Know your past

Azuma followed Soubi through the floors and the hallway out of the school with all the classrooms and into the main building. In the hallway of the main building weren't many people and Soubi lead him into the floor with the different offices.

Entering one of these rooms there was Ritsuka together with two men waiting. One of those two strangers was a lot older than the rest of the people in the room, pretty much visible with the man's grey hair. The second man was younger his voice silky when he spoke, but Azuma couldn't see his face because of his long black hair.

"We are here now… why did you want us to show up, Ritsuka?" Soubi asked once Azuma had closed the door behind them.

"Ah we just got some great news, Soubi. Close to the Academy… do you remember that there was a construction site over the last few years?" Ritsuka asked, ignoring the fact that Azuma was standing behind the slightly taller Sentouki. As a reply Soubi nodded slightly.

"The building got finished three months ago and we were finally able to open. We opened up a clinic for Sentouki and Gisei. Everyone with medical issue is welcome over there, as long as they stay peaceful." the black haired man said and got up, turning towards the two Sentouki "The clinic gets financed by Uehara Industries, we're researching for treatment suited for Sentouki and Gisei. We just came here to invite the two factions to make use of our clinic, feel free to contact us whenever someone needs medical treatment."

"Uehara Industries?" Azuma asked quietly, he never had heard of any company with that name.

The older man stood up and turned around to the others as well, bowing slightly he introduced themselves "This is my master Zakuro Uehara. I'm Akira Tanaka, the servant of the household Uehara." When he stood upright again, the man's eyes widened and he stared at Azuma for a while as if he had seen a ghost.

The man called Zakuro Uehara noticed the strange look of his servant and frowned lightly. His voice was soft when he asked "Is anything wrong with this young man, Tanaka-san?"

Azuma had tilted his head confused, if he would have something sticking in his face… Soubi would have told him about it, right? The servant cleared his throat and took a few steps forward towards Azuma. "Young master… might your family's name by any chance be Takagi?" he asked quietly.

The young Sentouki froze. Just where did that man know that from? Not knowing how to reply to this he nodded lightly. It was Zakuro's voice that broke the following silence "Do you know him from somewhere, Tanaka-san?"

"Ah master Zakuro… you can't know that, it happened before you came to the household. I will explain everything on the way back home, mylord." Tanaka explained looking towards his master, turning his gaze towards Azuma again he added "Could you by any chance accompany us for a little trip? I would like to explain everything in a more private environment."

Azuma looked from the servant to Ritsuka, waiting if he'd get the permission to go with those two people. Ritsuka looked at the Sentouki and nodded with a slight smile, Azuma was allowed to go with them if he wanted to.

"I uhm… sure. Are we talking about a longer trip or will I be back by tomorrow?" Azuma wanted to know, his attention focused on the servant again.

Tanaka hummed quietly in thoughts before he replied to Azuma's question. "If I'm right young master, you will need more than just one day. I hope you will be fine with that? I am sure you will want to know what I have to tell you… it's about your true family. Am I mistaken or have you grown up in an orphanage?"

Azuma gasped, that couldn't be just a coincidence. Tanaka really knew something about his past. "I… I did grow up in an orphanage before I came here. Where do you know that from, Tanaka-san?" Azuma wanted to know, he slowly got more and more curious about it.

"Ah… we leave Tanaka-san. If he will stay longer with us, I'm sure we can afford to buy him some new clothes, right?" Zakuro interfered and walked towards the door. The servant agreed quietly and smiled lightly at Azuma before following his master out of the Academy. Azuma had no other choice than to follow them right away. There was no time for packing or going to get anything out of his room. Luckily he always carried his wallet with him.

Sitting on one of the backseats of a car, Azuma stared out of the window staying silent. While Zakuro was sitting next to him, it was Tanaka who was driving. Azuma had noticed that the slightly older man had been a Sentouki himself, though he didn't look like he wanted to fight with him. Just the sounds of the engine and the radio playing quiet traditional Japanese music, on the entire way to their destination they didn't talk at all.

The car stopped in front of an old manor and the older Sentouki got out of the car, Azuma got out as well and waited for what would happen. Since Zakuro was passing the gate and walking towards the door of the traditional house, Azuma simply followed him and waited for them to explain everything. When Tanaka returned, the old man opened the door and let his master and Azuma in.

Tanaka then lead Azuma to a room with a glass front and asked him to sit down. The servant then left him there, asking him to be a bit more patient with him. 'Soon I hope I'll know why I'm here…' the young Sentouki thought and sighed quietly, looking out of the glass front. He stared at a giant old Sakura tree.

A few minutes after he had been left alone, it was Zakuro who appeared first. The tall Sentouki now was wearing a black kimono and sat down on the other side of the table. "Did Tanaka-san explain anything to you yet?" he asked, as Azuma he was looking out of the glass front.

"No… I had made us some tea, master Zakuro. I thought that it would make everything a bit more comfortable." Tanaka answered instead of Azuma, when he returned with another servant bringing tea and some snacks. After the second servant had left, Tanaka sat down at the table himself. With a cup of tea in front of each man, he was ready to explain everything.

Clearing his throat after taking a sip of the hot tea, Tanaka took a deep breath. "Master Zakuro you can't know that because it had been before you came here… but your father had a sister named Kaori. Lady Kaori had a hidden relationship with a servant of this household, only I knew about that for a long time but I kept my mouth shut. Though when your aunt became pregnant with a child of that man, she still had been young and since she wasn't married with him… your father decided it would be a shame to the family and lower their good name. So he threw her out of the family and he had thrown the servant out as well." Tanaka explained quietly, getting both Sentouki's attention with his words.

"The servant I'm talking about was Ryoichi Takagi. Lady Kaori gave birth to a son, though with still being a college student and Ryoichi being unemployed they couldn't take care of their little son. I tried to stay in contact with them, just in case your father would change his mind master Zakuro. He never did and when the boy had been a year old, Lady Kaori told me she had to give her son Azuma away." the old man finished his explanations and took another sip of his tea. His voice had gotten something sad and he looked like he'd blame himself for what have happened.

Azuma had frozen, his hands around the cup of tea were shaking badly but he didn't want to remove them from the cup. "Y-You think… I am said son?" he asked carefully, staring from his cup to Tanaka.

The old man looked at Azuma with a soft smile on his lips. "I do not only think you are… I can see it. You have your fathers face and the eyes of Lady Kaori." the servant replied with a sigh "If you think you might want to meet your parents, I will try and see if they want a meeting as well. And if possible I'd want them to visit the manor, master Zakuro. You haven't met your aunt Lady Kaori yet as well."

Zakuro who seemed like it didn't really bother him at all nodded slightly. There was no reason to refuse Tanaka's request. "It's never wrong to know your past. The past is what forms us into the ones we are now."

"So that makes… us cousins, right?" Azuma asked, looking from Tanaka to Zakuro and then back "But yes I… I want to meet my mother, if she wants to meet me as well. I… always wondered why I ended up in an orphanage."

The old man nodded once more. "Then I will try my best to arrange a meeting. I hope they can manage to get some spare time soon."