Chains Of Pride

"Oh boy oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!! Is it true, is he here?! Kia?! You finally came back?!"

Running down the stairs and heading to the living room was a young man with a head full of crimson hair. He shared a similarity to Kia, but his eyes were much more full of life, and he had a more animated expression than the latter.

"So he headed home, no wonder I haven't been able to see him recently." Kia could hear hurried footsteps as he sat on a chair in the living sipping some tea that Silian had brewed.

"Fufu, can you blame the young master? He hasn't seen his older brother in a few months. Are you planning to stay long? It's been a long time since you returned," Silian stated with a sagely cadence.

'Sighs.'

"I don't like being away from home, but you know how this dance goes. Once my parents enter the picture, it's never peaceful. They don't back down, I won't back down, and when that happens, both sides get too close, and we end up fighting." A complicated light flashed in Kia's eyes as he spoke.

Bang!

The door that led to the living room opened with a bit more energy than necessary.

"Kia!!!!!"

A shout of joy reverberated throughout the spacious living room, the runt-sized figure did not stop as he dove headfirst into Kia's arms, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Luckily Kia placed the teacup back on the saucer lest he and his little brother would get wet.

"Ugh! Haru c'mon you're already 11 years old. You can't keep doing this." Kia said with a doting expression as he stared at the little twerp who sent him to the floor.

"Hehe."

Who else could it be but Hokori Haru, the reclusive child genius? One of the pillars of Cendo Academy, an existence most digiums never get to see, one of the only five (5), a bona fide S-Class Digium!

However, this unbelievable existence was now on the ground, revelling in Kia's arms like any other younger brother. If the other Digiums were to know of this, their jaws would create the world's deepest ditches.

Of course, Haru didn't like too much attention, so he used the power available to him make sure people who didn't need to know of him, didn't.

After some time, Kia was able to finally get up, but there was Haru still stuck to his side as always. He was one of the reasons why Kia took Shepherd Hide up on his offer.

"How's your research coming along so-called child genius? I believe you called it subconscious brandishment, right?" Kia asked with a gentle smile.

With a fl.u.s.tered expression as he pouted his mouth, he replied, "Phooey! I don't wanna talk about research, oh yeah! Did you see the Engage Sequence today?! How Lanzo and that Captain were going at it like wham! Bam! Pow! Did you get to see it live?!"

"Ah, I actually saw it from a screen myself, to be honest." Kia decided to tell him something of a half-truth.

"I can't believe you were finally able to find something to help with your Divinus plasma energy problems, and the attobots for your Armis are so awesome, oh, and not to mention the name? What was it again, God's Code? Badass! He kept talking about everything he saw and heard.

He didn't normally talk a lot, but not seeing his brother for a few months burst the flood gates, and boy were the waters gushing out.

"You little brat, did you use your S-Rank privileges to see what I was working on?!" Kia feigned being hurt and angry at this, which brought the d.e.s.i.r.ed effect.

"I-I'm sorry big bro, I won't do it again! Please don't be mad, Haru was wrong!" He quickly apologised for this, he didn't like it when his big brother was angry at him.

"Hehe, I'm just messing around. By the way, where's honourable grandfather?" Kia looked around for the second person he wanted to see the most.

"He's honing his technique even now, holding onto a tradition that is all but dead." An apathetic voice spread out, causing the relaxed expression Kia had don to recede like the tide.

A man with a slim but strong build stood at the entrance to the living room. His unfeeling eyes scanned Kia as if he was looking for something to be impressed about, but was failing.

His countenance was one of pride, albeit a cold one. His features were sharp and chiselled, and the eyes he used to scrutinise his son even more so.

Kia's face now wore a grim expression, "Hello, FaThEr." That last word came out with a mocking attribute suffused into it.

"You would do well to give your father the respect he deserves since you don't give anything else worth giving." Another voice echoed out as soon as he made his greeting.

The voice was so impassive that one wouldn't attribute it coming from a human much more a woman. Yet, against all odds, a womanly figure strode from behind the solidly built man.

The woman's hair was not the striking crimson of her son and husband. Instead, it was a jet black colour that hung freely to the small of her back.

She was indeed a great beauty, there was a beauty mark that found itself diagonal to her left eye. Her lashes were long and resplendent, lips of a striking red, they were no less crimson than that of her husband's hair.

Her features were soft with her skin appearing supple and delicate, this all wrapped a figure that would leave any man standing at attention. However, if one studied closely enough, they would see that there was a hidden sharpness that did not lose out to the man that was beside her.

Hokori Nukihanatsu, this was the name of Kia's father and his wife, Kia's mother was known as Hokori Ssuiuda.

"Come on, are we going to do this right now?" When Kia saw them both, a strange fatigue immediately took hold. He didn't want to spend the first time at home in a long time arguing with his parents.

"Do what? Advise you to stop patronising your grandfather and practising the True Dragon Sword Hunt?! Why can't you be like your younger brother? If you'd invest your time solely in your research, you'd long be an S-Class Digium, but even an 11-year-old has overtaken you."

His father's advice didn't seem to change even after all this time, this was the crux of their countless arguments.

Haru never once moved away from his brother's side. A sight that caused an indiscernible twitch to ripple across his father's otherwise placid face.

No matter how good Kia's achievements were, as long as he kept practising the True Dragon Sword Hunt with his grandfather, the rift between him and his parents would never be mended.

An aged voice that was somehow filled with a sharp vitality cut through the tension that was building steadily. "Nukihanatsu stop pestering the boy!"

"Honourable Grandfather!" Kia's face lit up, outdoing the stars in the sky.

"Hello, young one hahaha!" An elderly man had entered from one of the other entrances.

Though he was advanced in years, the old man moved with a spiritedness that belied his years. The wrinkles on his face appeared as if they were carved from stone, and yet, the glimmer in his eyes dimmed none for the sake of the years that passed.

The l.u.s.tre of his crimson hair betrayed his Hokori lineage. This old man went by the name Hokori Iryoku, the only man alive that wields the complete knowledge of one of the last remaining sword arts, and…one of the most powerful, True Dragon Sword Hunt.

"F-Father, Kia needs to think about his futu-"

"Baah, enough of that, the boy's already rich himself because of science and whatnot! Your face looks like the sword got stuck up in the wrong scabbard there, and I'm not gonna let you do the same to the boy." Kia's father's words were cut off by Iryoku as he took Kia by the arm and flung him over his shoulder, practically throwing off Haru in the process.

"H-Honourable G-Grandfather?! N-Not again!" Kia was wholly unprepared for this, his grandfather's kidnapping.

Haru who was thrown off started laughing as he pointed at the fl.u.s.tered Kia.

Kia's father and mother massaged their temples as they took in this scene. Indeed, this man cannot be reasoned with.

It looked like he was kidnapping his own grandson, as he sauntered out of the room with a confident swagger.

"I'll be gone with the boy for a while, Oi Silenai, get us another cup of tea will ya?" He didn't even spare his son and his daughter in law another look as he took Kia and left.

He might appear to be brash, but he knew Kia had something on his mind apart from the episode his parents induced. Ergo, he used the most direct course of action to get to it, and that was to take it and leave.

…

At each of the boy's abode save for one, they shared the news of their situation with one person. Gero shared it with the one person he had to protect while he cleverly omitted the dangers involved.

Lanzo, on the other hand, didn't have such a privilege. Sure he had both his parents, but at the same time, he didn't. Not much needed to be said after that.

He simply holed himself up in the main 'Family' mansion to calm himself and organise himself for the inevitability of two days.

…

"Hmm, you'd think the green-haired one would have someone to talk to. Well, the obvious idiot is usually the one who hides their pain the deepest, but at least they're safe, and with that, I will be cashing in my merit." Vizio flashed a smile as she said this.

She snuck back out of the teleportation hub, and hurriedly made her way to Takeshi's mansion to claim her 'reward.'