Disclaimer: I don't own anything
For Tatsuya, the announcement of the engagement didn't change much about his daily life. Although the stares that he gets from the student body had gotten worse, it didn't really affect him. For the most part, everything was peaceful especially with the student body starting to focus more on their studies.
The weekend arrived as usual and it was time for Tatsuya to make good on his agreement with the Ichihana Clan. The chauffeur arrived early in the morning and Tatsuya made his way to the clan's house. The atmosphere of the Ichihana clan was completely different from the previous time Tatsuya had visited them. There were a lot of people around and he could see a few children running around in the premises.
"Welcome, Shiba-dono. Congratulations on your engagement." As soon as he exited the car, he was greeted by a group of people headed by Ichihana Shuuzou himself.
"Thank you, Ichihana-dono. I believe everyone is here, am I right?" Tatsuya greeted him politely.
"Of course. Every member of the Ichihana Family, from both the main and side branches, is present here."
"Good."
"The lab is this way. We have assembled all of our Engineers there." Shuuzou said. Tatsuya gestured him to lead the way and he followed the man to a building which was separate from the main house.
When he entered the lab, which was pretty barren compared to the ones that he was used to, there was a group of fifteen people who were performing some adjustments to the CAD Tuners that were present in the room.
"Kousei-san, this is Shiba-dono, the person that I talked to you about. Shiba-dono, this is Tomita Kousei-dono, our chief magical engineer." Shuuzou introduced a man who was clearly the oldest person among the group of engineers.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Shiba-dono. I have watched your matches during that tournament and I must say that it was a novel experience to see such finely crafted spells being used." Tomita Kousei was a member of the Tomita family which was a part of the Hundred Families. That said, his family wasn't very high up in the hierarchy among the Hundred which was why he found himself employed under the Ichihana clan. Originally, he didn't have much hope for keeping this job as the Ichihana clan was in a clear downward spiral but that had changed due to the boy in front of him. Yousei was one of the very few people that Ichihana Yuuzou trusted enough to let him examine his CAD and he had been astonished at the work done to it. As an engineer first, Yousei had no qualms to admit that Tatsuya completely outclassed him when it came to being a magic engineer.
"The pleasure's all mine. I believe that Ichihana-dono has informed you about what we are going to do today, am I right?"
"You will restructure the CAD OS and the spells used by the clan to be more efficient and we will implement it into the devices after making adjustments based on the personal parameters of the family members. Is that correct?"
"Exactly. Let's not waste any time and get right into business." Tatsuya said before he was guided to a supercomputer that was used to adjust CAD software.
Tatsuya knew that the Ichihana Clan's CADs were severely lacking when it came to performance but he had grossly underestimated the extent to which the software itself was cluttered. Within an hour of work, Tatsuya managed to nearly double the operation efficiency of the OS itself which spoke volumes about how badly tuned it was. Then again, he couldn't blame these engineers for the problems as the OS was probably manufactured by a specialized company, and the problems were hidden in a way that would be impossible to discover at their level of skill. Tatsuya's end goal was to make the OS itself good enough for low-tier A-Class magicians of his time which meant that he had a lot of work to do still. By the four-hour mark, he had managed to completely rewrite the OS to perform at an acceptable level.
Due to his growing experience in creating new OS software for CADs, Tatsuya was able to make an OS that would work with both Generalized and Specialized CADs. After it was finished, he decided to take a break as working any longer would appear unnatural to those viewing. When he sat up from his seat and turned to face the others in the room, he was greeted by faces that looked like they had seen something strange.
"Is there any problem?" Tatsuya asked, not knowing what caused them to be so flustered.
"Nothing." Kousei was the first to recover. "I was just thinking about how unfair life is." He joked.
"I see."
"By the way Tomita-dono, can I assume that you are a part of the Tomita Clan in the Hundred Families?" Currently, Tatsuya is resting after he is finished with the CAD OS. The other engineers in the group were installing the OS onto the CADs of the members of the Ichihana Clan. Tatsuya had made sure that every CAD in the group had enough hardware specs to handle the new OS before he had given them the green light to go through with the installation. Shuuzou had asked him to take a rest and eat lunch before continuing which was why he was having a conversation with Kousei.
"You are right, Shiba-dono. My current clan head of the Tomita Clan is my uncle from my mother's side." Kousei said.
"Can I ask you why you are working for the Ichihana? I would presume that a man of your experience and skills would play a significant role in your family's affairs. No offense, of course, Ichihana-dono."
"None taken, Shiba-dono." Shuuzou laughed.
"Well, if I am being honest, our family is only a member of the Hundred Families in name only. Most of our wealth has been long gone by the time my uncle became clan head. He tried his best to revive the family but it isn't going very well. So, there wasn't any opportunity for me in our clan." Kousei didn't hide this information as he was aware of the fact that Tatsuya was the future son-in-law to the Yotsuba and could find this information in a heartbeat if he wanted to.
"I see." Tatsuya had nothing else to say. The Tomita Clan were still around in his previous life which meant that they had managed to survive but the truth was that they were barely holding on to their position at the time. The Tomita were considered to be one of the bottom five clans in the Hundred, slightly above the Ichihana who had lost their number and became the Ichihara Clan.
"Here's the food, Shiba-dono. " Shuuzou said as a group of butlers and maids brought plates of food to their makeshift dining table outside the lab. Compared to the lunch that he was used to eating, the food provided by the Ichihana was undeniably tasty. Tatsuya was no foodie, having preferred to eat nutritious food over taste in his previous life but even he could agree that the food given to him was tasty.
"I suppose we should get to handling the spells now." An hour had passed since lunch and Tatsuya felt that it was time to return to work.
Compared to rewriting CAD software, improving Magic spells was far easier for him to do. After all, there wasn't a single person on the planet who knew Magic Sequences and Activation Sequences better than him. Although the Ichihana had more than sixty spells in their arsenal, it took Tatsuya less time to rework those spells than it took him to rework the OS.
"That is all. " Tatsuya said as he finished the final spell. All of the spells were rewritten to work with the least possible number of characters in the Magic and Activation Sequences. "My work is done, Ichihana-dono. The rest is up to your engineers." He informed the Ichihana Clan Head.
"Thank you, Shiba-dono. The payment will be made to your account soon." Shuuzou informed him.
"If there isn't anything else, I would like to leave before it is too late. After all, I have to attend school tomorrow." Tatsuya said.
"Of course, Shiba-dono. " Shuuzou said before he asked the servant that had driven him here to escort him back. In nine hours, Tatsuya had managed to completely rewrite the future of the Ichihana clan. The hundred million yen that was credited to his bank account after another hour was just icing on the cake.
Tatsuya wasn't one of those people that disliked Mondays. He worked at a hundred percent efficiency regardless of the date or time. That said, the general atmosphere at First High on Monday morning was undeniably drab. Tatsuya greeted a few students that greeted him as he entered the school building as he made his way to the classroom. A larger portion of the student body had started to give him a respectful distance after the tournament had concluded and this number had increased further after the engagement was announced. Whether it was out of respect or fear was something that he couldn't figure out.
"Good morning prez." As Tatsuya entered the classroom, he was greeted by a familiar figure. Tatsuya's relationship with Naruse Benio was something that bordered between being acquaintances and friends. He wasn't as close to her he was to Suzume but they were closer than most. Thus, he was able to recognize the fact that Benio looked wearier than usual with a few dark spots under her eye which indicated a lack of sleep or stress.
"Good morning, Naruse-san. Did something happen? You aren't looking well." Tatsuya asked to which Benio just sighed.
"It's nothing, Prez, just some family matters. " Benio said.
"I see. If there is something I can do to help, please feel free to say so." Tatsuya said this out of courtesy more than anything. As far as he knew, Benio came from a family that, while relatively influential in small parts of the Kanto region, was not a part of the Numbered Families. There wasn't much he could do to help her without going out of his way to do it.
"Thank you." Benio's reply indicated that she didn't want to involve him in the matter. "Can I ask you something, Prez?" Benio's mood was a bit different now.
"Sure."
"Do you think that strong magicians should ignore their personal feelings and do their duties regarding siring the next generation of magicians? I mean, should a magician marry someone that they aren't interested in at all simply to have children that may become stronger than them?"
"Well, I can't speak for anyone else but I feel that one should not have children simply because they have to have them." After all, Tatsuya was a product of such a union in his previous life and it wasn't a beneficial situation for anyone involved. Tatsurou had been forcibly separated from Sayuri and as such, he couldn't find it within himself to love Miya and Miya never loved her husband. By the time Tatsurou had been freed from the Yotsuba, his better years had long been gone and both he and Sayuri were simply trying to salvage what remained of their relationship.
"Right? My parents can't seem to understand this at all." Benio complained.
"I presume that they are trying to get you engaged to someone?" It didn't take a genius to figure out Benio's issue.
"Yes. The guy is from a family that is part of the Hundred and my family is going crazy at the idea. I don't want to marry someone out of convenience. I want to marry someone I love." She was rambling a bit at this point.
"Well, good luck, I guess." While he wasn't fully knowledgeable about the situation, Tatsuya did know that the Benio of his timeline married Kitayama Ushio quite late due to complications involved in the marriage between a magician and a non-magician. Therefore, he knew that she had the willpower to pull it off.
"Thanks."
"What are you guys talking about?" Although Tatsuya was engaged in the conversation with Benio, he was still monitoring his surroundings through the Elemental Sight. After all, he was now someone who was going to be a part of the Yotsuba and there was a chance that someone might do something stupid to try and prevent it. Therefore, he wasn't surprised when a joyful Maya jumped between them. Miya was following closely.
"Nothing really. " Tatsuya said. "We were simply talking about whether a magician should go through their duty if it means sacrificing their personal happiness."
"That's a deep conversation to have for no reason. Did something happen?" Miya inquired.
Since it wasn't his place to speak about Benio's circumstances, Tatsuya stayed silent.
"Well, my family is trying to get me engaged to a guy from one of the Hundred Families and I don't like that. So, I just wanted to ask the Prez's opinion on the matter." Benio replied.
"And what did Tatsuya say?" Maya was curious.
"I said that one should not have children simply because they have to have them. " Tatsuya said calmly.
"That's a bit too hypocritical coming from you, Tatsuya. After all, you managed to get yourself engaged to not one but two beautiful girls just because you have good genes." Maya joked to which he gave her the deadpan stare he could muster. "I'm kidding." Maya laughed.
"In any case, it's better to go with your own feelings when it comes to matters like this. " Miya said.
"Thank you, Miya-san." Benio said before she went back to her seat in the classroom.
"I guess civilian families do take their political marriages very seriously. " Miya said as she sat down on the seat on his right. After the announcement regarding their engagement was made public, the twins had quite literally forced him to change his seat in the back corner of the class to a middle one just so that they could sit near him.
"Is that not the case for the Numbered Families as well?" Tatsuya was curious. Even in his previous life, clan politics was something that he had no role in aside from eliminating some enemies.
"Well, in our case, these arranged marriages aren't considered mandatory and oftentimes, the engagements only go through if both parties consent. Most of the children of the Numbered Families are acquainted from childhood so it isn't like the engagements are made with complete strangers. If one of the parties involved doesn't like the idea, the whole affair is usually scrapped and no one takes offense. In the case of these civilian families, most of the time they are trying to climb the ladder of influence and don't really care about the feelings involved." Miya explained.
"I see."
In an unknown location.
"It's good to see you lot again." In a room that was shrouded by darkness, Shichijou Kenshin was sitting in front of a group of people who were all hidden from plain sight by some sort of darkness.
"What can The Table do for you this time, Shichijou-san?" The Table was an organization that was comprised of the best assassins that operated within Japan. As someone who had a long history with the group, Kenshin was a respected figure among them.
"I have another job for you. " Kenshin said. The reason he specifically chose The Table for his purpose and did not hire someone himself was due to the way the Table operated. Even though he was the one asking them to carry out a hit, the person who will be tasked with the job will never know that it was him and he will never know who carried out the hit. Therefore, the chance of someone tracing it back to him was non-existent. As for the figures sitting in the room, Kenshin knew them well enough to say that they would never rat him out. After all, The Table valued professionalism more than anything.
"Who is it this time?"
"Shiba Tatsuya, the newly announced future son-in-law of the Yotsuba. " Kenshin said to which he was greeted with an uncomfortable silence.
"The Yotsuba? Are you sure that you want to go through with this?" One of the figures asked. Although The Table did not fear the Yotsuba like many others did, messing with them was something they tried to avoid. After all, a pissed-off clan of demons was something that could threaten even the strongest of organizations.
"Yes. " Kenshin said.
"I see." The figure sighed. "This will cost you, a lot."
"I am aware of that. We will be willing to pay Two Billion Yen to get it done." Although this price was a bit too extreme for a 16-year-old boy, given the circumstances, it was a fair price.
"That is certainly acceptable." Transfer the funds to the channels and it will be done as soon as possible." The mysterious figure said. The way the Table worked was that the ones pulling the hit off would transfer the funds to a hidden channel that the Table would hold on to until the job was done. After that, the money would be transferred to the hitman's account in an untraceable manner after deducting a ten percent commission. Given the amount of money he was offering, Kenshin knew that The Table would be sending one of their best for the job.
"Good day to you." Given that he had accomplished what he came to do, Kenshin left the room as none of the Table members liked pointless chats. All he had to do now was to wait for the good news.
"What do you guys think about this job?" Once Kenshin left the building, one of the members of the Table asked.
"It's certainly a lot of money. However, whoever pulls it off will have to leave the field for a while and go into hiding due to the other party's identity. Hell, they will probably never be able to return to Japan." Another member said.
"Do we know who is going to do this?" One member asked.
"I would have said John but he has retired and left for the USNA."
"Even if he was here, John wouldn't take out a kid that hasn't done anything wrong for any amount of money."
"Just issue it on the channel and let anyone who wants it take it. After all, it isn't that hard to pull off given the fact that the kid doesn't have a Yotsuba-level security around him, yet."
"I agree."
"So do I."
"I suppose that will be it. We will issue the job like normal and anyone who wants it can take it." With that, the Table's meeting was adjourned.
Hello there. I know that it has been like two weeks since the last update but what can I say? Real life has been complicated over the past few weeks with a lot of work coming my way due to the impending end of the Financial year. Handling accounts with 8-digit balances is not a good boost for creativity. Especially when one wrong move can cause a lot of issues. Hell, I couldn't even write this chapter when I tried to many times before.
That said, the good thing is that Fuujin is back which means that Second Chances will probably be updated soon. I am patiently waiting for that day. That said, thank you to all of you for your continued support and I hope this chapter was up to quality.
As an apology for being late, here is a little side story about the original timeline after the events of this story started.
Side Story 1.
"How is she, doctor?" Anyone who knew who Maya Yotsuba was, personally or through the stories about her exploits, knew that the Yotsuba Matriarch was a person who cared very little about other people's lives unless it benefitted her in some manner. Therefore, the fact that she sounded so concerned at the moment was weird.
"She is fine. She just fainted due to Gate overloading her Magic Calculation Area for some reason. She will be fine after a while." The old doctor who stood in front of Maya was one who had been with the Yotsuba for more than forty years now. Therefore, he was one of the few people who didn't outright fear the Yotsuba Matriarch.
"I see. What about him?"
"There's no luck. He is unfortunately dead. His body has completely stopped working." The old doctor said with gloom in his voice to which Maya did not respond.
You see, Maya's predicament started when she heard the news that both her niece and nephew had collapsed during a Monolith Code match between the rookies of First High and Third High after the Ichijou Clan's heir had hit Tatsuya with an A-Rank lethal spell. Maya had originally scoffed at the news as it was impossible to even scratch Tatsuya with such low-level spells. But the news persisted and she had to make an appearance after neither of them gained consciousness after an hour.
"What do you mean that he is dead, doctor? You of all people should know that it is impossible to kill Tatsuya with such a lowly attack." Maya asked. After all, the doctor was around when Miya had been experimenting on Tatsuya and he knew the ridiculous extent to which Regrowth worked.
"That's the issue, Maya-dono. His physical body is in a pristine condition which indicates that Regrowth worked as intended but his mind is no longer in that body. It's nothing more than an empty shell. I have confirmed this with the help of Yume-dono."
"I see." Maya was honestly speechless. She had always regarded Tatsuya as a product of her wish to destroy the world and to hear that he was gone was something that she couldn't register properly.
"Sensei!' One of the doctor's assistants ran into the room.
"What is it?"
"Miyuki-chan is awake." The assistant informed.
"Really?!" The doctor said before he ran out of the room with his assistant. Maya slowly followed behind them, contemplating something.
As she entered the room, Maya came face to face with a frantic Miyuki that looked like she was looking for something.
"Is something wrong, Miyuki-san?" Maya asked calmly.
"Oba-ue? Have you seen Onii-sama? I can't feel his presence anywhere and his Elemental Sight is not on me. Gate is no longer active as well." Maya knew that the girl had a healthy dose of fear for her yet she managed to fire these questions at her which showed just how shaken the girl was.
"I believe that I have bad news for you, Miyuki-san. Tatsuya-san is dead." Maya dropped the bomb on her niece.
"You must be joking, Oba-ue. No one can hurt Onii-sama." Miyuki managed to say. However, Maya's solemn stare brought the girl back to reality after a while and she did something that Maya had expected her to do. She fainted. Although Tatsuya was gone, Maya knew that with enough work, she could turn Miyuki into a respectable heir to the clan. That, however, was going to take time.
On that night, Maya could not go to sleep peacefully. All her plans regarding the future had been ruined and she needed to find new ones. However, for the first time since she was fourteen, Maya did not have nightmares as she fell asleep. Instead, she was greeted with visions of a world where the tragedy that befell her was avoided due to intervention from an obscure figure that she somehow recognized yet couldn't identify. She saw a world where she lived happily with her sister and this shadowy figure, without a care in the world. For the first time in a long while, Yotsuba Maya slept peacefully without the phantoms of her messed up past haunting her.