"What school? I’ve already graduated!" Fushimi Roku clicked his tongue like a thug, leaning in to press his forehead against the other’s, like cats provoking on the street, the two staring at each other cross-eyed through their noses. "What? You look down on me? Wanna fight, huh!"
The burly man didn’t move or spit any threats; he just pulled down his collar, revealing the tattoo beneath.
Those who mix on the streets can instantly tell he’s a gang member by the tattoo; and if they’re fellow gang members, they can recognize that he’s a Young Leader of the Sumiyoshi Association from the tattoo pattern... at least he used to be.
"That tattoo is ugly."
Fushimi Roku snorted coldly, slapped the side of the burly man’s face, simultaneously sweeping with his foot, directly knocking him to the ground. The burly man wanted to resist, but Fushimi Roku landed two punches, letting him feel the enforcement strength of the Nakagawa Detective.
The convenience store part-timer turned pale with fright, picked up the phone ready to call the police, but before Fushimi Roku could speak, the burly man stopped him first: "Hang up!"
"No calling the cops!" the burly man yelled with a bruised and swollen face.
The part-timer glanced at Fushimi Roku, and chose to obediently hang up the phone.
Following the manager’s instructions, he hung up the closed sign, pulled down the store’s roller shutter door, leaving only the three of them inside the convenience store.
Fushimi Roku directly tore open a pack of cigarettes, lit one, took a deep inhale, and blew the secondhand smoke onto the manager’s face.
The manager didn’t get angry, instead, he asked Fushimi Roku which gang he belonged to. The latter, with a cigarette dangling lazily from his lips, pointed his thumb at his nose and said, "I came to Tokyo to carve out my empire, to form the largest club in Japan!"
Upon hearing this, the manager looked at Fushimi Roku like he was looking at a fool.
He pretended to be open-minded, suggesting Fushimi Roku join the Sumiyoshi Association, saying it would be a waste not to recruit such a tough guy into their organization.
Fushimi Roku sneered dismissively, claiming that the second-in-command of the Inakawa Association begged him to join, and he didn’t agree. Now a mere defeated foe was trying to recruit him?
The manager couldn’t help but laugh after hearing it.
"You don’t believe me?!" Fushimi Roku had a "how dare you look down on me" expression and immediately pulled out his phone, dialed Sazaki Gen’s number, and switched to speaker mode. "Moshi Moshi?"
"What’s got you in the mood to call me?" Sazaki Gen had Fushimi Roku’s caller ID saved, he knew who was calling just by the number.
The manager’s face changed slightly; he recognized Sazaki Gen’s voice.
Fushimi Roku placed the phone between him and the manager. "Nothing much, just wanted to share a joke with you... Today, I went to a convenience store to buy cigarettes; the manager was a Sumiyoshi Association member, had no sense and I beat him up, then he wants to recruit me... Funny, right?"
Sazaki Gen was silent for a moment and said, "It’s funny."
"He’s right here next to me, want to say something to him?" Fushimi Roku looked at the manager. "Come, say hi to the Inakawa Association’s second-in-command?"
The manager cleared his throat, couldn’t help but ask, "Mr. Sazaki... is that you?"
"Don’t waste effort recruiting him," Sazaki Gen said.
He paused for a moment and asked, "Fujimura-kun, are you listening?"
Under the manager’s shocked observation, Fushimi Roku chuckled and leaned toward the microphone, saying, "I’m listening, what’s up?"
"If you plan to join the syndicate, the Inakawa Association will always offer better terms than any other syndicate,"
Sazaki Gen said seriously, "I can guarantee that President Iseki won’t mistreat you."
Fushimi Roku casually responded, and then hung up the phone directly.