious Kitchen
~Ten Minutes Later~
Kanzei placed something in his pocket, he let out one long exhale and thought. I made a few of Ojou-sama's favorite sweets. He made his way to the door, opened it, and saw Kiru in a sour mood while repeatedly tapping on the armrest of the couch with her index finger. Kanzei closed the door, he thought. … What happened?... He casually made his way to the couch, before he could even stand behind the couch Kiru said. “Kanzei, is my snack platter ready?” Kanzei made his way near the coffee table, he snapped his fingers as one tall cloche appeared on the coffee table.
Kanzei took the cloche off and said. “... I prepared some eclairs, cannoli, and some croissants filled with chocolate…” The desserts were neatly arranged on a three-tiered stand Reiki stared at the layered stand and thought. Those cannolis look good. Kiru stared at the desserts for a moment while the cloche Kanzei was holding vanished. Kiru moved her gaze onto Kanzei and said. “Kanzei, I said snack platter.” Kanzei cleared his throat and said. “I am aware, Ojou-sama. I just thought… You’d want something sweet from dealing with Reiki’s antics?...” Reiki reached his hand out for a cannoli, he said. “Hey, don’t blame me for confirming she has no affinity for-.”
Before he could finish his sentence Kiru slapped his hand for trying to take one of her desserts.
[System: User has received 10 Damage.]
Reiki quickly pulled his arm back as the back of his hand had a visible red outline of Kiru’s slap. He said. “That was uncalled for.” Kiru let out a sigh and said. “Thank you for preparing this Kanzei… I’m going to need it if I want to bear with him.” She grabbed an eclair and used it to point at him, Kiru continued. “We’ll have our talk about you indirectly giving Reiki hints about my affinity.” Reiki downed the rest of the root beer as he passed the empty mug to Kanzei, he said. “Kanzei, here you go.”
The smile on Kanzei’s face turned slightly stiff. He took the mug off Reiki’s hands and said. “... Yes, Ojou-sama…” He put the large mug in his pocket, took out a teacup along with a matching coaster, and placed it on the coffee table. Kiru took a bite of the eclair she was holding while Kanzei took out a teapot and poured some into the teacup. He said. “I brewed some earl grey to balance the sweetness.” Kanzei stopped pouring as the teapot was enveloped in a thin layer of mana as it vanished, he made his way around the couch and stood behind it.
Kiru picked up the cup of tea by the handle and gently blew on it a couple of times. She took a sip of it and let out a long exhale, Kiru said. “Kanzei… From the thirty kilos of dragon meat Asami gave us… Set aside twenty and make sure to give it to him before he leaves…” Kanzei’s expression turned odd, he said. “... Ojou-sama, did you mean grams?” Kiru shook her head sideways and said. “Nope, you heard correctly. Twenty kilos of meat…” She took a small whiff of her tea while Reiki looked up at Kanzei. Reiki said. “I’ll be sure to remind you before I take my leave, Kanzei.”
Kiru took another bite of her eclair while Kanzei moved his gaze onto Reiki. Kanzei said. “... Reiki, have you ever had dragon meat before? Do you even have any utensils to use along with it?” Reiki nodded and glanced at the show on TV, he said. “I made a deal with Asami which she gave me. Arashi demanded that I share with her, leaving me with eight point eight kilos.” Kanzei’s eyes widened as Kiru almost coughed while she was in the middle of chewing.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Kiru took a sip of her tea and said. “If you still have that much meat on you, why are you demanding twenty kilos from me?!” Without missing a beat Reiki said. “Cause I already ate it all.” Kiru was surprised by what Reiki said while Kanzei stared at him with disbelief all over his face. Kiru placed her cup of tea on the coffee table as Reiki was being stared at by both of them. He said. “What?” Kiru’s hand blurred as she plucked off a few strands of hair from him. Reiki reflexively placed a hand on his head, he said. “And that was for?”
Kiru passed the strands of hair to Kanzei who took out a ziplock bag as he placed the hair inside of it. Kanzei closed the ziplock as he placed it inside his suit breast pocket. Reiki spread his arms and said. “What’s with taking samples against my will?” Kiru stared at him with a peculiar gaze, she said. “... Reiki, have you ever done a blood test before?” Reiki used his right hand to point at her, he said. “If either of you take out a gigantic syringe to get a blood sample from me. I’m going to scream bloody murder and sue both of you.”
Kanzei’s mouth curled into a slight smirk, he covered his mouth using his hand and said. “Pardon me.” His upper body slightly trembled from laughter while Kiru picked up her cup of tea by the handle, she said. “We don’t use syringes anymore.” Reiki’s brows furrowed, he said. “Then what do you use?” Kiru took out a small thin metal needle that was roughly three inches long and used it to stab Reiki’s forearm just deep enough for it to bleed.
[System: User has received 17 Damage.]
Reiki held his hand out and said. “Just for that, I demand all the potato chips you stole from me returned.” Kiru watched the tip of the needle slowly turn into a bright crimson red as it started to replace the metallic color. Kanzei's laughter slowly died down while Reiki looked up to him and said. “Kanzei, what did she just use on me?” Kanzei kept glancing at the needle Kiru was holding in between her thumb and index finger. Kanzei said. “That is a purity needle, it’s used to see if you have mixed blood.”
The needle Kiru was holding was completely crimson red, she held it below the light as the needle turned translucent. The light shined through the needle as it glowed a clear bright red, Kiru thought. He’s supposed to be a pure-blood human?... She passed the red needle to Kanzei and said. “Kanzei, make sure to keep this needle safe… I need to do a few tests on it…” Kanzei took the needle off her hands, he said. “Yes, Ojou-sama.” He placed the needle below the light and saw that it was clear of any impurities. Kanzei gave Reiki an odd look and said. “Reiki, who are your parents?”
Reiki leaned on the backrest of the couch, he said. “My deadbeat father left me and my sisters with crippling debt. Mom on the other hand ran away when things started going south.” Kiru picked up a croissant from the tiered stand, she said. “Aren’t you being too harsh on them? Despite the… Unfortunate outcome they still raised you.” Reiki let out a cold chuckle, he said. “If either of your parents left you with crippling debt while the other one decided to flee. Tell me how you feel then, not when you two have a complete set of diamond-crusted utensils in your back pocket.”
Kanzei raised a brow at him and thought. … I thought Japan wasn’t the type to be so… ‘outspoken’... He's the first one I met who’s willing to say what’s on his mind. Kiru took a bite of her croissant as she stared at him, she thought. Whenever he talks like that, it makes me question if he's even Japanese in the first place. Kiru gulped and took a sip of her tea, she said. “Fair enough, we don’t know how you feel since it’s a situation… Kanzei and I have no experience with.” Reiki thought. No shit… It Doesn't matter if it's this world or the old one, if you’re rich, life is easy.
Kiru took a sip of her earl grey, she let out a soft exhale and said. “Moving on, you’ve scammed me for some dragon meat. How much can we safely consume daily?” Reiki held out his hand and said. “I want my chips back first.” Kiru rolled her eyes at him as she placed her cup of tea on the coffee table and snapped her fingers. Reiki thought. Ender. Near Reiki’s side of the coffee table, large bags of potato chips appeared as he picked one up and opened it. He heard Ender’s voice in his head, he said. [A thousand for the girl, three hundred for the butler.]
Reiki placed his hand inside the bag and said. “Since I already explained how to swirl your mana, I’ll leave it to you to pass the method to Kanzei.” Kiru glanced at him from the corner of her eye, she said. “Stop stalling.” She picked up her cup of tea while Reiki took out a handful of chips from the bag, he said. “Three hundred for Kanzei and you have the capacity to eat an entire kilo in a day.” Reiki shoved the chips in his mouth, he thought. Ender, is that considered high or low?
Kiru’s eyes widened in surprise as she spoke in a whisper, she said. “... A thousand grams… Four hundred more compared to those two…” Ender’s voice rang in Reiki’s head. Ender said. [It’s hard to judge since everything related to magic here is nonexistent… You can consider anything below six hundred to be sub-par.] Reiki shoved more potato chips into his mouth, he turned his head to look at Kanzei who was watching TV. He thought. Kanzei’s supposed to be sub-par? Reiki focused as he tried to gather mana into his eyes as Ender broke his concentration. He said. [Do you want a repeat of your hand imploding?]
The faint light blue glow In Reiki’s eyes quickly vanished as he glanced at his left hand and stared at it. He thought. … I’ll pass… Reiki pointed at Kiru who was watching TV with her lips curled into a smug smile, he said. “Kanzei… Is she going to be okay?” Kanzei nodded and said. “She’ll be fine, Ojou-sama is planning on how to gloat this fact to Asami and Arashi.” Reiki finished another bag of chips as he neatly folded it and placed it on the coffee table.
He stood up from the couch, took out a tattered pouch from his pocket, and started putting all the potato chips into it. Reiki said. “Kanzei, can you give me my share of dragon meat? I have a few things to prepare for dinner.” The smug smile on Kiru’s face vanished, she faked a cough and said. “You can leave when you tell me what you were talking about with Kanzei.”
Reiki placed his pouch into his pocket and quickly emptied the bag of chips he was holding, he said. “What was-.” He stopped mid-sentence, neatly folded the empty bag of chips, and placed it on the coffee table. Reiki continued. “Oh, it was about you focusing on control to make up for your lack of power.” Kiru took a bite of the croissant she was holding as she gave him a nod. Reiki turned his head to look at Kanzei standing behind the couch watching TV. Kanzie said. “I won’t hand over the dragon meat until Ojou-sama gives me the order.”
Reiki took out his pouch from his pocket and grabbed another bag from the inside. He placed the pouch back in his pocket and said. “I’ll be nice and settle for something of equal value.” Reiki opened the bag of chips while Kiru placed the croissant onto the tiered stand next to the half-eaten eclair, she said. “... How much do you want?” Reiki grabbed a handful of chips in the bag, he said. “Not much, I want all the money in the world.”
Kiru took a sip of her tea and said. “You think it’s worth that much?” Reiki shoved potato chips in his mouth as he shrugged his shoulders. He gulped down a mouthful of food and said. “Then find someone else who has a solution to your problem.” Reiki ate more chips as Kanzei watched TV while listening to their conversation. Kanzei thought. … It's a high price but… I doubt anyone else can help… The sound of the room was filled by the show on TV while Reiki had a lazy look on his face as he stared at Kiru.
Reiki finished the bag as he glanced at the inside and thought. Empty again… Ender, can we give her a hint? He neatly folded the bag, sat back down on the couch, and placed it on the coffee table. Kiru stared at her reflection on the surface of the tea, she said. “... What do you think is something of equal value?” Reiki was holding onto his tattered pouch as he took out another bag of potato chips, he placed the pouch on his thigh and said. “Honestly, I would only tell you if you were willing to hand over the entire institute.”
Kanzei’s pupils faintly glowed as a few arms made out of mana started to grow behind his back. Kiru raised her hand as the hands behind his back started to dissipate, she said. “... I don’t have the authority to grant requests that big…” Reiki heard Ender’s voice in his head. Ender said. [Sure, but remember. Word for word.] Reiki thought. I’m genuinely surprised by how cooperative you are. He opened the bag of chips and said. “I know, I said it just to annoy you.” He shoved a handful of chips in his mouth while Kiru tried her best to maintain her cool.
Kanzei placed a hand on his head, he thought. Now I know why her mood was like that when I came out of the kitchen. Reiki swallowed a mouthful of food and said. “I don’t care what reason why people from the mainland are here. Training, tradition, experience. All of them had one thing in common… Not a single one had any say over their clan. Not even you.” Kiru took another sip of her tea and said. “I doubt you’d settle for an empty promise.”
Reiki emptied another bag of chips, neatly folded it, and placed it on the coffee table. He said. “Nope, which is why I settled for this. I give you a hint and let’s say you owe me a big favor.” Kiru’s eyes narrowed, she watched him from the corner of her eye as Reiki took out another bag of potato chips from the pouch. Kiru said. “I can understand the favor, but does the hint you’re going to give me warrant it’s tall order?” Reiki opened the bag of chips, he said. “No, the hint alone wouldn’t be enough.”
Kanzei placed both his hands behind his back, he said. “Are you asking with the hopes Ojou-sama will agree or do you have something up your sleeve?” With one of his hands inside the bag of chips, Reiki said. “You're correct, Kanzei. That plasma ball you two took is part of the hint.” His mouth curled into a smile as he shoved chips into his mouth. Kiru gently swirled the earl grey in her cup, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye and said. “Deal.” Reiki gulped down a mouthful of chips and said. “You won’t learn anything from the plasma ball itself, study its structure.”
Kiru’s brows furrowed, she thought. … Structure?... Reiki stood up from the couch, emptied the bag of chips, and swallowed. He said. “I’ll take my share of meat and get out of your hair.”