[Eiji’s POV]
Sugihara mutters, “Holy hell! That is one temperamental girl!”
Haruka acidly states, “Mind what you say! That’s my daughter you’re talking about! She had good reason to act out! Plus, everything she said was right!”
As I rub my eyes, I ask, “Does being idiotic come naturally to you two or is it a developed thing?”
Sugihara indignantly states, “That was uncalled for Mr. Kobayashi. She’s far too important to place at risk for something so… pedestrian.”
Raising my head, I glare at them. “Pedestrian? Really? You’ve no clue of just how important my daughter is, do you? Don’t you two realize that she’s the beginning of a new age for mankind? It isn’t merely her intelligence, although she has the potential to flip this screwed up world upside down and make things so much better for everyone. My daughters and their children are the start of a new era for mankind. One in which no one ever gets sick, heals from anything that isn’t instantly fatal, and lives far longer than we ever thought possible. Let that soak in for a moment and then think about what it means.”
“We get that. Believe me, we do, but Sora has to reach that potential for any of that to come about.”
Looking at him like he’s stupid, I say, “No you don’t get it or you wouldn’t have said that. Look, we’re their parents, so we know far more about this than you ever will and,” I shrug, “we barely get it. All I know is that we need to do two things for Sora to reach, and maybe even exceed, what we believe she is capable of. Those are rather simple. We need to keep her happy and safe.”
“Then, what do you think we should have done?”
“You probably should have read between the lines of what your boss wants you to do. She’s currently the only hope that this country has of developing the nanites they want so badly. Why do you think they chose arbitration rather than let a court make the decision?” They shrug. “The simple answer is because a court would’ve had to follow the law. They expected you to rubber stamp her requests as long as they were reasonable… Now, you need to call your boss and talk to them. I’m going to join my daughters and if you don’t give Sora the answer she wants, we are leaving in 10 minutes and you can explain to your boss why.”
I get up, offer my hand to Haruka to help her up, and we walk out of the room to find them in the waiting room surrounding Sora, who’s standing there shaking with tears rolling down her cheeks.
The moment she sees me, she walks over, basically leaps into my arms to wrap herself around me and bury her face against my neck. Holding her, I gently rub her back and murmur, “Calm down, Sweetheart. It’s alright, they’ll most probably come around.”
She doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, then she murmurs, “If they don’t, I’ll never give them what they want. I meant what I said.”
“I know you did, Baby. I think you did the right thing.”
She leans back enough to look me in the eyes. “You don’t mind us wanting to marry Ryu at 16?”
Reaching up, I gently brush away her tears. “I didn’t say that, but I gave up that fight when I agreed to your engagement. Sweetheart… All we care about is that you girls are safe and happy. Your mother and I would do anything for that, but assuming they change their mind, I have one condition.” She raises an eyebrow. I look around at all of them. “Promise me that you girls will wait until you graduate high school before you start having babies.”
She looks at me suspiciously and it almost makes me laugh. Then she asks, “That’s it?”
I nod and “Mhmm.”
She looks around at her sisters for their answers. Looking back to me, she says, “We agree,” and gives me a tight hug as she murmurs, “Thank you, Daddy.”
With less than a minute left, Ms. Nishida pokes her head out and asks, “Would you mind coming back in?”
[Sora’s POV]
Walking back into the conference room, we take our seats at the table.
Mr. Tsuda looks at me and says, “Sora, after consulting with our boss. We agree to your request. We apologize for the misunderstanding.”
“Mr. Tsuda, let’s not try to play it off, that wasn’t a misunderstanding. That was you two trying to control me with no understanding of the situation. Whatever though, I don’t need an apology, so shall we move on?” He nods. “Then, my next request is that any girl with my nanites be allowed to marry whomever they wish with the same conditions applied.”
Yes, I am not only including my sisters, but Miyuki, too. This also makes it where if we’re allowed to tell, or they happen to find out, our friends and they decide they want them, then they are included as well.
Mr. Sugihara flushes and begins, “There’s no…” until Mr. Tsuda elbows him and shakes his head. I can guess what he was going to say.
Mr. Tsuda continues, “Of course, we have no problem with that. Anything else?”
“Actually, I have several more.” He gestures for me to continue. “I have an island, Yakushima, I’d like it to be removed from the governance of Okinawa and made its own prefecture. Also, we get to set up our own prefectural government, police, and courts along with everything else.”
Sugihara almost sputters as he asks, “What are you trying to do, set up your own nation?”
I feel like rolling my eyes, but restrain the impulse and ask, “Did you even listen to what I said? I said as a prefecture. Why would I ask for that if I was trying to set up a nation of my own?”
Dad jumps in because I think he understands how much he’s beginning to irk me. “Mr. Sugihara, while I realize you are senior here, I believe it would be in all of our best interests if Mr. Tsuda does all of the talking.”
He looks offended, but doesn’t say anything. Clearing his throat, Mr. Tsuda continues, “We can agree to that with the proviso that the Japanese government has a say in the setting up of said government for Yakushima.”
Smiling pleasantly, I reply, “Of course, we wouldn’t have it any other way. By the way, we’ll also be setting up a national academy as well.”
“That’s understandable. Next item?”
“Research requires a lot of rare materials, especially for nanotechnology, so I would like priority for them.”
“Sora, are you trying to corner the market for TGR?”
I shake my head. “No, not at all. Look, TGR has the second largest nanotechnology labs in Japan, although with the way I am expanding the division, we’ll soon be the largest. Secondly: even with the us being second largest, TGR is the leader in nanotechnology by an order of magnitude. Third: with the expansion and priority being placed on adapting my nanites, we’ll need those materials and delaying them delays the research, so we’ll need priority on shipments as well.”
He nods. “Seems like you’ve really thought this through.” I give him a look that says, ‘Who do you think you’re talking to?’ “Alright. We can agree to this as well.”
I’ll leave it there because, honestly, the next couple of hours are rather boring and the rest of this is merely miscellaneous requests that they could have denied and I wouldn’t have minded all that much since there are always other ways to get what I wanted.
Once all things are agreed to, Ms. Nishida has the documents drawn up, Mr. Sugihara signs and stamps it, then Mama, Dad, and I sign and stamp it as well. Lastly, she signs it as a witness and stamps it. She has copies made and hands them out and keeps the original to file with the court. After handshakes and everyone says their thanks and goodbyes, we make our way downstairs to head home.
The ride back home is rather quiet, except for the occasional giggles from Sofi as she texts someone on her phone, who I assume to be Kei.
Until Mama says, “Sora.” When I look up at her, she pats the seat between her and Dad. Unbuckling myself, I move, sit down and buckle up. Once I have, she quietly says, “Young lady, I’m rather disappointed in you.”
You have no idea how bad that simple statement makes me feel, especially when it’s coming from one of my parents. Immediately, my eyes become hot as I tear up and they begin to dribble down my cheeks. There are a lot of kids out there that might not care what their parents think of them, but I’m not one of them. I’ve said it before, words are powerful and the thought of her being disappointed in me is almost unbearable.
Managing to get past the feeling that I’m being strangled, I gasp out, “I’m so sorry, Mama.”
She pulls me to her and holds me. “Sweetheart, I’m not mad at you. Believe me, I understand how angry you were. I’d have yelled at them too, but that language is unacceptable. You’re a lady and I expect you to conduct yourself as such no matter how angry you are, alright?”
“Mhmm.”
She rubs my back and murmurs, “Then I won’t say any more about it.”
It takes the majority of the ride home for me to settle down. Once I have, Mama allows me to sit up, leans over and kisses my forehead, smiles as she wipes away the lipstick mark and then quietly tells me, “I love you very much, Sweetheart. Never think otherwise, I simply want what’s best for you.”
“I know, Mama. I love you, too, and I’m sorry again for disappointing you.”
“Sora… Baby, you so rarely do anything wrong that I often feel as if you don’t need me.” She barks a short, sharp laugh. “There are times when I wonder who’s the parent when it comes to you. You’re already so mature, much more so than I was at your age. Often, I have to remind myself that you’re only 13. Although, every once in a while you surprise me. You crawl into my lap and I think, ‘Here’s my little girl.’ I love those times with you. It feels like you’re racing to grow up and that worries me. Do you want to know what I think?”
I nod. “Of course.”
“I think you should slow down, enjoy being a teen. Have fun with your friends, go out on group dates with everyone and stop thinking you have to save the world today. You’ll have long enough for all of that when you actually are an adult. I know you want to help your Dad and Ryu, amongst a few others, but a few years isn’t going to make a difference. Same with the world, it’ll still be here. Sweetheart, I’m afraid that if you don’t, you’re going to have a nervous breakdown. Does that make any sense to you?”
“It does, but Mama, I can’t lose Daddy or Ryu.” I look down at my hands folded in my lap and almost whisper, “I just can’t or actually, I don’t think I could take it. I’ve lost too much. Mama, please, don’t misunderstand me. I’ve gained so much since waking up. For the first time in a long time, I have a real life and people who love and care for me. I have you, Daddy, Ryu, my sisters and friends to thank for all of it. I have so much more than I ever thought possible for me and I’m happier than any time I can ever remember. I-I just can’t stand the thought of losing any of it or any of you. Everything I’ve done and everything I’m doing is for us, all of us.” Looking back up at her, I ask, “Can’t you see that?”
She never answers me, she merely pulls me against her and holds me until we get home and get out of the SUV. As we’re walking inside, she stops me and once everyone is past us, says, “Sora, no matter who or what you become in life or how old you get, you’ll always be my beautiful little girl and I’ll love and support you in anything you want to do. God knows that I’m not a genius and I can’t see the big picture that you can, but what I can do is those two things and that’s enough for me.”
Tears come unbidden as I take the step to her, bury my face in her breasts, slip my arms around her and murmur, “Thank you, Mama. That’s enough for me, too.”
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