.

There was a short intermission before the final match to let the contestant that just finished theirs recover. What was supposed to be the match to determine fourth and third place was canceled due to the contestant backing out after witnessing the match that had just ended. He wanted to keep his pride rather than be pummeled by a girl and was very adamant about it.

The crowd still couldn't get over such a stunning match that they never expected to see in the elementary division. They were still pumped and couldn't wait to see what the next match had in store for them. The next match was, of course, another rematch because the finalists were mostly from the same region.

Tomoyo sat quietly and tried to regain her stamina when she was informed of the current changes. she couldn't care less about anything at the moment. The only thing that mattered to her now was the next match. She felt a hand gently touch her shoulder and turned to see her grandfather with a gentle smile.

"Don't feel bad granddaughter. I'll beat up anyone who dares say that you didn't try your best" Jirou comforted.

Tomoyo's eyes started to tear up as she leaped towards her grandfather's chest. She tried holding it in but after seeing her grandfather's face, her tears just started falling. This was a moment where Tomoyo was glad that Kazuya wasn't around because not only had she lost, but she was now crying about it.

Yes, she lost. It was a close match whom even Jirou couldn't tell who would have won. If he had to praise something, it would be Ayame's excellent coping capabilities. She turned what would have been a loss to an excellent opportunity and won the match.

"[The final match will begin shortly. Will contestant Kouzuki please report to the dueling area]" a voice announced.

"Miyamoto, have you seen the kid?" he looked at Miyamoto who had just arrived.

"No.. he wasn't in the locker area. I tried asking around but no one seems to have seen him" he looked a bit worried. Kazuya would be considered to have forfeited if he didn't make it back in time.

Jirou's brows furrowed. He left a little resentment towards Kazuya because he blamed him for his granddaughter losing the match. Tomoyo's movements were a bit off in the last round because she kept splitting her attention towards the area to look for him whenever she could. This doubled the stress on her senses and even though it was Ayame who first lost out when it came to stamina, she was able to use Tomoyo being distracted to gain the last point.

"That rotten kid. Fooling around at a time like th—" Jirou suddenly remembered where they were and stopped what he was saying. His annoyance turned into worry and he fell deep in thought. "It can't be.."

-

Inside the VIP area, Maron once again heard the paging of Kazuya's name. A smile slowly appeared on her face as she glanced at the empty seat beside her. She felt that both their disappearances weren't a coincidence.

"Looks like Ku-chan has made some progress" she glanced towards the arena and saw the people clamoring.

Kazuya made it just before he was going to be disqualified.

*BLAM* the door swung open suddenly and Kurumi rushed into the room and looked around.

"What's wrong? What are you looking for?" Maron was surprised at the panicked look on her cousin's face as she was ignored while she started tearing the room apart looking for something.

"Maron-chan do you have my cell phone!? Nevermind, let me borrow yours quick!" Kurumi tried to check her cousin's pockets and looked for her cell phone because she had no idea where she lost hers.

"What's going on? Tell me what happened?" Maron started to get a little worried. Her little cousin was genuinely panicking and rushed to grab her phone as soon as she found it on the table.

"I have to make an important call! I'll tell you later!" Kurumi didn't want to waste any time and used the phone without as much as looking at Kazuya who had already entered down below.

She glanced at the boy who was supposed to have been with her cousin and wondered what could have happened. Why was her cousin acting like this?

-

"I'm here" Kazuya had just arrived and stood near the dueling area. He wore the helmet and walked towards his starting position.

Ayame was only barely able to recover her stamina. The match with Tomoyo had taken more of a toll on her than she expected. This was the harsh reality of the tournament and even more so facing an opponent she knew she couldn't beat.

She entered the dueling area expectantly. Although she knew she won't be able to last as much as she did in the match against Tomoyo, she wanted to experience what the robot girl did in the final match against Kazuya.

"[I was worried for a moment and thought you wouldn't show up. I want to thank you for giving me a little extra time to recover my stamina. I hope that you can guide me as much as my stamina would permit]" Ayame tried to look at him through his mask but couldn't as she activated her whisper skill.

There was a short silence between them. The mood was quite solemn as the audience quieted down and waited for the referee to start the match.

"[I have to apologize to you. The match you want is something I have to decline]" Kazuya's voice sounded in Ayame's mind.

"BEGIN!"

Ayame suddenly felt pressure on her body as soon as the sound of the signal faded from her ears. The boy who was standing in front of her appeared on her side accompanied by fragments of bamboo that once made up Kazuya's bamboo sword.

"P-point Kouzuki!"

Silence. The voice of the referee echoed in the arena. Almost no one was able to see it but the noticeable tear in Ayame's body armor that wasn't there before told everyone what they needed to know. Kazuya was serious this time around.

"T-time!" a tactical timeout was called so that both of them can have their damaged and broken equipment replaced. The referees checked on Ayame but other than the shock, there hadn't been any injuries. None of them could understand what happened so they couldn't take any measure.

This was the championship match, they couldn't cancel it and the next tournament was also waiting for them. Ayame didn't seem to be hurt so they assumed it was a coincidence and that she was lucky to not have suffered any injuries.

"Kid, what the heck's wrong with you?" Jirou didn't hold back and tried to scold him after Kazuya approached them to get a replacement sword.

"Grandpa Jirou, I believe you know what to do after taking a look at this" Kazuya stealthily placed a pink cellphone in Jirou's hands along with the broken sword.

"What is this?" he knew that he couldn't take out the phone until Kazuya reentered the dueling area or someone might complain that Kazuya had brought a foreign object that had nothing to do with the match.

Kazuya ignored the old man and turned towards Tomoyo who couldn't make up her mind whether to look at him or not. She was afraid that he would be disappointed in her and didn't want to see him look at her disdainfully like he used to.

"I apologize for not being able to see your match" Kazuya patted her head and apologized. "I heard the cheers and know that you did your best. Let me borrow your sword to finish this match okay?" Kazuya shuddered as the robot girl stood up to give him a hug. He didn't expect such a reaction.

"Thank.. you.." a soft and calming voice reached his ear. Tomoyo tried to hide the tears in her eyes as she handed him her bamboo sword.

"You have a beautiful voice. It's a shame you don't use it" he stopped patting her head and turned back. She was slowly speaking on her own and he was glad to see some progress in this seemingly hopeless endeavor.

"The dueling area has been cleaned, both contestants please return" the referee announced. He was more vigilant this time and observed the match as seriously as he could and kept an eye on Kazuya who went back to his position.

"[What did I do to you to make you mad!?]" Ayame's voice once again reached him. He could see the displeased look on her face behind her headgear.

"[You did nothing wrong. I'll consider your proposition of giving you a chance of getting along since I will owe you. I can't waste mana so I'm cutting you off now]" Kazuya turned towards the referee and was wondering what was taking him so long.

Ayame was annoyed. He offered no explanation for doing things like this and selfishly said whatever he wanted. She didn't want to let him have his way so she activated her full potential without a care for what will happen just so that she could prevent him from doing what he selfishly pleased.

"BEGIN!"

Kazuya once again moved without restraint. Ayame was ready this time and was barely able to dodge the strike. She felt a slight impact from the swift attack even though it didn't even hit her. She braced herself because she knew that he wasn't done.

He stepped in once more and didn't mind Ayame's intention of counterattacking. Kazuya couldn't help but praise this girl's resilience. It was probably because of this that she was able to beat Tomoyo despite the robot girl having his help.

"(Got you!)" Ayame anticipated the strike from below and began to move her sword to hit him before he could strike.

"Sorry" his voice reached her ears this time. the intended strike never flew up as he threw the sword towards his left and used it thrust towards her throat. Because of his one-handed style, his free hand had been in the perfect position for it and as Ayame's downward strike missed, the thrust successfully hit its target.

"Point and match! Contestant Kouzuki!"

The crowd stood up to applaud as Kazuya used the sword in his hand and placed both hands on the hilt and pointed the sword to the ground heroically. The referee who called the match rushed towards Ayame who had been knocked down by the last thrust to make sure she was okay.

"I'm alright, I was just thrown off balance" She stood up unstably but the referee relented.

"Please don't push yourself and let us check your injuries" the old man persisted.

"Injury? I have none. My opponent had been very precise about his strikes" Ayame took off her headgear but it slipped off her fingers as soon as she removed it.

"No injury? Where did the blood come from then?" the old man pointed towards the drops of blood that was scattered both on the ground and her clothes.

"This.." she quickly pushed the man aside to take a good look at the opponent who was being weird the whole match.

The old man was confused. It was only until he followed the shocked girl's vision did he understand what had been going on. A pool of blood was slowly forming around Kazuya who had been standing motionless ever since the match had ended.

"KID!" Jirou jumped into the dueling area and took off Kazuya's helmet before slowly putting him on the ground.

The audience only realized that something was wrong after they saw what Jirou was doing. Paramedics rushed towards the dueling area with a gurney. Followed by Mei who was pulling Kyouko along with her.

"Kazuya!" Kyouko shivered at the sight of her son who was covered in blood. Jirou immediately stopped her from coming close and led the paramedics to do their job. He already checked his wound and cursed the boy for being too reckless.

"Let them take care of him, Kyouko. I know you're worried but treating him is the first priority" Jirou could see that Mei was also trying to hold back as she trembled while trying to hold back her desire to rush to his side.

"NO!" the loudest shout came from the most unlikely person. Jirou trembled and left Kyouko in Mei's hands. He rushed to Tomoyo's side and blocked his granddaughter's vision by putting her in his embrace. He didn't want his granddaughter to be traumatized again after finally showing positive changes, so he had no choice but to take her away from the arena and left Miyamoto and the other instructors to deal with the rest.

"[KAZU! I won't ever forgive you if you dare die! Are you going to let your big sis be a widow for the rest of my life!?]" Mei didn't know what to do and tried to use the whisper skill to vent. To her surprise, Kazuya's body shuddered after she did that.

"[S-sorry big sis..]" Mei almost dropped to her knees in relief after hearing his voice in her mind. "[I'll be fine so please take care of mom and don't worry. This is just for show]" he tried to reassure her.

"[For show!? Do you know how much blood you're losing right now!?]" Mei immediately saw through it. Even his voice sounded weak in her mind so she scolded him immediately. "[What happened!? Tell me right now!!]" Kazuya could feel her powerful glare and felt a cold chill.

"[I have to concentrate my mana so that I won't be in danger. Find that weird girl Stockton Kurumi. She is a witness and can tell you what happened. The evidence you need is a pink cell phone that's with grandpa Jirou but you can watch it at the weird girl's social media. I really have to focus now so I'll leave it to you to take advantage of the situation]" Kazuya cut off the connection as he was being taken away by the paramedics.

Kyouko moved to follow but stopped because her assistant was looking around instead of moving with her. She grabbed Mei's hand and thought that she was still in shock. Her assistant found the blonde target who was right where the paramedics were moving.

"Come with us" Mei had no time to be picky right now and asked the two girls to come with them.

The paramedics told Kyouko that two doctors were brought with them and couldn't take additional passengers. The two girls had a vehicle waiting for them so both Mei and Kyouko boarded with them and followed along.

"What's going on Mei?" Kyouko knew that her assistant didn't like this little girl, so it was very unusual for her to consider the Stockton girl in this kind of situation.

"Paramedics don't usually come with ambulances, but they brought two of them. There are very few influences that are able to do that. Their presence convinced me that they have something to do with what happened" after finding out that Kazuya was alright, Mei recovered her wit and spoke according to the information she received from Kazuya.

"Is this true?" Kyouko turned towards the little girl who she was once apologetic towards. What Mei said indeed made sense. She once sent multiple famous doctors to help Kazuya.

"Y-yes.." she lowered her head because she felt guilty after seeing her so worried about Kazuya. She had been powerless to stop anything from happening.

"Is your phone a pink cell phone?" Mei followed up with another question that caught them off guard.

"Y-yes but how did you know?" Kurumi didn't expect such a question and looked towards the beautiful woman who she remembered was hugging Kazuya when she visited the hospital.

"I saw Kazu handing it to Shiroyuki Jirou-sama during the match. Knowing Kazu, he must have done something with it if he took it from you" Mei handed Kurumi her phone.

"This.." even Maron was a bit startled to see the wallpaper on the phone. They looked at Mei again and didn't understand why she was showing them such a thing in this situation.

"Use it to check your accounts. You should at least have it synced, right?" Mei urged. It wasn't just because of Kazuya's information; this girl had the privilege to have all the services that money could buy at her fingertips.

"Use mine instead" Maron grabbed the phone and gave it back to Mei. She didn't want her cousin to stare at Mei's attempt to show her dominance.

Kurumi didn't understand what was going on but followed her instructions anyway. It didn't take long for them to discover the video that had been posted not only on Kurumi's accounts, but it had been posted publicly as well.

They all watched the video to understand what was going on. Kurumi found that the video started when Kazuya was first kicked by the scarred man. Her phone was left recording when he stood up after the crash. It recorded everything that happened.

"Lee.." Kyouko looked coldly at the boy. Kazuya, her most precious son was seen as nothing but a tool by them. They would recognize him if he was talented but they would discard him and use Lee if he was not what they wanted.

"Wait a minute.. how did Kazu end up fighting in the match after he was shot then?" Mei tried to change the topic. Kyouko was usually kind-hearted but Kazuya was her reverse scale. She shuddered to think what might happen if Kyouko really got mad especially since Kazuya was able to get a confession about the Kurogane family's plot.

Kyouko was snapped out of it and realized this strange point and continued watching.

-

*BANG* Kazuya fell to the floor and lee dropped the gun on the floor while panicking at what had just happened.

"I didn't do it! He was the one who pulled the trigger!" Lee turned towards Kurumi who immediately ran towards Kazuya after kicking the gun.

"Kazuya-kun! Wake up! Please wake up!" she couldn't care less about what Lee had to say and continued shaking Kazuya to wake him up.

Lee panicked and stumbled before running out of the room. The crowd's cheers were able to mask the sound of the gunshot so there were hardly any people that were able to hear the disturbance. Sensing that the fool had already gone, Kazuya slowly opened his eyes and slowly sat back up. He had to concentrate his mana so that the wound wouldn't let out too much blood.

This was his first time doing something like this. Thus, he had to concentrate so that he could make his body function as it should while keeping the wound and the bullet inside him. He placed a hand on the bullet wound so that he could have additional control over it but the blood that leaked out slowly stained both his hands and his uniform.

"(My mana won't last long at this rate. I could die if I keep going with this plan)" Ignoring the pleas of the crying girl beside him, Kazuya used his mana to heal the major damage he suffered internally.

"Kazuya-kun! Say something!"

"Sorry. Everything is alright now. I still need to participate in the final match so if you really were my friend before I lost my memory, I hope that you can respect my wishes and at least wait until the match begins before calling for help. That should be enough time for me to end it" Kazuya struggled to stand up because of the wound that was left open.

"Why.. Isn't it just a competition!?" Kurumi didn't understand. He was clearly in pain yet he still wanted to put more strain in his body and participate in the competition.

"It's because I want to see my mom and big sis' smiles again. They were so happy when I won the last tournament so I want to see that again" Kazuya smiled at her.

"To an amnesiac like me, I am more sensitive to their anxiety more than anything. I can't do anything about my lost memories.. All I can do is work hard so that they can accept and realize that the new me is much better than the old one" That was the last image before the video had cut off.

-

The group finished watching the video after they arrived at the hospital. Mei volunteered to take care of the paperwork as Kyouko and the two girls waited for the results outside atthe waiting area of the surgical floor.

"Kazuya.." Kyouko couldn't help but cry after hearing what her son had to say. She was worried that that might have been the last words that he said that was meant for her and couldn't help but shed tears.

She always wanted him to recover his memories. What she didn't realize that Kazuya was well aware of that fact and that prevented him from forming a closer bond with him like they used to. Kyouko agreed that his son was indeed more mature and talented but she still missed the sweet son of hers that would act spoiled around her. She realized that this was probably why he had a close relationship with Mei rather than herself. Mei accepted the current him. It may have been because this new him didn't avoid her like his old self but this was why he was very attached to her.

"Kyouko.." Mei arrived at the floor and called out to her to see if there had been any updates but after seeing her expression, she knew that there still wasn't any news.

"Mei, I want you to contact grandpa Jirou and tell him that he needs to keep Kurumi-chan's phone safe. That is an important piece of evidence" The video was public and they were well aware of the Kurogane family's connections. It wouldn't take too long for them to put a plan into action so any piece of evidence had the probability of being lost.

Jirou was the head of the Shiroyuki household and along with their family business, the number of their students in law enforcement wouldn't be just a few. He was the person who could keep the phone safely.

"Pardon me but I believe that I can be of some assistance" a blond and handsome gentleman wearing a suit walked up to them.

"Dad!" Kurumi ran towards her father followed closely by Maron who remained silent. She knew that with him here, the matter will most likely be settled.

"Stockton Jonson-san.." Kyouko didn't expect to see such a person to show up unexpectedly. Today was an important day for Stockton International so he was supposed to be in another prefecture so he must have rushed all the way here after hearing his daughter's plight.

"Please, call me Jon. I've seen the video on my way here and Kurumi already called to inform me what happened. Those people dared to lay a hand on my daughter so I wish to help in order to get all the people responsible for this punished" he picked Kurumi up and tried to calm the crying girl.

"We would appreciate your help but we don't just plan on pursuing those responsible" Kyouko stood her ground against Kurumi's father. She wanted to make it clear that she was going to make the Kurogane Conglomerate suffer for this.

"I understand what you mean. I still owe a debt to Kouzuki Kazuya and it seems that it has doubled because of his deed today. I rather admire him and hope that he can regain his friendship with my Kurumi here"

"What do you mean by that?" Mei's eyebrow raised and stood at Kyouko's side to face this intimidating man.

"What I mean is, I have already given the order to cut off any of Stockton International's collaborations with the Kurogane Conglomerate. This includes any of their businesses or subsidiaries currently residing in buildings or any property that we own. This should be more than enough to convey my sincerity upon this matter" he smiled at the two ladies.

"This.." Kyouko was shocked. This was already quite a huge blow towards the Kurogane Conglomerate and this guy just said that it was only a token of sincerity.

"How do you plan on assisting us?" Mei wasn't fazed. She already knew that Kazuya planned to use their influence to deal damage to them and it was up to her to take full advantage of it.

"I've already contacted several media outlets to let them cover the story. Not many people are aware of the adopted boy being disowned so even if they claim that they had already done so, it would already be too late" He was a little surprised that Mei had kept a cool head during all of this but he still continued. The Kouzuki family always had good luck with loyal talents and Mei seemed to be one of them.

"What do you want in exchange then? I don't believe that you're going to be doing all of this without wanting something in return" Mei went to the main point.

"About that.." Jon put down Kurumi who had finally calmed down. "I just want the boy to not reject my little princess's friendship. She had taken quite the blow and has been depressed after her visit to the hospital at the time he lost his memories. To repay the debt to him for keeping my daughter safe, that is all I ask for everything" he smiled after seeing Kurumi hiding behind him. She was too embarrassed to face them after hearing what her father had to say.

Kyouko and even Mei were surprised this time. The rumors that this person doted on his daughter too much was really underrated. Would he have lost enormous profits just for the sake of making them get along? Both of them couldn't believe it but they couldn't think of any other ulterior motive since he neither asked for profits or a contract.

"We can't speak for Kazu because we are not him. We do not want to force him to get along with someone he doesn't like" Mei stepped up since she knew Kyouko wasn't against the idea.

"I know. That is why I just want a guarantee that you will not influence him against this friendship, Ms. Kazuno Mei. Let the two of them become friends. After this ordeal, I believe that Kouzuki Kazuya will realize that my daughter's intention of seeking their old friendship is real" he continued.

Mei didn't really have anything against it. May it have been deliberate or not, Kurumi was involved in this incident and suffered some grievances. It would be irresponsible for him to not accept her friendship and she would scold him if he did.

"Fine" she gave in. it would be up to Kazuya after he wakes up.

"That's splendid news. Now then, shall we begin the preparations for our attack?" he smiled.

Jon may have said preparation but he had already begun. After hearing that his precious daughter was hit, he already called a lot of people to analyze each person that appeared in the video and have them and their associates located and observed.

Maron knew what kind of person Kurumi's father was and how much he cared about his daughter. The people who kidnapped her were already doomed from the moment she told him that she was hurt. He only appeared in the hospital and talked to Kyouko and Mei so that Kurumi would have a guarantee and would not focus on the bad experience she just had. This was the reason why she had been calm after he made a personal appearance.

It was the Kurogane Conglomerate luck that they had disowned Lee before this incident happened. Stockton Jonson wouldn't have stopped at only a small skirmish if he confirmed that they still supported Lee when this happened. He couldn't care less whether they knew her identity or not.

Needless to say, because of Kazuya's move to release the video using Kurumi's phone, everything went faster than he would have expected. Men that were involved were surrounded and arrested. They were confident after receiving the word of a Kouzuki but they did not think that the girl who was with him had an even scarier background. Kazuya promised not to go after them but he never said anything about Kurumi.

Lee was found trying to board the train back to their prefecture. He was immediately taken into custody where he was adamant about his claim that he was not the one that shot Kazuya. He screamed and shouted that it was Kazuya himself that pulled the trigger. What made his story more unbelievable is the words he claimed to have been said by Kazuya before pulling the trigger to shoot himself.

"You've taken everything away from me last time. This time, I'll let you experience falling to the bottom without any hope of getting back up. Make sure you lock yourself up because if I ever see or hear from you again, you would have wished that you killed me when you had the chance"

.