No clue, I currently had no clue about what I wanted to do, not even the slightest bit, maybe I will go back to the battalion, or I might roam the world, but I guess I will have to change the family's name on the ID I will be creating, I will also need some money, but I believe there was enough criminal accounts that had quite a handsome some of money on them and no one would be missing some of that money .
Just as I was engrossed in my own mind and thoughts, I heard her saying :
Then I will rephrase my words from earlier, seeing that you still had not much of an idea on how the outside world looked like and you seem to lack the necessities needed to have a comfortable life, I would like to ask, if you would be willing to join the Yotsuba Family, what do you say ? .
The moment I heard this question, I couldn't help but be surprised and looked at her with bewilderment, unlike before, she didn't use that forceful tone from earlier, in fact if not for her stern face when she said those words, I might've thought that she was warmly inviting me to the family .
Seeing my reaction, she had a faint smile suddenly appearing on her face as she said :
But let me clear this up for you, I might grant you freedom, but my hold on you will be much tighter than the military and just so you will be aware, joining the family at this moment might bring a lot of trouble towards you, but I doubt that you would be troubled much by this .
Last but not least, none of what we discussed here will be discussed with another person, last thing that I will need you to keep in mind, you should understand that by accepting to join the family, you would be obligated to obey my orders as the family's head, even if I were to ask you to become a weapon for the family .
She said this and stopped looking at me and instead, I saw her looking at the picture on the desk and her eyes were suddenly foggy, as if she was here in the room with her body, but her consciousness was else where while looking at that photo .
After hearing all that she had to say and seeing her current detached state, I couldn't help but fell into deep thought as well, if she were to have asked me a few minutes before, I would without an ounce of doupt, refuse to become a Yotsuba, but after interacting with her and know some of the circumstances that lead to the reformation of the family and what it stood for .
I found myself wondering if my opinion on this family might have at some point gotten affected by the meeting with Major General Saeki and the talk I had with Tatsyua, might have played a role in this to, all these reasons forced me to become bewildered at what could possibly be my answer to that invitation of hers .
Earlier, I might have blatantly refuse, but now, weird thoughts were beginning to cross my mind, after all, I did came her originally to relay the message I was entrusted with to her, but I was also hear to know what does the family head of the Yotsuba think about me and what might be her reaction to my existence and furthermore what might be the family and its member's reaction to me, if I were to decide to join them .
But I then had changed my mind, after getting to know more and more details about them, to the point that I began wondering if I would have been better living without having anything to do with this family and its members, but that determination that I had finally formed when on the plane to her shattered the moment she invited me to join now, once again her a bit warm invitation, helped in changing my mind again .
I had broken out of the facility for the reason of finding the woman that I whether liked it or not was indebted to, so hearing her inviting me to the family with like her giving me a chance to actually be there besides her, it could have also being her trying to use the emotional card against me .
But just looking at her lost in thought expression as she looked at the picture on the desk, had me feel that she wasn't acting nor she was using the emotional card against me, the current expression on her face with a genuine one, but it didn't last long, sensing my intense stare at her, she was awoken from her trance and looked at me and said :
Have you made your choice or are you still stunned at me inviting you in, you need to think this thoroughly, after all, if there was a need for you to act as a weapon, you will act as one without having second thoughts .
" Hmmm, I was indeed surprised at the sudden invitation, as you have said, even if I were to accept, the other family members might not be welcoming at all, but that was a little problem, my actual problem with be, what identity will I be joining the family as .
She remained silent and it wasn't my turn to be saying anything, so I too remained silent waiting for her response, I indeed didn't care what the others thought of me, but if there was an opinion that I cared about, it would be her opinion, so as long as she was fine with me being here, I too would like to be around .
But even though I now had an intense urge to stay by her side, I still wonder about what kind of status and identity will I be joining the family as, this question will also make me understand a lot of her thoughts about me .
Silence engulfed the whole scene in it, we stayed in silent with both of us looking at each other without blinking, both trying to see what was inside the mind of the other, both trying to read the thoughts of each other, two amethyst eyes looking at each other, both trying to understand what was going to choose and what might be the consequence of this choice .
Her warning to me about me having to become a weapon if there was a need or being given an order to become one crossed my mind but it only did so for a second and the next second, I discarded this thought from my mind, after all, I won't be doing anything that went against my morals or made me feel uncomfortable, that was how everything will go, whether they liked it or not .
Waiting for her answer took much longer than I had expected, the problem wasn't with the waiting, but with the awkward silence that was engulfing the whole scene in it .
Could I interprete your words as you having the intention to join, if all your confusion got cleared up ? .
I nodded my head weakly and as if she was waiting for me to respond as such, she continued to say :
For what will the family members think or react about this, I won't be able to interfere, after all, it won't look good, if I did, so you will have to solve this on your own, but as for what kind of status will you be joining the family with, let me check with you one last time, do you intend to join the Yotsuba Family or not .
For some reason, even though this question had been asked to me 4 or 5 times already, this was the first time that I felt that something strange might come after I answer this question, but hearing her intention of not interfering with what will the clan think about me, made me a bit at ease .
After all, she not interfering in this predicament, meant that she will be neutral and not taking sides, if a conflict were to arise and that was plenty in itself, seeing her staring at me so intently, I strengthened my resolve and I made sure that I had think this through and finally gave her my answer, saying :
" But just as you mentioned that I should understand my obligations towards the family, I would still tell you the same thing I told Major General Saeki, I won't be doing anything that might risk the lives of other people for no particular reason, you can use me as a weapon, but even though I might have been created for this reason, I was conscious enough to be the one deciding what is best for me .
" Whether it be becoming a weapon or even acting as a normal human, so I hope you keep that in mind as well, I'm my own person and that won't be changing, as for my answer, if these terms were okay with you, I'm indeed willing to join, but can I ask one last thing ? .
Sure, go ahead .
" Do you acknowledge the existence of my big brother Ryuu ? .
The moment I asked her this, she fell silent, I wondered whether was she thinking about it or she already had an answer but she wasn't able to say it out loud, I couldn't help but stare at her intently waiting for her response expectantly, she was like a frozen picture, only blinking a little from time to time, that continued for 5 straight minutes, I no longer was able to calm my nervous heart .
I was about to ask the question again, but she then surprised me by actually answering my question, she finally said :
I acknowledge it, believe it or not, but even though my memories about giving birth was a bit foggy, I still remember that I felt warmness inside of me, just for that warmness to disappear the next second and become chilling icy instead, so yes, I did acknowledge that your big brother Ryuu existed and that he was indeed my child .
I sighed in relief and began feeling as if a huge burden was removed from on top of my chest, but the next second, I was surprised by her asking me quite the strange question, she said :
Don't you want to be acknowledged as well ? .
" No. I believe that I no longer do, I'm a bit vague about the reason myself, it just doesn't seem right to have you acknowledging me too, if before I wouldn't have asked for anything else, but now, it no longer settling that well with me .
What do you mean ? .
" I don't know myself, I told you it sound vague, but anyway thank you for granting my wish and my big brother too .
I said this and got up and bowed my head to her in gratitude, I saw that she suddenly chuckled and said :
For somone who was just boasting about his ability to raze this place to the ground to be suddenly this mannered, you really are a strange child .
For some reason, even though that interaction of ours was quite brief, I felt the warm feeling that I had felt before and this time it was even stronger than before, especially the way she called me a child, but even though I felt like this, I didn't allow what I truly felt to appear outwardly on my face and expression, but I was still feeling like I had been seen through .
You wondered about what your identity might be, if you were to join the Yotsuba Family, right, let me show you .
She said this and got up from the couch and pressed a button, then a screen started to appear from the ceiling, then she once again pressed another button and the screen was turned on, the first thing that came to my sight were a few words, those words were saying : Breaking News .
Then a TV show suddenly appeared after these words vanished, I saw a woman with a purple hair sitting there and in front of her were a bunch of documents and papers, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on, but then the first few words that came out of that woman's mouth, shocked me to the point of being breathless, she said :
The Yotsuba's Prince is back, we just confirmed from our source of information that this news are authentic, Yotsuba Ryuu, the supposed heir to the Yotsuba Family and the son of the Yotsuba Family current matriarch Yotsuba Maya, had indeed returned from living overseas, the information that we had about him, seemed to imply that he was overseas, fixing some problems with his health .
As if that wasn't shocking enough, the woman suddenly touched the earphone and started nodding her head, then after she finished whatever was that she did, she continued to say :
Our informant had helped us acquire the picture of how Yotsuba Ryuu looked like, we will be the first to exclusively display it here, I myself will be witnessing this for the first time, display the picture that got sent to us .
The moment she gave that order, a picture of me suddenly appeared on the screen, shocking me even more than before, the picture was taken in the mansion, it was taken from that time that I was displaying how I looked like without my disguise on .
But the shock from knowing this, wasn't in par with the shock I got from getting called the prince of the Yotsuba, I couldn't help but look at the only person in the room who should have the answers to all my questions .
Why are you acting so surprised, you didn't think, I would just let you be a guard or a secretary to the family, you are from now on, Yotsuba Ryuu, the prince and one the heirs of the Yotsuba Family's throne, whether will you be able to sit on that chair in the end or not will be completely up to your own efforts, what do you think, are you satisfied with your new identity .
As she finished saying this, without even being able to respond or say anything, the phone in my pocket buzzed and using Spatial Eyes together with the special sequence that I got earlier, without even getting the phone out of my pocket, I was able to read the message, it was from the nosy female officer, it was a brief message in it, she only said ' don't worry, everything was sorted ' .
After reading that message, I was no longer able to think straight about what was going on, she seeing me like this, began to explain that she negotiated with the military and arranged all of this with them in the picture, but she didn't mention, whether they were okay with it or not, she only said that she informed them of my new identity .
Looking back at the still stunned news lady on the screen, who was still having a bit of a shock herself, the program then stopped airing and went to a commercial break, unable to clear my head and understand what was going on .
The door of the room suddenly got open and from it, two guys entered the room, the moment they entered, I heard her chuckling voice sounding once more and she said :
It's good that you are here, Ryuu meet your cousins .