After confirming that, I was currently an ant, and the only thing I could currently do was to train and become strong.
From what I remember, my inherited techniques directly relate to speed, but my physical strength is not that great. So I need to somehow develop my strength also, but I don't know how.
And before I start doing anything, I first need to visit Maki and Mia and form a good relationship. That way, even if I can't somehow be as physically strong as the monsters present in this world, I can somehow live.
Maybe I should tell Maki and Mai that they can become head of Zenin. Frankly speaking, I have no desire to be the head. From a pure profit-mind perspective, what I'm doing is foolish, as who in their right mind just kicks off something like family head of a wealthy family, right?
But I have no desires. I want to be something like a slick-talking uncle in the wealthy family. Like every family has one right, who just minds his own business without taking much head heating works.
If I made Maki or Mai that and I have a good relationship with them, then I can become just that. And there is a possibility for Megimi. I read that Megumi and Yuji will fight. Did Megumi betray Yuji or something? Man, I really wished I read that manga.
The curse of being a JJK fan.
I should have at least heard the haters, who keep telling me that my insight about JJK was wrong.
Anyway, the past is past, and I have the present and future to deal with.
I made my way to meet Maki and Mai since I have nothing good to. It was very fortunate to transmigrate in kid version. I still have a chance to reform. Imagine if I transmigrated into an adult who had already bullied Maki and Mai from childhood or I transmigrated just before Maki massacred the family.
Oh, my hair stands up just by imaging it.
The Zenin estate was quieter the deeper I went into its inner sections.
Not peaceful—just suppressed. Like a place that had learned to swallow screams.
I followed the faint sounds of raised voices until I reached one of the training yards reserved for children who weren't important enough to get instructors. And there it was. Exactly the kind of scene I'd half-expected, half-feared.
A boy—maybe a year or two older than my current body—stood in front of Maki, sneering down at her with practiced cruelty.
"You're useless," he spat. "No cursed energy, no technique. Why don't you just quit already?"
Maki stood her ground, fists clenched, teeth bared. Her glasses were slightly crooked, with one lens cracked. There was blood on her knuckle—fresh.
Green hair. Cute but frenzied.
"At least I can fight," she shot back. "Unlike you, hiding behind Daddy's name."
The boy's face twisted. "Say that again, freak."
Off to the side, half-hidden behind a wooden post, Mai was curled up on the ground. Her knees were pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped around herself like a shield. Tears streamed down her face silently, her shoulders shaking as she tried—and failed—not to cry out loud.
Something in my chest tightened.
Yeah.
This was exactly the future massacre's waiting room.
The boy raised his hand, cursed energy flickering weakly around his fingers. Not impressive. Barely even trained. Just enough to hurt someone smaller.
I stepped forward before I could overthink it.
"Oi."
All three heads snapped toward me.
The boy froze when he saw my face.
Zenin crest.
Clean clothes.
Naoya's body.
"Oh—Naoya-sama," he said instantly, posture straightening so fast it was almost comedic. His voice flipped from venom to panic in a heartbeat.
I stopped a few steps away, hands at my sides, heart pounding.
Right. I was also a brat.
Still, status mattered.
"What are you doing?" I asked, keeping my tone cold.
"I—I was just—disciplining them," he stammered. "They were being disrespectful."
Maki glared at him. Mai shrank even further into herself.
I looked at the boy.
Then past him.
Then back at him.
"…Get lost."
He blinked. "E-Excuse me?"
"Run," I added flatly. "Before I change my mind."
For half a second, he looked like he wanted to argue.
Then survival instincts kicked in.
"Yes, Naoya-sama!" he yelped, bowing clumsily before turning on his heel and bolting out of the yard like his life depended on it.
Silence fell.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.
Maki stared at me, eyes sharp, suspicious. Not grateful. Not relieved. Just wary. Like a feral animal deciding whether the hand offered food or a knife.
Mai peeked up slightly, tears still clinging to her lashes.
"…Are you hurt?" I asked, glancing at Maki's knuckles.
She scoffed. "Why do you care?"
Fair question.
I opened my mouth to answer—
—and that's when everything went wrong.
"Don't act like you're different!" Maki suddenly shouted, spinning toward where the other boy had fled. Rage boiled over her face. "You're all the same—!"
She grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it with all her strength.
I had just enough time to realize two things:
One—she wasn't aiming at me.
Two—I had stepped directly into the line of fire.
Oh shi—
Pain exploded at the side of my head.
The world lurched violently, sound warping into a dull ringing. My legs gave out before I could even react, and I felt myself fall backward, vision blurring as the sky spun.
The last thing I saw was Maki's eyes widening in horror.
"…Naoya?"
Then darkness swallowed everything.
As my consciousness faded, a single, bitter thought drifted through my mind:
Well… that's one way to make an impression.
~~~