The 6 families

Inside the Kuruma estate, 5 of the 6 families had already arrived, there were supposed to be eight families in total, but it was reduced to seven because of the lack of heir. Fuyu told me each of their names and occupations, as well as what kind of person their heir was.

"The Gwangsan family, from Korea, they control most of the world's iron, silver, gold, and diamond mines. They are only second to my family here. This makes them extremely arrogant and their son Geomanhan Gwangsan is their heir, and he is extremely arrogant and self absorbed, thinking all problems can be solved with money." She said, pointing to a group of people. A small shiver ran down her back as she added "Geo once tried to offer my father 5 million USD in exchange for one 'night' with me, to which angered him and only strengthened the hatred my family has towards them.".

Hearing that last part, I wanted to go and teach the bastard a lesson, but the Gwangsan family was one that could easily make me disappear, regardless of how strong I was, I could not stop a bullet. Fuyu walked me around, introducing me one by one to the families.

The Sakana family were fishermen from Japan, and their son Ashika, was a distanced boy, but I could see that he was secretly longing for a friend, I strongly agreed with his emotions, and I decided after the introductions I would talk to him.

The Piastrella family was Italian, they sold the best tiles around the world, and their Daughter, Cagna, was a fat and spoiled girl, expecting everything done for her. She also thought she was the most beautiful and any who didn't agree usually disappeared.

The Olja family from sweden, were a newer family to being rich, and they sold oil, given time they would most likely be the richest family here. Their son, Hemlighet, spoke with everyone with kindness, but the look in his eyes and his smile showed that he was looking down on everyone, as if he was superior to all.

The Jordan family, hailing from America, were supposedly the best Architects in the world. Their daughter Stella was very stuck up and refused to talk to anyone she deemed unworthy, which was most everyone.

Finally there was the Chaat-Masaala family, from India. They sold the best spices of all kinds all over the world. Their son was named Gupt, and looking at him I could not get anything from him, which felt weird.

Of course there was still the Kuruma family that sold top model cars all over the world, and gained fortunes because of some of the early deals they made with other countries.

After observing most of the families, I decided to go talk to Ashika. His name meant Sea Lion, but it wasn't one fitting for him, he was more of a Sea Cub, hiding behind his family.

I walked up to him and said "Hello, my name is Tristan Chishiki, I am a guest and the replacement for the family not attending tonight, what is your name?". I asked him his name so he would have the opportunity to be more outspoken. I knew tons of cases like this and just how to deal with them, aside from wanting to help him, I really wanted a friend of the male gender, a homie.

"M-my name is Ashika Sakana, my family are fishermen, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr.Chishiki." he replied in almost a whisper.

I had mentioned I was just a replacement, meaning I was not of as high a standing, which helped him not worry too much about offending me. I half expected him to be another rich snob and deem me unworthy to even look at, but he spoke to me as if we were on equal footing, which boosted his visage in my mind.

"Hello Mr.Sakana, it is a pleasure to meet you, and please, just call me Tristan." I smiled and offered my hand.

He took my hand and gave off a smile that you might see on a 3 year old during Christmas.

"The pleasure is mine Tristan, and you may call me Ashika." he replied.

Me and Ashika hung out for a while, he even introduced me to his parents, who were both as kind as Ashika, it seemed to be a good family. After awhile I decided to go and find Fuyu, I had heard that there was supposedly a "main event" from Ashika's father, but he said he wasn't allowed to tell me without the Kuruma family's permission. So I decided to hunt her down and see if she knew anything.

"Just who are you?" I hear several voices behind me asking. It seems as though every family's heir had ganged up on me except Ashika and the mysterious Gupt fellow.

I turned and leading the bunch, was of course Geomanhan, or Geo for short. Although all of them gave off the air of arrogant sophistication, I was not bothered in the slightest.

"My name is Tristan Chishiki, I am the replacement for the family that was not able to attend tonight, I was recommended by the Kuruma family and none of your families objected, I would have assumed you would have known who I was." I reply to them.

The reply I gave them made it seem as though I was a very important individual, regardless of my background. It gave me the upperhand in whatever sly comments they were thinking of. In a way, I made myself seem even more important than all of them combined. All of the boys looked extremely vexed by my words, they felt that I was insulting them and their families, but the girls saw right through me and started to laugh at the red faced boys. Girls seemed to be able to better understand situations like this.

Geo could not hold back his rage and yelled at me, "You think you are better than me you filthy dog, I will teach you your place!".

He took out a small knife from his pocket, I only glanced at the knife and smirked.

"If you knew who I was, you would be using a gun, and it is not that I think I am better than you, I just simply am. I do not hide behind any family name, and even if I wanted to, I could not. So instead, I am the apex individual that none of you could hope to attain" I bragged. I was not one who was always self absorbed, but in front of these jackasses with the IQ of a chicken sandwich, it felt amazing.

"We will see who is smiling after I carve you up you bastard!��� Geo roared. The other boys started to follow behind him, cracking their knuckles. The girls watched as they got closer to me, they did not want to help and wanted to see the outcome of this. Most likely believing that either I would be unable to back up my words or that I would be able to in which they would all have found quite the ideal man. Just as Geo and the other rich snobs were going to pounce, all of the family's heads ran in to stop them. Each father pulled their son back, and slapped them on the cheek.

They all shouted words at their son, but the overall theme was "What do you think you are doing, do you have any idea who he is!".

The boys all had the same confused look on their faces. They knew I did not come from any substantial background, and believed that I would be an easy target. The families of the girls were glad that they did not participate, and Ashika's family looked proud and Gupt's looked as neutral as always.

"Who is he father?" the boys all asked at the same time. The fathers instead of telling them, looked at me, they did not want words of praise leaving their mouths for a commoner, but they knew that insulting me would not be in their best interest.

I took a step forward and said, "I am Tristan Chishiki, first place holder in all martial arts contests in Japan, except for Sharia, in which I placed second, I am also the top most scorer in all academics in all of Japanese history.".

The boys looked at their fathers, they still did not see any importance in any of the words I said. Their fathers slowly shook their heads and Ashika's father stepped up.

"Not only is he all those in all of Japan, but he is largely regarded as the top in the world, his knowledge base exceeds even the most prestigious geniuses in history and modern day, calling him an Einstein would be a gross understatement. His combat abilities are also the top in the world, you can only beat his speed with a gun, and the only reason he scored second in the Sharia contest, was because he stayed back to help his sister who was sick at the time. So not only is he a genius and an absolute warrior, but also a kind and gentle man to those in which he loves, but do not underestimate him as your enemy, because he will show no mercy." Ashika's father concluded.

Everyone in attendance was shocked, except for the family heads. Even Fuyu who had been quietly watching and was ready to jump in at a moment's notice was extremely shocked. I looked at her face, smiled, and waved. I never told her much about me as I

felt that it would be rude. Fuyu blushed and waved back. The other girls looked at her jealousy, they saw that they already had a connection, but that wouldn't stop them from trying to take me. They all looked at me hungrily as if I was a 5 course meal from the best restaurant in the world. Especially Stella who had never even thought of someone as her equal.

I looked around the room pretending not to notice the stares of everyone in the room, but no matter where I looked I still felt their eyes. After about what felt like centuries of people staring at me, they started to go back to chatting and eating, but every now and then people would still steal a glance in my direction. Normal people would have thought they were gazes of admiration, but I knew what they were really thinking. Things like 'how dare this lowly peasant be better than my son' or 'I would love to have ties with him, but he's a commoner so he will never amount to anything, oh this wine is good'. I lightly chuckled at the man who sipped the wine while judging me.

Fuyu had disappeared after the incident and I was trying to find her again when I felt someone grab my arm. It was just that, but a soft cushiony feeling also found its way onto my arm. I looked over and Stella was holding onto my arm and pushing her two medium mounds onto my arm as if we were lovers who had not seen each other in forever.

"Hello there Mr. Chishiki, my name is Stella, I am sure that you have heard of my family and everything we have done…" she continued to ramble on about all of the things her "great" family had done.

When she finally finished I gently shook her off my arm, she looked a little sad I took her off, "Ms.Jordan, it is an honor to make your acquaintance, please call me Tristan, I don't have the standing to be called a Mr or Sir. Your family does seem to have quite the reputation, I hope that we may stay in good graces." I smile and say.

Stella then realizes how she has done nothing but talk about her family and how great her family is. Normally boys would not care and they would listen and then ask her something ridiculous like marriage and that her family is the greatest in all the world. So what I said came as somewhat as a surprise to her as I did not try and butter her up and treat her like a queen from some far off land.

She then grabbed my arm again in the same fashion and started asking about my life, trying to reconcile her misconduct. I knew she was just trying to butter me up, but I had already found someone I loved, and it was not Stella. I told her about my family's history, and about some of the things I had done in my life, but I did not glorify them as Stella had done in her description of my family.

"If you would excuse me Stella, I need to go and look for Ms.Kuruma" I said and turned to leave.

"Wait!" she yelled.

I turned around and just as I did she jumped at me to try and kiss me. I had never kissed anyone and I did not intend my first kiss to be Stella. I quickly dodged, lightly grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her around, and gave her a gentle push in the opposite direction I was heading. Mind you this all happened in just under 2 seconds, so to say Stella was shocked would be an understatement.

I thought she would be extremely mad at me, or even try to hurt me and say I just did terrible things, but she only turned around, smiled, and waved before heading back to her family. I had read enough books and seen enough movies to know what that smile and wave meant, 'soon, you will be mine' is what went through her head.

Soon after leaving her behind and heading to the fountain in the backyard of the Kuruma's for fresh air after that ordeal, Cagna approached me. There was no elegance in the way that she walked. In both Fuyu and Stella there was a sense of elegance and beauty. But if I were to compare the two right now, Fuyu and Stella would be delicate swans landing in a calm scenic lake, and Cagna was a hippo trudging through mud and trampling tall grass somewhere in a rainy swamp.

"What do you see in those ugly bitches?" She asked as she sat down next to me, stuffing a whole slice of cake into her mouth.

"Pardon?" I said, I was sincerely hoping I heard her wrong. Fuyu was the pinnacle of everything I had ever wanted. Stella was not my type but she was far from an ugly bitch. Sure she was arrogant, and had a superiority complex, but who secretly didn't. Everyone was always looking down on everyone. She had a few flaws but aside from that, if Fuyu didn't exist, I would have gone for her.

"I don't like repeating my words buddy, I am much more beautiful than both of them combined, and just like everyone here knows it" She said.

I was boiling with rage on the inside, but on the outside I was as calm as a lake. She was one of the least attractive girls I had ever seen. Both in appearance and personality, she had nothing on anyone other than her family. 'Did her family drop her on her head, about 500 times as a kid?', the thought ran through my mind.

Suddenly Cagna grabs my face and says "Stella made the mistake of letting you go, I will not be as stupid.".

Cagna leaned in to kiss me as I struggled to get away. I couldn't move my head away, her grip was surprisingly strong! Just before she made contact with me I kicked off the

ground as hard as I could, sending my body in what resembled a front flip. I landed behind her, but she still held on. It didn't look comfortable for her, but if that got her to let go then I would be fine with it.

"Fuyu is the most beautiful person in the world to me Ms.Piastrella, I am what I am today because of her. From highschool I pushed myself to be someone that would be able to be worthy of her family name. I come from nothing, something you cannot understand, I have to earn what I want, I am not given anything. There are millions, if not billions like me. The rest of the world works the same way, I am just lucky enough to be one of the few that has been given a goal that brings me this far. My life is hers Ms.Piastrella, and neither you or Stella will take me away from her. I wish you the best" I said softly and smoothly to her.

She let go of me then, and covered her face. I could hear a faint sob coming from behind me. I had figured she lived a sheltered life. She didn't know the hardships of the world. All she knew was what she received, and she thought that those that did not have what she had, were responsible for their situations. She didn't know that her ancestors had put forth the same work that every other person in the world had put forth.

Cagna turned to me and said through small tears "I didn't know, I am so sorry, I have been so self absorbed into my own little world that I just didn't care to look at the truth that was all around me, thank you Tristan, I will do my best to repay your kindness.", and with that she bowed and left.

I was a bit stunned that she suddenly said that, I didn't think she would do a full 180 based on just a little talk. I felt proud that I helped her, and who knows, maybe from now on I can add her to my list of allies in this place.

I still had no luck finding Fuyu, and it was almost time for the "main event". So I decided to go inside and find a seat.