.
Meanwhile at the Kouzuki Corporation's headquarters.
"..er … Mei!" Kyouko called out to her dazed assistant after just entering her office.
"Huh? Kyouko? What are you doing here?" Still a bit out of it she tilted her head and asked.
"This is unusual even for you. You're usually on guard at all times here in the company"
"Yeah… that's why I'm in your office I guess" Mei sighed and looked out the window.
"You guess? What's wrong with you? Are you sick?" Kyouko put a palm on her forehead and felt Mei's temperature.
"No… I just feel a little weak for some reason"
"Weak? Oh! It must be 'that' time of—"
"Hell no!" she snapped back before her boss could finish her sentence. "I don't know what's wrong, but I feel a little off. Anyway, why are you here so late?" she changed the topic.
"What are you talking about? Today is my Kazuya's first day at Sacred Forest Academy so I drove him there"
"I see… wait a minute… That's it!" Mei smiled after coming to a realization.
"What are you talking about?" Kyouko felt that she would regret asking but she did anyway.
"I know why I'm feeling a little off! It's energy!"
"Did you not eat breakfast?"
"I'm talking about my Kazu energy! I haven't seen or hugged him since I had dinner at your place last Friday. I need my Kazu to feel whole again!"
"…" Kyouko ignored her and sat on her chair.
"Why didn't I realize this before? What about my poor Kazu… I bet he misses his big sis like crazy. Forgive your big sis Kazu, she's been working as fast as she could so that she'll be able to live with you. I should go to him now so he doesn't have to be sad" Kyouko's face turned grim after listening to Mei's ramblings. She's been getting worse and worse ever since Kazuya called her his big sis.
"Stop right there!" she shouted. "I won't allow you to ruin his first day at school" Kyouko moved towards the door and prevented her crazy assistant from leaving. She was afraid that she might actually do it.
"But I need to recharge on my Kazu energy!" Mei pouted.
"Shut up. I'll fire you if you dare go to him. How are your moving preparations?" Kyouko quickly decided to change the subject before this assistant of hers got any more ideas.
"I've finished settling things with my landlady. She was nice enough not to demand extra charges since it was a sudden decision"
"Well you have been staying there for a while. What about packing? I've been to your place and…" Kyouko's voice trailed off. They both knew that she meant the questionable state Mei's apartment normally was.
"Don't say it! I know…" She was ashamed of her own room but never really did anything about it because she lived alone. "I've already bought boxes and stuff I need for packing. I've given away all the stuff I won't be bringing along but doing that already took up most of my weekend" Mei sighed.
"How much time do you have till you move out?"
"I still have until the end of the week"
"Just tell me if you need a few days off. Kazuya helped me a bit yesterday so I ended up getting a lot of work done. Plus, he even showed me how to do it much faster. My Kazuya worries and cares a lot about his mother after all" Kyouko gave a triumphant smile.
"Don't brag! Uuuu…" her shoulders slumped. "I miss my Kazu… Are you going to pick him up later?"
"Unfortunately for you, No. He said he's going to join the Kendo club and since he was interested, I introduced him to grandpa Jirou. He'll be going to their dojo after school so I don't have to leave you here to pick him up"
"Why is he going through all the trouble?"
"He's interested in Kazuya's skills after we went to visit during the weekend. Kazuya is just hitching a ride since grandpa Jirou has a relative he usually picks up from the academy"
"I wonder how my Kazu's first day is going…" She felt weird, it was true that she did feel a little off but after hearing about Kazuya, a thought that her weird feeling only started after being apart from him for a few days. "Wait! Is Shoroyuki-san's relative a girl?" Kyouko didn't feel like answering this question and acted like she didn't hear a thing and continued doing her work.
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Back at Sacred Forest Academy Class 2-B;
"Alright that would be enough questions for now. You can get to know your new classmate during break times" Miyamoto stopped all the incoming questions after Kazuya finished answering a few.
Kazuya stood in front of his new classmates and answered all their question while dodging the gaze of the girl who couldn't even ask him one. Classrooms in the academy were mostly made up of raked classrooms with curved desks so him failing to notice her was understandable.
"(it's a good thing that she still doesn't choose to speak at this point)" he felt a little relief.
"Alright then Kouzuki-kun. you may pick one of the empty seats and claim it as your own" these were the words he had been waiting for since he had taken note of all the empty seats as soon as he entered.
Kazuya picked a seat in the 3rd row near the wall on the left side. It was unoccupied and had a quiet seatmate who were one of the people didn't pester him with questions. He walked towards it but before he could sit, his path was blocked by none other than the ponytailed girl who he had been ignoring all this time. She used her hand and immediately reached towards him.
"!!" Kazuya recalled when they first met and instinctively moved his hand to block her attempt to grab his collar.
But to his surprise, she grabbed the other hand that held his bag and immediately pulled him farther up the classroom. He was still flabbergasted at his failure to defend against this robot girl. He silently watched the long grey ponytail swing back left and right as he got pulled by her. Tomoyo then stopped and seated him in the seat she had been occupying before. She sat down the one beside it.
"(This boy truly is intriguing)" Miyamoto was amused and silently watched on as the girl who had never shown interest in anything force the transfer student into sitting beside her.
Kazuya of course was displeased by this sudden development and cursed himself before standing up to move towards another seat only to be stopped by the determined expression of Tomoyo. He really didn't want to force his way around her so he opted to go for the peaceful route and turned towards their homeroom teacher.
"Sensei, you said I could freely choose my seat correct?"
"That is correct but since you and Shiroyuki-san are going to be teammates in the kendo club, I am in favor of her decision this time. The two of you should get along for the team's sake. I'll be starting class now so both of you please take your seats'" he didn't think it would come so soon but this was a lesson that he may need to learn.
"Tsk…" Kazuya clicked his tongue after seeing the amused smile on Miyamoto's face.
Miyamoto wanted him to yield. He may have taken down Ono-sensei with reason but there were some people that were impervious to reasoning no matter how much you're in the right. One example was Tomoyo who was acting out of her own desires without regard of the consequences. He was bound to get himself in trouble because of that tongue of his so it would be better for him to learn this before he got himself into real trouble.
"Alright then let's begin class"
Kazuya lost interest as soon as he heard what the lecture was about. He had fantasies about reliving his childhood again and wondered what it would be like to learn all the basics again but who would have thought that his first time experiencing it would be under the circumstance that he had watched his past life over multiple times to the point that whatever knowledge he learned had been engraved into his soul.
Classes went by normally except for one small detail. Kazuya was under the silent attacks of stares from his right side. Since his senses were extremely sensitive, he couldn't help but frown whenever Tomoyo would stare at him. He was only saved by his own teacher during break time and was taken into a consultation room.
He changed his opinion about this man. He looked average but he was very observant and attentive. Kazuya's impression of him improved and thought about his approach to things. Miyamoto explained that there were some things that couldn't be solved with reason. This was especially true when it involved people. Kazuya thought about changing his own approach to things since he was currently seen as just a child.
Finally, school was over. Tomoyo wasted no time and grabbed Kazuya's hand and led him to the kendo club. This time he didn't mind because he didn't know the way and thought about what his teacher reminded him off. He figured it was better to let her do as she pleased until he found a way to get through to this weird girl.
"Good, you've brought him" Miyamoto who was already wearing his kendo uniform greeted the two as they entered the dojo.
The other club members immediately looked at Kazuya curiously. They had never seen Tomoyo even talk to someone yet here she was holding someone's hand. Much like her peers in the Shiroyuki dojo, she was respected through her skill and they thought that her temperament was reasonable because she was untouchable when it came to kendo.
"(This girl…)" Kazuya was flabbergasted as she took out a pair of swords and handed him one. "(does she really want to hit me that much? What did I ever do wrong?)" he wondered as Tomoyo's eagerness in getting him to face her in a Kendo much hasn't changed from his previous life.
"Shiroyuki-san. You are still in your uniform and he still doesn't have the right gear to spar" Miyamoto reminded her.
Tomoyo looked at her current attire and realized that their teacher was right. She seemed to have remembered something and pulled Kazuya towards the changing room. This time however, he shook off her hand.
"I don't know what you're thinking but do you honestly think that I'll follow you to the girls' locker room?" Kazuya's patience was wearing thin. If she forced him to enter the girls changing room, he swore he would give this girl a lesson.
"…" she still said nothing but her gaze told him that she understood. She walked into the changing room but stepped out almost immediately to hand him a large bag. She untied it and it revealed a kendo uniform that had 'Kouzuki' engraved on it.
"This is mine?"
*nod*
"Did grandpa Jirou have this made?"
*nod*
"I see. I'll have to thank him later then" She looked at him for a few seconds before entering the changing room again.
He had planned on asking Jirou about good places where he could get the right equipment, but it seemed like he had already procured some for him. He knew what he was up to especially by looking at the signature logo of their dojo printed on his uniform. Kazuya didn't mind since he didn't have anything to use at the moment.
"Hey kid are you a new recruit?" Kazuya was immediately questioned by one of the older members once he exited the changing area.
"I am. Miyamoto-sensei already accepted my application"
"Then you should start by wiping the equipment in the changing room. The tournament is coming close and we don't need a newbie hanging around our ace player" he arrogantly stated. He looked up to Tomoyo's skill and didn't like some random distracting her.
"(Is this guy one of their regulars?)" he thought and took another look at him.
"Hey what are you waiting for!?" Kazuya lost interest after seeing the sneer on this person's face.
"Get lost" he looked him in the eye.
"What!? You!" his expression turned ugly. He didn't expect this newcomer to mouth off at him.
"Stop harassing the newcomer Nishida!" Miyamoto interjected. Kazuya ignored them and moved towards the rack holding spare bamboo swords.
"But coach, this guy has no respect for his upperclassmen even though he just joined" he tried to reason to their coach but was ignored instead.
"Respect is earned. Would you respect a stranger who suddenly pulls his weight around you just because he was born earlier? I have a principle of treating others depending on the way they treat me" Kazuya said as he picked up a bamboo sword and checked its condition. He didn't bother looking at the sour expression of his upperclassman.
"You!" Nishida lost his temper and raised the bamboo sword in his hand intending to strike. Before he would swing down though, his arm had been hit from behind causing him to let go of his bamboo sword. "WHO!?" he turned his head and shivered as his gaze met with Tomoyo's cold gaze.
"S-shiroyuki…"he trembled because he could feel that she was agitated.
"…" she continued looking at him for a few seconds before turning towards Kazuya who had finished picking out a bamboo sword. She immediately moved towards him but he raised his palm to stop her
.
"You pulled me along here so you could spar with me?"
*nod*
"I refuse. You're still not enough to give me a warm-up and I don't want to waste my time" He turned away and continued to check the sword he picked up. Kazuya also casually ignored the pin drop silence he caused in the club. They all looked at him in disbelief. This was even more evident on Nishida who had tried to pick a fight with him.
"…" Tomoyo tried to get closer to him again but this time she was a bit hesitant.
"Are you really going to be like this? I've been trying to be nice to you but if you're going to keep being selfish then I won't even acknowledge your existence" it was his turn to give her a cold look. It didn't only affect Tomoyo but also the rest of the people who gazed at him.
Tomoyo subconsciously took a step backwards. What happened next however was something not even Kazuya expected.
*drip*
Tears flowed from Tomoyo's eyes non-stop. She herself didn't know what was happening and only touched her wet cheeks to find out that she was shedding tears. She continued looking at Kazuya nonetheless.
*drip drip drip*
"(What the hell is this!? I didn't even do anything wrong and this is going to make me look like the bad guy!)" He was angry and his gaze turned even colder. A flicker of bloodlust was slowly growing and every club member who saw this felt chills down their spines. They all couldn't help but feel fear towards this new member of theirs.
"That's enough Kouzuki!" Miyamoto finally had enough and interjected.