章 24: Resolve
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True enmity was born between Kazuya and Lee the moment Mei was taken away from him. This was the main reason why Kazuya had no problems using Lee as a scapegoat for anything that could be applied. He didn't care how much he was bullied or shamed by that so-called brother of his. He was an amnesiac and assumed everything bad Lee had done to him in his first life was because of a conflict they never resolved before he lost his memory.
Kyouko and Mei shared a special relationship. Unlike every other person in her life, Mei treated Kyouko as a benefactor and a friend. A friend that gave her the chance to prove and display her capabilities. In the world where majority of high paying jobs had little to do with actual capability but rather how much time and money was spent in attending universities, Mei was at a disadvantage.
Because of Kyouko, she was now standing where she was rather than still working her way through a school she could afford only to acquire a regular low paying job at some small company. How could Mei let her down after being given such a chance despite the obvious risks.
Mei on the other hand was a capable and honest friend that Kyouko depended on. When the Kouzuki Corporation experienced trouble due to her fall out with the Kuroganes, she couldn't find someone to trust. That was when she met an honest and clever girl who was very much like her when she was younger.
Unlike those who would always agree with her, Mei would always do the opposite if she could find a reason to. Her fame and position made it hard to find someone like that, especially someone who was very capable at the same time. The only major flaw that Kyouko found on her trusty assistant was when this girl was introduced to her son.
Kazuya of course has no knowledge of this. He normally would have been curious but because of the various experiences he already had together with his old memories he had ingrained in his soul, he felt like he didn't really need to.
What made him so convinced at this conclusion was that Lee never showed up voluntarily in front of him again to cause trouble in his past life. He always assumed that Lee got bored of him not caring about being bullied. Now, Kazuya realized the truth of what likely was the cause of why he was abandoned.
It coincided with the time Lee changed. Kazuya was no longer a toy to be played around with after he was left to fend off on his own. After meeting Mei as she was now, it was apparent that it was indeed what had happened.
Although this was good to lighten Kazuya's mental burdens, Lee was now in trouble. He was now considered as one of the targets that needed to be dealt with.
"Remember this, I would rather die or go through hell than let someone sacrifice themselves for me like that" he looked deep into Mei's eyes. He didn't need to wait for her to answer his previous question.
"I-I understand…" Mei looked down and stuttered.
"(You dare call yourself big sis now?)" Kyouko rolled her eyes at her assistant as she found this amusing. Her son made this overbearing assistant of hers behave like a little girl.
"Now then, please get some rest"
"That's our line Kazuya. Don't think that you can get rid of us that easy. We're staying until the doctor can tell us about your condition" Kyouko crossed her arms.
"Fine… Then just maintain that distance to be safe"
He remained still. Even moving caused him pain and talking with them made him consume energy. Because Mei, who was supporting him earlier left, he didn't have enough strength to prevent himself from leaning backwards. He fell on his back but was still able to hold on to the blanket enveloping his body.
"Kazu!" he fell flat on his back.
"I'm fine… just felt like laying down for a bit"
"That is a lie. You don't even have enough energy to keep yourself from falling" Kyouko ignored his protests and carried him to his bed. "We'll wait outside for the doctor's arrival so stay in bed and behave"
Both women went to their rooms and changed into more comfortable clothes. The doctor who arrived wasted no time and went to examine Kazuya who he had not met since he was discharged. This was one of the doctors that took care of him when he was hospitalized. He asked everyone to wait for him outside the room.
"I didn't expect to see you this soon young man" the doctor spoke.
"Hello doctor. I would have also wanted us to meet under better circumstances. Sorry for the trouble"
After a series of tests, the old man's eyebrows furrowed. He asked a lot of questions including how he has been after he got discharged and if he had recovered any memories. A diagnosis was made after that and to make it simple, Kazuya was in terrible condition. It was surprising that he was even conscious and talking to him.
"Tell me young man, why don't you want to be admitted to a hospital"
"I know it looks bad doctor but please believe me when I say that I'll be fine after I get some rest. I overworked myself too much because I found out that mom and big sis are leaving for a trip so I'm…" he explained what he was up to and added a couple of more details, including the upcoming tournament.
"So that's why you're intent on staying home. They are lucky to have you. Such a thoughtful and talented boy like you" this was his honest opinion. He was really amazed at this young genius and how mature he thought at such a young age.
"I'm underserving of that praise. I've made them worry" Kazuya denied it because he knew that he was causing them to worry despite his good intentions.
"I will be honest. Your current condition makes me want to drag you to the hospital right now. I will refrain only if you promise not to continue overworking yourself, even if you're not able to complete your task. Their birthdays will come again next year and you wouldn't want them to spend it worried in the hospital, wouldn't you?"
"Doctor is wise. I will refrain from training until I am better (not like I have energy to spare for training anyway)" Kazuya politely replied.
"Good. Then I will leave you to rest" he silently wished for all children his age to be this sensible. He believed Kazuya would stay true to his word because of the maturity he showed.
"Thank you for your help doctor" Although he referred to his cooperation, the doctor didn't know this himself.
"Oh do you mind if I ask you a question? Which school did you transfer to?" he asked while packing up his things.
"Sacred Forest Academy. Is there something the matter?"
"Just curious. They have strong sports teams so I might be able to see the competition on television" He dimmed the lights and finally exited the room. Fujiyama led him to the living room where the two women were anxiously waiting for the news.
"How is Kazuya doctor?" Kyouko asked with obvious worry.
"I'll be honest, he is dehydrated, overworked, sleep deprived, his blood sugar is very low, experiencing a lot of bruising, muscle weakness and is extremely stressed" The doctor's interaction with Kazuya may have been very normal but he was really concerned.
"I-is really that bad? What do you think caused it?" Kyouko's hands trembled at the news.
"He just got discharged and was diagnosed with amnesia. It is causing him a lot of stress and stress is a big factor to a child's or even an adult's immune system. I would like to take him to the hospital but since he doesn't want to, I will respect his decision so that I won't add more to his currently stressed condition"
"What can we do doctor?" Kyouko frowned, did not expect him to allow her son to stay home after hearing his report.
"He needs to eat food with a lot of nutrition. Soft foods would be preferable. I've given him an IV to rehydrate and help him replenish the nutrients he needs right now. You can just buy some more and change it when it runs out"
"Is there anything else?"
"Refrain from talking about his lost memories. They are currently giving him nightmares and it is the biggest contributor to his stress. If his condition worsens then you must bring him to the hospital. I've talked to him about this and he agreed" This was
"His memories…" Kyouko looked guilty. She felt that it was her that pushed him too far.
"To be honest, amongst the several cases of amnesia I've discussed amongst my peers, we consider Kazuya to be one of the lucky ones. He had not lost any memories that stopped him from functioning as a normal person. In some cases, there were unfortunate ones that did not remember how to use tools and there were even ones that had to start learning how to speak again"
"!!" both ladies trembled at the thought.
"Anyway, please don't worry too much. He will recover in a few days. Please refrain from trying to agitate him, he is quite considerate and reasonable for his age so that shouldn't be a problem. Please call me if there is any question or update I should know about"
"Thank you, doctor" Kyouko bowed and let Fujiyama escort him to the door. Both ladies re-entered Kazuya's room. They found him sleeping peacefully so they decided to just let him rest. The two of them had a lot of things on their mind so they wordlessly returned to their own rooms.
"Sorry everyone… I have to finish what I started" Kazuya murmured and opened his eyes. He turned his head and looked at the IV drip attached to his arm. He couldn't help but give a wry smile. He had discovered something interesting; the concentrated nutrients form the IV fluid was enhancing his recovery.
Kazuya turned up the intake and took out a few items from his pockets. This was a good chance for him to continue working without disturbance. He figured he would recover when the rest were awake and continue when only him and Fujiyama were left in the house.
As a former hero, his body had been through worse injuries and he even died so he thought nothing of this. There was a change however in how he sees the views the mysteries of magic. After reading through the book and gaining more practical experience with the bits and piece of his classes in magic in the past, his thirst for it grew. Like a child who discovered something new, he was excited.
Two days relatively passed by quickly. Because of the doctor's warning that his condition had a lot to due with stress, Mei and Kyouko could only follow his instructions and did not stay with him for long. They were glad that he worried about them but were anxious to discover that his fever barely went down.
Shiroyuki Tomoyo and Jirou also dropped by for a visit but were unable to see him because he feigned sleep. Fujiyama informed him that the robot girl didn't speak a word but her grandfather had trouble in convincing her to leave without seeing Kazuya. This of course made Mei question him but he cleverly avoided it by making himself sound like he had a hard time talking.
"(This… should be good enough for now)" Kazuya weakly smiled as he looked at the clock.
He made it. A lot of sacrifices were made for this yet Kazuya cared very little about it. His priorities have changed for the meantime. The mana gathering formation will take more time to stabilize because he had overused the mana in the area. With his body's current condition, training would be put on hold until he was able to handle it again so the formation would have time to recover.
The tools in his hands were put in the table and he looked at the completed jewelry neatly arranged in wooden boxes he also made. He felt a bit nervous since he didn't know if they would like them. He chose to make jewelries mainly because Miyamoto taught him that women would always brandish themselves with expensive looking ones. He would have chosen to make them simpler but he trusted his teacher's judgement towards women more than himself.
"I've already made them so no use in thinking about it"
He leaned on the table and closed his eyes and started focusing on recovery. He had a few more hours before they would leave so he needed to have enough strength by then. The two had promised to stop by to say goodbye to him before they left so he didn't need to go to them himself.
Before he knew it, the darkness outside started disappearing and the sunlight slowly illuminated his dimly lit room. Kazuya already noticed the movements inside the house. The two ladies knocked and entered his room and found him waiting for their arrival.
"You're up Kazuya?" Kyouko found her son out of the bed and frowned. He still looked very pale.
"I wouldn't have asked big sis and mom to come before leaving if I planned to sleep through"
"You should be resting Kazu. Why aren't you in bed and what's with this mess?" Mei pointed at the table that had various tools on them. Kazuya didn't bother to clean up nor did he have the energy to.
"Kazuya didn't you promise us that you would rest? What have you been up to?" Kyouko noticed the four boxes in front of him that she had never seen before.
"I was upset when I found out that mom and big sis were leaving for a trip. I wanted to go to a temple and get safety charms for both of you but I fell sick. So… I looked up a few things on the internet and read that if I wish and put enough feelings into something then it could act as a charm so I made these"
He placed the two blue boxes in front of Mei and the two red ones in front of Kyouko. The two could tell from the clutter around the room that they were handcrafted so they were shocked. It looked like it was bought from a store. The two carefully examined the boxes in their hands and saw their names beautifully engraved on them.
They were curious as to what Kazuya made for them and looked at each other before opening them. Despite finding out that he had been doing this despite his condition, no girl wouldn't welcome receiving gifts. The duo was already shocked at the container's craftsmanship but as soon as they saw what was inside, they were astonished.
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