Money Borrowed by a Kind Thug

Rustle, rustle...

In this season of spring, a gentle evening breeze suddenly paid a visit to the Cherry Blossom Tree in the park.

Cherry blossoms danced through the air; calling it a shower of petals would not be an exaggeration. The petals drifted and fluttered, landing right on Kamigami Haruo.

Having survived the physical agony, he lay sprawled on the ground in a star shape, gasping for air.

The pink cherry blossoms, known for their gentleness, were now mischievously disturbing his rest. His forehead began to itch, forcing him to lift his hand to scratch it.

The familiar sensation of touch traveled through his skin and into his mind once again. He peeled off the sticky note, sat up, and crossed his legs to read it.

Instruction Manual:

The physical constitution and sensory limits of this body have been enhanced.

Since this is a modification based on your original foundation, it requires acquired training, nutritional intake, and the passage of time to develop into a formidable physique. While this body has a low floor in the early stages, its ceiling is very high.

Note: Before that point, please try your best not to use power that exceeds the body's capacity, or there will be side effects. Farewell ^_^

"A bit of a twisted sense of humor, isn't it?"

With a grumble, the surviving Kamigami Haruo let out a long breath and lay back down on the ground, calming his racing heart, which was still pounding from the surge of adrenaline.

"Still... it feels good to truly feel alive."

However, he felt that if he kept lying there, he would end up as a homeless man by tonight.

So, Kamigami Haruo braced his hands against the ground and slowly stood up.

He did some stretching exercises on the spot, feeling the differences in his body.

Unlike his previous body, this one brought him an unprecedented sense of comfort.

He squeezed his fist hard, feeling that his grip strength was not much different from before.

Thinking of the final warning on the sticky note, he decided to test it out with a sense of doubt.

After trying for a long while, he relaxed his left foot, focused his strength into his left leg, and pushed off with force.

His line of sight moved further and further away from the ground, though he was gritting his teeth while in mid-air.

Because of the move he just made, the muscles in his left leg were twitching.

Enduring the pain, he adjusted his posture in the air and planned to land on his right leg.

Before his body descended, he compared himself to the nearby buildings; his current physical limit was about two meters or more.

However, because he lacked experience, he didn't stand firmly upon landing, causing his right ankle to twist. Having lost his point of support, he lost his balance and tipped forward.

Thud!

Before he collapsed completely onto the ground, he managed to extend his hands in time to brace himself.

He felt the sharp pain radiating from his palms and the metallic taste of blood seeping into the left corner of his mouth.

His palms should be fine; after all, the bone density was decent.

But the left corner of his mouth had been cut by the park facilities nearby, bleeding quite a bit.

Kamigami Haruo rolled over and sat on the ground, sighing.

It was a good thing his body had been modified; otherwise, at the very least, his palms would have fractured. He had been too overconfident.

After resting for a while, he stood up and walked with a limp toward the car parked by the roadside.

Using the reflection in the car window, he saw the changes in his body clearly.

The person in the mirror was much younger; his stubble was gone, his skin was supple, and he was brimming with energy.

It must have been that during the fusion process, his physical age had regressed slightly.

His black hair had grown a bit longer, covering his eyes and making him look somewhat gloomy.

Combined with his bleeding mouth, he didn't need anyone to tell him—he looked like a murderer.

His features were more defined, his facial contours sharper, giving him a somewhat rebellious look.

He felt that fate was truly strange sometimes; having already looked somewhat like Fushiguro Toji, he now looked even more like him with the scar on his mouth.

He tried moving his body to observe it; his height didn't seem to have changed, but his physique had.

There were no muscles like those of a Greek statue as he had imagined.

His muscles hadn't bulked up; instead, the original muscle mass had atrophied and shrunk, making him look like skin and bones.

His reaction speed, athletic talent, and five senses had also improved significantly.

Simply put, this body was in its infancy and still required nutritional intake for growth and acquired training.

He wiped the corner of his mouth; his hand was covered in blood, so he had to use the back of his hand to finish wiping it dry.

With the crisis resolved, he pondered in place for a while, formulating goals in his mind.

Living in a strange, unfamiliar world, he should start by gathering information.

Then, find a way to fill his stomach, followed by training his body, and after that, he would think about the rest.

Touching his shriveled, hungry stomach, he pursed his lips and subconsciously reached out to take out his phone.

However, the phone had fallen out of his pocket during the fall just now, becoming a battle-damaged relic.

Since he was about to start a new life, it was time to make a clean break with the past.

Thinking this, Kamigami Haruo tossed the phone into a nearby pile of trash.

He walked onto the street and merged into the crowd, his figure disappearing into the neon-lit streets of Tokyo.

Several days had passed since his physical arrival.

During this time, Kamigami Haruo had managed to survive on the streets of Tokyo with the help of the city's "great philanthropists."

The people here were super nice; he loved them.

Especially the beautiful girl he met on his first night after transmigrating when he was too hungry to move—she was his angel.

Since he had a decent memory and was a shut-in, he could speak basic Japanese; he certainly hadn't held back on calling people "idiot" these past few days.

Kamigami Haruo became a regular at convenience stores, always camping out for those "great philanthropists."

Every time he saw thugs in front of a convenience store, he would find ways to "accidentally" provoke them.

If they had a good attitude, he would just move on to the next target; if they had a bad attitude, they would go to a small alley together to "borrow" some money.

But for the modified Kamigami Haruo, this money could only barely sustain his body's consumption.

Not to mention that he wasn't getting enough to eat for his three meals a day, and he was hungry every single moment.

And all of this started from the moment Kamigami Haruo inadvertently saw an old lady.

At the time, the old lady was being forcibly held by two men in black suits, preparing to be dragged into a car nearby.

He remembered complaining that the money he borrowed from the thugs was too little, and then these two yakuza in suits appeared before him.

Since they were doing bad things anyway, he might as well rob the robbers.

So, Kamigami Haruo, who was nearly losing consciousness from hunger, awkwardly stepped forward to strike up a conversation.

However, he had underestimated the combat power of the yakuza members, coupled with the weakness caused by his hunger.

Until he lost consciousness, he kept circling with the two yakuza, and in the end, it seemed he managed to hold out until the old lady's rescue arrived.

When Kamigami Haruo woke up again, he was lying on a hospital bed.

As soon as he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a white ceiling.

After looking around, he felt he had hit the jackpot seeing the luxurious room—a VIP suite.

His body was free of any major injuries, and looking at the IV drip hanging to the side, he knew he had been brought in due to fainting from malnutrition.

The nurse nearby saw Kamigami Haruo wake up and notified the old lady.

After a long while, the arriving old lady immediately showered him with concern, blaming him for being too reckless.

Seeing this, Kamigami Haruo knew he had been misunderstood, but he didn't explain; she clearly came from a wealthy family and would surely provide some benefits.

Although he hadn't intended to save the old lady, he could treat it as if he had.

So, Kamigami Haruo slowly steered the conversation toward his current difficult situation.

Upon learning he was homeless, the old lady immediately took out her phone to pull some strings.

After having someone register a household account for him, the old lady took him to her home to stay temporarily.

The name on the registration was chosen quite casually, just like the first half of Kamigami Haruo's life.

KAMITSUKASA HARUO.

A new birth in spring, a new life, and "Kamitsukasa" was taken from the old lady's surname.

As the start of the school year was approaching, he heard some gossip from students passing by while he was out shopping with curiosity.

When he heard the name Advanced Nurturing High School, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

Because it brought many talents to Tokyo and had high visibility, and since it was the start of the school year, the topic of this school was unprecedentedly hot.

Filled with anticipation, he searched online for some familiar school names.

The results were unsatisfactory, showing only schools from novels and anime.

With his difficult situation resolved, he acted on the mindset of not wanting to cause trouble for others and pursuing the "real thing."

During a casual chat with Grandmother Kamitsukasa, he expressed his desire to attend Advanced Nurturing High School, and she agreed without a second thought.

Although they didn't say it out loud, both parties understood that the favor owed had been repaid.

Following that, she revealed some of the school's hidden rules; after all, as it concerned the future of Tokyo, these rules were well-known to those in high positions.

Fortunately, school hadn't started yet, otherwise, he would have had to wait until next year to enroll.

Afterward, Grandmother Kamitsukasa used some connections to have the school arrange a one-person entrance exam, with an interview just to go through the motions.

Since he was recommended through connections, he didn't need a middle school recommendation, and his class placement was decided solely by the written test and interview.

Normally, with a recommendation from a big shot, getting into Class A wouldn't be a problem, just like Yahiko Totsuka.

However, due to Kamigami Haruo's terrible written test and interview, combined with his blank academic record, he was ultimately assigned to Class D.

Since there were only a few days left until the start of school, he could only take the spot of a student in Class D.

As for the compensation, that was handled by the school, and the debt of gratitude ended there.