Murals & Connections

Walking along the way towards Udagawachō was boring to say the least.

Normally, Reo wouldn't mind talking to Mikasa as well as taking countless opportunities to tease her but this time was different.

Ever since he lost his ball, he felt like he had lost a piece of himself with it.

It was like how Davy Jones felt without Calypso in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. However, if anyone were to know about this, they would be utterly speechless at Reo comparing a mere basketball to a beautiful lady.

Of course, this was largely due to the fact that Reo had been practicing basketball every single day without fail so much so that it had developed into a habit and if that habit had somehow been broken of it's cycle, of course Reo would be feeling the aftereffects.

It was like how a person who would consume insane amounts of sugar on a daily basis. If that person were to suddenly stop his consumption, he would surely suffer from drawback effects for the next few days.

At least, this would serve as a valuable lesson to him.

To not get too hooked up on basketball!

He still had to do other things like a normal person such as interacting with people and playing video games. So, in a sense, his father was actually helping in his son's future development even without realizing this.

Nonetheless, Reo did not appreciate it in the least at this current moment.

He wanted his goddamn ball back!

Why would he care about future development? He was an 18 year old in the body of a 10 year old for God's sake!

Still, there was nothing much that he could do about it except sulk in silence throughout the entire journey. After all, he would get his ball back in another week's time

With that, as Reo continued sulking, he and Mikasa finally arrived at her uncle's restaurant in Udagawachō.

Standing in front of the restaurant, Reo discovered that it had the appearance of an ordinary Japanese Diner.

Placed in front of the restaurant was a huge signboard that read, 'Ichika's Japanese Restaurant'.

'Ichika?',Reo pondered for a moment before finally realizing.

Mikasa's full name was Mikasa Ichika so it kind of made sense for the restaurant's name to be 'Ichika' as well. After all, it was a family name.

Looking at the huge plywood signboard that had the restaurant's name on it, Reo began taking in the sight of the surrounding features.

Coupled with a full black layout, the light brown sign stood out like a sore thumb but instead of it ruining the appeal of the shop, it did the exact opposite.

The exterior was windowless as most Japanese Diners were and had a huge two-piece wooden sliding door at the extreme left of the shop which permitted the only entrance and exit for the customers there.

Overall, it was a good design that gave people a thought of approval when they saw the neatly designed exterior layout of the shop as well as an unexplainable sense of ease.

After taking a moment to take in the shop's exterior, Mikasa looked so excited that she almost started jumping up and down.

It had been a long time since she visited her uncle and what made it even better was that they treated her well with all the delicious food on the menu for 'FREE'!

That's right....FREE!

As an uncle, how could they not spoil their only niece.

This of course, made Mikasa all the more happier as she labeled her uncle as one of the best people in the whole wide world.

If Reo knew what Mikasa was thinking, he would have honestly fainted in exasperation.

He thought that he had been dragged here to visit her beloved uncle but as it turns out, she valued the free food more!

How could anyone not feel frustrated upon hearing such thoughts.

Then again, it was a child's nature to favor those who spoiled them even more and since Mikasa was only 10 years old, it was completely understandable.

Still, Reo couldn't help but give Mikasa a side glance as he thought.

'I was never like this at 10 years old'

Hearing his thoughts, the system was about to curse at Reo for thinking so highly of himself when Mikasa suddenly took action.

Not able to hold it anymore, Mikasa grabbed Reo's hand to pull him in along with her.

As soon as Mikasa opened the sliding door, Reo heard a bell chime with should have come from the bell attached from the top of the door to indicate the entering and exiting of customers.

Once the chime was sounded, a middle-aged man who was currently wiping tables up front turned to the door as he announced his standard greeting.

"Welcome, please come in....Eh?", however, that man soon lost track of his sentence when he saw who was coming in.

"Eh? Mikasa-chan, is that you?", that man asked.

Looking at the middle-aged man, Reo was a bit surprised at first but soon recovered.

'Is he Mikasa's uncle?'

Otherwise, how could he have called out to Mikasa so affectionately.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Mikasa finally let go of his hand and bolted at lightning speed into that man's arms.

"Uncle Niji! How have you been?! I missed you so much!", with a loud shout, Mikasa jumped into her Uncle Niji's arms for a big hug.

Her uncle of course didn't object to it as he too opened his arms to embrace his niece with a joyful smile on his face.

"Hahahaha! I missed you too, you little poppet!", Niji laughed out loud as he hugged Mikasa.

Both of them were so excited to see each other. After all, it had been more than 6 months since they last saw each other.

With Mikasa's parents working and she being underaged to travel alone, it had been a fair while since any of them had visited each other.

As such, neither of them could hold in their excitement after seeing each other after such a long time.

It was only after a few moments did the two of them finally pull apart from each other.

Looking at his niece, Niji was excited as well as he held Mikasa's arms while asking.

"How did you find the time to come here? Did your parents come as well?"

He knew that Mikasa was too young to travel by herself so the only rational thought that he had was that her parents were finally able to make time in their busy schedule to come visit him.

Mikasa however, shook her head as she pointed to the door.

"No, Uncle Niji. I came here with Reo-kun after school"

When her uncle heard that she didn't come with her parents, he frowned at first.

Wondering if this niece of his had actually come on her own. If she really did so, he would have a lot to say to Mikasa's parents once they found out.

Something that he would rather not do.

However, when he heard that Mikasa had come with a 'Reo-kun' instead, he frowned even more.

Not coming with her parents was one thing but coming along with a classmate was another thing.

While Japan was one of the countries with the smallest number of kidnapping cases in the world, he wasn't taking any chances.

After all, they were both 10 year olds. How much security could the two of them have?

Then, looking at the door, he found an inanimate Reo standing at the door while staring at him and Mikasa.

Both their eyes finally met for the first time as both just blinked and stared at each other.

'Why does this kid look so familiar?', Niji wondered.

However, at the very next second, he finally realized why as his face paled significantly.

'Shit! It's this little monster!'

With that thought, he immediately backed a few steps back at a speed that should not be achievable for someone of his age.

Turning around so that the two kids could not see his troubled face, Niji began muttering to himself in a soft voice.

"My dear niece actually brought this little monster to my store?!"

"No! No! No! Nothing good ever happens whenever this little monster is around!"

"Shit! Does this mean that my monthly expenditure is going to increase again?!"

"No! I need to cut cost the most this month! Damn it! Why did this monster appear at such a time?!"

If anyone could see Niji's current state, they would surely wonder about one thing.

Why was he acting this way?

As for the reason.....Hehehe.

Well....Where to begin?

It all started a few years ago when Mikasa first introduced Reo to him.

At first, he thought it would not be a big thing since Reo was just a kid after all but soon, he found out just how wrong he was.

This boy was not human but a little monster instead.

Ever since he had gotten to know Reo, he knew that every time Reo visited his store, it would spell nothing but trouble for him.

Every single time he was over, there would either be ranting customers, broken furniture or even an ablaze stove.

The point that he was trying to make was that every time Reo came over, there was a constant expenditure on his end and not just in monetary form but mentally as well.

After all, he was a middle aged man. How much could his poor heart handle?

Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that he was close classmates with Reo's father, he would have outright banned this little monstrosity from ever entering his beloved store.

However, while he was complaining about Reo's presence, he began to realize another thing.

And that was Reo's presence!

His beloved niece had stated that she had come with a 'Reo-kun' but until now, he had not realized that this little monster was the one who had been accompanying his niece a along.

Thinking about this, he forcefully held back his urge to throw his spatula at Reo.

It took around 20 minutes from Jingūmae to Udagawachō just by walking and while this was nothing much to a regular Japanese resident, it was another thing for kids entirely!

Reo and Mikasa were only 10 years old for God's sake!

Niji knew that Reo's father was a bit easygoing when it came to wondering alone but it was an entirely different case with Mikasa's parents.

For one thing, they were totally overprotective of their daughter and wouldn't even allow her to walk to school alone whether or not she was accompanied by someone her own age.

If they found out that she was here with Reo....Niji broke out in cold sweat just thinking about it.

Like himself, Mikasa's parents knew about Reo's 'nature' as well and just by looking at this situation, Niji was sure that they would come to the same conclusion as well.

That Reo dragged Mikasa along to Udagawachō without any parental guidance!

And the worst part was that he was sure that Reo knew how strict Mikasa's parents were about her safety as well but as usual....he just didn't care!

This boy standing behind him was the Little God of Rulebreaker's for God's sake!

Unless his father was the one scolding him, he wouldn't give a damn about anyone else!

Just thinking about this gave Niji a headache.

Even if he wanted to punish Reo in his father's steed, the problem was that he would not even care! And even if he did, Niji feared how Reo would deliver payback to his darling store.

For one, everyone that knew this monster, knew that he harbored a grudge against anyone that ever wronged him. So, what was the point of trying to discipline him in the first place?!

However, at that timely moment, Reo's voice sounded out.

"Excuse me, oji-san but where is the toilet?"

Reo didn't ask this for no reason.

He could tell that Mikasa and Niji were quite enjoying their reunion but it had somehow been disrupted when Niji laid eyes on him.

Just by looking in Niji's eyes, Reo's intuition told him that his former self had probably done some bad stuff to this poor man as well.

Otherwise, why else would Niji's eyes change as if it saw Godzilla once he laid eyes upon him?

As such, Reo decided to excuse himself out to give Mikasa and Niji some alone time to catch up.

It was purely an innocent thought on his part but for some reason....Niji thought differently.

'No!!! This little monster is definitely going behind the scenes to wreck some stuff since there are customers up front!"

At the same time, he was wondering since when did Reo become so thoughtful as to take notice of the customers.

However, he wasn't appreciating it in the slightest.

In his view, he thought that Reo had become smarter in figuring out different ways to cause mayhem in his store. Just thinking about this made Niji feel as if a calamity was upon him.

'That's it, I'm done for. This little monster is gonna wreck my store and leave me penniless again', Niji thought in a depressed manner as his shoulders slumped, making him look like a thin hunchback gorilla.

Still, he mustered his will to finally speak up as he answered Reo.

"It's in the back. Also, touch nothing!", Niji said as he emphasized on Reo to touch nothing.

Reo of course, picked it up which therefore confirmed his suspicions.

He had indeed caused trouble in this place in the past.

Just thinking about this made Reo almost bawl his eyes out.

He felt as if he had been framed for murder when in reality, he was an entire continent away.

He had been unjustly framed in the body that previously belonged to a psycho. How could he not feel depressed?

Also, this was not the first time that such a thing happened and honestly, Reo even wondered if he had ever stolen the dog of Shibuya City's mayor by any chance.

With everything that had happened thus far, he wouldn't be surprised if he by any chance had pulled it off.

So, as Reo walked past the tables and to the back of the store, he felt Niji's intense gaze on him the entire time. It was only when he walked through the doorway at the back did he finally get some comfort.

Finally escaping Niji's sight, Reo couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Feeling like he had escaped the gaze of a falcon, Reo couldn't help but unintentionally relax his muscles as if he had just escaped from a calamity.

Truly, this was very frustrating for him.

He had already challenged the entire school due to their dissatisfaction of the previous Reo but as it turned out, he did not only cause problems inside the school but outside as well!

Honestly, the person who's body he reincarnated into had no fear at all whatsoever. It was like he was Superman without any of the modesty or charisma.

Still, Reo didn't dwell on this matter for long as he started exploring the back of the store.

Looking at the enormous space at the back, Reo felt that the back was a lot bigger than the front for some reason.

It could be due to his short stature but Reo felt that that wasn't the case whatsoever.

'Must be due to the storage. I doubt that the bathroom could take up such a big space', Reo thought to himself as he continued walking forward.

Then, just as he was beginning to feel bored again, Reo saw something that made him stop in his tracks and stare in awe.

It was a gigantic mural!

But not just any mural, it was the murals of animals! To be precise, it was the murals of the Chinese Zodiacs!

All 12 animals with nothing less, painted on the wall in a realistic fashion.

The first which was what Reo was standing in front of.

The Golden Dragon!

Drawn in a realistic fashion, Reo could feel the energy of everything the dragon represented.

Power! Wisdom! Strength!

Everything that represented the good side of dragons but at the same time, he felt the negative side of the dragon as well.

Destruction! Hate! Chaos!

It was all captured in this one mural. Like how the Chinese said, they existed in a perfect harmony of Yin and Yang.

Reo was shocked when he realized this because there were by no means that such an artwork was paid with a cheap price and since Mikasa's uncle's Restaurant was located in a mere district and not in the capital of Shibuya City, it made Reo wonder just how in the world they had enough money to pay for such an artwork.

Artists were by no means generous. In fact, they were quite stingy when it came to such a glorious masterpiece as they would either be very reluctant to sell such a piece or charge a price high enough to make even the President of the United States feel as if he was in a state of constant constipation.

Just thinking about this made Reo shiver in fright.

Since browsing the Internet was a common thing for him in his past life, he had even occasionally stumbled onto various art sites where he had once seen a piece sell for an insane price of 300 million yen!

300 million yen!

Just recalling this made Reo almost have a mini heart attack.

According to his amateurish estimations, this Golden Dragon mural would have surely sold for at least a million yen if it was placed in a good auction house.

And that was not the only thing that made Reo appalled.

This was just by estimating the Golden Dragon mural alone. At the side, there were another 11 murals painted on the wall as their intricated designs demanded attention.

Reo would have initially thought that Mikasa's uncle had spent a fortune to purchase these murals but thinking at it from a rational stance, he decided that Niji must have pulled quite a few strings to obtain these murals.

Otherwise, how else could he explain this.

The only way such murals could be obtained aside from purchasing them at a sky high price was obtaining them using various connections.

'Looks like Mikasa's family is more complicated then I realized', Reo thought as he continued admiring the murals on the walls.