"What happened to you two? Did you make your mother angry again?"
At the banquet, Kozuki Oden looked at the bruised-up Momonosuke and the teary-eyed Hiyori and asked in confusion.
"Don't ask. If you ask, it's because these two little kids were wrong."
Kozuki Toki folded her arms and sat beside Kozuki Oden with a cold snort.
Then, including Kozuki Oden, the one big and two small all shivered.
"Sorry, I can't help the two of you." Kozuki Oden gave a thumbs-up to his children, flashing a bright smile. "I'm not ready to become a wandering soul under my wife's hand."
"So we're the only ones who get punished!?"
Michael watched this family scene, his mouth twitching.
To be honest, aside from Kozuki Toki, it seemed the others weren't quite hitting the minimum IQ requirement.
"Father, I'm sorry you had to see this embarrassment."
Kozuki Toki rubbed her temples helplessly… an action she seemed to have learned from Michael.
"Father? Who are you talking to…" Kozuki Oden asked instinctively. Then his eyes followed Toki's gaze and landed on Michael. "…Huh?"
"Oden, do you remember I once told you I came from 800 years ago?"
"Of course… you're a Time-Time Fruit user, so you could come from 800 years in the past to the present."
"Michael… is the one who, 800 years ago, adopted me."
Kozuki Oden froze stiff, then his head slowly tilted…
Those eyes were filled with pure, unfiltered stupidity.
Seeing her husband like this, Kozuki Toki had no choice but to explain everything again from the beginning.
Twenty minutes later…
"So… the future Michael went back 800 years, adopted you, then got sent away by you… then later you time-traveled to the present, met Michael, told him everything, so he can go back 800 years at the right moment in the future?"
"Exactly! You finally got it!"
Toki's voice was hoarse, and she quickly drank a cup of tea.
What a throat-killer!
Meanwhile, Michael had been enjoying the show from beginning to end.
Honestly, as a spectator watching others struggle with time-loop logic…
It was extremely entertaining.
"So that means I should call Michael…" Kozuki Oden raised his head and looked at Michael, his eyes full of conflict and suffering, "Father-in-law?"
"That's indeed the correct seniority."
"You only gained a father-in-law…" Momonosuke muttered. "We gained a grandfather…"
A single banquet had thoroughly reshaped Kozuki Oden's brain.
Although he found it unbelievable at first, he accepted everything even faster than Hiyori and Momonosuke did.
"To be honest, I had my suspicions long ago."
"After all, my wife owns two short broad swords identical to Golden Lion's…"
"I even wondered if she might be one of Golden Lion's ancestors."
...
This banquet was originally supposed to be a continuation of the political contention between Michael and Kozuki Oden.
Yet because of Toki's forceful intervention, it completely turned into a family recognition meeting.
And judging from Oden's expression… he even seemed to enjoy it.
By the time the banquet ended, Kozuki Oden could shout "Father-in-law-sama!" at Michael without the slightest hesitation.
"No problem! From now on, Wano will follow Father-in-law's lead! I'm no good at ruling a country anyway. Wano's current condition is entirely thanks to Toki! Since all of this was taught by Father-in-law, I'm even more reassured!"
"Good son-in-law! But you won't feel disappointed losing the power of a shogun, right?"
"Disappointed? Becoming Wano's shogun had nothing to do with power. It was simply my duty!"
Kozuki Oden pounded his chest proudly… then collapsed drunk on the spot.
Michael tapped Oden's head but didn't get any reaction.
"Jack, help carry him back."
Toki didn't hesitate and ordered Jack to take the dead-drunk Oden out of the hall.
Michael let out a drunken hiccup.
"If there's nothing else, let's all call it a night…"
He spread his wings and flew up to the roof.
Moonlight poured down, and the Flower Capital had fallen completely silent.
Not long after, the sound of clattering tiles echoed behind him.
Michael turned his head and saw Momonosuke clumsily climbing up.
"Momonosuke? Do you need something?"
Michael asked deliberately.
At the banquet, Momonosuke had kept giving him that "I want to say something but don't dare to" expression.
Which was why Michael came to the rooftop in the first place.
And sure enough, the kid followed him.
"Gr-grandfather… isn't this place you chose kind of dangerous?"
"You're already in your twenties. It's just a rooftop… Shouldn't you at least show some manliness?"
Momonosuke didn't answer. He carefully sat down beside Michael.
Seeing him silent, Michael also didn't speak.
After a long while, Momonosuke finally couldn't hold it in.
"Grandfather… were you really a Chief Inspector in the Marines?"
"Yes."
"And now you were really dismissed from the Marines… and became the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army?"
"Correct."
"Then… you must know the legendary Revolutionary Army officer… Ivankov, right?"
"I do know—hm?" Michael suddenly turned his head. "Why are you asking about that guy?"
"You DO know Ivankov!" Momonosuke sprang to his feet in excitement. "She became the queen of Kamabakka Kingdom years ago! The strongest 'Okama King' in history! Her medical skills are legendary—she saved patients doctors declared hopeless, and even saved a dying nation!"
His eyes were shining with worship and longing.
Michael instinctively rubbed his eyes.
He…
Did he see that right?
Momonosuke worships Ivankov?
Worships WHAT?
Her Death Wink? That huge face?
"Why… are you so interested in Ivankov?"
"Because I heard a rumor…" Momonosuke's eyes filled with yearning. "They say Ivankov… can change a person's gender."
"That part is true." Michael didn't deny it. "As a Horm-Horm Fruit user, it's effortless for him."
"Really!?"
Hearing a definite answer from Michael, Momonosuke looked ecstatic.
Then he suddenly dropped into a perfect tiger-style kneel, slamming into a full dogeza before Michael.
"Grandfather! Please! I beg you—let Ivankov turn me into a girl!"
"This is the only request of my entire life!!"
-----------
Fanfic is finished. 583 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg