boom.
Thunder and torrential rain.
As if rushing to deliver the biggest spring rain at the end of spring, the heavens poured down water from a basin covering the entire West District Ten, creating a rain scene where you could see nothing but rain from five steps away.
The roads were muddy. Unlike Seireitei, Rukongai had very few paved roads; they were almost all natural dirt roads, which could be praised as natural when it didn't rain.
When it rains, every step leaves a puddle, and every step you take is covered in mud.
At this time of day, nobody usually wants to go out, unless they're already on the road and feeling unlucky.
Click.
A tree broke.
The lightning tore through the dark clouds, and the brief flash of light illuminated the Shiraishi's silhouette on the cliff face.
Pitter-patter, raindrops the size of soybeans fell on the surface of the safe. He tilted it slightly, and the rainwater flowed downwards, turning into a thin curtain of water that cascaded down.
"This rain is really heavy."
Shiraishi remarked that the weather had been off ever since they entered West District Eleven; it was gloomy and overcast.
Upon reaching the West District Ten, it was immediately hit by torrential rain. Without a safe to shelter from the rain, we were soaked to the bone.
Nemu Kurotsuchi did not respond to his words. She took small steps forward, the sound of her wooden clogs hitting the rocky ground being drowned out by the sound of the rain. She touched the gap between the cliff walls with both hands, pried it open, and then pushed it to the right.
The cliff face gurgled and shrank to the side; it had long been hollowed out, with only a layer of rock covering the outside.
She pushed the cliff face aside, and a tall, wide opening appeared before her, pitch black inside.
Nemu Kurotsuchi took the initiative to step inside and lit the torches placed on the wall using the most primitive method of making fire by friction.
Because her hands have been modified to rotate at high speed like an electric drill, and if she controls the force, drilling out fire is not a difficult task.
If left unchecked, this enormous cave in front of her would have been dug by her bare hands.
Shiraishi carried the safe into the cave and gently placed it in the center. Torches lit up around it, dispelling the darkness and illuminating the cave.
Nemu Kurotsuchi walked back to the doorway, pulled the cliff face back up, and closed it to prevent anyone from discovering the place.
Shiraishi walked around to the front of the safe, opened the broken safe door, and without caring about his image, pounced into the pile of money, rolled around twice, grabbed the hard gold bars with both hands, and smelled the money all over his nose.
"Haha, this is really a windfall!"
He burst into laughter. So much money, just trying to count it all would make your hands sore.
Once upon a time, he watched scenes of people counting money in TV dramas and was very envious, secretly vowing that one day he would count money like that too.
It turned out to be a pipe dream.
Not only are they not qualified to count their own money, but they can't even count other people's money. Not just anyone can be a bank teller.
Thinking of this, Shiraishi immediately stood up, grabbed a wad of banknotes, intending to count 144,000 first, but then decided to round it up to 150,000 and return it to Kawakami Saburō.
Elder Rice Village's twenty thousand or so, rounded up to thirty thousand.
He happily counted the money.
Nemu Kurotsuchi began preparing lunch.
Limited by space and ingredients, all she did was wash the rice and steam it.
Once the rice was steamed, she used her clean hands to scoop it out, shaped it into triangular rice balls, stuffed dried plums inside, wrapped them with seaweed, and placed them on a plate.
One after another.
Four plates were set out. The rice in the wooden bucket was used up. To avoid waste, she brought her palm to her mouth and licked the rice grains off her fingers with her tongue. The freshly cooked rice didn't need any seasoning; it was delicious enough to eat on its own.
After licking it clean, Nemu Kurotsuchi turned around and called out, " Shiraishi, the food is ready."
"Coming right away."
Shiraishi responded, placed the counted money next to the gold bars to avoid mixing them up, rushed out of the safe, ran over, scooped water from the bucket to wash his hands, then picked up a steaming rice ball and took a big bite. "Mmm, this rice is good, it tastes just like glutinous rice."
Nemu Kurotsuchi explained, "This is glutinous rice."
"Oh, no wonder." Shiraishi smiled, biting into the dried plum in the middle, which added a touch of sweet and sour to the rice, making it even more appetizing.
He ate heartily, praising, "Your rice balls are really good, but it's a pity the ingredients are too simple; it would be even better with some meat."
"Yes, we can go out and buy some good ingredients once the rain stops."
Nemu Kurotsuchi's expression softened somewhat, unlike her previous expressionless face; she seemed more like a different person.
Or perhaps the thought of a virtuous wife flashed through Shiraishi's mind, but he quickly shook his head to dismiss it.
Nemu Kurotsuchi asked doubtfully, "You don't want to pay?"
"No, I don't care about money, I just thought of some outrageous things."
Shiraishi grabbed a rice ball and stuffed it into his mouth.
Perhaps the other person is too innocent, doesn't understand matters between men and women, and has no concept of the difference between them, like a little girl.
He simply couldn't bring himself to say such flippant words; he always felt a strange sense of guilt.
Nemu Kurotsuchi picked up the rice ball and asked earnestly, "What do you want to eat tonight? I can make dumplings, grilled pork chops, rice balls, and you could call them meat rice balls if you put meat inside them. I also make miso soup."
"Whatever, I trust your cooking skills."
Shiraishi casually replied that he wasn't a picky eater and could eat almost anything unless it was extremely difficult to swallow.
"Oh." Nemu Kurotsuchi began to think about what she should do that night. If she had only one option, she could act immediately.
If she has too many choices, she'll become conflicted—which one should she do?
Before she met Shiraishi, she had never made any decisions on her own; she always followed Mayuri's orders and then took action.
After meeting Shiraishi, she was always faced with multiple choices, leaving her conflicted and confused.
She hesitated until the rain stopped, still unable to make up her mind. With the thought of going to see what ingredients were available, she left with three wads of cash in her pocket.
Shiraishi was also busy.
When he's broke, there's nothing he can do, but when he has money, he doesn't want to delay for a moment and pays it back immediately.
First, use the Steel Tempest to reach the elder's house in Rice Village. Without saying hello, place the money on the table and leave.
The surveillance cameras in the Projection Hall are mostly set up near villages where virtual characters are likely to appear; if he lingers there, the risk of being exposed becomes very high.
Dropping money at such a high speed carries almost no risk.
He left Rice Village and headed straight for the Ox Horn Mountain, enjoying the fresh air after the rainstorm until he arrived at the Kawakami Clan.
Shiraishi easily climbed over the wall, glanced around and saw that there were no dogs in the yard. He didn't care and assumed that the heavy rain had driven the dogs back to their cages. He walked around and stopped in the north corridor.
Kawakami Saburō was sitting here alone, enjoying a drink, admiring the garden scenery after the rain, and listening to the crisp sound of a startled deer hitting the bluestone.
"Hey, Mr. Kawakami, it's been a long time."
Shiraishi sat on the other side of the table.
Kawakami Saburō was startled and exclaimed, "You, you stay away!"
"Don't worry, I didn't mean to harm you, I just want to return the money to you."
Shiraishi pulled several wads of banknotes from his bag. "Here's 150,000. You can count it."
Kawakami Saburō's expression didn't improve when he saw the money; he was almost in tears. "Please, leave quickly. I don't want the money. If the higher-ups find out I'm still connected to you, Kūkaku Shiba's fate will be mine."