World Martial Arts Tournament

For three days, Lu Mingfei followed his uncle and Section Chief Chen's family around, enjoying all sorts of free attractions included with their vouchers.

On the fourth day, his uncle announced that everyone could do their own thing and thoughtfully gave each person ten thousand yen to spend.

After getting his allowance, Lu Mingfei got up early from his single room at the hotel. Today, he was going to Akihabara, the holy land of otaku culture. He'd been looking forward to this for ages.

He left his room and headed straight for the subway station. The base fare here was 170 yen, which made his heart ache.

After getting off the subway, Lu Mingfei stepped into Akihabara. The place was bustling, with crowds of people everywhere.

Looking around, he saw posters of all kinds of anime characters plastered on the surrounding high-rises. Some of the characters were dressed rather scantily.

Even the billboards along the street were covered in game-character posters, and otaku shops were everywhere. There were maid cafés, and maid cafés...

No, he couldn't look at those. Lu Mingfei fought off the temptation. He was only here to buy an Asahina Mikuru body pillow!

Besides, he didn't have much money in his pocket.

With a sigh, Lu Mingfei looked at the card in his hand. Someone had slipped it under his door a few nights ago. It was probably an advertisement for a shop.

Lu Mingfei set off for the location listed on the card.

Along the way, he took in Akihabara's unique scenery and watched the pretty girls on the street wearing all sorts of revealing cosplay outfits.

He couldn't help marveling. It was only January, and everyone was so dedicated!

Pretty girls standing at shop entrances kept inviting him inside to take a look. Lu Mingfei thought about how much money he had, then could only smile and turn them down.

Before he knew it, he'd been wandering around for a while. At last, he reached the shop that sold anime merchandise.

A girl cosplaying as Artoria was handing out flyers at the entrance. She was a character from the Fate series, and quite popular.

With a little excitement, Lu Mingfei stepped inside.

After looking around, he found an Asahina Mikuru body pillow, just as he'd hoped.

The trip had already been worth it. Lu Mingfei took the pillow to the counter and paid.

After paying, Lu Mingfei glanced toward the entrance and spotted a flyer. Normally, it would have been easy to overlook, but he saw it at once.

That was mainly because the huge number on it caught his eye: 1,000,000 yen, printed in bold across the top.

It took up a third of the flyer. He looked over the details, which said something like this:

A game shop in Akihabara was holding a Street Fighter tournament. The winner would receive a million yen.

The event was also known as the World Martial Arts Tournament!

It was scheduled for two o'clock that afternoon. Lu Mingfei's lips curled into a smile.

Ah, when you ran into an opportunity like this, even the coldest heart would warm up.

If he won, he could buy another Asahina Mikuru figurine. If he lost, he'd give up his title as the Internet Café God Lu. This was a battle where he would stake his fate!

"Grrr~"

His stomach growled. He'd better find somewhere to eat first. The tournament didn't start until two, so he had plenty of time.

At Gen Heavy Industries, the Executive Bureau's black car convoy was waiting outside.

A group of burly men in black suits, their bodies covered in tattoos, waited at the entrance for the big shots of the Snake Eight Families to come out.

After a short while, a man wearing a long black coat emerged. He was handsome, with a hint of feminine elegance. His fair skin had the sheen of marble, and his brows were sharply defined.

Beside him was a red-haired girl in a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit. Her eyes were a deep rose red, and she was very pretty, though she wore little expression.

Two men and a woman followed behind them. They were Gen Chisaki's assistants, his closest aides.

As they walked up front, all the burly men in black suits bowed respectfully, welcoming the young master and the Uesugi Clan Head.

Gen Chisaki sat in the back of the car with Erii. Crow was driving, and Yaksha sat in the passenger seat.

A girl with a ponytail, dressed in a black suit and shirt, watched Gen Chisaki get into the car.

Once he was seated, Gen Chisaki said to her, "Sakura, get in too."

"Yes, young master." Yabuki Sakura sat beside Erii.

She was Gen Chisaki's beautiful girl. No matter what he asked of her, she would agree.

Erii poked Gen Chisaki in the arm.

"What is it, Erii?" Gen Chisaki asked.

Erii took a pen and a small notebook from a pocket in her skirt. She wrote, "Brother, I want to sit by the window."

Her skirt was sewn with pockets and was always stuffed with all sorts of little things.

Gen Chisaki paused, realizing that Erii rarely went out. She probably wanted to sit by the window so she could get a better look outside.

Gen Chisaki quickly agreed and switched seats with Erii.

Now Gen Chisaki sat in the middle of the back seat, with Erii and Yabuki Sakura on either side of him.

Once they were settled, Gen Chisaki gave the signal, and the black convoy pulled away from Gen Heavy Industries.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Lu Mingfei had already arrived at the tournament venue. The place was spacious, and it was clear that the company had put a lot of effort into the event.

Lu Mingfei signed up at the registration desk. He had to fill in a nickname. After thinking about it, he decided that for an event like this, it was better not to use his real name. But what should he put down?

A cherry blossom drifted down in front of Lu Mingfei. He reached out and caught it.

It reminded him of an animated film called 5 Centimeters per Second, which had been released in 2007.

He remembered clearly that cherry blossom petals fell at a speed of five centimeters per second.

After watching that animated film, he always felt a little melancholy.

"Sakura."

He'd call himself Sakura. Lu Mingfei filled in his nickname at the registration desk.

After carefully completing the form, he handed it in, found a seat, and waited for the tournament to begin at two.

Once they reached the area around Akihabara, Gen Chisaki arranged for some of the family members to get out and walk with them. The rest stayed nearby, ready to await orders.

Erii looked around very carefully. She had never been to a place like this before. If Crow hadn't come up with the idea on the spur of the moment, she might never have visited in her life.

So she paid close attention, doing her best to remember everything around her. Whenever she saw an anime poster she recognized, her eyes grew a little more animated.

Suddenly, Erii stopped moving. Gen Chisaki asked curiously, "Erii, why did you stop?"

Erii took out her notebook and hurriedly wrote, "I want to enter the World Martial Arts Tournament!"

Gen Chisaki was at a loss for words. What was this supposed to mean? Where had this World Martial Arts Tournament come from?

Wasn't that a competition from the Dragon Ball anime?

Erii pointed to the flyers posted on a nearby wall.