.

*Diing!*

"Room service!"

"Oh thank you." Kazuya felt a little strange answering the door to a room that didn't belong to him. "Just leave it here."

He was currently inside the hotel room that was located a block away from the hotel he was staying at. He was forced to help out the hungover detective who he had left and picked up at the police station.

"It's your fault if I gain a bad reputation!" were her exact words after she learned that she had been dropped off at the police station instead of being taken to someplace else.

Yuriko would have given him a beating if she didn't feel too bad at the moment so she had him take responsibility by making him help her go back to her hotel. Whilst giving him a piece of her mind on how he should have handled the situation.

Though Kazuya wanted to prove her wrong, what he learned from Miyamoto prevented him from retorting. What Miyamoto kept on reminding him of was that he wouldn't win an argument against a woman who was mad, drunk or emotional no matter how right he was.

"(I should just get away from this woman but.. sigh.. her identity and trust would be quite useful in clearing my name." Kazuya shook his head. "Room service is here Yuriko-san!" he called out.

"It's here already?" Yuriko stepped out from the bedroom whilst wearing only a bathrobe as she used a towel to dry her still dripping hair. "I don't have much of an appetite though.."

"You'll feel much better after you eat some of this. They are good for curing hangovers." Kazuya assured as he was relieved to see that the bruise on her neck had already healed.

In her attempt to test him, Kazuya had reacted intensely and made her fall unconscious after making sure that no one had been paying attention. To the people, another drunk who couldn't hold her liquor passed out in front of her little brother. To Kazuya, his judgement had already been clouded because of the drunk antics of Kazuno Mei in both of his lives.

Yuriko's intentions were simple, she wanted to see if Kazuya would have taken advantage of her in that situation. He would have instantly failed if he made a move on her and she would have beaten him up while deciding not to believe this person's words again. His attraction towards her would have been purely because of lust like all of the other men that tried to approach her.

"Shouldn't you finish changing before coming out?" Kazuya immediately pointed out her current attire. He couldn't believe how much this woman had let her guard down around him.

"Why? Are you going to attack me? You can go ahead and try!" Yuriko grinned. Even though she doesn't remember much about what happened last night, Kazuya had already passed with flying colors regardless of how she didn't like what happened.

Not only did the boy not make a move on her, he even took her to the safest place he could think of. She would have been fine with it if she was taken to his room or he had rented another one but that would have made her have a little suspicion towards him. Kazuya didn't even touch her stuff so she was confident that she had been treated with respect despite his chances to have gotten away with various things.

"I still have to prepare myself for the competition. Seeing that you're fine now, I shall excuse myself." Kazuya moved quickly so that there wouldn't be a chance for her to call him back and looked as if he was fleeing.

*giggle* Yuriko immediately burst into laughter after the door was shut. Who would have thought that the monster that performed so marvelously yesterday would have a cute side to him. Honest and sincere people were hard to come by these days so she couldn't help but have a high opinion of Kazuya. She didn't know how he was able to keep such a personality that would have been deadly to anyone in his position.

-

The competition was scheduled to last for 3 days. The second day was the last day for the competition and the third day was for the exhibition. The tension on the first day was greatly lessened because majority of the participants were thinking the same thing; the only way Kurogane Kazuya would lose is that if an incident occurred.

The people who understood this competition thought so as well. They were very envious towards Kurogane Tenma for having such a formidable grandson. Most of them had already dug up Kazuya's records from various other fields and couldn't believe how much the boy had accomplished.

Kurogane Tenma on the other hand had other thoughts. He received a report on what Kazuya and the female detective were up to yesterday. He silently cursed the detective for being quite the seductress and slightly praised his grandson for not giving into temptation. Though Kazuya hadn't done anything, Tenma was more worried that his grandson actually harbored serious feelings towards the female detective because of how he acted.

To make things worse, Kazuya had disappeared from his room early in the morning only to be found leaving the hotel room of the said detective. None of his guards were watching over Kazuya after he turned in for the night so they only found out about his departure from the hotel staff when they tried to check up on him when he was late for his daily routine.

"(This is not good..)" Tenma immediately assumed the worst scenario. With Shiroyuki Tomoyo out of the picture, won't his grandson be free to pursue this woman? He already knew of how Kazuya didn't have the best relations with Stockton Kurumi so if he decided to pursue the detective after suffering some grief, it would have been the perfect scenario for Yuriko.

"Kurogane-san, may I have a word?" Tenma's thoughts were interrupted when a man walked towards his table in the vip lounge of the arena. He immediately recognized this person because it was the current president of the association that handled the competition.

"Of course Kurosawa-san! How can I turn away the association president?" Tenma gave a light laugh and offered him a seat.

"You sure have a talented grandson. I can't help but be envious since my son had already been eliminated yesterday." Kurosawa said with a bitter smile.

"Is there something on your mind president?" Tenma already sensed that this conversation would be about Kazuya. Unlike most of the participants that were much older than his grandson, Kazuya was the only one who could still join the next competition because he still met the age requirements.

"I wonder if Kazuya-kun would be participating in the next competition as well?" Temna had already anticipated the question so he wasn't surprised.

"I'm not sure If i am able to answer that, president. My grandson has a tendency to give himself a challenge every year. I'm sure you will be able to look up that aside from kendo, my grandson has not participated in the same competition after he dominates it." Tenma gave a proud smile.

"I see.." Kurosawa contemplated. "It looks like I would have to ask him myself."

"What is this about?" Though Tenma couldn't force Kazuya to do anything or he would risk getting into the boy's bad side, he thought of himself in high regard when it came to the people who had authority over Kazuya.

"I have contacted several association presidents after Kazuka-kun's performance yesterday. Like you said, the boy is so talented that he goes around to dominate a different sport every year. I wondered if they had plans on inviting him in joining the Youth Olympic games that will take place when he turns 14."

"What did they say?" Tenma was quite curious about it since the association presidents fighting over Kazuya would be a good thing for him.

"We have come to an agreement that we would only try and invite him and leave the decision to the boy." He paused. "That is why I came to tell you this. As someone who represented the country in the same field, don't you want your outstanding grandson to follow in your footsteps?" Kurosawa smiled.

"I will certainly discuss it with him." Tenma realized that this was an opportunity that was hard to come by. Anyone invited to the Olympics were the best of the best in the country. Knowing that several people wanted Kazuya to join the Youth Olympics at the age of entry just showed how much they value his talent.

"There is one more thing that I wanted to ask your opinion of." Kurosawa saw the interest in Tenma's expression. This was the perfect time for him to ask this stubborn man about the request he received earlier.

"Oh?" Tenma quickly realized how he had taken the delicious bait that even he couldn't resist. "Out came the carrot and here comes the stick?" his eyes narrowed and looked at Kurosawa who was immediately pressured.

"You know that there are three current candidates to represent the country yes? Tenma-san even helped with the selection of the candidates in the previous competition, right?" Kurosawa waited for the stubborn old man to give a nod before he continued. "Kazuya-kun has already set the records and there would be no stopping him from dominating the events he signed up for. The problem is, the current candidates will need to have a person demoted to being a stand-in."

"What about them? Isn't it simple? The glory of getting medals for our country is better than the petty pride of those who can't even come close to my grandson who can participate twice because of his age." Tenma grinned. He understood what the problem was but dodged the problem on purpose.

"(This damned old man..)" Kurosawa couldn't help but curse in his mind. The problem was obviously known to both of them. The representatives from the military and the police did not want the qualifications of their candidate to be revoked. "I would like to hear your opinion on what to do."

"Isn't it simple? Doesn't the military have two representatives? You can't be too gr—" Tenma immediately held his tongue as he had a sudden idea. He leaned back on his chair and quickly analyzed the situation.

"I've thought of that as well but there is no way that the military would accept such a reason. Even the current judges have their own affiliations and neither side would be willing to accept the verdict. The skills of the current candidates are very similar after all." Though he was the president of the association, both sides were very important so he was truly stuck in a bind.

"I have an idea.." Tenma finally spoke. "Why not let my grandson decide?" a confident grin emerged from the old man's face. "There is no doubt that Kazuya's skills are above the chosen candidates. Why not pit them against each other in tomorrow's exhibition match? The three of them should be placed together in a team while my grandson is paired up with the non-candidates that made it through the competition." Tenma explained his idea.

One of the exhibition matches was a simulation of real battle. A team of five against five whose guns were loaded with paint bullets would go up against each other in a race to win 5 rounds. Each round would last for 15 minutes in a battleground. If time would run out, the team with the most surviving members would gain a point. On the other hand, wiping out the opposing team would give the winning team two points.

This was what all those who watched looked forward to the most and what Tenma thought was a situation he could take advantage of. He would only need to play his cards right and it would be a win-win situation for him.

"Let Kurogane Kazuya-kun decide.." Kurosawa didn't expect such an idea. He seriously considered the thought because he desperately wanted to free himself from pressure from both sides.

"If you think the boy is too young then I wouldn't mind stepping up. That is if you think that I can be impartial despite the fact that I am the guardian of the new candidate." Tenma gave one more push. No matter what Kurosawa decided, the decision would lay in the hands of their side. Kazuya was the wild card that had appeared but he was surely the one who wouldn't have his qualifications taken from him.

"I still need to think about this, Tenma-san. I will give you an answer once Kazuya-kun decides if he will represent the country and our association or not." Kurosawa stood up as the conversation had just ended.

"You leave that to me. Just make sure that no judges come into contact with my grandson so that there wouldn't be room for suspicion." Tenma confidently stated. This was the good excuse to keep that woman away from his grandson after all.

"I will make arrangements." Kurosawa excused himself and left.

There were not many instances where a seasoned old man like Tenma would get excited but due to the string of fortunate events, he couldn't help but hold back the urge to laugh to his heart's content. Not only were his plans working, opportunities were presenting themselves to him.

He would only need to see things through for his clan to be set for the next few generations.

*Bzzt* his phone vibrated and showed one of the subordinates from back home that he instructed to report to him.

"What do you have for me?" he listened to the subordinate who told him about the incident that happened a few hours ago inside the hospital where Shiroyuki Tomoyo was taken to. "Are you sure about this? That old monster tried to stop the surgery?" he was elated and tried to confirm what he just heard.

"Yes Tenma-sama. One of the nurses inside the surgery room is from our side so there is no doubt about it." The subordinate assured.

"Was her death confirmed?" this news really did come at the perfect timing. This will prompt his grandson to be led into his scheme more easily.

"The head surgeon didn't want to take responsibility after he was disturbed. The man who introduced himself as Nagato Tsuna assumed responsibility and prevented anyone from entering the surgery room afterwards." The report continued.

"Prevented anyone from entering?" Tenma frowned. He couldn't think of any reason why Nagato Tsuna would do such a thing. "(What could this man possibly do anything at this point?)" Tenma immediately thought.

"It has been a few hours but from what we've gathered, it looks like they are preparing to move the girl out of the hospital." The subordinate continued. "We don't know what happened inside but they say that they will be bringing the girl over back to their residence." Tenma's hand clenched as he heard the last statement.

"(The gods are helping me! Not only did the girl die, her death can be blamed on Nagato Tsuna!)" he praised his subordinate and immediately left the VIP room to head for the area where participants waited.

"Looks like the credit for the clan's prosperity for the generations to come will be because of me after all."

.