Chapter 32 - Scheduling Changes

(cont'd)

"You're still gonna be working." Red assures.

"I hear a but coming." Kotone's worry is not eased.

"Not a but; but instead. INSTEAD, you will use more of your time for strength training." Red says.

"But- what for?" Kotone is confused and concerned. "I want to be healthy, but I don't want to grow muscles like a man."

"Ah. Don't worry. I won't make you look like a man. Anyways. You completed our deal, so I'm raising your salary to 600,000 monthly. I find it a waste if I don't work you hard." Red says.

Fumio at this point shakes his head. "Boss. Why not just tell her?" He feels bad for Kotone that Red is not forthcoming.

"Tell me what?" Kotone asks.

"You'll find out in the near future anyways." Red answers Kotone while shushing Fumio.

"After this strength training, which the duration will depend on how good you perform, you will have a choice to make. And if I find your choice satisfactory, I will tell you." He adds.

"Will it take longer than when I completed the 16 poses?" Kotone asks.

"What if it will?" Red asks.

"Then can I just refuse the raise? I received plenty of bonus anyways." Kotone shrugs.

Fumio gives Red a smirk at Kotone's answer.

"Ah. That's too bad. If you're not working, then it's not right to give you a salary, right?" Red shrugs.

Kotone is stumped at the argument.

"If I do the training, will I still get herbal baths?" Kotone asks.

"Yes." Red nods.

"Then I don't have to worry about injury." Kotone nods.

"Will it be as painful as the 16 poses?" She asks again.

"Not really." Red says, supported by a nod of agreement from Fumio.

"Then I'll do it." Kotone finally decides.

"Kotone. Why don't you go out for breakfast?" Red suddenly pulls out a 5,000 yen note from his storage space and hands it to Kotone.

"Okay." Kotone knows that Red and Fumio are about to talk about something that is not her business.

"But you don't have to pay for my breakfast." She refuses the money.

"Alright then. While you're out, send our regulars an e-mail about the change in our shop's arrangements. Don't come back in within an hour." Red orders.

With that, Kotone is gone for breakfast.

"What about me boss?" Fumio asks, concerned about what he will do next now that his revenge is done with.

"What? Do you think you really completed the 16 poses?" Red asks.

"Huh?" Fumio tilts his head at Red's question.

"All you have done is complete 1 cycle in each pose. Do you know how much I can do?" Red pauses to allow Fumio to shake his head.

"I can complete 32 continuous breathing cycles in each pose. I can do them continuously too without breaks. I can do more, but it's already useless to me." Red says.

The information stuns Fumio.

"B-but that doesn't make sense!" Fumio soon questions the information however.

"My average for one complete cycle in position one is 6 and a half minutes… and IF I do 32 cycles, that will be… around 200 minutes. And IF I switch to other poses and do the same thing… 200 times 16… then that's… 3200 minutes divided by six… around 530… divided by ten… 53 hours!" He is surprised by his own calculation.

"It's not possible to do that for 54 hours straight! I don't think I can't do it even though I'm stronger now." He expresses his disbelief.

"I get your concern. But it does not take me that long." Red then stands up and assumes Position 3 by lifting his left leg, stretching it up to his side, and hooking his left arm to support it, making him look like he is doing splits while standing up.

This takes the attention of Fumio immediately.

"Wow…" He cannot help but express his admiration as Red made it look easy. He himself, despite numerous practice, still takes a few attempts to even assume the position stably.

Soon, Fumio sees Red starting the breathing technique. Unlike his silent breathing when executing the breathing technique, Red's is very audible.

*ss**huu**ss**huu* He then sees Red's abdomen pump quickly at a pace of one per second and the man's breathing sounds not like a breath of a man, but of a huge beast's.

"T-this…" Fumio is stunned at the confounding feat.

Soon however, he is even more mystified as he feels the air in the shop move; as if electric fans are blowing wind to his direction, from different directions. Before he can express his amazement, the air in the shop becomes even more chaotic and the teacups on the table start sliding towards Red.

Soon, the teacups and other smaller objects near Red are lifted up and start revolving around him and soon the air in the shop also stabilizes.

Now, Fumio not only hears Red's breathing, but also the whooshing sound of the rapid movement of the air too. It is as if a small tornado has formed in the shop with Red in the eye of it.

There are no more changes in the atmosphere and Fumio can only watch Red silently for the next 30 minutes.

"And… that's 32 cycles for position 3." Red finally completes his display and he snatches the small objects flying in the air by storing them in his storage seal.

"W-wh… T-his…" Fumio, even though he had 30 minutes to get used to the display, is still dumbfounded.

Red then rearranges the furniture to wait for Fumio to process what he had just seen.

A few silent seconds later, "C-can I even do this?" Fumio recovers.

"I'm not expecting you to." Red says as he sits back down, giving Fumio a huge sigh of relief.

"You can achieve this gradually and takes decades." 'or much shorter with my hand in it' He smirks internally.

"Years, huh. Well. That's doable then." Fumio becomes more optimistic.

"Huh…" Red, seeing Fumio get fired up, is pleasantly surprised.

He thought that the young man's drive to get stronger is only fueled by revenge, but now he is amused to find out that he fueled Fumio's drive with but a party trick.

"What I want you to do next instead, is incorporate the breathing technique in your daily life. When you walk, when you talk, when you run, when you do chores, when you do weight training, when you practice your swordsmanship and hand-to-hand technique, I want you to keep using the breathing technique." Red says.

"T-that… That's obsessive." Fumio gets the image immediately and a huge pressure gets on his shoulders.

"Yes. It is. But it unlocks more of your body's potential. I myself am using an upgraded version of the technique all the time, even when I'm sleeping." Red says.

"Even when you're sleeping…" Fumio shakes his head at the ridiculousness of the statement. "It's already hard enough to complete a cycle awake."

"Well, at least you don't have to assume any of the 16 poses while doing so." Red assures.

"There's that at least." Fumio nods. "Until when do I do it, though?" He asks.

"Until I'm satisfied." Red says.

"Okay." Fumio can only accept, trusting Red.

"And after that, I'll put back the resistance seals on you." Red adds.

"WHAT?!" Fumio recoils.

"Yeah. You were on them for two months now, what's the big deal?" Red says.

"…Er..." Fumio immediately calms down, finding Red's words valid.

"Uhn… Oh. Kotone's outside already. I told her to take an hour." Red detects with his spirit sense.

"Psh. What else is she supposed to do, boss? The lady's life revolves around the shop and her brother." Fumio shakes his head.

The next moment, "Kichirou-san. You called?" Kotone enters the shop after receiving Red's signal to her bracelet.

"Yeah. How's breakfast?" Red asks as he gestures Kotone to join them again at the table.

"It was a feast." Kotone simply replies.

"Good." Red nods. "Kotone, I know you've been curious how my massage service feels, correct?" He asks.

"Honestly, yes." Kotone admits easily. "I can afford it, but it just feels weird… eh… buying a massage from my employer."

"Awww… that's cute." Fumio remarks, embarrassing Kotone.

"How about I give you one for free? As a congratulations to completing the 16 poses." Red offers.

"RE-ally?" Kotone tries to suppress her excitement.

"Heheh…" Fumio chuckles, knowing what is coming. "It's the first of the free massages you'll receive in the future." He explains with a grin.

"…" Kotone is confused at first, but she remembers that Fumio will sometimes get massages from Red.

"You'll need them as often as Gorilla-san or Blade-san. Only, you're lucky that you don't have to spend a single dime." Fumio adds.

"Ah… I see." Kotone's excitement is gone, replaced with worry, already thinking how tough her training will be.

"Yes. As this will be the first massage, it will take an hour or two. I will take this chance to assess the effects of the 16 poses and the breathing technique to your body." Red says.

Fumio, is suddenly reminded of the time he received his first massage from Red when he completed the first cycle in the 16 poses. He was knocked out for around two hours and he attributed the length of his nap to how tired he was. With Red's revelation of the resistance seals to him, he becomes suspicious.

"An hour or two… Will you apply them to her too, boss?" He asks Red while subtly caressing the one of the invisible resistance seals on his arm.

"Yes." Red readily admits.

"Apply what?" Kotone asks, curious.

"A special solution. Something that only Fumio and me have used so far." Red answers.

"Wait. You applied them to yourself, boss?" Fumio is surprised at this.

"Isn't that obvious? With how useful it is? What I used on my self is multiple times stronger." Red shrugs.

"Ah…" Fumio realizes his stupid question.

The two's exchange meanwhile, assures Kotone that the 'medicine' will be beneficial to her.

"Anyways. Kotone, go wait for me at the massage area." Red orders Kotone.

Right before Kotone opens the doors to the service area, "Hey Kotone. You'll have to get naked for the massage, by the way." Fumio yells out.

Kotone stops in her steps as she feels her face get warm in embarrassment.

"What?" She turns around and asks if she heard right.

"What? Every guest gets naked for their massage. I do too every time. What's the big deal?" Fumio shrugs.

Kotone is reminded of that simple fact, but that does not change the embarrassment she is feeling.

"OW!" The next moment, Fumio receives a knuckle on his forehead from Red.

"Was that necessary? Of course, she knows." Red reprimands, knowing what Fumio is trying to do.

"Go, Kotone. I'll have more words for this kid." He shoos Kotone away, his dismissive tone making Kotone less embarrassed.

"I'm sorry boss. I was just messing around." Fumio rubs his forehead.

"It's fine. I think she actually almost forgot, so you reminded her unintentionally." Red says, making Fumio at ease.

"Anyways. Take the day off.", he pulls out two flash drives from his storage space, "And tomorrow, I want you to visit someone and bring these to them.", and hands them to Fumio.

~

Sagamihara – 11 AM

A surgeon walks out of the surgery area to the corridor and stands in front of an intimidating group of people waiting in front of the surgery area's doors.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hasegawa." He greets the fifty something year-old man who appears to be the leader of the group, and the similarly-aged lady beside the man.

"Doctor. How did it go?" The man asks as he tightens his hold on his wife's hand.

The surgeon, despite the man's stoic and plain tone, sees that the man's eyes are filled with suppressed worry, ready to explode anytime. He saw the expression plenty a times in his career and he prepares himself to break the news as best as he can especially because the man in front of him is a powerful superioris.

The man, Gorou Hasegawa, a top-level B-Class superioris, is the fifty-something year old head of the Hasegawa clan. Despite his age and his average height, his healthy body, having the signs of a master swordsman with his broad shoulders, chest, and large arms, seems to emanate the strongest aura even among the larger and healthy younger men which are with him and his wife.

"The surgery went well, Mr. Hasegawa. I can assure you that your son is saved from a life of disability." The surgeon reports the good news.

Gorou and his wife are beyond relieved. His wife, especially starts to silently sob. Gorou on the other hand, after getting over his relief, sees that the surgeon's face does not look like one that just delivered good news.

"Something wrong, doctor?" He asks.

"We did the best we can, Mr. Hasegawa." The surgeon gulps his saliva nervously. "But his injuries, his nerves and bones were crushed. I barely was able to conn-"

"Don't beat around the bush. What's the bad news?" Gorou interrupts the surgeon, his voice low, almost guttural.

"I'm sorry to inform you that the chances of your son getting back to his previous strength is almost none.." The surgeon can only hold his breath.