Magical Boy ~ English version

Chapter 53

A few weeks before summer camp, the students were eagerly preparing, while also revising for their end-of-term exams. This July 15th, at the end of class, Nanaya, Mineko, Rena and Yuto headed to the roof to join their friends and pass the time. But Nakamara was waiting in the hall on the third floor.

"Dad ?" Nanaya wondered. "What is happening ?"

"It's a special day." His father replied simply. "I want to take you somewhere, go change."

"Your birthday was last month."

"There's no question of that. I am waiting for you here."

"Okay... warn the others, girls."

His friends nodded before heading up the stairs, while Nanaya made his way to his room. He put on street clothes. Jeans, ankle boots and a hooded crop-top in blue tones. His father made a face when he saw him. Actually, Aitori's uniform didn't cover his stomach, but he didn't expect similar casual attire. Nanaya assured him that he liked it and that Mineko had helped him choose a new, less dark wardrobe.

Nakamara sighed and led him downstairs, then outside where Thoki and one of their family's many sports cars awaited them.

The butler led them through town, to a part where Nanaya didn't remember ever having been. However, he recognized the cemetery, having seen some in photos and in certain documentaries.

Nakamara didn't say a word. He got out of the car and motioned for his son to follow him, while Thoki and Hyokko stayed near the vehicle. They walked the aisles in silence. This cemetery was not huge, their town being rather small, but it took them a hundred yards to reach their destination.

Nakamara stopped and rummaged in one of his pockets for a stick of incense. He placed it on the grave in front of him. Nanaya could read the name on the stele, which read "Uchiri Natsuo".

"It's your grandfather." Nakamara muttered, lighting the stick. "He died a year before you were born."

"From what ?"

"A stupid motorcycle accident. Funny for someone who has been an Experion for so long. I revealed my identity right after, and mother cut the ties. She did not know about our criminal activities."

"... is she ..."

"Alive. She got in contact again as soon as I gave up my title. But she is seriously ill and stuck in a hospital in Tokyo. I was thinking of taking you to see her over the Christmas holidays."

"I would love to meet her. "

Nakamara smiled softly and together they presented their respect in front of Uchiri Natsuo's grave. There were other Uchiri around. Men, women. Looking at the dates, Nanaya could notice that there were a few children there as well. Their whole family for many generations was buried here. Some graves were really very old, but well maintained. Nakamara explained that their family had always paid for the services of a cleaning company that looked after the graves of their loved ones. There were of course uncles, aunts and cousins ​​who had left elsewhere and had been buried elsewhere. Others whose bodies had not been found. But those whose ashes were in this cemetery were all part of the main branch, which had managed Uchiri Corporation for many years, even before the first Experion six generations ago.

Nanaya's attention was then drawn to the one right next to his grandfather. Fresh flowers were arranged there. Following his gaze, Nakamara made up his mind and put some incense on it too.

"He's... my older brother." He breathed. "He was fifteen and I was ten."

"... I had an uncle?"

"You would have loved him, I'm sure. I admired him so much. He wasn't as good at robotics as we are, but he would have been an amazing Experion, I'm sure. Today is the anniversary of his death."

"Narino." Read the teenager. "All our names start with "Na"."

"To add to Experion's immortality. If our identity was discovered, our initials would always remain the same."

"So if I ever have kids, I should come up with a name that starts with Na?"

"No. Experion is dead, it's no longer necessary."

"... I like it. It feels like a tradition."

Nakamara gave an amused smile. Just last year, he would never have mentioned traditions. They never really celebrated anything together or talked a lot. It was all going to change. He leaned in front of the stele, clasping his hands.

"You see aniki." He whispered. "I told you I would introduce my son to you. "

Nanaya glanced at the inscription "Uchiri Narino" engraved in stone and joined his father in paying homage to his uncle.

"When we went to see him in the morgue, mother and me." Nakamara muttered. "He had already been sent to the crematorium. We couldn't say goodbye to him. But father said it was for the best. He had been caught up in a fight between a villain and a hero and, according to him, was unrecognizable. He wanted to prevent us from seeing him in this state."

Nanaya was silent for a moment. He hesitated a few seconds before turning to his father and hugging him. Nakamara smiled gently and hugged him back.

They stayed in the cemetery for a while. Nakamara introduced him to names he had personally known, such as his own grandfather, Uchiri Nariaki, and his wife Uchiri Hoya. His mother's parents were in a Russian necropolis, where she grew up.

Nakamara checked the time and stretched. School curfew was coming soon, Nanaya had to be home.

"Nanaya, let's go." He said, taking his hand. "I have to take you back to S.D.A. before the night."

"When are you going to announce your job as general director?"

"I do not know. I must give people time to forgive my actions. Starlight shouldn't have offered it to me so soon, but he was exhausted from too much work. At least I was able to sort out the security issues and the software handling the registrations."

Nanaya nodded. Whenever they could spend some time together, his father would explain to him what he was working on. Since the start of the school year, he has been balancing between creating sophisticated prosthetics, including that of Starlight, and running the complex. He had planned very soon to respond to some requests for interviews and invitations to science and popular shows, in order to announce the new creations of his company. He planned to use his own mechanical arm as an example.

They were approaching the car when Nanaya suddenly looked up. One of the features of his prosthesis activated on its own. The last time this happened was at the Hase Kahoru charity gala.

His sight on the right side gave him several pieces of information, but the one that worried him the most was the display of a steadily rising temperature. He had been hot for a few seconds, he had to admit, but seeing the numbers made him realize that was not normal. Summer or not, the temperature couldn't rise so quickly.

"Nanaya?" Hyokko called. "Hurry back home, even spirits feels hot!"

Nanaya didn't answer. He grabbed Hyokko's tail and his fathers' sleeves so that they all fell down.

What appeared to be lava was then thrown over the car. When it hit the cemetery gates, the wood caught fire.

Nanaya hastened to create some ice so they wouldn't suffer from the heat and peered through the car windows.

A man approached, his black, cracked, lava-like skin having hardened. Any cavity on his body, his eyes, his smile, or the cracks on his chest, neck and arms, looked like they were filled with fire. His hair was like lava, flowing over his shoulders. The man looked like an erupting volcano in human form.