The Sword Deity in Tokyo - Chapter 120

Chapter 120: Money Can Buy Happiness
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

In the end, Kimura Kazuki did not accept the jade pendant when he bid Nakagawa Aokiji farewell.

When Nakagawa Aokiji suggested to compensate him for his trouble, he declined it immediately too. He stated bluntly, “Besides coming over to take a look, I hadn’t done anything particularly helpful for you in the past two days. Since I wasn’t helpful in any form, what reason is there for me to accept compensation?”

Instead, Kimura Kazuki even managed to obtain the collection of the Spirit Tranquilizing Formations, along with Furuhashi Sakurakyu. Especially Furuhashi Sakurakyu – he was looking forward to the quality of the reiki she would provide him with if he could fulfill her obsession.

He was already sure of the reiki quality’s relation to the complexity of the spirit’s obsession. However, this was his first time meeting a spirit that hovered between a physical and an intangible existence – so he was looking forward to it.

Nakagawa Aokiji could not argue with Kimura Kazuki over this aspect, so all he could do was to leave the matter as it is.

Kimura Kazuki allowed Furuhashi Sakurakyu to attach herself upon the Sun and Moon Sword, rather than having her enter the white room within the sword. Meanwhile, Furuhashi Sakurakyu was able to enter a fully non-corporeal state, making herself invisible to the naked eye. Otherwise, it would have been a tough challenge to bring her home without attracting too much attention.

Along the way, in contrast to the reserved manner and elegance that she had displayed in the Nakagawa family, Furuhashi Sakurakyu behaved rather excitably. Clearly, the ten-year jump between 2009 and 2019 had left her in high spirits.

Ten years was enough to change too many things.

Since Furuhashi Sakurakyu’s death occurred just when she was in her early thirties, she still looked as though she was young and in her prime. Furthermore, as she was Harunaka-san’s mother, her attitude toward Kimura Kazuki was much more pleasant, unlike the cold shoulder she gave to the other apparitions.

During the journey, it was mostly Furuhashi Sakurakyu asking questions, while Kimura Kazuki responded to her earnestly. Needless to say, he kept quiet whenever there were other pedestrians around.

As he was a student at Sakura Kyu High School, Furuhashi Sakurakyu pestered him with questions regarding the high school. Kimura Kazuki could only give not-entirely-true compliments on how the school was famous; how every student from the Jinwen District knew about the name of the school, and that many middle-schoolers enrolled in it because of its prestige. This made Furuhashi Sakurakyu overflow with joy.

In an attempt to stop her from further annoying him about school affairs, Kimura Kazuki could pour salt on her wounds by asking her how she had died.

From Furuhashi Sakurakyu’s response, he learned that back then, she was taking Harunaka to the newly established Sakura Kyu Kendo Gym so she could become Shintani Satorusa’s apprentice.

Despite being a woman, Shintani Satorusa’s kendo skills had already achieved the seventh stage – she was a famed kendo master in Japan.

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Shintani Satorusa was Furuhashi Sakurakyu’s friend, so when she founded the Sakura Kyu Kendo Gym, she invited her in to oversee their work.

Yet, before she even arrived at the Kendo Gym, she lost her life in a car accident. What happened afterward, she had no idea.

Although he did not know of Shintani Satorusa, Kimura Kazuki knew that Harunaka-san had never been in an apprenticeship with a master. He had seen Harunaka practicing while he was still her private tutor, but her moves mostly consisted of basic slashes, and there was hardly any hint of guidance from a competent master.

Yet, the Sakura Kyu Kendo Gym…

Kimura Kazuki took a deep breath and asked, “Sakura Kyu High School and Kendo Gym aside, did you establish any other businesses?” Judging from the appearance, it would never have crossed his mind that she was a workaholic, not to mention that her establishments were all, amazingly, named after herself.

“There was also the Sakura Kyu Voice Acting Agency and the Sakura Kyu Bookstore.”

“…” Kimura Kazuki gaped, suddenly at a loss for words.

Furuhashi Sakurakyu, on the other hand, was rather enthusiastic, “Those were all gifts for my daughters when they come of age. When Harunaka and the others turned six, I asked them what their ambition was when they grew up. Harunaka stuck to me the most, and since I was also a well-known kendo master back then, Harunaka became obsessed with kendo too. While Natsui, the little fellow, would hang out with her gang of friends all day long, bullying the younger ones– she aspired to be the yakuza boss one day. And so, I thought, this can’t be right… then I founded the Sakura Kyu High School, hoping that she would study hard when she grew up and eventually become the principal of the school, leading the teachers and students – that seemed more like an honorable path.”

Of course, as a student, Furuhashi Sakurakyu had terrible grades, so establishing a school was, in a way, fulfilling one of her own dreams as well.

“As for Akino!” Speaking of her, Furuhashi Sakurakyu gritted her teeth in exasperation, “I have no idea what book the brat was reading, but she went ahead and calligraphed on her sisters’ laps. I caught her red-handed one day and gave her a good beating. That’s why I established a proper bookstore for her. I named it Sakura Kyu Bookstore.”

Cough…

Kimura Kazuki choked on his drink when he heard this.

Furuhashi Sakurakyu’s eyes spoke as if all of this seemed to have occurred just yesterday. It was already 2019, the sense of reality was lacking for the time being. She sighed, “Fuyuno was the most obedient one, she loved music… She even signed up for a singing competition when she was in primary school, though she didn’t go on stage in the end because of her shyness… somehow, she became obsessed with voice acting in the end.”

The Sakura Kyu Voice Acting Agency was probably shut down by now, or else Fuyuno would not have had to study in the Hirata Performer School when she was in middle school.

As for the Sakura Kyu Kendo Gym, it had most likely been closed as well or had transferred ownership, since Harunaka had always trained at the school’s Kendo Association or at home. She had never taught in a public kendo gym before.

Speaking of the Sakura Kyu Bookstore… he subsequently recalled the addiction Akino had for games, which made him feel that the bookstore was probably the first to be shut down.

Of course, these were merely his guesses. But Kimura Kazuki had a feeling that his theories were unlikely to be wrong.

Before he enrolled in Sakura Kyu High School, it was already on the brink of demolition. It was apparent that Furuhashi Harashin had not been properly managing the business his wife left behind. Or, to put it in another way, Furuhashi Harashin’s focus has always been on the family business, since it was the cornerstone of everything else.

Whatever school, bookstore, voice acting agency, or kendo gym, they were all trivial. Perhaps if Furuhashi Sakurakyu was still alive, he would have paid more heed to them, but following the death of his wife, he had placed his attention on the family business for the sake of giving his daughters a good life.

Though from the looks of it, Furuhashi Sakurakyu’s affection for her daughters was quite evident. This experience also opened his eyes to the joy of being wealthy.

Kimura Kazuki remained silent during the journey. After all, there were still many pedestrians along the road, unlike how it was deserted a while ago. While Furuhashi Sakurakyu was in her completely intangible state, it was only natural that he was unable to speak to her.

Most of Furuhashi Sakurakyu’s conversation topics were dominated by her daughters’ amusing stories.

For example… Harunaka was a crybaby when she was young, tearing up often even without any good reason to do so, so Furuhashi Sakurakyu would always return home to find a mountain of crumpled tissues in the room. Natsui, on the other hand, was the most troublesome – she would always trim her hair every time it managed to grow slightly longer, so to maintain a crew cut hairstyle. Every now and then, she would assemble a gang of her buddies to beat people up, and each time they did so, the Furuhashi house would receive several complaints from the victim’s parents.

Akino was a quiet child who spoke few words and immersed herself in books all day long – her grades during her years in primary school were mostly perfect in all subjects. Yet ever since the incident with the calligraphy, her personality took a turn for the worse as she became mischievous and impish.

As for Fuyuno… she was the least hygiene-conscious, and she disliked taking baths. She would make a big deal out of it every time she was told to take a shower, and her room was the messiest of them all.

By the time Kimura Kazuki returned home, he had found himself with a vast assortment of anecdotes about the four sisters’ embarrassing past.