Chapter 67: The Lively Upper Deck
The middle-aged man—his name was Tonegawa Yukio!
The second-in-command of the Teiai Group, the No. 2!
Not long ago, he had been responsible for handling the dispute between Shiraki Kei and the Grisly Tooth Gang, and after the Grisly Tooth Gang offended the Kengan Association, he had smoothed over the relationship between the Kengan Association and the Teiai Group.
Those had been busy days.
Just when Tonegawa finally had some free time and planned to play a little golf, a bolt from the blue struck him right before the weekend.
A trial was placed before him!
The "Tyrant" of the Teiai Group—Chairman Hyodo Kazutaka—suddenly took an interest in Kengan matches and insisted on watching one.
This should have been easy to solve; just find a chance to go watch a match. But Hyodo Kazutaka insisted on hosting a "guest" on his own turf and showing the "guest" a program.
Tonegawa was helpless against such unreasonable behavior.
This was the fate of a man in "middle management"!
He held the power of life and death over many subordinates, but he also had to constantly please Chairman "Hyodo Kazutaka." It was a difficult position.
But Tonegawa was, after all, the Teiai Group's No. 2. He successfully carried out Hyodo's orders.
The plan was as follows—
On the Teiai Group's cruise ship, Espoir, hold a "Kengan Challenge Match" and, simultaneously, a "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors" gamble for debtors.
These two exciting programs would entertain Chairman Hyodo Kazutaka's "guest"!
To pull this off, Tonegawa and his team of men in black had pulled several all-nighters, barely managing to get everything running smoothly.
But Tonegawa never expected to see a familiar face—no, two familiar faces—among the "debtor trash" on the lower deck!
Shiraki Kei and Akimiya Kaede.
The former went without saying; even Tonegawa admired him.
The latter, as the Nogi Group Chairman's secretary, had met Tonegawa on multiple business occasions.
Why were these two on the ship? Did the Nogi Group go bankrupt?!
After a moment of shock, Tonegawa realized immediately.
Shiraki Kei and Akimiya Kaede were not here for the "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors" on the lower deck, but for the "Kengan Challenge Match" on the upper deck!
His men in black must have been overworked and made a mistake in the chaos, failing to distinguish between "trash" and "Kengan participants."
This was a grave discourtesy!
As the company's "middle manager," Tonegawa felt a headache coming on.
Looking again, he saw Akimiya Kaede staring coldly at everything, while Shiraki Kei raised his hand familiarly to greet him.
"Yo!"
Hiss—!
...zawazawazawa...
Tonegawa's head was spinning.
Helpless, he could only try to mend the situation, bracing himself as he approached the two VIPs.
Shiraki Kei didn't mind. He shook hands with Tonegawa and gave him a custom business card for his company—Soul Combat Dojo.
"Haha, impressive!"
Tonegawa hadn't expected that after not seeing him for a while, the young Shiraki Kei would have already established his own company.
Although Kei's personal style was too conspicuous to make him a "good employee" in a large corporation, Tonegawa genuinely admired such young people.
"A martial arts dojo? Not bad. I'll visit sometime."
Tonegawa carefully pocketed the card, then looked at Akimiya Kaede, apologizing frankly, "Please forgive our poor reception."
Seeing his attitude, Akimiya's anger subsided.
Both were middle managers in large companies. Many of their difficulties were similar, such as having to deal with the "wilfulness" of their respective chairmen.
"Hm, and one more?"
Tonegawa saw Kure Fusu and noticed her black-and-white eyes. "Anyway, please follow me to the upper deck. The venue is ready."
...
Led by Tonegawa, Shiraki Kei and the other two followed.
Seeing this, Itou Kaiji tried to follow but was stopped by the men in black on the scene. They wouldn't let him leave.
"Mr. Kaiji, your gamble is here. The upper deck has nothing to do with you."
The head man in black spoke firmly.
Kaiji argued to no avail and could only mutter as he returned to the room, finding a quiet corner to sit.
What are Shiraki-bro and the others doing on the upper deck? What awaits me tonight?
Everything was unknown.
Just as Kaiji was feeling miserable, someone approached him.
He looked up to see two strangers: a muscular man and a slender man with curly white hair.
"Hey, bro, nice to meet you!"
The curly-haired man was quite enthusiastic, introducing himself. "I'm Madarame, and this is Maruko. Want to consider 'teaming up' with us?"
Kaiji was confused. "...Teaming up?"
Madarame smiled and explained, "We're all strangers here. What if the gamble later requires teammates? Just planning ahead!"
...
Tonegawa personally led the way, guiding Shiraki Kei, Kure Fusu, and Akimiya Kaede up the deck stairs, finally reaching the upper level of the cruise ship.
It was a spacious reception hall, luxuriously decorated, with plenty of food and drink, and a large ring in the center.
Although the windows were sealed for secrecy, the interior lights were fully on. It was quite beautiful, far more comfortable than the cramped lower deck.
"Oh..."
From a distance, Kei could see many people in the hall, including familiar faces.
[The Man of the Divine Realm] Akagi Shigeru, [Kakerou Referee No. 2] Yako Hikoichi, and... Kaji Takaomi were all here.
Kei couldn't help but marvel. "Nice. Very lively!"
"Look over there—"
Akimiya leaned in close to Kei, whispering introductions. "That old man in the traditional men's kimono is the Chairman of the Teiai Group—Hyodo Kazutaka."
"The one next to him, sucking up, is the president of your opponent company, Gyūmin Dining—Nabemi Mikio."
"As for the others... sorry, I don't know them."
"..."
Kei followed Akimiya's gaze.
Besides those two, there was another "trio": a tough-looking man with glasses, a muscular bald man, and a gloomy-looking Kakerou referee.
They stood opposite Akagi Shigeru's trio.
Except for Akagi, who was still smiling, the other five looked grave. The atmosphere was tense.
"..."
As Tonegawa stepped forward to report, Hyodo Kazutaka also noticed Kei's group.
"Kakaka! The guests for tonight are all here!"
Hyodo let out a strange laugh. "In that case, let's have dinner first. Everyone can get acquainted. Otherwise, watching the match will be boring."
He signaled the Gyūmin Dining president beside him. "Hey, Mikio-kun. Since the opponent is here, bring out your fighter."
"Yes, yes, of course."
Nabemi Mikio nodded repeatedly, a fawning smile on his face, introducing proudly, "He contacted me proactively, wanting to use the Kengan Association to train himself—a master from a massive martial arts organization."
"One hit. He defeated my previous fighter with just one hit."
"You should know, my previous fighter was Yokota Masayasu, a brawler from 'Wadokan' Karate with a career record of 42 wins and 4 losses."
"But in front of 'that man's' karate, Yokota was second-rate!"
Nabemi Mikio got more excited as he spoke.
"Chairman Hyodo, allow me to introduce him. A 3rd Dan Karate master from the Shinshinkai—Suedo Atsushi!"
As he finished speaking, a tall, muscular man appeared before everyone, greeting them casually.
"Whew~!"
Seeing the man, Kure Fusu whistled, leaning close to Kei.
"Height 205cm, weight 131kg. And he's a Shinshinkai 3rd Dan—Shiraki-chin, what do you think of his strength?"
Kei looked at "Suedo Atsushi," thought for a moment, and revealed a happy smile.
"Not bad. We can finish this fight before dinner!"