AN : i really sick today and worse the work is pilled up so i can only release one chapter hopefully tomorrow i can release 3 chaps guys.
Wednesday, 21 August 2001. Morning, Renkonan Household.
That morning, the Renkonan household felt warmer and livelier than usual. It was not because of a company event, a product launch, or another strange crisis around Zaboru. This time, the special event was much smaller, quieter, and more personal.
It was Zenshin's first day of school.
Zenshin stood in front of the living room wearing neat little shorts, a clean shirt, and a large Mario-themed ZAGE backpack that looked almost too big for his small body. Ayumi had also placed an Ash Ketchum cap on his head, making him look even more adorable than usual. The result was so cute that Zaboru could not stop grinning.
Zaboru had not gone to the office yet because there was no way he would miss this today belonged to his son.
"Hehehe, Zen-chan," Zaboru said, crouching slightly in front of him. "You're going to school today. How do you feel?"
Zenshin raised one small fist awkwardly and gave the least convincing excited expression in the world. "Yay. I'm happy."
The way he said it was so flat that Zaboru immediately burst into laughter. He gently caressed the Ash cap on Zenshin's head and said, "Relax, tough guy. You don't need to pretend. I know you're not exactly the type to scream happily about school. But don't worry, this place seems interesting. They won't just teach you things you already know."
Zenshin looked at him quietly, then gave a small sigh. "I hope so."
Ayumi smiled as she watched them, though there was a little worry hidden in her expression. She gently rested one hand on her belly, which had already started to show a slight bulge from her almost four-month twin pregnancy. Arumi was still asleep, so Ayumi had asked Keiko to take care of her for the morning. Even though she was pregnant and had work related to Akaishidan, there was no way Ayumi would let Zenshin go to his first school day without her.
The school Zenshin was going to attend was special. Not merely special in the sense of being expensive or famous, but strange. Ayumi had found it almost by chance, and the entrance requirements were extremely strict. There were several tests, interviews, observation sessions, and skill evaluations before a child could be accepted. Zenshin had passed all of them easily, almost too easily.
Unlike normal schools, this one was not strictly separated by age. Students began from the lowest level, which mostly consisted of children around four to seven years old, then advanced based on ability, maturity, and learning progress. Because of that, Zenshin would be one of the youngest students there, possibly the youngest in his starting group.
Despite being only four years old, Zenshin's knowledge was already far beyond normal. At home, he already had his own study room, not a playroom. A study. He read thick books, studied machines, drew mechanical sketches, learned strange concepts far too quickly, and often asked questions that made Zaboru feel like he was talking to a tiny version of nerd. Zaboru and Ayumi had long accepted that their son was not normal. He was a genius. But even so, they did not want him to grow up isolated inside books, machines, and his own thoughts.
They wanted him to socialize.
They wanted him to meet other children.
They wanted him to learn how to live among people, not only how to surpass them.
The school was called Kumo.
Cloud.
Or spider.
It was a strange name for a school, and Zaboru had already made several jokes about it being suspicious. However, neither Zaboru nor Ayumi knew the truth yet. Kumo was not merely an advanced private school. It was actually connected to Arachne.
Zenshin, however, already knew.
A short while later, Zaboru drove Ayumi and Zenshin to the school using his Nissan Skyline GT-R 2000. The car itself was special, especially to Zenshin, because Zaboru had already half-jokingly said that this car would belong to him in the future. Zenshin knew very well that his father's "half-jokes" had a dangerous habit of becoming reality, so he secretly treated the car with future-owner seriousness.
Inside the car, Zenshin sat quietly near the window, looking outside with a slightly tired expression. From the outside, he looked like a quiet child thinking about his first day of school. Inside, however, his thoughts were far less innocent.
"Damn it," Zenshin thought. "I actually have to go to school again? I already passed this kind of life once. But well… this place might be useful. Kumo School, huh? Paula-sensei should be there too, right? If she is, then that's good. She can still become one of my engineers in the future. Still… Being a regressor and having to redo school is really annoying."
Zaboru glanced at him through the mirror and noticed the deep look on his son's face. He grinned. "So, little fellow, are you slightly nervous about your first day?"
Zenshin blinked and looked at him. "Not really."
Zaboru chuckled. "Back when I was a kid and went to kindergarten for the first time, I was nervous as hell. I still remember it clearly. It's probably one of my first core memories."
Ayumi smiled softly from the passenger seat. "You were cute too, Zabo?"
"I was probably very cute," Zaboru said with confidence.
Zenshin sighed. "Please don't compare us, Papa."
Zaboru immediately placed one hand over his chest as if wounded. "Aw, Zen-chan. Strict as always. Your father was just trying to share an emotional childhood story."
Zenshin smirked faintly. "It became self-praise halfway."
Ayumi laughed, while Zaboru looked genuinely betrayed. "My own son already understands my patterns. This is dangerous."
Not long after, they arrived at the school.
The moment Zaboru saw the campus, his expression changed.
"What the hell…?"
The school did not look like a normal school at all. It looked like an ultra-modern research facility disguised as an educational institution. The architecture was clean and futuristic, with wide glass walls, curved white structures, gardens arranged with unnatural precision, and security gates that looked far too advanced for a children's school. There were playgrounds, but even those looked carefully designed to test balance, agility, cooperation, and problem-solving rather than just letting children run around randomly.
Zaboru slowly looked at Ayumi. "Ayumi… how much does this place cost?"
Ayumi chuckled. "Because Zen-chan passed all the tests, he got a full scholarship. So technically, it's free."
Zaboru stared at her.
Then he looked back at the school.
"Free," he repeated. "This place looks like it costs more than some small companies."
Ayumi smiled. "Our son is talented."
"I know he is talented, but this feels suspiciously talented."
Zaboru narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the campus more carefully. The security was too smooth. The staff moved too calmly. The parents arriving were not ordinary either. Many of them looked wealthy, influential, or connected to something. Some came with drivers. Some with bodyguards. Some with the quiet arrogance of people used to private rooms and special treatment.
Zaboru thought, "Hey… this is shady. Don't tell me this is some academy for super kids or something. Made by Arachne? Or worse, Illuminati?"
He immediately sighed.
"Please don't let school become another secret organization problem," he muttered.
Ayumi looked at him. "What?"
"Nothing. Just fatherly instinct."
"That sounds suspicious."
"Everything sounds suspicious lately."
Because Zaboru was wearing a slight disguise, most people did not recognize him immediately. His clothes were simple, his glasses softened his face, and his hair was styled differently under a cap. However, even disguised, Zaboru still had a strange presence that made some parents glance at him twice. Ayumi noticed and smiled faintly. She was already used to it. Her husband could try to look ordinary, but "ordinary Zaboru" still looked like someone hiding a company behind his back.
Zenshin followed them calmly toward the first-year student area. He did not cling to his parents. He did not cry. He did not hide behind Ayumi's skirt like some children nearby. Instead, he walked with almost too much composure, looking around the campus with the eyes of someone evaluating future resources.
Zaboru noticed and whispered to Ayumi, "He looks like he's inspecting the place for acquisition."
Ayumi tried not to laugh. "He is your son."
"That does not mean he should already have corporate eyes at four."
"He also has your eyes."
"That explains too much."
The entrance ceremony was held in a large hall with soft lighting, clean wooden floors, and a stage at the front. Children sat with their parents, while several teachers and staff members stood nearby. The atmosphere was polite and calm, but different from an ordinary school ceremony. There was less childish noise than expected. Many of the children seemed unusually mature, observant, or simply strange in their own ways.
Zaboru quietly studied them.
Some children were clearly prodigies. One boy was calmly reading a mathematics book that did not belong in the hands of a child. A little girl beside him was building a small puzzle cube with terrifying speed. Another child was silently observing the adults instead of paying attention to the ceremony, as if judging them. For a moment, Zaboru felt like he had entered a room full of tiny future problems.
"Yep," he thought. "This is definitely not a normal school."
After the ceremony ended, Zenshin turned toward his parents with a small, controlled smile. "Mom, Dad, I'm fine here. You can go home."
Ayumi bent down slightly and caressed his cheek. "Zen-chan, Mama will accompany you. Don't worry. I heard the first class is only around four hours, right? Parents can wait in the reading room, so Mama will read there while waiting for you. Papa has to go to work, but Mama will stay."
Zaboru smiled and offered his fist. "Fight, bro."
Zenshin looked at his father's fist, then smirked and bumped it with his own small fist. "I'll survive."
"That sounds more dramatic than school should be."
"It is school."
"Fair."
Then Zenshin looked at Ayumi again. "Mom, you should work too. Uncle Akechi needs you in Akaishidan, right?"
Ayumi's smile became terrifyingly sweet.
The temperature around them seemed to drop.
"Mama wants to accompany Zen-chan on his first day," Ayumi said softly. "Is that not okay?"
Zenshin flinched.
Even with all his regressor experience, even with memories from another timeline, even with his strange maturity, there were still some forces in the universe that remained difficult to resist.
His mother's smile was one of them.
Zenshin immediately corrected himself. "No. It's okay."
Ayumi's terrifying aura vanished instantly, replaced by a bright motherly smile. "Good."
Zenshin looked away and thought, "Damn. Mom is still scary as always. Even before my regression, she was scary. Some things never change."
Zaboru tried very hard not to laugh.
Ayumi noticed anyway.
"Zabo?"
"Yes?"
"Are you laughing?"
"No. I am emotionally supporting our son."
"You are laughing."
"Only internally."
Ayumi smiled at him.
Zaboru immediately straightened. "I mean, yes, I will go to work now."
Zenshin looked between his parents and sighed quietly. "Adults are troublesome."
Zaboru placed one hand on his head one last time. "Maybe. But we love you, Zen-chan. Learn what you can, make some friends, and don't scare the teachers too much."
Zenshin looked up at him. "I can't promise the last one."
Zaboru laughed. "That is honest, at least."
Ayumi kissed Zenshin gently on the forehead. "Have fun, okay?"
"I'll try."
"That is enough."
After one last look at his son, Zaboru finally decided to leave. He gave Ayumi a small nod, then walked back toward the entrance of the school. As he left, his eyes swept across the campus one more time. The modern facilities, the unusual children, the strange staff, the expensive-looking parents, the too-perfect structure—everything about Kumo School felt suspicious.
But for now, Zaboru pushed that thought aside.
Today was Zenshin's first school day.
He wanted to let it remain that, at least for a few hours.
Behind him, the classroom doors opened, and the first group of students began entering.
Zenshin adjusted the large Mario ZAGE backpack on his shoulders, touched the brim of his Ash Ketchum cap, and stepped forward with a small sigh.
"School again, huh…" he thought.
Then Zenshin's first day at Kumo School began.
To be continued.
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