"Is this the tuition fee for becoming my disciple and joining our dojo?" Kotaro Katsura asked as he calmly accepted the bank card.
"Do you really think that's possible?" Sogo Doma said with a half-smile. "Gay, Kondo Dojo and your dojo are neighbors to begin with. Leaving aside whether neighbors ought to help each other out..."
"Sogo, people in the same trade are natural enemies! Kondo Dojo and I are especially bitter enemies, seeing as we're so close..." Kotaro Katsura retorted quietly.
"Only competitors are natural enemies. Kondo Dojo barely takes in apprentices anymore, so there isn't any real conflict between you, is there?"
That was true. Since the Kondo Group had been established, Kondo Dojo had gone through a boom in recruiting disciples. But precisely because they had taken in too many apprentices back then, even if the gorilla had wanted to teach them, he lacked the ability to handle them all. As for Toshiro Hijikata, most of his energy had been devoted to Kondo's ancestors...
"No real conflict? Sogo, do you think my dojo is just everyone else's second choice? That they only come to me after Kondo Dojo stops accepting apprentices..."
"Gay, has anyone ever actually come to that dump of a dojo of yours to become a disciple?"
"It's not gay, it's Katsura! Bastard, are you looking down on me? Our dojo had its glory days too. We once had as many as three disciples..."
"..." Hearing that, Sogo Doma instinctively patted him on the shoulder. "Keep it up. You'll make it. Just think, Kondo Dojo only had me as a disciple back then..."
"You don't need to tell me that. When you first entered Kondo Dojo, I was waiting outside it, looking for a chance to poach people or challenge the dojo! If it hadn't