(10)->VACATION & NEW FRIENDS

--Author-san's POV--

Two years have passed since the kidnapping attempt on Seiya after which no further attempts were made. The 'Tatsuma Clan' went through several changes throughout this time especially the top echelon that consisted of the elders and close relatives of Seiya's grandfather, the late patriarch. Most if not all of them were either replaced or banished from the clan on various charges from financial scandals to treason, with Ryoma's own loyal men taking over their positions, thus, weakening the various 'branch' families and strengthening the 'main' one. But this was not the end of their problems.

One after another, police reports and complaints were being filed against all of these replaced and banished men with mountains of evidence being piled, supporting these cases, giving them no room to breathe. Naturally, all of this was according to Ryoma's plans, and he had been preparing for this over the years, ever since he became the patriarch. Cornered on all sides, these men soon gave up any kind of resistance and accepted their fates, effectively handing over the control of the entire clan to Ryoma. This also served as an example to all those who had any conflicting thoughts against the 'main' family.

Seiya's status, in the clan, on the other hand, shot through the roof. Someone from the security team that night blabbed about how the 'young master' defeated those kidnappers all by himself and just like how people love to make a mountain out of a molehill, the story itself was exaggerated to the point that it did not make any sense. Add onto the fact that he was announced the heir in a few months and he became the most sought-after individual in the clan even more so than his father.

From that day on, many people came to visit him daily. Some wanted to introduce their children to him while others resorted to flattery and gifts. Under these circumstances, it became nigh impossible for Seiya to make friends within the clan but he did not turn any of them down for he believed that he could be a positive influence in the lives of these children and mold them to become loyal to the clan and work for its benefit. As for the gifts, who was he to turn down free 'gifts' anyway? Thankfully, Aria and Ryuko gave him their full support while dealing with such people acting like the perfect 'secretaries'.

The rest of his time was spent in the company of his family, reading about his new world and training his 'quirk'. It took quite some time but he was finally able to transform instantly after which he started working to master transforming individual body parts and switching the transformation between the body parts almost instantaneously. As a result of his increased efficiency while using his quirk and the increase in the energy influx from outside as time passed by, the time limit for his full transformation increased to 5 minutes. However, with time, the energy consumption of his 'quirk' increased as well, albeit with an increase in power but it also made him unable to extend the time limit for his quirk any further.

Seiya also had a physiological change in his body during this time, namely, an external bone structure forming on his back. Initially, it started as an itch after his 'quirk' manifested, slowly forming over time until it turned into its present form of a red exoskeleton, the size of his fist, fused with the vertebra of Seiya's body. What it does however is currently unknown as it is still in its development phase. This, however, gave Seiya's parents the perfect excuse to regularly monitor his body's condition and check for any irregularities.

It was also decided that his initial schooling would be done at the manor. So that Seiya does not feel lonely, it was further decided that all of the children in the clan would be sent to the 'Tatsuma Manor' to complete their primary education. For this purpose, some of the most accomplished teachers were hired from all over the world. This was the first time Seiya truly realized how privileged the elite class was.

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---SANTA MONICA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.---

--2 years later--

Seiya: "Melissa-chan! Pass!"

A boy, no older than 5 years of age and 4 ft. high, with spiky chocolate brown hair and ruby red eyes in his red swimming trunks, asked his companion as he jumped above the net to spike the ball. His bare chest showed a physically fit body for a boy his age, a red exoskeleton behind his back, and a face with sharp features which would no doubt attract many of the opposite sex once he grew up. He was none other than Seiya Ryujin, reincarnated as Seiya Tatsuma.

Alongside him was the young, pale-skinned, and round-faced Melissa Shields, daughter of the genius inventor and famous scientist David Shields. She was 7 years old and had a height similar to that of Seiya. with wavy blond hair which reaches halfway down her back and aqua-blue eyes with notable eyelashes. She was wearing a long-sleeved pink-colored girl's swimsuit making her look as cute as a doll. Following Seiya's instructions, she ran towards the oncoming volleyball

Melissa: "Hai! Here Seiya-kun!"

Using all her might, she returned the ball up in the air towards which Seiya's quickly reached after, by jumping in the air, and spiked it to the other side of the net hoping to win the match. On the opponent side of the net, were two girls.

Between the two of them, one was Ryuko who was now a young teenage girl of about 15 with chin-length blonde hair, which she wore swept back with a headband, a long fringe over the right side of her face, covering her eye along with thin, yellow, inward-tilting eyes with slit pupils and notably sharp teeth. She had entered a growth spurt during these last 2 years, was now 6 ft. tall, and had grown in all the 'right' places, a fact clearly visible in her yellow two-piece swimsuit.

Ryuko: "Aria! Get ready!"

Aria: "Don't worry Ryuko-nee!"

Running to receive the volleyball was Aria who too was 5 years old this year and had neck length short red hair, just like in her Goddess form, with her warm brown eyes. She too had grown like Seiya albeit slightly shorter and with a leaner physique than him and in her blue-colored speedo, she looked especially adorable.

Not far away, Ryoma Tatsuma in his swimming briefs and Kyoko Tatsuma in her one-piece swimsuit were sitting on two loungers, basking in the sunlight and enjoying their children's game. Last week, Ryuko's summer vacation had begun and the whole family decided to come to America to spend their holidays or that's what Ryoma and Kyoko told them but in reality, it was the perfect opportunity to get Seiya examined by David Shields who has only recently become available.

The game has going on for about an hour and was in the last stages of the final set with a score of 20-19 with Seiya's team in the lead and at match point (1). Seeing this nobody could have imagined that Seiya and Melissa's team was absolutely crushed in the first set by Ryuko and Aria's team. It had something to with the fact that this was the first time Melissa ever played volleyball.

But Seiya did not mind this. If anything he used the entire first set teaching Melissa the basics and getting her into the game as quickly as he could. The result was Melissa being able to receive the ball and from that point on, this game changed from a one-sided massacre to a match between two equal teams. Melissa and Aria used their minds to think of interesting plays and support while Seiya and Ryuko were the main attackers owing to their stronger physiques. Due to a lack of players, no team was blocking the attacker.

Finally, after a hard-fought struggle, Seiya and Melissa won the second set and continued the game. And now the game, in its final set, was about to be over with the timer approaching their self-imposed time limit. If Seiya and Melissa could not win this game and Ryuko and Aria caught up to them then as per the results of the first two sets, Ryuko and Aria would win the game, something that Seiya was not willing to accept after all the effort their team put up to this point.

Seeing his recent attack being intercepted by Aria, Seiya decided to take a bluff to win the game. He made a victory sign behind his back so that Melissa, who was standing behind him, could see it which she did. Melissa's face turned solemn as she recalled what they had planned before this set began.

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==Flashback: Before the final set began==

Seiya: "Did you get it Melissa-chan?"

Hurriedly nodding her head in approval, Melissa replied,

Melissa: "Understood Seiya-kun!"

Seiya: "Remember this trick is only going to work for only a single time after which it would be useless. Therefore, we will only use it in the last stages of the game when our opponents are both mentally and physically exhausted just like us, and as a result, won't be able to react properly. So, make sure to watch me carefully during the entire set, okay?"

Melissa, right now, was feeling a plethora of emotions. On one hand, she was happy at finally having a genuine friend who would trust her with such an important task (2) while on the other hand, she was afraid of not being able to stand up to his expectations but she had never been one to back down nor would she do so now. As such, with a determined gaze, she gave a nod to Seiya.

Seeing her nod so seriously, Seiya's expression softened and with a smile he said,

Seiya: "Don't worry Melissa-chan! You just need to try your best. The rest is out of our hands and we can only look forward to the result. So, even if we, somehow, lose today, promise me not to think about it too much, okay?"

However, Seiya's efforts to ease Melissa's nerves ended up doing the exact opposite of its intended effect. Ever since she was declared quirkless, Melissa never truly had any friends, much less friends who would care about her well-being so much. This only made her even more unwilling to fail at his task.

==Flashback: Over==

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Just as Aria, on the other side of the net, deflected the volleyball up in the air, Ryuko followed the ball's direction and jumped up in the air to spike it. Right at that very moment, Melissa who had been standing behind Seiya ran forward. Ryuko who was up in the air noticed her movements and believing this to be a bluff from her, aimed her spike right where she had been standing before hoping to disrupt her movements and thereby resulting in her dropping of the ball. However, Melissa did not stop and continued forward which greatly shocked Aria and Ryuko.

But the next moment, they caught movement behind Melissa and were shocked to find Seiya standing in her previous spot, ready to receive the ball. And before they could even react, Melissa was already up in the air ready to spike the ball.

*Thud*

Using all her energy, she spiked the ball without even looking where she was spiking it. Fortunately, the ball reached the other side of the net. Meanwhile, Aria and Ryuko recovered from their states of shock and focused on the oncoming spike. Aria ran forward and albeit with a slight delay in timing, was able to keep the ball in play tossing it up in the air. Unfortunately, the ball was not set properly so Ryuko could only try to spike it full force, just to get it over the net.

Seiya who had been watching the situation unfold finally got the opportunity he had been waiting for and ran quickly towards the net to block Ryuko. Both of them jumped at the same time but because of their relatively same jumping capacity and their height difference, Seiya ended up facing a most beautiful sight of Ryuko's 'grown' bust, leaving him dazed with only one thought running through his head.

Seiya: 'She sure has grown a lot, huh.'

In his daze, he even forgot to block the spike and just as Ryuko spiked the ball, he was hit right on his nose knocking him out.

Everyone: "Seiya!"

All of them, except Ryuko, came running towards Seiya only to find him bleeding from his nose. They assumed that it was due to the ball but the true cause was known only to him. Ryuko, on the other hand, had a contemplative look on her face with her gaze on the 'fallen' Seiya with a strange flash of glint in her eyes.

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-1 week later-

---SHIELDS LAB, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.---

Seiya was lying on a bed in a room full of machines scanning him over with weird graphs and readings that he could neither make the heads nor the tails of. Outside the room, a tall middle-aged man with average build with small sky-blue eyes and short, unruly honey brown hair with two prominent tufts curving outwards from the top of his forehead, a short goatee on his chin and wide-rimmed square glasses on his face, was standing in a lab coat observing the statistics in front of him. Alongside him were Ryoma and Kyoko with expectant expressions on their faces.

For an entire week, Seiya went through several tests, all in the name of a 'routine checkup' and his exoskeleton. Seiya, obviously, did not believe it but he trusted his parents enough to not question them about it. Those various tests required him to do many things from sleeping to running to weightlifting and what not. The rest of his day would be spent with his family and Melissa, who would show them around the various interesting spots in the city.

Now, David Shields was looking at all the data that had been compiled after the entire week of testing while Seiya's parents were wishing for their son's safe health. A few minutes later, with a serious look on his face, David said,

David: "Well, I do have to say, these readings are completely beyond my expectations!"

David's serious expression unnerved them both. With a bit of concern evident in his voice, Ryoma asked,

Ryoma: "Why? What do they say?"

Suddenly, David's serious expression changed to a jovial one, and with a smile he said,

David: "Well, he is not just healthy, he is more than healthy! Despite having dual quirks, there is no sign of any backlash on his body."

Hearing this the Tatsuma couple breathed a sigh of relief. After which Kyoko proceeded to bash David on his head, rebuking him for having such a serious expression on his face when everything was all right. All that he could say in his defense was that he was intrigued with what he found.

Allowing them to calm themselves down for a moment, David continued,

David: "In fact, that's not even the best part. Do you remember the drawback of over-using your quirk, Ryoma? Well, if these results are correct, which they should be, then Seiya does not suffer from it."

To say that Ryoma was shocked would be an understatement. Problems that had plagued him would not affect his dear son at all. The fact that his son had the same quirk as him, had haunted him for all these years had been a constant source of worry for him.

Ryoma: 'It looks like you are looking after your grandson, father. Please continue to do so in the future as well.'

Bringing his attention back in front of him, he asked,

Ryoma: "Thank God, David! You have given us such great news!"

Kyoko: "That's right, David, thank you!"

Seeing the Tatsuma couple bowing down in front of him, David hurriedly held them up,

David: "What are you guys doing? I did nothing! The reason behind his health is Seiya's own quirk!"

Both of them were quite confused at this and had questioning looks on their faces. Realizing his error, David said,

David: "You don't really know what his quirk is, do you?"

Ryoma: "We just assumed it was similar to Kyoko's transformation quirk."

David: "Well, it does transform but that's only one of its capabilities. This quirk is very peculiar having both a passive as well as an active state. When in its passive state, it continuously boosts Seiya's body, improving his base abilities as a human. Its active state, on the other hand, provides with a transformation ability which boosts his base abilities by a factor of 3. This means that with time he would continue to become stronger even without actively using his quirk. Of course, his rate of improvement does not increase so his apparent increase in his abilities would be obvious in the long term only."

By now the Tatsuma couple had their eyes bulging out of their faces. Shock after shock, that's all they had experienced once David started talking. Both of them understood the true scariness about Seiya's quirk. Theoretically, as long as he lived, Seiya would continue to become stronger. Before they could continue to draw any more terrifying conclusions, David continued,

David: "But it does not end there. As you both know that each quirk has some kind of limitation, this one has it too and that is the absurd amount of energy his body would require for maintenance once it reaches beyond a certain level of strength. Anyway, what does your quirk do Ryoma?"

Ryoma: "Well, in essence, it absorbs the energies from the outs-....! My God!"

David had a goofy smile on his face on seeing his friend's gob-smacked expression making him regret not having a camera with him right now. Kyoko too had come to a realization and simply said,

Kyoko: "Wow!"

David: "That's right! His second quirk nullifies the drawback of his first one and his first one nullifies the drawback of his second one! They complement each other perfectly! It's quite a wonder considering that both of your quirks do not have any relation to each other whatsoever."

By now, the feeling of shock had subsided and was replaced by happiness instead. Their child had such powerful quirks! This would ensure his ability to protect himself in the future but Kyoko still did not understand one thing,

Kyoko: "David, what about that exoskeleton structure on his back?"

David: "Oh that! Yes, we did analyze it and even though we are not entirely sure but considering your quirk, Kyoko, I have a feeling that they are wing structures."

Kyoko: "Wings, huh."

Compared to all the previous discoveries, having a pair of wings wasn't that big of a deal. Their indifference was also because of how numb they had become from all these shocking discoveries.

David: "Well, let's get Seiya out of the observation room. The poor kid must have been bored to death by now."

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-1 week later-

The Tatsuma family spent another week in the States, during which Seiya was under constant observation. Seiya, himself, was quite fed up with these 'routine checkups'. Fortunately, there were many new experiences too to make up for it. This was the first time Seiya was traveling out of the country and he was enjoying every second of it. If he did not have to save the world and all, he would have liked to travel instead.

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---LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.---

It was time for the Tatsuma family's flight back home and they were saying their final goodbyes to the Shields who had accompanied them to the airport. Melissa had a sad expression on her face, which could break the hearts of even the most heartless person, not wanting to part from her first genuine friends. Not only Seiya but Aria and Ryuko too were the nicest people that she had met and naturally had become good friends with them. The Tatsuma trio nodded to each other and swept Melissa in a group hug.

Seiya: "Don't worry, Melissa, we will meet again in the future!"

Ryuko: "Or you can visit Japan instead!"

Aria: "And this time we will be the one acting as hosts!"

Her friends' words made Melissa finally smile back again. The adults who were watching this scene had happy smiles adorning their faces. Turning towards David, Kyoko said,

Kyoko: "Now whenever you intend to spend a large time away from home, make sure to send Melissa to us, got it?"

The last part was more of a warning than anything making David sweat a bit. Coming to his friend's rescue, Ryoma changed the subject and said,

Ryoma: "Also I will be sending Seiya's monthly progress reports to you. In case of any problems, please contact me as soon as you can."

Patting his friend's shoulder, David replied, with a thumb pointing towards himself,

David: "You don't have to worry about it at all. Just leave it to me."

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-30 minutes later-

Looking at the plane taking off in the distance, David turned towards his daughter and asked,

David: "Did you like spending time with your new friends, princess?"

Melissa hurriedly nodded in response looking at the departing plane, causing David to chuckle in return,

David: "So would you like to visit them in the future?"

Melissa: "Hmm-Hmm!"

David: "Ha ha ha, alright, Daddy will take you to visit them in the future."

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---TATSUMA RESIDENCE, OKINAWA---

-1 month later-

The Tatsuma family had returned back home and settled back into their routine lives again and yet they would reminisce about their vacation especially Seiya, who remembered Melissa everyday. Just like he was her first genuine friend, Melissa too was Seiya's first genuine friend in this world and during the month long vacation, had become an important part of his life. He could only look forward to seeing her again. But alas, life must go on and we must go along with it.

Today, some family friends were going to visit them and as always Seiya was told to be on the best of his behaviors. He alone was told such a thing because there was no need to tell this to Aria while Ryuko was on a school trip. It was afternoon when they finally arrived.

A couple with their daughter entered the house and greeted properly by the maids and butlers. Seiya, with Aria and his parents by his side, saw them being escorted and the first person he noticed were their daughter who had periwinkle hair reaching down to her knees, twisting around itself at her waist and curving inwards around her legs. She also had side-swept bangs, tucked behind her ears on the right and hanging just over her eyes on the left, and two short clumps of hair on either side of her face, curved towards her face on the right and behind it, under her ear, on the left

To sum it up in one word, she was cute! Seiya had seen many girls before but none of them were as cute as her, especially with her wide and curious eyes. Noticing his gaze on her, she gave him a bright smile and came up to him of her own accord,

Nejire: "Hello! I am Nejire Hado, 7-years-old. What's your name?"

(Please read Author's thoughts below.)

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\\Author's Thoughts//

So this was what you would call a relaxation chapter with some information included. I already told you guys that such chapters would be there so that I could introduce romantic interests or add some info that might be important in the long run so that's that. Also please send me your feedback regarding the story.

(1). As far as I know, a 2 vs 2 volleyball match has 21 set points. Please correct me if I am wrong.

(2). Remember she is but a 7-year-old girl.

During these last 2 chapters, I have focused heavily on the dialogues because they make the characters seem more lively. So would you like me to continue writing this way or go the way the other fanfics go with more on first-person POV. Please comment,

>[HERE]

Now we will be starting the Training in the next chapter and will now move ahead quite quickly. In the meantime, I was also thinking of writing one more fanfic at the same time to make things more interesting (for me). For now, I have decided on a Naruto fanfic. If you have other opinions, comment,

>[HERE]

Also for those who support the Naruto fanfic, please vote for your favorite timeline,

>[2nd Shinobi War]

>[3rd Shinobi War]

>[Cannon]

If you have any other opinions or ideas, comment,

>[HERE]

See you guys soon, Hyvästi!

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