Chapter 95: I Want to Eat Your Lipstick
"So you've really decided to stay here, and this dojo actually has real skills… Fine, Dad won't stop you anymore. My little girl's finally all grown up… waaah."
"Dad, stop crying already—it's super embarrassing!"
"But… but when I think about being separated from Keni for a whole month, I just… I get so sad!"
Right at the entrance to Ryōzanpaku, Shirahama Genji—a towering guy who looked more like a yakuza boss than the president of a company—was bawling his eyes out. Takumi stood off to the side, utterly speechless.
Hey, hey… this is straight-up daughter-con, isn't it? Yeah, definitely.
"Waaah, Sis has never even gotten into a fight her whole life—not even an argument! And now suddenly she wants to learn martial arts and become super strong? That's completely unscientific! I get it—you must've fallen for this guy who looks kinda sleazy but has insanely high-level skills… mmph!"
"You… what are you even saying?! Rei, Kouichi is Miu-san's boyfriend right now—don't just spout nonsense!"
Keni's face flushed crimson as she clamped her hand over her little brother's mouth, looking completely flustered. Takumi caught Rei staring at him like he was some kind of love rival and couldn't help another internal rant.
Hey, hey… another sis-con detected. Keni grew up in a house with these two—seriously, is she okay?
Finally, after peeling off the sticky father-son duo like glue, both Takumi and Keni let out huge sighs of relief. Those two were way harder to deal with than that Gokkon-ryū challenge from earlier. Keni immediately turned to him apologetically.
"Sorry… my dad and little brother caused you so much trouble."
"No way—they're actually a really fun pair of father and son."
"They don't mean any harm at all. And, um… please don't take what my brother said earlier to heart."
"What did he say?"
Takumi looked genuinely puzzled. Keni let out a small breath of relief, though a flicker of disappointment crossed her face.
"Nothing. I'm going to go train now. Oh—right. Miu-senpai said since we had unexpected income today, she's making something really nice for dinner. After we see my family off, she wants you to head to the market street and help carry back the groceries."
"Ohh, that sounds great. I seriously hope we get bonus income like this every day."
Takumi grinned, giving Keni a light pat on the shoulder.
"Don't push yourself too hard during training. If you get hurt, come find me, okay?"
With that he strode out of Ryōzanpaku. A few powerful leaps later and he was gone. Keni leaned against the gate with a small sigh.
"Senpai… doesn't he realize being too gentle with a girl can be its own kind of cruelty…?"
"Wow, you really bought a ton of stuff."
Ryōzanpaku had nine mouths to feed. Aside from Keni's small appetite, everyone else ate about three times a normal person's portion—basically enough food for thirty people a day (including fruits, desserts, and late-night snacks). Takumi was hauling it all on his back and in his hands, but with his current strength it was no big deal.
Miu gave him a bright smile.
"Thanks to today's windfall, even the people who usually hold back on portions can finally eat their fill. So we bought twice the usual amount."
"Ahh, makes sense. Martial artists already have huge appetites. I've heard legends of ancient masters who could eat an entire elephant in one day—wonder if that's real or not."
"Of course it's real. When Grandpa took me to Africa, he ate one or two wild buffalo all by himself."
Takumi clicked his tongue in amazement. Then his gaze drifted—and he noticed the faint sheen of lipstick on Miu's red lips. She'd put on her usual "ladylike courtesy" today. His heart skipped.
"Miu… I've got something I really want to eat too."
"What is it? Today's thanks to you staying—so I can treat you a little."
"I want to eat your lipstick!"
Takumi stared straight at her beautiful lips with a teasing smile. Miu froze for a second, cheeks instantly blooming red. But instead of hitting him, she huffed softly, reached into her pocket, and pulled out the actual lipstick tube.
"Here. Be grateful."
"Uh…"
Takumi was completely checkmated. He had no comeback. Seeing his dumbfounded face, Miu couldn't hold back anymore—she burst into laughter.
"Idiot. Close your eyes."
Takumi blinked, then obediently shut them. The next instant, something warm and soft pressed against his lips. His eyes flew open to find Miu's face scarlet.
"There. Now hurry back."
She activated her movement technique—seemingly slow but actually lightning-fast—and was gone in moments. Takumi hurriedly called after her.
"Wait for me!"
He dashed forward like the wind, chasing after the feather dancing in the breeze.
After lunch, Sakaki dragged Takumi into a taxi. They soon arrived at the local police station. Instead of the main entrance, Sakaki led him through a side door. Along the way, officers greeted Sakaki casually. Finally they reached an office. Sakaki pushed the door open without ceremony.
"Yamura-keishi, I'm here."
He plopped down on the sofa like he owned the place. Takumi's ears perked up at the title. Thanks to stuff like Kindaichi Case Files and Detective Conan, he actually knew Japanese police ranks better than most: keishi → keishi-buchō→ keibu-ho→ keibu→ keishi→ keishi-sei→ keishi-chō → keishi-kan→ keishi-sōkan / keisatsu-honbuchō.
Keishi was already a pretty high rank. This Yamamura-keishi looked surprisingly young, maybe mid-thirties. To reach that position so fast, he either had serious talent or serious connections. Takumi could tell the man was a martial artist himself—not quite at master level with ki, but probably around seventh-dan black belt strength.
"Sakaki-senpai, you finally made it. And this is…?"
"My prized disciple. Name's Takumi Kouichi. He's the one I recommended for the job."
"I see—he's your star pupil. He does look quite young, though."
"Ten years ago you said the same thing about Shigure. Ten years later she's Ryōzanpaku's sixth master. Your eye for talent hasn't improved at all."
"Ah—sorry, that was rude. Ten years ago I was just a keibu-ho. Since it's your recommendation, though… let me explain the situation. That bastard Gen Motoyama used to instruct at a hunter school in Siberia. He couldn't handle the life-or-death hell training and ran away, but his jungle combat and survival skills are terrifying—better than most Marines in some ways. We've been searching all day and still haven't caught him. Instead, several officers got badly injured by his traps. The brass and the media are furious. I can practically feel my chair heating up under me. So please—catch that scum for us."
"Motoyama, huh? That's a pretty big family name. But even if he had ancient imperial blood, it wouldn't matter. Using brute force to violate women makes him far worse than those darkness types. Just so my disciple doesn't feel too much pressure on his first job… if necessary, it's fine to kill him, right?"
Ryōzanpaku might practice living-fist martial arts, but they never showed mercy to irredeemable criminals. Otherwise that kind of "kindness" would itself become evil. Yamamura-keishi nodded firmly.
"No problem. If the situation calls for it, please don't hold back!"
Ten minutes later, a small police dragonfly helicopter was carrying Takumi toward the mountainous suburbs of the neighboring city.
Wanna read ahead? Join my Patreon and support the story — up to 6 new chapters are published for you every day!: patreon.com/ArealMaster