The Kid I Used to Know

Zen'in Clan Politics... And Sexism

The rooms were indeed ridiculous, at least in both Kei and Yuji's opinions. They spent the first five minutes making fun of the Zen'in taste in decor and their clear preference for wealth over tasteful decor.

Once they finished getting some of their childish insults out, Kei sat on the edge of the bed, gesturing for Yuji to do the same.

"How are you feeling?" Yuji asked, eyes full of concern.

"Frustrated already," Kei admitted, tipping his head back and allowing his body to fall back onto the overly plush bed, "I never wanted to be involved in Zen'in politics, you know that, but I knew the minute Gojo mentioned it that it was a good plan."

"And it saves Megumi," Yuji added quietly.

"And it saves Megumi," Kei agreed softly, "I'm glad. I-He shouldn't have to grow up worrying about that contract."

Sensing Kei's mood, Yuji tipped himself back onto the bed as well, staring up at the way too opulent ceiling beside his friend. He was quiet for several minutes, letting Kei process probably, but eventually he had to ask, "So what now?"

"Now, we go to dinner," the black haired teen replied, "Sorry, but you're going to have to wait to eat. They won't allow you to sit at the table with us, I'm sure. It won't be like this every meal time though. The clan only eats together once a week normally, otherwise most of them take their meals in private. I'm being forced to go to dinner so Naobito can parade me around and use my existence to stir shit up amongst the other possible heirs to the clan. He thinks they've gotten complacent, so he's planning to use my technique, lineage, and grade 1 status to kick the others into gear."

"So I know Toji was your dad, but how exactly are you related to these people?" Yuji asked.

Figuring Yuji should probably have at least a basic idea of the Zen'in family tree, Kei explained, "The last clan leader had two sons, my father and Zen'in Jinichi. When he passed, technically the head of the clan should have been my uncle, Jinichi, but due to the fact that he joined the Hei and swore off marriage and children, he was passed up in the line of succession. After that, the head of the clan should have been my dad as he was married and had a child on the way, but due to his lack of cursed energy and the fact that he'd already left the clan by then, he was also bypassed in the line of succession. The next option was Naobito, the current clan head as he was my grandfather's second son, was married, and had a child, my cousin Naoya. Naoya is assumed to be the next clan leader even though he's Naobito's youngest son as he manifested an inherited cursed technique, but there's the possibility that it could pass onto someone else if they have a stronger technique or already have an heir. For example, Naobito has a younger brother with a strong cursed technique that's already married and has two heirs, however his heirs are Maki and Mai, both of whom are women and considered to be extremely weak since Maki barely has any cursed energy and no cursed technique while Mai has a cursed technique, but her cursed energy is barely strong enough to be a sorcerer."

"So Naobito is your great uncle, which means you're closely related enough to him to be a threat to the line of succession?" Yuji asked, trying to clarify while he rubbed his forehead.

"Basically," Kei confirmed, "It's especially true since Naoya just turned 17 in February of this year and I'll be 16 about a month. If I were to get married right out of school and get to work on making an heir it'd basically be a done deal for me to become the next clan leader."

Yuji suddenly sat up on the bed, "...You aren't planning to go that far, right?"

Resisting the urge to kick his friend off the bed, Kei rolled his eyes, "Of course not. Besides, it'll hardly matter since even I happen to know that unless something really drastic happens, Naoya hadn't managed to convince some poor girl into marriage even in 2018. I doubt that's going to change just because of us."