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A few months passed by, and the winter break arrived, meaning a few days off from school and official jujutsu missions.
Naoya, the twins and Kagenori returned to the main estate in Tokyo, and just one look around the estate was enough for Naoya to realise that the old gloomy air that he tried so hard to get rid of was returning.
Welp, he will need to get the problematic elements in check once again.
It was especially necessary to do that because here Maki and Mai would be joining the other clansmen for their training, and the negative atmosphere might impact them.
At first, he was not very fond of the idea of the two learning with other clan kids and youngsters, but Kagenori advised him otherwise.
The kids need to widen their horizons. They need to see how other sorcerers function and how well they work. Special Grades like both of them were fundamentally different from normal sorcerers, and even the two of them started their training with the same clansmen.
Maki and Mai have been doing their jujutsu training for quite some time, but it was clear their talent in sorcery was just not that great.
For some god-forsaken reason, the world itself considers twins to be a single entity that, because of some glitch, has split into two beings. Both of these bodies, although separate, are connected on a spiritual link and have the talent that would have been given to that single entity, split between the two of them.
The same happened with Maki and Mai, and it was quite bad in Naoya's opinion.
The single entity talent that the world decided for the twins comprised average cursed energy reserves, the ability to manipulate that said energy, heavenly restriction of physical gift, and a cursed technique.
But because of the glitch and twins being born, these features got divided between them.
Maki, the older twin, got the heavenly restriction of a physical gift, which made her more physically stronger than normal humans and a minuscule amount of cursed energy without the ability to manipulate it. She could not even see the cursed spirits of cursed energy without the special glasses.
Mai, the younger twin, got the remaining cursed energy, the ability to manipulate that cursed energy, and the cursed technique.
In theory, Mai could become a somewhat decent sorcerer, but her cursed technique was too energy-demanding and made it more of a hindrance.
Both were decent but were held back by the twin curse.
If Maki could manipulate the CE, she could use it for basic sorcery or at least give herself physical reinforcement when needed.
Similarly, if Mai had her CE reserves fixed or had a less demanding technique, she could use her sorcery more efficiently.
Still, despite all these problems, Naoya wasn't gonna give up on the twins. Where there was a will, there was a way. He will have to try harder to make the two work, but he will make sure that the two do become strong, for their own sake.
Maki was already very disappointed when she found that she could not use cursed energy at all, and she cried a lot.
Mai was somewhat better, but she, too, was not very fond of her technique or the limitations it brought.
Overall, since the twins realised that their Jujutsu talent was lacking, they have been quite depressed.
This was also one of the reasons Naoya didn't want the two of them to join the rest of the clansmen, but he could not shelter them forever; they would need to face their reality and work on themselves to overcome their differences.
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Currently, in the main training ground of the clan, where most of the young clan members are trained, Naoya was also present, and during his stay at the main estate, he was acting as their instructor.
Maki and Mai were in the group as well, and Naoya decided to take on the instructor gig because of the two of them and make sure that the two were not bullied because of his favourable actions towards the twins.
Not that anyone within the clan would want to anger him, still better safe than sorry. One can never underestimate the stupidity of Zenin clan members.
Naoya looked at the trainees. They were split into three groups. One group was practising hand-to-hand combat, and Maki was practising with this group. The second group were those who were still learning how to control their CE. Mai was training with this group.
Finally, the third group comprised people who had unlocked their techniques and were learning to use them in combat.
This was the group that was being handled by Naoya; the other two were being observed by other instructors at the moment, and it pained Naoya's heart to see the girls being scolded by the other instructors.
The instructors were more unfortunate since they could feel the murderous gaze on them, and if possible, they would not want to deal with the person who was glaring at them and even try to curry favour with him.
The issue with that was that the same man had asked them to treat the twins like they treated the rest of the trainees, and if they tried to be partial, Naoya would still glare at them.
'What are we supposed to do?!?!?!' thought the instructors.
"Come," ordered Naoya as five trainees who were standing around him gave a nod and moved forward for their mock spar.
For the trainees being personally trained by Naoya Zenin, the strongest and most influential member of the clan was a dream come true. They were over the moon when Naoya first joined them, and even now, their admiration for Naoya hasn't faded at all. The older brother was surprisingly kind and caring, something that most of them were not familiar with within the Zenin clan. They knew Naoya was kind, but experiencing it personally was new for them.
The people who used to train during Naoya's time were now older and trained with their peers, so for this new group of trainees, Naoya's actions and temperament were quite shocking.
Maki and Mai looked at their fellow trainees around them and felt a threat to their brother being stolen by these people. This was something the two of them were not expecting at all, now just learning curse magic wasn't their biggest problem.
Once the training time was over, the twins immediately ran up to Naoya to cling onto him, but the two were pushed aside by the clansmen who were more eager to get insights from Naoya.
"Mai!" called Maki as she saw Maki being shoved aside by other kids and immediately shielded her. She was older than her, and it was her responsibility to keep her sister safe.
"Agh. It hurts," muttered Mai as tears started to form around her eyes. The place where she was shoved hurt, and in the rush to get near Naoya, some kid stomped on her feet, too.
Maki looked at Mai, worried, and was about to call Naoya, but seeing him surrounded by other kids made her stop.
Mai looked towards Naoya as well, but stopped as well.
The two remained silent for a while before they looked down and turned around.
Now both of them were feeling sad and wanted to cry.
However, before they could get away, the two of them felt someone grab them.
"Now, where are the two of you going, leaving me behind?"
Hearing the familiar voice, the two of them looked up and saw Naoya holding the two of them.
Seeing the tears in their eyes, Naoya felt pained and hugged them tighter before he started slowly patting them.
He turned towards the other trainees and told them that he would help them with their queries during their next session, and walked away with the twins.
"You two crying?" asked Naoya.
Maki shook her head while Mai nodded. Both of them had buried their faces in Naoya's chest, and he could feel his clothes getting wet.
"Well, my clothes are definitely getting wet. Mai is crying, so that's understandable. But Maki..."
"...did you wet yourself?"
"I DID NOT!" Maki snapped angrily.
Seeing her angry, Naoya smirked, making Maki even angrier at him and burying her head back.
"Hehe."
A chuckle broke out of Mai, though she still refused to look up.
The two of them were angry with Naoya, and they would make sure he understood that.
While he was trying to strike a deal with them so that they would forgive him, they came across Ogi.
Naoya stopped in his tracks, and the two of them made eye contact.
Naoya gave a polite bow, which Ogi returned.
Behind Ogi was Misae, his wife and Maki's and Mai's mother.
Misae looked stoic and gave a polite bow to Naoya, and then looked at the kids in his hands.
Maki and Mai looked up, wondering why Naoya stopped talking and noticed him looking somewhere else. The two followed his gaze and saw Ogi and Misae as well, though they were unable to recognise the two.
Naoya had started taking care of the two of them since they were quite young, and the kids have not had much contact with their parents since then.
"Still dealing with these two?" asked Ogi, and looked at Maki and Mai.
He was genuinely shocked by Naoya still taking care of the failures.
"I don't deal with them. The two of them are quite good kids. See. Aren't these two cute?" said Naoya with a smile.
"..."
Ogi didn't say anything. What was cute about the failures? He couldn't understand.
He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. He didn't want to discuss more about the failures.
Misae, who was standing behind Ogi with her eyes lowered, waited for him to walk a bit further before she looked up.
She saw Maki and Mai briefly, who looked back at the lady as well.
"You can speak to them if you like, Misae-san," said Naoya politely.
Misae's eyes widened in surprise, and she immediately lowered her head.
"It's fine, Naoya-sama. I am sorry if I seemed disrespectful," said Misae.
Now it was Naoya's turn to go silent.
It seemed like Misae had become quite conservative when talking with the clansmen.
"No need to apologise, Misae-san. I just asked because you seemed curious," replied Naoya.
"...I was simply wondering if the two of them have been causing you issues?" said Misae.
"Haha. A bit, but the two are very good kids. No need to worry about them," said Naoya.
Misae nodded and looked back at Maki and Mai.
"Maki. Mai. Behave well and don't cause trouble for Naoya-sama," chided Misae.
Maki and Mai blinked in confusion.
Who was this old lady? Why was she scolding them?
Maki pointed her finger at Misae and finally spoke.
"Who are you?"
Mai looked at Naoya.
"Why is she scolding us?"
Naoya and Misae turned silent.
All of a sudden, it got quite awkward.
"Ah...umm..."
Naoya hesitated and looked at Misae, wondering how he should explain it and whether she was interested in telling the two about their relationship at all.
Misae's eyes widened a bit, but she got her composure back soon.
"...I am Misae Zenin. I am your mother," replied Misae.
Maki and Mai flinched at the answer and immediately turned towards Naoya for confirmation.
"We have a mother?" asked Mai.
"Of course you do. Everyone has a mother," replied Naoya.
"You have a mother too?" asked Maki.
Naoya's lips twitched. The kid unconsciously struck a nerve.
"...She is in a faraway place, but yeah."
Misae was already frowning at Maki's and Mai's attitude and was ready to discipline them, but Naoya simply gestured to her that it was fine.
"We have a father, too?" asked Mai.
Naoya placed the two of them on the ground and gave a pat.
"You do."
"Where is he?"
"...He is quite busy and cannot meet you two right now," replied Naoya.
Maki and Mai turned silent and gave a nod.
"Still, you two met your mother. You should greet her," said Naoya.
Maki and Mai looked at Misae and were about to greet her, but Misae spoke up first.
"I will take my leave, Naoya-sama. Ogi-sama might need me. Maki, Mai, learn to behave well and don't cause issues for Naoya-sama."
Misae gave a bow to the three of them and walked away with a stoic expression.
In truth, she wanted to talk more with Maki and Mai, but she also didn't want either herself or her kids to be caught in Ogi's gaze and face his wrath. It was better to distance herself before any of them got involved.
Maki and Mai saw their mother walk away without even glancing at them. The two didn't know why, but that action made them hurt.
Seeing the family drama, Naoya sighed and patted the kid's head once again. There was only an extent to which he could interfere in their family's affairs.
"Let's go," said Naoya, and offered his hands to the two of them.
The two looked at the hand and then towards Naoya, who was looking at them with a bit of worry.
Without any warning, the two hugged him tightly.
Naoya hugged them back and slowly patted their backs until they calmed down a bit.