Yumi Miyamoto is the girlfriend of Shukichi Haneda. Years ago, Shukichi won a match, but he wasn't happy about it. Feeling down, a glum Shukichi fell asleep on a train, and in his drowsiness, his head rested on Yumi Miyamoto's shoulder, causing Yumi to miss her stop. Still, that was how the two met.
Later on, due to some conflicts, they broke up. Unlike others who would immediately rush to win back their lovers, Shukichi gave Yumi an envelope, telling her not to open it until he became the holder of seven major titles.
That is why Shukichi is currently striving hard to become the seven-crown champion.
Although Mao Akai doesn't understand romance, that doesn't mean she's stupid. She figures that the absent-minded Miss Miyamoto has probably long since cast her second older brother to the back of her mind, leaving only her stubbornly single-minded brother to remember their promise.
Yet her brother firmly believes that Yumi Miyamoto is definitely waiting for him to become the seven-crown champion.
...
In the afternoon, Mao Akai declined the invitation to stay for dinner and, taking Masumi Sera with her, said goodbye to her naive brother.
Before leaving, Shukichi Haneda pressed his hands on Mao Akai's shoulders, their similarly uptight, slanted eyes locking gazes. "Mao, if one day you meet a man who makes your heart race, don't hesitate—boldly go and get close to him! Then you'll know what love is!"
Mao Akai gave him a deadpan look, swatting her second brother's hand off her shoulder in disgust. "Don't assume everyone is just like you."
With that, she waved casually and pulled her younger sister along as they started on their way home.
The late-summer sun was blazing. Just walking from the Haneda residence to the station left Masumi Sera's face flushed red. Mao Akai glanced around the bustling station, then told Masumi to go find a spot to rest while she went to buy the tickets.
Waving goodbye to her sister, Masumi Sera watched the passing crowds with curious eyes.As a middle-aged man with a noticeably receding hairline—who had grown the hair on one side exceptionally long to cover his bald spot—walked past Masumi Sera carrying a black leather briefcase, she covered her mouth and chuckled quietly. The man hadn't noticed that the wind had blown his hair aside, exposing a gleaming bald pate that shone brightly in the sunlight.
A young boy and girl walked past, laughing and joking while holding ice cream, bringing a breath of cool air with them. Masumi Sera licked her lips; she suddenly felt like having some ice cream.
She stood up and glanced over at the ticket booth, where a dense crowd of people was swarming, making it impossible to spot Mao Akai anywhere.
*Maybe I can go buy an ice cream first, and then come back to wait for my sister.*
Thinking this, Masumi Sera decided to do just that.
She left her waiting spot and walked in the direction the group of teenagers had come from, and fortunately spotted an ice cream truck.
Just as she was standing in line, a familiar figure flashed past in the distance.
"Big Brother?" Masumi Sera murmured in disbelief.
She thought she had seen that cool Big Brother of hers, who was so brilliant at both deduction and Jeet Kune Do.
Masumi Sera abandoned the ice cream truck and ran toward that retreating figure. Even though her sister had told her that Big Brother was currently not in Neon, and even though the man wearing the knit cap had long hair, Masumi Sera—who had grown up studying Jeet Kune Do by watching videos of Big Brother—was certain she hadn't mistaken him for someone else!
The twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl struggled to weave through the crowd in pursuit of that figure, losing her sense of direction before she even knew it.
...
Time turned back a few minutes.
With his guitar case slung over his back and his cap pulled low, Hiromitsu Morofushi stood in the shade of the loop line, observing the bustling pedestrians coming and going.
"Here, your ticket." Rei Furuya handed over a ticket."Only two tickets?" Hiromitsu Morofushi took one.
Rei Furuya wore a malicious smile. "If Rye can't board the train because he doesn't have a ticket and messes up the mission, that's his own problem."
"Zero, your hostility is a bit too obvious." Hiromitsu Morofushi glanced at the ticket counter and started walking in that direction.
Rei Furuya followed, an expression of displeasure on his face. "Hiro, why did you even buy a ticket for that guy?"
"I know you hate him, but..." Hiromitsu Morofushi didn't finish his sentence, but Rei Furuya still understood what he meant: no matter how much they hated Rye, they couldn't let him ruin the mission.
No matter what reason there might be, failing a mission meant punishment, and furthermore, they were undercover agents—for the sake of their deep cover, they couldn't afford to let a mission fail.
With a sour face, Rei Furuya shoved the ticket in his hand toward Hiromitsu Morofushi. "You go meet up with him first, I'll be over in a minute."
With that, he pulled down the brim of his cap to conceal his conspicuous features, then headed toward the ticket counter.
Not long after Rei Furuya left, Hiromitsu Morofushi spotted Rye Whiskey near the platform, also carrying a guitar case on his back. He handed the ticket he was holding over.
"Where's Bourbon?"
"Bourbon had some other business, he'll be over in a bit."
Shuichi Akai took the ticket and nodded, asking no unnecessary questions.
As he watched the passing pedestrians and thought about today's mission, a small figure darted through the crowd toward him. Shuichi Akai's expression changed, and under the cover of speaking to Scotch, he turned around just as a train pulled into the station.
The crowd surging onto the platform formed a perfect barrier, blocking that pursuing gaze.
Masumi Sera stood helplessly in the middle of the crowd, looking around. That figure had been right nearby, but she couldn't find them.
"Big Brother, where are you?" Masumi Sera looked around in bewilderment. She hadn't found Big Brother, and she had lost track of her sister.
The crowd gradually thinned out, and the figures of two men with guitar cases on the adjacent platform caught her eye. Among them, the man wearing the knit cap was the very person she had just been looking for.
It has to be Big Brother! Masumi Sera shoved through the crowd and ran toward the two men.
"Big Brother! Is that you?" Masumi Sera cried out joyfully to the man in front of her.
Scotch curiously glanced back. The girl, dressed like a boy, was looking at Rye Whiskey with an expression of intense excitement.
The moment Shuichi Akai heard Masumi Sera shout for him, his heart contracted violently. He restrained the urge to turn around completely and swept his peripheral vision toward Scotch, who was standing to one side.
Then he saw a trace of curiosity on that man's face.
This is bad!
Shuichi Akai cursed inwardly. Keeping his emotions under control, he put on a cold expression, turned around, and glared frostily at his younger sister.
"You've got the wrong person."
Masumi Sera was startled by the look in Shuichi Akai's eyes. She took a step back and swallowed hard.
"No, you are my Big Brother!"
Hiromitsu Morofushi glanced at Rye in bewilderment.
Noticing Scotch's gaze, Shuichi Akai clenched his fists, turned back toward Masumi Sera, and shouted roughly, "Kid, get lost! You've got the wrong person!"
"I... I..." Masumi Sera stepped back, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm lost."
Only then did a hint of fear wash over her.
She looked left and right. Her sister had just gone to buy tickets and told her to wait in place, but she had seen this man who looked like Big Brother and followed him all the way here, and by now she had no idea where she was.