Whoosh.
A blue flame landed on the pile of money along with a flip-top lighter inlaid with gold and quickly set the banknotes alight.
Viewers across the country were stunned by the sight.
So was the reporter conducting the interview.
Kidnappings and bank robberies had happened before. In the public's eyes, the difference between this crime and those in the past was perhaps just the amount of money involved.
The scene before them overturned their understanding. Someone who cared about money couldn't burn it so freely.
Shiraishi was very pleased with their reactions. He had once seen a Joker movie in which the Joker burned a huge pile of money and danced gracefully.
To be honest, he had always wanted to try looking that cool himself, but he had never managed it. He hadn't had enough money, and burning real money was illegal.
Now he could consider that dream fulfilled.
Shiraishi jumped down from the counter and beckoned.
Tai Hideo tactfully stepped forward. Just as others had offered him cigarettes in the past, he took a Cuban cigar from inside his clothes, clipped the end off, and obediently handed it over.
Shiraishi took the cigar between his teeth and walked over to the flames consuming the pile of money. He bent down and drew a deep breath, the flames lighting the tobacco red, then exhaled a plume of fragrant smoke.
Then he picked up a fire axe, twisted his waist, lifted his hips, and swung the axe gracefully, performing the axe dance from Kung Fu.
No one spoke.
Even the most talkative reporter fell silent, watching the man dance before the burning banknotes, his tango-like steps carefree and mesmerizing.
For a moment, the reporter even felt an urge to join him. Fortunately, he forced himself to resist.
"That's so cool!!"
In front of a color television, a girl with short, side-parted orange hair lay on the sofa, her chin propped on both hands and her feet resting on her peach-shaped bottom. Her eyes were practically shining.
That damn man's charm couldn't even be contained by the television screen.
"But it's such a waste."
A pained look appeared on her face. All that money probably added up to over a hundred million yen, and he had actually been willing to burn it.
If she had been given a tenth of it, she would have had ten million yen. It might not have lasted her a lifetime, but at least she would have been able to afford to move out of the Ishida Family home.
Although her aunt was a good person at heart, her sharp tongue could sometimes be unbearable.
There were also too many rules in the house. It was like a giant cage, and it was only thanks to her ability to find joy amid hardship that she hadn't fallen into depression.
"Ah," she sighed heavily. TV Tokyo was still silent, and the silver-haired man was lost in his mesmerizing dance.
She wished she could be that carefree too.
"Masaki, it's your turn to take a bath."
The cool male voice interrupted her daydream. A stern-looking boy with silver hair stepped into the living room, bare-chested and showing off six-pack abs, a white bath towel wrapped around his waist as he rubbed his hair dry with another towel.
If the girls in her class saw this, they would surely shriek.
Masaki Kurosaki barely reacted and gave him a casual, halfhearted reply. "Little Ryūken, wait until I finish watching this."
Her eyes remained fixed on the color television screen. Before the broadcast started, she had expected a vicious criminal, but now he seemed like a very interesting man.
"Is this a movie?" Ryūken Ishida asked, watching the silent footage. Burning money and dancing with a cigar in his mouth-only a Western movie would have such an exaggerated scene.
Masaki Kurosaki began swinging her feet again and said with a smile, "No, it's a live news broadcast. A criminal robbed the Karakura Town First Bank and kidnapped the famous financial group boss Tai Hideo."
"A criminal? Hmph, boring." Ryūken Ishida felt a surge of disgust. Rational as he was, he hated criminal acts driven by emotion.
No matter how impressive the man looked now, he wouldn't come to a good end afterward.
He would either be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison.
"It's not boring at all. Little Ryūken, you really don't understand. I can tell he's enjoying himself, following through on his own ideas to the very end. Isn't that cool?"
Masaki Kurosaki immediately argued back. Perhaps growing up alongside this expressionless cousin who kept his emotions in check had made her especially fond of bold people who dared to disregard the rules.
That was how life should be lived to be interesting. Holding everything back and keeping it bottled up inside sounded cool, but in reality, life would be stifling and no fun at all.
Ryūken Ishida didn't argue. There was no need to determine who was right or wrong over something so meaningless. He said casually, "I'm going to do my Quincy training. Don't stay up too late watching and neglect your Quincy training."
"Mm." Masaki Kurosaki didn't care much about Quincy training. Her aunt didn't allow Pure-Blood Quincy to fight, saying that Mixed-Blood Quincy should handle anything that came up.
So what was she training so hard for?
It was completely pointless.
Masaki Kurosaki kept watching the television screen. After the mesmerizing dance, the reporter finally remembered he was supposed to be conducting an interview and stepped forward. "Hello, I'm Hiramatsu Taro, a reporter from TV Tokyo. May I ask your name?"
"Shiraishi," the silver-haired man said.
"Mr. Shiraishi, why did you kidnap Tai Hideo? Was it for money, or because of a personal grudge?"
"No, I wanted to see fireworks."
"..." The reporter was momentarily speechless. The answer had thrown many of his prepared questions into disarray, and it took a few turns of his brain before he recovered. Staring in astonishment, he said, "You said you wanted to see fireworks?"
Shiraishi asked in return, "That's right. Don't you think riding a Ferris wheel at night and watching fireworks is romantic?"
The reporter was utterly speechless. This criminal didn't follow the usual script at all. He had no tragic story, no grudge, and no desire for money. His motive was simply to see fireworks.
Ridiculous.
More than five hundred police officers, over a hundred police cars, and three helicopters were on standby outside, and the governor of Tokyo had even held a press conference over the matter.
"Haha, don't think so much. Just have fun."
Shiraishi slung an arm around the reporter's shoulders.
The reporter couldn't help asking, "Mr. Shiraishi, do you know what punishment you'll face?"
Shiraishi said indifferently, "No one can punish me. At eight tonight, my girlfriend and I are going to watch the fireworks from the Ferris wheel. Once we're done, we'll jump from the highest point together and end our lives.
"The law can't punish a dead man."
The reporter was baffled once again. He turned his head and asked in astonishment, "Is that really necessary?"
"I don't have anything left to hold me to this world."
Shiraishi answered with a carefree smile.
In front of the color television, Masaki Kurosaki abruptly sat up on the sofa, her heart filled with curiosity about Shiraishi.
For the first time in her life, she wanted to try to get to know a man she had never met, to learn everything about him.
More directly, she wanted to meet him.
Once the thought arose, she could no longer suppress it. She briefly considered how her aunt and cousin would react afterward, then quickly put it out of her mind.
If she didn't go see Shiraishi now, she would surely regret it later.
Masaki Kurosaki jumped off the sofa and ran to the entryway to put on her shoes.