Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Shichihana House.
It had only been a few hours since Shousuke returned to his house after the meeting with the clan head. Although his meeting was yesterday, he had remained in the Saegusa House due to the insistence from Takashi. By the time he had returned, Kaguya had already gone to school, which meant that he had to wait to tell her about the engagement talks.
As he was thinking about the best way to break the news to his daughter, Shousuke suddenly heard his mobile phone ring. A quick look at the screen let him see that it was Takashi, who was calling, which was not unusual among them. Therefore, he answered the phone.
"What is it, Takashi?" Since they were using an encrypted line for their personal communication, he was casual in addressing his superior.
"Sorry about the sudden call, Shousuke, but remember that engagement proposal I asked you about?" Shousuke had known Takashi for the better part of their thirty-five years of life and this was the first time that he had heard the Saegusa Patriarch sound so flabbergasted.
"Of course. Why? Did something happen?" Shousuke was curious.
"Well, looks like we might have to cancel that idea. Looks like we were a bit too slow in our approach."
"Someone else got to him then?"
"Yes. I have just received news from the Yotsuba."
"The Yotsuba?! You mean that the kid is engaged to one of the twins or is it someone else from their house?" Given the fact that the Yotsuba was the only clan in magical Japan that the Saegusa couldn't strongarm into doing something due to their similar political strength (Shousuke wasn't delusional enough to think that they stood a chance against them on the battlefield.) he could understand why Takashi wanted to cancel any engagement talks.
"It's much worse than you think, Shousuke. They just announced an engagement between Shiba Tatsuya and both of the Yotsuba Twins." Takashi sounded like he couldn't believe what he was saying.
"The What?!" Shousuke was genuinely shocked at the revelation. Although polygamy wasn't uncommon among magicians at a higher level due to the need to spread the genes, it was almost always done behind the scenes to keep up appearances. Although he was a monogamous man (mainly because he loved his wife and partly because she would murder him in his sleep if he ever had someone outside), many of his male colleagues had a few side pieces here and there. That said, a polygamous relationship, which was being made public was a rare occasion.
"I had the exact same reaction as you did. Apparently, the boy has some powerful 'genes' that are extremely compatible with the twins and the Yotsuba wants to maximize the benefit from such a union. Their words, not mine. I believe that there are other factors at play here but I am not exactly sure of what those are."
"What kind of genes does he have that the Yotsuba is willing to sacrifice all chances of establishing a potential alliance with any clan of their choosing?" Shousuke was confused. He had personally studied the file of Shiba Tatsuya and he wasn't sure what the Yotsuba was thinking. Although the boy was a certified genius and one of, if not the best combat magician of his generation at this moment, he had no connections whatsoever to speak of. His parents were normal civilians and the Shiba Clan had almost no influence to speak of. Then again, the Yotsuba probably didn't need any alliance to maintain their strength.
"I was wondering that as well. That said, Genzou-dono wouldn't do something that didn't benefit his clan in some way. We are simply unaware of what that benefit is." Takashi said.
"Did they inform anyone else?"
"I have been told that every Clan head of the Ten Master Clans as well as the Eighteen Assistant Houses have received the news directly from the Yotsuba. They seem to be in a rush to make the thing official." Takashi said.
"By the way, what about Koichi? How did he take this news?" Shousuke was aware of the Saegusa heir's unhealthy interest in the younger of the Yotsuba twins.
"I haven't told him yet. I will be having a talk with him regarding his obsession after this. It is about time that he grew up." Takashi said.
"Good luck, buddy. Since you are about to deal with a hormonal teenager, you will need it." Shousuke laughed before the call ended. All things said and done, the Yotsuba's matters were theirs, and no matter how much it weirded him out, he had no business in it.
In a luxurious hotel in Tokyo.
In a room that would not lose to any luxury hotel on the planet, a meeting was ongoing between two old men who had a considerable say in the political and military environment of Japan.
Akira Yamamoto was a man who many people described as a mentally tough person. He had risen to prominence in the Japanese political field during the golden age of modern magic and led his nation through the Third World War without any serious losses. As such, the man was respected throughout the entirety of the nation regardless of a person's political affiliation. If one were to assess Yamamoto's biggest strength as a politician, it would be that he was a man who knew how to remain truly neutral in the face of the various forces that struggled for supremacy in the nation. Since he was a neutral figure, he had no enemies and was constantly asked to be the moderator when disputes occurred between factions.
Although he was considered to be one of the highest-ranking officers in the Japanese military, a one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan was something that would normally be impossible for Lieutenant General Haruki Tanaka to pull off. The fact that this meeting was made possible at all, was because Tanaka knew Yamamoto personally.
"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Yamamoto-sama." Tanaka gave a bow.
"No need to stand on ceremony, Haruki. Take a seat." Yamamoto asked his subordinate.
"Thank you, Yamamoto-sama. I will try to not waste your time as much as possible. Before I begin, I must ask, Yamamoto-sama. Are you aware of the announcement made by the Yotsuba a few hours ago?"
"You mean the engagement between their daughters and the Shiba boy? Yes, I am aware."
"That makes it a lot easier for me. You see, ever since Dahan's invasion of our mainland had failed due to the intervention by the Ten Master Clans, I have always wondered why magic doesn't a prominent part in our military. Although we have several magicians in our ranks, we do not give any focus to developing magic for military uses. When I heard about the fact that the Shiba boy was being engaged to the Yotsuba princesses, I realized that as things stand, even if we have strong magicians rise from the civilian populace, the Master Clans or other Numbered Families would bring them into their fold, strengthening themselves in the process. Although I firmly believe that none of the Master Clans or the Families would work against the nation, I'm not too fond of having to rely solely on the Clans during incidents that use magic. The existence of rogue elements like Maheshwara also showed me just how unprepared we are when it comes to facing magic."
"I can see where you are going with this but continue. " Yamamoto said.
"As such, I wanted to propose a new section for the army, which will be solely focused on developing and using magic for territory defense and other military uses. " Tanaka said.
"I see." Yamamoto sighed. "And how do the others feel about this?"
"I have only asked Chief Yoshida about this and he was positive about it. " Tanaka said truthfully.
"I see. I can understand what you want to accomplish, Haruki. The problem is that depending on the person, the Master Clan Conference might take this as an attempt at weakening their strength in the military. After all, as things stand, we are dependent on them for protection from magic-based attacks."
"I know. Therefore, I was thinking about establishing an experimental force to test the potential of the idea. However, I would need your support for it, Yamamoto-sama."
"I see. It is indeed an idea that merits further discussion. I will discuss it with a few friends of mine before informing you. I don't disagree with your opinion but we can't say that everyone else would be the same." Yamamoto said after which the meeting was adjourned.
The Yotsuba Old House.
Inside the uninhabited mansion of the Yotsuba family, yet another meeting was underway. Ayame had been asked to meet with the members of the Senate on short notice and given the fact that she was in Chiba for some personal purposes, she had given this location to the members of the Senate.
"I believe that you are already aware of the reason why this meeting was called, Yotsuba-dono." As an elder of the Senate, Kashiwa Kazutaka was a person who rarely participated in meetings personally. The fact that he had made an appearance showed that the Senate considered the matter to be important. Although Aoba was the sponsor of the Yotsuba in the Senate, he was currently absent.
"It is about the engagement announcement, right?" Ayame was calm.
"Exactly. We would like to know the Yotsuba's reasoning behind taking such a bold decision. After all, the previous prediction was that Maya-san would marry into one of the other Master Clans to strengthen the ties between the Clans."
"Well, the situation has changed a lot. Maya's growth as a magician is way too good for us to give her away to another family regardless of the potential benefit. As for why such a decision was taken, it was mainly because both my granddaughters love the boy and weren't willing to back down from the relationship." Ayame said calmly.
"You mean to tell me that the Yotsuba made this decision which has way too many negatives and almost no positives, just because of the feelings of the girls?" Senator Kashiwa was flabbergasted, to say the least.
"Exactly." Ayame smirked internally at the 'not many positives' bit. If only they knew the truth. "The Yotsuba have always adopted a Family First policy and this matter is not an exception."
"I see. I suppose that is understandable. I will inform the rest of the Senate regarding the matter." Kashiwa said.
"Just like that? I thought the Senate would oppose the decision a bit more." Ayame was a bit curious.
"Well, The Senate is fully aware of the strength of the Yotsuba and we do not want to meddle in your affairs any more than necessary. This meeting was only held because none of us could understand the reasoning behind your decision. Now that you have clarified the matter, there is no need for us to pry any longer." Senator Kashiwa was well aware of the militaristic might of the Yotsuba. As much as the Senate represented the majority of the Japanese underworld, even they didn't want to antagonize the Yotsuba for no reason.
"That's great. It was good meeting you again, Senator Kashiwa."
"Likewise, Yotsuba-dono. I will take my leave now." He said before leaving.
Saegusa Koichi's residence, Nishinomiya, Hyogo.
"Good evening, Chichi-ue. What might be the reason behind this sudden visit?" When he returned home from school, Saegusa Koichi had been informed that his father had been waiting for him. This confused Koichi as his father was a very busy man and rarely had time to visit family members outside Kanto.
"I just wanted to visit my son, is that not reason enough?" Takashi jokingly said. "That said, I do have a reason for this visit. All of you, please leave this room and activate the privacy spells, what we are about to discuss is a very private matter." Takashi instructed the servants who were standing by in the living room. They quickly made their way out of the room and soon after, a spell was activated, which covered the entire room.
"What happened, Chichi-ue?" Koichi asked. His father was a person that did everything with a goal in mind.
"There is a matter that I need to discuss with you. It's about your unhealthy obsession with the Yotsuba girl." Takashi said.
"Chichi-ue, I am not obsessed with Maya. I don't know what you are talking about." Koichi was defensive in an instant.
"Koichi, you cannot hide these things from me. I am already aware of this fact. However, I have come to tell you that it is about time that you stopped. It certainly isn't healthy for you to be obsessed over a failed relationship and after the recent developments, it would be bad for our relations with the Yotsuba if you continue with it. Also, it is about time that you accept the fact that you screwed up during that time. That is the only way for you to grow as a person. " Takashi said. He tried to be as gentle as possible.
"What happened?" Koichi didn't like what his father was telling him so he decided to focus on the first part of the statement.
"Yotsuba Maya's engagement has just been announced." Takashi dropped the news on his son.
"With whom?" Koichi was unnaturally calm.
"The Shiba boy. You know him, right?" Takashi said.
"I see. " Koichi said calmly. "I promise that I will stop obsessing over Maya, Chichi-ue." He said in a monotone voice.
"That's great." Although Takashi did not believe his son's words, he chose to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, his son wasn't stupid and could understand the problems with antagonizing the Yotsuba very well. What he didn't see was the obsessive madness in Koichi's eyes which was carefully hidden behind a mask of indifference.
Since he had visited his son, Takashi decided to spend the rest of the day with Koichi before leaving the next morning. As soon as he left, Koichi took a phone from the house which was different from the one that he normally used before making a call.
"Hello?" The voice at the other end of the phone was quite gruff and sounded like it belonged to a middle-aged man.
"Kenshin-san, It's me, Koichi."
"Ah, the young master. How can I help you today?" Shichijou Kenshin was a distant relative of the Saegusa Clan. He was the one who was in charge of disposing of any threat to the clan by any means necessary. As the future heir to the Saegusa, Koichi had been introduced to the man when he was thirteen and they shared a good relationship.
"I want you to take care of someone for me, Kenshin-san. However, my father must not know about this at all costs." Koichi said.
"Ho?! You are asking me to keep it from the master? Is it a personal matter then?" Kenshin was used to doing the dirty work of the clan. Oftentimes, this meant that he had to keep many secrets from the other members even if it was the clan head. However, the only rule that he had regarding work was that he would not hurt any family member under any circumstance and he had been successful in upholding this rule.
"Yes. However, the opponent's connections are a bit too risky for us to take action directly. I want you to do it in a manner that does not leave any evidence of our involvement." Koichi said. Even he knew the potential consequences of his actions.
"I will take the utmost care, young master. Now can you tell me who I am supposed to take care of?" Due to the nature of his job, Kenshin had connections with almost all the hitman organizations in Japan. Koichi's request wasn't beyond his ability.
"The target's name is Shiba Tatsuya. He is a civilian mage, sixteen years old. He also happens to be the fiancée to Yotsuba Maya." Koichi said.
"Hold up! You want me to assassinate the Yotsuba's son-in-law?! With all due respect, young master, are you out of your fucking mind?! Do you realize the repercussions of such an incident? One wrong step and we go to war with the fucking Yotsuba!" There were very little that scared Kenshin and the Yotsuba was one of them. He had first-hand experience on how dangerous the clan of demons can get when pissed off. After all, he had personally witnessed Yotsuba Motosuke ripping the heart out of a living man and crushing it in his hand. A war with the Yotsuba was the last thing he needed.
"That is why I am asking you to do it discreetly without leaving any trace. Although Shiba is a good magician, he is still a civilian at most. He does not have the security of a Clan magician around him. It would be easy to pull off. Also, if you manage to do it for me, I will guarantee you that Kenzo-kun will be my right-hand man as soon as I take over the clan head's position." Koichi tried his last-ditch effort.
"Are you trying to bribe me, young master? However, I must say that the prospect is enticing." The Shichijou was one of the weakest in the Saegusa Branch clans when it came to influence within the family. The dark nature of their work meant that the rest of the clan tended to avoid them during gatherings. The prospect of his son becoming an influential figure in the clan was enticing to Kenshin due to this reason. "Fine, I will do it. Please destroy this phone that you are using as soon as this call is over. We have never talked to each other at all. Is that understood, young master?"
"Of course." Koichi hung up the phone before destroying it using his magic. Although he had sentenced a young boy his age to death, he felt no remorse for his actions. After all, all is fair in love and war, isn't it?
That's it for today. The update is a bit late I know but I recently realized that due to the nature of this fic, I have to create a shit ton of OCs for every important position in the original series. I have been busy building family trees for all the Master Clans as well as learning about the Yotsuba Family structure. For some reason, Ayame's two brothers have children that are Miya and Maya's age which skipped a generation, which is weird, to say the least.
As for the impact of the announcement, I have realized that because only the Yotsuba are truly aware of the depth of Tatsuya's skills as an engineer, for the rest of the clans, he was a good prospect that joined a big clan which would kill their interest. After all, the Tournament is just a kid's competition and everyone knows that many of the clan kids couldn't use their signature spells due to the danger levels. Therefore, a huge reaction would be OOC for the moment. The polygamy is more interesting than the fact that Tatsuya got stuck in it.
Anyways, I will see you soon with another chapter.
P.S. This chapter was a pain in the butt to write due to a lack of good idea for it as it was originally supposed to be a part of Chapter 22.