The Inheritance Ceremony

It had been a month since the branch war occurred. The whole island had already finished repairs and not a trace of the battles could be seen anywhere. In a house inside Ryoshi Estate, the private territory of the family where only they could stay in, a 10-year-old boy was busy cooking in the kitchen. The boy stood on a stool to prepare the ingredients comfortably due to the table being too tall for him to work while standing. He was chopping the ingredients with such proficiency and accuracy that it looked like a master chef was doing a cooking show. He was cooking the food with such mastery that the ingredients looked like they were dancing amidst the roaring flames of the stove.

The young master chef that just finished cooking is Heishi. Just as he placed the last dish on the table, the front door of the house was kicked open with a loud bang.

"Heishi! Your grandfather told me to tell you to meet him at the docks!" Garou lowered his foot and stepped inside as he said so. He looked at the dishes on the table and started salivating, "Ooohh Kebab, Pizza, Sushi, Chicken adobo, and that Penang something!" He exclaimed.

"It's Penang Assam Laksa, Garou. Anyways what did you say?" Heishi said.

"Nothing, can I eat now?" Garou absentmindedly answered as he tried to grab a kebab but got his hands smacked away from the food.

"Wait for everyone else Gar. Focus! What was it you were saying?" Heishi impatiently replied before asking a question of his own.

"Sheesh, Heish! One stick wouldn't hurt anyone. Oh right, Your grandfather wanted me to tell you that he's waiting for you at the docks. Those people from the Shizuru branch will be arriving soon." Garou replied while rubbing his hands.

"Wait what?! Now? I gotta go. Come on Gar!" Heishi hurriedly grabbed his scarf and coat before dashing out of the house.

"Why do I have to go?"

"Because I don't trust you with keeping away from the food. The last time I did, there was nothing left for me when I got back and I had to cook again"

"...It's not my fault they tasted so good." Garou looked back at the covered dishes on the table with longing before sighing and stepping outside.

Heishi hurried to the simple single-horse stable beside his house. He led his pony Sausage outside before putting on the saddle and reigns. He rode Sausage as it dashed away towards the estate gates and out to the port.

...

Hurried gallops could be heard as Sausage arrived at Harbor Village. Heishi led the pony towards a stable before dismounting. "Boy! There you are!" Nasuko said as he saw Heishi finally arriving at the pier. They both stood at the edge of the pier and watched as a ship was moving towards the jetty from the distance. It took him two hours to arrive here from the estate and would take him two hours more to get back. '*sigh* looks like I'll have to reheat the food later.'

About ten to fifteen minutes later, the large ship finally moored and the gangplank was lowered. Stepping down was an entourage composed of three young girls the same age as Heishi, an old lady in her 50's like Nasuko, and three middle-aged couples who were probably the parents of the girls. Following them were a group of men equipped with katanas and crossbows, their garments had the symbol of a lantern just like Heishi's branch but had a wreath of laurel leaves beside it. The Hizuru branch's symbol was originally an eye to symbolize their role as watchers but was changed after it officially allied with the main branch and chose a side.

...

When the Ryoshi family broke apart into 4 branches which now extended to 6 branches, they had set a different goal for their own branch. The main one stuck with their ancestor's goal and the missions they gave to their descendants were all to make it easier for the next one until they could finally accomplish it. The Hizuru branch wanted to become watchers and the missions they sent to their descendants were all about searching for information all over the world making them the most informed branch. The Mid-East allied nation's branch wanted to rule the world and lose as few soldiers as possible in their conquest to conquer therefore they sent their descendants to take the only titans with healing capabilities from the main branch but in the process lost hundreds of thousands. The Marley branch which was the most chaotic and barbaric group only wanted to cause chaos and death, therefore, they sent their descendants to destroy.

Hundreds of years ago, they made an agreement not to show their titan forms to the outside world to keep their secrecy. No one objected for they did not have to.

The main branch and the Hizuru branch officially allied together during Nasuko's grandfather's time when he married the princess of their branch. Since then, the two branches became close friends and would help each other.

...

"Nasuko! Good to see you!" The old lady said energetically as she ran out of the group and hugged him. "I'm sorry, I heard about what happened to Emilia."

"It's alright. It's good to see you too Clara." He said before turning towards the rest of the entourage. "So, these are your children and grandkids huh? Why don't you introduce them to me?"

Clara smiles as she proudly introduced each one. "That's my eldest son Aaron and his wife Annabelle. Those are Emma, my second daughter, and her husband Anton. While those two are my youngest son Felix and his girlfriend Amanda."

Clara was a beauty and still was even though she was already in her fifties. She took care of her appearance which made her look like she was still in her thirties. She had black hair with a white streak of hair that was parted in the middle. Like most Ryoshis, she had red irises.

All members of the Ryoshi family who possess the blood of one had a very distinctive trait from others. Females are born with crimson red irises while men are born with irises that are indigo blue. The only exceptions are special cases where the child is born with dark violet eyes. They always celebrated whenever one with violet irises is born into their family for, throughout the family history, all born with them grew up to become talents of unparalleled potential.

Some great examples of these are Nasuko who could fight 4 titans at once and Hoenn who was able to turn a support type titan into a vanguard type.

Aaron and Felix both have indigo irises while Emma had crimson ones. Like their mother, all of them have black hair with the only difference being the hairstyle.

"And these, these little angels are my granddaughters; Melissa, Andrea, and Layla." She said as went over and wrapped them all up in a hug.

Heishi was surprised to find that all three of them had deep violet eyes. Noticing him, Clara pointed, "Now who's this little rascal? Wait...this is him? Boy, your Heishi?" She turned her questioning halfway towards Heishi who nodded in affirmation.

The three girls looked him up and down. They crowded around him and did different things. Melissa took out a notebook and pen and began asking him a variety of questions like a journalist. Layla took out a measuring tape and started taking his measures like a tailor. Andrea, on the other hand, blushed as she shyly extended out her hands to greet him like an introverted full-time female otaku who mustered up her courage to interact with strangers.

Heishi who was previously a male otaku felt a familiar feeling from her and they began to engage in a pleasant conversation and ignored the other two without realizing it. Layla was quite glad for this meant she could continue uninterrupted but Melissa was fuming.

Nasuko and Clara looked at the two and then at each other with a knowing look. They neared each other and began whispering.

'What do you think?'

'I agree, I think so too.'

"Erhmm..." Nasuko pretended to clear his throat out loud which got the attention of Heishi who realized what his grandfather was trying to say with his eyes.

"Oh right! Come, come with me, I've prepared breakfast for everyone back home." Heishi gestured them to follow as he retrieved Sausage from the stables, mounted it, and looked at the others. Nasuko rode on a beautiful reddish-brown stallion, Clara rode a graceful caramel-colored stallion, Aaron, Annabelle and their daughter Melissa shared a majestic gray mare, Emma, Anton and their daughter Layla shared a white mare, and Felix and his girlfriend Amanda romantically rode a magnificent black mare.

Heishi learned from their chat that Andrea is the daughter of Clara's firstborn, Charlotte. Her mother could not come for she and the other three shifters of the family had something else to do.

He noticed that she was just standing there and came over to her. "Why don't you come ride with me?"

Her cheeks reddened as she softly nodded.

He dismounted and help her get on the pony first before remounting. As they walked, he noticed that she had trouble balancing herself and suggested she hold onto him. The girl's cheek further reddened as she hugged him from behind. Their actions were not left unnoticed by Nasuko and Clara who smiled at each other. They rode their stallions close together and continued whispering while following behind Sausage along with the others.

"He's quite the gentleman. He already knows how to secretly get some brownie points and he could cook too. Alas, he might become a casanova in the future if he knows how to touch a girl's heart at such a young age." Clara stated her analysis of the boy to his grandfather by whispering.

Nasuko only nodded but kept a thought in his mind. 'I assure you he won't. He had no idea what he just did. From my observation of the boy, He's denser than honey.'

Nasuko remembered a lot of times when quite a number of girls the same age as him from Dedication city expressed their interest in him and tried to get close to him without knowing his background after shortly interacting with Heishi but the boy never actively responded to their advances. He would answer questions if they asked him and would always treat them as friends then would excuse himself and do other things. Not once did Nasuko see the boy look at them as more than friends. He considered the boy as a natural casanova with a very high potential to be one but never realized it though, in turn, this seemed to have captured their hearts further. If not for Holly's intervention, he was afraid his grandson would be surrounded by girls all the time and people would think of him as a silk pants playboy.

Had Heishi known what they were thinking he would surely refute it and explain to them that those girls didn't have feelings for him, it was just that they surprisingly shared a lot of things in common. He would deny their analysis and tell them that he had little to no charisma and no girl would ever like him, after all, if there had been one, he would surely have a girlfriend in his previous life. He never took into consideration the fact that he never left his apartment and would only go out at night in his neighborhood when everyone had fallen asleep and only 24/7 convenience stores were open. The rest of the time, everything he needed was acquired through delivery.

...

They arrived at the family estate after two hours just as Heishi assumed. Thankfully, there were still a lot of dishes on the table and only the plate of kebabs went missing. He reheated the dishes and made a new plate full of kebabs before they began eating breakfast. The dishes received nothing but praises from them.

They then spent the whole morning with the adults chitchatting inside Hoenn's mansion after he and his wives arrived. The kids, on the other hand, began touring the island with Heishi as the tour guide. Noon soon came and all the females crowded the mansion's kitchen which was thankfully big enough to accommodate them all while still providing more than enough space to move around. Heishi wanted to help but was "strangely" ushered out by all of them as they told him to interact more with the girls.

Heishi's siblings, Holly and Kiryuu, arrived in the afternoon after their physical training and academic studies were finished for the day. Layla and Melissa switched targets and began measuring and interviewing the two instead. Kiryuu happily answered all of Melissa's questions while cooperating with Layla as she measured him. Holly, on the other hand, was giving the stinky eye to Andrea who shivered and was worried but was reassured by Heishi who patiently soothed her as they began doing their own thing, talking and laughing together under the shade of a weeping willow.

The whole afternoon was spent enjoying each other's company for everyone. Heishi led Andrea towards Tamajin's meadow where he took her to his favorite spot whenever he had the time. It was at the edge of the cliff that was fenced to prevent people from falling. The meadow was located at the westernmost side of the island therefore it was the perfect place to watch the sunset. After the sun had sunk down on the horizon and the moon began to rise, Heishi reminded his uncle Jin to prepare for the ceremony before he and Andrea left the meadows. They hurried towards the ceremony grounds just past the mountains southeast from the meadow.

Upon arrival, they were quickly led separately towards different small Japanese-styled bungalows at the edge of the ceremony grounds. Heishi changed from his casual attire to a long white robe and fixed up his hair after taking a quick bath.

The ceremony grounds was a wide-open space the size of six football fields. At the front most part of it was a large rectangular platform with throne-like chairs. A simple stone stair was located in front. The sides were already filled with the people of Dedication city and the villages all over the island.

"The inheritance ceremony will now commence. Please give a warm welcome to the Ryoshi family." A smiling middle-aged man who was chosen to be the speaker for the ceremony announced.

"Grand Elder Akemi Ryoshi, son of Former Elder Akihiro and Lady Asami, accompanied by his wife Lady Veronica Ryoshi of the Shizuru branch.

Elder Eichi Ryoshi, son of Grand Elder Akemi and Lady Veronica, accompanied by his wife and daughter Lady Emiyo Ryoshi.

Elder Nasuko Ryoshi, son of Elder Eichi and Lady Veronica, our strongest warrior and current possessor of the Crystal Titan.

Master Hoenn Ryoshi, first son of Elder Nasuko and Lady Emilia, our head scientist and engineer as well as the current possessor of the Combustion Titan. Accompanying him are Lady Arianne, his first wife, Masterchef, and current possessor of the Life Titan, Lady Miyuki, his second wife, Governor of Dedication city, and current possessor of the Nature Titan, and finally, Lady Colline, his third wife and chief trainer of our Soldier Training Camps.

Master Tamajin Ryoshi, second son of Elder Nasuko and Lady Emilia, head and chief trainer of Animal Meadow.

Young Master Hei...wait no...Young Master Kiryuu Ryoshi, son of Master Hoenn and Lady Colline.

Young Lady Holly Ryoshi, daughter of Master Hoenn and Lady Miyuki.

Ah, here he is! Young Master Heishi Ryoshi, son of Master Hoenn and Lady Arianne. Accompanying him is...who is she?... Oh okay got it, accompanying him is Young Lady Andrea Ryoshi of the Shizuru branch. I don't know about you guys but I smell love in the air. Those single dogs out there, use this chance to find your significant other while it's still airborne, this is your chance! ...What? What do you mean I'm fired? Hey, wait..."

Following that the middle-aged man was dragged down from the platform and an older man replaced him. "Erhmm Sorry for that. Now let's continue on."

"Introducing our special guests from the Shizuru branch;

Elder...I mean...Lady Clara Ryoshi, a close friend of Elder Nasuko and current possessor of the Cleansing Titan.

Master Aaron Ryoshi, son of Lady Clara, and accompanying him are his wife Lady Annabelle and their daughter Young Lady Melissa.

Lady Emma Ryoshi, daughter of Lady Clara, and accompanying her are her husband Sir Anton, and their daughter Young Lady Layla.

Master Felix Ryoshi, son of Lady Clara, and accompanying him is his girlfriend Lady Amanda.

Young Lady Andrea Ryoshi has already been...introduced...before while accompanying Young Master Heishi.

Wait, there's more. Introducing Daichi Ryoshi, current possessor of the Predator Titan and...um...Gurisumonki, close ape friend and...Animal...Ambassador."

The new speaker looked at Tamajin who added the extra description under Guri. The 20-30 "normal" meerkats following him around were nowhere to be seen but the albino meerkat and erythristic ferret still sat on his shoulders while looking at the people around curiously.

They all walked towards the platform as their names were called and sat on their chairs except for Daichi who was chained up instead. After they have all been seated, the new speaker said his final words before going down as he was just there for the beginning and the end, not a commentator.

"It is time to begin," Akemi said. Nasuko, Hoenn, Arianne, Tamajin, Heishi, and Guri stepped down from the platform and maintained some distance as they stood on the wide-open space. The meerkat and ferret went down Jin's shoulder and sat on his chair as he stepped down. Nasuko, Hoenn, and Arianne stood on one side, where Daichi was chained up in while Tamajin, Heishi, and Guri stood on the other side.

Akami, Eichi, Miyuki, and Colline stood behind Daichi, Nasuko, Hoenn, and Arianne respectively.

"Alright, cut your connections." Those who were behind said together. Akami looked at the young man who pretended to not hear and said, "Don't resist boy. Just do as we say. Your still young, don't just throw away your life. After this is all over, we'll let you go as long as you cooperate. Don't be as hardheaded as your father was. We don't want to use the savage method on you unless we really have to."

The boy shivered both in fear and fury. In the end, just like the others, a small spine-like creature crawled out of his back. They came out and passed through the skin as if it was water. The creatures were immediately grabbed by the people behind as they struggled to move up their arms. The creature from Nasuko's back was the first to be moved to the other side and placed on Tamajin's own back. The creature crawled in or what looked more like dived into his back where it merged with his spine.

"Graah!" He screamed in agony before sparks crackled around his body after a few moments. Electricity converged on the clouds above before a thick yellow pillar of lightning crashed down on him. He was enshrouded in a bright yellow sphere of electricity which gradually expanded. After the bright sphere disappeared, the scream was replaced by a roar as a huge tall titan standing at a height of 17 meters stood in his place. Unlike Nasuko's Crystal Titan form, Jin's Crystal Titan form had major changes.

His titan was thinner but still muscular like Eren's Attack Titan, unlike its predecessor that had the body of a bodybuilder. It was shorter by three meters than its predecessor but was still as tall as Zeke's Beast Titan. Compared to the previous one that had long white hair gently swaying on its back, this one had spiky blonde hair only reaching up to its neck.

The final most obvious change was that the old one had its lower body covered by hardened skin that resembled baggy pants but this new one instead has hardened skin in its arms, legs, and where a person's private part is supposed to be located(obviously this one didn't have one of those being a titan and all).

Now, unlike, Nasuko's titan that looked like one of those carefree fighters that don't bother wearing garments on their upper body, Jin's titan looked like a tall wild strange warrior who only wore bracers, boots, and briefs, all made of hardened skin.

Focus returned to the titan's eyes as it looked at its fists that it opened and closed. It looked around before a bright sphere of electricity engulfed it a second time. The sphere vanished once more and Tamajin returned back to normal. He looked at his family and smiled apologetically. "Even though this is the second time I've inherited a titan, I still haven't gotten used to the prickling pain of the spine creatures merging with my own spine."

With the Crystal titan's transference completed, it was now Heishi's turn to receive the inheritance. Miyuki and Colline approached him at the same time. "Don't worry it will only hurt for a few seconds," Miyuki said to him. They placed the spine creatures on his back at the same time vertically.

Heishi prepared for the pain but still couldn't help but groan and shout in agony. At least this time, the scream was not a shameful one but an acceptable one instead. To him, it felt like a large centipede attached itself to his back with drills for legs. The pain was unbearable but he held on. Without warning, he lost consciousness but his body remained standing while screaming in agony, the only signs that he did lose consciousness was that his eyes lost focus and dimmed.