The Kondo family took up residence at the Chishima estate, and by extension, Kondo Yuika and Sakurai Kaiko stayed there as well, even if it was only intended for a day or two.
It was simply a matter of adding a few extra layers of futons. With two or three people sharing a room, there were still spare rooms left over; it didn't feel cramped in the slightest.
Shizuka, anwhile, had also moved in.
She had claid one of the two rooms equipped with a walk-in closet, located right next to Akishin's room, and had already settled in quite comfortably. Aside from two large suitcases, she had brought a giant plushie from her own ho and had even ordered a bed online, which was scheduled for delivery in a few days.
Furthermore, she had taken over the task of hosting Kondo Yuika and the others from Akishin, making her look more like the lady of the house than Akishin himself.
Observing this behavior, Akishin couldn't help but feel that Shizuka didn't look like soone who intended to stay for just a few days.
The Chishima Residence was officially back in business. Since the shop had been closed for over two weeks, the business had naturally taken a hit. Aside from the first two days after the grand opening, this was the only ti the seats and tables weren't completely filled within an hour of opening.
However, three hours later, a long queue had ford outside once again. Most of them were regulars who had caught wind that Akishin had returned and reopened his doors.
Ever since Akishin closed the shop, these old custors had found it genuinely difficult to go without his delicious cooking. In their eyes, even if he was a Kendo champion, that fact paled in importance compared to his culinary skills.
"Sensei, how do I do this part?"
"Peel the skin first, drop them into boiling water for a quick blanch, then shock them in cold water... Kaiko, the Crab Roe over here is finished..."
"Understood..."
"It's been over two weeks, Chishima-sensei. I see you've taken on a little apprentice. Do you plan on passing down your cooking skills or your Kendo?"
"Ishii-san, you're joking. She's the daughter of a friend, just here to visit. She's a very good kid..."
Today's lineup was formidable, bolstered by the presence of Kondo Soichi, Kondo Keiko, and even their grandmother.
Despite the grandmother being over sixty, she was still quite sturdy. She had insisted on helping with the dishes regardless of any protests.
Back at her own Izakaya in Itomori, her primary job had been washing dishes, alongside assisting the head chef.
However, the volu of plates needing to be washed at their Izakaya wasn't even a tenth of what passed through the Chishima Residence.
The sa applied to Kondo Keiko. She insisted that while she couldn't handle heavy physical labor, it didn't an she was useless; she was more than capable of handling the dishwashing station.
She even wore a heart rate monitor to ensure that if her pulse spiked, she would stop imdiately.
Beyond simply wanting to contribute according to her ability, Keiko had personal reasons.
She didn't want to be a burden, a person who was completely useless.
She wanted to try doing sothing—even the simplest of tasks. At the very least, it was better than doing nothing and letting her mind wander into dark places.
Akishin couldn't really argue with them. After a few futile attempts at dissuading them, he eventually gave in.
However, the grandmother of Keiko and Yuika only worked for two days. Once they found a house and moved out, they would naturally stop working there.
This wasn't out of a lack of gratitude. If they could, they would have worked for Akishin for free to repay his kindness.
But that wasn't feasible. They knew the reality of their own health.
If they truly worked at the Chishima Residence, it would end up being a detrint to Akishin—there was no guarantee that neither of them would suffer a health crisis at any mont. No matter where they worked, it would inevitably cause trouble for the establishnt.
As for Kondo Soichi, he was purely there to help. He had said himself that he might visit often in the future and wanted to do what he could.
It was just that he was far too young. If he actually worked at an Izakaya, there was a high probability of being reported for child labor violations.
"Chishima-sensei, who is this new employee you ntioned, and when will they be arriving?"
Once the peak wave of custors had passed and the seats remained consistently filled, the atmosphere grew montarily relaxed. Sakurai Kaiko leaned against the edge of the kitchen counter, holding a glass of ice water and sipping it slowly.
"She's a senior of yours at Sobu High. Her na is Kawasaki Saki, from the sa class as Hikigaya. She has that rare blue-black hair; you might have seen her around."
Akishin spoke while discarding the seeds of a peeled apple, slicing it into small wedges. He sprinkled a pinch of fine salt over them before sliding the plate in front of Kaiko.
"Thank you, Chishima-sensei... Kawasaki Saki? Blue-black hair? Oh, her..."
Kaiko happily picked up a slice of apple and popped it into her mouth. At first, there was a faint hint of saltiness, but then the natural sweetness of the apple hit her taste buds, amplified and made much richer.
With just a little salt, the flavor of the apple seed to undergo a qualitative upgrade, as if magic had been cast upon the food.
Sakurai subconsciously squinted her eyes in delight.
"Is she the one who usually ties her school blazer around her waist, tall, and dresses like a girl delinquent?"
"That's the one. Kaiko, do you know her?"
Akishin looked at Kaiko, who was reaching for a second slice of apple, feeling a bit surprised. As far as he knew, Kawasaki Saki's social standing at school was only slightly better than Hachiman's used to be.
She usually looked like she didn't care about anything, and combined with her style and sowhat abrasive personality, it resulted in her having almost no friends.
No, more accurately, she was the one who rejected friendship. Regardless, she was a high school student who had faced the harsh realities of life much earlier than her peers.
"I don't know her personally, I've never even spoken to her, just seen her a few tis at school." Kaiko shook her head, then grabbed a third slice: "But she's actually quite popular in a way; plenty of people like her. The boys in our class have ntioned her during their discussions, so I rembered her by accident."
Is Kawasaki Saki actually popular?
Akishin felt skeptical; he hadn't been aware of that.
As they spoke, he sliced a small waterlon into two halves. He asked Soichi to take one half to Keiko, while the other was placed next to the apples.
Working in a kitchen—especially one without botherso regulations and a very kind owner—the biggest perk was that the ingredients were fair ga for snacking.
When it ca to food, Akishin was never stingy—though after eating too much, one usually didn't have much of an appetite for a proper al later.
"What are you all talking about?"
Yuika, who was temporarily idle, approached them as well. her face was slightly flushed; after working for several hours straight, she was clearly feeling the fatigue.
However, she was well-accustod to this level of exhaustion.
"We're talking about Kawasaki Saki, the new employee at the Chishima Residence."
Kaiko handed a piece of waterlon to Yuika and took one for herself with a smile. Regarding eating fruit at the Izakaya, Yuika had initially refused, but as it happened more frequently, she had grown used to it.
She accepted it naturally, taking a small bite. The crisp, cold, and sweet texture spread through her mouth. Her body seed to give a small shiver as the heat instantly dissipated.
This was Hokkaido waterlon; it was incredibly expensive.
Akishin never hesitated to spend money when it ca to the quality of his food.
"Kawasaki Saki?"
"Yuika, you don't usually pay attention to these things, so you probably don't know her. She's a second-year senior, in the sa class as Hikigaya-senpai."
Kaiko ate her waterlon while smiling at the custors filling the Izakaya: "I was asking when that senior would be coming. Because once she arrives, Yuika can move into the kitchen to learn cooking skills from Chishima-sensei. Yuika, you don't seem in a hurry at all!"
If you aren't going to be hurried, then I'll be hurried for you.
"I see..."
Yuika glanced at Akishin briefly, hesitated, then smiled and shook her head: "She'll be here soon. Doing our own jobs well is what matters."
Akishin looked at Yuika. He could see in her eyes that what she was thinking was different from what she was saying; it was obvious her words didn't quite match her heart.
Akishin shook his head with a chuckle: "I've already spoken with Kawasaki. She starts tomorrow."
This had all started from a phone call Akishin had with Yuika while he was away in Itomori. At the ti, Yuika had discussed her plans after potentially dropping out, one of which was preparing to learn how to cook from him...
Akishin had promised then that as long as she was willing to learn, he would teach her. That was the seed that had led to this.
Afterward, Akishin had gone to Itomori and settled the Kondo family's affairs. Yuika no longer needed to drop out, so naturally, she hadn't brought it up again.
But Akishin hadn't forgotten. A few hours ago, when they opened the shop, he had asked Yuika if she still wanted to learn to cook—even though she was still a student, using her working hours to learn wouldn't interfere with her studies.
Giving a student an extra skill wouldn't do any harm.
Yuika had been stunned when she first heard this. She had almost declined out of fear of being a nuisance... But after learning that the new employee was definitely coming, she had accepted with so hesitation.
Learning to cook from Akishin—of course Yuika wanted to. It was the kind of wanting that was imnse, the kind that followed her into her dreams.
But she also truly didn't want to trouble Chishima-sensei.
The original staff and owner consisted of only three people. The previous dishwashing lady had already left. If she moved to learning cooking, they would need to hire soone else, and Chishima-sensei would have to split his focus to teach her...
However...
She still couldn't say no. Chishima-sensei's cooking was incredible. Yuika wanted to learn from him, not out of a desire to make money in the future, but out of pure admiration.
The thought that she might one day create dishes that magnificent made her heart flutter with excitent—it was sothing she looked forward to even more than graduating and getting into her target university.
Ultimately, the decision was finalized under Akishin's absolute authority.
According to Akishin, her behavior was a case of disrespecting her own heart's desires and being far too indecisive.
Things you truly want should be fought for and obtained, rather than overthinking and second-guessing soone else's thoughts. If he couldn't handle it, he would be the one to refuse, so the little girl didn't need to worry so much.
Indecisiveness only killed the spirit.
And so...
That was how things stood. Once the new employee arrived, Yuika would transition to the kitchen. Her job would be acting as Akishin's assistant while simultaneously learning the craft.
Kaiko chuckled while eating her waterlon: "Hehe, Chishima-sensei really is a very gentle person..."
Soichi returned after finishing his delivery and joined the ranks of the waterlon eaters.
Akishin stopped paying them any mind. Another custor walked in—an old regular who imdiately ordered a serving of Sturgeon Sashimi.
There were quite a few orders for Sashimi today. It seed they had been holding back for two weeks and were now ready for so revenge consumption.
As for Shizuka?
She was sleeping upstairs.
She had only intended to nap for a bit, but she had fallen into a deep, heavy slumber. She had endured quite a bit of fear and high ntal tension during the day; once she finally felt relaxed, sleep had claid her instantly.
Conversely, the Kondo family, whose ho had been destroyed, didn't seem quite as affected. Or perhaps for them, the truly restless days were already behind them.
...
Ti passed.
Two days later, the Kondo family moved into a rental house, located right next to the old apartnt where Yuika and the others had been staying. It was the sa landlord, just a different unit—a two-bedroom type.
Akishin transferred the 'Education Assistance Fund' for this sester.
They had a written agreent on white paper with black ink and an official seal, which Yuika accepted. This was an opportunity she had earned for herself.
Yuika continued to live with Kaiko.
Keiko found a new job in flower arrangent. The work involved selecting, arranging, and trimming wholesale flowers into beautiful displays.
So of these could be sold directly, but most were sold to flower shops for a small processing fee. It was a job that tested one's skill. Kondo Keiko had studied it in her youth, so the local florists were happy to have her.
While it didn't bring in much money, the advantage was that the work could be done from ho. Her health condition ant that almost no regular job would dare to hire her.
Kondo Soichi successfully transferred schools and was now a fifth-grader at Sakura Elentary.
It took him two days to blend in with his classmates, five days to gather a group of subordinates, and one week to beco the undisputed leader of the children in his class.
The next step would likely be conquering the entire grade level, perhaps even the whole elentary school...
In the midst of all this, he had gotten into two fights. Akishin had gone to the school twice; once on the first day when he fought a classmate, and again when he fought the leader of the school's delinquents.
Ironically, those who fought Kondo Soichi ended up becoming his most loyal followers.
According to Soichi, those guys weren't that tough. To deal with them, you just had to show them strength and then give them a few words of motivation.
—In truth, doing this wasn't Soichi's original intention. He had initially planned to be a good student and study hard without looking for trouble.
But on the very first day, he had been provoked by a bully in his class, which led to targeting, and was slowly escalating toward full-blown harassnt.
Soichi had been patient at first, deciding not to stoop to the other party's level.
But those people mistook Soichi's patience for weakness, leading them to target him even more boldly.
Other students rely watched with mocking glances; very few showed sympathy, and none dared to step forward and speak up for him.
After enduring it for an entire morning, Soichi couldn't take it anymore. He promptly floored all four of them and gave each a couple of slaps.
The four of them imdiately burst into tears.
After all, they were still just elentary schoolers.
At that mont, Kondo Soichi's thought was: what kind of school is this? Didn't they say it was high quality? Why are there so many trashy kids? It's not even better than the elentary school back in his village.
If he were back in Itomori, he never would have let sothing like this happen.
Kondo Soichi discovered that there were several students in his class being bullied, whether they were being isolated or picked on by the delinquents.
During recess, he had even heard rumors of people shaking down others for protection money...
A thought ford in Kondo Soichi's mind: he wanted to change this school!
Not for so noble, grand reason, but purely because he hated the sight of it.
Following that, Kondo Soichi provided a bit of "education" regarding the principles of righteousness to several of those bullies, then delivered a few lines that were tailor-made to stir the spirits of young boys.
Finally, he proposed that they follow him and consider him the boss, and he would lead them to the top of the hierarchy at Sakura Elentary.
Soichi knew he was a newcor and lacked backup. Even if his fighting skills were a bit better than his peers, he would still lose if he were sward.
Furthermore, there was a high chance these bullies would call in older punks from outside, and he would be the one to suffer for it.
Therefore, to change the school, the first step was ensuring he had enough of a voice among the students.
Akishin had gone because the matter reached the teacher's ears, and the school naturally had to take a stance.
His second visit was for the sa reason. It seed there was quite a bit of blood; a bully had been struck by Soichi until he bled, which led to the parents coming to the school and causing a scene.
Akishin went again to handle the situation and ended up delivering a slap of his own to the student's father.
The incident had started when the bully targeted a little girl first, which Soichi witnessed, leading to an act of self-defense.
Afterward, Akishin took Soichi ho. On a deserted stretch of road, they were surrounded by a dozen or so local punks...
The next day, that sa bully actively approached Soichi to beco his subordinate!
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