Sakaki Shio

At four in the morning, Shinnosuke quietly entered his parents' bedroom. He looked at Misae as she slept soundly and touched her forehead, finding that her fever had broken. He carefully closed the door behind him without making a sound.

Another worn tire had been added to the one behind the house. He picked up the rope, tied it around his waist, and began his daily morning workout, dragging the two heavy tires behind him.

Shinnosuke had just reached the gate when he spotted Inoue Ryushi standing by the road, leaning against a utility pole.

Hearing him, Inoue Ryushi looked over, stubbed out his cigarette, and spoke.

"Kinoshita said you do special training every morning and evening. Looks like he was right."

Shinnosuke looked at him in confusion.

"What are you doing out here instead of sleeping this early in the morning?"

Inoue Ryushi smiled at him.

"If our boss is working this hard, of course I can't fall behind!"

"Huh? I never agreed to be your boss or anything. That's all your own idea!"

Inoue Ryushi copied Shinnosuke and flashed a grin.

"Don't worry about the details..."

"Whatever you say..."

With that, Shinnosuke began jogging, dragging the two old tires behind him. Inoue Ryushi ran after him.

After following Shinnosuke for two or three kilometers, he began to get a little winded. Shinnosuke, meanwhile, was dragging two bulky tires, yet his breathing was still remarkably steady.

Inoue Ryushi kept his expression unchanged and thought to himself.

This guy really can't be judged by common sense... I guess that's just like him...

It was only after they had run six kilometers without stopping that Shinnosuke's breathing grew a little heavy. Behind him, Inoue Ryushi was drenched in sweat and gasping for air, but he still gritted his teeth and pushed on.

Suddenly, Shinnosuke stopped. Inoue Ryushi collapsed to the ground behind him, gasping for breath.

"F-finally... it's over..."

He struggled to raise his head and followed Shinnosuke's gaze.

A guy in a white training uniform was running toward them, also dragging two bulky tires. A muscular man in a vest was sitting on the tires behind him.

Inoue Ryushi was startled. The two tires alone weighed nearly fifty kilograms, and there was a muscular man sitting on them. Together, they had to weigh at least 180 kilograms... yet he could still drag them while running!!

The man in the training uniform was none other than Shirahama Kenichi. He had also spotted Shinnosuke ahead and called out to him from a distance.

"Good morning, Shinnosuke!"

Sakaki Shio, sitting behind him, paused and asked his disciple, who was in front of him.

"Is he the boy Akisame mentioned last time?"

Kenichi nodded.

Sakaki Shio took a sip from the sake gourd in his hand, then suddenly pointed toward Shinnosuke and spoke to Kenichi.

"Kenichi, let's go take a look."

"Huh? Oh... okay."

Shirahama Kenichi hurried over to Shinnosuke, dragging his teacher, who was drinking deeply, behind him. Before Kenichi could say anything, Sakaki Shio stood up.

Inoue Ryushi stared in shock at the man before him. He was at least two meters tall, with a scar running across his entire face. His muscles stretched his leather jacket tight. Inoue Ryushi had never seen anyone make a leather jacket fit like a second skin!

The tyrannosaur-like man made his legs go weak. Inoue Ryushi gritted his teeth and pounded his trembling legs, then took two steps forward and spread his arms, shielding Shinnosuke behind him.

To his surprise, Shinnosuke patted him on the shoulder and spoke.

"You don't need to be so tense. He's probably my friend's teacher..."

He turned back to Shinnosuke and saw that he wasn't joking. Relieved, he dropped onto his backside.

Shinnosuke was a little touched, but he still looked up at the man before him, who stood two heads taller and gave off an air of danger.

Sakaki Shio scratched his head and spoke to him with a hint of apology.

"Sorry, I scared your friend there... but you two really are close!"

Shinnosuke didn't respond to that.

"Can I help you with something?"

At that moment, Shirahama Kenichi stepped forward and spoke to him.

"No, no, it's like this. The man you met last time was my judo teacher. After he met you, he went back and talked to my other teachers about you. Let me introduce him. This is my karate teacher, Sakaki Shio."

Hearing this, Shinnosuke gave Sakaki Shio a slight nod.

"Hello, Mr. Sakaki."

"Last time, I heard Akisame mention that he'd met an interesting boy. I've been wanting to see what kind of guy could earn such high praise from him, but looking at you today, there doesn't seem to be anything special about you..."

"Here's what we'll do. Come at me! Let me see what level you're at!"

Sakaki Shio beckoned to him, making the corner of Shinnosuke's eye twitch. Why was he running into this sort of thing so early in the morning? First someone came to train alongside him, and now someone wanted to spar...