Kazuya Kamado's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

Kazuya spent three days calling everyone who might have money. None of them called back. He sat in his apartment with the blueprint spread across his kitchen table, doing math that refused to add up. The building would cost more than he'd saved in ten years of hero work. On the fourth morning, a woman in a pressed suit appeared at his door with a briefcase and a proposal. She represented a development company that had seen his approved plans. They'd cover the full cost and provide a construction crew ready to start immediately. Kazuya unrolled the blueprint on his coffee table, showed her the curved eaves and the wide windows, the three stories that matched what had been there before. She nodded politely and pulled out her own drawing. Two stories instead of three. Standard materials instead of custom work. Concrete where his plans showed wood. She tapped the paper with her pen. This version could break ground next week. His version would take six months just to source materials, and by then the approval might expire. Kazuya looked at her simplified building, then at his blueprint. The new design would stand on the right lot, serve the same basic function. It just wouldn't be the place he remembered. His hand didn't spark at all as he signed her contract. The woman smiled, packed up her briefcase, and promised him a groundbreaking ceremony by Friday.