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Mei came to the Shiroyuki dojo early in the morning because she was worried about Kazuya. Though everyone in the Kouzuki house was informed of the excuses they thought of to not let them worry, she was well aware of just what he intended to do.

"He doesn't have a scratch on him but as you can see…" Jirou led Mei into his granddaughter's room where Kazuya slept like a log after Tomoyo was summoned by her grandmother for her morning routine in the kitchen. "He's exhausted from overusing what you guys call mana. Since it is related to internal energy, I know that he will need a lot of rest to recover so he might not be able to go to school today"

"Can you tell me what exactly happened?" Mei turned to Jirou and asked seriously. She may not have as good of a relationship with this old man like Kyouko did but since they were sharing the same secret concerning Kazuno Technologies, the two had grown more comfortable with each other.

"This kid, well…" Jirou recounted the story starting from when they left the headquarters. Jirou made sure to tell her what happened when he met with Kuuga because he wanted Mei to understand just how much influence she had when it came to Kazuya's actions. He also informed her that Kuuga had been involved with the incident two years ago so she didn't really feel any pity towards Kuuga.

Mei couldn't have imagined what role Kazuya had played in the previous night. She thought that he only went to make sure that everything had gone smoothly. With Jirou's continuous input of how much her presence in Kazuno Tech's headquarters affected Kazuya's temper, how could she not appreciate what he did just because of the possibility of her being in trouble?

Apparently, she had still underestimated just how important she was in Kazuya's eyes. He may not have been very descriptive in things that concerned her in the dream he had but how could she not realize what his feelings were?

"I'm not telling you this because I want you to talk to the kid about what he did but I just want you to be careful" Jirou said seriously. "You and Kyouko-chan are probably the most important people in the boy's life and from what happened last night, he will not hesitate to make sure that both of you stay away from harm's way"

"I understand…"

"Do you?" Jirou wasn't convinced. "You weren't even scratched and yet he already took down an entire clan and even turned the head of it to ashes. What do you think he would do if someone was actually able to make you two feel pain?"

"…" Mei didn't have anything to say to that. She didn't want to imagine it because Kazuya had already crossed the line she didn't want him to last night. She couldn't understand just what made him react so extremely.

"Also… I don't really know what happened but the kid who he beat up at the bar died last night" Jirou decided to add this little development. "He was apparently murdered in his second home and shot in the head" Jirou didn't hold back because they were already past talking about pleasant things. "Gakuto originally suspected the kid of doing it because of their incident yesterday so I want you to remind him not to go looking for trouble because Gakuto is not in the right mind and might suspect him if he goes around that district to look for him"

Jirou thought that having Mei give the warning would be more effective because of her position. This was supposed to be Kyouko's job but there was no real way of telling her to do it because the events that happened were related to their secret company after all.

"I understand. I will make sure to remind him" Mei agreed with Jirou's opinion.

"Thank you. I will have someone escort you back to the Kouzuki house with the kid. He will be able to get a much peaceful rest there since the students will be arriving soon" Jirou left the room to find someone that would carry Kazuya. He was sure that the single instructors would fight over the privilege of walking Mei home so he grinned while thinking of how he was going to make them fight over the opportunity.

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On the other part of town, Gakuto had just arrived at Kuuga's office and headed up to where his people had been waiting for him. He was a little hesitant because he was still unable to completely digest the loss of a grandson that had been with him only a few hours ago.

"This…" he immediately noticed the blood splatter as soon as he entered. There were various people lined up on the sides that gave him respect when they saw his arrival. "What did you find out?" he turned to one of his most trusted lieutenants who he initially sent to fetch this troublesome grandson of his.

"We found a secret compartment where the young master kept 'certain' things" he hinted. Before turning to the rest of the people before they took the hint and left the room silently.

"What thing?" Gakuto was a little annoyed. He ordered them to investigate and find out whatever they could about his grandson not look into his affairs.

"I dare not say it and ask the clan leader to look what we found in the second young master's hidden compartment. From what we can see, this looks to have been a hasty job. The person or the people who were here cleaned out most of the young master's belongings in a hurry and neglected to check places like behind the shelves or under the tables" he explained as he led Gakuto towards the corner of the room where a loose board could be removed to reveal a small case that had a lock.

The lock had already been opened by the lieutenant and he had the rest of his men watch everything so that he would be clear of suspicion if the stuff he found was sensitive. In this instance, he was relieved that he had taken precaution because from what he could see from these items, the second young master of theirs had dealings with both the Dokuro clan and the Muimina clan.

"Stupid brat!" Gakuto threw the case and all its contents to the other side of the room in anger. He understood why this lieutenant of his didn't dare voice out his speculations. Was this the connections his grandson bragged that Kuuga claimed he didn't understand? This wasn't beneficial for them in the least! Colluding with their enemies to take out their allies? This was flat out betrayal!

Even though it was a secret that the one behind the Kazuno group was related to the Kouzuki company, the fact that Komori and Jirou themselves chose to be in lower position considering their status was already a testament to how Kuuga had ignored their clan's allies. What Gakuto couldn't accept was that even while knowing this, his grandson even dared to bare his fangs towards Kouzuki Kou's grandson once more.

This was what he could gather from the pieces of evidence that his grandson cleverly hid. He was the one who taught his grandson to be careful and not get caught. He knew that his grandon kept a bunch of burner phones but there were only two that remained and they were in this accursed briefcase. They contained the transactions and conversations with his former client Lee and his most recent, Muimina Ringo.

Gakuto couldn't help but curse at the amateurs that pulled this off. Why couldn't they have taken this away so that he could focus on finding them without discovering how rotten this grandson of his was? Nevertheless, this provided him with a direction on where to go next.

"Find out whatever connections this brat has and review all of his activity!" This was what was troublesome whenever anyone of them were ever to disappear or come to any harm. There were far too many people to be considered. Some could have sacked his grandson because of a grudge that could belong to Gakuto himself.

This grandson of his didn't just create trouble for him, he even made the search for the culprits harder. When it came to people who held grudges against him, there were too many to count. Kuuga himself was even worse because he racked up grudges at an alarming rate.

"(I'll make whoever harmed my grandson pay!)"

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Near the middle of the country, completely unaware of what had happened in the previous day, Kouzuki Kou finally made it to the house that he once fell in deep into the highest mountain the country. The air was definitely harder to breathe because of their current height but the amount of mana that could be felt was a lot richer compared to cities.

"(That's weird…)" Kou frowned. He felt that the density of this place was comparable to the sensation he felt when he was in the Kouzuki house. He felt that it only was his imagination at first but now that he left, he was immediately able to notice the strange amount of mana concentration in their neighborhood.

Kou carefully stepped into the roughly built house that looked more of a lodge than a house. This might look a little primitive but it was very sturdy. The place had barely changed since his last visit a few years ago.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Tsuna?" Kou knocked on the door while expecting no one was home. This place was far away from civilization so Tsuna would mostly be out of the house hunting for the food or looking for provisions.

"Is that you Kou?" a deep voice came from behind him. Kou turned around and immediately recognized this friend of his who barely aged. He looked like a man who was still in his prime despite being a lot older than Kou and most of his friends.

"Long time no see old friend" Kou observed the muscles that were almost bulging out of Tsuna's jumpsuit. This was his friend's usual attire whenever he ventured out to hunt or gather provisions. The familiar goggles on top of his head was still there so there was no doubt that this was indeed the same godfather he recruited for his grandson.

"What brings you here?" Tsuna opened the door and led his guest in. He put down the basket of fish he caught and put the spear-like object he used for fishing in the corner of the room before sitting down.

"Looking at you barely aging, I'm tempted to take up your offer in learning more about mana" Kou sighed. He once rejected Tsuna when he offered about it because he was reluctant to stay in one place. "Unfortunately, though I did intend to visit you, my plans have slightly shifted because of the beating and scolding I recently received"

"You were beaten and scolded?" Tsuna was a little surprised. He liked this friend of his and was very much aware of his prowess. The fact that he was beaten was a surprise because most people that don't have a connection to mana would have a hard time just trying to wound him.

"You were mistaken my good friend" Kou gave a bitter smile. "Your godson is extremely compatible with mana and has even taught my daughter and a girl he treats as his big sister how to use it"

"Really?" Tsuna was surprised. He wasn't arrogant enough to think that he was right all the time and from the looks of it, Kou had taken quite the scolding for him to openly admit it. "What an unexpected surprise…" he reached for a long and thin pipe on the side table before using his finger to produce a fire that can light it up. "Did you come here for the boy then?" he puffed out some smoke and smiled.

"Yeah. My grandson learned everything he can do from the internet so you could imagine how dangerous that is" Kou explained. "He was probably lucky to have stumbled upon such methods but you should be able to guide him well"

"Hmm…" Tsuna pondered. He hadn't left the mountain in a few years so it was a tempting offer to agree to his friend's request and meet this talented godson of his. "I do find a few things from your story a little strange" he puffed up some once again. "From what you're saying, he found a method, tested it and grew right?"

"What about it?"

"The main reason there are very few people who even know or can feel mana is because of the limited amount of it that this world has. Even if I do come over to train him, any progress would be very slow" Tsuna explained and caused Kou's ears to twitch. Wasn't he just thinking about this earlier?

"I find it weird as well. For some reason, the mana I feel from this place is very similar to when I'm in my neighborhood" Kou explained what he had been thinking about and what he noticed when he arrived and left.

"Strange… very strange indeed…" Tsuna was intrigued. He didn't doubt the keen senses that made him recognize Kouzuki Kou in the first place so he was definitely tempted to see what may have caused the changes in his friend's residence.

"Actually…" Kou interrupted Tsuna's thought process and pulled out an envelope from his pocket. "It was actually my grandson who asked me to come here" he told him about the deal he made and Kazuya's demand to choose between his family and his adventures. This made him admire the barely decade year old boy he had not seen since he was a mere infant.

"Did he say that he wanted to learn from me about mana?" Tsuna grinned. It was the grandson and not the grandfather who was going to become his student which was an interesting development.

"Well… he asked me to give you this and said that if you really are the one he was looking for… you would understand" Kou handed the mysterious envelope over. He was tempted to open it several times but he sensed something he couldn't identify in the envelope. Knowing the mischievous grandson of his, it was probably something that wasn't very favorable to him so he put his curiosity at the back of his head and decided to ask his friend about the contents when he opened it.

"A letter?" Tsuna reached for the envelope and after looking closely at it, the pipe from his mouth fell to the floor as his mouth gaped open in shock.

"This is Ancient Elven script!!"

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