I don't want my writing skills to rust, so I decided to start a side project. This has NO relation to the main story, but I hope that you, my readers still enjoy it. Even though you hardly review it….
*Cries in the corner*
Story start!
"Kenichi-san~!"
"Honey~!"
"Say 'ahhh'!" Miu said affectionately as she held a spoonful of food close to Kenichi's lips.
"Ahhh! Mmph!" Kenichi ate the offered bit of food as he pat Miu's head.
"Hehehe! Chu!" Miu giggled as she then pecked Kenichi on the cheek.
Looking at them and their very obnoxious displays of affection for each other were the very irritated Ryozanpaku masters, and the very awkward feeling special guests.
A few days earlier…
Furinji Hayato called in all the members of Ryozanpaku for a meeting, this includes Sakaki Shio, Apachai Hopachai, Kousaka Shigure, Akisame Koetsuji, Ma Kensei, his own son Furinji Saiga, his granddaughter Furinji Miu…and his grandson in-law Shirahama Kenichi.
"Thank you for coming, I called you all here is to make an announcement, there will be a special guest coming here in a few days. He is the current head of the largest banking firm of Japan."
"Largest banking firm of Japan? That will be Dainippon Bank." Sakaki replied.
"Head of Dainippon bank? That would be Katahara Metsudo. Why would he come here?" Akisame asked.
"I have worked with him before a few years after the second world war and he also helped fund my time investigating the Kuremisago civil war. It seems that I have to now pay the favour I owe him so many years ago." Hayato replied.
"Apa! I remember him! He help me get in Japan too!" Apachai also said with the same child-lie cheerfulness.
"So we owe him two favors?" Kenichi said afterwards.
"No, that was him repaying me." Hayato replied.
"So what will he be asking of you?" Saiga asked.
"He did not say, I suppose he will go into detail during the meeting. But if anything, I think it is related to that underground tournament that he is involved in. Ken-chan."
"Yes grandfather?" Kenichi replied, making Hayato twitch at the term Kenichi is using.
"Katahara Metsudo is like Kensei here, a womanizer. So you will be responsible for keeping Miu with you." Hayato said, as an arrow with the word 'pervert' written on it stabbed into Kensei's chest.
"Iyaaaa! Save meeee!" Miu playfully squealed as she playfully leapt into Kenichi's arms, causing everyone to be very irritated.
A few days later, there was a knock on the dojo doors while Kenichi was sweeping the floor with a thousand pounds of weight loaded on him as endurance training.
"Coming!" Kenichi said as he headed towards the door and opened it. In front of him was an old man with long moustache and beard holding a cane. He was accompanied with two very tall and muscular men in sharply tailored suits. One had a long fringe on the left side of his face while the other had long and messy hair as well as wearing a face mask.
"Good afternoon sir, would you be the special guest that I was told about?" Kenichi greeted the old man. Completely unintimidated by the two large men looking at him.
"Yes I am, young man. May I speak to Haya-chan?"
"Haya-chan? Oh, the elder. Yes, please come in." Kenichi replied as he then led them to the dojo's multipurpose hall while still wearing the weights.
"Kenichi-san!" Miu said as she came to Kenichi and the guests.
"Miu! Can you help me call grandfather? The special guest is here."
"Yes dear!" Miu chirped as she headed to Hayato's room.
"Heheh! Young man, you sure found a fine woman!" The old man said.
"Thank you, Katahara-san." Kenichi replied.
"Ohoho! No need to be so formal, you can just call me Metsudo." The old man replied.
"Thank you, Metsudo-san, my name is Shirahama Kenichi."
The meeting between Hayato and Metsudo was underway, while the rest of the masters did not participate at Hayato's request, Kenichi however was present.
"Thank you for coming Metsu." Hayato said.
"No problemo Haya-chan! You two, introduce yourselves." Metsudo said.
The man with the long fringe stood up and bowed. "My name is Omichi Masamori, I am the Fourth Fang of Metsudo, it is an honor to meet the Second Fang of Metsudo."
The other man did the same. "My name is Minoru Takayama, it is also an honor to meet the second Fang."
"Hohoho! Metsu, you sure have some good guards around you."
"Thank you, Haya-chan. Now to get to business, you may have heard of the upcoming Kengan Annihilation Tournament that will soon be held."
"Yes I have, are you asking me to represent you?" Hayato replied.
"No, I have my own fighter already. However, one of the participants of this tournament once betrayed me and I have insiders who leaked some information that he is using this tournament to plot against me in underhanded ways."
"So you would like us to keep him in line or put him down if he were to start something?"
"In a way, yes. However all of you in this dojo will be overkill, I only need one of you to work as a referee in this upcoming tournament and if he ever start something, that person is to help in suppressing it."
Hayato stood up, an ominous look on his face. Before suddenly putting both hands on Kenichi's shoulders.
"This is a perfect chance for his first solo mission~!" Hayato said cheerfully as Kenichi sighed in resignation.
However, Masamori stood up.
"Furinji-dono, while I trust your judgement, especially considering that you are the Second Fang and the fact that I just saw the young man carry three times my weight without any visible strain. I still worry that he may not be up to the task."
Hayato smiled.
"Understandable, but you do not need to worry. Despite him being only 26 years old, he has seen and has been involved in many life and death battles and has been in far harsher environments. He is more than ready for such a task."
"Shirahama. Would you fancy a sparring session with my top bodyguard to help ease his worry?" Metsudo asked.
"Of course Metsudo-san." Kenichi replied as he and Masamori then moved to the other side of the meeting hall that doubles as the sparring grounds and took their stances.
A few minutes later
"Hohohoooo! Haya-chan you sure trained a fine young man!" Metsudo said happily, beside him was an astonished Takayama. In front of all of them was Shirahama Kenichi who was slightly winded but unscathed, and Masamori who sport a few cuts and bruises on his face and arms.
"Thank you for the spar Omichi-san." Kenichi said with a bow.
"Likewise." Masamori replied.
"Metsudo, why don't you stay for dinner? My granddaughter can rival any chef in the world!"
"Well, since you asked so nicely~!" Metsudo replied.
So we now get to the present time, where everyone watches the affection Miu and Kenichi shows each other on the dinner table.
"Haya-chan, are they mocking us?"
"I'm not sure, though I do feel like decking Ken-chan."
Hayato replied as everyone watched the young couple. Metsudo's two bodyguards feeling especially bewildered at watching the one who was able to match them in a fight acting in such a manner.
Scene break
A few days passed by, and Kenichi was now wearing a tailored black suit similar to the ones that Katahara Metsudo's bodyguards wore. He was now at the dojo door, waiting for the Dainippon Bank CEO's arranged pickup vehicle to bring him to his destination.
"Kenichi sure has one helluva first solo mission." Sakaki said nearby.
"Yeah, first I was told that I will only be a referee, but then Katahara-san suddenly changed my job scope, adding me as a temporary bodyguard for the duration of the tournament, well at least he had a tailored suit made for me and will pay me a good sum of money. That amount will last the dojo a few years at least." Kenichi replied.
"Kenichi, be careful. While we are confident that you will return safely, it is still the first time you go on a solo mission, and one that involve many powerful fighters from around the world. There are many unknown master class fighters out there so be careful. I don't want my son in law to go like this." Furinji Saiga said next.
"I will, father in law."
"Kenichi-san. Please come home safely, I will be waiting for you." Miu said with the brightest smile Kenichi saw in his life.
"Yes, honey." Kenichi replied with a pat on her head and a kiss on her cheek.
They waited for a few minutes before they saw a limousine arrive at their dojo entrance. Out of it came two young men. One of them was a redhead with a braid on the right side of his face as well as Hebrew letters tattooed across his left eye. The other was a blonde man with a hunchback.
"Good evening, my name is Katahara Retsudo and this is my bodyguard Misasa, pleased to meet all of you." The red head said with a bow.
"It is a pleasure to meet you too. My name is Shirahama Kenichi, and I will be the one to take on your grandfather's job." Kenichi replied.
"Thank you, Shirahama-dono, but I would like to say that Katahara Metsudo is actually my father."
Kenichi was momentarily stunned by Retsudo's reply, Misasa chuckled at his expression.
"Oh, okay. If there are no other issues, then shall we get going? This is getting awkward." Kenichi replied sheepishly.
"Of course, please come in." Retsudo gestured to the passenger seat on the limo and Kenichi entered, waving the dojo members goodbye.
"Shirahama-dono, I will now brief you on the upcoming events. The tournament will be held on one of my father's private islands, there you will be assigned as a referee in certain fights. For the rest of the time you will be part of the extermination force which is currently led by me."
Kenichi listened as Retsudo explained his job scope, such as his code name, his room number, meal times, areas that he is allowed and not allowed to enter, non-disclosure agreements and others things as the limo headed down the streets towards its destination.
"We are currently headed for a harbor own by one of the shipping companies that is in the Kengan Association, there will be two ships, the S.S Annihilation and the S.S Kengan. Some of the CEOs and their fighters will be boarding the former ship, and the rest of the CEOs, their fighters and the three of us will be boarding the latter. My two other colleagues will be waiting at our destination so you only need to follow us, you will not be required to do anything that you are not familiar with, unless there is a conflict that need to be resolved." Retsudo continued as Kenichi nodded.
"As part of the extermination force, you have a special assignment, our role is to patrol the island and eliminate any intruders. However, there is only so much we can cover, you will be the one to patrol the outskirts of the tournament building due to the higher possibility of intruders blending in a crowd, we will be moving around the island with some of the other bodyguards on duty. And that concludes the briefing. Do you have any questions?" Retsudo concluded.
"Yes, what if something happened in the middle of a match that I am refereeing, and it just had to be a situation where I have to intervene immediately?" Kenichi asked.
"If the situation escalated to such an extent, you will immediately be replaced by a back-up referee and then join in resolving the issue at hand. Father's reputation will take a huge blow, but it will be worth it. But then, the audience will be powerful people from all over the world, they are also prepared for such situations in their own way." Retsudo replied.
"As a referee, what is the extent can I allow a fighter to be beaten down before I can stop the match?" Kenichi asked again.
"Hmm, I'm afraid I am unable to answer that question in a satisfactory degree, but generally if one of the fighters clearly cannot continue you may step in. However, this is also a very gray area as a company's profits and investments are on the line, it is very different from a public match where the fighters' safety is prioritized." Retsudo answered though not as confident as before.
"So there is a lot more at stake here, however as a referee I will disregard the company's profits and stop the match when a fighter cannot continue." Kenichi said firmly.
"I cannot dictate how you do your job as a referee. Oh, looks like we have arrived."
Kenichi looked, and saw that they were at the docks, there were a crowd of people also present. As he got out, he followed Retsudo and Misasa to the other two members of the extermination force. One was a handsome black haired man with a scar on his left cheek, the other was a very tall and large man with some facial markings.
"Kaike, Hawai, this is Shirahama Kenichi, code name 'Ken' and he is the fifth but temporary member of the extermination force." Retsudo introduced Kenichi, who shook their hands as they greet each other.
The five of them stood on the side of an assembled group of bodyguards, watching over the crowd comprised of CEOs and fighters as they waited for the ships to arrive. Eventually the ships arrived and another bodyguard gave instructions to the crowd, holding a card with the kanji for 'wish', the man instructed those who have the card are allowed on board the S.S Kengan. Kenichi then watched as a small group of the crowd, CEOs who have the card enter the larger, luxurious looking ship with their secretaries and fighters.
"Now that the top 28 fighters have entered the ship, we can now enter too." Retsudo said as they then head for the steps that lead into the S.S Kengan. Once they entered, Kenichi looked back and watched the others enter the smaller, more worn out ship.
"Where are they going? Are they not fighters?" Kenichi asked.
"They are also fighters, but the companies that hired them are not part of the top 28 ranked companies. So they will have to go through a preliminary battle royale to weed out the weak fighters, once five fighters came out of the that they can join this ship which will also head to Ganryu Island where the tournament will be held. The preliminary will be held throughout the night and if there were still more than five fighters all will be disqualified." Retsudo explained.
"I see, though I don't think the preliminaries will last the whole night. I give it around two hours at most." Kenichi said in response.
"Who did you notice?" Retsudo asked.
"One of them will be the man with a mushroom like hairstyle, another looks like a large sailor, one is a man with blonde hair, the middle eastern fighter and the last one is a man with hair that look like seaweed, the one who is with a middle aged salaryman." Kenichi replied.
"Hooh, you gauged their strength to be a cut above the rest?" Misasa asked in response.
"Yes, there is one African American that is pretty good too, but those five I pointed out are stronger."
"If you say so. Now we will maintain security in the banquet hall."
The extermination force then split into five and went to their spots on standby while other bodyguards walk among the people in the ship. As Kenichi watch the CEOs and fighters walk around the banquet hall, some of them caught his eye.
One was an African man covered in many tattoos, he was with a woman who has a psychotic grin and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Another was an incredibly muscular European man who was wearing swimming trunks, with him was an old man with a heavily scarred face, a Chinese man who was very scantily clad, a man who was always sticking his very long tongue out, and other men who seem to be cosplaying.
A third was a very beautiful long haired man, he was with a blonde buxom woman with a lit cigarette and another plain looking woman.
The fourth fighter to catch his eye was a tall man, his hair was dyed blonde and was with a portly gentleman, however Kenichi noticed that his footsteps felt particularly heavy, almost on par with the muscular European.
"YAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Kenichi quickly covered his ears as he saw a tanned skinned man yell in excitement when he saw a Thai man but did not pay attention to their subsequent conversation to focus on security.
He next watched a middle-aged man walk past him, the man had a full beard that resemble a lion's mane, he was with another man who is dressed like an American cowboy.
"Hi~!"
Kenichi then turned and saw a beautiful young woman with tanned skin, long platinum blonde hair with a braid on the left side. She was wearing a ballgown.
"Hello, miss…"
"I'm Katahara Sayaka! Retsudo's sister! Nice to meet you!"
"Likewise Katahara-san."
"Are you the new guy I heard of? Father said that you spared with Omichi and won! Is that true?" Sayaka asked in excitement.
"Yes, we did spar at his request and I was in a better condition in the aftermath!"
"Wooow! No wonder father asked you to come."
"So, have you come to watch the matches?"
"I'm the Master of Ceremonies for this tournament as well as the commentator."
"MC? Come to think of it, Metsudo-san does tell me about how you can do a lot more things than him. Thought he was just doting on his children but it looks like there is some truth to it."
Kenichi then looked at Retsudo, who stationed himself nearby…and saw that he was pouting like a child.
'Is he jealous? Could he be a sis-con?' Kenichi pondered.
"Well, as much I enjoy chatting with you, I am on my job. Perhaps we can chat another time?"
"Aww, okayyyy..."
As he continues in his assigned duty after Sayaka left to find her father, the ship suddenly stopped in the middle of the sea. He along with the extermination force went to the outer deck of the ship where the survivors of the preliminaries, the very ones that Kenichi predicted enter the ship along with their company CEOs and secretaries.
Kenichi watched as Metsudo gave his speech, then the middle eastern fighter confronting Metsudo only to be quickly dispatched by a bodyguard named Yodoe who kicked him into the sea. Then as the remaining people enter the banquet hall. Retsudo came to Kenichi.
"You were right in your predictions." He said, rather impressed.
"Yes, I have been in many fights myself, so I can gauge the strength of others well. Which is why I want to tell you that the middle eastern fighter likely lost the fight on purpose." Kenichi replied.
"Hassad lost on purpose? Then what is he planning?" Misasa said in response.
"Not sure, do you want me to fish him out?"
"Nah, he will be fine, if he is as strong as you say."
"Alright, by the way Retsudo-san…"
"Yes?"
"I'm a married man who love my wife dearly, so please don't worry about my interaction with your sister."
"Urrk!" Retsudo squawked as Kenichi pointed out his one concern. Misasa laughed at such a response.
"We-well, let's get back to work."
With that, the extermination force returned to the banquet hall where Metsudo stood on a podium to give a speech.
"Thank you all for waiting, ladies and gentlemen. I will now announce the upcoming schedule. About 27 hours from now, this ship will arrive in the 'Land of Battle'. Upon arrival, all Kengan Association members will register their fighters that will enter the tournament. This registration will officially enter them into the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. One more thing, any personal fights between fighters on board this ship is strictly forbidden and those who break this ban will be severely dealt with by the bodyguards. This concludes my announcement, please continue to enjoy the voyage."
Kenichi immediately looked at the crowd, particularly the ones who seem to be invited guests from the participating CEOs. For he has also seen the enormous loophole in Katahara Metsudo's announcement.
His sight first went to the man whose left side of his face is heavily scarred, and immediately noticed the Chinese man, the long-tongued man and the cosplayers were not with him. He next looked at another man with squinty eyes following a tanned bartender into the corridors.
Next he looked at a group of people comprising of an old man that looks to be around the same age as Metsudo himself, beside him was two men who looked about middle age, two younger men and a person whose face was hooded. They all stand out for having eyes with dark sclera, giving them a demonic appearance. The hooded person left the group and followed the man with seaweed-like hair.
"So you noticed it too?" Retsudo said as he came up to Kenichi.
"Yes I have, so do we only intervene if two official fighters were to fight?"
"That is what father have instructed us."
"Metsudo-san sure is a fickle person."
"Maybe, however we can just watch the show."
"Alright we-hmm?"
Kenichi saw the man with the seaweed hair grabbing a blonde woman's shirt in a threatening manner. However, he opted to continue watching since the woman seem to be still composed, even teasing as if he was hitting on her before his larger blonde companion pulled him away before they both left for another location. Seeing that the situation was already defused, he returned to his duty.
"How close were you to stepping in?"
"A second away, so who is he? I don't think I should call him 'seaweed hair' all the time."
"Pft! Seaweed hair! Hahaha!"
"First time I see you laugh, Retsudo-san."
"His name is Tokita Ohma, he is a fighter that represents the Yamashita Trading Co which is headed by that salaryman next to him." Retsudo said after laughing.
"Why would a salaryman be a participant in this tournament? Is he that ambitious?"
"Not really, normally the prize for the winner of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament is the position of Chairman of the Kengan Association. But this time it is different, the winner gets to nominate the Chairman instead." Retsudo answered.
"Oh, so the salaryman is simply a pawn to his boss for the sake of filling tournament slots. So who is his boss?"
"He would be Nogi Hideki." Retsudo pointed to a middle aged man with a neatly combed hairstyle who was with a man who look to be in his forties who was hitting on some of the women around them.
"Sure are a lot of ambitious people here. Well, I don't think Metsudo-san will be in much trouble with this kind of opposition." Kenichi replied.
"Of course, I fully believe father will win. Alright, I need to go patrol another area now. Misasa, come with me."
"See you soon."
Kenichi and Retsudo said their goodbyes and now Kenichi is alone, he watched a girl and one of the black eyed men walk towards the group of people with black eyes. He looked at her clothes and concluded that she was the hooded person that followed Tokita Ohma. After saying something to the old man she happily skipped away to the buffet stands to get something to eat.
"THAT LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!" The old man roared, somewhat surprising Kenichi as he did something in that fit of anger that formed a sizeable crater on the floor.
"KARLA IS ONLY IN HIGH SCHOOL AND HE DARE SEDUCE HER!? I'M SURE ALL OF YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO BY NOW. KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON TOKITA OHMA, AND IF HE GOES NEAR KARLA AGAIN…KILL HIM!"
As the old man said those threatening words to a man he did not even meet, Kenichi felt some sympathy for Tokita Ohma, for the old man remind him too much of his own grandfather in law.
"Is there any issue sir?" Kenichi asked as he went towards them.
"Mmm!? Oh, did I lose it? I'm so sorry to have startled you, young man." The elderly man apologized, the sudden change in his mood taking him by surprise.
"If everything is okay then please watch your step, you damaged the floor quite badly." Kenichi replied.
"Yeah, your 'Removal' was undone too!" One of the men, whom was laughing ever since the elderly man threw his tantrum, said to him. Kenichi looked at them, gauging all of them to be powerful fighters.
"So, are you one of Metsudo's new bodyguards?" The old man suddenly said to Kenichi.
"Oh, do you know my employer?" Kenichi replied.
"Of course I do, I have known him for decades. And I'm also the one who got him to where he is now! Hohoho!"
"Oh? Then you must be Kure Erioh, the First Fang of Metsudo and the patriarch of the Kure Clan. It's an honor to meet you sir." Kenichi said with a bow.
"Likewise, Shirahama Kenichi. And before you ask, Metsudo told me about you, about how you bested the Fourth Fang in a spar. And I'm sure that Metsudo also told you about me."
"Ahahah…Looks like my fame precedes me. And yes, my current employer is a rather playful and fickle old man."
"He's always like that, go along now, you have a job to do." Erioh said.
"Oh right, see you later, Erioh-san!" Kenichi said as he briskly walked away.
'This young man…he is not much older than Raian, so what kind of training did he go through to become this strong?' Erioh pondered.
The hours went by throughout the night, and soon it was daybreak. Currently Kenichi is once again with Katahara Retsudo, both of them are now in the ship's VIP quarters, where Metsudo and his top bodyguards were there as well. As part of the extermination force, Kenichi shared the same room as Retsudo when they retired for the night for the sake of convenience. Now after some rest they set forth to resume their guard duty.
That was when they both saw a tall and muscular man with sharp, chiseled features and a gelled-back hairstyle walking towards them, wearing the same suit that they both wore.
'His aura is about the same as Omichi-san and Takayama-san.'
"Looks like you are in peak condition. But then condition matters little to you anyway. Shirahama, this man here is the Emperor of the Kengan matches and the representative fighter for Dainippon Bank. He is the Fifth Fang of Metsudo, Kanoh Agito." Retsudo introduced the man to Kenichi.
"Good morning, Kanoh-san, my name is Shirahama Kenichi. The new but temporary member of the extermination force." Kenichi said as he held out his hand.
"Shirahama Kenichi, Masamichi told me about you. Please do keep the master safe." Kanoh replied as he held Kenichi's hand firmly.
Once Kanoh left Kenichi and Retsudo, Kenichi looked at his hand, which was slightly throbbing.
"Looks like he really wanted to fight me. Squeezing my hand so hard." Kenichi said as he clenched his hand into a fist.
"Is he? I could not tell. If he was excited to fight someone he will show it."
"So he is the Emperor of the Kengan matches? I look forward to seeing him fight. Though I say with full confidence that if he and I were to fight, I will be the winner."
"Confident are we? Then I will also say that 157 Kengan fighters have your level of confidence and all of them lost to him. Some were so traumatized by his might that they retired. Barring any miracle upsets, he is essentially the winner again." Retsudo said in response, clearly trying to call Kenichi's bluff.
"Then I know that I will be looking forward to." Kenichi replied with a grin.
"Oh, before I forget. When we reach the Land of Battle, you will be briefed by the most experienced referee, Yamamoto Koishi on the rules, when to call the matches and what to avoid."
Retsudo said after his realization.
"That's good to hear."
"Oh and another thing. You are roomed with the extermination force, so here is your room key." Retsudo continued as he fished out a keycard our of his pocket. Kenichi took it and saw the numbers indicating the room.
"Thank you, Retsudo-san."
It was a rather uneventful patrol until the ship reached Ganryu island. There Kenichi felt the biggest curveball thrown at him. Instead of immediately being greeted by what he assumed to be huge crowds of people in an arena with the desire for blood and fighters duking it out…He was greeted by two rows of beautiful women in front of a resort instead.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Kengan association, congratulations on your arrival."
"Welcome to Ganryu Island, please take your time to recuperate from your long voyage~!"
Two of the women said in a flirtatious tone.
"Lets take the whole day off~!" Metsudo said in a sing song voice, unbefitting of an image of a no-nonsense old man.
"Kenichi-san, I know you want to enjoy the beach. But the bad news is that you have to attend your briefing with Yamamoto-san for your referee job and afterwards you will need to receive your orientation." Retsudo said with aa regretful look on his face.
"Well crap, maybe I can come here another time? It's a good place to spend my honeymoon with my beloved wife." Kenichi said, hopeful.
"Father is likely to grant such a request. Oh, Yamamoto-san is here."
Kenichi then saw a middle aged bald man approach them.
"Good afternoon, young master. Would this man be the referee I am to brief?"
"Yes, my name is Shirahama Kenichi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Yamamoto-san." Kenichi said while holding out his hand.
"Same here, please come with me." Yamamoto replied while shaking Kenichi's hand, they then departed for the building.
Scene break
A rather mentally fatigued Kenichi walked the halls, after the 3 hour briefing on being a referee and the 9 hour orientation where a bodyguard codenamed J, who was a man wearing shades bought him around the buildings, Kenichi really wanted to take a bath and sleep to prepare for the next day.
Of course his day was not over yet as Takayama was waiting for him at the end of the corridor.
"Shirahama-dono, please come with me." Takayama said as Kenichi wordlessly followed him to a machine, it looked like a slot machine in casinos.
"The master requested that you push this to the ballroom. As for me I need to be with the master himself." Takayama said to Kenichi who nodded. As the both part ways, Kenichi pushed the machine into the ballroom, just in time for Metsudo to say 'We'll be using this.'.
Kenichi then moved to the side and watched Metsudo give a demonstration of the machine, which will be used to determine who gets to pick the tournament slots. Which was to push the large button on the machine to spin the numbers, then push the button again to stop the numbers, whoever get the highest numbers will pick first. Kenichi then watched the rest of the CEOs complain about the possibility of Metsudo cheating, only for him to respond by unveiling a tournament bracket, which is empty, except at the bottom right corner was his own fighter written on the last slot, indicating that he already picked his slot. He then demanded, with a suddenly very intimidating expression for them to hurry it up.
When no one came up to try the machine. Metsudo suddenly pointed to the salaryman.
"Let's have the newcomer Yamashita try first."
The salaryman promptly freaked out at being nominated by what he deemed as being first to the chopping board, nonetheless Metsudo cheered him on as he pressed the button. The numbers spun again, Kenichi watched as Yamashita looked nervous, then confused as if he saw something in the spinning numbers, he then hovered his finger over the button and pushed again, gaining a score of '989086296'
'So there is something special in this middle aged salaryman…' Kenichi said as the ballroom erupted in surprise, next was a blonde shaggy-haired man who looked like a fighter.
"Alright! I'm going after you Kazuo!"
'So the salaryman's name is Yamashita Kazuo?' Kenichi thought.
"This just needs a little intuition and pizzazz!" The blonde man simply tapped the button twice…and got an abysmal score of '000000226'. As he sulked, the rest of the CEOs tried the machine and soon everyone got their numbers. Yamashita Kazuo, with the highest number picked number 8 after some rough prompting.
'So he picked a spot where he will only face Metsudo-san's fighter in the finals, but also get his own fighter to have three matches worth of planning. This salaryman truly is not to be underestimated, Yamashita Kazuo? He seems to be a dark horse.'
Little does he know, Shirahama Kenichi joined the rest of the CEOs in mistaking Yamashita Kazuo's nervousness as great competence.
With the event over, Kenichi was finally allowed free time. Seeing a hot spring during his orientation, he immediately made a beeline for it, wanting to finally relax and unwind before his double role the next day. As he entered the washing area to bathe himself before entering the hot spring, he saw two men. One of them was tanned, with his right arm in a sling, Kenichi recognized him as the bartender back on the ship. The other man was the one with squinted eyes whom he recognized as the man who followed the bartender.
"When did you two become friends?" Kenichi asked them, seeing that the squinted eyes is washing the other man.
"Eh? Well, we fought back on the ship, I lost and he felt guilty. But a little pep talk from me was enough to get him back up again." The man in the arm sling answered.
"Nice to see that its water under the bridge for you two. I'm Shirahama Kenichi, Katahara Metsudo's newest bodyguard."
"Oh yeah, Sayaka-chan kept saying how you are this really strong guy that sparred with one of her father's top bodyguards."
"You know Katahara Sayaka already?" Kenichi asked.
"Yeah, I invited her to a mixer, she said that she will be bringing two of her friends along. By the way, I'm Himuro Ryo and he is Kaneda Suekichi." The tanned-skinned man replied, introducing his new friend as well.
"Well, Suekichi-san, I wish you good luck on the tournament." Kenichi said as he then left to wash himself. By the time the mixer event happened, he was already in the hot spring. Though considering that he is already married, it was probably for the best.
First side-story chapter done, there will be more.
I initially planned to write it as Niijima enter the Kengan Assciation, and when Nogi challenges Metsudo for the Chairman position, Niijima was to enter with Kenichi representing Shinpaku.
The sequence will be Kenichi replacing Sawada in the 5 preliminary survivors and so enter the tournament. Until I remembered that the Kenichi was already an adult and is just as strong as his masters in the canon material, which means that he will be mowing down everyone with maybe Wakatsuki and Julius giving him some trouble but ultimately go down.
So I made Kenichi take up a side role instead, as a referee in the tournament as well as a member of the Extermination Force. Of course, this means that the brackets and therefore most of the fights stays the same, but I will be making some changes to some of the fights. You will know when it comes, but I will say in advance that some of the character's development will be ret-conned in this fic so if you like the characters in particular…Sorry.