155 Repair 2 in 1 (1/2)

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”Please come this way Kouzuki-san.” Several police officers met with Kazuya as soon as he was able to get off the plane.

Kazuya was already informed that he was going to be picked up by the authorities to ensure that he would be able to get home as soon as possible so after confirming he got shown their badges, he followed their lead.

None of these officers knew why they had to accommodate Kazuya. Though they didn't know why they had to, orders were absolute. It was Shiroyuki Jirou's request. They led the boy to board one of the police helicopters that was on standby.

”Apologies but our instructions were to bring only Kouzuki Kazuya.” The officer blocked off the two guards that Kurogane Tenma sent along with Kazuya for both protection and observation. ”Both of you will have to find means of transportation on your own.” The officer said before boarding the helicopter along with Kazuya.

The two guards looked at each other before backing down. They had no way to force their way through because of the amount of police officers that had escorted them to the helicopter. With no other options, the two swiftly left and immediately went to report to Kurogane Tenma.

”Shiroyuki Jirou certainly knows how to flaunt.” Temna scoffed after he heard the report. ”I already expected that you two would not be allowed to stay with Kazuya when he meets with the Kouzuki side so you can just start on making preparations for the other plan.” He ordered.

”Sir… do we include private means as well?” the guard that was reporting to Tenma couldn't help but ask. He considered this option as he watched the helicopter that took their young master away take off.

”Yes. Reserve them as well. Any means of transportation that would take the boy back here in time for the exhibition match should be reserved.” Tenma didn't hesitate.

This was what he had intended when he forced Kazuya into making his promise. Tenma was sure that either the boy would have gone back to their hometown on his own after hearing about what happened to Shiroyuki Tomoyo. Even if he had decided to focus on the match, the Kouzuki clan and the Shiroyuki clan would make sure to call him back. This was the funeral of his official fiancé after all.

Tenma had his loyal guards take every single means of transportation to take Kazuya back to participate in the exhibition match on time. Tenma would take advantage of Kazuya's absence to be the judge of who gets to give the national representative position to his grandson. This would give him the chance to have some influence over which side he would favor.

Though there were other means of returning on time to participate, they were in no means convenient because of the distance that had to be traveled. With Kazuya forfeiting, his promise would have been broken while not suffering any blame because of the circumstances that Tenma divulged to the witnesses.

”Understood. We will immediately make preparations.”

-

Though Kazuya's traveling time was shortened, he still couldn't feel anxious. He had sworn to never let his comrades suffer the same fate in this new life. He didn't think that he would make new ones in the process so he was afraid of losing the loyal robot girl after he had just realized what place this girl had gained through her efforts.

He tried busying his mind as he travelled and tried to unravel the things that have been on his mind ever since he heard of this incident. Kazuya had come to a conclusion that this was not a feat that could have been done by a mere killer who had been sent to rot in prison for as long as he had.

”(What changed? Who could it have been? How was it achieved?)” those were some of the questions that Kazuya kept asking himself as soon as he started his journey back home.

Though the Shiroyuki clan wasn't without enemies, none of them went as far as attacking members of their family. They remained as business rivals because they feared the wrath of the clan's influence over various officials that have gained power over the years.

”(Those who the Shiroyukis went up against throughout the years feared retaliating towards them because of grandpa Jirou. Who would have the guts to…)” Kazuya stopped thinking as he seemed to have thought of something. He quickly turned to the officer who was with him to clarify a few things.

”What is it?” the officer asked.

”Which prison was Shirihara Kira kept in?” Kazuya didn't have much knowledge of the person as he only knew as much as what Yuriko had informed him at the time.

”This…” the officer was hesitant. He didn't know why the kid know about it but since it was an ongoing investigation, he didn't know how to answer.

”I already heard everything from grandpa Jirou. This has something to do with solving a big part of the case so I hope that you can answer my question.” He didn't forget to mention Jirou's name to make the officer believe that he could just ask the old man if he wanted to.

”The… Numa Correctional facility…” the officer answered. He was afraid of what Shiroyuki Jirou might do if Kazuya told him that the officer didn't cooperate.

”Numa Correctional facility…?” he repeated the name. This was something that sounded very familiar.

”It's a facility that was established by the philanthropist, Numa Hisashi. It is a prison that is also set-up to study the prisoners' psychology to help solve and prevent crimes.” Seeing Kazuya deep in thought, the officer offered additional information.

”!!” Kazuya immediately had a revelation as soon as he heard the name. One of the recent ventures of the Kuroganes been investing in lately had been towards this philanthropist and his research.

If there was one thing that he learned from his previous life, it was that there were no such thing as such convenient coincidences. Though the Kuroganes have their charity and philanthropy projects themselves, they were never really without any benefits. By this reasoning alone, Kazuya was convinced that there had to be something that the Kuroganes did.

But why would they target the robot girl of all people? Wasn't their target his mother? What benefit would they gain from Tomoyo's death? If they went through the trouble and spent a lot of money, what was their goal? Kazuya thought long and hard.

”sigh… I need more information…” he muttered after being escorted towards a vehicle after the helicopter had landed not too far away from the Kouzuki residence.

*bzzz bzzz* Kazuya had received a message from Ika.

[Boss! The Kurogane are acting strange. They are reserving every private plane and buying tickets towards K prefecture. Something must have happened because Kurogane Tenma is there right now!]

”(That old man…)” Kazuya was immediately irritated. He thought of the possibility of Tomoyo's current predicament was because they needed to lure him towards this plot. The thought of this made him want to slowly dissect that old bastard to pieces.

He calmed himself down after his body felt that they had entered the neighborhood that had an increased amount of mana. Dealing with Kurogane Tenma's plot would have to come after he solved the current problem.

”Halt!” the person who stood in front of the vehicle was none other than Mame. They had already locked down the area surrounding the Kouzuki residence. Nagato Tsuna said that he needed to concentrate after all.

”I'll get off here. Thank you, officer.” Kazuya excused himself and got off the vehicle.

”Y-young master!” Mame immediately greeted him along with the rest who almost panicked.

”You've been working hard.” Kazuya nodded at Mame. ”I'll definitely provide you guys with a rewarding vacation once the troubles start dying down.” Kazuya directed this to the team under Mame who have been assigned to protect Kyouko.

”T-thank you young master!” Mame bowed sincerely. In his opinion, there would be no need for such a thing. The lives they've led after meeting Kouzuki Kazuya was like a dream for them. They were no longer the dregs of society that people looked down on.

Kazuya entered the residence and was immediately greeted with the face of his worried mother. She checked if anything had happened to him since she didn't think that Kurogane Tenma would let him go without a fight. That competition was his pride after all.

”I know what you want to ask, mom. We can talk about it after I check on Tsuna-san.” Kazuya greeted her with an apologetic smile before heading to his laboratory. Though he couldn't tell what her current condition was, Kazuya knew that Tomoyo was still breathing.

”Kid… you have to save Jirou's granddaughter.” Kou looked at Kazuya with a rare but serious expression. ”Saving her would mean preventing the chaos that Jirou will wreak.”

”Don't put too much pressure on him!” Kyouko glared at her father. Though they already talked about the consequences of Kazuya's failure, she believed it needn't be said.

”I could care less about what action grandpa Jirou might take just to find the scum that did this and the people behind them. I will be doing the same regardless of the outcome.” Kazuya turned his back. ”If I'm right… no matter how useful they currently are, they just added another reason for not needing stay amongst the living anymore…”

Kyouko and Kou looked at each other after Kazuya entered the building. They wondered if the hint that Kazuya gave was true. What did the Kurogane clan truly want? Why are they targeting people around Kazuya?

”Do you think… they know about the arrangements you made about Tomoyo-chan being Kazuya's fiancé, dad?” Kou immediately froze after hearing the question.

”I… would probably assume so… it was no big secret at the time after all.” Kou sighed as he felt guilty. He was partly responsible about bringing his friend's precious granddaughter to harm if that were the case.

”You shouldn't have hidden it from us, or even me…” Kyouko sighed. Though she was glad that Kazuya had cared for his friends, she didn't like her son doing those kinds of things.

”You're not going to stop him? Surely you know that he's been the one disposing of those traitors in the company.” Kou frowned. His daughter truly doted on Kazuya too much.

”I won't. He will work harder to hide things from me if I let him know that I am aware of what he's up to.” Kyouko shook her head. ”The company is Kazuya's as much as it is mine. Though I don't like these methods, as long as Kazuya wishes it, I will be fine with it.” Kyouko smiled as she went back to the house.

”Maybe… she already knew everything?” Kou couldn't help but wonder. Though none of them knew how Kazuya disposed of the traitors of the Kouzuki company, Kou was sure that they will not be coming back. The fate of the Dokuro family was something he was aware of after all.

-

Kazuya breathed in deeply before stepping down the basement of his laboratory. This place had been the center of the gathering formation so the mana was denser that it usually was. The light that emanated from the formations dimly lit the room as he approached the center.

”You came faster than I thought.” Tsuna opened his eyes and the serious expression he wore eased up.

”Thank you for making it in time Tsuna-san.” Kazuya didn't forget to give his gratitude as he saw the girl who was unconscious yet breathing in the middle of the healing formation. ”Can you tell me about the situation?” he approached Tomoyo and held her hand before he used his mana to check on her condition.

”This girl is impressive for her age.” Tsuna couldn't help but praise. ”From what I can see, I assume that this girl already knew that she had to take a hit before being able to land a decisive blow to the attacker. She focused all her mana to deflect the blade that targeted her heart as she attacked.” He explained his findings.

”I see…” Kazuya couldn't help but look at her strangely. This was what he taught this robot girl many times. 'Protect your vitals whenever you think you can't avoid an attack' were the words he thought never got through to her since she would hardly do it whenever they sparred with each other.

”(Stupid girl…)” Kazuya couldn't help but scold her. ”(So you trusted that I wouldn't hurt you that much?)” he sighed. This robot girl had been cute in a weird sort of way.

”Her will to protect herself was strong enough that her mana formed a small barrier around her heart. I can't cast a healing spell precise enough to repair the damaged areas around her heart so I concentrated on letting her body function as if it suffered no damage.” Tsuna continued as he watched Kazuya closely. While he was slightly glad that the boy finally acknowledged a companion in this world, he was still worried about whether he can do something about the situation.

”It's been hard on you Tsuna-san.” He was truly grateful towards Tsuna. Not only had he saved Tomoyo, he had chosen a tedious and tiring method. Even to a person who was as strong as him, not having much mana to gather would exhaust him severely. This had been why Tomoyo was rushed to the Kouzuki residence in a hurry.

”How about it? Can you do something?” he looked expectantly at Kazuya who had never stopped infusing his mana to the girl. The strange part about it was that the mana that surrounded the heart of Tomoyo to form a barrier had eased up compared to when he first did the same thing. This made him convinced that these two definitely shared an unconscious connection towards each other.

”I do have one method but…you probably won't like it.” Kazuya looked at Tsuna. ”My current self can't cast grand healing spells nor does this robot girl have the capability to maintain the effect until she is fully healed.” Both of them were aware of how healing magic functioned so Tsuna didn't deny that fact. He didn't know the spells himself but even if he did, Tomoyo's current level would make the effects of those spells useless unless either one of them kept infusing her with their own mana for a while.

”What method do you have in mind?” Tsuna already thought of those methods which was why he asked for Kazuya's help. He hoped that Kazuya's intelligence would be able to come up with something that could prevent this girl from being close to a cripple.

”Basic healing magic requires little to no requirements for the one being healed. The simplerhealing magic is used, the less it asks for both the caster and the person the spell is casted on.” Kazuya shared his idea.

”By basic healing magic… you mean…” Tsuna frowned. Though Kazuya's idea sounded simple, Tsuna understood what he meant immediately.