Originally by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own Ai Yori Aoshi or Iron Man
Summary: Kaoru and the others learn more about their respecting regions, but also about the Legacy that they have been entrusted with.
GH-Man: First off, in case you missed it, I mentioned that this story began at Chapter 53, which is in Volume 6 of the manga. So at this point Aoi's father isn't so accepting of her relationship with Kaoru, since he didn't have anything at that point. Secondly, I haven't read the last volume. It isn't out where I am.
TerraBull: All your questions will be answered in this next chapter.
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Chapter 2
Iron Legacy
It was early evening when both Kaoru and Aoi got back to the Sakuraba Mansion. And naturally, both Tina and Taeko were happy to see them.
"NYAHAHAHAHA!" Tina cried out, drunk already and it wasn't even 9:30.
"Tina, don't you think you've had a little too much to drink?" Kaoru asked.
"Ahhhhh, gimme a break! You don't know how worried I was!"
"That's right, senpai!"
"First Land-lady-san disappears, then you-- it was scary!"
"Alright, I'm sorry."
"We didn't mean to worry you." Aoi said.
"But where did Manager-san get to?" Tina asked.
"Yes. You arrived in a taxi." Taeko said.
"Well... actually that's what we wanted to tell you." Kaoru said.
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(SAKURABA ESTATE)
"For what reason have you refused to bring Aoi home?" Mr Sakuraba asked from across his desk.
"A very important one." Miyabi replied as she set a folder down in front of the man.
The older man picked up the file and opened it.
For several quiet minutes he read over the documents, his eyebrows arching every minute.
"Is this for real?" he asked, eager to know.
"It is. I was present for the entire affair. These are copies of the real documentations."
"Tell me what happened."
"Aoi-sama and I were heading back to the Estate when we encountered Kaoru Hanabishi, just as he was intercepted by a group of dark suited agents working for Stark Enterprises. They were lead by a woman named Pepper Pots, who insisted that Kaoru-dono accompany them. Aoi-sama was naturally distressed at this and rushed to his side before I could stop her. Once Ms Pots said that Kaoru-dono was not in any trouble, but requested that he come with them, I insisted that both Aoi-sama and I accompany him."
"Why didn't you just leave and bring Aoi back here?"
"She absolutely refused. Anything short of physically removing her from Kaoru-dono's side would not have worked. And I was not about to harm her under any circumstances."
Mr Sakuraba nodded at that.
"We were taken to Tokyo where Stark Enterprises Asian branch headquarters was located. It was there via tele-communication conference that we were introduced to Mr Anthony Stark, CEO and owner of all 25 Stark Enterprise facilities world-wide. Mr Stark then explained that he was planning to retire and wanted to ensure that his company was well taken care of. To that effect, he divided his company into five regions where these facilities were located, and gave them to five specific individuals. As a type of Board of Directors."
"Which regions and whom are these individuals?"
Miyabi took in a deep breath. "Five facilities in North America to an American named Simon West. Five facilities in Europe to a Frenchman named Marceau Verdant. Four facilities in Africa to a man named Ayo Kwami. Four facilities in Australia to a man named Nick Duneland. And seven facilities in the Asian region to Kaoru-dono." she explained, from memory, in one breath.
"Hmm. So of these five successors, Kaoru Hanabishi received more than the others."
"Per person, but yes."
"And these facilities are to be owned by these men?"
"Complete proprietorship. And as of right now, they are the new owners and the CEO's of their specific regions."
"And which number was Kaoru to sign these?"
"Last."
"He hesitated." he mused. "Why?"
"I believe the sense of responsibility was a little overwhelming to him."
"Yet he signed. Why?"
"I... uh... gave him a little push." she confessed.
"Push?"
"I... suggested... that taking control of the Stark Asian Region would be a good way for Aoi-sama's family to... approve of their relationship."
"I see." he mused. "You used his love for Aoi to make him take the reigns of leadership."
"Yes." she said, obviously ashamed of manipulating Kaoru like that.
"And what method did Stark-san use to select these successors?"
"According to him, an extensive psychological research initiative. Started years ago. He chose them because they were all honest, hard-working individuals who would not abuse their positions." she said, almost word for word what Stark said.
"Not exactly characteristics of worldly businessmen, but... if what you say is true, then Kaoru is much more worthy of Aoi than he was previous."
"Yes, sir."
Mr Sakuraba smiled at that. This meant that his daughter would marry well... though another part of him felt saddened at that.
Aoi loves this boy. Fortune or not, company or not, she loves him. Is this sentimentality I wonder? She would have chosen Kaoru for love, not wealth or status. She has made that quite clear. Sigh. Perhaps I need to rethink this whole thing.
"Miyabi."
"Sir?"
"Was there anything else?"
"Yes, sir. Mr Stark is going to announce his retirement to the world in one weeks time. Of course, by then Kaoru-dono and the other successors will already be in control of their regional facilities."
"Very well. Return to the mansion and continue to keep an eye on things."
"Yes, sir."
Once Miyabi was out of his office and back to the mansion, Mr Sakuraba leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
Aoi would have married Kaoru even though he had nothing. Kaoru signed these documents in order to gain our approval for him to be with Aoi. He thought with a deep, saddened sigh. While I am pleased that Aoi will be well taken care of, it is obvious that she would have been happy any way. I promise you, Aoi-chan, I will make this up to you!
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(SAKURABA SUMMER MANSION)
"YOU MEAN YOU INHERITED THE ENTIRE COMPANY?" Tina shouted.
"NO! Just the... Asian Region." Kaoru said as he backed away.
"Which is how big, senpai?" Taeko asked.
"Oh... just... seven facilities."
"In Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Beijing, Singapore, and India." Aoi explained.
"So... you're rich?" Tina asked.
"Oh, you could say that." Kaoru rolled his eyes.
"YYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! PARTY TIME!!!"
"TINA!" Kaoru chided his friend.
It was nearly an hour later when Miyabi got back, and Tina was still going strong, keeping up the group for celebration. However right when she got through the door, the phone rang. She picked it up and answered.
"Sakuraba Mansion, this is Miyabi Kagurazaki the manager of... OH! Yes, Mr Stark. Of course." she said, pulling away to shout for Kaoru. "KAORU-DONO!"
"Miyabi-san?" the boy gasped as he pulled away from his drunken friend and went into the hallway.
"Phone call!" she shouted, practically in his face as he turned the corner.
"Oh, thank you."
While Kaoru answered the phone Miyabi went back into the living room to help calm Tina down.
"Hello?"
(Kaoru, my Japanese successor.)
"Uh... Mr Stark?"
(That's right, son. I was hoping to talk to you tomorrow. Could you come in to the Tokyo branch headquarters about 10:00, your time?)
"Tomorrow? Uh..." he said, looking at his watch. "Sure. Would you mind if I brought some friends along. I just told my housemates about my inheriting Stark Asia from you."
(The meeting is for you and you alone. But I can have Pepper give them a tour of the facilities if you want.)
"That'll work."
(Good. I'm sure you'll find Pepper a good assistant.)
"Assistant?"
(Yes. She's one of my most trusted associates, and since you are now the owner of the majority of the Stark Enterprise facilities, she'll help you get acclimated to your new position.)
"Oh. Okay."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow morning, your time. Use the gold security card in your personal elevator and it will take you to the lower levels of your headquarters. From there, you will be directed.)
"Alright, then. Tomorrow morning at ten. Thank you."
(No. Thank you, Kaoru-san.)
The line went dead as Kaoru hung up the phone and went back to the living room, where Tina had become so blitzed she was groping Miyabi.
"Will you stop that!" Miyabi shouted as she struggled to get her boobs out of Tina's hands.
"Oh, come on, we're all girls here." Tina giggled as she slung her chin over Miyabi's shoulder.
"Oh boy!" Kaoru groaned.
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(STARK TOKYO, 9:50 AM.)
The five people walked into the lobby of the large and high-tech looking building. There they were met by a certain red haired woman in a business suit.
"Kaoru-san. Welcome back."
"Thank you, Ms Pots." Kaoru said. "You already know Aoi-chan and Miyabi-san. These two are my classmates and friends: Tina Foster and Taeko Minazuki."
"I'm pleased to meet you."
"Thank you."
"Damn, Kaoru! You mean you own this place?" Tina gasped at the size of the complex, and this was just the lobby.
"And six other major facilities. This is simply the headquarters for the Asian branches." Pepper said.
"I was wondering if you could give them a tour of this place. Mr Stark said that he wanted to talk to me about something important." Kaoru said.
Pepper gave him a knowing smile, as if she knew what Tony was going to talk to him about.
"Of course. Tony called me last night about this. This way please. We need to run you through security to get your passes." Pepper said.
Miyabi found herself dragging both Tina and Taeko behind her. Tina to make sure she didn't cause any trouble, Taeko to make sure she didn't break anything.
"I'll see you all later, alright?" Kaoru said.
"Very well, Kaoru-kun." Aoi said, bowing.
"Of course, Kaoru-dono." Miyabi said.
"Right. See ya later, Kaoru." Tina said.
"Good luck with your meeting, Senpai." Taeko said.
Kaoru smiled as he watched them go, then headed over to the single elevator that was marked especially for him.
He used his gold security card to access the elevator, and then inserted it into a small slot on the left hand side of the elevator. The normal buttons were on the right side of the elevator.
The elevator suddenly went down and within a few seconds stopped at the intended floor.
The doors opened and Kaoru stepped out into what looked like a high-tech laboratory. The catwalk he was on stretched around the upper part of the lab, three metal stairs spread around the catwalk leading down to the convention-center sized room. Taking the stairway that was right in front of him Kaoru walked down to the large lab and just stared at the impressive assemblance of machines and tools that lay around it. He noticed at the far wall there were ten large, human-sized tubes that were side-by-side each other.
He then walk over to what looked like an active computer monitor.
Suddenly, the monitor fizzled and static turned into an image of an older man with a trim beard.
"Mr Stark?"
(Hello, Kaoru. Right on time too.)
"Thank you. But what is this place?"
(The Iron Works, where I created my greatest invention, and a powerful legacy.)
"Legacy?"
"The Iron Man Legacy!" a digitalized voice said.
"What? Who was that?" Kaoru asked, looking around the lab, a little panicked.
(That was HOMER) Stark said.
"HOMER?"
"Heuristically Operative Matrix Emulation Rostrum." the voice said as a holographic image of a featureless human body, which looked like a man actually.
(Status, HOMER?)
"I am functioning within normal parameters. How are you today, Anthony?"
(I've been better.)
"What is all this about? What is this, Iron Man Legacy, you mentioned?" Kaoru asked.
(The ultimate reason I wanted you and the others to inherit my company.) Tony said.
"Huh?"
(Years ago when I first took over control of Stark Enterprises, I ended up kidnapped by a group of renegade scientists called Advanced Idea Mechanics. AIM for short. They wanted me to use my technology in order to create a powerful weapons system for them. With the aid of a scientist named Yin Sen I created a special suit of armor in order to escape our captors. Though Dr Yin Sen died in the attempt, the armor he and I created became the basis for these.)
Suddenly, the ten metal tubes that were against the far wall, hissed and started to open, steam and smoke billowing out of them. Kaoru gasped when he saw that within each of the tubes. For within each tube was what appeared to be a suit of armor. The design was basically the same for each one, with the two slits for the eyes and one for the mouth, and either a circle or triangle on it's chest. Kaoru moved towards them and stared at each of them, all of the tubes individually labeled with different names over the heads of the suits themselves.
The first one was the slickest of the armors, red and gold, and simply labeled: Iron Man Armor.
The second one was dark gray and white, visually equipt with all kinds of weapons on it's shoulders and wrists. It was labeled: War Machine Armor.
The third one was a red and silver model with an upside down triangle on it's chest, but the additions to this armor were different than the others, as it was also equipt with a red horned samurai helmet and a pair of swords strapped to it's hip. It was labeled: Scarlet Samurai Armor, and reminded Kaoru of the character Ryo the Wildfire from the old Ronin Warriors cartoon show.
The fourth one looked like it was equipt for underwater activity, as it was equipt with a heavy suit and bubble dome that Kaoru recognized as part of the hardsuits some divers used for deep sea exploring. That, and the label said: Hydro Armor.
The fifth one looked like the Iron Man suit, except the design was sleeker, with a larger backpack on it and no mouth slit. It was labeled: Space Armor.
The sixth one looked like the Iron Man armor, except it was a dark blue/black color. It was labeled: Stealth Armor.
The seventh one was the strangest of the group. It looked like there was supposed to be something else inside it as the middle section was hollowed out. Almost like it was supposed to fit over the other armors. Kaoru could only imagine what it's full size would be once worn, easily twice the size and height as normal. It was labeled: Hulkbuster Armor.
The eighth one was a strange blue, red and silver color, with a thicker high-tech looking belt than the other armors. It was labeled: Magma Armor.
The ninth one was colored blue and silver and had a pair of strange devices on it's arms and belt. It was labeled: Arctic Armor.
The tenth one was a bulkier armor than the Iron Man armor, particularly around the chest, but not so big as the Hulkbuster. It was labeled: SKIN Armor.
Naturally, Kaoru's reaction was to be expected.
"What... I don't... this is..."
"Impressed?" HOMER asked.
"Well... yeah... I mean... you want me to wear these suits?" he asked.
(If you so choose.) Stark said. (While I trust my company to your hands, I further trust you with these armored suits. The purpose of which is enable a person to survive in any environment in order to help those people who find themselves in situations where a single individual can access but would take many to achieve.)
Kaoru looked at the man on the monitor for a second.
"Huh?" he gasped, not fully understanding what he was being told.
(Basically, you will be able to be a superhero, using the power of the armor in order to help people.)
"Oh. I see." he said. That actually makes sense.
(That was what I originally created all these armors for after I escaped from AIM. Since then, I have upgraded and improved the armors to be superior to my previous ones.)
"And you're giving me these armors... but what about the others? You gave them armored suits like these too?"
(Of course. There are ten suits based in the different branches main headquarters, and three suits in the other branch facilities.)
"So that means there are ten suits here... and three suits each in the Osaka, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Beijing, Singapore, and India branches?" Kaoru asked.
(Yes. Each one in their own Iron Works that are safely hidden and can only be accessed by you. And the same goes for the other successors in America, Africa, Australia and Europe.)
"Guess that makes sense." Kaoru mused to himself. "So... on top of being Stark Enterprises new Board of Directors... we're also this... Iron Man Legion?"
(If you want to call it that, yes. Whether you use these armors or not is your choice. HOMER is capable of maintaining and even updating the armors and Iron Works. This lab is fully automated and equipt with tools that can create any specialized armor you require.)
Kaoru's head turned to the side at hearing that.
"Any type of armor?" he asked.
(Yes.) Stark said.
"And... they can be built to accommodate... anyone?"
"Yes." HOMER said.
"And you can build more armored suits if necessary?"
"Did you have something specific in mind?" HOMER asked.
"Hmm. HOMER... can I ask you few questions?"
"Of course Kaoru Hanabishi."
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Author's Notes:
Hope everyone accepts this as a suitable Christmas present. I was kinda rushed into finishing this, so I hope everyone enjoys it.
And I hope everyone recognized the armors that I mentioned in the main branch headquarters. They are basically all the same for each region of the world.
And as always, drop me a review telling me how much you liked this.
