Married…. With a Useless Goddess 11
Disclaimers I don't own KonoSuba, please support any to all official releases.
In a span of 2 months, Grandpa Satou's condition continued only to get worse, as no amount of medical or even magical treatment can cure him now.
Even if he was assured a spot in heaven, that still didn't mean Kazuma was willing to accept his grandfather's fate.
Unfortunately this was far out of everyone's hands as eventually it was time for him to go.
On the 3rd morning on the first week of summer, Satou Kazama, passed away in his sleep, as he was succeeded by his son, and 2 grandsons.
In the weeks that followed up to his wake, Kazuma learned first hand how much of an impact his grandfather had on the community as the elder were always there to bring offerings and gifts to his house, while the adults bowed and paid their respects to Kazuma and Aqua, leaving a handful of youths to even know or understand the man.
On the day of his funeral, just about every adult, every elderly arrived to pay their respects, with only Aqua and Kazuma's friends attending as well.
Unfortunately this meant that Kazuma had to confront his father, as neither one bothered to acknowledge one another.
More so, the presence that Kazuhira had brought with him along with his family was really an unwelcoming one, with many of the elderly glaring at the man and talking behind his back, while the adults chose to shun him and his family and told their kids to stay away from him.
After the funeral, there was a large banquet for everyone to enjoy as they all chatted about not only about Grandpa Satou, but how his grandson was working hard just like him and was falling in the man's footsteps, and had great expectations for Kazuma.
After a day of mourning and celebrating, it was time for those that truly mattered and made an impact in his life to gather around and read the man's will, which was being done inside of Yusuke's mansion.
"Come on Kazuma, everyone is gathered in the big room right now" said Aqua as she began to tug on Kazuma's arm, who was looking aimlessly at the sky.
"Yeah, let's go" said Kazuma as he got up and was walking towards the room with Aqua by his side, arms linked as the turned corners and walked the path, before bumping into the last person he wanted to see along the way.
Standing in front of him was a middle aged man, with slick back brown hair, as he wore rectangular black rimmed glasses, over his green eyes as he kept are sharped apathetic look on his face.
"Kazuma" said Kazuhira as the way how he mentioned his name brought a chill down Kazuma's spine, "Kazuhira" said Kazuma as he glared back at his whole family.
Without saying another word, both entered in the large room with their families as Yusuke was in charge of reading his best friends will.
"Now that we're all gathered, we can finally get down to business" said Yusuke as he picked up the will of his best friend.
"To all those who I loved, if you're reading this, it means I've finally moved on to the next life, and it's time to say goodbye, however just cause I'm dead, doesn't mean I've forgotten any of you as you all haven't forgotten me, however I believe emotional value needs something physical to help preserve the memories" read Yusuke.
"To my son Kazuhira, I leave to you only the family sword that your grandfather carried during the second great war, along with a collection of family photos, and the deed to my house on the beach" read Yusuke
"For my grandson Kenta, I leave you my collection of fireworks that I've kept over the years, only if you promise to keep me in your memory when you light them" read Yusuke.
"Yusuke, my friend, you have done so much for me, as I have for you friend, and seeing as how I always saw you out living me in the end, I hereby give you the lease and property of my house and land to turn it into the one thing I know we always wanted but didn't have the space to build, and that would be an American themed nudie bar, and please my friend name it after the girl you and I met during the summer of '72, you know who I'm talking about" read Yusuke as his eyes darted back and forth between the paper and Kazuma as he continued to read it.
"With that being put out of the way, I can finally rest in peace, I hope to see you all on the other side together, sincerely Satou Kazama" read Yusuke as he looked at the shock look on Kazuma's face as he found it hard to believe he was written out of his own grandfathers will, with nothing for him to keep in his name.
"Glad to know that the old man was wise enough to realize how much of a hinderance you were to him" commented Kazuhira with a shit eating grin.
"What's going on" Kazuma asked out loud as he was starting to cold sweat with wide eyes as he felt he was now at square zero in his life all over again as Aqua tried to snap him out his stupor.
"What's happening is what you deserve, you who had a steady life going on, up until some broad back home chose to leave you for someone else, and what do you do, shut yourself out and live like a bum under my roof for the next year, using up all my resources to do what, nothing, and if I had to guess, you probably didn't even bother to improve yourself neither when I chose to dump you here in this pissant town" said Kazuhira as this struck a nerve with everyone.
"You are wrong, Kazuma here went back to school, and works a part time job, and from what I've seen, he's more of a man than you will ever be" yelled Aqua.
"How dare you talk to my husband that way" yelled Mrs. Satou, a middle aged woman with black hair kept in a bun as she wore triangular shaped glasses over her violet eyes as she had a scowl on her face like her husband.
"How dare you both talk down to my husband, don't you think it was enough that he had to die already, with both of you laughing and relishing at his death, only to kick him out of the house, leaving him alone to deal with me, with no hope until one man, the one man who had loved not only him, but all of you unconditionally, to suddenly die and leave us both with nothing and to openly insult not only him, but to all the people that matter to him, just so you can get the last laugh! You're all a bunch of petty selfish assholes who don't deserve a son like him" said Aqua as she began to let out tears of frustration for both her and her husband, unknown that Kazuma was too on the brink of tears.
Having enough of Aqua's mouth, Kazuhira got up and was ready to smack Aqua, if not for Ozu stepping in and grabbing his hand.
"That's enough from all of you!" shouted Ozu as he was now the one to attract the attention of a pissed of Kazuhira, who's response was to shove Ozu into the ground.
Having enough of the circus that was in front of him, Yusuke was about to yell at everyone to stop and have the Satou's escorted off his premise, but was beaten to the punch when the door slid open, revealing a beautiful woman with long black hair, wearing a dark blue kimono, with an even darker red dragon design around it as the patter as she stormed in the room and slapped Kazuhira across the face.
"You bastard, how dare you lay a hands on my son" said the woman as her fury knew know bounds.
"Kyoko, you're back" said Yusuke, "Mom" said a fazed Ozu, "Yes, I'm back and the last thing I wanted to see was my son getting mistreated right before my eyes, especially from the likes of you Satou Kazuhira" said Kyoko.
"Kyoko, it's… been a while" said Kazuhira as he felt the spot where she had slapped him.
"Now hold on just a minute" said Mrs. Satou as she was ready to fight all the woman in this room, "Shut up Nene, you're gonna make things worse for us" yelled Kazuhira as his wife was taken aback, but none the less obliged.
"Kyoko, please, I'm sorry for my wife's behavior just now" said Kazuhira, "Really is that all you have to apologize for" asked Kyoko with her arms crossed and her brow raised.
"I also apologize for pushing your son" said Kazuhira with a bow, "Is that all" asked Kyoko as her anger seemed to only rise.
"I…" said Kazuhira as he was at a loss for words, "Typical, you haven't changed a bit Kazuhira, well I guess you are the abusive controlling husband and father type now, but still you are the same" said Kyoko as she walked her way towards her son and helped him up.
"You're still the same try hard, brown noser, and slimy little bastard that I knew back then, only a lot worse now" said Kyoko as she held her son tightly.
"But to think, you'd go so far as to spit on the people and community your father had worked so hard and cherished for throughout his whole life, really Kazuhira do us all a favor and leave, take the things your father had left you and don't you dare come back here, cause you are not welcome" said Kyoko as she began to lead her son away from them, but stopped to see Kazuma and Aqua, where she politely bowed at them both.
With that, Kazuhira couldn't say anything as he shook in rage before he finally took his family and left the estate, but this town for good as well.
Kazuma in on the other hand began to painfully cry in place as he felt truly alone as he has no family to rely on as Aqua stood by comforted him.
"Let's take a break and discuss things further on once we've cooled our heads" said Yusuke as everyone slowly began to leave the room.
Later
It was nightfall when Aqua and Kazuma had returned to the old Satou residence, where the place had already been cleaned for the things that was left for Kazuma's father and his family.
Granted the whole place was left intact, for however long it last as Kazuma was now doubt set to be evicted in the days to come with nothing more than a handful of belongings that only he and his wife owned.
And even then, what good is an Xbox, a computer, or an ATV if you don't own a roof to store and enjoy the things you own.
Right now, Kazuma was getting out of a bed, after crying his heart out what happened these last few days, where he saw Aqua waiting for him in the living room table with dinner ready.
"Feeling better Kazuma" asked Aqua as she got no response from her husband as he silently ate the dinner she had prepared him.
"Oh come on Kazuma, please talk to me, let me in so I can help you" said Aqua as Kazuma began to rest his face in his hands again.
"Aqua, I appreciate what you're doing, but…" said Kazuma as he was ready to shut her out, but the logic part of his brain kicked in as he looked at his wife.
"Honestly Aqua, I'm concerned for our wellbeing" said Kazuma, "It's alright Kazuma, we'll figure something out" said Aqua.
"How Aqua, I mean yeah, probably finding a studio here is cheap, but we can only spend so much nights together at Net Café's in the next town over, and even if I were to pick up more shifts, and possibly ask for a bigger pay raise, it's probably not gonna be enough, or worse I start to like it to the point of wanting to drop out, and work as a woman shoe salesman for the rest of my life" said Kazuma.
"I mean, do you seriously want to settle for shoe salesman for a husband, for the rest of you life" asked Kazuma, "Well I'll admit I was hoping you'd become a software engineer and create the next addictive mobile app and make us billions, however, if you have to work as a shoe salesman, or construction man, or whatever for the years to come to provide for us, then I say do it, but only if you promise to at least finish high school" said Aqua.
"I made a promise to the gods to see you become a successful man in this life, and if what Grandpa had to say was true in order to become a successful man requires that you need not only a job, but to finish school, then I swear to see through it that you finish school" said Aqua.
"Now while it's gonna be hard and probably unfair at times for the both of us, if you swear to finish at least high school for us, you'll still be given a fair amount of opportunities for promotions and what not" said Aqua.
"Besides, now that I think about it, I think some of the most famous people in this world don't even finish college, with even some of them finding success after dropping out of high school" said Aqua.
"Yeah well, unfortunately those guys were dealing with some kind of social problem, and had a special skill or talent to their advantage" said Kazuma.
"I mean you were a shut in NEET before all of this, plus you know how to manage money, so you can probably start some sort of financing company or find that one group of otaku kids who happen to be savants and start something" said Aqua as she got her husband to smile.
"Thanks for the word of confidence, however our classmates are pretty much normal, hell even the only 2 otaku kids are dating each other, so frankly speaking the only way I can get us anywhere in life is if I go to college and get a business degree" said Kazuma.
"I mean you could always take finishing school" said Aqua with optimism, "Yeah finishing school is meant for anyone to take anywhere as little as 24 days to at most an 8 week semester of learning specific skills to put into the field like elevator repair, engineering for maintain used cars, or how to handle explosives to work as a deconstruction engineer" said Kazuma.
"Ok now you're just being stubborn and grumpy since you know well enough that those jobs pay better than a shoe salesman" said Aqua as Kazuma sighed in defeat.
"Look Kazuma, you have to face the facts that you're family is either gone or turn their backs on you, but you're not alone, you've got me by your side" said Aqua as she scoot in to hug her husband.
"Which I'm grateful for, though I'd be more grateful if we didn't have to face the facts that we'll have to sell our things and live the rest of our senior year as cyber homeless" said Kazuma.
"We'll figure things out, now try to smile a little and eat dinner" said Aqua as she kissed Kazuma's cheek.
As they both continued to eat their dinner in silence, Kazuma was thinking of every possible way he can do to improve the lives and future for not only him, but Aqua.
Yes he's gonna have to part with his games, figurines, and anime, and just about any to every little, small thing in this house that carried no emotional attachment, but the money they'll earn can only be so much.
He knew he couldn't part with his ATV, and while they can't keep all their clothes, he and Aqua do need to carry enough for not only school, but work, and what little possible time they'll have for themselves to enjoy a moments of peace.
The more he thought about it, the more it stressed him out, and upset him as he slowly began to stop eating and began to brood, and would have to throughout the night if not for destiny interfering.
Hearing a knock on the door, Aqua went to check who it was, leaving Kazuma alone to think.
"Ozu and Ozu's mom, what are you guys doing here at this hour" asked Aqua, "Hey Aqua, is it cool if we come in and chat with you and Kazuma" said Ozu.
"Yeah, please come in" said Aqua as he lead them 2 inside as Kazuma snapped from his stupor to greet them.
"Ozu, hey welcome" said Kazuma, "Hey Kazuma, me and my mom got worried since you both left after, well you know" said Ozu awkwardly not trying to bring up the tense will reading.
"Yeah, sorry man, I just had to go and clear my head, it's been long day" said Kazuma, "No need to apologize young Satou, for we understand and are empathetic enough to see how you reacted" said Kyoko.
"Now before we continue to talk, allow me to introduce you both, my name is Ryu Kyoko, the daughter of Ryu Yusuke, and of course the mother of my son Ryu Ozuburo" said Kyoko with a bow.
"Please, no need to be so formal, honestly we're trespassing on your fathers land at this point, so I feel like I should be apologizing and bowing before you" said Kazuma.
"I'll let it slide this time since you're more than welcome to stay here until you've find a place of your own" said Kyoko, "That's very generous of you, but I feel like I should talk things out with Yusuke, before me and Aqua decide to stay here" said Kazuma.
"Already manning up and wanting to talk to my father as an adult, I respect that from you young Satou, however I'm personal curious to know if it's because your grandfather taught you well, or if you have ulterior motives" said Kyoko.
"Mom, you're being rude" said Ozu, "Hush now child, you might be friends, but still he was raised by Kazama's less then desirable son" said Kyoko.
"If you're insinuating that I'm like my father, then I'll tell you this now, I'm not" said Kazuma, "Words, can only do so much, what about your actions" said Kyoko.
"I'm not afraid of doing hard work to make ends meet, especially if it means to provide a living for me and my wife, and I'll admit if an easy opportunity crosses my path I'll take it, but not at the cost of taking advantage of what little people I have to depend on as my friends, cause hear me out when I say I don't intend to abuse my trust with your dad, much less your son, so if you have no reason to trust me, then by all means, give me and my wife a few hours to pack our things and we'll be out" said Kazuma.
Hearing this left an impressive smile on Kyoko's face as she saw something in Kazuma that his father lacked, honor, principle, and true grit, something that many men, much less people in today's society carry.
"Very well Satou Kazuma, you've impressed me today, now I think it be best if we should be going, all of us" said Kyoko as she lead them all outside to be sitting in back seat of her limousine.
As the driving began to take them away, Kyoko pressed a button to pop out a stand along with some alcohol to drink on the road.
"Ozu, please pour me and our guest something to drink" said Kyoko as Ozu did as he was told as Kyoko pulled out some a folder with some papers in it.
"I'm sure you're smart to pick this up, but your father and I had some history growing up" began Kyoko as she began to line some papers on the stand.
"I'll admit I have dated him for a while, since he had this big ambition, big ideas, and desires to wanting to live a life only few men have been able to achieve, however as we got older, the more his flaws began to show" said Kyoko.
"His ambition became and obsession, he became possessive of me to an extent, even in front of our father, and honestly if it wasn't for your grandfather, you father would have wiped out my clan entirely, just for his own personal monetary gain" said Kyoko.
"Honestly a part of me still holds out that there was still some good in him, some shed of the man that I once loved was still in him, but after what I saw today, I know that he's not the same man, he's a corporate try hard slave and the picture definition of a subhuman being at it's worst" said Kyoko as her emotions were starting to show under her calm composure.
"Forgive me, like you said, it's been a long night" said Kyoko, "It's alright, I'm just sorry to know that the pain my father had caused for you" said Kazuma.
"You have nothing to apologize for, you're already more of man than he is" said Kyoko.
"Now, let's get down to business, I know from where you're sitting at, your grandfather leaving you out of the will, may be a mistake or worse you believed in the words of what your father said was true. Well let me put your minds at ease and tell you both that this was a part of his plan" said Kyoko.
"You see, you're grandfather talked to my father as to this last minute plan he had saved since he feared that should he leave you the house or beach house, your father wouldn't think twice to try and sue you out of it, and while I'm more than willing to go to court for you, we figured it be to tine consuming and resources would be wasted for something we could have thought of a better alternative for" said Kyoko.
"And that's when your grandfather decided to leave you a secret trust wired to your name, and your name only, so let me first hand this to you" said Kyoko as she handed the recent containing the account information of his inheritance of 6.9 million yen.
Eyes going wide to see how much was left to his name, Kazuma was already thinking about the possibilities of getting him and Aqua a nice studio apartment for the next few months, at least until they finish up school.
"Wow, oh my god thanks" said Kyoko, "No thanks is needed, I'm just doing my job, and while I can help set you both up a nice apartment somewhere in town, I have a better offer" said Kyoko getting the duo's attention.
"Like I said, Satou Kazuma, your father and I were dating for some time, and about some time before our inevitable break up, I've had long invested in a house for us to live in closer into town a long time ago" said Kyoko as their ride came to a stop.
Getting out of the limo, the group stood outside a large 2 story house, with it's own brick gated wall with a yard, and a drive way for up to 2 cars.
"This house has a total of 5 bedrooms, including a master bedroom, 2 bathrooms, and large kitchen, a front yard and backyard, an attic, a basement, and a garage to store up to 2 additional vehicles, and it's all yours" said Kyoko.
"I'm sorry, what" asked Kazuma in disbelief, "You heard me, it's all yours young man, once we've finalized and sign the papers, this house will belong to you, under your name" said Kyoko.
"Look, as grateful as I am, I can't accept this, at least not without paying for it" said Kazuma, "This house has been collecting dust in this town for a long time now, so the fact we'll finally put it to use is good enough payment as is, besides my son took a lot of convincing to let me give this to you for free" said Kyoko as Aqua and Kazuma turned to Ozu.
"Ozu, you're really gonna give this house to us" asked Kazuma, "Well yeah, I just can't stand seeing my best friend out alone on the streets like that" said Ozu as Kazuma was feeling really touched right now.
"I don't even know what to say man, or how I'm ever going to repay you" said Kazuma, "You can start by saying thank you, and you're welcome" said Ozu as the 2 hugged it out.
"Now that everything is settled, a toast for the future of our beloved friends, the Satou's we loved" said Kyoko as everyone grabbed a glass and gave a cheer over the fact that what was thought to be a new obstacle Kazuma was ready to deal with, was quickly resolved, giving him a new found resolve to continue to walk the footsteps of his grandfather and become a better man like him.
And we're done and updated guys, thank you all so much for your continued support, really I appreciate it as I'll continue to update and write this till I feel like there's no more topics I want to address or talk about with you guys.
Which speaking of, there's a lot I want to break down and go in with you guys, but this time I won't, what I will tell you guys is that by the end of this week, I'll be leaving California for a few years and be relocating with my family out in Reno, for the sole purpose of working, but more importantly so I can finally get my literary degree, which I honestly need, since I consider myself a struggling artist as I continue to write and publish original stories for everyone, and hopefully, you guys to pick up and read, cause honestly working as a teacher while being a struggling artist sounds a lot better than being a deli boy who is struggling artist.
With that being said, I'm actually proud to announce that your Humble Narrator has been recommended to earn the Golden Plume Seal Award of Literary Excellence, more commonly known as the Golden Feather award to the general public, for my first 2 novels, which if you guys don't know, is called 'How I Saved Satan's Daughter in Another World', which is an original Isekai adventure, centered around a reborn immortal who died, went straight to hell, before being sent into another world to, as you guessed it, save Satan's youngest daughter.
So please if you're interested and want to support me, please pick and buy a copy, as I'm getting closer and closer to finishing up the 3rd entry to the series, before moving onto the 4th through 7th one, and even then their could be more titles to series depending how far I want to drag that tale along, since I've already got some of you, my personal humble followers reading it, so if you want to join the bandwagon, it's never too late.
Also foot note to that, to those of you who do or are planning to reading, please PM me and send me a personal review, cause your feedback is important if I want to make a successful carrier as a writer.
And that's all for now folk, so until next time, be safe, be good people, and please continue to support your local fandom communities.
This has been your Humble Narrator and official author Tobi Yaza.