Chapter Fifty-Nine: Tamio Serizawa (Contract Signed! Extra Chapter!)

The two men stood head to head, neither willing to back down, staring each other down with fierce determination. Each gripped the beef box tightly, their hands squeezing so hard that the container creaked under the pressure, on the verge of splitting apart.

Aoki’s expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was startled: This early-maturing guy... seems even stronger than me!

Is he really a high school student? Aoki’s face grew increasingly serious.

“Hey, baldy, your shopping basket’s already piled with beef, and you’re still fighting a poor soul like me for the last pack on sale—don’t you think that’s a bit much?” The other man’s tone was lazy, completely unaffected by Aoki’s intimidating appearance. One hand clutched the beef, the other casually ruffled his messy hair.

Aoki felt the beef in his grasp slowly slipping toward the other man. He couldn’t help but feel a surge of competitiveness—since coming here, aside from Matsuyama Iwa, he hadn’t met anyone with greater strength than his own.

Gritting his teeth, the muscles in Aoki’s arm bulged beneath his sleeve as he exerted his full strength without giving anything away. But, to his astonishment, the beef box continued to inch steadily toward the other man. Seeing the man’s unbothered and relaxed face, Aoki narrowed his eyes, his desire to win burning even brighter.

Come on... it’s mine!

With a sudden burst of power, Aoki planted his feet and yanked back hard.

Rip!

The plastic packaging tore in two, and the beef inside dropped to the floor with a dull smack.

Yet, under the somewhat disdainful gazes of the surrounding aunties and store clerks, the scruffy man didn’t get angry at all. Instead, he squatted down, picked up the beef, dusted it off, held it to his nose, and sniffed it, his satisfied expression tinged with a hint of secret delight.

“Hey, this beef dropped on the ground. Can’t you give me a bigger discount?” He raised his eyebrows at the clerk, showing not a trace of anger.

Expressionless, Aoki stood where he was, silently watching.

To be honest, he didn’t absolutely have to have this beef. If the man had just spoken reasonably, he might not have insisted on taking every last pack. It was merely a fleeting urge to win that had taken over. Watching this guy happily clutching the beef, now visibly tainted with dust, Aoki felt a pang of guilt.

“Hey, old man, forget it. I’ll pay for it. Take one from my basket—you can have it,” Aoki sighed, glancing at the considerable amount of beef in his own basket.

After all, it was his own fault for causing trouble. He couldn’t just stand by. It was only a box of beef—enough for the man and Sora to have a meal.

The scruffy man’s lazy eyes widened a little, apparently surprised by Aoki’s words. He gave Aoki an appraising look, then grinned. “Ah... never mind! It was a bit expensive anyway.”

He turned to the clerk and chattered away: “Hey, how about it? You won’t be able to sell this meat now anyway. Half price! Sell it to me for half price, what do you say?”

The clerk, not wanting to make Aoki pay up, glanced at his stony, silent face and decided it was better to let the beef go cheap than risk being stuck with it. If he didn’t sell it, the baldy wouldn’t pay either, and he’d be left holding the bag. Might as well treat it as his own loss.

“Fine, fine!” The clerk’s mouth twitched as he accepted the man’s beef, bagged it up, and printed a new half-price barcode.

The scruffy man punched the air in excitement. “Awesome... This trip was worth it!”

“You’re not really a high school student, are you?” Aoki finally voiced his suspicion. “Or have you flunked and stayed in high school for, what, seven or eight years?”

It was hard for Aoki to accept that, with his current physique, a so-called high schooler could out-muscle him.

The scruffy man, plastic bag in hand, seemed to understand what was on Aoki’s mind from the complicated look on his face. He shot Aoki a disgruntled glare and snorted, “I’m Tamao Serizawa, second year at Suzuran. Never repeated a grade. I’m eighteen this year. Satisfied, baldy?”

With that, he strolled away, humming a tune to himself as he headed toward the checkout.

Aoki clenched his teeth. “I’m bald! Bald! An eighteen-year-old high schooler with a full beard and a face like he’s seen better days—ridiculous!”

Serizawa seemed not to hear a thing, gazing at his beef with a goofy smile, completely lost in his own world as he drifted away.

Serizawa Tamao...

Aoki’s expression gradually calmed, his eyes narrowing with a new intensity. The relaxation he’d felt just moments before vanished, replaced by tension.

If all second-year students at Suzuran High have this kind of strength... I’m still a long way from being the so-called number one delinquent in school!

I have to work twice as hard. Tomorrow, I must get my kendo up to level four.

Aoki resolved: Once my skill reaches level four, I’ll see what changes. If I get another attribute point, great. If not, it doesn’t matter. Either way, it should improve my fighting ability. That’s enough for now, since I plan to shift my focus to learning mixed martial arts. With the skill learning on schedule, I can devote the rest of my study time to medicine.

Next time we meet, I’ll be sure to give that prematurely aged guy a real surprise.

For some reason, Aoki had the feeling that he and this Serizawa Tamao were destined to cross paths again.

------------

PS: No need for more words—we’ve signed the contract! Four chapters today, and starting tomorrow, three updates daily. I love you all! Without you, I could never have made it this far. I might have lost confidence and dropped out long ago. The only thing I can do is give you more chapters. Love you all! The fourth update will be posted at six this afternoon. Please keep voting to help me climb the rankings—competition is fierce for new signings, and I need all of you fighting with me!