A New Slate

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Spending an unknown time replaying the scenes inside his memories, Kazuya memorized almost every aspect of his life. His current predicament however, was not part of those memories. What he needed the most right now was information. He confirmed his name from the tag on his wrist but that wasn't enough. He reached for the chart hanging on the end of his bed and read the nostalgic characters printed out neatly on the chart.

Name: Kouzuki Kazuya

Age: 6

Blood Type: A+

"(Six!? Did I perhaps reincarnate into someone with the same name?)" He read his own chart and looked at the mirror and confirmed his own identity. He recognized the face, it was indeed a younger version of his own face. He couldn't help but smile. Circumstances aside, he is now presented by an opportunity to learn about a part of himself that he knew nothing about. Compared to the constant replays of his previous life, it was a refreshing feeling.

"(It's the same old city…)" He looked at the town outside the window and recognized the structures.

He jumped around the spacious room and performed a few stunts. He wanted to make sure what state his body was in only to end up cursing himself in disappointment. His body couldn't keep up with what he wanted to do. Kazuya fell down on the floor sighing in pain not too long after his first trial.

"Damn… This body is worthless. I can't even do basic practices" He crossed his legs and concentrated. Using mana to aid in the body's recovery was already like breathing for him so he involuntarily tried it. He frowned after a few seconds.

"As expected… There's barely any mana in this world"

The good news was that he could definitely feel mana, the bad news was that it was almost none existent. This was understandable because if there was an abundant amount of mana, then he or anyone that had that could make use of it, would be like the superheroes found in manga or comic books.

"But this is definitely strange… I still can't remember any—" he murmurted to himself only to be interrupted by the unnoticed arrival of a guest.

"Kazuya!" a professionally dressed attractive young woman rushed inside. She found an empty hospital bed before scanning the room to find her target in deep thought. She immediately rushed to him and held Kazuya tightly in her arms.

"Who ar—" He paused in shock. The worried lady's beautiful face flashed in his memories. This person definitely appeared in various pictures inside his room. His head painfully throbbed as different flashes of this woman appeared on his head.

"What's wrong Kazuya? Don't you recognize me? What happened!?" She was panicking and didn't know what to do and just hugged the child who seemed to be in pain.

"You are… my mother?" There was only one conclusion he could find after examining his memories.

"Yes! Yes I am! Can't you remember me?" She started tearing up at her own son's reaction.

"I… I don't know…" His head was still throbbing. The woman definitely felt familiar, but he still couldn't process the sudden flood of incomplete information in his mind. He could only faintly respond as he dealt with both pain and shock.

"Let me call a doctor so we can ask okay? Mom will be right back" She rushed out of the room.

"Mother…" dragging himself back to the bed, he looked at the sun that was already setting. This was one of the things he didn't expect to call anyone using his own lips. Kazuya had considered his mind strong after everything he went through in that darkness. He thought that he had already grown numb after all that he experienced but this sudden news affected him.

His mother returned not long afterwards accompanied by several doctors. They asked him several questions that lasted for quite a while and they were absolutely baffled by Kazuya's condition. He was sent to the hospital due to suddenly coughing up blood, yet now he suffered from the strangest case of amnesia they had ever seen.

"Will my son's memory return doctors?" The beautiful woman's face was filled with worry.

"This… to be honest, we are clueless. His tests show no abnormalities and he appears to be a perfectly healthy child. Even his episode of coughing up blood showed no causes" One of the old doctors spoke.

"Although it may seem like bad news… we found out something interesting about young Kazuya here" The man identified as the head of the hospital smiled at him.

"What is it doctors?" after getting a string of bad news, she was given some hope.

"You said before that he was just a normal boy who was average at everything. If that is true, then he has awoken as a genius" He confidently declared.

"Genius? My Kazuya?" She glanced towards the boy who was silently sitting as if it wasn't his business.

"Indeed Ms. Kouzuki. You've seen him answer the questions we presented right before your eyes. His reasoning skills along with his academic skills are not something someone of his age should have learned" She was handed the questionnaire he was asked to solve earlier and was shocked.

"This… I don't know where he learned all of this" She handed up the papers with trembling hands after confirming the results.

"You don't have to worry too much about your son Ms. Kouzuki. Although we do not know yet what caused this, young Kazuya here does show sign of regular amnesia. The fact that he eventually recognized you means that he is slowly regaining his own memories. He is still young and children have amazing recovery abilities. Although we don't dare to guarantee it, things are looking positive. What he needs now is a familiar environment to let him slowly recall the memories he lost."

"Thank you doctors. It is a relief to hear those words"

"No thanks are necessary. It was our pleasure to discover someone like him. Who knows, maybe he'll end up at the top of our field in a few years. Please do remember not to pressure him too much. We still don't know the cause of all this and he was being scolded harshly by a teacher when his symptoms occurred"

"Can I take him home now?"

"We suggest to keep him under observation for a few days so we can try to find a probable explanation for this incident but It is your decision" She decided to let him rest at the hospital for a few days.

Kazuya found this to be a waste of time since no one would be ever to diagnose something that is out of this world. He had insisted on looking at his own test results and found no traces of his older self's injuries anywhere. Unlike the soul ring which he assumed had bound itself to his soul, the gem he received from the demon lord was a physical object. He couldn't help but wonder how it mysteriously got carried over as well.

"(No point in thinking about it now)"

Kazuya looked at the woman talking to the doctors, she was called Kouzuki Kyouko. There was no doubt that she was his blood related mother, yet he still didn't know how to act around her. He thought that being a real amnesiac would make their meeting a lot less awkward. He already had one lifetime of memories and experiences and that didn't involve having a mother so this was very new to him.

"Kazuya?" The doctors left not too long afterwards, and the mother and son duo had finally had a chance to be alone together.

"Yes?"

"Are you hungry? What would you like for dinner?"

"Isn't the hospital going to provide meals?"

"You don't need to be reserved around me. I'm your mother. I'm allowed to spoil my own son especially since my son is recovering right?" She smiled warmly at him. He could subtly feel that she was slightly pushing herself so he could only submit.

"Well… sushi would be nice. Hmm… or should I go for ramen or… maybe a pizza? I don't know…" talking about food made him realize that he hadn't tasted food in who knows how long. Food from this world even more so.

"Don't you worry about a thing! Mom will get them all for you so just sit tight" Slightly baffled at her son's choices, she took her phone and stepped out of the room.

After making sure that she was occupied with her call, Kazuya browsed through her belongings to look for information. He only gathered bits and pieces of fragmented memories and wanted to know more about the people around him at this unknown period of his life.

Kouzuki Kyouko

Kouzuki Corp CEO

"Kouzuki Corporation? CEO?" Looking at the calling card, he was unfamiliar with this company.

Kazuya was startled. He was a poor student in his memories. He worked different jobs just to get by. His mother already passed away when his memories started and he was told that he suffered from amnesia because of the accident that caused her death.

After taking another look at the hospital suite he was alone in, the thoughts that it was merely a small company left his mind and intensified his curiosity.

"(From my original memories, it was always her in the pictures. Is she a single mother?)"

He was so absorbed in this thoughts that he failed to realize that his mother had already returned to find him looking through her stuff. It wasn't like he was looking through her stuff to steal so she continued to observe him and was touched to find him holding onto her card while staring at a picture the both of them took together not too long ago.

"Kazuya?" She decided to break the silence after a while which startled him.

"I'm sorry… Mother. I was hoping to remember a few more things so that you won't look so sad. But I'm a failure"

"Silly boy. As long as you're alright, you don't need to worry about such things. Remember or not, you're still my one and only Kazuya" She hugged his little body tightly.

"Can you tell me about myself?" Her familiar scent suddenly triggered a feeling of longing inside of him. He couldn't help but recognize her existence as he subconsciously hugged her back.

Looking at the happy expression on Kyouko's face as she proudly told him about their time together. Kazuya couldn't help but feel guilty since no new memories appeared on his head. He shook his head and apologized multiple times whenever she asked if he could recall anything but Kyouko refused to give up and kept coming up with different stories of their time together.

It wasn't until that the food finally arrived that she finally decided to take a break.

"Special Delivery!"

A cheerful yet familiar voice announced herself before entering the suite. A smiling young lady entered the room carrying different types of food. Like his mother, this lady was dressed professionally. The only difference was that this attractive young lady was someone he recognized.

"Big sis Mei? What are you doing here?" He asked nonchalantly.

This was the first person who he knew from his previous life so he immediately recognized her. His excitement in finally meeting someone he used to know took over as he decided to call her out. What Kazuya failed to realize that both women were shocked by his careless words.

The shocked visitor stood frozen. The smile she once had disappeared but her beautiful features weren't affected in the least. She immediately dropped the bags in her hands as her neatly tied up long hair trembled along with her body. Tears immediately started to gather in her eyes yet Kazuya still failed to realize what he did. He made it even worse with his next words.

"Jeez big sis… this isn't your place so can you please put stop that habit of putting everything away as you please?"

"W-what did you just call me K-kazu? I wasn't able to hear you from here" She stuttered.

"Have you gone deaf Big sis M—" it was at that moment that he realized what he just did. The opened lips he used to speak froze as he quickly began to think of an excuse.

"Kazuuuuu!!!" She leaped towards his small body and crushed him with her own.

It was already too late. He had carelessly dug himself into a pit that was difficult to get out of.