"Hayashi-san, let's give it a go." Matsuda Jotaro spoke up, rotating his wrists with a competitive glint in his eyes. It was clear he wasn't entirely convinced by Hayashi Shuichi's earlier claim.
"...Fair enough," Shuichi nodded. "Let's head just outside the door."
As the group filed out of the izakaya, they happened to run into Eri Kisaki and Mouri Kogoro, who were just returning.
Eri looked exhausted, her eyes heavy after a long day of pouring over books at home. Kogoro, on the other hand, was practically glowing, humming a jaunty tune with a look of smug satisfaction—clearly having just come back from a successful date with his girlfriend.
"Oh? Why is everyone standing out here?" Eri asked, rubbing her aching eyes.
"What's going on?" Kogoro added, his curiosity piqued.
Upon learning that Shuichi was about to spar with the newly crowned boxing champion, both Eri and Kogoro showed immediate confidence in Shuichi.
"Shuichi is right. If it were in a boxing ring with strict rules, he might not be a match for Mr. Matsuda," Kogoro said, crossing his arms and nodding with the air of an expert. "But if there are no rules? Mr. Matsuda definitely won't be able to beat him."
"I don't believe it," Matsuda Jinpei huffed, clenching his small fists. "You guys haven't seen the matches; you don't know how strong my dad is."
"Just watch," Reiko said, her voice brimming with certainty. "Onii-chan is definitely going to win."
The group formed a loose circle, leaving Shuichi and Matsuda Jotaro facing each other in the center.
"Mr. Matsuda, let's agree on this first: this isn't a boxing match," Shuichi said, rolling his shoulders to loosen up.
"I understand," Jotaro replied. He nodded and settled into a standard boxing stance, his feet dancing with rhythmic, fluid movements. "Come on, Hayashi-san. Let me see how powerful your combat style really is."
Seeing that Jotaro had taken a defensive posture and was waiting for him to make the first move, Shuichi didn't hold back. He threw a casual, probing punch to test the waters.
Seeing the punch come in seemingly "soft" and without much weight, Jotaro felt a flicker of dismissiveness. "Hayashi-san, I'm going to start swinging now!"
"Bring it," Shuichi replied calmly, his gaze sharpening with focus.
Jotaro stopped being polite. He unleashed a flurry of rapid-fire punches, his fists cutting through the air with an audible whoosh. As a newly promoted champion, his power and speed were top-tier.
Just as Shuichi had predicted, if this were a boxing ring, Jotaro would likely have overwhelmed him with ease. However, Shuichi moved with the grace of a fish in water, slipping and weaving through the onslaught.
The evasion lasted for several minutes.
To the observers, the fight lacked the "oomph" they were expecting. It wasn't the bone-crunching, blow-for-blow spectacle they had envisioned, and some of the excitement began to wane.
Young Matsuda Jinpei lifted his chin triumphantly. "See? My dad is amazing! Shuichi-niisan can't even find an opening to strike back."
"Master, don't just keep dodging!" Furuya Rei shouted, sounding a bit disappointed.
"This must be Shuichi-niisan's strategy," Hagiwara Kenji mused, stroking his chin like a little philosopher. "He's letting Uncle Matsuda exhaust himself before finishing him off, right?"
"A boxing match lasts for dozens of minutes," Kujo Keisuke said, shaking his head. "It's impossible to drain a pro boxer's stamina in such a short amount of time."
"Onii-chan will win," Reiko insisted, standing firm in her brother's corner.
"Hayashi-san, if all you do is dodge, then—" Jotaro started to say with a grin while throwing another punch.
But before he could finish his sentence, Shuichi seized the opening. He suddenly dropped his center of gravity, ducking under the strike and circling behind Jotaro like a shadow. In a lightning-fast sequence, he locked Jotaro's throat with his arms while simultaneously kicking out at the back of Jotaro's knees.
Before the champion could even process what was happening, his knees buckled. With a heavy thud, he fell to his knees, his neck firmly secured in Shuichi's grip.
"How was that, Mr. Matsuda?" Shuichi asked with a smile, releasing his hold and reaching down to help the man up.
"That was..." Jotaro stood up and patted the dust off his trousers, shaking his head with a wry smile. "There are certainly no moves like that in boxing."
"That's why I said," Shuichi laughed, "if we were in the ring under boxing rules, I wouldn't stand a chance against you."
The sudden conclusion of the match left the onlookers stunned.
"Shuichi-niisan is so cool!" Hagiwara Kenji's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.
Beside him, his sister Chihaya had stars in her eyes, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"Shuichi-niisan totally fouled!" Matsuda Jinpei grumbled, unwilling to accept the loss.
"Onii-chan said before they started that this wasn't boxing," Reiko countered, placing her hands on her hips proudly.
Jinpei opened his mouth to argue further, but Jotaro placed a hand on his son's head, his tone gentle but firm. "A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. Don't make excuses."
"...I know," Jinpei muttered, looking down and kicking a pebble on the ground.
"Alright, let's leave it at that," Shuichi said, waving a hand and glancing at the darkening sky. "Didn't we want to take a photo? If we wait any longer, the sun will be completely gone, and the lighting will be terrible."
After the group photo was taken, Furuya Rei realized how late it was getting. He hurriedly ran toward the station; his home was in Haido, and he had school the next day.
Matsuda Jotaro also departed, taking his son and the Hagiwara siblings home. The Kujo couple didn't stay long either, heading off to find a photo studio in the shopping district to develop the film.
The izakaya, which had been bustling with life moments ago, suddenly grew quiet.
"That's strange. It's almost opening time; why isn't Midori here yet?" Kogoro wondered, peering out the door.
"Oh, that reminds me, Onii-chan," Reiko said, trotting over to Shuichi's side. "While you were out, Midori-san called. She said she couldn't make it today."
"Did something happen?" Shuichi's hands stopped mid-task as he was wiping the dishes.
Though Orikasa Midori looked like a delinquent girl on the surface, she was incredibly diligent and serious when it came to work. Ever since she decided to learn culinary arts under Shuichi, she hadn't slacked off for a single day.
"I'm not sure," Reiko shook her head. "Midori-san didn't say."
"Maybe the flower shop is just too busy, and she can't get away," Kogoro guessed.
"It doesn't matter if one or two people are missing," Eri Kisaki hummed softly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Back when it was just the three of us, the izakaya ran perfectly fine, didn't it?"
"Well, you can't really put it that way. With an extra pair of hands, we could—"
Kogoro stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Eri's expression souring. He suddenly remembered that the "missing people" in the izakaya were all girls who had various degrees of chemistry with Shuichi. It was no wonder Eri was perfectly happy not seeing them around.
Just as Eri had said, even without the others, the izakaya continued its business as usual.
Around nine o'clock, Superintendent Matsumoto dropped by.
Aside from having a meal, he had some news for Shuichi: they had finally located the person who had been seen arguing with Takeda Yamato...
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