The following day, Oga was in no mood to deal with anything. Kogen's words from the night before kept echoing in his head like an annoying mosquito buzz. "Admit it, darling. You love Beel like any father would." The smug grin he wore when he said it only made his blood boil hotter. Him? Love this drooling, destructive demon baby? The same brat who zapped him whenever he slacked off, screamed like a banshee at night, and forced him into a hundred pointless fights? No way. Impossible. Absolutely not.
And yet... Oga hadn't dumped him. Not once. Kanzaki, Himekawa, Aoi—hell, even when he had Furuichi cornered and it would've been so damn easy—he didn't. Every time, he found some excuse, some reason why they weren't "suitable." Kogen had pointed that out, and Oga didn't have a comeback.
So here he was, stomping through the streets with Beel perched on his back, fuming and scowling, pretending it was just another day when in reality, he was desperate to prove Kogen wrong. If he could just find someone—someone stronger, scarier, more ruthless—he could dump Beel and finally be free.
That's when Furuichi showed up, panting as he chased after Oga.
"Yo! Oga!" he wheezed, waving a folded flyer like it was a holy script. "I've got it! I've found your golden ticket to freedom!"
Oga didn't stop walking. "Not interested."
"No, listen, damn it!" Furuichi latched onto his arm, ignoring the death glare. "You've beaten Kanzaki. You've beaten Himekawa. You've beaten Aoi—don't give me that look, you know what I mean. But there's one guy left, the last piece of the puzzle, the final member of the TKKH—Hidetora Tōjō!"
The name carried weight, even for Oga. He stopped, one brow cocked. "Tōjō?"
"That's right!" Furuichi puffed out his chest, acting like he'd just revealed the final boss of some video game. "The guy's a monster. The strongest of the lot. If anyone can take Baby Beel off your hands, it's him. And then—finally—Alaidelon will stop bugging me!" He grabbed Oga by the shoulders, shaking him. "Do it for me, man! My sanity is on the line here!"
Oga slapped him away with enough force to send Furuichi rolling into a nearby garbage can. "Don't touch me, you creep. Where is he?"
That sly grin spread across Furuichi's face as he scrambled out of the trash. "He's working at the beach. Some yakisoba stand. Or so I've heard..."
Oga's scowl deepened. Perfect. A test. A chance to show Kogen he was dead wrong. If he could hand Beel off to this so-called "monster," that would shut his smug mouth for good.
The next day, Oga, Beel, and an unwilling Furuichi found themselves standing on the hot sand of the beach. Beel was dressed in his usual diaper, wearing a pair of cheap sunglasses Furuichi had shoved on him, while Jagua, in his kitten form, padded along beside them, leaving little paw prints in the sand.
Oga was not impressed. "So where the hell is this Tōjō guy?"
"Relax," Furuichi said, wiping sweat from his forehead while sneaking glances at bikini-clad girls passing by. "We'll find him. Probably grilling yakisoba right now, muscles gleaming, sweat dripping—ugh, what I wouldn't give—"
"Say one more word and I'll bury you under this beach."
Before Furuichi could protest, a middle-aged man wearing a grease-stained apron stormed out of a yakisoba stand. He spotted Oga and Furuichi instantly. "Oi, you two! You here to work? Get your asses behind the counter, now!"
"What the—wait, huh?!" Oga barely had time to react before he was shoved behind the counter, Beel plopped unceremoniously on a stool with Jagua curled beside him.
Furuichi, however, looked delighted. "Part-timers?! Surrounded by beautiful beach babes ordering food?! This is destiny!"
"Shut it and cook," Oga grunted, already flipping noodles with deadly precision, though his scowl remained fixed.
The irony wasn't lost on him. He'd come here to find Tōjō, and instead he was stuck grilling noodles like some chump. Beel squealed happily, smearing sauce on his cheeks, while Jagua licked the mess off like the kitten he pretended to be.
After a few hours of chaos, the stand's manager finally let them off the hook. That's when the truth came out.
"By the way," the man said casually, wiping his hands on his apron, "that Tōjō kid you're looking for? Fired him last night. Can't have someone starting fights with customers while selling noodles."
Oga froze, tongs still in hand. "You mean... he's not here?"
The man shrugged. "Try the boardwalk. Or wherever he feels like brawling."
Furuichi collapsed onto the sand, clutching his head. "You mean we slaved away for nothing?! Oga, I swear, if I miss one more chance to ogle a—"
He was silenced by Oga jamming a hot spatula dangerously close to his face. "Shut. Up."
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Kogen and Jagua were already ahead of the game.(Jagua teleported to kogen on his summons)
While Oga wasted time flipping yakisoba, Kogen had tracked down Tōjō herself. He found him leaning against a vending machine, sipping a soda, surrounded by unconscious thugs who had clearly picked the wrong fight.
"Well, well," Kogen purred, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "So you're the infamous Tōjō."
Tōjō looked at him, confused for a moment, then gave a lazy grin. "Yeah? And you are...?"
"Let's just say," he replied smoothly, "someone very interested in your potential."
The two struck up a conversation, and to his surprise, Tōjō wasn't the brutish meathead she expected. Sure, he loved fighting, but there was a blunt honesty to him, a simple way of seeing the world that amused him. By the end of their chat, Kogen found himself laughing—really laughing—for the first time in a while.
Interesting. Very interesting. Maybe this one could work.
Back at Ishiyama territory, Oga finally caught a lead. Word on the street was that Tōjō's gang had received a challenge letter. From him. Which was actually by Furuichi challenging Tōjō in name of Oga.
"Wait... what?" Oga barked at Aoi, who stood nervously holding the crumpled paper.
"I-I was about to rip it up!" Aoi stammered, cheeks red. "But his men found it first, and now they think you challenged him!"
Oga smirked. Perfect. A direct fight was exactly what he needed. Prove Tōjō was stronger, dump Beel, and rub it in Kogen's face.
When he and Furuichi arrived at the meeting spot, though, they found a scene of carnage. Dozens of Tōjō's today opponent lay sprawled on the ground, moaning and twitching. There bikes either crushed or half in the concrete wall. Clearly, they had been annihilated.
"T-Tōjō did this?!" Furuichi squeaked, clutching Oga's arm.
But Tōjō was nowhere to be seen.
Oga's scowl deepened, his fists tightening. For the first time in a long while, a flicker of excitement burned in his chest.
"This is gonna be fun," he muttered, ignoring Beel's happy squeals and Jagua's twitching tail.
Because deep down, though he'd never admit it, Oga wasn't just looking for someone to dump Beel on anymore. He wanted to meet Tōjō for real.
And that realization rattled him even more than Kogen's smug words.