(8)->ATTACK! & ANOTHER QUIRK?

---TATSUMA RESIDENCE, OKINAWA, JAPAN---

--Author-san's POV--

Seiya: "N-NAAAAANIIII!"

Seiya was on his wit's end about the cause behind this sudden change when it suddenly struck him,

Seiya: 'Wait! Is this because of my 'quirk'? Hmm, it does seem familiar to a dragon's claw but what's with the size. Unlike onesan, my hands did not get bigger.'

The others seemed to have reached the same conclusion and the audience erupted in a roar. Their soon-to-be-heir had finally manifested his quirk and from what just happened, it was clear that it was a fairly strong one. With this, the matter about the succession was settled and all that was left was to wait for the official announcement.

However, some people were not in the mood for celebration. This included Seiya's parents, his sister, and Aria who were more concerned about that fight instead.

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---???,???,???---

-At the same time-

(A/N: Again, too lazy to name them.)

Man A: "Damnit! This was not supposed to happen! Why did you assign such an important job to those dumb shits?"

Man B: "Well, cause no one else was ready to accept it. Tell me, who in their right mind would agree to a stupid plan that would most certainly expose them?"

Man A: "I dunno, dumb people?"

Man B: "And there you have your answer."

Man A: "Aah! Stop this useless banter! Now that things have come to this we must move our plans ahead before they officially announce it!"

Man B: "But that wou-"

Man A: "No questions! Just do it!"

(A/N: Gods, the guy is agitated)

Man B: "Sigh, alright, I guess there is nothing else we can do anyway."

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---SEIYA'S ROOM, TATSUMA RESIDENCE---

Seiya's room was at the rear end of the manor following which was a backyard so huge that it was better to call it a small park. The rooms adjoining his were his sister's and Aria's who had moved in recently to take care of him, no doubt, thanks to Miko-san. At this moment, a woman could be seen tightly holding onto a young kid.

Kyoko: "Seiya, are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere? Tell Mom if it hurts anywhere!"

Seiya: "O-Okaa-san, I-I am fi-fine!"

That's all he could mutter. Well, when you are being squished like a teddy bear, it, kind of, becomes difficult to speak. But despite that Seiya, looking at those moist eyes did not have the heart to tell his mother to leave him. As if that was not enough, his cute little 'Onesan' jumped the gun on him as well and started squishing him.

Ryuko: "Ototo, don't you worry! Your onesan would protect you from anyone who tries to bully you again!"

Seiya: "H-Hai Hai"

Trying his best to hold on to his breath, Seiya mustered up all the strength he could and patted her.

Seiya's father looking at his condition hurriedly said,

Ryoma: "Alright, that's enough for the both of you! Let him breathe! You both are gonna suffocate him!"

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-A few minutes later-

After making sure that Seiya was fine and inquiring about the incident earlier, they finally let him off. Even though Seiya toned it down a lot, from the looks on his parent's faces, it was clear that they were not going to let this matter slide. Still, it was not as if could do anything else, so he decided to stop thinking about it and brought his attention to the more important matters, namely, his quirk.

He was not the only one as soon after, his onesan asked,

Ryuko: "Seiya, you have manifested your quirk, haven't you? Come on, show me quickly!"

Despite knowing about <Quirks>, Seiya still feigned ignorance about it and asked,

Seiya: "Onesan, what is this 'quirk'?"

Realizing her mistake, Ryuko slapped her forehead and sticking out her tongue, she said,

Ryuko: "Sorry Seiya, I forgot that you don't know about 'quirks'. Well, 'quirks' are..."

Ryuko thought about the best way to explain this to Seiya but could not come up with anything that could explain it properly. Seeing her dilemma, her mother came to her rescue and gave Seiya the simplest and most basic explanation regarding everything that he had read in the morning.

Kyoko: "Now, Seiya, why don't you try to use your 'quirk' again?"

His parents too were quite curious about it. All they could see earlier were claws and some scales covering his hands.

Ryoma: "Seiya, try to remember the feeling from earlier when you activated your quirk and focus on it."

Following his father's instructions, Seiya recalled that particular feeling from earlier and tried to imitate it. Soon, his forearms were covered with scales and his nails turned into fangs. The rest of his arms turned red. Using his <Aura Sense>, he tried to sense the changes inside his body. He could sense his internal energy consumption increase dramatically compared to before.

Seiya: 'Activating my quirk seems to consume internal energy too. Well, since they are extensions of bodily functions, it is quite normal for them to consume internal energy.'

His father's voice broke his thoughts.

Ryoma: "Now try to extend it to the whole of your body."

Seiya complied and tried to extend the feeling to the entirety of his body at once. Soon enough his entire body was now transformed. His legs were in a condition similar to his arms while his torso on the other hand was now covered with huge dark red scales extending up to his neck with an azure-colored diamond cavity in the middle of his chest right on top of his sternum. His face was now covered in a red color similar to his upper arms with longer canines. His sclera turned black and his pupils silted. His chocolate brown hair also grew and turned spiky. Two small purple horns could also be seen forming on his forehead. (See cover pic for ref.)

Seeing that his transformation had ended, Seiya's father gave him a quick lookover for any sort of abnormalities. Not finding any problems with his transformation, he asked,

Ryoma: "Seiya, how do you feel?"

Instead of answering, Seiya approached the backyard and picked up a piece of rock lying on the ground. Tightening his grip, he assumed a pitcher's stance and using all his might, threw it to the tree standing approximately 3 meters far.

*Bang*

The rock piece shattered through the outer layer of the trunk and got embedded in it. It would be an understatement to say that the people present were not amazed by this feat. Even though every one of them could accomplish the same very easily, but they would most certainly not be able to do so when they were only 3 years old.

Seiya, too, was pleasantly surprised by the strength of his quirk.

Seiya: 'I am at least 3 times stronger in this form. But-'

His thoughts were cut off when a certain little 'Onesan' decided to take this moment to compliment him.

Ryuko: "Amazing Seiya! That was such a powerful throw! See, the rock is still embedded in the tree."

Seiya, of course, was happy to hear the praises from his onesan, his pride as a brother satisfied. But what she said next, almost made him fall over,

Ryuko: "Of course, such a thing is expected of 'my' ototo. Oh! By the way, how did you learn to throw like that?"

Seiya could only smile wryly at this.

Seiya: 'Heh, I just tried to imitate one of those baseball players from my previous world. I don't even know if baseball exists in this world.'

(A/N: Don't worry, it does. It is only your sister who doesn't pay much attention to sports.)

Unfortunately, not being able to listen to those enlightening words of the highest level being, Seiya could only try to come up with a reasonable response. But, the highest level being did not abandon him and in the next moment a wave of exhaustion struck him and he passed out.

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-A few minutes later-

Seiya was now lying on his bed with Ryuko beside him, worry etched on her face. Even though her parents had assured her that her ototo was fine, she still could not get herself to leave his side. Meanwhile, Seiya's parents, in their room, were having a discussion,

Kyoko: "Is he alright?"

Ryoma: "He is alright. It's just that he is exhausted after everything that happened tonight. Adding on to the fact that his quirk, being powerful, also seems taxing on his body, he simply passed out. He will be fine after a good sleep."

This seemed to alleviate her worries somewhat but she soon turned her attention towards the earlier incident and asked,

Kyoko: "And about what happened earlier in the party?"

Ryoma: "Well we are keeping a watch on the kid's parents at the moment. They are feigning ignorance about the whole matter and all the elders seem to support them, dismissing this incident as a scuffle between children. Moreover, Seiya is not only fine but manifested his quirk as well while the other kid is the one injured and in the hospital. All of these factors make it quite difficult to enact any form of punishment upon them."

Kyoko was indignant at the blatant disregard of her son's life by those old geezers and if not for a part of sanity which was holding her back, she would have taught them about how you should never mistake someone's silence for their weakness. The only reason that they could even have this much authority was because her husband allowed them to as per the last wishes of her father-in-law.

Kyoko: "So they will only take action if Seiya was injured! They could not see that a boy 2 years older than him who had already manifested his quirk attacked him! What if Seiya had been injured fatally or crippled? What would I even do if they were to take any action then? I cannot live in this manor if my children are not even safe within its walls!"

Ryoma could clearly see his wife's agitation and how close she was to tearing up from the breaking of her tone and decided to wait for her to calm down before he started spoke to her in a clear and somber tone,

Ryoma: "Look at me Kyoko! Look at me! Do I look like someone who would let anyone, who hurt my son, get away with it? Don't you worry, I will make sure that they pay the appropriate price for their actions. The only reason I am not doing so now is because, now that Seiya has manifested his quirk, they will surely try to attack him before he is officially announced as the heir. And when they do, we will be able to take them down in one fell swoop. So, please bear with me for it is only a matter of time until this is all over and then no one would even dare to harm our family."

Kyoko, who was on the verge of crying, could barely calm herself and Ryoma, on seeing her condition, embraced her and let her cry to her heart's content while soothing her. After a while, she suddenly asked,

Kyoko: "Oh, by the way, where is Aria? I have not seen her since the party."

Ryoma too wondered about it when he soon recalled that, after the party, Miko had asked Aria to accompany her, and judging from her previous tone, it was not for something pleasant. Shaking his head and smiling wryly, Ryoma answered,

Ryoma: "Umm, heh, well I think she went with Miko as soon as we got out of the party."

Kyoko too realized the situation and hurriedly said,

Kyoko: "Oh no! Aria is in danger! Miko must be bullying my poor Aria! Hurry, we must rescue her!"

Ryoma was utterly speechless at her response,

Ryoma: 'Who is supposed to be Aria's mother? Miko or You?'

And before he could even say anything, Kyoko rushed towards Aria's room but in her hurry, she nearly lost balance. Thankfully, Ryoma caught her on time but his expression soon turned serious. He could feel that Kyoko was on the verge of exhaustion and could pass out any moment. But he quickly took on his previous expression and gently said,

Ryoma: "I think today has been taxing enough for all of us and now that Seiya has fallen asleep, you too go to sleep, okay? I will make sure that Ryuko goes to bed and check on both Seiya and Aria and after double-checking the security arrangements, I will join you, okay?"

Kyoko nodded and hugged him before going off to their bed. Ryoma, after watching his wife go off to sleep, turned his head towards the window and sternly gazed outside at the sky. No one knew what was going through his mind.

(A/N: Except for me of course.)

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---SEIYA'S ROOM, TATSUMA RESIDENCE---

-At Midnight-

Seiya, who was in a deep sleep, suddenly felt his instincts tucking at him to wake up. Having spent over a decade fighting, he had learned to trust them and follow them no matter what he was doing and this habit carried over in this new life as well. As such he woke up with a jolt but did not show any signs of activity so as not to alert anyone observing him.

Using his <Aura Sense>, he observed the entire room but did not find anything/anyone suspicious. Still, he did not put his guard down for his instincts were never wrong and started focusing his search in individual directions so as to increase his range. He finally found signs of human aura in the forest region beyond the backyard. The forest extended up to the foot of Mt. Yonaha which was covered by a lake on every other side.

Seiya: 'Now, people who illegally try to enter through your backyard wouldn't be here for a friendly visit right?'

And yet there was not much he could do. If he tried to shout to raise an alarm or went to inform someone, the opposite party would no doubt notice his absence and escape. The only way to catch them red-handed was by letting them approach first and knock them out as soon as they were close enough. Judging from their aura, they were certainly not much more powerful than an average human, meaning that he could take his chances. The only uncertainties were their 'quirks' which could prove troublesome to deal with.

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-A few minutes later-

A brown dwarfish man with a Viking-like white beard was now standing in front of Seiya's room. Instead of hair, a large blade roughly twice as large as its face extended from its forehead. The top of the blade contains two smaller blades, resembling fins. His arms were thick and had three large blades instead of fingers, with two smaller blades on top of the middle ones. He was dressed in black all over. He looked around himself and said,

Dwarf: "Where are you? Come out, we do not have all the time in the world!"

In response, a skinny and tall man suddenly appeared on his right. The man's skin was pale and had gecko-like eyes. His hair was spiky and green in color. All his other features looked human otherwise and he too was dressed in black like his partner. Shrieking in a low voice, he replied,

Skinny: "Stop! Are you dumb?"

Dwarf: "No, I can speak just fine."

Facepalming himself, the skinny man started contemplating if he chose the right partner for this job.

Skinny: "Look here buddy, if you keep speaking so loudly then the whole manor would be awake before we could even complete our job so shhh!"

Dwarf: "It's not like I wanted to be here. My job was just to transport you. You were supposed to kidnap the kid.

Skinny: "Hey, I told you, this is a very important job and in case of any unforeseen circumstances I need to have some kind of backup alright. Also, you can carry the kid and still run fast."

The dwarf could only *grunt* in return. Both of them turned to face Seiya's room.

Skinny: "Alright I will go in, check the room and use the anesthetic on the kid after which you come in and as soon as you put the kid in that sack of yours we get out of here. Understood?"

Seeing his partner nod, the skinny man again turned invisible and entered Seiya's room. He checked around the room and finding nothing amiss, moved towards Seiya's bed. From what he could see, his target was sleeping in a starfish posture without a care in the world. Not wanting to waste such an opportunity, he quickly approached him and got down to apply the anesthetic. Unfortunately for him, in the darkness of the night, he could not see Seiya's hand transforming and clenching into a fist.

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--Seiya's POV--

I could see one of the men standing at the window door waiting for his partner's signal and while I could not see his partner, I could certainly 'feel' his aura which made things a lot easier. Just as the 'invisible' man scoped down, surely to apply the anesthetic, I quickly used my quirk and transformed my hand just like before and threw an uppercut to his chin which thankfully connected.

*Crack*

*Thud*

Seiya: 'From the sound of it, I probably broke his jaw. Hopefully, I knocked him out.'

Without wasting another moment, I transformed my entire body and launched towards the dwarfish man ignoring the invisible guy. It is better to say that I had to ignore him for I could not take on the two of them at once in my current state nor could I drag this fight on. My previous exhaustion had yet to wear down and maintaining my transformation was a hard task in itself. Thus, eliminating the primary attacker as soon as possible was my first priority.

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--Author-san's POV--

Seiya's target was still stunned at what he just witnessed. His partner had just scooped down to apply the anesthetic when he was suddenly knocked down with his invisibility wearing down. Initially, he thought that it was someone guarding the kid and was about to run when he saw the kid-in-question suddenly getting up and leaping towards him. It was only out of instinct that he brought his hands up in his defense just as he was about to be punched.

*Clang*

He sighed in relief when he successfully managed to resist Seiya's punch, returning a smug look to Seiya as if saying, 'Is that the best you can do?'

Seiya, on the other hand, was flabbergasted. Not because his punch was blocked. No, it was well within his expectations to be blocked. Rather, what shocked him was that smug smile on the dwarf's face.

Seiya: 'Does he really feel proud of being able to block a 3-year old's punch?'

In fact, Seiya's punch was not weak at all which was clearly evident from the earlier display of his quirk and how he broke the jaws of the invisible guy. The only reason the dwarf was able to block him was because of his heavily bladed arms. Still, he was not one to back down from a challenge especially not from such an obnoxious fool. He followed the punch with more punches and kicks aimed at the various upper and lower body parts of the dwarf, all of which were blocked by him which in turn increased his confidence and he started relaxing a bit. This was what Seiya was aiming for.

All of his previous attacks were for this very exact purpose and were mere probing attacks meant to infer the dwarf's fighting styles and habits. In a matter of a few seconds, he saw through the dwarf's weakness. The dwarf's fighting strength and body development were focused on his upper body owing to the mutation caused by his quirk. This left his lower body relatively much more underdeveloped as compared to his upper one resulting in poor footwork and agility. The fact that he used his arms to block Seiya's kicks aimed at his lower body as well, was a clear testament to this. So, in order to exploit this weakness to the fullest and end this fight immediately, Seiya had to target the weakest part of the dwarf's lower limbs and he was only waiting for the right moment.

The right moment came just as the dwarf was ready to go on the offensive. During that split second when he was preparing to attack from his right, Seiya gave a feint punch to his unprotected side. Such precise judgment was possible only due to his rich fighting experience and the dwarf could only outstretch his left so as to protect his right and retaliate against him. In doing so, he gave Seiya the space to shift and with a spin arrive on his left rear.

(A/N: For the last part, imagine him doing something similar to Maradona spin move, without the ball of course)

Using all the momentum gained from the spin, he kicked the dwarf's inner knee with all his might.

*Crack*

Dwarf: "AAAAAAAAAH!"

*Thud*

Screaming in pain, the dwarf fell on his knee while Seiya paid no heed to his screams and making use of this opportunity, continued with his onslaught for over half a minute. He focused his strikes on the dwarf's shoulders along with kicks to his legs occasionally to keep him down. He wanted to heavily injure his shoulders which would heavily impact his attacking ability.

The dwarf, having realized Seiya's intention, wanted to break through his momentum but alas, the damage was already done. He found it incredibly difficult to move his arms but using every bit of willpower that he could muster spun his arms and turned back. Seiya, however, had already jumped over him and as soon as he landed, launched himself towards the dwarf once again. The dwarf was not going to repeat the same mistake again and turned back but in doing so, he committed an even bigger mistake. He left his face open to Seiya with his arms in being no condition to defend him. He had not noticed that his opponent had gotten slower, perhaps, due to his sluggishness for if he had, he would have possibly won this fight while the matter about the success of his mission was another thing entirely.

Meanwhile, Seiya was now on his last dregs. He could feel his transformation ending in a few moments and it was only through the sheer power of his will and the adrenaline running in his body that he was able to continue until now but as soon as the transformation ended, he would fall unconscious. Though he would still be saved, thanks to his dwarfish friend's scream alerting many who would soon be reaching here making his kidnapping impossible, his pride as a warrior demanded nothing short of victory. Putting his thoughts aside and putting everything in one final punch, he decided to end this by knocking the dwarf on his head.

Just as it seemed to be over, Seiya's <Aura Sense> alerted him about his other attacker's movement but before he could even glance back, he heard a gunshot

*Bang*

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-30 seconds earlier-

--Skinny man's POV--

I was still reeling in from that earlier punch but the pain from earlier had not yet subsided. Just as I was thinking about who my unknown assailant was, I heard the scream of my partner. Glancing in his direction, I was shell-shocked at the sight that greeted me. My partner was down on one of his legs while some red thing was beating him down.

Only at that moment did I come back to my senses but then the scene in front of me shocked me even more. The kid that we were here to kidnap was apparently beating my partner down and if I was assuming correctly, he was the one who broke my jaw. But even after these realizations, I could do nothing. Not to mention my physical condition and how I was mentally disoriented, even if I was perfectly fine, the kid who was seeming more like a devil now, even more so with his appearance, would have swept the floor with him.

But doing nothing now would only result in a disaster because without him I would not be able to escape and I could not afford to get caught either. In such circumstances, the only thing that came to my mind was the emergency revolver that had been given to him before the mission. It was to be used only when it seemed impossible to kidnap the target so as to kill him before escaping.

Skinny: 'This definitely counts as an emergency!'

Immediately taking out the revolver, he pointed it towards the duo fighting currently. Aiming it at Seiya, just as he jumped in the air, the skinny man shot,

*Bang*

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--Seiya's POV--

I could sense the bullet approaching him from all the heat that it was radiating and yet there was nothing I could do. I could see the dwarf's shocked expression but unlike mine, his was a pleasant one. My body could not react to my senses, no matter how much I willed it. Right now I was surrounded by danger on all sides. Not mentioning the incoming bullet, the disturbance from the bullet shot itself had shaken my concentration and I could feel my transformation ending and as soon as it ended, even if I survived the bullet shot which was quite unlikely, I was sure that I would not survive the dwarf's retaliation.

Seiya: 'Right now I could really use a miracle. Where are my Gods and Goddesses when you need them?'

Still, I will not give up until the bitter end. I tried to position myself in such a way so that the incoming bullet would hit one of my legs. Just as the bullet was about to hit, a blue shield came out of nowhere and covered the bullet stopping it in midair. My <Aura Sense> gave me the answer to my shock in the form of the aura of two girls, whom I clearly recognized, standing behind at the entrance to my room.

Seiya: 'Looks like my Goddess finally came to my rescue. Or rather Goddesses?'

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-30 seconds ago-

--Aria's POV--

I woke up as soon as I heard the scream of a man from Seiya's room. Quickly getting out of my bed, I ran towards his room with light steps. However, I soon saw Seiya's sister Ryuko standing near his room's door. She too spotted me and asked me to come closer quietly. Giving her a nod, I proceeded as quietly as possible. Standing beside her, when I peered inside the room along with her, I saw Seiya beating down a dwarfish man.

Aria: 'Well, nothing new there.'

It seemed that someone had invaded his room out of ill intentions. Just as I was about to ask Ryuko to go inside and help Seiya, I saw another man who was pointing his gun towards Seiya, about to fire. I wanted to stop the man but before I could do or say anything, he shot. From Seiya's position, it was clear that he would not be able to dodge the bullet in mid-air.

Aria: 'I have to do something!'

And at that very moment, something seemed to break inside of me and suddenly I had access to an energy that I was too familiar with: Sealing Energy. Out of instinct, I sealed the moving bullet in free space just before it hit Seiya.

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--Seiya's POV--

Seiya: 'Phew, saved by a hair's breadth!'

But it was not yet over. My transformation was ending and hell, was I going to lose in front of my girls.

(A/N: Oh! His girls, eh.)

Seiya: 'I won't give up! No matter what, I AM NOT GIVING UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

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--Author-san's POV--

The <Dragon Core> seemed to have been affected by his indomitable will and the dangerous situation he was in, and Seiya felt another barrier break inside of him. This feeling was extremely familiar, in fact, he had felt it the previous evening itself when he first manifested his quirk. But unlike last time, when he felt his energy drain, he was now filled with energy itself. He was not sure about the source of this energy but he could not care any less at the moment.

The sudden influx of energy was enough to drag his transformation for a few more moments and gained him the opportunity to finish his opponent off. However, due to his sudden mid-air movement to direct the bullet to his leg, he had to change his target from the dwarf's chin to his nose.

*Crack*

(A/N: He is breaking quite a lot of bones, huh)

Dwarf: "AAAAAH!!!"

*Thud*

The dwarf who had not yet processed all that had happened yet could not dodge Seiya's incoming punch and screaming fell down and after a while fell unconscious. What Seiya did not know was that the dwarf had a hairline fracture on his nose and his punch only made it worse thus amplifying the pain manifold and as a result, the dwarf fainted

(A/N: Bad luck bud)

Seiya, on the other hand, was utterly exhausted. Even the influx of energy which was still going on was not enough to keep him going anymore. Feeling the oncoming sleep, Seiya turned back to see his other assailant being held down by his onesan. Relieved, he finally felt his adrenaline levels go down with his legs no longer supporting him and fell down.

*Thud*

Aria: "Seiya!" : Ryuko

They soon came up to Seiya, with Ryuko still holding down on the invisible guy who had now turned unconscious. They finally sighed in relief when they heard him softly breathing and right at that moment,

Kyoko: "Seiya!" : Ryoma

(A/N: They finally showed up, huh.)

Seiya's parents burst through his bedroom's, now open, door where they saw him lying on the ground and called out to him. Thankfully, Aria quickly explained the situation to them allowing them to calm their worries, somewhat.

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-30 minutes later-

The assailants were led away for 'interrogation' by the manor's security team before they were handed over to the police. After that, Ryoma, along with Kyoko, took Seiya to their bedroom where he laid down on their bed,

Ryoma: "Alright Kyoko, you should sleep with Seiya while I check up on Ryuko and Aria and see what is to be done with those 'guests' of ours, okay?"

Kyoko: "We should have kept him with us all along, anyway, hmph."

Ryoma only smiled at this without any denial. After sending Kyoko off to sleep, Ryoma turned towards the central courtyard and called out in the air,

Ryoma: "Would you do the honors and come out now?"

*Flash*

With a flash of lightning, an elderly man with spike white hair, thick white eyebrows, and a thick white mustache. He has light blue eyes and tan skin and wears a long-sleeved black martial arts jumpsuit, light-colored pants, and Tai Chi slippers.

Bang: "Oh! What happened? Why do you sound so agitated?"

Ryoma could barely control his anger but knowing the man's character, he tried to keep himself calm,

Ryoma: "You know, you were supposed to protect Seiya in case of an assault on his life somewhat like what happened approximately half an hour ago."

Bang: "Indeed."

Ryoma: "So where were you?"

Bang: "Watching the kid, of course."

Ryoma: "You were watching him? Getting attacked?"

Bang: "Indeed."

Ryoma was now on the verge of snapping before Bang continued,

Bang: "Of course, I was going to intervene at first but when I saw how the kid started dealing with those mongrels, I held myself back. I would have stepped in had his life been in danger like when one of them was about to shoot him but one of the girls suddenly used her quirk to stop it just as I did and thanks to that, no one discovered me."

Ryoma: 'Hmm? That girl could not have been Ryuko considering the nature of her quirk. So, Aria? Did she manifest her quirk as well? Something to look forward to I guess.'

Listening to his explanation, Ryoma calmed himself somewhat but still said,

Ryoma: "But still you would not be putting my kids in any more danger now and that's final. I only agreed to this plan of yours for this once because you convinced me that after fulfilling my father's last wish, this was the most convenient way to take control of the clan, but had I known the amount of danger it posed to my family, I would have never agreed to it in the first place."

However, Bang was not fazed with the threat-laced warning and replied with some force for the first time since he appeared,

Bang: "Calm down Ryoma! As the head of the Tatsuma Clan, you should learn to keep your emotions in check at all times. Isn't that what your father and my late teacher always taught you? As for the matter about your family's safety, I swore an oath to my teacher and later to you, that as long as this old body of mine has even a single breathe of life left, your family would be protected at all times. That is my duty as the assigned 'Protector' of the Tatsuma clan."

Ryoma could not refute him, after all, what he had said was all true. He knew this old friend of his would never endanger any of his family members and in case of any danger, would die protecting them. This was one of the reasons why he put up with his rude and nonchalant attitude. Still, the father inside of him would not let the matter slide,

Ryoma: "I still do not approve of your inaction during the earlier conflict."

Bang, however, retorted back this time with full force,

Bang: "Oh yeah? Then, I think you should. Seiya is the future heir of the Tatsumas and he must learn to deal with dangers."

Ryoma, himself, was not one to back down and replied with force matching Bang's own,

Ryoma: "Seiya is only three years old! And three-year-old kids do not fight with dangers!"

Bang: "Haah, that's what you think! You should have seen the boy, he has a gift for battling. He took out two people who would require the attention of pros to deal with and that too within a minute. Not to mention, as a result of the battle pressure, he awakened another quirk."

Ryoma was surprised at first but the last part stupefied him,

Ryoma: "A-A-Another quirk???"

Bang had a smug smile on his face as it is not every day that he saw his friend gobsmacked in his face.

Bang: "He He, you heard it right. It was just after the gunshot when he was about to smash the nose of the fat one. All of a sudden, the nature energy around him started getting sucked in and this continued even when he fell asleep."

Ryoma: "You mean-"

Bang: "That's right, it is similar to your own quirk. I am guessing Seiya either has dual quirks or a highly mutated one. Either way, I am taking him under my wing. I let Ryuko off considering that her quirk was not suitable for my training but Seiya's is. And I am not taking 'no' for an answer. You do remember our agreement, right?"

Ryoma: "You know why I have a problem with your training. You would not treat him like a kid but a cold-blooded warrior which may prove to be more harmful than being beneficial."

Bang: "Are you kidding me? Did you forget what kind of training your father made us go through just so that we could reach where we are today? How do you think a diamond is polished just so that it can gain all that luster and brilliance? Seiya is a diamond in rough and he needs to go through hardships so that he can be polished."

Ryoma: "But that doesn't mean you have to start training him early?"

Bang: "Early? Ryoma, you know that dangerous times are coming. Just think about what would happen if {Allmight} was not able to defeat that bastard or even if he was successful, would he come out of the fight unscathed? I never bet my future on anyone else other than you or myself. So, I would rather start preparing for the worst-case scenario now and that is preparing Seiya for what is to come. With his talent, I am certain that he would surpass {Allmight} in the future."

Ryoma did not know what to do. It was not that he did not trust {Allmight}, but it was just that nothing was certain in the future and often even seemingly certain victory could turn into defeat. In the end, with a sigh he said,

Ryoma: "Alright, I agree but on one condition. You will give Seiya enough time so that he can actually have a life rather than becoming a training maniac like {Endeavor} is today. A hero is more than just a fighter. He should be good socially and intellectually so that he can become a role model to others."

Bang: "Don't you worry, I know. I have learned from my past mistakes and I will make sure that nothing like what happened with 'Garou' ever happens again. When he is six, I will start teaching him the basics. I will not forcefully speed up his training. Happy?"

All he got was a grunt in response, showing him the barest hint of approval. Not minding it one bit, he questioned

Bang: "By the way, what took you so long getting there?"

Ryoma: "*Sigh* Well they went with extreme diversion tactics this time. They sent a team of about a dozen people with the same goal as that of Seiya's attackers, giving them the detailed plans of the manor's security except for one which alerted our people who engaged them in combat. I called out to the rest of the men to provide them with backup thus lightening the security around the back of the manor. Considering that it was not one of the newly established measures, I guess they sent them as sacrificial pieces so that those two could kidnap Seiya."

Bang: "Sending a dozen combat-ready mercenaries to be slaughtered. Ruthless, yet effective."

Ryoma: "Not that it matters. I made sure that all of them were subdued instead and will help us gather the necessary evidence so that I can begin the purge. Afterwards, we received word that someone heard a scream from the back of the manor and we soon came back."

Bang: "Ha Ha Ha, all that planning for nothing. I wonder how they must be feeling right now. *Yawn* Anyway, I think you should go back to sleep after all you have quite a bit of work ahead of you. Rest while you still can."

Ryoma: "No need. But you can go to sleep now. I will be reinforcing the security throughout the manor and Seiya is safe in my room."

Bang: "Well, suit yourself. I am off."

*Flash*

And he was gone the same way as he had arrived. Ryoma too went towards the <Security Building>. It was gonna be a sleepless night for him.

Meanwhile, Seiya was deep in sleep by his mother's side and was having some 'naughty' dreams about Aria.

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//Author's Thoughts\\

And there you have it, folks, the infancy arc is completed finally, phew! This chapter has been the largest yet, with little more than 6600 words. I mean it took a whole week to complete this but with the word count, I am sure you are all satisfied.

We also had our first action sequence which I think turned out to be okay considering that this was my first time writing it. Also, all the action scenes would not be this long except for the boss fights, after all, this is not DBZ. Still, first times are always special so I kinda made it more detailed.

Now, I am sure that you are all waiting for the fun part, i.e., the training but it would not start in the next chapter so please bear with me, alright. And for those wondering about the next chapter, all I can say is that we will meet some new non-OC characters.

And if you are still wondering about his quirk even with all the details that I gave throughout the chapter, don't worry, we will discuss them thoroughly during the training part.

Alright, Author-san out. Adeus amigos.

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