Mother

"Mom…" Tasha started crying.

"It must have been hard for you too. I'm sorry, Mom is too useless."

"No! Kai and I only want you two to live happily with us. We know that you've sacrificed so many things for us with or without us knowing.

"We're aware of that! That's why we're doing this. There's never a single time we thought that both you and dad are burdens." Tasha hugged her tightly.

Ayaka Carter also started letting out tears. "Silly child…"

"Please never say that you don't care about your life. You've always said that you're happy with this life of a normal family and eagerly waiting for grandchildren. So, please don't say that. Live… we… your children want you to live happily with us."

"All right, Mom is wrong. Please don't cry, my child…" She closed her eyes as her face was already full of tears. These weren't tears of sorrow. Instead, these tears were full of happiness. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Tasha took a minute to calm down. She looked down, "It was initially not our problem, but because of a certain thing… it became our problem.

"I'll explain it first. You know about Kudo Ayaka, right?"

"Yeah, she's such a sensible child. She's even sleeping in the room down below. Well, I've informed her family, so they should be taking her back soon." She nodded.

Tasha didn't have the energy to react to this. Part of it was because she felt guilty, as she was the last one that came here.

"Then, how about the Katsuragi family?"

"The number one medicine family, I know," she answered again.

Tasha nodded. "This happened when Kai met Katsuragi Takaki, the successor of the Katsuragi family, in Genesis Magical Academy.

"Because of various incidents, Kai was paired up with Kudo Ayaka for the practice match. And Katsuragi Takaki's appearance seemed to be related to Kudo Ayaka, but it might also not be related to her…"

"Related but not related?" Ayaka Carter tilted her head, confused.

Tasha simply shook her head. "Kai and I also don't understand about this. He seems to be targeting her, but it's certainly not her alone.

"Because Kai couldn't change his partner, he was stuck with Kudo Ayaka for the rest of the year. However, Katsuragi Takaki seemed to be targeting Kai when he knew he couldn't approach her or something along the line.

"Not long after that was the first assault. He sent a sniper to kill Kai, but the details were unknown as we couldn't get any information out of him.

"Our lives became normal again until the practice test started. He wanted to target Kai once again and sent his subordinate to bring a horde of magical beasts to his location. Luckily, because of his quick-witted action, he managed to escape.

"After that, there was an incident with the south prince, Inshov Tanas Georgiy. He was killed by Katsuragi Takaki too… no, maybe his assassins."

"What? Even a person like me knows about the south prince. Isn't this a big problem since the south's family has ruled Kyushu for a few generations?"

"Yeah. That's why this has become a big problem even though we don't want it. We're still not clear about their intention, so we're planning to send you and dad to Michelle's family. With this, we can slowly watch as the situation unfolds. And we can even retreat to the US base at a later date if the situation becomes out of hand," Tasha explained.

"I see. Anything else?"

"Well, the assassins that killed the south prince went to kill Kai, but they failed because of Kai's strength," Tasha said proudly. "Anyway, there will be a big clash between the Katsuragi family and the south's family. The Katsuragi family is backed by the Ikeda family, specifically Ikeda Kenzo, one of the S-rank magicians. Meanwhile, the army and Gunma's Yajima family are helping the south's family with this, so the situation might become a bit dangerous sooner or later."

Ayaka Carter thought for a bit before saying, "Well, Mom and Dad also have savings, but they're not enough for us to fly to the US base, since our family isn't wealthy like Michelle's family."

"Yeah, that's why I'm raising money for both of you."

She knew they had become a burden for their son and daughter. Even though the latter didn't think so, she, as a parent, thought so. Since rejecting it might have an opposite effect, she decided to go with the flow. "Then your dad and I will handle the administration."

"Un!" Tasha nodded with a smile. She already finished explaining, so it was her turn to ask. "Mom, can you tell me what happened to Kai?"

"Hmm… he met assassins that wanted to kill him. However, his teacher arrived and helped him. I also informed him that because of severe blood loss, his teacher, who seemed to have the same blood type as him, decided to do the transfusion.

"She's staying in the same room with Kai since she said there might be a chance for the assassins to target him again. She's such a responsible teacher. Even though she's only a few years older than him… Wait, does Kai love mature women? Hmm… I should ask him later, and maybe we can have her as a part of our family…" She said with a slight frown on her face, weighing the matter in her mind.

"Mom!" Tasha shouted.

"Haha… sorry, sorry."

"Then, what happened to him after you and Dad arrived?"

"Oh, that. Well…"

…

One hour earlier.

Kai opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He looked left and right while remembering the previous fight. Looking further to the side, he found Shirotsuka Sanae lying on a bed beside him. She looked like a patient in this hospital too.

"Teacher?"

"Oh, how is your body?" Sanae asked.

Kai checked his body and tried to move it. Although he felt a bit weak, there should be no problem with his body. He slowly rose into a sitting position and replied, "I'm all right."

Her eyes twitched when she heard that. "Oi. You're a monster, aren't you?"

"?!" Kai narrowed his eyes.

"The doctor even said it's a miracle that you're alive. You should have been unconscious for a few more days because of that big wound, but look at you now… You've woken up and seem to be fine," Shirotsuka Sanae said.

"Well, I'm proud of my power—?!" Kai wanted to pose like he was proud, but when he tried to move his hand, he felt something restricting it. He looked to the side and found Ayaka sleeping while holding his hand. He was startled to see her here.

"She rushed here when she heard you were injured and admitted to this hospital. Well, since she was your partner in practical class, she was one of the people I needed to inform. She was panicking and even informed her family about this, trying to help you.

"Anyway, she panicked too much and couldn't do anything. It seemed she was frustrated by the fact that she didn't know anything about this. Maybe she thought that you didn't trust her or something along the line," Sanae explained.

Kai shook his head helplessly. "It's not that I don't trust her. We're only friends, so I think I shouldn't bother her with this…"

"But she clearly treats you as someone who's more than just a friend, you know… Or are you that dense? Or maybe you don't even realize your own sister's actions?"

"No. I know that. However, unlike my sister, what she needs is a hero… a man that can protect her and teach her various things. And because we've experienced lots of things, it became a bit complicated.

"However, one thing that won't change… someone will be able to replace my figure in her heart easily. I don't care about having multiple wives and such, but I surely want to build my relationship with someone, not falling in love because of a certain thing.

"That's why I keep a certain distance from her… Well, this might sound a bit funny from a person that doesn't understand what love is, but that's my view on this," Kai explained while stroking Ayaka's head with a smile.

"Well, I'm not in a position to butt in your love life. Still, I think you should talk to her about it. The sooner, the better," Sanae advised.

"Yes, I know. After this matter with the Katsuragi family ends and my parents are safe, I'll settle it with her."

"Anyway, your parents came here a few minutes ago. They said they wanted to go back home first to grab a few things and they'll come back here soon."

"I see… My parents must be furious."

"Indeed, I even felt chills when your mother looked at me even though there was no killing intent."

"Haha… My mother is the absolute head in my house, so, yeah..." He said before looking at Sanae with a serious expression. "I also need to give you your payment… I'll send her contact details later. I'm really thankful for your help in this matter."

Shirotsuka Sanae looked at him with a complicated expression. "You don't need to give it to me. My agreement with you is to investigate the Katsuragi family in exchange for my best friend's details, so I'll help you a bit longer."

"Are you sure?" Kai was surprised by this.

"Yeah. Besides, I must've become one of the people on their list since the sniper got away." Sanae shrugged.

"I'm sorry about that." Kai scratched his cheek, feeling a bit guilty. "I almost thought you've fallen for me or something."

"Ho… do you want me to put you back to death's door? To think you dare to tease your teacher." Sanae jokingly glared at him before chuckling. Kai also chuckled.