"Thank you, Miyuki."
After a twenty-minute drive, they arrived at the address Gen had provided. The house was a traditional Okinawan structure but twice the size of those surrounding it. Energetic shouts echoed from the adjacent dōjō. As Yugen hesitated on how to announce their arrival, a voice called out from behind them. They turned to see a young woman holding groceries.
"Um, can I help you? You don't look like you're from around here."
"We're from Tokyo. We were told Maito-san lives here by his son," Yugen replied.
"Oh, my husband's son? One moment, please."
The woman went inside. Yugen blinked. She looked to be in her mid-to-late teens. A blonde, blue-eyed girl calling his grandfather "husband"?
"Is something wrong, Yugen-san?" Miyuki asked.
"My father told me he was a bachelor... What on earth is going on here?"
Gen wouldn't lie, but if what she said was true, it implied a "branch" of the Mitsuya family Yugen knew nothing about. Before he could spiral into suspicion, a man stepped out of the house. His hair was white but neatly styled, and his muscular build spoke of a powerful warrior. Upon seeing Yugen, the man's face lit up, and he rushed forward to pull the boy into a bear hug.
"Oho! It's Yugen! I saw your performance at the Nine Schools Competition!"
"Wait—who—?"
"Hahaha! I suppose it's natural you don't recognize me. We haven't met since you were a toddler. But Gen is diligent about sending photos, so I knew you the moment I saw you."
The man looked no older than thirty. This was Maito Mitsuya—though he now went by the surname Nagano to distance himself from clan politics. He released Yugen and turned his gaze to Miyuki.
"And you must be Miyuki Shiba. I am Maito Nagano. I used to bear the Mitsuya name. I'm Yugen's grandfather. You know... you really do have a look of Taiva about you."
"It is an honor to meet you, Maito-san. I am Miyuki Shiba, Yugen's fiancée."
"How polite. Come, don't stand out here. Get inside."
The two followed him in and sat across from him, sipping tea prepared by the young woman they had met earlier. Yugen decided to get straight to the point.
"Even if we aren't on the same registry, I'll call you Grandfather. So, Grandfather... who is that woman? Depending on the answer, I'm telling Dad everything. I am the chairman of the Master Clan Conference now, you know."
"Goodness... well, Gozo told me you'd grown... Fine, I suppose I should explain."
Maito began his story. He had retired from the front lines after the Yotsuba's "Revenge," handing the family business to Gen. While the Mitsuya had once handled medium and heavy weaponry, Maito had specialized in small-arms brokering for military mages, while providing international intelligence to the Master Clan Conference.
"The Toyama family got arrogant because of my absence... but thanks to you, Yugen, they've crawled back into their holes. You have my thanks."
"I didn't do it for you. They just self-destructed," Yugen said dryly.
"True enough. Now, about her." Maito looked toward the kitchen. It had happened five years ago, right after the Battle of Okinawa. Maito's wife had passed away a year after Gen took over, and seeing how happy Gen and Shiho were, Maito hadn't felt the need to remarry.
"I was leading a civilian evacuation. After the Great Asian Alliance retreated, I found a girl washed up on the beach. That was her."
"No identification?"
"Nothing. Likely swept away in the chaos. There was Strategic-Class Magic used in that fight; she might have been thrown from a ship."
The simultaneous invasion by the Alliance and the New USSR had caught many civilian vessels in the crossfire. Maito had checked for connections to the 'Left Blood' or foreign nationals living in Japan, but she wasn't on any manifest. Most complicating of all: she had total amnesia.
"Based on her Psion flow, she's definitely a mage. She might have been traveling under a false identity or seeking asylum. But if the Seven Grasses family found out, they'd never stop squawking. I decided to hide her, taking the responsibility myself. I figured once her memory returned, I'd let her do as she pleased... honestly, I didn't think she'd fall for an old man with one foot in the grave."
"Grandfather... you reap what you sow," Yugen said sharply.
"Hah! That sharp tongue... you really are the grandson of Shiho and Kanade."
Maito had nursed her back to health, intending only to wait for her memory to return. Instead, she had fallen for him, and the locals now treated them as a married couple. She had been registered as a war refugee and given Japanese citizenship to avoid the complications of being undocumented. Maito admitted that Gozo and Chihime had helped with the paperwork.
"Yugen-san, is there anything you can do?" Miyuki asked.
"Restoring her memories wouldn't be hard, but..." Yugen trailed off. He felt a cold prickle of intuition. This girl's existence was tied to something coming. Even if this world followed the original "script" to some degree, she was an anomaly that couldn't be ignored.
"Yugen... can you bring her memories back?" Maito asked.
"I can. But there's a risk of mental confusion or an outburst immediately after. If the worst happens, I'll take responsibility."
"No," Maito said firmly. "I will take the responsibility. Even as my grandson, I won't yield on this. Given my remaining lifespan, it's only right."
At Maito's request, the woman was called in. Yugen asked if she truly wanted to remember, warning her that her current sense of self might be overwhelmed. She was resolute.
Yugen decided to use one of his unique spells: Reinforce. He avoided his other spell, Ten'you Shoran, because it often caused the loss of memories formed after a state change. Reinforce, however, treated amnesia as a "deficiency" to be mended, allowing her to retain her recent life with Maito while integrating the old.
As the spell took hold and Yugen's consciousness brushed against her mind to repair the damage, he caught a glimpse of her past.
In that instant, Yugen knew his peaceful holiday was over. A new seed of trouble had just been planted, and it was already starting to sprout.
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