Be my maid pt.1

"So they had a spar before they left?" Isshin asked the maid named Yu.

"Yes, master." Yu nodded, "Ryota-sama asked Teppei-sama for a duel, which he agreed to immediately."

"So who won?"

"Teppei-sama did, but it was a really close match especially towards the end," Yu said as she remembered the match between the two, "It was really interesting to say the least."

"How so?"

"I am not quite sure but it was Ryota-sama's technique that was hard to grasp in the first place. He had ingrained different martial-arts in his technique so it didn't even feel like a sword duel but just a serious random fight." Yu explained, "Then came the more weird part, Teppei-sama managed to push away Ryota-sama with his quick-draw technique but as if Ryota same could copy his moves, within the next second Ryota-sama performed the same exact move with the same accuracy and everything. Though Teppei-sama managed to win in the end it was just by a hair."

"Oh! that's indeed quite interesting." Isshin said as he glanced over at the window, "But this ability of his, maybe Ryota is also like them... born with a gift."

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"Can you tell me why am I watching this again?" Ryota complained to Michael.

It had already been a long time since he entered this dream world, but instead of training Michael was showing him spars of two shadowy figures who used different martial arts to attack one another one at a time.

"I hope you're copying this with your ability." Michael said, "I want you to at least learn about these martial arts, though you're practicing with your sword right now, it's still better to learn proper fighting techniques in case you can't use your swords. And even then, with the technique, you're trying to achieve ingraining these martial arts in your swordplay would increase your fighting ability for sure."

Ryota nodded agreeing to what Michael said as he focused on the fight.

"Just try and copy these for today and I'll show you how to blend all these techniques together tomorrow," Michael said as he disappeared leaving Ryota alone watching two figures fighting until the dimension kicked him out when it was time to wake up. Getting up like usual he began doing his usual chores after which he was just browsing random articles on his phone when something caught his eye:

'Mysterious model secret rendezvous with his girlfriend!'

'Arima's rumored heir is just another playboy in the making!'

'Arima heir a heart breaker!'

'Arima heir: Prince Charming or a Playboy?'

Ryota looked at the news articles one after another with his lips twitching. He expected an article or two to pop up about him but he didn't expect this whole force of news media to go after him. It was especially scarier considering they even managed to dig up his past. Luckily other than a few lines on Akane about her being his new girlfriend, there wasn't much on her. As he was looking through the articles he got a call from Isshin.

"Is it about the news?" he asked straight away.

"Yes, it's about the news." Isshin answered, "What do you think about it?"

"The way they managed to dig up my past, I think it has something to do with rival companies trying to tarnish my reputation before I even get the power," Ryota said his doubts.

"It's a good guess but there's more to it." Isshin said, "Yes, the rival companies might do something so cheap but for them, it's just a rumor so they wouldn't be so quick to act on it. Unless its someone who really hates our company."

"You mean the one who wants to kill off our family?"

"Yes, the way he quickly rushed to act with all this information means that he was already keeping an eye on you." Isshin answered, "So it looks like our plan is working."

"That's good and all but if this goes on my reputation is sure to be ruined before I even become an heir."

"That's the thing my boy, you have to own it." Isshin said, "Accept who you are and people will accept you. Who cares if you really are a playboy? After all, you're young and good looking so obviously you are good with the girls. But if you try to hide it and not accept the accusations, you'll be making this very thing your weakness and soon you'll be faced with people using your weakness against you to try and bring you down."

Ryota understood what Isshin was trying to say as he breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you old-man, I needed to hear that."

"Take care of yourself," Isshin said laughing heartily on the phone.

"You take care of yourself too," Ryota said as he hung up the phone. Bringing the documents of all the people affiliated with Arima Corporation, he went over and checked the document one by one again. After reading each and everyone's background and their motive for either joining or hating the company, Ryota separated the files of 40 people from the group, of who he suspected was the enemy and the killer of Teppei's parent.

"You just pissed the wrong guy off!" Ryota snorted looking at the files, "You better hope you're not easy to find."

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8 days remaining-

"So the maid from the Arima family is going to pick you up today?" Shizuka asked,

"Yes, I am going with her to pick a new maid," Ryota said, "A personal maid who will take care of me from now on."

"I have never seen you look so happy before." Shizuka said shaking her head, "Oh! How could I forget!--But it's weird that you still have an obsession with maid girls."

"*Cough!* You don't have to bring my dark past up." Ryota said looking around making sure no one heard her, "And of course, I need to cheer up a little after all, the maid assigned to me is going to work for me for a very long time. So we need to have a friendly relation from the get-go."

"I never thought this day would come but good luck, I guess." Shizuka said, "Also try avoiding troubles for now. The news articles have caused a lot of scene in the school, you know that right."