Monarch 2: Connections

Chapter 3 - Kazuyuki

Kazuyuki was already having a not so great week, and it was only Tuesday. Not to mention, his weekend wasn't exactly great, either. He was supposed to have a relaxing time with Katsuki while they checked out the new game shop. Instead, she had to come face to face with a former bully.

Then just yesterday, he had to go and have a panic attack at the worst time. Afterwards, Rekka told Jace what had happened. And he was worried. They had a conversation over breakfast about it.

"Are you sure you're not hiding something from us, Kazu?" Jace asked. "It's alright if it's bothering you. And we can get help for it if we need to."

"I promise, I'm fine..." Kazuyuki said, while trying to sound as genuine as his tone would allow. "I cannot explain why I reacted the way I did. My best guess is it was because I was already stressed because Takashi was there. Coupled with the fact that I actually hadn't held a gun since..."

"Right..." Jace stopped Kazuyuki before it could bother him. "Just please say something if it becomes a regular thing. I worry about you the most, you know?"

"I'm sorry to worry you..." He said, while lowering his head.

Jace quickly recovered and pat Kazuyuki's head. "Oh, don't you worry. I have plenty of other worries when it comes to your sister, too."

"Whaddya mean?!"

Rekka's shouting got both Jace and Kazuyuki to laugh, even slightly.

The siblings finished eating and left not long after that talk. Meeting up with Katsuki and Haruna before making their way to school. At first, it seemed like Haruna and Katsuki were trying to skirt around what happened yesterday. But Kazuyuki assured them it was a one time thing, and that he was perfectly fine.

The day went on without incident. And the four were making sure they kept up on their studies. At lunch, they decided to head to the central courtyard to study during the hour.

"Alright, so we agree that math is terrible right now?" Haruna groaned, sighing heavily.

"Even I have to admit, it's getting tedious..." Kazuyuki agreed.

"But we're still doing well, right?" Katsuki asked.

Rekka started shuffling through previous homework assignments. "We did really well in the last bits of homework we had. And tests were damn close. But we still are fumbling when it comes to showing work properly." Rekka sighed. "Ridiculous. It's so subjective."

"It is..." Haruna replied. "But we still need to make sure we are doing it their way. Where did we go wrong?"

"Could I help?" Everyone looked at each other, confused. The voice didn't belong to any of them. "Uh... Hello?"

The voice was behind Kazuyuki and Katsuki, so they looked behind them... And saw Takashi.

"What are you doing here?" Haruna asked, quickly while tensing up, slightly, like she was already getting ready for a fight...

"I, uh..."

"Probably just want to cause trouble, huh?" Rekka added.

"But I..." Takashi trailed off, while lowering his head.

"What is it, Matsuyama?" This time, to everyone's surprise, Kazuyuki was the one to speak up. And it caused everyone to finally listen and wait for a response.

After a moment, Takashi spoke. "I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry... Truly." He looked up and gave everyone a remorseful look. "I was trying to ease the tension yesterday, and I failed miserably." Takashi looked at Kazuyuki. "It wasn't my intention to offend you. Please, forgive my rudeness..." Takashi then bowed, deeply.

Everyone exchanged looks... But they mainly looked at Kazuyuki... He was mainly the one that was wronged, so they defaulted to him without actually saying anything.

After a moment... Kazuyuki spoke.

"It's fine..." Takashi looked up from his bowed position. "We're talking about the recent math lectures... If it's alright with Katsuki, I don't mind if you join."

Everyone then looked to Katsuki for confirmation. She thought for a moment before speaking.

"We can't be wasting any more time... What're your thoughts?"

Takashi smiled and stood up straight, pulling out his notes and taking a seat between Katsuki and Haruna.

"By a happy coincidence, my teacher here and the teacher at my old school are also sticklers for showing work," Takashi started pulling out some notes. "And we are about where you all are. My Dad taught me different ways to make sure I'm showing all the work required." He showed everyone the notes, which were incredibly detailed. "It's sort of like mental checklists for each segment. It's a major pain to memorize, but if we commit it to memory, it shouldn't be a problem!"

Skeptically, everyone looked over Takashi's notes... But as they examined them, they realized that the processes actually made sense and did make it easier to remember what needed to be shown.

"Alright... I admit it..." Rekka sighed. "These are some good notes..." She smiled, slightly. "But I'm still watching you, mister. Keep yourself in check."

Takashi laughed, nervously. "I promise..."

After doing a bit more talking about the upcoming exams, they decided to use the last bit of break to relax. Out of a sense of politeness, Katsuki asked what Takashi had been up to.

Takashi calmly explained that he had moved not long ago after his father got a major opportunity to become a CEO of a business company. He said his father had been taking some initiatives to teach Takashi some life skills as well as get hands on with the company. As such, Takashi has learned some valuable skills that he's translated into his school life, which is what allowed him to develop the processes he was teaching today.

"It sounds like you've been giving yourself a jumpstart on a career?" Katsuki asked, seemingly getting comfortable with the conversation.

"More or less..." Takashi sighed. "Although, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a tad stressful. Thinking about all of this while still so early in High School is overwhelming."

"I can imagine," Haruna said. "I personally don't know exactly what I want to do, yet. Something in healthcare. But I can't dream of making that choice here and now."

"I'm the same way," Katsuki added. "For a while, I was completely unaware of what I wanted to do. But recently, studying business management has been catching my eye."

"Oh yea?" Takashi smiled. "Well, as a way of saying sorry, would you be interested in a tour of my father's office? It's in town in one of the high-rises. The view is nice, and the people there are really friendly. They even have an outing planned for next Saturday!"

"Really?!" Katsuki had to contain her excitement. She realized that she sort of jumped the gun. She calmed down and thought about it for a moment. Then she turned towards Kazuyuki. "What do you think?"

Kazuyuki's eyes got wide for a moment. He was silent for just a bit as he pondered. "I think it's a great idea. It would give you a chance to see if that's really what you want to do in the future."

Katsuki couldn't keep her eyes from widening. She smiled at Takashi and nodded. "That would be fantastic! I'd be honored to see your father's office."

Katsuki couldn't explain it. Not 10 minutes ago, she still despised Takashi's guts... But now here they all are, talking like everyone's been friends for years.

The bell indicated that lunch break was coming to an end. The group said goodbye to Takashi as they all returned to their classes for the day. And for the rest of the day, and for the time between then and the following Saturday, Katsuki and Takashi talked non-stop about the tour.