While he has been enrolled since his birth in Darkeas, the school of supervillains, Uchiri Nanaya ends up by mistake in Aitori ... the school of the Magical Girls.
Nanaya looked up at Kōtarō. The Uchiri mansion was so big and the land around even bigger, he himself hadn't visited half of the building and a quarter of the garden. No wonder then that his friend, who had come several times, knew even less. He brought the handle of his screwdriver to his mouth, biting it to think for a moment.
"One thousand seven hundred..." he muttered, "ninety-two? It seems to me. I think it took a year or two to build, so give you the exact date..."
"I never saw it !" Kōtarō replied.
"I've only been there once. It takes about twenty minutes from the main building to get there. Thoki uses a scooter to move around the terrain."
"But how big is it?" Enko exclaimed.
"I don't know the exact size, but there are two hundred hectares, not counting the forest which also belongs to our family and the horse meadow in front."
"Im-...impossible to navigate," Yūto muttered.
"I don't even know all the rooms in the house."
"And Thoki is handling all of this on his own?" Choked Kenji.
"Yes... oh but we have robot vacuum cleaners, robot lawn mowers and robots to clean swimming pools."
"The pools?! Like, plural??!" Rakko exclaimed.
"I didn't even know there was one," Kōtarō muttered, "how many there are."
"Three indoor pools," Nanaya explained, "and one outdoors, but I've never been there."
He glanced at his friends and preferred to go ahead of them to avoid questions.
"A tennis court," he added, "a training ground and a garage. There is also the barnyard of course. We have a tradition. Each generation adds something to the mansion."
"And what did your father add?" Monaka asked.
"The barnyard. Including the pigsty, the chicken coop and all the shelters for the different animals that live there."
"And you ?" Haru asked.
"Are you going to add anything, bumblebee?" continued Jun.
"It's already done," the magical replied innocently. "I added the bee village and the flower field."
"Where do we sign?" Rakko then asked, "I would gladly make some pocket money by helping Thoki-san."
Mineko confirmed that she was interested too, but also the twins, Enko, Monaka and Yūto. Kōtarō living at the mansion, he asserted that it was just normal if he helped, he refused to be paid for it. Kenji and Rena, each having two hero parents, had no need to work to have some money during their studies and Tomeo was already helping his parents in the restaurant. Nanaya reminded them that they were still welcome whenever they wanted, if they wanted to use the facilities.
As the hour passed, they decided to return to the SDA complex. Ichirō followed them, forced to remain silent. He complained with a simple grunt as the ice began to melt, wetting his collar.
The bus dropped them right outside the complex, will one of the Uchiri cars also parked. Nanaya was surprised. He knew his father was right now in the office that had been set up for him. He saw Thoki exit and go to one of the back doors to open it.
Out of the car came a pretty woman. Nanaya cannot tell her age. She looked young and old at the same time. Gray streaks ran through her black hair and she wore just enough makeup to hide the most stubborn wrinkles, without overdoing it. What surprised the magical the most was that she seemed physically close to their family. He wondered if it was not his grandmother, whom Nakamara had promised him to meet during the holidays, but she was supposed to be bedridden in a hospital because of her fragile health.
At the same time, Nakamara exits the building, without even looking in that direction. He was talking with the director of Heritage. He certainly accompanied him to the bus, the American students shared the dorms, but the teachers had reserved a hotel.
The woman clapped both hands over her mouth and glanced at Thoki before returning her attention to Nakamara.
Seeing them nearby, Nanaya could no longer deny the resemblance. Her skin was just a little lighter, her eyes and hair were black, but other than that, there was clearly a connection. He tried to remember where he had seen this woman. He was sure now that he had seen her before. But there were so many photos and portraits of all the generations hanging all over their mansion, it was hard to remember just one person.
The woman finally came forward when Nakamara finished his conversation, and called out to him. She spoke perfect Japanese but had an accent. Something European.
Nakamara responds to the call and finally sees her. He stood speechless for a moment. He too was trying to remember who it was.
" ...Miss... ?" He breathed, "can I help you...?"
He cast a questioning look at Thoki who just smiled at him. The woman just chuckled softly. She walked over and took his hands in hers.
"We had never met," she explained, "and even after you retired from crime, I was still a little scared. But I really wanted to see you at least once."
"...I'm sorry," Nakamara muttered, "I'm afraid I don't know..."
"Meling Nameko. From my married name. But I was born as Uchiri. I am your father's sister."
Nakamara's eyes widened. He had known for a long time that he had an aunt. Thoki had told him, and she was noted in the family records. But he had never met her. According to the butler, Uchiri Natsuo kicked her out when she was eighteen. She was not very good with technology, so her brother and father had deemed her useless to the family.
"Aunt," Nakamara whispered, "I didn't expect to meet you one day..."
"Well, I went to live in Norway," she said, "I married a man from there and I had two children, they are a little younger than you. I also recently became a grandmother. We run a farm. You should come see us next time you're traveling there."
"I would come, for sure!"
She said she contacted the manor by phone. Thoki had picked up, and they had both decided that her visit to Japan would be a surprise. Thoki had secretly already prepared one of the guest rooms for her and she would stay for the rest of the tournament.
Nakamara then noticed the students nearby, including his son. He immediately made a sign to introduce him. Of course, Nameko knew him by name. His fight against Volcano and more recently, the images of the first rounds of the tournament, were accessible worldwide.
It was only Saturday, and Nakamara decided to return to the mansion, with his son, to spend some time with his aunt.
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