The Passage Of Time And Happy Days(Past life Memories Pt.4)

As we were just settling into our lives as the grapevine family, I as the brother of Lucea, adopted by Inoki and Claudine, with the reason for adoption being that Lucea as always wanted a little brother, in which they found hard to give birth because of business so they adopted one, and with Zane and Mellia as her personal maid and butler, we were living quite happily, them, not me per se, because I always had the question of What if this is just temporary happiness like with the three devils and anytime soon the grapevine family would rear it's fangs, but I always caught a whiff of peace of mind when I saw how happy Zane and Mellia was with their present life, Zane who admired Lucea and willingly served her with a smile and Mellia who hated it so much and was always in arguments with Lucea over who was the rightful owner of me. But this life was not for long as, something happened; and as I said something; rest assured, that it is not something like what happened with the twins.

After sometime seeing him, Inoki walked in on our lives and dropped a boulder on my back once more.

"Zane, Mellia and our prized gem as my wife called you; Luchas, you will be flying out tomorrow to england and will be staying there until you reach the age 13 then you enter middle school at our alma mater, Akari middle and High school"

The first to shout out was Zane. "For real, we are going on a plane", and as I heard is response I was glad that even though the hardships he went through he still could have the excitement of a regular kid when they heard about going on a plane for the first time.

After that came Mellia who was somehow smiling, " By how you stated it, Lucea will not be coming with us, right, because I did not hear her name and you stated until we were 13, from 4 years old to 13 years old, that's a long time"

After. she said this she turned to Lucea who clearly was not in favour of the turn of events.

"Lucea, I just want you to get that after we are back, you should just step back, because it would be safe to say that he will be smitten with my charms by time he is back"

And I guess for Mellia, her way of speech came from the constant reading of those cheesy villainess romance novels where the Villainess stole the Female leads Man, that Claudine read to us, saying that it was reading lessons.

But even after Mellia explaining what could be called a sure fact, Lucea did not budge, she was not even fazed, and you could see the awe in Zane's face, she chuckled and looked at Mellia.

"Will he be smitten by you or will that long time apart from me, only make him so anxious that he will have to come in terms with his love for me, which will it be, and I got to inform you that, I am the perfect woman, so it would be impossible if he was not to think about me from time to time"

After hearing Lucea's reply, I started thinking about the possibility of falling for Mellia in the years we would be together, and honestly even though she is otherworldly cute, I could not see myself falling for her, and on the other side; For Lucea, I find her to be a woman that you would constantly have in your mind, as she stated, but then again, whether I was to think about her, I don't think it would lead to me recognizing any sort of feelings for her, other than gratitude for what she did for us.

Mellia could not say anything after hearing that confident argument, she could just shut up, after seeing Mellia's reaction Lucea turned away in satisfaction and went right over to her father who was preparing to have a long nice bath which he did not have in a while, as you would have guessed, the bath was luxurious to a astonishing extent, it was comprised of three rooms, the entrance, where you would take off your clothes which the tiles were made of marble and it had a big mirror that I once caught Inoki asking it, who was the fairest of them all to, and just under neath that mirror was a faucet, made of marble, and after this, the second room was the shower room, with marble tiles once more, and a glass sliding door that had misty tint to it and if you look closely you could see a grapevine pattern on the slide door and it opened to a large shower area, which had a grapevine with a few grapes with small shower holes inside as the shower head, which just went to show how much they cherished the Grapevine name, and in the last room was a big Bathtub, yet again made of marble that you could soak in after a good shower and it had these tiles that looked like it was showcasing waves, that was the magnificence of the bathroom, tailored to the taste of Claudine, and beyond that was a Outdoor pool which we will not talk about right now.

So as I was saying, he was in the first room, taking off his clothes in order to have a nice long bath, and Lucea walked in on him.

"Kyaaa, hey, do you not seem me in my underwear, how could you come in here like that, young lady, you have to have some decency"

"Decency, with my own father, are you joking, she asked.

"Haah, I just want a nice long bath, so what is it that you want, get straight to the point"

"What is the foolishness I heard you talking of out there, about letting Luchas Leave me for 9 years, are you joking again"

"No, it is as I said out there"

"Is it, and do you think I will allow it"

"It is not a matter of you allowing it or not, it just had to be done"

She drew for the stool her mother sat on while she was in the room and sat down on it with her legs crossed and a stern glare.

"Father, you were the one who adopted him because I was bored, don't you understand that I will be bored out of my mind if you were to let those three leave, if I am not going with them, they stay here, end of conversation"

"Are you really just lonely or you just weary of what Mellia said, I thought you had more confidence than this, because how can you be lonely when you have your father here with you"

"Father, stop there, Mellia may be a worthy opponent in looks, but you and I both know that Looks are the baseline for what makes a perfect woman plus being with you, would be as boring as boring can be, so I will pass"

He pouted a bit then said.

"Okay, I get what you are saying, I will let you go with them, but not tomorrow but a month after they have left, this is final, and I guess you are not as much of papa's girl, because I thought you would like to stay with me, is it that brat's influence"

"Come on, Father, what do you mean by 'not as much of a papa's girl' if I was not a papa's girl I would not have put up with staying with you for the month you suggested", she smiled and walked out of the room.

He laughed nervously before breaking out in a grand laughter.

"Now this is getting quite interesting, to think a single boy could change my daughter like this. I am seeing the shadows of beloved sister and Luka in this boy to a astonishing degree"

After this he started humming a happy tune, while walking in the shower room.

Tomorrow came in fast, and we were already on our way to the airport, right after a heartfelt goodbye from Lucea, to us, mainly me, but she did not cry, which I found strange seeing as I was going away for a whole 9 years, but at that time she would be 15, and I thought what would she look like when I saw her again, Time generously flew by and we were right in the midst of england, London, on our way to the Grapevines main house, and as we reached, there was just one thing I asked to myself, why does this house have to be so big, the yard itself was enormous, and had a garden that stretched from ends to ends, bedded with all types of flowers, and the driveway to the house was like driving on a main road, with the only difference, was there being, flowers of all kind to the right and left, and what was even more astonishing was when we finally reached the house, and you saw the stairs leading to the main hall, as we climbed the stairs the door magically opened to a head maid and butler, who was there, all of this just had Zane in awe, amd Mellia in a bad mood, probably recognizing again that her rival is more of a formidable foe than she initially thought, as we reached we were greeted with a welcome and showed to the hall, which had two enormous stairs which had for the hold a grapevine, and on the wall above those stairs was a picture depicting a Grapevine.

Little did I know that this day would be the start of hell.

As we were still in awe of what we were seeing, A old man with white hair and blue eyes, that resembled Claudine came behind us unnoticed.

"That, Son in law of mine is still incompetent as ever, to think he would send three little brats that look like they came from the sewage over to me"

We heard the voice behind us and was surprised so we looked around and the old man who was carrying a stick came into view.

"So, you are the brat, My dear granddaughter picked, huh, I guess I agree; for once, to what that foolish son in law of mine said, you are not worthy of my granddaughter, looking like someone wiped shit all over your body and face, I wonder what she was thinking to pick you"

Zane chuckled a little; hearing me get insulted.

But there was one person who would not let it slide and that was Mellia, she walked up and placed a glare to his face.

"And, who are you?, little old man, are you a dwarf, because you look like one, but let me tell you, even if you brain is as small as your height, you can't badmouth Lucky with me here"

He just casually smiled and brushed of Mellia's insult and looked back on me.

"Hiding behind a girl, are we, you are little bitch aren't you, I am honestly wondering if my granddaughter is growing up to be one of those sluts that just sees the face of a man, because look at how you are, Luchas Gravy, you are a shame to your last name"

I laughed louder than I ever did before when I heard is words, that were foolishness.

"Who, me, are you saying that I am a disgrace to my last name, fucking hell, can someone be so dumb, I was a fucking dog of the slums, and this green bitch came to me and told me about this name, so do you really think I give two fucks about my last name, you fucking sick degenerate old man with a condition of dwarfism and it was thanks to your Granddaughter that we are here now.

He looked on me and smiled then laughed, it was one of the laughs that I always heard Inoki doing in the bathroom.

"That's what I wanted to hear, honestly I hate those fools of the Gravy family too, you may be shit but you are shit that I can tolerate the smell of"

After seeing that they was nothing hidden behind his laughter I answered"

"And you are still a degenerate old man because I did not say I hate them, I said I don't give a fuck who the fucks are that have my last name, but I guess I can tolerate you too even though you are an degenerate old man with a condition of dwarfism"

He laughed and then clapped his hands, we were then ushered to the dining hall to the right of where we stood and was placed down to eat, after we ate we were sent up the stairs to three rooms, these rooms would now come to be what we would use as our rooms for the 9 years that we were here, after we were shown to our rooms, I sat down while looking around, feeling like I was in a nobleman's bedroom, I thought about how these days my life was not so bad at all, and suddenly the woman who made it all happened appeared in my thoughts, and then as I was remembering what she said about me thinking of her, I dived in the bed and forced the sleep in order to forget about her.

I woke up to the disgusting sound of a old man singing in my ear.

"What the fuck is this degenerate old man with", as I was going to finish what I was saying I was cut off by the old man.

"Yeah, I know what you were going to say so you don't have to, but what do you think of my singing voice, does it not sound majestic as a bird in the morning"

"No it does not, what it sounded like to me was a rooster that was being killed in the morning but still forced itself even in death to say cock-a-doodle-do.

He brushed of my insult casually again, and threw the covers off me and told me to follow him, as I did I was shown to a dojo where I would learn martial arts as of today or so I thought.

"What are we here for, are we here to learn martial arts, like kung fu, or boxing"

"Of course not, shit faced brat, you are here to learn how to fight, simple as that"

"To fight, and who is going to teach me that, it cant be you, right"

As I said this a jab flew to my face and I could not react, it stopped centimeters before my face, I was astonished and could not say anything.

He smirked and looked at me, "never judge a book by it's cover"

As I was going to reply, I saw Zane and Mellia walk out and Zane looked at me"

"Bro, stop, I tell you, this old man is no joke, as fucking expected of Ms.Lucea's grandfather"

After this Mellia looked so disgusted at his words.

"Ms, are you calling her Ms, I can see that you are really getting in the role of her servant, you disgust me, you fucker"

"And you fucking disgust me, always on about Lucky this, Lucky that, and unlike you I am not smitten with someone who does not recognize me, because, for me, I simply look up to Lucea and respect her"

She scoffed at him, and him at her and evidently showing their disgust for one another, they turned away.

After this we were thoroughly trained by the old man for a little bit over a month, and as Zane's hope was flared up, Mellia's hopes were burnt to ashes, for her rival and the woman he respected came in our lives

As we were practicing one day, the door of the dojo burst open and in came Lucea running towards us, as the old man saw this he turned in her direction, with his arms wide open.

"Lucea, my lovely granddaughter, what are you here for"

She ran over and passed him like he was not there, and ran straight into my arms,

"What are you doing here", I asked.

"What do you mean, do you think I would let you leave me for 9 years"

"Granddaughter, don't you see me here"

"Oh, Hi, grandfather, I did not see you there", after she said this, she pecked me on the cheeks then turned and ran out.

After that happened, I would be subjected to harsher training from the old man because of jealousy.

We were there for a whopping four years now, and in those four years, I found that this old man was something other than human, cause when we were training they were times he would completely disappear from your sight and reappear only to smack you so hard it pains for some hours, but as a result of this, our senses were heightened beyond normal, but even with that fact, I could never catch him even once, I was now eight, and truth be told, I wasn't one to talk about dwarfs because I was on the short side too, not short per se, but Lucea and Mellia were taller than me.

We were in the dojo, Zane grew up to be a kind of wild looking guy, and Mellia grew up with the same Mystical looking beauty that she had, and as for Lucea she grew up with a sublime, well-defined beauty that had the aura of perfection as a topping, so we were at the dojo for a while when Claude walked in, and abruptly called me out to spar, he looked at me and threw me a sword, and stated that we are finally at a suitable age to learn the sword and I picked it up.

Before we could start Mellia stepped up, , "Claude, you old fucker, I understand teaching the sword but why does it have to be a real sword"

Lucea then stepped up, "yes grandfather, this is too dangerous, I can't allow anything to happen to Luchas"

Before they could complain anymore Zane stepped in, "Stop, do you think Master is that weak as to accidentally hurt Luchas and can't you sit back and believe in your man's talents"

They both eased back s little, seemingly satisfied with the claim Zane made but did not back down without having their say

"I see that you have totally switched from the Lucea train onto the Claude train, huh, and I warn you, Claude, be careful", said Mellia

"Grandfather do be careful, even if it's you I would have my say if you let anything happen to Luchas"

"Rest assured, it won't happen and ohh, I am red with envy, to think and man can be so loved, by two beauties at that"

"Did I ask", I uttered, "let's just get on with it".

We started, and was exchanging light blows with our blade, before he stepped back and held the blade in one hand one and swung down hard, and I had to hold the blade in a position over my head to block it, after this he thrusted after my chest, heavily, as you would see in a jousting match, but I managed to retract my blade just in time for the tip of it to stop the incoming thrust to my chest as that happened the impact from that thrust, due to the heaviness, had me falling to the ground, then he suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind me so fast that I had to scurry away like a mouse to the opposite side, after that he disappeared once more and reappeared behind me again and was going straight for my neck, I sliced behind me in a panic, and as a result of this confrontation, my headband was cut and his shirt was sliced exposing his chest, the match came to an end, he walked over to me and caressed my head.

"I guess my hunch was not incorrect, because you are exceptional for real, look like it was the right Idea to invest in your training"

But that was not what was important right now what was actually more important was what I was seeing before my eyes right know, why was Claudine here? was what I asked myself, the other thing I asked was that if consuming too much anime content had finally caught up to me and now I am getting illusions, but what allowed me to snap back to my senses were the words the Claudine look alike was saying and that's when I found out that the woman that was before my eyes was none other than Claude himself or herself, in this case. but no matter how I tried to reason out the sight in my mind, I could not believe the sight before my eyes, but I was not the only one.

"Oy Oy Oy, Master why do you have breasts", Zane came up shouting

"Am I dreaming, a decrepit old man suddenly turning into a old woman", questioned Mellia

"For the love of whatever is considered holy what is this Grandfather, how does any of this makes any logical sense, you are telling me that my doting old Grandfather was a Grandmother all a!ong"

I was glad to see that I was not tripping but maybe I was cause they were few things in what they said that I did not get.

'Decrepit old man, Grandmother, what the hell are these guys talking about, that, whatever being that is there ain't old, it is as young as Claudine"

Before we could infer anymore Claude or whatever this thing is seemed to snap back to reality after abruptly spacing out mid-conversation

"Oooh, I see what the Masters were talking about, you children really are special, but I guess Luchas still is even more special, to think he even found out not only my gender but age too, as he said this he turned to us, "everything will be understood and explained in time, I will leave it at that", she stepped out

Back over on our side we were so astonished that we turned stone, but of course we had our very Own snuffer to snap us back to reality us.

"Ahh, I'm so glad she went away, I was just gonna dive to cop a feel of those breasts"

Mellia was the the first to be snapped back, "ain't no way I heard what I thought I just heard, cause I thought I heard a certain disgusting creep saying he was going to cop a feel, and if that's the case then I need to vomit, cause look at how old she was, those breasts would be saggy"

"Saggy or not doesn't translate to not copping a feel", ain't that right, Ms.Lucea"

Lucea snapped back that instant, and looked at Zane, "No, even I was disgusted by what you just said"

Although it was wearing on our minds, we put it to the back burner and carried on

After all that, we went out with the head butler one day and and was traversing a mall when we accidentally walked by who I would rather not say.

It was the devils of a twin, with two other obsoletes.

"WOW, Luchas is that you, I can't believe it has been four years, let me give you a hug, and maybe a kiss", stated Love

She stepped up to me but was blocked by Mellia.

"Hi, bitch, remember me". Mellia asked

"Of course I don't, you good for nothing trash"

"I think you do because that was exactly what you called me before too", Mellia replied

"Haah, why have you not died yet, you eyesore"

"I guess your eyes will be sored till you're blind then cause, I am not planning to leave anytime soon, you bitches are out of the game so it's only that bitch who I need to worry about"

"Fuck you, now where is that bitch that took Luchas away from us"

"Am I the bitch you are referring to but Mellia is one thing but I have not given you obsolete sows permission to call me a bitch, is that not so, plus you guys were so insecure and ungrateful that you switched to the Gravy company because of what went down, although personally, I believe it was the right choice to make, cause birds of a feather should most definitely flock together, and you guys and the Gravy family is one and the same"

"Yeah, yeah, you have a lot to say for a bitch"

"Who are these, obsolete nobodies", said the two evidently obsolete ones out of all of us, and to top it off they were even twins and was evidently smitten with the twin devils

As they said this, Zane casually came up, "that's funny coming from you guys, in my experience of watching anime, obsoletes are the shits the creator's don't give a shit about, the ones who look the same as each other, and here is two of you guys who are screaming, discount Luchas, Black hair, red eyes, kinda good looking but if you scale your looks to Luchas yours would come off as shit compared to his"

As Zane said this, Lucea and Mellia was dying with laughter"

"You are too evil", said Mellia,

Zane smirked.

But the obsoletes was not taking the disrespect well,

"What did you just call us"

"Yes the type I hate the most, the types that, literally hears whatever you are saying loud and clear but still jump and say, '_what did you just call us' and stuff like that", Zane looked at them and said.

They sprawled at Zane and tried to attack him from both directions but with Zane's training this attack came of as subpar to him, he swiftly knocked them down to the ground all while Lucea and Mellia was laughing

They looked at Mellia and Lucea.

"What are you laughing about"

They sprawled at them, but I swiftly gut punched them before they could do anything and they fell.

As they fell, Fate walked up,

"Let us, stop here and I see you have become more handsome than before and stronger that only whets my appetite more"

Has she said this, one of the obsoletes shouted, "Stop, what nonsense are you spouting, Ms.Fate"

"Yeah what are you saying, "attack them, John parter"

As he said this man in shades and a black suit sprang out and was going for a roundhouse, I got into position to defend myself but as he did the blow was blocked, by Sebastian Kingsway, the head butler of the Grapevine house"

"Why don't we end it here, cause I can't really allow you to hurt our young ones under the Grapevine name, and if I continue I would be forced to end your life,and you would not take heed to that would you", asked Sebastian in a playful yet stern voice.

The question was posed to John Parter, after he shook his head in agreement, Sebastian turned to us

"Well that was a coincidence, let's go home now, young ones"

As we were walking back to the car Zane asked,

"Who were those shits anyway, I know the twin bitches to be the ones who took away Luchas, but those discounts, who were they"

"Mmm, those two was the cousin of Luchas, his father's brother children"

I was surprised to hear that

I answered

"Is that so"

Zane looked over at me, "Is that all you have to say, those two were your cousins weren't they"

"Yeah, that's what I heard, but as I said before I don't give a two fucks about the shits that have my last name, heck I don't even give a fuck about my name itself

"That's my man", said Mellia

"Composed as always, said Lucea

After this exchange I pleaded to whatever is considered holy to just let these, normal simple, seemingly unimportant days continue just for a while longer, because no matter how I tried to deny it, these were days were my passage of time and happy days