.

Kazuya already got an introduction about his grandfather from Kyouko inside his research center.

"You did great and I commend you for trying to protect Mei but always put safety first okay?" Kyouko praised her son and was proud that he had acted so bravely. She wasn't aware that her father's current state was the result of her son's attack so she assumed that he had gotten himself injured before he came back.

"I will mom. You don't need to worry about me too much because you already know what I can do" he confidently smiled at his mother who witnessed his prowess for the last two years. "I have to be honest though, I was the one who beat up grandfather to that state because I didn't know who he was and I saw him trying to sneak up on big sis when I arrived" he came clean.

"You caused Dad's injuries!?" she was shocked. Kyouko may have looked down on her father as a parent but she looked up to the old man's toughness. This had always been a trait that her father was known for.

"Yeah…" Kazuya scratched his cheek awkwardly. Kou might complain about it sooner or later so if it was better if she found out about it now.

If there was one thing that Kouzuki Kou taught her daughter, it was how to defend herself. Kyouko may appear to be a gentle mother but she used to train under the Shiroyuki dojo when she was younger and had to spar numerous times with her father when she was younger. This only stopped once her mother had gotten sick and both father and daughter often spent time at the hospital.

"Great! Good job!" contrary to his expectations, his mother praised him for it. Kyouko was proud that her son was able to do what she only wished she could have done after her father dumped everything on her and left.

"What's the matter with you Mei? Why have you been thinking about all this time?" Kyouko turned to her assistant who was startled at her boss's call. "Did that old man startle you that much?"

"I…" she tried glancing at Kazuya but noticed that the boy had turned towards the door.

Kazuya had sensed that Kou Jirou and Tomoyo were standing outside his research facility, It was locked with a formation that not only prevented them from entering but also protecting all sounds coming from the inside to be heard outside the building. They have been standing there for a while now so he turned to the door wondering what the three were up to.

*Creak…*

""!!"" both Kazuya and Mei were a bit startled. Only the two of them knew how to unlock the door from the outside. It required a simple mana sequence but it was something that they didn't expect to be opened by any one aside from them.

"Kazuya" a serious expression could be seen on Kou's face as he entered the building.

"(Could this be him?)" he tried to hide his surprise but he could barely hold it in. Was his grandfather the predecessor he's been looking for all this time? If so, his efforts in searching for him with no result for all these years would make some sense.

A person of Natsu's intellect can easily figure out that the basic lock he created was a spell created by the elves. He could hardly believe that he was actually blood related to his own predecessor. His brain went into overdrive thinking about how to tell this person about how he had failed because it would have been much better if his predecessor was a stranger instead.

"Your grandpa is sorry" Kou kneeled down and hugged his grandson. This snapped Kazuya out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" he was confused about what was happening.

"Dad?" Kyouko felt the same way. She didn't know why her father was acting like this.

"You too Kyouko" Kou turned towards his daughter with tears gathering in his eyes. "Jirou already told me about what you two had experienced these past few years and I'm sorry that I wasn't here. I just felt lost ever since your mother died and had been very selfish and caused you a lot of grief"

Kyouko couldn't believe she was receiving an apology from her father all of a sudden so she couldn't react. An apology was the last thing she expected from her selfish father but now that he had given it, she froze and didn't know how to react.

"Shut up" Kazuya pushed the arms holding him away and broke free of Kou's hold. He felt annoyed because not only did Kou not attach much importance to the lock he just broke, but his lack of presence in their previous life could have possibly have been prevented if he were there.

"I may not have my memories but I refuse to acknowledge someone like you as my grandfather." Now that this person was in front of him. Kazuya expressed the thoughts that he didn't realize he had. "That apology will only mean something if you plan on doing something about it. Mom and I refuse to accept it until you swear in your name that you will start acting like a proper parent and grandfather"

"Kazuya…" Kou was taken aback by his grandson's words. Jirou was not kidding when he said that this grandson of his thoughts were sometimes like an adult's now that he's experiencing it for himself.

"Not only that… you must stay in this house and help protect it from now on" he glanced at Jirou for a moment and gave him a look. The old man pondered for a bit before giving a nod. Kazuya wanted him to tell Kou about the threats that have been looming around. Jirou would have to tell him more than Komori knew but he knew that he could push the responsibility of being behind the secret company towards Kazuno Mei.

"If you can't promise those things then don't even think of seeing or calling me your grandson" This may have been a little forceful but it was a gamble that Kazuya was willing to take. "Mom has been used to your absence and I have no memories of you so it's up to you to decide which is more important" He turned around and pulled his mother who was followed by Mei and led them towards the magic training room.

Unlike the main entrance to the building that was made when Kazuya had limited mana, the trap door leading to the magic training room had a lock that was at an advanced level. Even if Kou really was Natsu, he would need some time to decipher the lock if he decided to go after them.

He left them alone to make them realize that Kou needed to think about things before talking to them again. This was both a test and a gamble that he presented his grandfather. This was a choice that would determine his life and death. If he chose his adventures then Kazuya wouldn't try to stop him because of his decision to give up on his family. If Kou chose his family on the other hand, that would give this grandfather of his to be treated like the real grandfather he never had.

"Do you want to stay over our place today old friend?" Jirou offered. "Looks like you have a lot of things to think about"

Though Jirou thought that Kazuya had been a little too extreme, this was the perfect way to deal with this troublesome friend of his. He may have indeed been lonely but that doesn't excuse his actions towards his family. This was especially because of the length of his travels and lack of contact. He wasn't there when they needed him the most and Jirou thought that his grandson's last words hit him the hardest.

*pat pat* Tomoyo who had been silent this whole time tried to comfort Kou the best way she knew how. Kazuya wasn't there anymore so she didn't need to hold back and approached Kou after he had been on the receiving end on Kazuya's tongue lashing.

"What a sweet girl" Kou tried to muster up a smile and patted her head back. "Do you like my grandson Tomoyo-chan?"

*nod nod*

"I see…" Kou wasn't a stranger to the tragedy that befell this girl and her parents. If his grandson had caused this girl to become attached to him then he might not really be as bad as he initially thought. "would you like this old man to become your grandfather in the future?"

*nod*

"haha" he gave a light laugh. "I see… I'll stay over your house today and think about it then. How could I give up on having such a good granddaughter-in-law in the future" he comforted himself and finally stood up. "You had something to tell me right?" he turned towards Jirou.

"Those keen senses of yours haven't dulled I see" Jirou smiled. This was the Kou he knew.

"I returned to ask you and some of our friends to join me on an expedition of some mysterious ruins I discovered by accident but it looks like something more interesting had appeared" he walked alongside his old friend and headed for their car.

Inside the training room, Kyouko had just gotten an explanation of how this mysterious basement came to be. She initially thought that it was her father who built this hidden room but she was surprised that it was her son who slowly did it in a span of two years.

"Mom…" Kyouko heard her son's voice and turned towards him. "The shock isn't over yet so don't be too surprised okay?"

"!!!??" Kyouko almost lost her balance. She heard her son's voice loud and clear but his mouth nor lips didn't move in the least bit.

"You should be familiar with telepathy right? This should be something similar" Kazuya began to explain the 'whisper' skill to hear and taught her how to use it patiently. The skill itself was easier to use between family members because of the similarities in their frequencies so Kazuya was able to connect with Kyouko even before she could actually activate the skill by herself.

"L-like this…?" Kyouko concentrated although she was a little skeptical about it.

"Yes. I can hear you now" Kazuya spoke with his mouth this time.

"Y-you'e teaching Kyouko the whisper skill!?" Mei was the first one to react.

"You knew about this?" Kyouko was surprised that her assistant knew about this before her.

"Big sis awakened the ability naturally and I heard her voice in my head that time and since I knew about the skill, I explained it to her" Kazuya spoke before Mei could explain.

"Since when?" Kyouko looked at her assistant and pressed her for an answer.

"Since… before the incident two years ago" Mei came clean since Kazuya already told her about it. She knew that Kyouko would feel depressed about it but she didn't have any idea what Kazuya had in mind so she just went with the flow.

"Two years… you two kept such a thing from me for two years!?" this time she looked at her son and gave him a stern look. This time she was mad at him.

"It's not like I wanted to hide it from you but big sis awakened the skill naturally and had already met the requirements for activating it normally. I had to wait a little before I could decide to teach you but when you've met the requirements, I really couldn't think of the right way to tell you" he explained.

"What requirements are those?" she was still skeptical about her son's explanation.

"If I were to base it on just the 'whisper' skill. My connection with mom should be better than my connection with big sis because we share the same blood. The mana requirement for it wasn't met by mom at the time so I decided not to tell you about it"

"Mana?"

"I think I should be the one to explain this to her" Mei interrupted. "Your explanation of it will take a little longer for Kyouko to understand so I should do it instead"

Kazuya kept silent and let Mei do what she wanted. He was still a little angry at her for her earlier actions but he knew that he couldn't really stay mad at her for long especially since she had already realized and was reflecting on it.

Surely enough, Mei's explanation made Kyouko even more skeptical about mana. She immediately understood what she meant through the explanation but such things were unbelievable to her. It wasn't until Kazuya lent a helping hand by referring to the term 'Internal Energy' that Jirou used did she slowly began to accept it.

"Internal energy… but that's more about body strengthening right?"

"You know about it mom?"

"Not only do I know about it but I've been gaining more of an affinity to it over these years" Kyouko explained the changes she experienced herself. Kazuya and Mei couldn't help but look at each other because not only did they not notice Kyouko's growth, her changes fell into a category that Kazuya had once explained.

"Mom… you're a natural mental enhancement type…."

"What's that?"

"It was no wonder I didn't notice much of the changes all these years…." Kazuya's eyebrows twitched. "mental enhancement types are those who have a natural affinity towards mental abilities or enhancements. Memory and artistic skills are examples of what are naturally improved by this while the abilities it may manifest is telepathy…" Kazuya continued explaining in depth.

"Is that why my memory has grown to the point that it's almost photographic now?" Kyouko was still a little skeptical and both Kazuya and Mei could tell.

"I know it's all hard to swallow but everything Kazu just said is true. We didn't really mean to keep it a secret from you but even I had to wait until recently before I got to learn some actual skills" Mei explained. She didn't want Kyouko to brood over this especially this was an oversight on Kazuya's part.

"It was my fault for not recognizing it mom. I'm sorry. I still need to learn a lot about it myself" Kyouko felt the sincerity in his apology and couldn't help but soften up.

"The best way to prove it to you is to show you" Mei moved to the center of the room where Kazuya usually stood and cast some spells. Water manifested out of thin air and swirled itself around her. Mei didn't finish with this and hurled droplets of water towards the other side of the wall.

To Kazuya's surprise, the water turned into icicles and crashed into the wall before turning into mist that returned to Mei before turning into water once again. He was amazed at how much progress Mei made in these few weeks and it looked like he made another mistake. His affinity towards flames were strong so he used it to show Mei magic but he completely forgot about affinity. Mei had a natural affinity towards water and wind from the way it looks.

"Amazing…" Kyouko's mouth gaped at Mei's beautiful and impressive appearance. There was no room left for her to deny what was just explained to her now.

"I reacted the same way when Kazu first introduced me to magic" looked a little embarrassed after seeing the amazed look at Kazuya's face. She felt a little relieved that her performance caused his anger towards her to lessen. She had been practicing hard to surprise him after all.

"Where did you learn all of this?" Kyouko was amazed but she still couldn't understand how her son came to learn such things.

"I came across a page one day and…" Kazuya used the same excuse he used when Mei first asked about it. He told them about the 'Natsu' who posted a page of his research and how he was lucky enough to talk to including his sudden disappearance and his efforts to look for him ever since. He also explained how Jirou noticed his talent with internal energy and he continued to train it.

"Hmm…" Kyouko couldn't confirm anything now so she couldn't help but accept her son's explanation for now. She still needed to digest everything that they told her so they had a silent dinner that night where Kyouko thought long and hard about everything.

"So was this the reason you two have been sneaking around lately?" her sudden question startled the two.

"Yeah…" Mei answered. It wasn't a complete lie and Kazuya never mentioned anything about their company so she assumed that he didn't plan on telling Kyouko about Kazuno Tech tonight.

Kazuya gave his mother the rundown on keeping everything a secret. Kyouko understood his reasoning more than Mei did so he felt relieved about this. It was also because of this that the conversation they could have at the dinner table was limited. Even if they trusted Akane and her granddaughters this was still something that they felt that should be kept from them. At least for now.

"I finally understand why you were so willing to take that long vacation of yours" Kyouko gave a wry smile. It would have been a lie if she said that she wasn't interested in such a thing as magic but Kazuya already promised her that he would teach her this in their free time.

Though she understood the reason why her assistant learned about it before her, she still couldn't help but feel a little jealous about the close relationship these two had. If things continued as like this, Mei would really become her daughter-in-law whether she liked it or not.

Though Kyouko was shocked, she was glad to find out about this despite it being hidden from her for so long. He found it funny that Kazuya believed in such things as magic but it turned out that his innocence paid off as he discovered something real. Since it was the internet they were talking about, she felt that Kazuya had won something that had worse odds than a lottery and was happy for him.

With Kazuya's abilities now, she was relieved because even though they had won against the Kurogane family, knowing them, they might try to get back at them sooner or later. With magic in her son's arsenal, she felt that an invisible layer of security covered him as well as her assistant. Kyouko had the ability to somewhat use internal energy which had been growing recently so she felt that she would have no trouble herself but Mei grew up without any training so it was good for her to learn something like this.

The trio returned to Kazuya's research center where Kazuya upgraded the lock on the main door of his research facility. Kyouko was amazed at the symbols that glowed before going back to normal and thought about how much her son could have studied about this for him to be able to memorize such intricate formation designs.

"Please don't try and copy anything that you haven't understood yet mom" as if her son was reading her mind, he gave her a warning.

Kazuya was now sure of what Kyouko's natural talent was so he made sure that she reminded her not to try anything reckless. Magic may look convenient but casting spells that a caster did not understand could potentially cause a caster great harm or worse; death.

"Kazuya are you the same type as me?" Kyouko asked.

"I'm not really sure about that. I used to think I was a physical enhancement type but from my own perspective, I'm not too sure" he didn't have any reason to hide it from his mother now that she had been given a crash course about Mana.

"Why did you decide to tell me now?" Kyouko asked. She felt that all of this had been too sudden. She didn't even plan on going home early if it were not for Akane's message that told her that her father was back.

"It's because I felt that 'that man' knows something about mana" he didn't try to hide it. He explained Kyouko the reason he didn't even try to question the intruder and immediately attacked was because he was able to sense mana that was a threat if he had been someone with bad intentions.

This was the truth. Kazuya would have opted to hold the intruder down for information if he judged that he could handle him. He wasn't confident in beating Kou even if he didn't hold back if his grandfather indeed possessed the skills to utilize the mana Kazuya could feel from him.

"Kazuya is right. Even I had to try multiple times after Kazu taught me how to open the lock here from the outside with mana. Did you remember how they just waltzed in earlier?" Mei reminded.

"Grandpa Jirou knows about internal energy with me and dad so couldn't it be unlocked with that?"

"No. The internal energy that they were referring to is mana used for physical enhancement. Anyone that knows how to use mana is able to utilize basic body enhancement. That's why athletes sometimes have unexplainable moments where their skills are suddenly enhanced. This phenomenon happens when they unconsciously tap into the mana in their bodies and activate it" Kazuya explained it the best he could. He was thankful about the book since it enabled him to have a better grasp of mana.

"Then my dad really knows about mana?"

"I'm almost a hundred percent sure about it. The lock I placed may have been a simple one but should have taken someone who wasn't aware of the design, some time to figure out even by instinct" Mei nodded at Kazuya's explanation.

"Wait a minute…" Kyouko realized something and frowned. "That means you two weren't going to tell me anything if dad didn't come home today?"

"Yes" Kazuya answered without hesitation. "I've made a mistake with my estimations and thought you weren't ready yet mom. I didn't look hard enough because I didn't expect you to really be a mental enhancement type. I would have needed to focus on looking because mental enhancement types have a natural trait that conceals their mana"

"Is that really true?"

"It is. This is also the reason why I am sure that I am not a mental enhancement type. I have to put in some effort if I want to naturally hide my own mana from others. It's because mental enhancement types are supposed to be adept at using psychokinesis types or invisible spells" he once again began to explain the different types of magic she was supposed to have an affinity with.

Though Kazuya had never confirmed it he categorized Ayame to be a mental enhancement type because of the natural abilities of hers that he observed. She didn't seem to have problems with the transfer exam and would have held the record if Kazuya had not perfected his.

He also explained that being a specific type means that they were most likely more to excel at that specific type of affinity. It was like the elemental affinity. If one had a great affinity to water, that person's affinity or talent towards fire spells would be severely limited because of the contrast of the elements. It did not mean that they couldn't cast fire spells, it just meant that they would have more difficulty with fire magic compared to their natural water affinity.

"Then how come Mei got to learn about it two years ahead of me?" This was the question she wanted to ask at the dinner table but couldn't because of Akane's presence.

"It's because I've slept with big sis most of the time and was able to help her develop her affinity to mana more" Mei wanted to stop Kazuya from saying anything but it was too late. Kazuya had gone into his explanation mode and told Kyouko about the mana gathering formation he set-up in their property.

"I see, I see" Kyouko's eyebrows kept twitching the moment Kazuya answered the question. Though she had been listening to her son's explanation, she was glaring at the girl who was looking nervously at her boss.

Though Kyouko knew that Mei snuck into Kazuya's room. She was not aware that she had done so almost everyday and basically took over her son's room. With Kazuya telling her about him secretly helping their bodies absorb mana better through contact, the lead that Mei had gotten over her made perfect sense.

"W-why are you looking at me like that m-mother in law?" Mei tried to lighten the mood by joking with her boss but the glare in Kyouko's eyes and the growing amount of pressure directed towards her increased even more.

"Kazuya" she looked at this peculiar son of hers. He didn't seem to have 'that' kind of knowledge yet so an idea popped into her head. "Would you have any trouble helping more than one person absorb mana?"

"I do it whenever mom and big sis hold my hand from both sides so I don't think that would be a problem. Since mom already knows about mana, I can start teaching you how to do it on your own" he replied.

"Did you finish mastering this skill yet Mei?"

"Not yet. I have yet to master the method Kazuya taught me to recover mana quickly so I haven't had much time to progress in learning how to gather mana as if I was breathing like Kazu" This was indeed one of the most challenging aspects of learning everything. She had already been used to living normally.

This was like changing the way a person normally breathes. Normally, oxygen would enter the body when you breathe in, with Kazuya's method, one would specifically have to control the intake of mana as one breathes in and stabilize it in the body as they breathe out. Mei found this to be the most challenging part because unlike Kazuya who could do it while he was sleeping, she still needed to do it on purpose so that she would be able to do it correctly.

"Then to be fair, The two of us have to sleep together with Kazuya starting tonight!"

.