Tsukasa Shishio

After getting off the plane, Chen Yu's parents took him to a hotel, ready to discuss a business partnership the next day.

"Yu, hold on to this money. Go wherever you want to have fun, and let me know if you need more." His father took out a wad of cash and handed it to him.

Chen Yu stared at his father with a look of utter despair.

His stare made his father feel rather awkward.

"I... I don't have much left. Just take it, take it. It's all cash." His father gave an embarrassed smile.

After all, he could only keep his secret stash in cash.

"Oh, Yu, enjoy yourself while we're here." His mother returned from outside just then, carrying some clothes. She held them up against him as she spoke.

Fortunately, Chen Yu had put the money away quickly, hiding it in his sleeve before his mother noticed. Otherwise, he would have left the hotel shortly afterward to eat out, only to return and find his father already put to bed.

His father breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong? What are you sighing about?" his mother asked when she heard it.

"N-nothing. Let's get some rest. It's late, so we should get to bed." His father tidied up as he spoke, then left for the room next door.

As his father left, however, Chen Yu discreetly returned the wad of cash, slipping it into his coat pocket.

After all, it was his father's secret stash. If his mother discovered him suddenly spending money from some unknown source, she would certainly get to the bottom of it. To be safe, he decided to give it back to his dear old dad.

"Go have some fun tomorrow. It'll be good to get out and see things. You hardly ever leave the house back home. Go enjoy yourself and make a few friends." His mother took out a large wad of cash and handed it to him, along with a bank card.

Chen Yu looked at them. He had no idea how much was on the card, but this was his first visit to the island nation. He didn't know whether people here used cash everywhere or whether only some places accepted cards, with most still requiring cash.

"Got it. I'm going to bed." Chen Yu put away the bank card, left the room, and went to his own.

The room was fairly spacious. Although there wasn't much of a time difference between the island nation and his own country, he still couldn't fall asleep.

Chen Yu stepped onto the balcony and looked at the stars.

He treasured his current life more than anyone else: his healthy body, powerful physique, and extraordinary brain. He needed to use everything he had to protect himself.

After thinking for a while, Chen Yu began his daily training, exercising and practicing his punches. Had there been enough room, he would also have practiced some of the spear and sword techniques he had learned.

After practicing for a while, he decided it was about time, took a shower, and went straight to bed.

The next morning, his parents checked on him before heading out. Chen Yu stayed for a while, but with nothing to do, he went out as well.

They were staying near the coast of the island nation, and he had never seen the sea before.

After asking a patrolling police officer how to get to the beach, he took one of the country's distinctive trams straight there.

The long hours soon passed. The daytime visitors quickly left, and Chen Yu had pretty much had his fill of fun as well.

Just as he was about to leave, he spotted a boy bent over on the beach, doing something he couldn't make out.

Just then, a man approached the boy and shouted, "Get out of here! This is my beach!"

The boy said something Chen Yu couldn't hear, and the man rushed over and knocked whatever he was holding out of his hands.

Now Chen Yu could see them. The things flying through the air were seashells.

Then the man struck the boy over and over, alternating between kicks and punches.

The boy didn't fight back at all.

Finally, Chen Yu couldn't bear to watch any longer. He rushed over and stood in front of the boy.

The last punch landed squarely on Chen Yu.

Behind him, the boy coldly studied the person shielding him, who looked about his own age.

"That's enough. Are you trying to beat him to death?" Chen Yu asked calmly.

"Get out of here. This is my beach. I'll let you off this time." The man brushed the dust off his clothes and left.

Watching the man leave, Chen Yu pulled the boy to his feet and said, "Let's go."

But the boy gazed at the shells on the ground, reluctant to leave them.

"I'll give you plenty of shells when we get back. Or next time, I'll take you to collect them in a tourist area." Chen Yu let go of his hand after speaking. The boy followed him off the beach.

"Where do you live? I'll take you home," Chen Yu asked.

"My home... I don't have one anymore. I only have my little sister."

(I didn't watch it very closely, so I don't know whether Tsukasa had parents.)

"..." Chen Yu said nothing when he heard that. Only after a long while did he ask, "What's your name?"

"Tsukasa Shishio," the boy answered quietly.

Chen Yu stopped dead and looked at the boy behind him. With his slightly long hair and shabby clothes, he really did look like the Tsukasa Shishio he had seen in his previous life.

"Your little sister is very ill, isn't she?" Chen Yu asked.

The boy immediately grew wary. Despite his young age, Tsukasa's gaze and expression already carried a certain imposing presence.

"Are you afraid I'll hurt your sister?" Chen Yu asked him.

Tsukasa said nothing and kept staring at the boy.

"Don't worry. I don't mean you any harm," Chen Yu explained.

Tsukasa remained silent, still watching Chen Yu.

"My name is Chen Yu. I'm from China, the big Asian country to the west."

(Should I just call it China or a big country? I don't know. I meant the eastern part of the world, but you took it to mean east of the island nation, so I had to change it to west.)

"I'll get you a cab and pay the fare. I've got some spare cash here, too. Take it. In a few days, once I find your sister's hospital, I'll come visit you. Oh, and if you want to protect your sister, why not learn boxing? Other martial arts would be good too. It's up to you."

From the bits of the story Chen Yu had seen in his previous life, he only knew that Tsukasa later took up fighting to save his sister and became the strongest high schooler. After the petrification, he also became their most important source of fighting power.

"Okay," Tsukasa answered quietly.

Eventually, the taxi arrived, and Tsukasa got in. Chen Yu looked around. It was already dark, making it difficult to find another cab, but he finally made it back before ten.

At the hotel, Chen Yu carefully recalled the differences he had noticed since coming to this world. Some people still had black hair, while others had white or brown hair, and even their eyes varied.

At the time, Chen Yu had only wanted to live a good life. Even if it was a dream, he was willing to accept it. Now it seemed he had come to the world of petrification.

Without his extraordinary brain, Chen Yu might really have forgotten all the memories of his previous life.

Gradually, Chen Yu drifted off to sleep.

Once his parents finished their business discussions, Chen Yu took them around to all the hospitals in the island nation to look for someone. His parents were baffled as their son led them from place to place.

Finally, they found them just before dark.

When he arrived, he was holding a blue seashell he had picked up at the beach along the way.

His parents looked at the girl lying in the hospital bed and Tsukasa beside her, who already seemed a little more mature. Then, along with his request, they heard Chen Yu say, "He's my friend."

The couple immediately spent a large sum of money to begin her treatment.

Tsukasa stared blankly at everything happening before him. He was still caught on Chen Yu's words-"He's my friend"-unable to snap out of it.

Time passed quickly, and they stayed a few more days. Chen Yu spent all that time with Tsukasa, who quietly followed him around.

Walking behind him, Tsukasa listened as Chen Yu explained the knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine he had learned.

When he asked why he wasn't studying Western medicine, Chen Yu replied, "I grew up influenced by the traditional Chinese medicine culture back home, so that's what I chose to study. As for Western medicine, I'll see about that later. I'll learn Chinese herbal medicine first, then Western medicine."

When they eventually parted, Chen Yu told Tsukasa before leaving, "I studied medicine so I could stay alive. Now I have another reason: to cure your sister."

Those words echoed in Tsukasa's ears. He was moved by what Chen Yu had said and badly wanted to cry, but then he thought of everything Chen Yu had done over the past few days, from teaching him strange things to paying to save his sister.

Tsukasa smiled. In all these years, apart from smiling in front of his sister, this was the first time he had smiled at someone he had only met a few days earlier.

Over the following years, knowing that the future held a world of petrification, Chen Yu threw himself into studying all kinds of medical and pharmaceutical knowledge.

He kept publishing papers. At first, they had little impact, but after a beginner tried his work and found that it was effective, Chen Yu's reputation quickly spread.

He needed an outstanding reputation to ensure that Senku or Tsukasa would eventually revive him in the petrified world.

Chen Yu figured that a highly capable medical expert would be a tremendous asset in a petrified world, wouldn't he?