97 Persuasion
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A few hours already passed by since the attack on Kazuno Tech's main headquarters ended. Komori had taken over the scene as soon as he arrived and not long after, Jirou arrived. Those who were able to recognize Kazuya were already aware that his presence wasn't to be divulged to anyone. This included the people that were from Komori and the others which were briefed by Jirou before they were assigned to specific posts.
The police officers who arrived at the scene were flabbergasted at the amount of injured people. They thought that even for self defense, the people who had shattered bones was a little too excessive. They didn't dare to question Komori and Jirou who reported the incident because these men were known and respected by people leagues above them.
It was only after they found out that Mahiru, the daughter of the company's secretary was taken hostage did they not feel a bit of sympathy towards the thugs. There was an influx of ambulances and police cars in the vicinity because of this so it didn't take long before the nearest hospitals were booked.
Today was a busy day for the hospitals because not only where was there an influx of adults but also some students were also reported to have been involved in a incident of violence. There were no leads as the students couldn't identify who the assailant was.
This was of course through the efforts of Nanami who swore that she would take care of anyone who tried to point fingers at Kazuya. She also assigned those who weren't injured much to find out as much as they could about the ones who tried to hire them.
The police officers who took those who didn't need to be hospitalized to the station felt a little pity for them because Komori was the one accompanying them to the station personally. They wouldn't be shown any leniency because of this and if they didn't cooperate, it would only get worse for them.
Jirou was informed of what Kazuya had done by the people assigned by Ousame so he directed Komori to go with the officers. He had greater connections when it came to that department but he believed that the sly friend of his wouldn't neglect to take advantage of that knowledge. What he was more interested in was what the boy was up to when he heard that he had holed himself in the security office along with the two heads of security he had recruited himself.
What welcomed him as soon as he entered the security however were loud screams from the woman who led the assault. Her painful wails could be heard from the main office. Jirou tried to barge into the office but was stopped by those who were instructed that no one was allowed to disturb them no matter who it was.
Jirou tried to shout at Kazuya from where he stood but he was totally ignored. It was only when he was about to barge in that Mame and Ousame exited the room with pale faces. They immediately threw up everything that was in their stomachs after the door closed from behind them.
Those who saw the two couldn't believe what they saw. The two were probably people who had seen the darkness people were capable of because of their previous experience. Seeing these two men puke their guts out made the people who saw them shudder at the thought of what they could have witnessed.
"Don't take it out on them grandpa Jirou, I was the one that instructed them not to let anyone through" Kazuya appeared at the door after the two had started to recover.
"What did you do Kid?" Jirou stared at the boy who appeared like nothing was happening.
"I got the information we needed. Please gather the men, they will be working overtime tonight" Kazuya gave a devilish grin with hint of killing intent was hidden behind it.
Jirou shuddered and immediately moved into the room to see the woman who wasn't handed over to the authorities. What he found was a woman sitting in the corner hugging her legs and mumbling to herself repeatedly.
"I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, I won't do it again" she repeated endlessly like a broken record.
Jirou turned to Kazuya. He was baffled because there weren't any signs of the woman being hurt in any way. Seeing that the boy had no intention of telling him anything, he approached the woman and asked if she was okay.
"It was my fault, I'm sorry! It was my fault, I'm sorry! It was my fault, I'm sorry! It was my fault, I'm sorry!" She crawled to hug the old man's legs. "It was the Dokuro group that sent me! They were hired by the Ringo Corporation to steal all the projects they were working on!" she hysterically told Jirou without being asked.
"So she said grandpa Jirou" Kazuya walked up to them. The woman instantly froze and hardly any sound could be heard from her. Jirou was even more baffled now because the Dokuro group was notorious for their heavy punishment against those who would try to betray them. Just how was Kazuya able to turn someone who was trusted enough to lead an attack of this scale against the people she worked for in such a short time?
"sigh.. this makes things a little easier but.." Jirou's brows furrowed. He crossed his arm and took another look at the woman who didn't dare make a sound in the presence of Kazuya. "We're only going to need a few men from the company"
"Hmm? Is the Dokuro group not as big as I expected?"
"They are a big group even if you consider how much of their thugs sent to the hospital or arrested today. What I meant is that your grandfather's friends would be more than happy to help you with this" Jirou gave a dry laugh. "Some of them are very interested in meeting you so I'm sure that they won't hesitate in lending a helping hand to deal with their rivals"
"Me?" he was a little surprised. He never really thought about it but these men were probably the ones his grandfather took with him on his ridiculous exploration trip in his previous life.
"Yes you" Jirou thought for a second before giving Kazuya a weird look. "Just remember, my granddaughter is already attached to you and you know how she is around strangers. Don't let those shameless geezers push their granddaughters to you" he glanced at the silent woman who still hadn't moved an inch before leaving the room to make a few calls.
"(Huh? What was that all about?)" Kazuya didn't understand what Jirou meant but he didn't have time to deal with girls anyway. He already had his hands full trying to figure out how to deal with Mei and Kyouko when before puberty hits to be worrying about people who he hadn't even met yet.
".." the woman trembled when she felt Kazuya's gaze fall upon her.
"You know what to do right?"
"Y-yes m-master" her lips trembled as she stuttered. She looked nervously at Kazuya whose eyes seemed to be like and endless void and fought hard not to fall back on the floor. Fear of him had been etched into her soul and she felt that dying was a better option than going against this person.
"What's your name?"
"K-kiyota Anri.."
"Well then, Kiyota Anri, I will let you witness first hand how those people you used to fear will regret the day they tried to mess with something that belongs to me" Kazuya smiled. "It may be a roundabout way of doing it but doing it myself in this current body of mine is inconvenient" Kazuya led the way and exited the room.
As soon as the security personnel that guarded the door saw Anri, they couldn't believe their eyes. They all turned to the two pale men who entered the room with them because they were sure that they carried someone who was more or less crippled.
"What are you all looking at me like that for?" Kazuya laughed. Jirou was still making calls outside the building so he felt a little relieved. There was no masking these men's surprise and the curious old man was sure to ask them when he wasn't present.
"Boss.. that woman.." one of them looked at Anri from head to toe.
"I know what you want to ask, but don't. All you need to do is come to me if you ever suffer such injuries. It has to be kept a secret from grandpa and the others though" he grinned at them. Kazuya figured that they wouldn't be afraid of getting injured if they were to protect the company so he gave them a vague answer. "Only if you keep it a secret and it is caused by something you did for the job though"
"Listen up you lot" Ousame mustered up his energy and let out a loud voice. "This lady has been recruited by us and will be handing affairs in our department as a temporary consultant" the news startled the employees because she was a despicable enemy a few hours ago. How can they trust her?
"I know what you all are thinking but rest assured, she will answer to me if she does anything aside from her given responsibilities" Kazuya interjected. Anri trembled after hearing what Kazuya said. She didn't even think about daring to take a left if Kazuya told her to go right after what she just went through.
Ousame and Mame were present inside the room and knew what she went through. There was not a doubt in their minds that Anri would even kill herself if Kazuya ordered her to do so after what she just went through. They thought about putting themselves in her shoes and no longer felt any hostility towards her because what they went through compared to her was mere child's play.
"Kazu?" Mei peeked in and found Kazuya right away. She immediately pounced at him which startled Anri who wondered who this woman was who just dared to attack the demon in sheep's clothing. "What's taking you so long? You told me to wait but its already been hours!"
"Sorry big sis but grandpa Jirou and I still have a few matters to attend to" Mei held him from behind like usual but what surprised everyone was how docile and childlike Kazuya appeared in front of the company's CEO.
"M-master, this is?" Anri tried to confirm. Mei finally noticed the girl who was standing meekly behind them and recognized her because of the clothes she had been wearing. Her former arrogant demeanor wasn't present so Mei failed to notice her after she entered the department.
"Master? Isn't this the woman who led the guys who tried to steal our company's research?" Mei shot Kazuya a questioning look.
"This is Kiyota Anri, she will be your new assistant as well as a consultant for the security department. The Kouzuki Corporation is already a well-known company so these low lives wouldn't dare mess with it. We currently lack someone who is very familiar with their methods. You can ask Matsuri-san to train her well and give her responsibilities" Kazuya explained.
"Are you sure about this?" she trusted Kazuya but this woman just tried to attack their company after all. One wouldn't usually give trust to someone who just betrayed the people she was working with so easily.
"I apologize for not recognizing you mistress" Anri fidgeted and immediately got on the floor and did a dogeza. "Please give me a chance! I will definitely try my best to serve you!" she was nervous. She didn't want to know what would happen if she lost her value. This was the queen Kazuya previously mentioned so she definitely had the power to make her new master discard her if she wanted.
"Huh? Why is she calling us that way?" Mei looked puzzled.
"She led a pitiful life big sis. I offered her a new life if she switched sides" Kazuya explained. "This is what granpa Jirou and I have to take care of after this" he didn't hide what Jirou told him about taking care of the Dokuro group tonight.
"Is that so?" Mei took another look at Anri who still had her forehead on the cold floor. "I don't really mind since Matsuri-san has a lot on her plate so we can at least give it a try" she gave in and helped Anri back to her feet.
"T-thank you! Thank you!" Kazuya was pleased with Anri's reaction. If he was the darkness then Mei would be the light in this woman's eyes. He would naturally not allow Anri to have much close interaction with Mei and she would be more like Matsuri's assistant instead.
"Kid" Jirou entered the building once again and saw Mei. "Sorry for being late and I'll be borrowing this kid to make sure we don't have to deal with those ruffians"
"It won't be dangerous right?" Mei asked with a look of worry. She was relieved that nothing happened to Kazuya this time but even though she knew what he was capable of, she still couldn't help but worry.
"Don't worry" though Jirou felt something was off with how Mei treated Kazuya, he didn't think much of it since she did refer to herelf as a sister after all. "I only need to bring this kid because the others are interested in meeting him. He's going to be something like Old Kou's stand-in"
"O-okay" Mei nodded and looked at Kazuya once more. "Be respectful to those grandpas okay?"
"I will" Kazuya nodded and tried to walk towards the exit but Mei held him still.
"Don't agree to anything those grandpas try to make you do okay? Especially if they try to make you meet their granddaughters or tell you that you might like them" she reminded.
Jirou couldn't help but smile after hearing what Mei said. He was just giving him the same reminder earlier. Women's intuition truly is such a scary thing, he thought. He nodded at Mei and was glad that she was acting like a big sister figure for him.
"You don't need to worry about such things big sis" Kazuya gave her a smile. "You already know that I have a fiancé right?" he took the opportunity to free himself as Mei's mouth gaped in surprise. He made a quick escape followed by Jirou who couldn't help but wear a grin after hearing the words that came out of Kazuya's mouth.
They boarded one of the vans and immediately left Kazuno Tech accompanied by a few men that Jirou picked out.
"Are you ready Kid?" Jirou looked at his future grandson warmly.
"I'm sure you know that I won't be acting as just a representative right? They did attack my territory after all.
"I know.. It's at times like these that I feel like I'm hanging out with your grandfather when we were children after all" Jirou chuckled as he was reminded of how much trouble he and Kou experienced when they were still Kazuya's age.
"This time, I won't need to worry about holding back. Since the Dokuro group is acting like the Muiminas' arms, I'm going to cut it off. We could have done this the easy way but they were the ones that insisted we go the hard way"
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