HA1 7.2 - New Target

Every night, Hide only slept for 4-5 hours even though he underwent intense physical exercise in the day. Therefore, on Saturday he would go back to sleep after Aizawa left for school, and only woke up an hour before the time to pick her up.

Unfortunately, this Saturday he had to miss the opportunity to erase the physical fatigue that had accumulated for the whole weak. He was just about to get into the bed when the doorbell rang, and as soon as he opened the door, he found Takeo calmly stood in front of him.

"Sorry, I come without notify you first, but we have something important to talk about."

Hide nodded slightly before asking, "You didn't bring Kei and Rei?"

"No, every Saturday Kei and Rei will stay at the restaurant from morning to evening."

After nodding his head one more time, Hide led Takeo to the terrace in next to the living room. Without delay, Takeo then showed him a document with big letterhead ‘Nikko City Planning and Development Office’ in its cover.

"I heard that there will be a redevelopment project for the highway that connects the city and the beach on the south coast, as well as the construction of a drainage channel underneath. So I tried to find out the detail."

"What did you find?" Hide calmly asked.

"The project is scheduled to last for six months, starting from next Tuesday, from both ends of the highway. Last night, I found heavy vehicles and material carriers already starting to go back and forth in front of Knosses. Metro police also set up a temporary post for highway patrol right in front of Knosses."

After taking a deep breath Hide said, "We'll have to wait until the project is finished then."

"Hide, I can't wait that long." Takeo worriedly added, "My quota from the previous job is only enough to pay my parents' installments two times."

Hide casually said, "I can lend you 3 million Ren. I'll also ask if our Broker has other work for us."

"Thanks," Takeo genuinely said.

"No problem, but a friend is a friend and money is money. They are two different things. So, the loan must be legalized by my financial consultant."

"I don't mind, but do you have a financial consultant?"

"I have."

After a small nod Takeo said, "I've also made a fake explanation for the money that I will hand over to my parents, but I need you to join the act."

"Email me the details. I will play my role as best as I can."

"Okay."

While Takeo was smiling from ear to ear, Hide took his jacket and some money he stash in the garage. Not long after that, the two were already on their way to Totsuka Tower.

---

On Saturday, Aizawa only studied in Kitaro for half a day. Hide had also promised her to take her for grocery shopping every Saturday. Therefore, after his business at Totsuka Tower with Takeo was over, He immediately went to picked Aizawa up.

The shopping district that Hide and Aizawa visited was Sakura Shopping District. It was regular shopping district located two blocks from where they lived, and it had around two thousand shops, café, and other business establishment.

Today, Aizawa wanted to have fish as her dinner. So the first place Hide and Aizawa went was the fishmonger.

"Aizawa, what fish do you want?"

"Saba." Without hesitation Aizawa pointed at the ordinary looking of Indo-pacific double-lined mackerel fillet wrapped in Styrofoam and transparent plastic.

The fillet of Saba or Indo-pacific double-lined mackerel was the cheapest fillet almost at all year around, but Aizawa really liked it. So, Hide didn't correct her choice, but he added another piece.

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"Two mackerel fillets and one salmon fillet."

"Roger."

The fishmonger quickly wrapped up Hide's order, and cheerfully added another piece of mackerel fillet.

"The visitors have been decreasing a lot lately, so please take this little bonus. It's a shame if it doesn't sell."

"Thank you, Uncle." As he handed over the payment Hide asked, "Some of my regular shops are also closed, is the drop in visitors really that bad?"

After taking a deep breath the fishmonger replied, "The real problem is that a developer wants to build a shopping mall and amusement park here. When the shop owners refuse to sell their land, the developer launches harassment to both shop owners and visitors."

Hide gave a small nod before saying, "I hope things get back to normal soon. This shopping district makes my daily shopping easier. Also, this city already has eight malls, but there are only three shopping districts."

"Yeah, I also hope this shopping district survives," the fishmonger hopefully replied, although at the same time his gaze looked very pessimistic.

After getting the main ingredients for today dinner and tomorrow breakfast, Hide and Aizawa then continued their grocery shopping.

---

Hide's groceries list was not long, so in 30 minutes he had already bought everything. Then, he intended to buy Aizawa some snack before they went home.

"Aizawa, do you want some snacks?"

After tilting her head for a moment Aizawa replied, "Can we buy steamed hopia from Old Sano's place?"

"Well, Old Sano happened to ask if Big Bro could repair the program on his cash register." After smiling slightly Hide then asked, "What flavor do you want?"

"Pear jam and orange jam."

"Okay, let's go there then."

"Mhm."

Aizawa firmly nodded, and wasting no time Hide took her to Sano's Steamed Hopia, while inwardly he let out a deep sigh.

'All of Aizawa's favorite foods and snacks are exactly the same as Emily's. Deep in her heart, she must be missed Emily so much. If only I came back a little earlier, I will be able to prevent the traffic accident.'

---

While he was wrapping the steamed hopia ordered by Aizawa, with a complicated gaze Old Sano would occasionally steal a glance at Hide.

Old Sano's uneasiness was understandable. Considering that previously, every time he asked Hide if he could spare some time to repair his cash register, he always got a grunt of refusal before Hide hurriedly left.

The problem was that the maintenance guarantee had already ended a long time ago. So he couldn't force Hide to repair the program. But recently, Hide looked cheerful whenever he passed over his shop, not gloomy anymore.

So Old Sano dared himself to ask, "Umm . . . Hide, do you have time to fix my cash register?"

"May I check it out first?"

In an instant relief filled Old Man Sano's heart, "Of Course you can."

Old Man Sano then invited Hide and Aizawa in. Thirty minutes later, Hide had repaired the cash register.

"So fast," Old Sano muttered in admiration.

Hide calmly replied, "I just happened to make similar program for Aizawa's school, and the data sheet on your cash register is still intact, so I just need to put it together."

"Thank you, Hide."

Old Sano cheerfully handed him a small envelope, but Hide politely refused.

"Old Sano, you don't need to pay me. Instead, help me to distribute the program to anyone who previously used my cashier program. They only need to copy the main program and replace the data sheet with their own. Then, put the folder on the File System."

A question mark immediately appeared on Old Sano's forehead, "Are you sure it's free?"

"Absolutely."

After taking a deep breath Old Sano said, "They will be very happy. Unfortunately, some of them just closed their shop?"

"Does it have anything to do with the plan to build shopping mall here?"

Old Man Sano nodded. "The people sent by the developers are really assholes. Old Nobukatsu who was the pillar of the resistance became a hit and run victim while jogging. Until now, he still hasn't woken up in the ICU.

The eldest son of the cafe owner on the end of the street was beaten by a group of people when going home after school. Some of the patrons were also become victims of extortion and some were even sexually harassed.

They also damaged several shops that opened at night. Worse yet, a member of Metro Police who was on duty here were stabbed by an unknown person, while his colleague was beaten to the point he had to be sent to ICU. Both also lost their revolvers."

Hide immediately frowned, "Metro Police will definitely respond to the stabbing and violence against its members harshly. It's not surprising if they would ask for a limp or two as payback."

"Yes, they sent SAT undercover personnel to patrol here. They had stopped an attempt to vandalize a shop at night and many arrests were made. Things have even calmed down for a few weeks." Old Man Sano took a deep sigh before continuing. "However, some journalists wrote that the use of counter-terror units to arrest thugs was considered overkill.

The pressure on Metro Police has led them to withdraw the SAT personnel and it's only a matter of time before the unrest engulfed this shopping district one more time."

"Why are no journalists writing about the dirty attempts to evict the shop owner here?"

"There are, but the problem is they are also the one who strongly criticize the Metro Police when their personnel show their fangs to deter the thugs."

After taking a deep breath Hide said, "I bet there must be politicians and city officials at play."

Old Sano nodded firmly. "Yeah, I'm also sure the developer won't be so aggressive without adequate support. Besides, I heard the developer is also eyeing the other four blocks on the west side of this shopping district. You should tell your father about it, Hide."

"I'll tell him," Hide replied casually, but for a split second his eyes flashed.

After some light conversation, Hide and Aizawa then left Old Sano's shop. In exchange for Hide's payment, Old Sano gave Aizawa a box of mixed flavored steamed hopia.

*****