.

It was dinner time but unlike the usual lively dinner, there was complete silence at the table where Mei, Kyouko and Kazuya were sitting at. The three of them dined at one of the local restaurants where Kyouko looked at her two companions that seemed to have been occupied with their own thoughts.

Unfortunately, Sacred Forest Academy was only able to place second in the team matches and it was Ayame's team that had taken the championship. They were able to strategize accordingly and predicted Kazuya's vanguard participation.

They sent out members to lose to both Kazuya and Tomoyo while Ayame picked up a victory against Nishida. It was a close battle but the matches ended up with Sacred Forest Academy's loss. Even though the audience was looking forward to the matches between Ayame and the two people that were able to beat her in the regionals, they had to wait until tomorrow to witness it possibly happening.

Mei on the other hand was thinking about how to get to talk to Kazuya alone. She very much wanted a private lesson from him about her discoveries today and forgot all about Kyouko who wouldn't let him out of her sight. She couldn't think of any other way to learn from him and she realized that using the skill continuously throughout the day had already taken a toll on her body.

"Don't worry too much about what happened today, Kazuya. Second place isn't too bad considering the result the academy got last year. You should be proud that you were able to go this far for your first tournament" Kyouko tried comforting her son.

Her guess was completely off because Kazuya was thinking about something entirely different. He already knew that the team battle was somewhat like a game of rock paper scissors. He didn't worry too much about it unlike what everyone assumed.

He was more worried about another matter. Since his thinking had begun to change, the team matches he didn't take too seriously made him realize that there were some things that were out of his hands. This made him uncomfortable since he would literally be against the world once he stepped back into Edea.

Kazuya had been a hero, but during the war, he went ahead and left commanding the armies by his side to others. This was the reason why he was surrounded at the end of his previous life by the same army that was supposed to be on his side.

"I'm not worried about that at all mom…" he looked at the worried face of his mother and smiled at her.

Kazuya just felt stupid for failing to realize this even after all the time he spent witnessing his previous experiences. He was now only beginning to accept that even though he did have the advantage of getting a second chance to relive his life, he was still very far off from what he needed to become to even be able to have a chance at getting revenge successfully.

"Then what is it? You can tell mom everything you know that, right?" Kyouko held his hand. She was a mother that always wanted her beloved son to smile so she wanted to hear about his concerns.

"It's nothing much. I'm just reflecting on what happened today, even though I knew that winning the team matches depended on the winning majority of the matches, I realized that I did very little to actually help the team win" he confessed.

"You shouldn't be worrying about everything you know. You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Your coach and the other people in charge should be worried about that. It's their job, while yours should be focusing on winning the matches ahead of you" Kyouko tried reassuring him.

"Thank you, mom. I think you may have just answered a problem I was worrying about" he gave her a hug. He wasn't lying when he said that because what she said made a lot of sense to him in more ways than one.

"(Not alone huh…)" this made him think about the companions which had been lost due to his inability to perceive the ploy that made use of them and threw them away as soon as they served their purpose.

"(Mom's right… I may have to change my plans…) today's experience made him reflect a lot and affected his priorities.

As a hero, even with all his advantages, it was still too much for him to face Edea alone. If he wanted to be able to return to this life of his on earth, he would have to not only consider his own development, but to come up with some kind of plan to solicit the help of people who he knew he could trust.

Kazuya didn't think he would have come so close to understanding these things so soon so he was very thankful towards them. He was getting used to having a family he could call his own and was slowly learning the happiness that went along with it.

The only problem was, he realized that he had a lot more work than he had originally thought. He didn't think that it was bad at all but Kazuya wished that the amount of things he had to deal with wouldn't increase any further. He only had a little over a decade after all.

He decided to stop thinking about these things for now. He was with Kyouko and she was always very sensitive towards her son. He still hadn't completely gotten rid of his habit of retreating deep into his mind to think but because of the people around him, he was already being affected without realizing it himself.

The three had their dinner and Mei still had not found the chance to keep Kazuya for herself so she just opted to save things for later, since he was going to come back home with them after the tournament anyway. She had more things to do and since she was currently free from doing anything for the Kouzuki corporation, she concentrated on the affairs of Kazuno Technologies.

Mei used the time Kyouko had been distracted by her son's presence to work quietly in a corner. Kyouko didn't really mind this because she thought to take advantage to pull her son away from the powerful influence of her assistant.

Kyouko was a little worried about her son so she let him rest early and pulled him to the big bed where the three of them were supposed to sleep together. This was one way of making sure that her assistant wouldn't pester him in the middle of the night only to make him sleep deprived for the important matches tomorrow.

-

In a 5 star hotel that was a few blocks away from the hotel where Kazuya had been staying, two girls kept watching the replays of the matches. They were new to the sport and didn't know who the popular people were or their capabilities, so they watched videos of the people that were mentioned as noteworthy.

"What do you think Maron-chan?" Kurumi looked towards her cousin after they finished watching the matches of the last person on the list given to them.

"What else can I say? There is no doubt that Ka-kun will win. The only reason I see him losing is if he doesn't show up or something happens so you can stop worrying about him tomorrow" Maron turned off the television and prepared to go to bed.

"Do you think I should congratulate him tomorrow?" she nervously asked.

"Why are you asking me? I still can't believe he's the same Ka-kun I haven't seen in just a short time"

"I…" Kurumi hesitated. She still couldn't forget the scene with Kazuya at the hospital from her memory. She was afraid that he would reject her again.

"Just do what you want. I know I would" Maron sighed as she saw the indecisive side of her cousin rear its ugly head. "If you don't do it then should I? I'm still curious as to how he would react once he sees me again" Maron grinned.

"No!" Kurumi vigorously shook her head.

"Heh… I'm going to meet him once I transfer so it doesn't matter to me. Once he wins this tournament, he's going to be in a good mood so it's up to you what you want to do. If you miss this chance, I don't think you will have a chance to meet him until you pass the requirements that's giving you a hard time."

"Uuu…" Kurumi puffed her cheeks and didn't want to listen to the unfiltered words of her cousin and covered herself with her blanket and forced herself to sleep.

It was already quite late and the tournament started early tomorrow morning so Maron only giggled and didn't argue with Kurumi. This cousin of hers was more like a sister so she couldn't resist teasing her. She joined her on the bed and looked forward to what she was going to do tomorrow.

-

It was now the second day of the tournament and it was the elementary division's turn to start early in the morning. The dueling area had far less people compared to in the team matches so it was easier to move around and look for people. He looked towards the audience area and located the other members of his team who were looking energetic after he entered.

Unlike the team matches that needed draws, the individual tournaments had the top four players of each region, separated into four different brackets. They were placed at random but they wouldn't be able to face people from the same region unless they make it to the finals.

Tomoyo felt uneasy about the change since she wanted to watch and stay together with Kazuya throughout the tournament, but she was placed in block A while he was placed in block C. Ayame was placed in block B and Akabane Nanami was placed in block D.

"K-kouzuki Kazuya!" a girl Kazuya didn't recognize suddenly called and came up to him. The girl had a long ponytail and a beauty mark under her eye. It was because of that mole that he was able to tell who she was.

"We meet again beautiful-san, I see you've donned a very lovely ponytail. It suits you very much" Kazuya was very fond of this person's reaction so he couldn't resist complimenting her as soon as he realized who she was.

"Y-you recognized me?" She was still a little nervous when talking to him. It was mostly because she was afraid to talk to him inappropriately since she was not used to talking politely.

"How could I not? You're clearly the prettiest representative from our region so how can I not?" the beast race had always loved compliments so even though he had yet to realize it, his instincts told him to act this way.

Nanami immediately lost her cool and blushed like a ripe tomato after hearing such a compliment. Kazuya called her pretty but she never expected that he saw her as someone who was even prettier than Ayame, who she felt was above her on both their talents and looks.

Nishida and the others couldn't help but praise Kazuya for being responsible of changing the notorious Nanami who even came up to him and acted tamely around him. Kazuya's friend who had been seated near them leaned over and eavesdropped on the juicy gossip.

"That Kazuya…" Takaya, who just arrived today, shook his head as he observed his friend who he immediately assumed was flirting with an older girl. "What a sadist…" he whispered.

Takaya didn't make it to the first day of the tournament because he needed to perform in place of a person who was injured. He may have been feeling tired from both traveling and performing but seeing this side of his friend he hadn't seen before made him smile.

Kazuya didn't know but his friend had potentially spotted and realized something that could help him fulfill his purpose. He had already discussed Kazuya's terms with his parents and they agreed to it because they were confident in being able to change the boy's mind if ever he showed the potential their son bragged about.

Takaya being here wasn't only because of Kazuya. He also had gotten along with Tomoyo who didn't mind his presence anymore whenever the three of them were together. Her changes were closely being observed by Takaya and both of them no longer treated each other as mere strangers.

After learning of Kazuya's purpose of trying to make her try to communicate normally, he didn't think it was possible with just the two of them at first. It was only after seeing how she was slowly changing with their interactions did he come to realize that as long as she continued to treat Kazuya as she did, she would eventually have to speak.

There weren't really much change compared to the first day except for the single elimination matches that determined each individual's advancement towards the finals. Like the first day, Kazuya had continued with his trend of only taking a point near the end of the round.

This led to the expectations of many to end up in disappointment. The disappointment was even bigger for the ones who have seen the excellent matches he had when he won the championship in their region. Only those who were able to understand were looking at him expectantly. Aside from Jirou and Miyamoto, no one could tell what he was up to but they knew that he wasn't showing everything he was capable of.

Unlike Kazuya's slow advancement, Tomoyo and Ayame moved smoothly. Ayame was one of two people close to Kazuya's age that knew what he was doing but was worried that he wouldn't have enough stamina when they eventually would face each other.

Tomoyo on the other hand, knew of his monstrous capabilities and only silently watched over him. She also wanted to do what he was doing but Jirou stopped her before she could finish the thought. She was told that she had no need to do what he had been doing unless she understood the reason he was doing it on her own.

Time passed by and the champions of the four blocks were finally decided. It didn't come to a surprise that Kazuya, Ayame and Tomoyo made it without any trouble considering their abilities. The fourth person who made it however, eliminated Nanami and prevented their region from getting the final four position.

This person was the successor of the person who beat Ayame and was the very first opponent that Kazuya would face before the final match where he would face the victor of the match between Ayame and Tomoyo.

"I'm sorry but could you please concede this match? I know you've beaten Kuronuma-san once and I looked forward to facing you but after seeing your matches… it will only be a waste of both our stamina if we fought" he confidently declared. This invoked the displeasure of most of the people who heard it.

He didn't lower his volume and didn't care if anyone overheard him. Unlike those who were arrogant in front of him, Kazuya could tell that this person genuinely didn't mean any harm and was purely interested in fighting interesting opponents.

A smile slowly formed in Kazuya's face because after taking a closer look at this person, he felt a strong will and passion for fighting. This was precisely the type of person who would unconsciously activate mana in a form of enhancement once they engage their battle. He was exactly this type when he first arrived in Edea and the only difference between them was that because of his blessing, mana was practically oozing out of him though he didn't know how to use it at first.

"Have you studied my matches in the regional tournament?" Kazuya couldn't help but ask.

"I have. I was very interested in you after seeing your matches. It is a pity that I was paired against you. I was interested in fighting against whoever would lose against in the other block's match but sadly, the finals is not a round robin" he honestly replied.

"Then how did my matches appear to be before the round robin in the final match?" Kazuya gave a grin as soon as his opponent realized what he was trying to say. Even though he didn't plan it, he indeed didn't need to show anything that would catch anyone's attention until he faced Ayame and Tomoyo in the regionals.

"Both contestants take your positions!" the referee declared as Kazuya quickly turned to take his place after wearing his headgear.

The vigor of Kazuya's opponent was renewed while his fighting spirit rose exponentially. He felt that he needed to apologize for underestimating his opponent but that would only come after their match. He wouldn't let anyone take the crown that his upperclassman tried hard to protect.

"BEGIN!" the referee shouted.

*BAM!!*

Immediately after the signal was given, a sound echoed throughout the arena. The audience's mouths gaped together with the judges.

"P-point Kouzuki!" the head referee stuttered and looked at Kazuya who was already standing behind his opponent.

"See what I mean?" Kazuya walked past his opponent to return to his starting point.

.