There was one more thing that Kazuya needed to do before he went back home. Since the compet.i.tion exhibitions were still ongoing, he decided to grant Kurumi's request and visit the sights in the western prefecture.

Unlike Kazuya, this wasn't Kurumi's first time traveling for leisure so he left her to decide on their agenda until he was able to meet up with Yuriko later that night. He was taken to an amus.e.m.e.nt park where the supposedly more mature Kazuya unnaturally had a lot of fun.

This had been Kazuya's first time in an amus.e.m.e.nt park so his curiosity got the best of him. He had a lot of fun watching the different kinds of shows that were unique to the park and was surprised by the different rides that filled him with excitement even with his experiences as a hardened warrior.

While being totally immersed in this new experience, Kazuya had been unaware of Kurumi's nervous yet blissful mood. This was their very first date and she was glad to see the moody Kazuya smiling so naturally. Though she felt sorry for what had happened to Tomoyo, Kurumi couldn't help but wonder if this would have been possible if nothing had happened to her.

Jonson had always praised Kazuya as a boy that was very mature for his age so Kurumi couldn't wait to tell her father about how he could still act like his age. Though she didn't want this day to end, the sky was slowly starting to get darker, so Kurumi pulled Kazuya towards the ride she looked forward to the most.

The sun had already set when the two finally were able to ride the large Ferris wheel. The two of them sat beside each other and watched the amus.e.m.e.nt park's lights slowly turn on from above. Though they were not able to see the sunset like she had originally planned, this scene was beautiful as well.

"Ka—" she felt Kazuya's arms slowly wrap around her waist so her face immediately began to feel hot.

Kurumi had frozen in place thinking what was going to happen next. Though this was a situation that she wanted to happen, she never expected for Kazuya to make a move on her. Mustering up her courage, Kurumi turned to his direction.

"ssuu… ssuu…" Kazuya moved his head and leaned his chin on her shoulder and his breath directly reached her ears.

"K-k-kazuykun…" Kurumi felt like she would have already melted on her seat if the arms around her waist wasn't holding onto her tightly enough.

Due to Kurumi losing the strength to sit up straight, Kazuya's head had landed on top of her chest. She panicked as she felt his breath through her clothes and thought that this wasn't the right place to do that kind of thing for the first time.

Afraid that he might be mad at her for her rejection, she hesitantly pulled back his head from her chest. It was at that moment that she realized what was actually happening.

"ssu…" silently breathing, Kazuya's eyes were closed as he had fallen asleep.

"Really…?" Kurumi looked sullen for a moment before realizing back at what Kazuya told her and her father when he made his request.

He had travelled back and forth, after hearing about what happened to s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo. Though he didn't specify why it was so urgent for him to have returned, the fact that he had no time to rest made Kurumi feel a little guilty. Kazuya wasted no time and gave her a lecture due to her father's request after all.

"You may have already lost your memories but… you're still the reckless boy who always thinks about others more than himself deep inside." Kurumi smiled as she brushed his hair with her fingers. He had taken her out to play instead of taking a long-needed rest so Kurumi couldn't help but feel touched. Even though she wasn't the closest person to him like before, being treated as a friend was a lot better than being ignored like a stranger.

"Teacher may think that I'm exaggerating whenever I tell her how amazing you are but I'm sure that she will be thrilled to meet you." Kurumi took out a small pouch and placed some of the hair that stuck to her hand carefully inside.

Kurumi took out her phone and asked the bodyguards that remained on the ground to stall their ride for a little bit. She wanted Kazuya to have a little rest before she eventually had to wake him up.

When the ride finally moved, Kazuya's hold on her softened as soon as it neared the ground. Kurumi giggled to herself and figured that even though he was asleep, he was still very vigilant on his surroundings. It made her feel happy that her presence was already accepted as someone safe from his subconscious.

"hmm? I fell asleep?" Kazuya was surprised that he was able to fall asleep under such conditions that he failed to realize that he had jumped up from hugging Kurumi in his short nap.

"You should have told me you were tired Kazuykun…" she spoke while trying to hide her own embarra.s.sment. She didn't want him to know about what he did in his sleep. "We could have rested until you could meet the person you were waiting for."

"It's alright. Rather, I have to thank you instead. I enjoyed our time here." Kazuya said as he escorted her off the ride.

"hehe" Kurumi giggled. "We can always have fun like this again." Kurumi was extremely happy. Though she still felt a bit embarra.s.sed, hearing that Kazuya enjoyed himself made this trip worth it.

"It will be quite the tight schedule for the next few months. You will understand why once we meet the person." Kazuya checked his phone and read through his messages. "Would you mind if we brought along another person on the way back?"

"Who is it?" Kurumi didn't ask who the person Kazuya needed to meet before going back.

"A police officer whose help I would need to set things straight."

-

Yuriko finished her duties as one of the compet.i.tions judges. The judges partic.i.p.ated in a meeting after the exhibitions were over. The meeting had been with the members of the a.s.sociation and they discussed the various partic.i.p.ants who have shown quite the amount of skill to be considered as partic.i.p.ants in the international youth compet.i.tion.

Though she initially wanted to meet with Kazuya after his match, she still had her duties to perform. Yuriko was invited to be a judge in the following compet.i.tion for the main division but she declined. She had already fulfilled her purpose in coming here after all.

"Hmm?" Yuriko saw several silhouettes approaching. Her eyebrow twitched as soon as she saw Kazuya standing in the middle of the female bodyguards with a cute girl with blonde hair.

Kazuya asked to meet her near the private hangars at the airport so she thought that he wanted to discuss about sensitive topics. She didn't expect him to come with some young lady who she could immediately recognize.

"(The princess of Stockton industries huh… this boy sure has some skills…)" though Yuriko didn't know why, she suddenly felt very irritated. She initially wanted to praise him for his stellar performance earlier in the day but now she wanted to shout at him for being reckless.

"I apologize for the wait Yuriko-san." Kazuya immediately apologized.

Kurumi's bodyguards with the exception of their leader had dispersed into the hangar to make preparations for their departure. She didn't speak when Yuriko approached because Kazuya had already told them about the additional pa.s.senger.

"So why did you ask to meet me here? Are you going to introduce me to your little girlfriend now?" she crossed her arms and tapped her shoe on the floor.

"Oh right! My apologies. This is my friend, Stockton Kurumi. Kurumi, this lady here is a detective, Sanada Yuriko." Kazuya briefly introduced them. "It's a long story that I'll tell you about in a bit. She will be giving us a ride back home in her family's plane." He explained.

"A ride back…" Yuriko was taken aback by how casually he stated it. It was only now that she had been reminded that although he didn't seem like it from the way he acted, this kid was a young master in his own right. "W-why do I have to ride back with you?"

"Don't you want to know what's the secret behind s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo's attempted a.s.sa.s.sination?" Kazuya's gaze narrowed as she looked at Yuriko seriously.

"You know who's behind it!?" Yuriko almost leapt at him after hearing that.

"We can talk about that once we've boarded the plane. For now, take this." He took out a cannister like object from his bag and and handed it to Yuriko. "Gently pull it apart from top to bottom." He instructed.

When Yuriko did as she was instructed, she was surprised to see a transparent sheet that reminded her of gla.s.s come out from the middle of the two ends. It lit up like a screen as soon as it couldn't go any further which almost made her drop it in surprise.

[Authorization Required] was printed on the screen.

Kazuya placed his palm on it and some files were immediately shown. It showed the compiled transactions between the Kuroganes and the owner of the facility which once held s.h.i.+riharu Kira.

"This thing is…" Yuriko was still in a daze.

"I'll begin the explanation once you've read through them. I believe it will be easier after you've seen those." Kazuya smiled as he and Kurumi moved to enter the hangar.

"No! I mean what is this device in my hand!? I haven't seen anything like this!" Yuriko wasn't the only one who was curious, Kurumi's eyes also glittered a soon as she saw the device light up but she had been waiting for Kazuya's explanation.

"Oh…" Kazuya scratched his head. "That's one of the prototypes of the product that will be released soon. It works just like a tablet would with a bit of new features."

He forgot about the fact that he had been using an unreleased product but that shouldn't be the point right now. Kazuya silently praised his elementary teacher whose words once again proved to be true.

They entered the plane where Kazuya took some time to answer Kurumi's questions about the device he brought. He made them promise not to tell anyone about such a thing or he would get in trouble with Kyouko and the company.

"This…" Yuriko couldn't help but look at Kazuya in shock. This evidence was extremely helpful! Not only that, this would give doubt to the philanthropist who has been rumored to have been slowly falling into debt. "Are you saying that this was started by the Kurogane clan?" one thing was missing and it was motive. The s.h.i.+royukis although allied with the Kouzuki family was just an ally. The two families were currently at peace with Kazuya so none of this made sense.

"If you're looking to ask why they would do such a thing, This is where it gets a little complicated." Kazuya began the story with the conditions Tenma had set-up before he was allowed to go back home. It was soon followed by the measures that were taken to prevent him from coming back to make Yuriko understand just how much Tenma wanted him to lose his ident.i.ty as a Kouzuki.

"Wouldn't that only make it harder for them to eat the Kouzuki corporation?" Yuriko raised a point.

"The problem is, my mother would never allow it to happen. She would much rather let the Kouzuki clan lose their ill.u.s.trious reputation for being unable to break a promise. This is what I think he is really after."

"But why did you suddenly have to return back?" Yuriko asked.

"Because Tsunsan's methods to save her required me to be present. It's hard to explain so I can only say that much. I don't want to mention the secrets he has but because of him. Tomoyo is going to be alright."

"She's alive!?" Yuriko was shocked. She already received reports that speculated that the s.h.i.+royukis might have been preparing for a funeral but it turns out that the girl had survived. Her respect and admiration for Tsuna had grown more so she decided not to pry into her idol's secrets. "Why didn't you tell me all of this when we were talking about the case?" she continued her inquiry.

"Because only recently found out myself. I asked several people about the case as soon as I got back and I found out a little about s.h.i.+riharu Kira. You know that I've already told you that I've been monitoring the activities of the Kurogane-clan quietly and it had occurred to me that they recently put their attention towards the guy who owned the prison." Kazuya explained.

"I understand their intention to release s.h.i.+riharu Kira to get to s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo but why was she a target in the first place?"

"This was a question I found the answer to thanks to Kurumi here." Kazuya gave a grateful glance towards Kurumi. "because of a certain incident in school where in order to reject her confession, I mentioned that I had already been engaged with the arrangements of my family. The Kuroganes had a.s.sumed that s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo was the one I had been engaged to."

"a.s.sumed? It's not s.h.i.+royuki-san!?"

"You're engaged!?"

The two reacted simultaneously. He had only given Jonson the quick version of the story, so it was not as detailed as it was when he explained it to Yuriko who needed facts and details because of her occupation. Jonson was a smart man that could read between the lines and didn't need that much detail to understand the situation.

Kurumi, who heard all of this felt guilty. Although Maron was the one who opened up the topic about having them change the one Kazuya was engaged with to Kurumi, she did not say anything to refuse the idea which led to the harm that was inflicted upon s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo.

"That is not all." Kazuya put a hand on his pocket and placed a bullet that was inside a transparent bag on the table. "This is the same round that hit Kurogane s.h.i.+s.h.i.+o. This is an armor piercing bullet that would have hit my mother if she didn't have any protection on her."

"!!" Yuriko picked up the bullet and confirmed that it was indeed one of the bullets that they suspected that hit Kurogane s.h.i.+s.h.i.+o after an a.n.a.lysis of his wounds. This was not the most shocking part. What kind of protection could Kouzuki Kyouko have to have warded off such an attack?

"I believe you would find both the fingerprints of the culprit as well as his signature on the bullet." Kazuya smiled. He had stopped to meet Anri before meeting with the Stocktons and he was not disappointed with what she had given him. "if that is not enough then this recording would make better evidence." He placed a small recorder on the table.

When she played what was on the recorder, a deep voiced man mentioned his name as well as proof of his ident.i.ty. Yuriko almost dropped the recorder when she found out that it was a name she was familiar with! It was a hitman internationally wanted for various murders. He confessed to being paid by the Kurogane clan and even included every detail of the plan that they laid out for him.

"H-how did you get this? I saw your mother on that day and it didn't look like she wore any protection…" The amount of information that Kazuya provided was like solving the case that had baffled them so Yuriko couldn't help but have doubts.

"Let's just say that it was all thanks to Tsunsan. Please feel free to get his testimony if need be." Kazuya found Tsuna's ident.i.ty quite useful after learning a lot about it. He didn't hold back and took advantage of it as much as he could. "In fact, I have the same protection on me right now so if you shoot a gun or stab a knife at me, it would disappear without a trace." He smiled at Yuriko after seeing her hesitation.

In fact, he didn't need her to prove this, another person's interest had been greatly aroused after hearing that an armor piercing round was blocked. Tessa, Kurumi's head bodyguard stood up from her seat and approached them from behind.

"Pardon me Kazuysama." A blade appeared in her sleeve which she immediately stabbed towards Kazuya.

*TINK!* before the blade could hit the shoulder that was targeted however, the blade stopped as if it hit something solid and immediately broke into pieces. Kazuya only smiled as he glanced at the broken blade and praised the bodyguard for her skills silently.

"Tessa!" Kurumi immediately glared at her even though they all witnessed that the attack had failed.

"It's alright Kurumi. I would have asked her to do it if she didn't take the initiative. The conversation wouldn't continue without proving this." Kazuya placated her. "This method is somewhat similar to how Kurogane s.h.i.+s.h.i.+o had gotten rid of Kurogane Nagisa in the past. The fact that she was against me being accepted as Kurogane s.h.i.+s.h.i.+o's son prompted them to get rid of her in a way that would gain sympathy rather than suspicion towards them."

"Why…" Yuriko was still digesting all the information that was suddenly being revealed to her. She felt sympathy towards Kazuya who had to bear such things so she couldn't help but worry for him. "Why are you telling me this now? This is different from the current case so I don't believe you just found out about this now as well!"

"Because after I found out that they have been responsible for this as well, I came to a decision to change my plans a little." Kazuya turned to look Yuriko straight in the eye. "Now that I have you, I feel that I must just be able to pull this off. There is just one question; Are you ready to try and take down your first white whale Yuriko-san?"

"I…" seeing the determined look on Kazuya's face, she hesitated. Seeing his expression, Yuriko knew that he was going to go through with whatever he was thinking whether she agreed to help or not. It wasn't that Kazuya had been planning to do this, he was forced to do this by the very same people who coveted him.

In this aspect, she felt sorry for the Kurogane clan. The very person they're trying so hard to force into their family was already planning their demise. In her opinion, they deserved it.

Kazuya didn't stay in the Kurogane clan in hopes to learn and understand the ways these despicable people worked, he slowly studied their weak points, as well as thought of numerous ways to take them down. The only thing he was waiting for was the perfect opportunity to take them down.

What he didn't expect however was that although the Kuroganes haven't bothered with the Kouzuki clan for these past few years, that didn't mean that they weren't going to make a move on them. Kazuya had expected small secretive retaliations but they started out with trying to a.s.sa.s.sinate the current head of the Kouzuki can, his mother.

This had already doomed the Kurogane clan in his mind. The only problem left was choosing a specific plan to deal with them and making the necessary preparations. Who would have thought that they would decide to target s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo due to a misunderstanding?

Thus Kazuya had to make an immediate decision. The Kuroganes were already getting out of hand and their continuous failures have been making them bolder and bolder. With the current cards in Kazuya's pocket, he had to make these treacherous snakes think twice before making another move that he might not catch wind of.

This was where his recent acquaintance, Sanada Yuriko came in. Kazuya already knew her from his past as a stubborn girl who he had judged to be fearless due to her unwavering sense of justice. As he didn't know many people from the police force, he could only put his trust in someone who he knew that couldn't be bought or pressured.

Her role would be simple, she would use the evidences Kazuya had been collecting to put doubt and pressure on the Kurogane clan whose reputation alone was more than enough to open up a lot of suspicion. Kazuya would supply Yuriko with as many bullets as she would need to put the Kurogane clan on the defensive.

"I… I want to help!" Kurumi offered nervously. She felt partly responsible for what happened to Tomoyo so she expressed her desire to help.

"Thank you for your offer. I will definitely ask if I need your a.s.sistance, but right now, if Stockton International made a move on the Kuroganes, suspicion will definitely fall upon me. Since the Kuroganes are a paranoid bunch, they wouldn't hesitate to put suspicions amongst themselves because the current information in Yuriko-san's hands are more or less inside information." Kazuya didn't neglect to point out that he was putting himself at risk as well.

"I can't help?" Kurumi felt disappointed. She wanted to be able to lend a hand so that Kazuya can be free from those shameless and bad people.

"You're already helping." Kazuya felt her intentions even after hearing about what happened to Tomoyo and was a little moved. "If I'm not mistaken, Kurogane s.h.i.+s.h.i.+o and Kurogane Tenma have been making plans so that they would have the power to betroth me to you. As long as we continue to get along, they would be less inclined to put their suspicions towards me."

"I'm helping?" Kurumi couldn't help but smile after she heard that. "That's no problem! I would always want to hang out with you!"

"Please relay a message to uncle Jon for me that Kurogane Tenma requested that I get you to setup a meeting for them." Kazuya told her and smiled after seeing the confusion on her face despite agreeing to it.

Kazuya decided to relay his message like this to make things clear. He knew that Kurumi would tell parts about the conversation they were having now to Jonson so he left it up to the clever king to come up with a way to dodge the people who tried to use his daughter for their own benefit.

"Kazuya…" Yuriko, who had been in deep thought for a while, called out. "Since you've asked for my help, I'm sure you already have a plan in mind right?"

"I do. First of all, I want a list of people who you think can be trusted with this information. I trust you but I don't know them nor do I trust them." Kazuya didn't mince with words. "I hope you don't get offended, this concerns my safety as well. Though I've spent quite the amount of time trying to grasp their capabilities, I still do not know each and every individual that they can use or take advantage of."

"I understand." Yuriko nodded.

"After I've gone through them, we can begin with the evidences for the current investigations. Then slowly back them up with the other cases and evidences." Kazuya explained his plan with such detail that Yuriko could hardly believe was thought of just recently.

If he could get the Kurogane clan on the defensive, they wouldn't be able to make any moves that would put them under more pressure. Though this might put himself under risk of suspicion as a mole, Tenma would disregard any of them as long as he showed off his friends.h.i.+p with Kurumi. With the Kurogane banquet closing in, s.h.i.+s.h.i.+o and Tenma couldn't afford making Kazuya not want to take part in the most important gathering of the clan.

"Are you sure you just came up with this plan?" Yuriko wasn't one to hold back her thoughts so she immediately asked the first question that popped up into her head.

"I've only just collected these evidences. Moreover, we haven't known each other for long so how could I have thought this all out before?" Kazuya's look as if looking down on Yuriko's intelligence made her want to pounce and beat on him.

"So where do I say I got all of these from? You may have thought of the process already but what about this?" Yuriko retorted looking annoyed.

"Please…" Kazuya rolled his eyes. "Even a layman who watches tv knows the answer to this. Haven't you ever heard of a 'confidential informant?'" Kazuya shook his head and started to wonder if he really did have the right person for the job. "Though the information I provided you with might be sensitive information, it's not as if the police can't double check the information."

"You…!" Yuriko couldn't believe it herself. She could have come up with the answers herself but for some reason, whenever she was around this kid, she already wanted to hear about his opinions before she would think about things by herself. She hated herself for that.

Watching the two argue, Kurumi couldn't help but feel a little out of place. This reminded her of whenever Kazuya and Maron usually argued. Though they looked like they were at odds with each other, in reality, they were close enough to have arguments like this without much damage to their relations. She was a little envious because of this.

"Kazuykun… I have a question I want to ask…" Kurumi glanced towards Yuriko who seemed to know what she wanted to ask.

"You're right! I almost forgot!" Yuriko nodded as well.

"What is it?" seeing these two who barely even talked to each other since they met agreeing like this made him feel something was wrong. This instinct of his made him want to make a quick escape but they were currently inside a plane that was in mid-flight.

"When I met unc… Kurogane s.h.i.+s.h.i.+o, he and Kurogane Tenma told us about the arrangement between s.h.i.+royuki Jirou-sama and Kouzuki Kou-sama." Kurumi started to speak.

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"You said that s.h.i.+royuki Tomoyo was a victim because of a misunderstanding so…" Yuriko continued before both of them turned to each other and nodded.

""Who are you really engaged to?""

.