HA1 7.3 - Debt of Life

While Aizawa was playing with his smartphone in the living room, Hide was preparing dinner. The main dish was pacific mackerel. He diced it and slightly stir-fried it using high heat, and then put it on top of warm rice and doused it with sautéed onions seasoned with teriyaki sauce.

Dousing the teriyaki sauce on the mackerel instead of cooking it together was a bit unconventional, but Aizawa super loved it. She could finish two bowls of rice every time Emily made it.

"Aizawa, dinner is ready."

"Okay."

Wasting no time Aizawa came to dining table. With sparkling eyes she looked at her favorite dish which was served with mushroom and tofu miso soup, fish’s skin crackers, and pickled cucumbers.

""Thank you for the meal," Hide and Aizawa said the gratitude for the food at the same time, and dinner started immediately afterward.

After gulping down a spoon full of mackerel, Aizawa turned her gaze towards Hide. "Big Bro, can Aizawa stay at Kitaro every Monday, Thursday, and Friday?"

Hide didn't answer right away. Initially, he had intended for Aizawa to stay in Kitaro for 6-10 months, so that he could focus on training and earning money. But now, he was reluctant to part away with her and chose to collect the money slowly.

After pondering for a moment Hide said, "Well, it’s depending on the reason."

"Every Monday and Thursday Aizawa will have music practice with Kana, while on Friday we will watch soccer game together."

A question mark immediately appeared on Hide's forehead. "Who is Kana?"

Aizawa cheerfully explained, "She is Kaede Sensei's niece. Last year both her parents passed away in a plane crash, and now she lives with Kaede Sensei. Kana is also a Yuko Mountain fan like Aizawa."

Aizawa then opened her Cloud account using Hide's smartphone and showed a photo of two girls in Kitaro's uniform. The two of them were standing and holding hands in front of a piano.

The first girl had clear black eyes, long shiny black hair, and a cute oriental face. As for the second girl, she had clear blue eyes, perfect blonde hair, with a charming beauty of a Caucasian-Oriental face. One thing that very stood out about the two little girls was, their face and smile were brimming with happiness.

'Looks like I missed a very important stuff,' Hide muttered inwardly.

After Emily's departure, this was the first time Aizawa excitedly talked about her friend. It was also the first time she smiled so brightly in a picture without Emily on it.

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"Aizawa, do you have music practice only with Kana?"

"No.” Aizawa shook her head before explaining, “In the class Aizawa practice with a group of nine children. Outside the class, Aizawa will practice with Kana under the guidance of Kaede Sensei or Kirara Sensei. Aizawa will play the piano while Kana will play the violin."

"I see." Hide smiled widely before continuing, "Tomorrow let’s buy extra clothes and bathroom miscellaneous for you. Then, Big Bro will take care of your dormitory admission."

"Okay." Aizawa cheerfully nodded three times.

"You can also bring the smartphone from Totsuka Firm, and use it to take as many pictures as you want. But don't get addicted to playing games or Big Bro will ask for it back."

"Okay." Aizawa once again cheerfully nodded.

Dinner then continued and Hide asked Aizawa to tell him about her study in Kitaro. All this time, he had only checked Aizawa's brilliant grades, without asking too many questions because she seemed very happy with her school life. However, it seemed it was a big mistake.

---

It was late at night, but Hide was still wide awake. In his pitch-black room, he sat pensively on the bed, leaning against the wall.

From his previous life, Hide knew that the attempt to acquire Sakura Shopping District would fail. In March next year, a wife of a shop owner and her three-year-old son would become victim of car hit and run right in front of their shop. The death of the mother and her son would then attract public's attention, followed by overwhelming support to preserve Sakura Shopping District.

But Hide never knew that the developer who wanted Sakura Shopping District also wanted the block where he lived.

After he joined 1st SFG and had several contacts in National Intelligence Service, Hide managed to track down that the robber who killed his father. He was a member of Toruma Mafia. He then collected the debt of life for his father's death.

And, before Hide slit his throat, the Elder of Toruma Mafia hysterically explained that he was only carrying out a deal with Nichiko Construction and Developer Association, to help them in a national scale project and not targeting his father specifically.

At that time, Hide ignored the explanation and thought of it as panicked nonsense in the face of death. However, it seemed he didn't dig deep enough.

'Looks like I have to speed up the visit to Toruma Mafia.'

Slowly but surely, a dense bloodlust enveloped Hide. At the same time, his gaze turned as sharp as a sword.

---

Every day, especially on Monday, Takeo would leave his house much earlier than normal high school students. First, he would take Kei and Rei to an all-day kindergarten. Then, he rushed to East Nichiko High and waited for the start of class by reading a light novel.

Takeo casually passed the empty schoolyard and entered the first floor of main building. Then, on the stairs to the 2nd floor he found Hide had been waiting for him.

While approaching Hide, Takeo asked, "Do we have a new target?"

"Yeah." Hide was silent for a moment before continuing, "But this is my personal stuff and not from our broker. The money is also small even though the risk is quite high. So, I don't mind if you aren't interested."

Takeo firmly replied, "Right now I need every penny I can get. Also, this can be a means of collecting experience for me."

"Well then, please gather as much detail as possible about acquisition of Sakura Shopping District. The keywords are Toruma Mafia and Nichiko Construction and Developer Association. Feel free to infiltrate any network in this city, but avoid Nichiko Metro Police’s servers. Their Cyber Crime Unit is not a joke."

"Okay."

"There's a possibility to develop this operation into a prized job, but for now we shouldn't get our hopes up too high."

"Understood."

Hide then sincerely said, "Thank you."

"No problem. You have helped me a lot too."

A moment later, Hide and Takeo were already on their way to their own class. They walked separately as if their previous conversation never happened.

*****