Gulp!
He took a mouthful of liquor.
"I see Aiden is also someone who practices martial arts. May I ask who you learned from?"
There was nothing he couldn't say, so Aiden answered honestly, "I used to serve in the military. What I mainly trained was military combat techniques. Later, I learned some miscellaneous traditional martial arts, and after that I learned Shiranui-ryū ancient martial arts from Mai."
"Oh! So now you're a disciple of Shiranui-ryū?" A trace of disappointment flashed across Chin Gentsai's eyes.
"I guess you could say that. I paid tuition, after all." Aiden looked toward Mai Shiranui. "Mai is my teacher."
"Mai? Teacher?"
Aiden's words made both Sie Kensou, who was burying his head in his food, and Athena Asamiya, who was chatting with Yuri, look toward him. Both of them wondered, 'What kind of student calls their teacher with such an intimate nickname?'
But after hearing Aiden's words, Chin Gentsai actually looked pleased. In his eyes, Aiden didn't count as an official disciple of Shiranui-ryū at all.
Maybe Aiden's personality suited his tastes very well, or maybe Aiden's straightforward way of drinking made him appreciate him even more.
Having always struggled to find a disciple who would accompany him in drinking, Chin suddenly had the thought of taking Aiden as his disciple.
"So Aiden is a student of Shiranui-ryū!"
Chin emphasized the word "student" heavily. In his view, a student and a disciple were completely different. A student was like someone studying in school, pay money, learn something, then leave. But a disciple was different.
Although he was deliberately twisting meanings, Chin still felt it was a pity not to take Aiden under his wing.
However, Chin Gentsai was still a senior in the fighting world. While he wasn't exactly a grandmaster who founded his own school, when it came to seniority, almost no one in the fighting world could compare. Naturally, he couldn't bring himself to directly ask Aiden to formally become his disciple.
He began hinting indirectly to Aiden that he wanted to take another disciple to pass on his teachings. After all, Athena and Sie Kensou both had superpowers, and weren't very focused on martial arts.
Aiden naturally understood what Chin meant, but he really didn't have the intention. Besides, Mai was right beside him, so he could only listen with a smile.
Mai also understood what Chin was hinting at. In truth, she felt it would be good if Aiden took Chin as his master. Shiranui-ryū's ancient martial arts didn't suit Aiden very well.
But as Chin's hints got more and more direct, and Aiden still remained silent with a smile, she secretly felt delighted instead. The way she looked at Aiden was now filled with tenderness.
However, she still thought it would be better if Aiden apprenticed under Chin. She didn't think switching teachers was a bad thing at all, plenty of people had learned from one teacher and then apprenticed under another before.
After a round of subtle persuasion and seeing Aiden unmoved, Chin sighed. But he still couldn't give up. It was rare nowadays to meet a young man he genuinely liked.
Thinking that since he couldn't persuade him, he might as well send someone else to speak for him, he gave Athena Asamiya a meaningful look.
Athena froze for a moment, but quickly understood her master's intention.
As Chin's young disciple, she had always wanted a junior disciple, a younger brother or sister in the school. But Chin's standards were extremely high; ordinary people couldn't catch his eye at all.
So when he showed interest in taking a disciple, naturally she wouldn't oppose it. After Chin subtly expressed the idea of accepting Aiden, she actually began to look forward to it.
But seeing Aiden refuse to nod, she became troubled too. She couldn't just say something like "My master wants a new junior disciple, and I also want a junior brother"
… even though Aiden was much older than she was. Still, he was a young man, wasn't he? And besides, he looked good, much easier on the eyes than Sie Kensou.
But… how should she even start talking?
Her master was his compatriot, and they were drinking together, so they had topics to talk about. But she…
After thinking for a moment, Athena realized directly trying to persuade him on behalf of her master definitely wasn't appropriate. So she needed to start with another topic.
After thinking it over, she found a solution.
But she first spoke to Yuri beside her.
"Speaking of which, Yuri, after the KOF matches end, I'm going to hold a concert in Tokyo. I want to invite you all to come watch."
"I don't have any problem with that. The main thing is Onii-chan and the others. I don't know if they're willing to go." Yuri didn't think much about it and immediately nodded, then looked toward Aiden and the others.
Under Chin's approving gaze, Athena looked toward Aiden's group.
"What about you all?" she asked softly.
King was the first to speak. She shrugged. "I don't mind. But when the time comes, can I bring someone with me?"
"Of course! I'm the one hosting the concert, no matter how many people come, it's fine." Athena said with a smile. As a high school idol, popularity was the most important thing, more people was always better.
Then Athena looked toward Mai, but Mai hesitated slightly and looked toward Aiden. The clever woman had already guessed Athena's true target was Aiden.
"Aiden, do you want to go?"
"Me? Hmm…" Aiden began thinking. He had already guessed that Athena was trying to act as Chin's persuader, and using beauty as leverage at that.
But he couldn't deny that he genuinely did want to watch Athena's concert. It was an opportunity too good to miss.
So...
"Sure!" Aiden nodded.
"Then let's exchange contacts first. When the tournament ends, I'll call you all." Athena said, taking out her phone.
But among the four, only Aiden had a phone. Mai stayed at the dojo and used the dojo phone, so she never bought one. As for King and Yuri… both relied entirely on Mai for their daily expenses. So in the end, only Aiden and Athena exchanged numbers.
As she set Aiden's name in her contacts to "Little Junior Brother," Athena said, "Don't reject my call when I contact you, okay?"
She didn't say when she would call, meaning she expected Aiden to answer anytime.
Maybe after they finished the meal and parted, she would contact Aiden according to Chin's wishes.
At this moment, she was already imagining calling Aiden "little junior brother."
'Mhm, I must make sure she calls me 'senior sister' several more times in the future.' Athena thought.
———
After this little incident, Athena didn't just chat with Yuri anymore. She began frequently joining the conversation between Aiden and Chin Gentsai.
But everything she talked about were her own troubles, like fans harassing her, or people following her after concerts. She also hinted indirectly that she needed someone who could block these crazed fans for her.
'This kind of thing must be done by little junior brother.'
Athena thought to herself. Sie Kensou definitely couldn't do it, his brain was full of nothing but buns. Asking him to be a bodyguard would only make him annoyed, but offering him buns would absolutely make him happy.
But listening to Athena, Aiden didn't know how to respond. His time was extremely tight. Even doing intimate things with Shermie required squeezing out time early in the morning. How was he supposed to be a personal bodyguard?
But rejecting her outright didn't seem appropriate either, especially when Athena used such pitiful expressions while speaking. It really stirred a man's protective instincts, even though with Athena's abilities, she had nothing to fear.
The other women glanced at Aiden's hesitant expression and had similar expressions themselves.
Not unpleasant, but definitely not happy.
But they also knew how tight Aiden's schedule was, so they figured he probably wouldn't agree anyway.
Mai leaned closer and whispered into his ear, "Do you even have time for this?"
"If you split me in half, I'll definitely have time." Aiden whispered helplessly.
"Hmph, I wouldn't bear to do that." Mai huffed softly.
But just then, just as Athena looked toward Aiden with hope in her eyes, a phone suddenly rang.
The ringtone was similar enough that both Aiden and Athena took out their phones, but it wasn't either of theirs.
"Haha… it's mine."
Chin Gentsai pulled out a phone. The old man had no resistance toward such things; he was quite adaptable.
Then he answered the call.
"Hello? Ah! Terry! What made you free enough to call me?"
When Aiden heard this, he remained calm, but Mai froze.
The name "Terry" was one she couldn't be more familiar with. He had once trained under her grandfather, Shiranui Hanzo, along with someone named Andy.
Thinking of that person called Andy, Mai frowned slightly again. She really didn't want to hear anything about him right now.
While she was thinking this, Chin continued on the phone, "Andy's here too? Oh, you've already arrived in Japan? Then let's have dinner together tonight. I can introduce you to a few people, same age as you all, you'll have things to talk about. Yes? Good, then it's settled."
After hanging up, Chin smiled at Aiden's group.
"That was Terry, disciple of my old friend from Z Country. A very promising young man. I've already arranged for us all to have dinner tonight."
"That's not very convenient, is it?" King spoke up.
"There's nothing inconvenient about it." Chin waved his hand, then looked at Aiden. "He and his younger brother are about the same age as you. I think you'll have a lot to talk about."
"Then thank you, Senior." Aiden didn't refuse. Not only did he have a good impression of Terry, he used Terry often when playing games, but mostly, he wanted to bump into Andy.
It was a strange guilty pleasure.
Upon hearing Aiden agree, Mai whispered, "Aiden, can you not go?"
"It'd be rude not to accept a senior's invitation."
"That's… not the reason…"
"Relax, Mai. It's fine." Aiden held her hand under the table.
Once he held her hand, somehow Mai's previously anxious heart suddenly calmed down.
"Alright then." Mai nodded.