Chapter Thirty-Seven: Two Men

Two Men (二人の男, Futari no Otoko) is the thirty-seventh chapter of Dengeki Daisy. It is the third chapter published in volume eight.

Synopsis
Kurosaki approaches a man selling copies of the "Jack Frost" encryption virus. The man arrogantly looks down on Kurosaki as someone who doesn't know the true value of the virus and, unknown to Kurosaki, the man has an accomplice ready to attack him from behind.

At Kurosaki's apartment, Teru and Kiyoshi are still absorbing what they have just learned about Kurosaki's past - how he became a hacker and created "Jack Frost" in order to investigate the true circumstances behind his father's death. Having recognized the name, Teru asks if Professor Midorikawa was acquainted with her brother; Takeda reveals that Soichiro had been well regarded as a student of Professor Midorikawa and had also been acquainted with Takahiro Kurosaki, Kurosaki's father. When Soichiro was forced to drop out of college in order to care for Teru after their parents' deaths, Takahiro counseled Soichiro on what to do. Realizing how close Soichiro was to the development of the computer code "Jack", Riko decides to take Teru out for a walk to tell her about Soichiro and Kurosaki's relationship privately.

Andou reveals to Kiyoshi that he and Takeda had been employed at Kenbashi Electronics (剣橋電機), the company developing "Jack." Because Soichiro had been regarded as the evaluation committee's trump card, Kenbashi Electronics took advantage of Soichiro's circumstances to hire him under the conditions that he would not be involved in "Jack"'s development and that he would only contact the professors on the evaluation committee. As Riko tells Teru, though he was separated from his friends, Soichiro did not regret accepting those terms except when Takahiro died. Several years later, Kurosaki was hired to join Soichiro's team at Kenbashi. Despite Kurosaki's notoriety as a hacker, everyone was surprised at his mild-mannered personality - completely different from his current hoodlum attitude.

While Kurosaki easily impressed his coworkers, Soichiro was unusually strict with him, even though he secretly worried about how Kurosaki was doing. Without Soichiro or Masuda watching over him, Kurosaki lost his temper when other coworkers mentioned rumours about Takahiro being a spy. Though Kurosaki despaired at how he had apparently ruined himself and caused his colleagues to fear him, Soichiro treated him with the same attitude and assigned him a difficult task. After Soichiro provoked Kurosaki into showing his true self, Kurosaki managed to win over his coworkers by accomplishing Soichiro's seemingly impossible task.

That night, Soichiro praised Kurosaki's abilities and reassured him that both he and Kurosaki knew that Takahiro was falsely accused, despite all claims otherwise. As he commended Kurosaki's failed efforts prove his father's innocence, Soichiro had told Kurosaki that best revenge against the world for insulting him would be to become happy and loved and to find people he wanted to protect. As he promised to help Kurosaki become such a man, Soichiro assured him that he would protect Kurosaki, even after he died.