Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
The days went by quickly after Tatsuo's run-ins with Ayane and Christie. And while Christie lost her life at Tatsuo's hand before all the evidence was incinerated, Ayane's life got better after that day.
After Tatsuo and Kasumi left for school, Sumire took Ayane to officially adopt her into the family. However, unlike Kasumi, Ayane chose to take the surname Soramoto. And the reason for that was simple, she wanted to return to the Mugen Tenshin Village to report what happened to Hayate in person.
That way, on top of being able to say her goodbyes, she could warn him about the traitor in their midst, as well. On top of that, the surname, Soramoto, would more than likely keep anyone from trying to kill her after hearing what happened while she was out on her mission.
Though, that would not happen until Spring Break, at the very least. Because on top of being adopted, Ayane needed to study for the Yagami High Transfer Student Exam, as she would be attending school with Tatsuo and Kasumi in the coming year as a second-year student.
However, not everything went as smoothly as Ayane's matter. Tatsuo, who wanted to get Yakumo into training her psionic abilities, met a roadblock. Although the High School Entrance Exams had already passed, Yakumo's family was still worried about her diverting her attention from her studies too much. So, until the results were posted, and they had their interviews, her time away from home was limited.
Meaning, Yakumo's training was not progressing quickly. She could only get a few words of advice from Sumire whenever she was able to visit. After that, she was left to train on her own. Yet, that presented its own set of problems.
Because she did not live alone, Yakumo was unable to do too much that could potentially cause noise without drawing attention from her family.
As for the Soramoto household's new home, Sumire found a nice plot of land she was negotiating for. Even though she could have forced the process through with her connections, it seemed she was having fun with the back and forth. However, it was just a plot of land at this point. There were no buildings built atop it. The good thing is that things like water, gas, and electricity already ran through the area. So, building there would not require a generator or digging a well.
However, none of that was on Tatsuo's mind, at the moment. Instead, he was walking around the mall near Shibuya station with Yakumo and Chiho one day after school. The reason, because Chiho heard about a new café, and she wanted to try it. So, she invited Tatsuo and Yakumo to come with her.
"Are you sure you know the name of this place, Chi-Chan?" Tatsuo asked with a grin. "I mean, you do have a record of getting the name wrong, you know?"
"That was only one time, Tatsuo-Kun." Chiho said while puffing out her cheeks. "Stop teasing me about it."
"Fine, fine." Tatsuo said, giving up much easier than Chiho expected. "I guess you wouldn't get this place wrong, it would be a perfect date spot for you and Maou-San, right?"
Unfortunately, Tatsuo was not done by a long shot, his comment about Sadao causing Chiho's face to turn bright red in an instant.
"Wha-Wha-Wha-What are you talking about, Tatsu-Chan!" Chiho shouted in a squeaky, high-pitched tone. "Date? No one said anything about a date! And who was even talking about Maou-San?"
"We weren't?" Tatsuo asked, his right eyebrow twitching because of Chiho's use of his pet name, played dumb with a puzzled expression on his face. "Then, what were we talking about again?"
Hearing that, though the blush on her cheeks did not disappear, Chiho puffed her cheeks in displeasure. Then, she started bickering with Tatsuo while the trio continued to walk through the mall. Meanwhile, Yakumo only shook her head while watching her two friends go back and forth.
As the bickering continued, the trio continued to look around, looking for the café Chiho wanted to visit. However, as they passed a certain store, Tatsuo suddenly came to an abrupt stop, his eyes focused on a display he could see through the store's windows. He even stopped teasing Chiho because of how completely his attention shifted.
"Huh? Is something wrong, Tatsuo-Kun?" Chiho asked, thinking something was wrong when Tatsuo stopped making fun of her.
Yakumo, too, stopped. She then looked in the direction where Tatsuo was staring.
When she did, what she saw was a jewelry store, the display cases filled with golden jewelry fitted with all kinds of precious stones. Immediately, she understood why Tatsuo was so drawn to it.
'Well, he is part dragon.' Yakumo thought to herself. 'It's only natural that he would be drawn to treasure. I'm actually surprised I've never seen this side of him before. It's not like it's the first time we've been around jewelry before. I mean, there are a lot of students in our class that wear jewelry to school.'
There was a reason for that, though. As a dragon, Tatsuo was attracted to shiny items of high value. However, thanks to his draconic bloodline awakening rather recently in this world, he had never been so drawn to jewelry, thinking it to be just useless, if not beautiful trinkets. As for the time after his bloodline awakened, the value of the jewelry his classmates wore was not enough to draw the attention of his draconic instincts.
"I want that." Tatsuo muttered while his eyes were focused on a gold bracelet with seven diamonds fitted around it. "No, I need it. I have to have it."
While Tatsuo muttered, he slowly walked towards the jewelry store, his eyes never leaving the bracelet in question. Meanwhile, Yakumo and Chiho only exchanged glances before quickly following him.
"Is Tatsuo-Kun okay?" Chiho whispered to Yakumo while watching Tatsuo pull the door to the jewelry store open.
"Don't worry, he should be fine." Yakumo whispered back. "I think…"
*Ding!*
When Tatsuo stepped through the door, a bell rang, signaling that a new customer had entered the store. Immediately, the clerks in the store raised their heads to see the new customer. However, when they saw it was just a boy, even if he was extremely handsome, wearing a nearby middle school's uniform, they all but lost interest, returning to whatever they were doing before he arrived.
Yet, there were two girls, one wearing the uniform of a famous high school for the elite, Shuchi'in Academy, and the other wearing a maid uniform, seeming to be her attendant.
The first girl, standing at about 5'2" tall, had fair skin, red eyes, and black hair tied into a pony tail with a red and black ribbon as well as bangs that hung on either side of her face, and graceful curves without much in the breast department.
At that moment, the black-haired girl glared off into space with a scowl on her face.
"Kaguya-Sama, is anything the matter?" The second girl, a beautiful girl with shoulder length blonde hair tied into a side tail on the left side of her head and blue eyes asked in a concerned, yet monotonous tone.
"No, Hayasaka, nothing is wrong." The black-haired girl, Kaguya, or Shinomiya Kaguya, replied while shaking her head before turning to glance at the new arrival. "I just felt like someone was talking about me."
Yet, when Kaguya laid eyes on the boy who just entered the store, her pupils contracted, and her eyes narrowed in displeasure.
Seeing her mistress's expression, the blonde maid, Hayasaka Ai, turned to look in the same direction. And immediately, she knew why Kaguya looked the way she did.
As a member of the Shinomiya Family, Kaguya had been raised to expect nothing less than excellence from herself. In fact, when she took the High School Entrance Exam last year, she had gotten the highest score ever recorded for the test, marking her as the best. However, just recently, her elder brother, Shinomiya Oko, while trying to tear her down, told her that she had been surpassed in this year's Entrance Exam by a boy named Soramoto Tatsuo. He even showed her a photo of the boy in question. And as it just so happened, the boy who just entered the store was the same boy in the photo.
"I see." Ai replied with an understanding nod. "Well then, shall we move on, Kaguya-Sama? I believe we have spent enough time examining this store's merchandise to determine if it will be a place you frequent in the future or not."
"As much as I'd like to, we're still waiting for Fujiwara-San." Kagura replied as she tore her gaze away from Tatsuo, who had finally stepped up to the display case holding the bracelet he was interested in. "And if we leave without meeting up with er, I'll never hear the end of it."
"Understood." Ai replied, once again nodding in understanding.
Shortly afterward, Ai noticed a pair of girls wearing the uniforms from the same middle school as Tatsuo, Yakumo and Chiho, enter the store. Naturally, Kaguya noticed, as well. And when Kaguya saw Yakumo, she was surprised how many features they had in common, a beautiful appearance, black hair, red eyes, and a slender figure. Though, Yakumo's breasts were larger than hers. Yet, when her eyes landed on Chiho, Kaguya could not stop her eyebrows from twitching as she shifted her gaze back and forth from Chiho's chest to her own, the irritation in her expression growing with each repetition.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo stared at the bracelet in the case for a few more seconds. Eventually, with great difficulty, he raised his head and looked around. Then, when his gaze landed on the closest clerk, he raised a hand to get her attention.
"Excuse me, Miss." Tatsuo said politely. Then, when the clerk turned in his direction, he pointed down at the bracelet as he continued. "Could you take this out so I can get a closer look at it."
Yet, instead of coming over to help immediately, the clerk, a pretty brunette woman in her mid-twenties, stared at Tatsuo's face for a moment, amazed at how handsome he was. But when she finally registered his request, she looked at his school uniform before snorting disdainfully and returning to what she was doing.
Seeing that, Tatsuo's eye twitched momentarily. However, he tried his best to keep his composure.
At the same time, when Kaguya and Ai saw this, they both lowered the store's rating in their hearts. Although, they both agreed with her that the teenager in front of them seemed to be asking for too much. Especially since they were both aware that the piece he was asking about was the store's most prized item.
"Well, he has good taste, at least." Kaguya muttered. "But he seems to not understand his own means."
"Perhaps you are judging the situation too soon, Kaguya-Sama.' Ai said without much fluctuation in her expression.
Hearing that, Kaguya frowned slightly. Then, she looked back at Tatsu, who reached into his back pocket before pulling out a credit card.
*Smack!*
"Since this woman is not willing to assist me, is there anyone who can?" Tatsuo said after slapping the credit card down onto the display case.
When Tatsuo removed his hand from over the card, all the clerks in the store had turned their attention to the loud noise, annoyance present in all their eyes. However, when they saw the silver colored credit card on the glass display, they all turned away again.
Kaguya and Ai, on the other hand, reacted differently, as their eyes widened to a comical degree. Unlike the clerks in this store, as people from one of Japan's most influential families, they knew exactly what Tatsuo's credit card represented.
"That's a Titanium World Elite Mastercard." Kaguya muttered quietly. "*Sigh* It looks like this store will not be in business much longer."
"So it would seem" Ai replied.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo, instead of flaring up in anger, had his expression turn completely emotionless. Then, he reached into his pocket and took out his smartphone. He then scrolled to his mother's contact details and dialed the number.
{"Tatsu-Chan!"} Sumire's voice sounded from the other side of the phone. {"You must have really missed Mommy to be calling me after school. Don't worry, Mommy will shower you with love when you get home."}
"Mom, I'm having a little trouble." Tatsuo replied in acold tone.
Tatsuo then went on to explain the situation he was in. As he spoke, it was obvious to him that his mother was listening closely. On top of that, he could feel her anger rising with every word he said.
["Don't worry, Tatsu-Chan."} Sumire's calm, cold voice said from the other side of the phone call. {"Just wait right there. Someone will be by to solve this issue in a few minutes."}
With that, Sumire hung up the call. Tatsuo then put his smartphone back in his pocket and crossed his arms in front of his chest while looking coldly at the clerks in the store.
However, the clerks seemed to be completely unconcerned with Tatsuo's cold glance.
"Tatsuo-Kun, is everything okay?" Yakumo asked as she stepped forward to stand next to Tatsuo.
"Everything will be." Tatsuo replied with little inflection in his tone. "Mom said she'd handle it."
"Uh oh!" Chiho exclaimed. "I guess things are gonna change around here soon. Sumire-San is really intense when it comes to you."
"You're right, Chi-Chan." Tatsuo replied. "I would almost feel sorry for these people if they weren't so rude."
As Tatsuo and the others were speaking quietly, the clerks did not hear them. However, it was clear that they were getting even more annoyed. One of them even made a discreet call to security to have the three trouble-making teens escorted out of the store.
"Kaguya-Chan!" An excited female voice rang out over the store at the same time, drawing all eyes towards the store's entrance.
Standing at the end of all the lines of sight in the store was a brightly smiling, cute girl standing at about 5' tall with shoulder-length light pink hair, and a black bow in the middle of her square bangs, blue eyes, and a rather impressive chest size for her age wearing a Shuchi-in Academy girl's uniform.
"*Sigh* Why would I expect anything less from Fujiwara-San." Kaguya muttered while rubbing her forehead exasperatedly. "You never fail to destroy the atmosphere in a room."
The pink-haired girl, Fujiwara Chika, only tilted her head in confusion while she approached Kaguya and Ai, who was wary of Chika's presence, as she saw her as an obstacle to performing her duties for Kaguya, as Chika's unpredictability made her hard to account for.
"By the way, what's going on in here?" Chika asked in a curious toen. "It seems like something is about to go down. Did someone try to steal something?"
"No, nothing like that." Kaguya replied in her usual cold toen. "But something is happening."
With that, Kaguya gestured towards Tatsuo, Yakumo, and Chiho.
Turning her head in the direction Kaguya indicated, Chika's eyes lit up when she saw Tatsuo. She then reached into her school bag before pulling out a notepad and a pen.
"Hey, You're Soramoto Tatsuo, right?' Chika asked a she trotted over to Tatsuo. "I've seen you all over Niconico! Can I have your autograph?"
And just like that, Tatsuo's foul mood was partly blown away, replaced by a puzzled expression.
"Well, this is new." Tatsuo muttered as he watched Chika approach.
"It's not surprising, though." Chiho added. "Everyone at school knows about your videos on Niconico, too. But because of your reputation as someone polite who doesn't really wanna be bothered, they refrain from coming to ask you about it."
"Really?" Tatsuo asked in a dumbfounded tone. "*Sigh* just how many videos of me has Mom posted online?"
"A lot." Yakumo replied. "They started showing up shortly after the first time we heard you play the piano on your birthday. Honestly, I thought you already knew about it"
"I see." Tatsuo replied before turning back to Chika, who was now standing right in front of him with her notepad and pen held out expectantly. "Well, I guess I don't mind."
With that, Tatsuo took the notebook and pen from Chika. Then, he signed his name with a flourish.
"Yay! I got his autograph!" Chika cheered excitedly, jumping around with a happy smile on her face.
However, at that moment, two men wearing security uniforms entered the store, looking around to see who was causing trouble.
"Someone called about a trouble maker?" The first security guard asked, not seeing anyone causing trouble at first sight.
Immediately, the woman who called security pointed at Tatsuo.
"It's him." The woman said, uncertainty creeping into her tone after seeing Chika's actions.
Hearing that, the two security guards turned to look at Tatsuo. However, no matter what, they could not see that he was causing trouble. However, due to their jobs, they approached him and asked him to come with them.
"I've done nothing wrong." Tatsuo said coldly, crossing his arms in front of his chest again as he did so. He then gestured to the bracelet and the credit card on top of the display case with is chin as he continued. "I only asked to see this piece. Yet, I was ignored. Then, I took out a credit card to show that I could afford it. However, one of them called security on me."
"Hmph!" The first woman to ignore Tatsuo's request snorted. "Just because this kid has his parent's credit card, do you really think a middle schooler could afford this piece? It costs more than 3.7 million Yen. What could he be doing other than causing trouble?"
Hearing both sides of the argument, the security guards exchanged glances. However, it was clear to everyone watching that they were more inclined to believe the clerk. So, they both took a step closer to Tatsuo.
"Sorry about this, but could you please come with---" The second security guard began to ask, his tone not too forceful, as he did not see the young man as a true trouble maker.
"Stop!" A middle-aged man shouted as he walked onto the sale's floor with cold sweat streaming down his face. "You can leave that young man alone. He's not a trouble maker, he's a valued customer. There's just been a misunderstanding."
When he mentioned the misunderstanding, the middle-aged man, the store manager, glared at all the clerks in the store, his gaze lingering on the one who first ignored Tatsuo for a moment longer than the rest. He then turned back to the security guards and continued.
"Sorry to call you here for nothing." The manager said. "But there really is nothing wrong. You can leave the rest to me."
Since the manager said there was no issue, the security guards exchanged glances before leaving the store. Though, not before apologizing to Tatsuo. They were no idiots. Seeing the manager sweating like he was, they knew that this kid was not someone to be messed with.
"I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding, Soramoto-Sama." The manager said while bowing respectfully. "Please, allow me to help you handle your purchase. In fact, I'll even give you a VIP card, which will lower the price of all the goods in our establishments across the country by twelve percent."
Meanwhile, the clerks, seeing how deferential their boss was with this young man, finally realized they had made a mistake. And a rather big one at that.