Congratulations

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Lunchtime. There weren't any unexpected disturbances in class so Kazuya was able to peacefully read his books. Kurumi sat peacefully in the seat she occupied yesterday which made Kazuya feel a little weird. He expected her to continue pestering him but she seemed to be thinking about a couple of things while trying to steal glances at him.

It was quite difficult for her to look at him since she sat right in front of him but that didn't stop her from trying. He almost couldn't maintain a poker face as he was quite sensitive to stares.

"(What is this girl up to now?)" Kurumi's actions somewhat reminded him of when he first encountered the robot girl sitting beside him so he just shrugged it off and hoped that she would eventually get tired of it.

*tug tug*

"Hmm?" Kazuya turned and found a sandwich that was cut triangularly with it's pointed end toward his mouth.

*stare*

"You made sandwiches again?" he tried looking at the sandwich and it's contents.

*nod*

"Did granny Kaori teach you some more?"

*nod*

Kazuya smiled wryly. He found nothing visually wrong with the sandwich in front of him. He didn't know why but the robot girl's grandmother suddenly took both of them away from training one day and started teaching Tomoyo about cooking. She shook her head and tried to decline but when Kaori said that she needed to learn it so that she could make some food for Kazuya to eat, she accepted the tutelage.

He wondered why he was also asked to go with them but it turned out that he was there to try the 'food' that the robot girl had produced. It was the first time that Kazuya had started to think about how robots or machines still couldn't replace the people that cook the food that is commonly sold in convenience stores.

The taste was of course bad. Tomoyo had zero sense and tried to mix all the things she considered delicious and made him try it. Even though he was now spoiled by the delicious home cooked meals that the Fujiyamas served him, he still appreciated simple foods like cup ramen or bento boxes commonly sold today like he did in his previous life. So he was confident in labeling the sorry excuse she served for food really inedible.

Apparently, Kaori did not prevent him from eating it so that Tomoyo could learn that not everything that tasted good would taste good if she merely just mixed them all together. Tomoyo looked very guilty after seeing the reaction Kazuya had when he tried eating so that prompted her to take Kaori's lessons seriously.

*stare* Tomoyo stared at him who still hadn't taken a bite. Kaori already made preparations and contacted Akane to tell her that she didn't need to prepare lunch for Kazuya today so he would have no way to avoid his current predicament.

"(Is this girl trying to force Kazuya-kun to eat her sandwiches?)" Kurumi who was watching quietly held onto her pencil and small notebook. She was observing them intently while wishing that Kazuya would decline her offer.

"Fine…" Kazuya finally gave in. This robot girl would be extremely talented with a sword in her hand but she was very clumsy when it came to things like cooking and would make simple mistakes. He could see some scratches on her hand so he would feel bad if he at least didn't try it. This robot wasn't as unreasonable as she was in his previous life and was now very understanding and sensitive towards his feelings. She wouldn't force him to eat food that he didn't like and would take away any food she made that he didn't like.

*SNAP*

Kurumi unconsciously broke the pencil in her hand after Kazuya took a bite from the sandwich that Tomoyo held. She wished that he would find it disgusting and would spit it out.

"You made this?" Kazuya asked her after he swallowed the food.

*nod*

"By yourself?"

*n…od*

"Really? Why did you hesitate?"

Kurumi was dumbfounded at how smoothly the two communicated. Kazuya had been the only one talking so far but it looked as if they were having a smooth conversation. She didn't understand what Tomoyo meant but she could tell that the girl wasn't moving her lips.

"I see…" Kazuya took the final bit and ate it with gratitude. "Congratulations. This one is quite acceptable. You've come a long way" he reached out and patted her head.

The two of them ate harmoniously as Maron approached Kurumi who hadn't noticed that she wasn't even trying to hide how she was closely watching the two anymore. Both of them didn't bring any lunches so they had to go to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat.

"(Phew they finally left…)" Kazuya breathed a sigh of relief after the Stockton's left the room.

Kurumi tried to act secretly but Maron who was watching from behind didn't hide the multiple changes to her emotions throughout the day. Things have been quiet for now but things were starting to change ever since these two disrupted the flow that had been going on for two years. Kazuya's failure to understand the two made him feel uncomfortable because he had other and more important things to worry about than playing with these stubborn children.

It wasn't that he wasn't thinking about it because he tried to analyze why Kurumi acted how she did back in his previous life by using the information he had now. He thought that it would have simply ended if the Kurumi from his previous life simply just explained to him how they knew each other but instead, she took a route that made him want to avoid her as much as he could.

He felt a little weird interacting with her because he was not convinced that a girl of her standing would see him as a potential love interest. This was actually his theory at first but he experienced the life of a young master in this life. Kyouko and Mei even explained to him the complexities of being a member of a well-known family so he dropped this theory.

That was not the only reason he dropped the theory though, Kazuya took a look from his memories his own standing and appearance before he was summoned to Edea and given a huge transformation with the help of the overflowing mana that fixed his leftover flaws from the accident he suffered. He was not as naïve as he was before and even examined the Kurumi from his memories. There were clearly no signs of affection but rather sheer curiosity. Her reaction was akin to a child trying to solve an unsolvable puzzle.

This was the difference between Kurumi and Tomoyo. The robot girl of the past was very similar to the robot girl he first met in this new life. Although she had undergone a complete change now, he more or less understood that their families were quite close and from his understanding on how she used to think, it was probably her doing whatever she thought was right.

It didn't matter what her motivations were for doing what she did but he had a rough understanding of the robot girl now so he couldn't really stay mad at her for something that he had already prevented from happening. He was much more satisfied with this version of her because this one had been more empathetic towards him and the other people that mattered.

Kurumi was fundamentally different in Kazuya's eyes. Although he already knew that they developed a friendship in the past, he gave her a chance because of how she was able to help with the past incident as well as Kazuya's own curiosity towards why the past version of this girl acted the way she did. Unfortunately, she was stuck in the past version of him and attributed the older version of her to be more or less the same. He was not interested in someone who only looked at who he once was and not who he is now no matter what kind of influence she might have.

"Hmm?" A presence Kazuya tagged was approaching their classroom. The edge of his lip slowly moved upwards to form a grin that made Tomoyo realize that something was going to happen.

"Is student Stockton Kurumi and Stockton Maron from S class here?" a teacher abruptly entered the room and gained the attention of the students who remained to eat their lunches.

This was Ono Masahiro, the homeroom teacher of the class 5-A. This was the person who initially wanted Kazuya to join his class due to his results in the transfer exam. He got into a debate with Kazuya but he eventually backed down after Kazuya revealed his prowess and his origin. He was the person that he noticed were talking to Ringo and Suzaku in a flattering manner.

Despite his decent looks and demeanor, he was a pervert that Kazuya encountered in his previous life. This kind of teacher was especially slippery and cleverly hid the perverseness that Kazuya was able to unfortunately encounter in his previous life. This was the person who those two had instructed to do their dirty work for them.

"You" though he knew who Kazuya was, he called out to him in a rude manner. Kazuya chose to ignore this and went on to enjoy more of the sandwiches which Tomoyo was glad to share with him. She had brought plenty and this was the first time that he asked for more helpings.

"I'm talking to you" he stood in front of Kazuya who continued to chew despite the attempt to intimidate him.

*gulp* "Yes? Uh… may I ask who were you again?" he gave Ono a taste of his own medicine. The students who remained tried to hold their laughter because who didn't know who these two were?

"You…" Ono almost choked . He was successfully rebutted by this kid two years ago and here Kazuya was doing the same thing to him. Though he initially feared the kid because of his identity, the scandal from two years ago made him realized he had been tricked. Though Kazuya did indeed have blood that connected him to the Kuroganes, they didn't see him as one of them.

"Nevermind, where are Stockton Kurumi and Maron?" his wariness against Kazuya greatly lessened after being tasked by both members of the Muimina and Kurogane families. He was promised benefits from them after all.

"No idea. Even if I did know, I wouldn't point some strange man who doesn't even introduce himself towards the direction of two young girls" Kazuya shook his head and some of the students couldn't hold in in and stifled laughter filled the room.

"Are you making fun of a teacher? I can have you called in for counseling and punished for such behavior"

"You were a teacher? Really?" Kazuya innocently looked towards his classmates trying to get an answer. "The teachers in the academy I've met before were nice and fair, they wouldn't threaten a kid after failing to identify himself or the reason he wants to look for pretty girls" Kazuya was intent on labeling him as a pervert that he was.

"That's it! Come with me! I'll have you know what it means to make fun of the teachers of this academy!" Ono completely lost his temper and slammed the table in front of Kazuya with his palm.

Tomoyo immediately stood up and glared at Ono. She tried moving but Kazuya held her and gently pulled her back to sit down. He really didn't know what to do with this overprotective and brave girl who would have attacked Ono if he hadn't stopped her.

Ono was startled. Even though it was only a moment, he was scared by Tomoyo whose intentions were clear enough to cause him to take two steps backward. Kazuya remained calm and took out a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Hello department head? This is Kouzuki Kazuya" Ono was shocked but he didn't believe that the boy actually called his boss.

"What can I do for you? Are you going to ask to leave early again today?" the voice on the other side was only heard by him so he decided to try to make it look like he was acting badly.

"I wish to report someone barging into our class asking about the location of two girls from class without identifying who he is. He looks suspicious and threatened me while posing as a teacher but still refused to tell me his name. he wants me to come with him" He truly did have to give credit to Takaya for increasing the number of weapons he could use.

"What!?" The department head was surprised and almost spat out the coffee that he was having in his office. "Are you okay? What does he look like?"

"He looks like a pervert that's trying hard to look decent. He looks like a person who would depend on the influence of his relatives while not amounting to much in reality. I'm afraid to go with him so I called the director to confirm this person's identity because he does not seem to be worried that I called you" Kazuya's description made Ono's expression grow ugly. He wondered how this kid was guessing or he really did look like that.

"Is it Ono-sensei…?" the department head could only think of that person from Kazuya's description. He didn't want to think poorly of his subordinates but if it was indeed a staff member, he could only think of Ono.

"You're really a gutsy kid. Do you think bluffing me with that baldy is going to make me scared? I'm going to make sure you regret the words you used to describe me" Ono's shrugged off Kazuya's evaluation and focused on thinking what kind of punishments he could make this arrogant boy do. He was thinking on how to create trouble for him since he was asked to do it if he could so he was thankful for getting the chance as soon as they met each other.

"You hear that director? I believe I won't need to bother my classmates to testify for me after what you just heard" Kazuya grinned towards Ono. He couldn't believe how this guy just buried himself deeper into the trap that he fell into.

"I'll be confiscating that phone for being used to insult and trick a teacher" Ono reached for Kazuya's phone.

"Oh good, the director recognized the voice and knows who you are anyway. He asked to speak to you" Kazuya handed his cell phone with a smile. Kazuya pressed the loudspeaker button before the device left his hand.

"Did you really think that I would fall for such a—"

"[So you think you can use your authority to bully students huh?]" the irritation on the voice of the department head almost made Ono drop the cell phone.

The department head was not really mad that he was called a baldy. He was infuriated because the head of the academic class was trying to use his position to punish Kazuya, who was not only the gem of their department, but also the victim of kidnapping in the past. He had given the boy his own personal number so that he would be able to contact him if ever there was any problems he encountered.

This was because he felt partially responsible that Kazuya went through the incident two years ago when he was supposed to be under the protection of the school. The school never had an incident like this before and the perpetrator turned out to be from their own school as well so how could he let this matter slide after personally hearing Ono threatening Kazuya?

"Sir… I was just—" Ono looked at Kazuya who was patting Tomoyo for what she did. He couldn't believe that he just got played.

"[Get your ass back in the staff room this instant!]" Kazuya's phone startled the girls who just returned to the class bringing a set of bread with them.

"Y-yes…" Ono's shoulders slumped and his face turned pale. The call ended and he put Kazuya's phone on the table and avoided looking at him before trying to leave. He couldn't face the kid after what just happened.

"You send my sincere congratulations to Muimina Ringo and Kurogane Suzaku. They have successfully given me a reason to stay true to my words. I just hope that they won't regret their decision"

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