Koi No Yokan

An Assistant

Kenji,

"An assistant?"

"Yep, you've been booking event after event for me, and I need the buffer, an assistant will do us both some good," Kenji leaned back into the couch of his living room, his manager sitting across from him. "It'll be good for both of us, trust me," he sipped from his fancy fizzy drink, the ones Mina always tried hiding from him, "I'll get someone who will tell you to fuck off with the over scheduling, and you'll get someone who will keep me on task so I'm not constantly late."

The athlete shrugged, "Win win."

Ryoku scowled, "Mhm, and who'd you hire?"

"No one yet, I just put it out, figured I'll start having applicants come in at the end of the week."

Ryoku was silent for a moment, before sighing, "Suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing. Alright Sato, I'll notify your agent of this. Send over the listing, we'll take care of applicants."

"You're ok with this?" Ken raised a brow, usually if he didn't consult him or his agent first about a decision he made, he'd get an earful.

"If they'll keep you on task, your agent and I will hire a dozen of them," The older man snapped, pinning Kenji with a look, "Now is that all?"

"Yes, you can go," Ken said with a sarcastic voice, "That's all I needed your precious time for."

"Watch yourself, Sato."

"You say that to me a lot," the athlete hummed, taking another sip from his drink, "I wouldn't antagonize you as much if I didn't know what I could and couldn't get away with."

Ryoku dragged a hand over his face, "If you didn't bring me the big bucks, kid, I swear."

"But I do," Kenji smirked, "And if you weren't a shark of a man, I would've given you the boot."

"But I am," His manager sassed, grabbing his coat, heading for the door, "Good night, Sato, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, you've got another day ahead. Until that assistant comes, you're my bitch," Ryoku sent his client a shit eating smirk, slamming the door on his way out.

Kenji groaned, throwing his head back into the sofa, cursing his fame all the way to hell. "If I didn't love baseball, I would've quit a long time ago," he mumbled, standing up, and heading down to the Ultra base. Emi was curled asleep in her containment unit (He really needed to build her a proper room), and his father was looking at the scanners they've had searching for the signal his mother sent out.

That night, when his watch lit up, and he heard his mother's voice come through...he couldn't believe it. For so many months he believed she was...gone...possibly dead, but then his watch lit up with a location, Nebula M78, the home of the ultras. The place where his father's from, the planet home to beings of light, his people. They've been trying to locate said planet, his father didn't quite know where exactly the planet was, when he arrived on earth he was unconscious. Not knowing which way in the universe he came from. The scanners have been stuck at ten percent, not budging, their efforts fruitless so far.

What would he even do when he found it?

How could he travel from earth to a planet that was probably going to be light years away?

How did his mother even wind up there?

Was it really even her that sent that signal?

So many questions, so many worries, it felt like the weight in his shoulders was just getting heavier and heavier.

"Hey, dad," Ken mumbled as he walked in, "What's going on?"

Hayao looked away towards his son, "Not much, I'm afraid, I believe we've hit a plateau in both Mina's recovery, and the search for my old home world."