"H-hey, wait up!"
"You're safe now, right? Away from the other guys."
The boy, Shoya, said, turning around. Ayato blinked profusely.
"So, were you lying about meeting me before?"
"No, that's true. I was just trying to help you though."
"Oh."
"It's fine if you don't remember, it was 10 years ago, after all. I owe you."
Shoya laid out his hand with a smile on his face. Ayato was unaware of what Shoya owed him but he was glad either way. Since Shoya didn't try to kill him, it made sense as to why he didn't recognise or remember him.
"Still, our siblings are still trying to kill you, huh?"
"Why don't you try your chance as well? You may become the heir."
Ayato said as a joke. Shoya understood what he was saying. It was fairly sarcastic.
"I could never. Besides, my mother doesn't want me to become the heir. She doesn't care about that stuff."
It was like a breath of fresh hair talking to a Kyouya. Having a normal conversation with a Kyouya, excluding his sister, was nearly impossible. They all hated him and were all obsessed with hatred and killing. Honestly, he found it tiresome and stupid. That's why he would joke whenever faced with his many half-siblings.
"Hey, Shoya, what're you going to do until the banquet?"
"I don't know, honestly. I was going to go to sleep. I was on the way to my room when I saw you."
Ayato smirked.
"Come with me."
Shoya narrowed his eyes, confused.
"For what?"
"It's time for a declaration of war."
·———·
In the meeting room on the 20th floor—guest rooms spanned from the 7th floor to the 19th floor—a few of the wives met up.
Four of them were engaged in a conversation.
"We should start now, then. That pest has already arrived. We should all just go kill him."
A white-haired woman, Mashiro, said.
"No, we can't do that yet. We need to wait until the banquet starts."
Another woman, Rika, said. The entire point of the first day of the Midnight Banquet was for Ayato to be there. If he was dead, where else could he be but in the afterlife?
One of the wives slammed the table.
"Why do we have to wait?! The patriarch said that even we could make a move whenever we wanted! Besides, did that insect really beat Goto?"
With Arisu sounding her disbelief, the other wives stiffly turned to her. Rika pounced from her seat. She lightly pressed a knife against Arisu's throat.
"I don't care how annoyed you are... Don't call the patriarch by his name."
Arisu gulped and nodded. Rika retracted her knife.
"Still, I do agree with you. I don't believe that the pest beat the patriarch though, still, he has no reason to lie."
"Perhaps the patriarch wanted to put us on edge."
The final wife said. She was busy fixing up her face with makeup. Her name was Aimi. She closed her hand mirror and put it into her bag.
"Maybe Ayato Kyouya is not as strong as he claims."
"Maybe... But that doesn't explain how he survived all of those times."
"All of those times?"
Rika asked Arisu. Arisu looked at her ring.
"Within the last decades, there have been separate attacks on Ayato Kyouya. He's survived over 200 of them. Not only that, he's survived a joint attack of around 90 siblings. I don't want to give it to him, but Ayato surviving all of those attacks is not a miracle."
Ayato Kyouya was a mysterious child to them—detestable all the same. The reason the entire family was in this situation was because of his selfish actions. To most of the family members, Ayato was an evil boy.
The door to the meeting room opened. Two women walked in. The moment they entered, the others menacingly glared at them. They weren't exactly welcome.
"My, I get the feeling that we're not supposed to be here."
The blonde woman said. She was a beautiful woman, akin to a foreigner, though not. She had fair hair and her eyes glistened like emeralds.
She turned to the woman next to her.
"What do you think, Hayami?"
"Me...? I don't particularly care."
The woman, Hayami, had long, jet-black bangs covering one eye. The only eye visible was a strange shade of grey though it appeared translucent.
"Mumei!"
Arisu growled at the blonde-haired woman. Mumei snickered delightful.
"What's up? Trying to kill a child again?"
She jested. The other women didn't take kindly to her provocation.
"What? Don't act like you haven't tried."
"Oh, but I haven't."
"You and Hayami are the only ones not participating in this inheritance war. Why? You'll get everything if your child becomes heir. Personally, I say Shoya has a decent chance."
Mashiro commented. Hayami and Mumei exchanged glances before they both chuckled.
"What's so funny?!"
Arisu felt mocked. She didn't like Mumei. They went to the same magic high school. Rika was outclassed in everything they did together. They even somehow both became the wives of Goto Kyouya but her child, Shoya, is older than Arisu's.
"No, it's just us by the way. Besides, you all aren't thinking correctly. I'm a mother. All I want is for my child to have a happy life. No matter how influential the seat of the heir is, I don't want my child to become the heir. If Shoya wanted to, then I would support him. But he doesn't."
"It's the same for me,"
Hayami added on.
"You all may have become the patriarch's concubines for better futures but currently, you're all grasping at straws because... Ayato Kyouya is not a killable target."
[Hello, everyone!]
Through the speakers of the hotel, Ayato's voice resonated throughout not only the meeting room but also the hotel itself.
[My name is Ayato Kyouya, the one you all want. Now, I'm here to declare war. Today, at 1 pm, come and meet me in the vacant room on the 43rd floor. I'll give all of you a chance at me. Of course, if you're a parent or child, it doesn't matter! Well, see you there!]
And the intercom cut itself.
There it was. Ayato's declaration of war.