Chapter 9
He needed something good.
After waiting for the dinner party to end, the twins were placed back in their own room to sleep, Snek left the house to find something good to eat. Just as he slithered out the door, he found he wasn't the only one awake at this hour. At the side of the house were Hunter and Pac. "Why is mom doing this to me? I didn't ask for his help! I don't need it either. This is embarrassing!"
"I don't know what to tell you, I never heard mom speak of this either!"
Snek slithered over but made certain the brothers heard him. The last thing he would want to do is sneak up on a son of Garou. The brothers turned. "Snek?" questioned Hunter. "What are you doing up?"
"I was going to get something to eat. Feeling rather hungry. Any of you care to join me?"
The brothers were taken aback by his question. "Wait… you know?" demanded Pac.
Snek appeared confused. "Know what?"
"Nothing!" protested Hunter. "Never mind, did you need a lift or something?" Hunter questioned.
"I would appreciate one if you aren't too busy."
Hunter obliged to take Snek out, he told Pac he would go for the time being and perhaps blow off some steam. Despite not being part of the dinner conversation, Snek knew it had something to do with what was spoken at the table.
Hunter mastered his mother's esper powers, he was able to lift himself and Snek into the sky and search for something for him to eat. They went from city to city, yet it was oddly quiet tonight, that was until they reached Snek's old stomping grounds of City F. There was something lurking on the streets and it was big! "There!" Hunter called as he brought them down. They landed just behind the monster on the prowl. There were no one around, perhaps that is why it was moving about so slowly. "What the hell is that?" Hunter muttered.
"Dinner!" Snek said with a grin. He went into hunting mode and began to slither in behind it. The thing was slow moving, hardly took three steps by the time Snek was caught up.
"Where are those damn humans? How can anyone fear the walrus man if they don't see me?"
"Oh, they won't see you either way! Well, they will, and they won't!" The walrus man turned as Snek slithered up its body and coiled around it. He encased its whole body as best he could and began the constricting process. The monster struggled only to drop to the street and tried to scream but nothing more than a muffled sound came out past Snek's coils. In that time, Hunter came over and decided to have a heart to heart talk with him.
"Snek… I am at a loss right now. Mom and dad doesn't think I can hold my own as a hero," he explained.
He was listening as Hunter explained that as of tomorrow, he is going to be known as a disciple of Saitama, he never asked to be one, but his mother and father are insisting. Snek saw the frustration in his face and knew the kid was embarrassed about it. "Did you ask why they wanted you to join Saitama?" Snek questioned.
"Something about Amai Mask coming after me. Mom thinks that if he learns that I am with Saitama, he will back off. I don't need anyone's protection!"
"You need to understand kid, Amai Mask is out to prove something right now. As to what, I don't quite know or give a damn. He confronted me this morning about leaving the M Class and go into retirement."
Hunter was surprised. "Really? Why?"
"He thinks I am sending the wrong message to the people…" Snek turned as he torqued a little harder, the monster was struggling and continued to fight despite losing air. "He thinks that people shouldn't be looking up to monsters as heroes. Apparently I am more monster than a hero in his eyes…" Bones began to break as Snek tightened his hold on the beast. One more squeeze and then, Snek felt it. The body went limp, the heart gave out. "About damn time this thing gave in!" he unraveled and then began to eat. It was just what he needed, something thick and filling! But also a little too big!
Content now, Snek did as best he could to slither off to the side and out of the main road, but the monster was a lot heavier than he anticipated. "You mom and dad are worried. You know Amai Mask was the one who wanted your father dead right? After everything that happened, he was going to kill Garou without hesitation or mercy."
Hunter froze to the news. "Him?"
"Yeah, him. He was the one who urged Saitama and Silverfang to do it, but both refused. Because of that, Mask was going to do it himself. That's all I know though, I wasn't there when it went down. But Amai Mask has little to no capacity for mercy."
"But, why do mom and dad want me to learn from Saitama?" he asked.
Snek smirked. "Can I tell you a little something? When Saitama first became a hero, I hated his guts. I was responsible for welcoming him to the Heroes Association, and took offence to how he didn't pay attention to me or knew who the hell I was. I assumed he was an oblivious jackass! All he did was chew gun and it blew up in his face as I explained I also helped decide rankings! It was like he was in a whole other world when I was speaking to him. It pissed me off. I was later informed that he possessed this phenomenal power and would soon catch up and surpass me. I took matters into my own hands. So much so, I went to him to do a rookie crushing!"
Hunter began to snicker. "Yeah, I can only assume how you believe it went down. He punched me once and it was enough for me to believe he was the real deal! Still, I respected him from that point on knowing what he could do. Amai Mask has seen first hand what Saitama is capable of, what power he possesses. He wouldn't dare go after him, perhaps the idea is that if you are seen has his student, you are off limits."
"But… I don't want to be hiding behind Saitama; I want to stand up to Sweet Mask myself. I can handle him!"
"Yeah, but the main concern is, how far will Sweet Mask go to prove a point?" Snek fell silent for a moment. "Look kid, take it in stride, see what happens first and then make your next move. Don't blow this out of proportion either. You are only shadowing him. You are not dedicating your life to this, it's merely just an illusion for Mask. Besides, you may have some fun with it in the mean time. Who wouldn't want to piss off Amai Mask?"
He never thought about it before, the devious grin grew on Hunter's face. "Well, if you put it that way…"
"There we go. Now, I got to get back home, but I will need another lift. Damn maybe this was a little too big!"
