Cyberpunk: Arasaka Secret Son

POV Musashi

When Sora left the house, Aoi and I were alone. She turned to me and said, "He really is a special boy, isn't he, Musashi?"

I could still feel the warmth of Sora's embrace, my grandson. I nodded and replied, "Yes, he is an impertinent and rebellious boy, almost rude. But... he has a fire inside him, not like his father's, full of spite and hatred. His is warm, with an innate happiness toward life, as if he values every breath of air, every heartbeat."

Hearing my words, Aoi added, "Yes, that boy shines. He makes people in a room notice him when he's gone. Musashi, I'm glad your strict character has softened so much. When you taught Minamoto, Takeda, and little Ishida, you made them follow the bushido way strictly. But with Sora, it seems you didn't push him too hard."

I shook my head, denying her assumption. "No, Aoi, I haven't softened. I haven't changed. I taught and instilled the Bushido way in Sora, just like I did with our sons. It's just... that boy didn't bend. Every time he talked back or disrespected me or the creed, I beat him down, just like I did with our three sons at the beginning of their training until they were so beaten they didn't dare speak and had the right mentality for the training."

"But with Sora, it was not as easy as with our three children. That child is too stubborn, Aoi. This will not please you, but I kept beating him until he respected his teacher and his beliefs."

I expected Aoi to be angry at hearing this about her dear grandson—our grandson—but she smiled and almost laughed. "Fufu, Ara-ara, and well, Musashi, how did that go? Because seeing how Sora is, I don't think you had much success."

I stared at my wife, who continued smiling despite my serious look. I sighed and spoke. "The boy, no matter how many hits he received from my bokken, kept looking at me with defiant eyes and telling jokes about samurai. When he was so beaten he couldn't speak, he still looked at me with sharp eyes, almost like a bird of prey. After he was so beaten he almost lost consciousness and could no longer move, he stopped. And when I approached to take him to his bed, he bit my leg as if he were a rabid dog, turning back with his determined look, without showing defeat. This process didn't just last a day; we went on like this until one of us gave up."

Aoi kept smiling and asked, "And who won the battle of the big-heads, Musashi?"

"You really want me to say it out loud, don't you, woman?" I said, as Aoi clapped her hands like a child, eager to hear the result from my mouth. Seeing her like that made me smile, seeing the change Aoi had since we moved from Japan and started taking care of little Sora. It was like she came back to life, from living in a black and white world to the lively and colorful woman full of warmth in front of me.

"I lost. No matter how many blows he received, that boy would not back down. I reached an agreement with him, in which Sora would not follow the rules of Bushido strictly, but I made him promise to keep them present in his mind, to guide him in what to do or how to behave."

Seeing Aoi's happy expression change to a worried one, she said to me, "Musashi, will Sora be safe with just a sword? The streets of Night City are not safe."

I listened to my beloved Aoi, worried about Sora's well-being. I thought about the dog that followed Sora and the boy's capabilities. As for the robotic pet, the boy's own unique creation, well, almost. The improvements that girl friend of Sora made to the code of the robotic pet really showed. Where before it looked like a rigid machine with the base code that Sora installed on it, now it looked like an almost living animal.

Eco, the robot dog that Sora had created, had a hologram covering the robotic skeleton, showing a beautiful dog with the body of a wolf but the face of a dog with its ears down, white color that went up from its legs to its chest, where it became blond with gray and black locks. I don't know where he got the idea, but Sora had created an impressive pet. It still hurts me where that damn robot dog bit me. It happened when Sora showed me the improvements in the code made by his friend, and I questioned its worth in a fight. Eco, hearing him angry, jumped and bit my ass cheek, while Sora laughed so much that he threw himself to the ground laughing, while I had his robot dog hanging off my cheek.

Fucking dog...