CHAPTER 149: CHAPTER 149 – “A NEW LEGACY BEGINS”

The morning sun filtered through the grand glass entryway of Mizukami University, its historic stone halls echoing with laughter and footsteps. It was orientation week, and among the sea of new students, one name passed between lips with reverence and hushed curiosity.

"Is that her? Ren’s daughter?"

"No way, the guy who built the Arc Reactor and saved Japan’s grid?"

"She even looks like Aoi-nee from the old campus posters..."

Hikari Mizuno walked through the gates with a calm, confident poise. Her long dark hair tied in a ribbon—just like her mother’s during her college days—and a subtle glint in her eyes that said: I’ve come to build something new.

She carried her canvas sketchpad tucked under one arm and a lightweight tablet with her custom AI interface, gifted by her father. Students turned to look, some curious, others already whispering.

"That’s Hikari Mizuno. Daughter of Ren and Aoi."

"She got full marks in the entrance test... people say she’s already built a solar satellite model with her dad."

But Hikari didn’t walk like she was special. She stopped to help a girl who had dropped her folder, smiled at the security guard who opened the gate, and bowed politely to a professor who passed by.

In her heart, she wasn’t here to live off the past.

She was here to begin her future.

Classroom Echoes of the Past

Inside the familiar engineering building, now updated with smart-glass walls and a robotics hall named after Ren, Hikari took her seat in the same classroom her parents once sat in.

The professor, an older man with sharp glasses, smiled when he saw her.

"Mizuno-san," he said, "I taught your father. He once melted a bench during a coil test."

The room laughed. Hikari smiled modestly.

"I’ll try not to melt anything. On day one."

The professor nodded thoughtfully.

"Something tells me you’ll light fires in a different way."

Back Home with Hina

That evening, back in the countryside home, Hina—now a curious six-year-old—was waiting on the porch with a pair of safety goggles and a glittery pink toolbox.

"Papa! Can I fix the drone’s wing now?"

Ren chuckled and kneeled beside her.

"Only if you promise not to replace the blades with feathers again."

Hina grinned.

"They look better with feathers!"

Inside, Aoi was preparing dinner, watching the news showing Hikari’s photo at Mizukami University—already a top-trending topic.

"She’s really carrying both our names now," Aoi whispered softly.

Ren stepped in, brushing his hands dry.

"She’s not carrying our names, Aoi. She’s building her own with them."

Sibling Sparks

Later that night, during their family call, Hikari told Hina all about her first day.

"There’s a lab with a glass floor, and my desk is right by the window. I already designed a new kinetic pen."

"Did it explode?" Hina asked hopefully.

"No, you’re the explosion queen," Hikari teased.

"I’ll make one explode pink," Hina grinned proudly.

Ren laughed from the kitchen.

"We’re going to need more fire extinguishers, aren’t we?"

Aoi, sipping tea, nodded with a tired but glowing smile.

"Two daughters. One dreaming in code. One dreaming in color. We might just be raising the future."

A Quiet Thought

As the lights dimmed and Hikari lay on her dorm bed that night, she looked at the little bracelet her mother gave her—a simple woven thread with a blue bead in the middle.

She remembered Aoi’s words before she left:

"Whatever you build, Hikari... build it from love. That’s the only thing that lasts."

And so, under the quiet glow of her campus room, Hikari closed her eyes, her mind already sketching designs and ideas, but her heart steady.

Tomorrow, her journey would truly begin.

But tonight?

She was just a daughter, a sister, and the beginning of a new legacy.