"Now Kazuma ..."
He began as he poured two glasses of wine and set one in front of me before taking a sip himself .
"...have you ever wondered why you were the only fu-jutsu artist born to the kannagi-clan?"
I kept still for a second before calmly sipping my drink , showing no acknowledgement of any reaction that question may have invoked .
Placing the cup down , I shrugged .
"Bad luck , I suppose...but I'm sure you have another theory."
My eyes were focused on my guests ,or rather , my hosts ( they are paying ) and their spiritual essence and I slowly increased my range to prepare for any Extra unwanted visitors . As a wind contractor , fu-jutsu-artists were 'normally' no match for me but better safe than sorry . After all , if they used dark magic like Ryuuya , I can't control their wind.
The spokesperson gave a ,...almost expectantly proud but resigned grin . No other person at the table reacted .
"I do . But rather than theory ,...it is...the truth ."
I raised an eyebrow , clearly showing that I was letting their words affect me . This isn't the first time someone's spun a tale to get me on their side .
"And the truth is...?"
He observed my reaction , or lack of , to be more specific and placed his hands on the table .
"You are not going to believe a single thing I say , are you ...Kazuma?"
I empty my glass and smirk at him .
"Am I that obvious ? I need to work on my acting skills . And you know my name , but I still don't know know yours , so how about a introduction."
Actually my acting skills were fine , but pretending to be interested went out the window when I saw the slight expectancy in his eyes at my reaction . He Knew I wasn't going to give in that easily so there was no point in pretending that I was .

He let out a dark , but humorous chuckle .

"Kaizen ,...Tyler Kaizen..."
He leaned closer , looking me straight in the eyes .
"What if I show you instead ? Seeing is believing ."
He wanted me to accept . He Desperately wished it . I could see it in his eyes . Whatever it was , he really wanted it to work . But it was almost as if ...he was weary ...and hopeful .
I almost believed him right then.
"Go ahead then , show me ."
The relief was brief but I noticed it none-the-less. He raised to a straight sitting position and took out an letter from his jacket , before handing it to me . I took it and opened it ,steeling my face as I did so .

'We hope you can attend our fine dinner / dissuasion:
Many respected people of our unique origins shall be present . Kindly hide this event from public notice .Two people may accompany you.
This meeting has been put together to discuss issues which are important to all . We kindly request your presence ...'

Below that was an address , a date and a number to call incase I required transport .
Unique origins? Cyran ? place sounded familiar but I couldn't place it . I'll think about it later.
I folded the paper and placed it in my jacket .
"I'm not a fan of meetings . And I have no idea what 'unique origins' refers to either."
He simply began to speak as if he didn't hear me .
"This letter has been sent to head-officials of certain 'unique' backgrounds , including the current kannagi-head ..."
He's bringing Jugo into this as well . That's good , he's easier to talk to than my dad .
"...we are almost certain that he will choose your father to accompany him but are doubtful of his second accomplice as only two other people are allowed to be involved in this event ."
"So my old man and the head have 'unique origins '?..."
He gave a wishful , accepting smile .
"Yes , just like you ..."
"Alright . But I still have no idea what you are talking about , so why don't you just give it to me straight so I can go back to having my dinner ."
"Your mother is a fu-jutsu artist ."
I froze . He gave a sad smile .
"Your father has kept many things from you , Kazuma . But not only him , even the kannagi-head ..."

Secrets ? The heck are these guys talking about ?
I almost cracked but then I remembered that time I overheard Jugo and dad talking while I was sneaking around the kannagi mansion invisible looking for Ren . I wasn't close enough for them to sense me but with the help of the wind I heard every word .

'Well , Genma , looks like Kazuma turned into an independent young man even without knowing the truth .'

The reply was in monotone but the words made me forget about the 'truth ' Jugo mentioned .

'Of course , he did ... He is my son after all.'

Keeping secrets is something everybody does . That was Dad and Jugo and I know Ayano's keeping secrets to protect me . Big or small , Secrets are weaknesses that one cannot help but possess and at the same time , they can be manipulated for your own benefit .
I refuse to be manipulated ever again . After all , me and the kannagis aren't really chummy , it's to be expected that they keep certain things from me , especially sine I'm a banished ex-member of the main house of the clan.
So instead of cracking , I raised my hands an gave a few weak claps before looking up with a smirk .
"Bravo , you just stated the obvious . Anything else ?"
His eyes widened in confusion and I could tell that even the statue-guys were not expecting that .
"You knew ?..."
His voice was coated with surprise , but also a hint of anger . Why ? I figured I'd think about that later , but something snapped in him .
"All this time ,... you knew about her?"
His voice changed . It became low and deadly and his eyes hardened . I instinctively braced myself.
No , I didn't have a single clue what he was talking about ...then I realised ...'her'.

'Your mother is a fu-jutsu artist'

My 'mother' ?... The heck ?

I raised an eyebrow.
"My mother was a kannagi-enjutsu artist . Kinda common knowledge ."
I know I should have been more affected by this but since that woman told me to leave , she just ...stopped being my mother . She hardly even cared about me when I was in the clan, though she loved Ren. Even then , she ran off with another man . As far as I'm concerned , I have no family .
Plus , I have met a few people (fakes) who have claimed to be my uncle (and wanting my help of course ) without knowing the resentment towards my 'family'.
He calmed a bit when he realised my initial response was to the 'keeping secrets' part .
"You are wrong . Your mother was a powerful fu-jutsu artist who once hated the kannagis . I am her uncle..."
I almost laughed , then I picked up on the 'once' part . Sounded like a good story .
"...she left her clan determined to punish the kannagis mainly by attacking their top members..."
"And what ? My dad took advantage of her to punish her. You expect me to believe that."
My dad was pretty strict and seemed heartless but he was far too honourable to do anything like that . He seemed to acknowledge my statement with almost a bit of regret .
"No , your father ...spared her ..."

Huh?
"From what?"
His eyes grew sharp but with a hint of gratefulness .
"Death."
Suddenly the curtain slipped open and the waitress placed a dish in front of me and produced four menus for the others . I had sensed her coming , so I didn't react .
"Today's special , sir ."
I nodded , not even looking down at the dish.
Something was off about her . She seemed more ...finesse than the girl who came before , less flirty and with an air of respect and danger . But she looked exactly the same .
"Your orders ? Mr ..."
Suddenly her whole demeanour changed .

She smirked.
"...Kaizen?"
His eyes shot up to her and the four others began to rise , but in a split second she turned to them with a glare and her eyes flashed as she spoke with authority .
" Sit . Down ."
It was not only the glare or the voice that caused them to freeze but for just the seconds during which she spoke , her spiritual essence, which had been non-existent until then ,flared to an suffocating , inhumane amount before shutting down . In those two seconds , she showed that this was not a fight they could win .
They took their seats slowly .
She was an enjutsu artist , a Very powerful one with enough skill to completely hide her enormously large spiritual essence (which briefly reminded me of the fight with Belial).

She was dangerous .
"Now , sirs . This is a hotel filled with rich people and we do not want a ruckus here , so I calmly request the members of the Kaizen clan to vacate the premises ..."
The white-haired man's eyes narrowed .
I was being ignored .
"We have reason..."
"I know ..."
Her eyes flickered to me for a split-second before she continued .
"...but they had reasons as well , reasons far better than yours ."
Guilt flashed across his eyes , but she merely moved to make way for them .
I just sat there without saying a word . I already knew it would be pointless.
They got up ...and left .
She waited till they were gone before pulling down the curtain and taking the seat opposite to me , looking me in the eyes as she did so .

For some reason , though she seemed dangerous , she didn't seem threatening ...at least not towards me.
I spoke .
"So , who are you?"
Her presence held a weight to it . I felt something similar with Jugo ,the wind-king and other powerful figures. A weight of authority and power , only more...dangerous.
She observed me as if I was a interesting toy she wanted to pull apart and experiment with .
"Why don't you ask me what you really want to know ? Ka-zu-ma."
I narrowed my eyes . The way she said my name ,...as if she was testing how it sounded.
"What are you?"
She grinned . It was feral , animalistic ...and almost approving before she got up and whispered five words before leaving .
"You'll find out soon enough ."
I froze .
Not because of the words , but because of the voice .
That was not the waitress's voice .
That was Ayano's voice .
Darker , lower, but definitely her's.
The heck?
"Excuse me ?..."
I looked up to see 'the waitress' look at my meal with a confused expression before moving to see the empty seats and I noticed that she had four menus in her hands .
She blinked before turning to me in confusion .
"Um...uh...would...you like anything else...sir?"
It wasn't her . Someone , someThing took her place just to get rid of them . To keep them from talking to me .But why ?
And how? She looked and sounded exactly the same. I felt to see whether the letter was still there . It was .

'You'll find out soon enough .'

I let out a sigh . Honestly , what the heck is going on this time ?
"No , check please ."

A.N:-
Yeah , more questions , no answers ...I'm sorry , but this is how the story's playing out in my head and I'm writing it down ...and will probably be out of reach of the net soon . So sorry , ...but I hope you enjoyed the chap .

P.S: Do you think I should change it to suspense/adventure .(and mention the existence of KXA in the summary)?
P.S: Please review.