Chapter 150: Do You Want to Get Married, Girl?

Standing on the deck, gazing out at the sea under the night sky, Takamine Rinji lit a cigarette, his craving kicking in.

Blowing out a puff of smoke, he couldn't help but reminisce about his days in the student council.

Although Fujiwara always liked to hit him with sneak attacks, and he and Shinomiya were constantly at odds, he could still enjoy a brief sense of peace there.

Having once lingered between life and death, Rinji wasn't used to the tranquil life at school, but that sense of calm was something he had never experienced before—and had come to enjoy.

"Ah, there you are, Mr. Takamine."

"Mr. Yamashita."

Seeing Yamashita Kazuo walk over, Rinji simply smiled and took out a pack of cigarettes, holding one out to him.

"Want one?"

"I'll pass." Yamashita politely waved it off. "I don't smoke much, really. Just the occasional drink at an izakaya back home."

"You're such a boring office worker."

"A lot of people say that about me."

There was a trace of bitterness in Yamashita's smile.

"My wife left me years ago—probably because I was just another run-of-the-mill office worker. I've got two sons at home. The older one turned into a NEET, and the younger one hangs out with thugs and even steals money from the house."

"Sounds like you've hit every midlife crisis all at once."

"Yeah…"

Yamashita lowered his head after Rinji pointed that out.

"By the way, I've always been curious—why would someone like you, who was content being a salaryman, go and start your own company to enter Ohma Tokita into the Kengan Annihilation Tournament?"

"I was forced to!!"

Yamashita clutched his head and cried out.

"President Nogi insisted I join this Kengan Annihilation Tournament! I tried to refuse, but he's my boss!" Yamashita's expression was falling apart. "The entry challenge fee is 100 million, and participation costs 5 billion. I'm currently 5.1 billion yen in debt!!"

"Well, that's just…"

At this point, Rinji had to admit he was impressed by Nogi Hideki's scheming.

After forcing Yamashita to go independent and start his own company, signing Ohma Tokita effectively gave him another piece on the board. Add to that Lihito, and now three out of the 32 companies in the tournament were on Nogi's side.

Incidentally, the reason Lihito borrowed 5.1 billion yen again to enter the tournament was simply because Nogi tricked him into it.

"So he's been planning all this out for a while. I really did underestimate him."

"What's that, Mr. Takamine?"

"Just complimenting your boss's strategic mind," Rinji said with a laugh. "So Yamashita, with all that debt, you must be under a lot of pressure, right?"

"It's impossible to say I'm not stressed. There's no way I could pay off a 5.1 billion yen debt with just my regular salary."

He then glanced over toward the event hall on the other side of the deck.

Through the window, they could see Ohma Tokita wolfing down the free buffet like a starving man.

"But I believe I can entrust my fate to that man."

"That's good to hear."

Rinji smiled.

Mutual trust between an employer and a gladiator—this was the best kind of partnership.

As Rinji leaned back on the ship's railing and stared out at the sea, a gust of wind suddenly whipped by, twisting the cigarette smoke rising from his mouth.

He immediately sensed danger—a sneak attack. He turned his head and countered with a punch.

Thud!

His punch collided perfectly with a kick from a girl in a hoodie.

She quickly backed off, bringing both fists to her chest and launching a flurry of jabs at him.

"Mr. Takamine!?"

"I'm fine."

While calmly replying, Rinji used just one hand to deflect her continuous strikes.

Each punch aimed at his chest, but he subtly redirected their force with ease.

"Tch, why the hell did that old man Katahara allow all these shady people on board?"

Not only had the 32 official companies and their fighters boarded, but also hundreds more businesses who were only here to spectate or place bets. Naturally, a few infiltrators had slipped in with them.

These hidden actors could potentially disrupt the entire tournament.

Yet Katahara Metsudo had let it slide, and Rinji had reason to suspect that it wasn't just for fun—there were ulterior motives at play.

Still deep in thought, he noticed the hoodie girl hadn't paused at all.

After her string of jabs failed, she shifted her stance and swung a sweeping leg toward his calf.

Smack!

She thought she had the perfect strike, but just as she raised her leg, Rinji stepped on her knee and pinned her in place.

"Enough already. Do you really want me to kill someone on the Kengan ship?" he said flatly. "You may be confident in your skills, but from my perspective, you're just a joke—like a child."

Perhaps provoked by this, the girl leapt up and launched a powerful kick at his face.

It came fast, but Takamine simply tilted his head aside, letting it brush past his cheek before grabbing her collar and knee mid-air and slamming her hard onto the deck.

Thud!!

As she hit the ground, her hood came off.

Her long, inky-black hair cascaded down. Her cool, detached aura resembled a lotus blooming in the cold. The jet-black sclera of her eyes gave her a strange, captivating charm.

"…One of the Kure clan?"

Seeing those abnormal eyes, Takamine immediately recognized her.

She was from the Kure Clan—an ancient family of assassins.

A scornful smile flickered across his face.

"Still haven't learned your lesson from four years ago? If you want to kill me, maybe bring the whole damn clan next time—"

Before he could finish, the girl suddenly grabbed his collar.

Pulling herself up close, she stared him in the eyes.

"You..."

"You're Takamine Rinji, right?" A blush appeared on her cold, expressionless face. "I want to have your child."

"…"

Takamine froze.

"What… did you say?"

"I want to have your child. Be my husband," she said with a smile.

There was no doubt—she was serious.

"…"

Such shocking words rendered Takamine's mind completely blank.

After about thirty seconds of rebooting, he looked her in the eye and asked sincerely:

"Shall we register our marriage?"