.

Inside the Kouzuki house's living room, Fujiyama Akane bandaged the now unmasked old man that was introduced as Kazuya's grandfather. The old man wore a frown the whole time but it was the same for his grandson who was not satisfied with what had just happened.

Kouzuki Kou felt frustrated that he had been beaten up inside his own house and was even more depressed that it had been by none other than his own grandson. This grandson of his who he hasn't seen since his last visit did not recognize him and actually beat him up before he could pull his prank on his daughter's assistant.

Tomoyo who was beside her grandfather was also feeling a bit confused. She was finally glad to see the friend her grandfather has told her stories about but was confused on how to treat him now because Kazuya didn't seem to like him very much.

"There we go, it's all done Kou-sama" Akane finished dressing Kou's injuries and bandaged up his bruised arm.

"Thanks Akane" his arm was still hurting as he tried to move it. He then noticed the little girl beside his old friend who was staring at him looking confused. "Is this your granddaughter Jirou?" he asked as he warmly smiled at Tomoyo.

"Let me introduce you old friend" Jirou guided Tomoyo to stand in front of him. "This is Tomoyo, the precious granddaughter you wanted your grandson to meet when they were just born" He then turned to Tomoyo and introduced his old friend officially.

"S-shiroyuki Tomoyo" Tomoyo politely bowed while trying to see if Kazuya was displeased at her for showing respect to his grandfather. Kazuya didn't make a sound and continued to wear a blank expression while sitting beside Mei.

"Oh what a beautiful little girl. I feel like I lucked out" Kou looked at Tomoyo and was satisfied. "You truly are fortunate this time old friend. Compared to my grandson, she looks like she has a lot of sense in her" he complimented Tomoyo and made Kazuya's eyebrows twitch in the process.

"I wonder how much sense can an old man who likes to act like a hooligan can actually see" Kazuya remarked and remembered that this person's unexpected return very well may have just put the senior members of their family's allies in danger.

"Disrespectful kid! Did my daughter teach you to be disrespectful to elders!?" Kou got angry and stood up to glare at Kazuya.

"Respect is earned and not to be given to those unworthy. Are you one of those elders that thinks they should be respected just because they were born earlier?" Kazuya remained calm and answered back. Due to his bad experience with elders in his previous life, he was easily offended at those who demanded respect just because of their seniority over him.

"Seriously… not even a speck of gratitude towards the person who just saved your life from me" he turned to Mei who had been quietly reflecting after being scolded by Kazuya earlier. She may have gotten used to Kyouko to the point that she could tease her but this old man was really a challenge for anyone to deal with.

"I…" Kou was a little speechless after Kazuya's retort. He was indeed taken aback after being attacked and thought that he would have died earlier if Mei hadn't stepped in. This grandson of his truly had been fierce to the point that he was glad that the fireworks he used formed a flame wall that protected him even though it prevented him from going anywhere.

Thanking Mei now after being reminded by his grandson would make things more awkward so Kou was at a loss at what to do. He knew that he was somewhat at fault but he really didn't think much of what he did and was at a loss at how he had been treated.

"Alright you two, you should end it here" Jirou mediated. "You really shouldn't mess with people like that old friend. Your grandson is extremely overprotective towards the people he cares about especially after everything that's happened" he then turned towards Kazuya "and you should understand when to hold back"

"You of all people should know what threats are looming over us grandpa Jirou" Kazuya looked at him seriously. "No matter what or who, those who enter this place with ill intentions at the very least, won't be able to leave here whole" Kazuya's killing intent flickered.

It had truly been a close call for Kouzuki Kou. The main reason for this is because he was nearing the date where he and his mother got into an accident. Their home was one of the places where those responsible would have most likely did something to make the accident happen in his previous life.

"What does this kid mean Jirou?" Kou sensed the tense atmosphere and asked. "Did something happen while I was away?"

"It's a long story old friend" Jirou gave up convincing Kazuya and sighed. This stubbornness of Kazuya when it came to people he cared about was both a flaw and one of the things he liked about him. He trusted that his granddaughter's safety was guaranteed if she were included in Kazuya's list of important people.

*Rumble Rumble* they were all distracted as rushing footsteps could be heard coming closer. Kyouko appeared from the hallway and immediately saw her father. She rushed inside the room looking a bit frantic after confirming that her father had indeed arrived.

"Daughter! You're finally here" Kou opened up his arms and waited for his daughter to rush to his arms.

"Kazuya!" contrary to Kou's expectations, Kyouko rushed in front of Kazuya instead and lifted him to stand in front of her. She immediately began to check her son's condition to make sure that he hadn't been hurt in the least.

"Why are you back so early mom?" Kazuya looked a bit confused at his mother's sudden arrival.

"Granny Fuji called me" she looked relieved after finding nothing wrong with him. "Are you okay? Did that old man try to hurt you?"

"I'm fine mom. No harm done" Kazuya smiled to reassure her.

Kyouko then looked towards Mei and observed her condition as well. Both her and Kazuya had already changed into clean clothes so there weren't any signs of their current muddy states earlier.

"I'm fine but…" she glanced towards Kou whose injuries were neglected. "Will the office be alright without you?"

"Yumi-chan is doing fine as your stand-in and there really isn't much work left today"

"Hey!" Kou interrupted them. "Aren't you being a little too cold towards your father? I'm the one who's hurt here!" he tried showing off his injuries to Kyouko who merely glanced at him.

"You should have deserved whatever happened right?" Kyouko looked coldly at her father.

"Well…" Kou couldn't deny it and looked a little guilty. The warm reunion with his family that he imagined after surprising them was instead replaced with a harsh and cold welcome.

"Sorry for the trouble grandpa Jirou" Kyouko ignored her father and turned towards Jirou and apologized. She didn't know what happened yet but knowing her father, it most likely gave the people around him trouble.

"Don't be too cold to your father Kyouko-chan and he's probably really excited to catch up with you and the kid" Jirou tried to mediate with Kyouko this time.

"Father? Where was my father when I gave birth to his grandson? Where was my father when I was bullied by those who coveted the company he dumped on his daughter after she graduated? Where was my son's grandfather when he almost died twice these past few years?" Kyouko didn't hold back and looked towards Kou who was greatly shocked by her last line.

"I'm sorr—"

"I don't need your apology. Stop messing with the peace we currently have" Kazuya was a little surprised to see her mother like this. She was usually warm and gentle whenever she was around him but this was the very first time he saw her like this.

Kyouko pulled Mei and Kazuya and took them away from the living room. She stopped at the hallway since she didn't really know where to go to avoid her father. She couldn't ask them what happened as they could probably hear their conversation if they had their discussion somewhere near so Kazuya took the initiative to take them towards his research area.

Kou looked downcast after seeing them leave. He turned towards Jirou who apparently was here when they had such an experience. He was thankful for this old friend of his because from the way his family had treated this friend of his, Jirou had played a part and most likely extended a helping hand.

"Can you tell me what happened old friend?" Kou turned towards Jirou who looked at him with sympathy.

Jirou understood why Kyouko reacted that way. Kou may have been a good friend to him and their circle of friends but that didn't mean that he was a model family man. All of them knew that Kou was willful and did whatever that he wanted. Kyouko was especially the one who suffered the most because of his old friend's troublesome nature.

"You see…" he sighed and decided to tell Kou the events that happened while he was away. Akane also gave a helping hand after she served them tea and informed the old family head of everything that had happened at home.

Jirou and Akane understood why Kou was the way he was currently. They really couldn't blame him because he had changed greatly after his wife had died in an early age. He appeared to be willful and selfish but both of them knew that behind the troublesome man was a man who was very lonely after losing his wife.

Inside Kazuya's research center. Kyouko started to tell her son about his grandfather after learning what had happened when they arrived earlier. She couldn't really blame her son for what happened because he did not have any memories of his grandfather. Mei didn't inform Kyouko about how Kazuya almost killed her father though.

After Kou lost his wife, he quickly settled matters and handed over the Kouzuki corporation to his daughter. He instructed Akane's children to support his daughter from behind. He then decided to travel around the world where he unexpectedly became an explorer of sorts. He was out of contact in the recent years because he went to place that did not have any contact with modern society so he received no news of the events that transpired in the recent years.

He may have been Kazuya's grandfather but he didn't look like an old man at all. He appeared like a respectable gentleman that was over his middle ages and was the youngest in their circle of friends.

Kou was quite taken aback when he heard about Kazuya's trip to the hospital where he woke up and lost his memories. He never expected such a thing to have happened to the grandson he was just arguing with earlier. To have been betrayed was not something new to him at his age but to his grandson, he felt that the kid had developed trust issues.

"I've met that kid Lee as well. I didn't mind his presence much especially since Kyouko didn't seem to be bothered that he was adopted by Kazuya's father…" he frowned. Even he hadn't been able to see through Lee's façade.

What made him mad the most however was to find out that his grandson had experienced yet another life-threatening experience in the hands of that same brat. The revelation of the Kurogane family being suspected to have been behind everything made him almost burst out of the door to go directly to that old snake's den to question him directly but Jirou already anticipated this and stood in his way.

He knew that their family and the Kurogane family were in very bad terms ever since Kyouko's relationship with them ended but he never expected that they would come after them like this. The Kuroganes may have been known to do whatever it took to get what they wanted but this was over the line.

"Thank you old friend. It looks like you've been taking care of my family on my behalf" Kou sincerely thanked Jirou. Even he couldn't ignore that his friend had done a great deal for his family in his absence.

"I'm not the only one who supported them in the background so you need to thank our other friends as well. Besides, how can I stand idly by as my precious granddaughter's 'future husband' gets into trouble?" Jirou made sure to highlight the 'future husband' part in his statement to remind his old friend of the promise they had all those years ago.

"That brat?" Kou looked a bit startled after hearing the reminder. He knew Jirou accepted all those years ago but how could he not tell that everyone had been so reluctant at the time? "You don't need to take that promise so seriously. Your granddaughter is sure to grow up to be a beautiful girl that my grandson isn't worthy of" Tomoyo's face had a tinge of crimson after listening in on the two's conversation.

"Are you trying to renege on a promise you forced me into making?" Jirou looked at Kou strictly. "I've taken a liking to the lad and intend to follow through with what I've promised back then"

"Really?" Kou still looked a bit skeptical. "Did that kid meet your requirements?"

*Sigh* "You really have no idea about your family don't you? I just told you the story of what happened to him two years ago. Do you remember where he was shot?"

"Hey I'm not even at an age to be called a senior citizen!" Kou retorted. "He got captured by that scum Lee at the…" he realized what Jirou meant after recalling it. "National tournament!"

"That's not all…" Jirou continued. "Let me tell you about this grandson of yours…"

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