As years passed, what has become the present becomes the future.

Experience 6

Everyone in the café gathered around as the teens whom Hiro didn't know yet were surprised after Hiroto and Ranko announced that he is their grandfather. The shocking fact to Hiro is that most of these regular young adults look a lot like his friends. Barely.

The blond male, whose face is similar to Jessica's, step forward and introduced himself, "Hi I'm Jesse Ryuenji." He then lift his hand which was pointing to Jin's gender bend who stood behind him. "And this here is my sister, Jenna." He claimed. "But most people we know and I often call her 'Jen,' and she and those people call me 'Jess'."

"It's nice to meet you, Oozora." Jen stated while bowing her head.

Hiro couldn't find the words and he merely responded, only a "Yea..."

Abruptly, the female that looked like Gouda, crashed in between them and took Hiro's hand as she shook it. Hiro couldn't make out what she was saying as she stated too quick, "It's really you? Oh I what am I saying, it is you! You're Ranko's grandfather anyway and you do look similar to the younger version I saw in the photos. It's an honor to meet the Atlas! Oh wait, how rude of me, I'm Kaede Nanako!"

"Will you stop shaking his hand?" The older male teen carrying Sendou's traits, except the eyes, walked right in while sarcastically saying, "You're going to break his arm."

The said female did stop but turned towards him with an annoying face.

Kaede said grumpily, "Look who's talking stupid poet."

This taken aback by the older male as he angrily spoke in sarcasm, "Heck I don't do that to people when meeting them!" He continued, "And I'm not stupid and I'm not good at poetry!"

"But your first name says so." Kaede argued. "And you're definitely stupid."

"Well, I don't mind to bring up the fact that your full name literally means veggie child maple in reverse."

Kaede glared at him as he smirked.

Hiro found himself sweatdropped along with his grandchildren and Jesse while Jen was just sighing, somehow knowing where this was going.

"How dare you!?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah," He said, "I dare!"

The two older teens began to argue again leaving everyone sweatdropped as they watched the scene unfolded.

"And that guy is Shiori Noriko." Jesse nervously smiled.

"Just leave them be," Another male, about the same age as Jesse and very similar to Kazu, came to Hiro along with the girl who looked like Ami. "They'll stop once they get tired of arguing." He stated, and turned to the older blunette.

"The name's Kazuo Aoshima." He introduced himself. The girl beside him introduced as well, "And I'm his sister, Emi. We're also Taiki's cousins."

"W-What!?" Hiro exclaimed in shock.

"Oh," Ranko said sheepishly, "we haven't told you that."

"You didn't really tell him?" Taiki asked.

"Our bad." Hiroto grinned, the same way as Ranko.

Taiki sighed as he turned to Hiro. "I know you may have heard of me but let me introduce nicely." He said, "My name is Taiki Yamano. It's really nice to meet my own god grandfather in these circumstances."

Hiro nervously nodded. "Yeah, it's good to see you in person."

"Hey!" The black haired girl, whose face is similar to Asuka's, took their attention as they turned to her.

"Can we have our introductions now?" She asked. "Nate and I haven't gone yet."

The said person, a male teen name Nate with the traits of Yuuya except the hair color, merely smiled.

Emi giggled, "Yes you can, Kei."

The girl beamed as she walked over, followed by Nate, and happily said, "I'm Keiko Kouru. People call me 'Kei'."

"I'm Nate." Nate said as he and Hiro shook hands. "But that's what my friends call me. My full name is Nathaniel Ryuunosuke."

"Nice to meet you..." Hiro said, finding hard to say his name or memorize due to it being that long.

Finding this, Nate complied with a smile, "Just call me Nate."

"Geez, just when will these two stop." Saru complained under his breath as the arguing duo is heard within the background and they were talking about nonsense which everyone cannot comprehend.

"You're expectations is false, Kazuo." Emi sweatdropped.

Kazuo replied with a sweatdropped, "Yeah, not like what I envisioned to be."

"They'll only stop if something catches their attention." Jen stated.

Without anyone realizing, there was a TV set on the wall. It was on and it showed a cub like animal until the screen reverted to the Artemis logo as Booster came in and said, "Hey folks! Booster here, and are you ready for more LBX battles?"

As if Jen's statement was a wish being granted, Kaede and Shiori finally stopped as they turn their attention towards the television. The rest and even Hiro looked up at the screen after being able to hear Booster's next words.

"If it's yes then you'll gonna love what's in store for you tomorrow!" He announced.

Ranko turned to her big brother. "Nii-san, it's tomorrow!" She exclaimed.

Hiroto merely had his hand slapped his forehead and mumbled in disbelief, "Shoot, I forgot about that."

Everyone else envied his forgetfulness. Except Hiro, Saru and Fran, who didn't seem to understand and were confused.

Saru raised his brow, "Tomorrow?"

"What's for tomorrow?" Fran asked.

Everyone reverted back to the TV just in time for them to hear Booster's continuation. "Tomorrow, Artemis of Japan is going to be filled with people. Lots and lots of people! And do you know who are among them?" Booster chuckled. "Why the National Champions of course!"

Hiro was still confused, however, that hit the spot in Fran's and Saru's heads.

Booster continued, "The champions all around the world and even Japan's will be participating the National World Cup!"

"The National World Cup..." Fran muttered.

"H-hey, that's us." Saru claimed, not able to find his voice but loud enough for everyone to hear.

They all looked and the screen showed pictures of different teams and it lastly changed to a picture of Hiroto, Fran and Saru. Underneath of the picture, there was a very detailed logo saying, "Tri-Exvious."

"Japan's champions," Booster said, referring to the trio of that team, "I hope you're ready because the national champions from around the world are going to challenge you into their battle! So be prepared! That's all folks!"

After the announcement, Hiro turned to Hiroto. His face is displayed in a totally surprise expression.

"You're Japan's champions?" He asked.

Hiroto didn't say anything but nervously nodded.

"You wouldn't believe how fierce the battles were last year!" Ranko excitedly recalled. "There were lots of strong players in Japan but Nii-san and his team managed to go through!"

"Then it came to my team," Taiki said.

"Your team?" Hiro asked.

"We're called the 'Brave Xros'," Kazuo stated. "We were at the finals and battled them."

"We nearly got the upper hand," Emi said as she turned to Fran who happened to make an eye contact with her, "but lost in the end. You guys are really a strong pact."

Fran only smiled nervously, "We would say the same thing to you."

"By the way," Taiki began while turning to Hiroto, "I never thought you would stay the same Hiroto I know. You still forget things."

"Hey, me is me." Hiroto said so sarcastically.

"And forgetting is your habit." Ranko complied.

"Not to mention your recklesssness." Fran added.

"So what? You want me to change?" Hiroto questioned with a grumpy tone.

"No. Not really Hiroto." Taiki replied but smirked as well. "We just want you to be that way, no offense."

"Yeah right..." Hiroto looked away with his arms crossed and his face shaped into a grumpy expression.

Almost everyone, except Hiro, Trunks and Lex, laughed while Hiroto just rolled his eyes and not caring.

Taiki barely stopped laughing and pat his brotherly rival on the back. "We mean it Hiroto."

"Well, you better mean it." He said, still wearing that grumpy face.

"Don't be such a grumpy bear." Fran punched the Nakahara on the arm, causing him to take by surprise as she stated, "We're just teasing you."

"So are we just hanging out all night or what?" Kei asked.

"Now that you mention it," Nate turned to the clock. The long hand is pointed at nine while the short one pointed at six. Nate read it as '9:30 pm.'

"It's getting late." He claimed.

" Oh yeah... I forgot time flies." Jesse yawned loudly while covering his mouth with his hand.

"Hey Hiroto," Trunks called out, "since you and your team are Japan's champions, you should go home and get enough sleep for tomorrow."

Saru nodded at the suggestion, "Yeah, we should."

"Well, peace out everyone." Shiori waved his hand out as he went over to the door and left the café.

"I'll see you guys in action tomorrow." With that being said, Kaede left as well.

The rest of the gang already went out and the only people who are still in the café were Hiro, his grandchildren, Trunks and Lex.

Hiro noticed Hiroto and Ranko hadn't left as Lex and Trunks noticed too. Trunks asked, "Aren't you going home?"

Ranko fidgeted her fingers and replied, "Well we were planning to but..." She turned to Hiroto as her brother nodded. She turned back to them and said, "The thing is, we're wondering if we can have Oji-san come home with us."

This took the said older teen by surprise as Hiro looked at Hiroto then Ranko.

"If it's okay with you, that is?" Hiroto asked nervously.

Don't know how to answer, he looked back to Trunks who caught his eyes on him as the purple haired teen smiled. "So what do you think?" He asked.

Hiro turned back to his grandchildren. He could tell they were nervous, of what his answer might going to be.

Though as Hiro smiled, he made up his mind.

"You know," He said, "I think I'll actually come along."

The two were surprised as Hiroto asked, "Are you serious?"

Hiro nodded and had his smile turn into a wide grin, "Well, why wouldn't I be?"

Ranko couldn't help but burst in joy as she ran over to her young featured grandfather and clinged his arm, almost instantly lost his balance but Hiro managed to stand straight up.

"Yehey! Oji-san is coming home with us!" Ranko squealed happily.

Hiro chuckled as he and his grandchildren went straight to the door. They said their goodbyes to Trunks and Lex as they left for home.

As they left, silence falls. Neither Trunks and Lex said anything as they sat in their own chairs. Finally, after five minutes Lex broke the silence, "Do you have a room where I can sleep in?"

Trunks, of course, was surprised. He stared at his great grandfather as he closed his eyes and smiled.

"There's always a room for you." He answered.

After leaving the café for only about an hour, Hiro and his grandchildren stopped by a certain house. It was no house, it was wide and it looked like a dojo's place. Once Ranko found the keys which was hiding under a leaf like ornament that sat on clay frog, she began to unlock the door.

While she was doing that, Hiro stood there and stared at the house before him. It's building structure, the stone design on the walls, the roof above the door. He recognized them and began to questioned himself but only in his thoughts, 'Isn't this Ran's house?'

"Oji-san!" Ranko's calls snapped him back from his thoughts as he looked and saw Ranko who had unlocked the door. Hiroto stood by with her and motioned his grandfather, saying, "Make yourself at home, Gramps."

Hiro stood in front of the same door of the same house and blinked when the door opened.

"Ran-" He didn't expect a karate chop in turn as it landed on his head.

Shaking, his legs bend and kneeled on the floor while groaning in pain with his hand touching his poor head. He was about to say something as he looked up and realized that in front of him, wasn't Ran. It was in fact, Daimen Hanasaki, Ran's grandfather.

The old man looked at him, his eyes didn't seem to show friendliness as if he was telling the blunette that he was not welcome.

"So you're Ran's fiance?" He asked, his tone sounded harsh. "She's too young to be married."

This, however, made Hiro blushed madly. Of course, they were just about fifteen years old but the idea of him being engaged with Ran made his heart skipped a beat.

"Oji-san!" Ran came into the scene. Her face seem to be tainted in red as she tried to restrain her grandfather who was about to make another karate chop on Hiro.

"How dare you propose her in her teens!" His grandfather exclaimed while struggling in Ran's grasps. "I'll not let you go into our house! Ran unhand me!"

"Oji-san, Hiro is just my boyfriend!" Ran claimed, her face became totally red as her hair and refused to let go at the same time.

"But that's the same thing!" He argued.

"No," She exclaimed sarcastically, "it's different!"

Hiro sweatdropped as he watched the bickering, none sensible argument unfolded between granddaughter and grandfather.

Hiro never went inside after that. He never knew what the dojo look like and he wanted to see it. But now he is in it, he is not seeing the original but its future. The place still held some Japanese traditional details but most of it are futuristic. Looking at the backyard from where Hiro stood, it looked rather like a garden instead and a big naked tree sat there.

Hiro gazed at the tree, wondering what's its kind.

"Gramps," Hiroto called as Hiro turned to him. "Your room is ready." He said.

Nodding, Hiro walked as Hiroto escorted him and both went up stairs. They stop by a door, presumably a room where Hiro would be sleeping in, Hiroto opened the door and he suddenly sighed in disbelief, "Oh what?"

Hiro peeked behind him and saw that inside was Ranko. She was sleeping on the bed that Hiroto had set up but it was in a messy state when she was turning.

"She was supposed to be in her room." Hiroto grumbled quietly while face palmed.

Hiro looked at the sleepy red head and heard her mumbling in her sleep. Something about seeing her grandfather and all that as Hiro smiled. 'Just seeing her sleeping,', he thought, 'she reminds me of Ran.'

"Sorry Gramps," Hiroto apologized, "I'll just drag her out of the room."

"I don't mind her sleeping with me." He replied suddenly, causing the grandson to look at him in surprise. Hiro turned to him and his smile grew wide, "And I don't mind you joining us."

This in turn, made Hiroto blink even more surprised as he looked at Ranko then back to his grandfather.

"You sure?" He asked.

Hiro only nodded as he walked up to the bed and sat as he caressed Ranko's hair. He smiled when Ranko seems to enjoyed it and wasn't bothered as he continued caressing while she sleeps. The LBXs, the explosion, the time traveling, everything he had gone through led him to this timeline. He couldn't describe how it was like. Meeting his friends' grandchildren and found out that some were sibling and cousin related was hard to believe. Even he couldn't take in the fact that these two children he is staying with, are his grandchildren. But he didn't care, as a matter of fact this might be the future of the present.

Smiling, he spoke softly, "Besides, aren't we a family?"

The next morning, several bangs are heard and white-grey puffs of clouds appeared and disappeared as the sky looked down at the people of Japan. They are scattered everywhere and are around a giant dome which is the Artemis itself as it said on the top entrance of the dome.

Before it, Hiroto along with Fran and Saru stood. The three were awed at the sight of it.

"National World Cup." Hiroto echoed.

"I can't believe we have come this far." Fran muttered.

"To think that we're fighting together again," Saru shook his head and smiled, "And our opponents are the National Champions."

"Alright," Hiroto turned to his two teammates, "we're fighting against the best players in the world. The road is getting tough but as long we stick together-"

"We'll make it through." Fran and Saru finished in unison.

"That's right!" Hiroto pumped his fist to the sky, "We're going to win this tournament!"

Inside the Artemis itself, a lot of people got to their seats and among them are Ranko and Hiro. They sat not too far from the stadium but not too close to it. Hiro was wearing a brown cap and fake glasses just to disguise himself from any eye caught his face as some familiarity.

Then Taiki and the rest of the gang came along as the two noticed them.

"Hey," Taiki greeted.

"Mind if we sit with you guys?" He asked.

Hiro nodded, "Of course."

They all took their own seats and sat beside each other perspectively. Ranko then noticed Shiori not here with them.

"Where's Shiori?" She asked.

Kaede only made huff, "He said he went to do some of his business." She grumbled under her breath, "Who cares about him, anyway?"

"Guys," Nate called, "The tournament is about to start."

Big holographic screens appeared above the stadium in mid air as Booster made his appearance.

"Fans and battlers," He shouted, "are you ready for Artemis?"

Everyone shouted in excitement and it echoed through the whole dome itself.

Booster nodded. "Then you'll be ready to meet our National Champions!"

The winning teams from around the world walked out of their spots and the audience shouts in joy and are excited as they saw the sight of them.

"Good luck, Nii-san!" Ranko cheered when she saw her brother and his team among them.

"Do your best!" Taiki shouted.

"Show them who the real champions are!" Jesse exclaimed with a grin.

Their voices were too mutable to hear due to the audience making such loud voices. But the trio can hear them as Hiroto signalled them with a thumbs up.

"Before the showdowns," Booster reminded, "you know the rules?"

Hiro raised a brow, "Rules?"

Taiki turned to Hiro and explained, "Every year, the National World Cup comes up with different sets of rules and most of them are basically about random choosing, meaning teams will be chosen randomly by the host and fight off against each other."

"I see." Hiro nodded in understanding.

"And that's not all," Taiki continued, "Once either of the two sides win, the team that is lost will be eliminated and their points are taken by the winning team. The points are for the finals. Who ever the two teams gets the most points will perceive to the finals and battle each other."

"Hey," Kei caught their attention, "Tri-Exvious is chosen!"

They all looked and saw the screen showing Hiroto's team.

"And their opponents are..." Kazuo looked at the other screen that shows three American teens. One of the teens was a blond girl with green eyes and the rest were boys with black hair and gray eyes. All three are wearing jumpsuits with designs of their logo.

"U-Pioneers." Jen said.

"Now," Booster announced, "Let's roll the dice!"

"What dice?' Hiro asked.

"That dice." Ranko pointed out her index finger as Hiro followed. There within one of the screens shows a blue dice. It wasn't like any dice he had seen and instead of dots there were pictures on all sides. The dice rolled as it rolled and rolled, it stopped. Everyone looked closely at the screen and the dice showed a picture of LBX Warrior holding a plasma gun while riding a Saucer.

Booster shouted, "Sky Battle!"

Two sets of three pods appeared at each side of the stage as the two teams went to their own pods. Before getting into the pods, they set their LBXs on the platforms that sat beside the pods. They all went inside and inserted their CCMs in as everything around them showed the Artemis itself digitally.

Six of the LBXs became active.

"Shout those three words!" Booster exclaimed.

"Future Gate-" the two teams shouted in unison as their LBXs were suddenly surrounded by three green rings each and the LBXs change into glowing yellow "outline" of themselves . As the rings scan, a light envelopes them, leaving the audience watched in awe. "Open!"

The light glowed brighter, nearly blinding Hiro's eyes as he closes them. When the light faded, Hiro opened his eyes and in them are the emotions of disbelief.

His eyes are not deceiving him. Hiroto and his team's LBXs are somehow upgraded and their model designs looked futuristic. What's more is that their LBXs have wings.

U-Pioneers' LBXs are also in the same state as Tri-Exvious but their LBXs don't have wings. Though, they have robotic sea horses and their design theme are based on pirates.

"Tri-Exvious team leader, Nakahara Hiroto," Hiroto announced, "Wings of Pegasus equipped. Chronomage Perses ready."

"Tri-Exvious team member," Fran and Saru said in unison.

"Evan Saru, Second Stage Eleven equipped. Mirage Ikaros Zero ready."

"Tokoha Fran, Floral Chaos equipped. Chaotic Heliorosa ready."

"Woah..." Hiro mumbled.

Beyond the stage, a shadow is hidden from the light not letting anyone see itself in the spot. Two pairs of blue eyes stared and watched the battle that is now unfolded.

GenesX: Sorry for the late update. As I had noted you in the last update, I have business filled in my hands and I have been doing my OC character profiles. As for Gouda Takeshi (sorry if I mentioned you,) yes I'm planning to draw out the characters but that will take awhile. And for Kazama Kirito's successor, he will appear soon. Yes, the successor is a male but he won't be blood related to Kazama. I also appreciate the suggestions, and I'll be writing about some of the followings. Please make a review like always.