Exploring a Personal Style

Hearing this, Shiraki Uke pondered for a moment.

He really couldn't make full use of a Kakerou membership, so leaving it to Akagi Shigeru was the best choice.

The thirty million yen in cash would be enough to repay his debt to the Teiai Group, with ten million left over. There was a lot he could do with that.

But when it came to looking after Maruk, Shiraki Uke truly wanted to help but couldn't. After all, he had a younger sister at home who was still in school.

Takaomi Kaji suggested from the side, "Doesn't this building belong to you now too, Mr. Bai Mu? Why not just let Maruk live here..."

Shiraki Uke shook his head. "There seems to be a debt dispute with the Nogi Group over this building. Q Dalang mortgaged it to the Nogi Group, so I suppose they'll acquire it eventually? In any case, he can't live here long-term."

"..."

Maruk had woken up at some point. Hearing everyone discuss the matter, he secretly wiped away his tears. "Maruk... won't have anywhere to live?"

Kure Fusui suddenly raised her hand. "What if I take him to the Kure Clan?"

Shiraki Uke shook his head again. "I don't think that's a good idea..."

"What's wrong with it?" Kure Fusui smiled and waved a hand, speaking as if it were perfectly ordinary. "I'm not interested myself, but there are people in the Kure Clan who are into that sort of thing. Little babies are so cute!"

"..."

The air froze for a few seconds, and the others all reached the same conclusion—

They absolutely couldn't let Maruk go to the Kure Clan!

Everyone fell into thought again, until Shiraki Uke suddenly spoke. "Actually, we're overthinking this."

"Hm?" The others were puzzled.

Shiraki Uke rubbed Maruk's head. "Maruk is just a 'person' who's lost a lot. Why don't we let him choose for himself?"

"All we need to do is give him our contact information so he can find us when he's in trouble. That's enough."

Shiraki Uke held out his fist, and Maruk bumped it with his own.

"At the very least, none of us will make him 'kill people.'"

"..."

The discussion ended with Maruk staying at Ninefold Tower for the time being while he prepared to find a place to rent. Everyone gave him their contact information, and the rest could wait.

As they were parting, Shiraki Uke asked Yagyou for a business card.

Yagyou was happy to oblige, but he offered a well-meant reminder. "Lord Bai Mu, if you aren't a Kakerou member, you won't be able to commission a referee to officiate a gamble."

"That's all right." Shiraki Uke pulled out a stack of business cards and added Yagyou's to it. "I just think collecting them is fun."

Yagyou: "...?"

Yagyou: "Very well. If you'd like some good coffee, you're welcome to visit my shop. I run a coffee shop in my spare time."

After leaving the tower, Shiraki Uke made another trip to the hospital, then went home and slept for a whole day.

Before he knew it, four or five days had passed.

One afternoon, Shiraki Uke was basking in the sun in his courtyard.

The people from the Teiai Group had been contacted and arrived on time that day. Leading them was the group's second-in-command, Yukio Tonegawa, whom Shiraki Uke had met before.

Shiraki Uke handed over the twenty million yen he owed, and Tonegawa showed little surprise.

"As I thought, you could pay it back—but you were faster than I expected."

Tonegawa put the money away and smiled. "Mr. Bai Mu, you have my business card. If you'd like to invest in anything in the future, please feel free to contact me. I'll be at your service."

Clearly, Teiai's "No. 2" didn't regard Shiraki Uke as an ordinary deadbeat. He even seemed interested in building a connection.

It was just about time for afternoon tea, and Tonegawa suggested, "To celebrate, how about we have teppanyaki? My treat."

Shiraki Uke: "..."

As he recalled, putting "teppanyaki" and "Tonegawa" together was no good thing.

Shiraki Uke politely declined. Tonegawa didn't insist and rose to take his leave.

Shiraki Uke continued sunbathing in his lounge chair, feeling his body recover at a minute pace. Lazing about like this was wonderfully comfortable.

Just as Zangief had said, training had to be balanced with rest, or the body would break down sooner or later. That was why he'd spent the past few days resting.

"..."

After rolling over, Shiraki Uke opened his eyes and suddenly saw that Kure Fusui had arrived. Her motorcycle was still parked by the road.

"Yo, Bai Mu!"

Kure Fusui came over with a grin and looked him over. "You're looking good. Anything to celebrate?"

Shiraki Uke stretched and sighed from the bottom of his heart. "Being debt-free feels great!"

"Huh?" Kure Fusui looked puzzled. "I didn't get a bank transfer."

Shiraki Uke: "..."

He swallowed and came to his senses. "How much did it cost to hire you that night altogether?"

"Let me see. The bullets I charged for, plus the car I used to save your life—that car's a write-off now—come to..."

Kure Fusui pulled out a calculator and tapped away for a moment. "Rounded down, that's thirty million yen in total!"

Shiraki Uke: "...Haha!"

Seeing Shiraki Uke laugh awkwardly, Kure Fusui hurriedly reassured him with a grin. "No rush paying me back. I love coming to your house to collect the debt!"

Shiraki Uke: "...Hahahaha!"

For a moment, the courtyard was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Chapter 38: Exploring a Personal Style

As far as Shiraki Uke was concerned—

The good news was that Kure Fusui wasn't in a hurry to collect the debt;

The bad news was that Kure Fusui wasn't in a hurry to collect the debt.

Overall, though, it was more good news than bad. After all, Shiraki Uke really couldn't scrape together thirty million yen right now.

Aside from Ninefold Tower—the property involved in the dispute with the Nogi Group—he still had a full ten million left from the money he'd won from Q Dalang.

That was roughly equivalent to five years of total income for a Tokyo office worker, a fairly large sum.

Naturally, it would be unwise to use it to repay the debt. Money could make money, after all.

Shiraki Uke wasn't a businessman, but he knew that when you had a large sum of money sitting unused, you had to consider investing it.

And investing didn't simply mean going into business.

Put it in the bank? Buy a storefront? Invest in the stock market? Or invest in himself and buy training equipment? How should he get involved with the Kengan Association? What was the Nogi Group planning?

Shiraki Uke had all sorts of choices before him, and he still needed time to consider them.

So, given his current circumstances, Shiraki Uke decided he might as well accept being pestered by the girl from an assassin family.

"...Not bad, either!"

Shiraki Uke was quite optimistic about it.

Although Kure Fusui specialized in firearms, she was still a member of the Kure Clan and had some familiarity with all sorts of techniques passed down in the family. She was a good choice for a sparring partner.

Whoosh!

Shiraki Uke rolled out of the lounge chair and stood up, lifting his chin at Kure Fusui. "Want to move around a little?"

"Sure!" Kure Fusui bounced lightly a few times and agreed with a smile.

She liked visiting Shiraki Uke's house partly because of her own personal interests, and partly because of the Kure Clan's arrangements.

The Kure Clan was able to remain active in the underground world as a "warrior race" not only because it brought in outside blood to "improve the breed," but also because it learned the techniques of various masters, taking in all sorts of styles and keeping the best while discarding the dross.

Shiraki Uke's fighting techniques had some genuinely distinctive qualities that had drawn the Kure Clan's attention, so the clan wanted to learn more about them.

Kure Fusui had explained this to Shiraki Uke early on, and he had naturally welcomed it, with no thought of hiding any of his techniques.

"Hiding a finishing move" was really a sign of lacking confidence in one's own strength.

For example, the Shinshinkai, one of Japan's largest karate organizations, had more than a million students. Anyone interested could go and learn, and it even welcomed masters from all walks of life to challenge its dojos.

Stagnating behind closed doors would only lead to ruin. One had to have the courage to expose everything and then continue moving forward!

That was Shiraki Uke's view.

It was still early, so Shiraki Uke and Kure Fusui weren't in a hurry to decide a winner.

Neither moved quickly. It was a little like kumite in karate practice, with one attacking and the other defending against each technique, testing their pure skill.

Whoosh...

Shiraki Uke opened with a straight punch to the midsection, which Kure Fusui easily blocked.

Right behind it came Ryu's Rising Uppercut, aimed at Kure Fusui's chin.

Kure Fusui stepped back half a pace to dodge, then thrust out a knife-hand strike at Shiraki Uke's throat.

"..."

Shiraki Uke immediately changed moves, grabbing Kure Fusui's other wrist and pulling her off balance, causing her knife-hand strike to miss.

Then Shiraki Uke raised his right leg sharply into a vertical split and brought it down lightly.