Unlike the first day, the pressure Kazuya received from the waiting room had severely lessened. He thought that he had gotten used to the atmosphere quickly, in reality, it was because most of the people who viewed him as an enemy either accepted that he had been superior to them by many levels or were looking at him with admiration.

There were many partic.i.p.ants that tried to converse with him in hopes of getting to know such a talented individual. In their minds, Kazuya was already a sure bet to be selected as one of the people to represent the country. Though they seemed to be many of them, majority of the people who were interested in the sport had been gathered to this event already.

Their questions consisted of how Kazuya trained. He really didn't know how to answer them so he just told them that it was his grandfather who had arranged for everything. They were quite envious of Kazuya whose grandfather had his own shooting facility so they were quick to a.s.sume that for him to have such skills would only be natural.

"Kazuya." The people joyously conversing with him immediately scattered as soon as they turned to see who had arrived.

"What brings you here grandfather?" he knew this old man well enough already. There was a reason he had chosen to show himself and it usually didn't mean anything good.

"I have just received some news that has to do with you. I came here to inform you myself because I am afraid that it might affect your concentration for the compet.i.tion if you heard about it from someone else." Tenma looked him straight in the eye.

Kazuya immediately felt an ominous feeling. He quickly sat from his seat and faced Tenma seriously. This man was up to something and he had to prepare himself for what it was.

"News that has something to do with me?" Kazuya wondered if they finally heard about what happened to Tomoyo. Even if they did, why would Tenma be the one to tell him? Kazuya then wondered if anything had happened to Kyouko but he immediately dismissed it because he had just spoken to her last night and she wasn't going to be leaving home so that she could watch his performance.

"Before I tell you, do you remember what you confidently said to me yesterday?" Tenma answered with a question.

"About winning the compet.i.tion? I remember." Kazuya wondered why this person was stalling.

"Are you still confident? What about tomorrow's exhibition match?" Since the partic.i.p.ants for the exhibition match would consist of the winners and ranked individuals of the compet.i.tion, Tenma boldly asked his confident grandson on how he would fare.

"I am. You of all people should know how I would do, grandfather." He didn't know what it was about but Kazuya understood that something must have changed in the compet.i.tion.

"This news might affect your mentality so I am just making sure. I want an absolute promise, the promise that will make your mind focused despite whatever it is that happened." Tenma finally let out his intention. This caught Kazuya off guard since he didn't think that the compet.i.tion was this important to this old man.

It took Kazuya a few moments to piece things together. The reason this man came out himself was to get him to give a promise using the Kouzuki name in front of all these people. If making himself known as a Kouzuki, something must have really happened. This man would never do anything advantageous for the Kouzuki clan after all.

"Now I'm really concerned about what kind of news it would be." Kazuya gave a sigh. He straightened himself up and at Tenma seriously before continuing. "In the name of the Kouzuki clan, I Kazuya hereby promise to win the compet.i.tion today." There was no way he would have lost so Kazuya didn't hesitate to make the promise.

Even if he had the means to find out what Tenma was keeping from him, this old man would only suspect him if he didn't comply.

"and tomorrow's?" Tenma raised his eyebrow. Kazuya held back the urge to click his tongue because even though he knew that this old man had been leading him on, he had no other choice if he didn't want to have a fallout with him.

"… I also promise to win tomorrow's exhibition match if I am selected to partic.i.p.ate in it." Kazuya delivered his oath which finally satisfied Tenma.

As much as those who didn't know of Kazuya's origins were surprised that he bore the name 'Kouzuki', his confidence in declaring such a thing had shaken them. They did believe that he would eventually win but as to why these two had only been considering the compet.i.tion as something secondary was something that they couldn't understand.

"Good. I am sure you are very much aware of the consequences if you do break your promise right?" Tenma didn't hold back and immediately put the pressure on his grandson.

"I am aware. Now, what is this news that would require me to make such promises before hearing it?" It was his turn to make this old man spill the beans. Even if Tenma's venomous silver tongue was skilled in manipulating people, there was no way Kazuya was going to let him go after he was practically forced into making two oaths.

"I received a report a few moments ago about one of your friends. That la.s.s from the s.h.i.+royuki family had an accident and was rushed to the hospital yesterday." Tenma made sure to observe every reaction that Kazuya made. The kid was a Kurogane and was very talented at hiding his expressions so he made sure to pay extra attention.

"Accident?" Kazuya had already heard about this news so he wasn't surprised. With Tenma keenly observing him, he couldn't help but feed this stubborn old man some kind of reaction. He immediately made his eyebrow twitch as his gaze towards Tenma grew a bit more serious.

"I'm not too keen on the details but… my sources say that she suffered a fatal would. I called a few acquaintances but they say that the place where she was taken to had been placed off limits and s.h.i.+royuki Jirou had asked to make preparations to take her away from the hospital."

"Huh?" Kazuya who had only been pretending to listen intently was suddenly taken by surprise. The fact that Tenma had a vast network for intelligence wasn't strange but the fact that the robot girl who was supposed to have been recovering in the hospital was going to be leaving was something that he didn't know.

"I'm sorry child. Your friend seems to have already pa.s.s—" Tenma couldn't help but stop what he was saying when a sudden chill made him s.h.i.+ver.

Kurogane Tenma wasn't the only one who felt it. Everyone in the room had felt the sudden drop in the temperature and wondered if there was a problem with the building's systems.

"Kurogane Kazuya, your turn is almost here so please proceed to the stadium!"

-

At the Kouzuki household, though the television was showing the broadcast of the compet.i.tion where Kazuya partic.i.p.ated in, the living room was currently deserted. It was unlike the previous day where every member of the household was cheering for Kazuya who has swept the compet.i.tion without a close compet.i.tor.

Kyouko and her father were standing near the entrance of their estate accompanied by Yumi and the guards of that were stationed there. The two had been informed of what had happened to s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo yesterday by Jirou. The reason for this was because Jirou had been instructed by Tsuna so that they could move Tomoyo to the Kouzuki estate.

"Do you think we should tell the boy?" Kou turned to his daughter.

"I think we should confirm the situation first." Kyouko shook her head. She was worried what Kazuya's reaction would be. "He needs his focus and we still have no idea about Tomoyo-chan's condition."

"For Tsuna to need kid's place to help with treatment… it doesn't sound good." Kou crossed his arms and sighed. He truly felt for his friend. "If he lost that little girl, we might not be able to stop him from taking revenge this time."

"Is it really true? Was it really done by the same person who…" Kyouko stopped mid-sentence as various vehicles were seen arriving.

Three ambulances were being escorted by the vehicles from their security company as well as the police arrived. One of the ambulances headed towards the s.h.i.+royuki house while two entered the Kouzuki estate. This was a plan to confuse anyone who had been keeping an eye on them. There were forces that weren't simple working behind the scenes so this much precaution was required.

The police escorts immediately left after the ambulances entered the Kouzuki estate. Tsuna immediately got off from one ambulance as soon as the coast was clear.

Kyouko, Yumi and Kou immediately felt the heavy amount of mana that was emanating from the man who was carrying a little girl in his arms. They all felt that the mana was being concentrated towards the unconscious girl who was looking as pale as the white patient's gown she was wearing.

"I don't have much time to talk. I'll be using Kazuya's bas.e.m.e.nt so please open it up for me." Tsuna looked at Kyouko who immediately led the way to Kazuya's laboratory.

"So this is what this place looks like from the inside…" Kou couldn't help but comment as soon as he was able to set foot inside the former storage building. He had been forbidden entry by Kazuya who would immediately change the method of access whenever Kou got close to figuring out the current one.

Tsuna brought the seemingly lifeless Tomoyo to the bas.e.m.e.nt where instructions were given to Kyouko.

"I need to concentrate on trying to keep this girl alive. I told Jirou of what needs to be done so you may ask him what needs to be done." Tsuna gently laid Tomoyo on top of the formation that was made for healing.

Kyouko and Yumi left the bas.e.m.e.nt and dragged Kou away to prevent him from disturbing Tsuna. They explained the situation to him and hoped that he wouldn't barge into the laboratory out of curiosity.

"Let's call Jirou right away then. I'm worried about how that old fellow is doing." Kou decisively moved back to the house and gave Jirou a call.

"Mistress…" Akane, who was waiting for them at the living room while preparing tea looked at Kyouko while looking a little worried.

"Did something happen?" Kyouko asked as she turned towards the television. Akane had been watching something before they returned so she immediately a.s.sumed that something had happened to Kazuya.

[Kurogane Kazuya withdraws from all his remaining turns]

The text at the bottom of the screen immediately gathered her attention.

"WHAT!? You told Kazuya about what happened to your granddaughter!?"

Kou's outburst as he was on the phone startled them before they could think of a reason as to why Kazuya had withdrawn from the compet.i.tion.

"What happened dad?" Kyouko pressed the loudspeaker option on the phone to listen to what Jirou had to say. "

"I gave the kid a call and told him the message that Tsuna wanted to pa.s.s on. The message was… [I'm going to your healing formation to keep the girl alive. The process for her complete recovery requires your level of control. I will wait for as long as I can but this girl's heart and body would be weakened if I simply heal her.]" Jirou's voice started to grow weaker as he finished.

"Then Kazuya's coming back?" Kyouko didn't know what to feel. She was glad to find out that her son had a friend he cared for but was afraid that he had done something impulsive to be able to escape from Kurogane Tenma's clutches.

-

Kazuya stared at the time when he arrived the airport. He recalled the message that Jirou pa.s.sed onto him as well as how frail the proud old man's voice had sounded. The message was not the only thing that was given to him. Jirou's desperate plea as the robot girl's grandfather was also pa.s.sed onto him.

Though Jirou had a limited time speaking to Tsuna because he needed to focus his attention on Tomoyo, Kazuya was asked about what the message truly meant. To the desperate man, Kazuya couldn't decline. Even though he didn't have much knowledge about mana, Kazuya tried to make Jirou understood the current situation.

Though Tsuna had been capable of healing Tomoyo, healing magic was not as convenient as it seemed to be. Earth had its own way of treating and that is why medical science is gradually improved. It is the same with healing magic. The difference between the two is that when using the convenient healing magic, a person who underwent treatment through spells, must be in an environment that is rich in mana to avoid any after effects.

Earth was a place with severely low levels of mana. Healing Tomoyo with the spells that Tsuna knew of was like patching up a boat that was leaking with rough patch work. Tomoyo may have survived but she wouldn't be the same again. She would be severely weakened because she doesn't know how to nourish her own body with mana unlike majority of the residents in Edea.

Even if she did, with how devoid earth is of natural mana, she would have to stay within the Kouzuki residence for more than a decade or she might have to suffer a backlash.

However, Kazuya's method was different. Not only did he have precise control over his mana, he also understood the anatomies of various living beings. Tsuna's trust in Kazuya's abilities was because of an incident in which they accidentally cut off a bird's wing when they had been sparring in an open area.

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Tsuna tried to stop Kazuya from using healing magic to heal the bird because he had previously tried the same thing. Kazuya ignored Tsuna's warnings and instead gave him a lecture of how he had developed a method on how to take advantage of healing magic on earth. It required heavy control and precision and was more like using healing magic and surgery at the same time.

"But I've seen Tsunsan recover from deep wounds more than once… does that mean that he didn't truly heal from them?" Jirou couldn't help but ask.

"Those who understand mana are different. I really can't go into much detail since it would only confuse you. Though Tsunsan or I can heal these kinds of wounds, it doesn't mean that we don't feel pain or can't die from fatal injuries. Healing such injuries would make us feel the pain of reattaching the nerves as well as bearing with the lingering effects that usually lasts for a while." Kazuya explained.

"How confident are you in preventing the effects that Tsunsan said if he had healed Tomoyo?" Jirou couldn't help but ask. He was worried that just when Tomoyo had started to truly enjoy Kendo, it would be taken away from her after she had done a good and heroic deed.

"I wouldn't dare say I'm a hundred percent confident. I haven't seen her." He wanted to mention that Jirou's muddled descriptions about the robot girl's condition didn't help him at all but decided to keep it to himself.

"I see…" Kazuya could feel how dejected this anxious old man was given Jirou's weak response.

"What I can a.s.sure you is, as long as I can do anything about it, no person I care about will be able to walk through death's door."

.