Even though it was already late at night, several officers were stationed at the hospital. None of the patients knew exactly what happened but from the looks of things, someone important was receiving treatment.

"Who goes there?" One of the police officers immediately called the attention of the approaching man. Visiting hours are already over. Do you need any emergency treatment?"

"No, I'm here to check on the status of my friend's granddaughter. Might you point me in the direction where Jirou is?" The man of course, was none other than Nagato Tsuna. He didn't beat around the bush and stated his purpose.

"W-who are you?" the police officer stepped back and gripped his baton while signaling his partner to contact their superior.

"My name is Nagato Tsuna. I just heard about what happened from the little girl's friend who asked me to check and make sure that no harm comes to her." Tsuna was a little tired because of both anxiety and rus.h.i.+ng through a great distance on foot so he wanted to see how s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo was faring because he couldn't get through to Jirou.

"I apologize sir, we were instructed to not let just anyone pa.s.s through without authorization especially at this sensitive time." The officer immediately replied.

"I see…" Tsuna sighed. "I really don't like pulling rank but—"

"N-nagato-sama!" a superior officer suddenly came from inside the building. "I apologize for my men! They must have forgotten what they were taught in the academy." The superior was nervous because he was afraid of offending Tsuna.

"You know who I am?" Tsuna looked at the nervous superior.

"H-how could I not? N-not many people are given authority to give orders to various different government bodies." The officer honestly praised as he sternly looked at the two who didn't even react after hearing Tsuna's name. He had to rush down immediately because the two guards didn't recognize even the name of this distinguished person who they were fortunate to even see.

"Can you show me to where Jirou and the girl is?"

"Y-yes sir!" he led Tsuna inside the hospital.

Nagato Tsuna did not like hospitals. As much as this place was where people get treated, it was also where people die. As advanced the research is on the medical field on earth is, both Kazuya and he agreed that healing magic was definitely much more convenient. It rarely involved injuring the patient after all.

"What's the situation?" he was impressed at the influence that the s.h.i.+royukis had. He sensed a lot of people had been stationed all around the hospital and it was almost as if it had been a fortress.

With the officer's help, Tsuna was finally able to understand what happened. He felt proud of the girl for overcoming her trauma in the midst of battle as well as Nanami who bravely faced the killer.

He was taken to the surgical ward where the hallway had been crowded by the familiar faces that made up the s.h.i.+royuki dojo. Many instructors stood with stern looks on their faces. One would have to think twice before going through them because it didn't look like they allowed any of the police officers to get past them either.

"Nagato-sama?" the head instructor immediately noticed Tsuna's arrival and ignored the officer who was guiding him.

"I heard about what happened. How is the situation? Where is Jirou?" he immediately asked.

"Master is…" his voice trailed off and turned towards the large doors that led to the restricted area of the surgical ward.

s.h.i.+royuki Jirou stood in front of the doors like a statue. The light that indicated that surgery was still in progress was still lit so Tsuna understood that Tomoyo was still inside.

"Jirou…" Tsuna approached the old man and placed a hand on his shoulder. Tonight, Jirou wasn't the proud leader of the s.h.i.+royuki dojo but a grandfather who was worried about losing his precious granddaughter that he stood in front of the doors as soon as he arrived.

Who could blame him? Not only did he lose his son to a killer who was sent to prison very quickly so that his hands wouldn't be stained, that same killer apparently went after his granddaughter. No one could understand how frustrated Jirou was. If Tomoyo hadn't been in an unknown situation, he would have probably been hunting down s.h.i.+rihara Kira right at this moment.

The worst part of the whole incident was that Jirou was informed of the sudden death of s.h.i.+rihara Kira who was supposed to have been in prison. They already dismissed the idea about s.h.i.+rihara Kira being a suspect even though his case was a common link among all the recent victims. No one knew how the man who was supposed to be dead had ended up attacking s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo.

The authorities were baffled by this and they could no longer inspect the supposed body of the deceased prisoner because his body had long been disposed of. They felt partially responsible for failing to see through the conspiracy and caused this respected person's loved one to once again experience something that already traumatized her when she was a child.

"Tsunsan… did you just get back?" Jirou had ignored most of the people who tried talking him today but Nagato Tsuna was an exception. This person's appearance may just save Tomoyo from the danger she is currently in.

"The boy sent me." Tsuna turned towards the door. "Do you know the current situation?"

"They said that the blade had barely missed her heart. The problem is that taking it out. The blade seems to have been damaged and could cause her to bleed out if they make the slightest mistake." Jirou tried to explain as much as he could. He had heard about how Tsuna had miraculous healing abilities and hoped that it could help Tomoyo's current situation.

"That…" Tsuna couldn't help but frown after hearing the update on Tomoyo's condition. "I need to see for myself before I can make a judgement."

"That won't be a problem." Jirou hesitated for a moment before making up his mind. He pressed the b.u.t.ton to enter the restricted area and led Tsuna towards the empty viewing area for Tomoyo's surgery. He closed his eyes before entering the room and navigated with his senses.

"You don't need to enter with me old friend." Tsuna understood that Jirou didn't want to see Tomoyo's current state.

"No, I have to hear the truth from you or I might get fooled by these doctors. I trust that you will give me an honest answer from what you can see." Jirou prepared himself for the worst. Tomoyo had fought bravely and could be said to have been the reason why the culprit was forced to retreat. Her death would not have been in vain.

Tsuna viewed the screens as well as extended his senses towards the surgery room. He didn't know much about modern medicine, but it was obvious that the surgeons were having a difficult time. Tomoyo still hadn't fully grown so it made the procedure a lot harder.

*BAM!* Tsuna immediately pounded on the synthetic gla.s.s.

"STOP!" he infused his voice with mana so the people wouldn't be able to help but halt. "If you hit the protection near her heart, you're going to end up causing that girl's injuries to worsen!"

The lead surgeon didn't know who that man was but he signaled one of the nurses to call someone before continuing with his procedure. He was a renowned surgeon and was looking forward to making good connections after he completed this surgery.

*sssshhkk!* blood spurted out without warning the moment he tried to move the knife.

"d.a.m.nit! It's all that man's fault for causing such a distraction!" the surgeon shouted as the various equipment around them started giving off loud sounds.

-

A voice called out to Kazuya and caused him to look around. He didn't know where he was but he could see nothing but darkness. It reminded him of the dark void that his consciousness had stayed in before he woke up in this new life of his.

"A dream…?" he immediately came to a conclusion. He hadn't been hurt or was relatively close to any danger so it was impossible for him to have died again.

"Kazuya…" a familiar voice called out to him once more. He turned to his back and walked towards where he thought the sound was coming from.

"Who are you?" he had already experienced being in a similar place so he wasn't fazed by the strange dream he a.s.sumed he was having.

"So hateful! To think you've already forgotten about me." He felt a light thump behind his head. How could he not remember this person? Kazuya immediately turned around to find the familiar silhouette standing right in front of him.

Though he could barely see the person who was speaking, there was no mistaking who it was. Tears couldn't help but gather in his eyes for he never thought that he would ever see the shadow of the person who once stood by his side no matter what.

"M—" a finger touched his lips before he could speak.

"Don't. As much as I want to dissuade you into going back to our world, your mind seems to be made up." The hand moved to his head and the silhouette gave him a light pat.

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"I'm not going to let you and the others suffer a similar fate. Especially you." Though he could barely see the silhouette, he gave it a serious look.

"My fate has always been full of hards.h.i.+ps even before I met you. What happened to me would not have changed regardless of your arrival. I was fated to die in the battlefield." Kazuya clenched his fists as soon as he heard the reply.

"Even so, it needn't be that way. If you had been looking for a glorious end, it shouldn't have been through the hands of the people that were supposed to be on your side!" the usual calm Kazuya was trembling in anger after being reminded of this person's fate.

"I am thankful that they sent me to you despite what happened. I never would have imagined that I would be able to serve another master that I would have gladly given up my life for."

"Please don't say that. The master you had been proud of was stupid and died like a fool." He lowered his head. "I don't know how or why I've been given this second chance but I will definitely change the fates of those I care about."

"You haven't changed a bit!" Kazuya suddenly felt a kick on his back. "Trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders like an idiot. Didn't I always tell you that you aren't suited for that?" Kazuya couldn't recover from the surprise of hearing another familiar voice as he fell to his knees.

"You're…" there was no mistaking it after he saw the familiar silhouette. It was yet another one of his fallen companions from Edea.

"I know that you feel guilty about what happened to us. While I personally want you to go through with your plans to teach those people a lesson, I just want to remind you to not lose sight of what's in front of you. History may repeat itself if you don't lose that habit of yours." The new silhouette walked around him and arrived at the first one's side.

Kazuya got back on his feet and was immediately stunned. He realized that he had been surrounded by shadows that had forms that he was very familiar with. They may not have been as clear as the first two but with his memory, there was no mistaking who these people were. They were the ones that Kazuya had grown close to at some point in his journey but ended up losing their lives.

"Everyone…" his chest hurt.

A shadow that was much smaller than the two original silhouettes started to reveal itself. Though it hadn't even completely shown its complete form, Kazuya immediately recognized who it was.

"Though your world may be peaceful, a person like you who is like a magnet for trouble is bound to get someone involved." A voice rang in Kazuya's ears before he closed his vision. This dream needed to end. The shadow that was slowly getting clearer was someone who he had spent almost everyday with in this life so how can he not feel anxious?

"!!" Kazuya woke up covered in cold sweat inside his hotel room. The sun had only started to rise so he hesitated about trying to contact Tsuna who hadn't updated him of the situation.

There was no way that he could go back to sleep after the dream he just had. It felt so real which only increased his worry over the situation with Tomoyo. His talk with Kyouko before he went to bed didn't yield any results as Jirou probably didn't let them know just yet.

*riing* *riing*

"No answer…" he sighed after trying to contact Tsuna several times. He was several prefectures away so there was no way he could have gone to check himself.

Left with no choice, Kazuya sent messages to Jirou and Tsuna. An explanation of the current situation was also sent to the already swamped Ika. Kazuya had a feeling that there was something else that was going on. A serial killer that had been sent to prison for almost a decade decided to brazenly show himself instead of getting away with faking his death.

"(Someone messing with the s.h.i.+royukis?)" Kazuya didn't have much time to ponder about the incident because he had been too distracted with his feelings as well as the girl who decided to get drunk in front of him all of a sudden.

"I hope she doesn't remember…" Kazuya imagined how Yuriko would have reacted if she remembered what he did. He wondered if Yuriko reminding him of the first silhouette that showed up was the reason why he had that strange dream.

"I guess there's no use doing nothing…" he couldn't sit still so he decided to do his regular morning routine earlier. He quickly changed into a dry set of clothes and immediately headed out towards the police station near the park.

Kazuya had no idea where Yuriko's lodgings were so he had no choice but to leave her at the police station after they left the restaurant. She was a detective so there was no way that they could turn her away. They asked Kazuya who they recognized from the coverage earlier on the day so they let him take the pa.s.sed out officer to the sleeping quarters for female officers.

"Oh you're back!" one of the officers immediately recognized Kazuya. "Did you come to check up on the detective?"

"Yes, detective Sanada is one of the judges of the compet.i.tion so I wanted to see if she is awake yet." He answered politely.

"I'll take you there." Kazuya was taken to the room that no other person dared to sleep in that night. "I'll leave her to you." No one wanted to disturb the most likely hungover detective so they left it to Kazuya to wake her.

Kazuya sighed. He could dispel the aftereffects of the alcohol but was worried about what this woman would do. He had experienced taking care of the drunk version of the cold Mei from his previous life and it was enough for him to be fearful.

"Yuriko-san…" Kazuya tried to wake her.

"Mmmm… sleep…" she tried to get away from the person who was trying to wake her up.

"How careless…" he remembered how Mei reacted in the same way and remembered that he would probably never see that side of her again. He did teach her how to disperse the effects of alcohol for her own protection after all.

"It hurts…" Kazuya opened the curtains and got an immediate reaction. "Huh? Why does my neck hurt?"

"!!" Kazuya slightly panicked as he saw a bruise on the back of her neck as she tried to find the source of her pain.

"Huh? This doesn't look like my roo—" her hand met with Kazuya's as he was trying to put a hand over her neck to heal the bruise.

"W-w-what are you doing in my room!?"

.