Shiraishi arrived at the Odd Jobs Shop and reached out to slide open its wooden door.
The first person he saw was a young woman with a seductive face and a black mole on her lip, dressed in a black-and-purple kimono.
She knelt on a cushion with a low table in front of her.
One person sat to the east of the table, and another to the south.
One was a gaunt old man who looked seventy or eighty, and the other a radiant girl of twelve or thirteen.
The family gathered around the low table, and the atmosphere seemed harmonious and warm.
Shiraishi felt he had come at a bad time, but it was too late to leave. He decided to stay, sliding the door shut behind him. "Sorry to bother you at lunch, Boss Yagyū."
"It's all right," the old man replied. He put down his chopsticks and glanced to either side, his voice authoritative. "Go to the other side."
"Yes." The two women rose from their cushions without a word of complaint. Clearly, this was not the first time something like this had happened.
"Please, have a seat," Ichirō Yagyū said, inviting him to sit with a broad smile.
A meal could wait, but a customer could not.
In their line of work, good service was essential. Otherwise, they might anger a bad-tempered customer and lose their heads.
Shiraishi took off his sneakers at the entrance and walked forward, glancing at the two women as they passed.
"They're my wife and concubine."
Ichirō Yagyū explained, "They absolutely won't reveal any information about you to anyone."
"Oh, you're still going strong at your age, Boss Yagyū."
Looking at his age, Shiraishi couldn't resist the remark. The two women looked young enough to be the old man's daughter and granddaughter.
"Haha." Ichirō Yagyū chuckled, looking rather pleased with himself. "Having Spiritual Power is a wonderful thing. It lets an old body like mine still burst with vigor. Unlike those people without Spiritual Power.
"Even if they look young and strong, they have no drive to reproduce. They can't get it up."
"Oh, sorry, I shouldn't be rambling about that. What can I do for you?"
Seeing that Shiraishi was unimpressed, Ichirō Yagyū immediately stopped rambling and got straight to business.
Shiraishi stated his request. "I want a quiet place to live, not too far away. It would be even better if Hollows appeared there often. I like fighting Hollows."
"May I ask if you've committed a crime? Please don't misunderstand. I'm only asking so I can make better arrangements."
Ichirō Yagyū's business covered a wide range. He served not only criminals who had broken Seireitei's rules, but also its nobles.
Or rather, the latter were his most important customers.
That was the biggest difference between him and Adachi of West District Three and the man from West District 5.
He was no rebel, but a lackey who provided all kinds of services to Seireitei's nobles.
For that reason, he would never make arrangements for a traitor who wanted to rebel against Seireitei.
Shiraishi hid nothing. "On impulse, I killed Hasegawa Taizo, the Stealth Force's Fifth Seat, in West District Three."
Understanding dawned on Ichirō Yagyū, and his smile grew even more deferential. "Oh, so you're Lord Shiraishi.
"Forgive my rudeness. I do have a place that meets your requirements, but there's a five-thousand-kan introduction fee."
Hearing the steep price, Shiraishi's mouth twitched. He had spent four years in West District Three.
For the first three, he hadn't understood the language and had been badly swindled by a blackhearted noble. Not only had he failed to earn a cent, he had ended up owing the man two thousand in food expenses.
Only in the fourth year, when he could communicate without trouble, had he begun to earn money, though not much.
"Could you lower the price? Everything I own right now comes to thirty-eight hundred kan."
Shiraishi opened his shoulder bag, pulled out a large handful of kan notes, and laid them all on the table.
"Well..."
Ichirō Yagyū stroked his beard and pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, five thousand kan is the lowest price I can offer.
"To keep you from being discovered by the Projection Hall in West District Ten, I'll need to pay off the Research and Development Institute squad members in charge of surveillance.
"How about this? I've heard about what you did in West District Three, so I don't think you'd skip out on a debt. You can owe me the rest and pay it later. How does that sound?"
Shiraishi thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right, no problem. I'll find a job there to pay it back."
Ichirō Yagyū smiled and reached out to take the notes. He gave them a quick glance, confirmed there were thirty-eight hundred kan, and continued, "The Soul Reaper in charge of West District Ten is the son of an acquaintance of mine. He's mild-mannered and dislikes fighting. His family only sent him to the Thirteenth Division to give him some credentials.
"If you live there and a Hollow appears, he definitely won't compete with you for it, though he will claim credit for your accomplishments. What do you think?"
"I don't mind."
The experience gained from killing Hollows was itself a benefit money couldn't replace.
As a criminal, Shiraishi didn't expect Seireitei to give him a trophy anyway. "You must have found people to help him kill Hollows there, Boss Yagyū?"
"Yes, I previously arranged for some people from Outer Rukongai to go there. When you arrive, if you find them troublesome, you can kill them. There's no need to worry about trouble."
Ichirō Yagyū's expression was mild, as if he were talking not about killing people, but about slaughtering a few chickens to go with the drinks. "Those fellows can never shake the beastly habits they picked up in Outer Rukongai."
Shiraishi didn't much like his tone. He frowned slightly and said vaguely, "Depends on the situation."
Ichirō Yagyū dropped the subject and said instead, "As long as a Stealth Force squad member doesn't come to that area and happen to run into you, I can guarantee you won't be discovered, no matter how long you live there."
"Really? That couldn't be better."
Shiraishi wasn't the type who liked wandering from place to place. Otherwise, he wouldn't have spent four years in West District Three without visiting many other districts.
"I'll get you a map."
Ichirō Yagyū stood, strode over to a cabinet against the wall, and took a map from the third drawer before coming back.
"This is where Kawakami Saburō is stationed in West District Ten. When you get there, remember to greet him and tell him I sent you."
"All right." Shiraishi opened the map and saw that it started at the Odd Jobs Shop, with a dotted line running west all the way to a mountain peak shaped like an ox horn.
"I won't disturb your meal any longer, Boss Yagyū."
"If there's anything you're dissatisfied with there, please tell me. I stake the name of the Odd Jobs Shop on making sure you're satisfied."
Ichirō Yagyū bowed with a broad smile. When he straightened up, Shiraishi was already gone, and the sneakers at the entrance had vanished as well.
The window swayed gently.
Shiraishi stepped through the window and left Stone Village. Now that he had a destination, he no longer dawdled, repeatedly using Steel Tempest and E-ing forward with a light breeze.
There were no obvious markers between Rukongai's districts, only invisible ones.
Only Soul Reapers could sense the difference in Reishi concentration between the districts: the farther out, the less there was.
Shiraishi sensed the changes in the Reishi around him. When he reached West District Ten, he slowed down and began checking the landmarks on the map.
Before he found Ox Horn Mountain, his extended spiritual senses picked up several Reiatsu signatures. "So crude, not even bothering to hide it."
After that remark, he decided to go say hello to a few of his new neighbors.