Lunamugetsu:I do not own Toriko
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Previously:
I'm going to make another call. How about you go to the harbor first. I'll follow you right after," she said
"You sure," Toriko asked
"Don't worry, I won't be long," Kimiko said as she ushered Toriko out of the bar.
"Who are you calling?" Moriji asked as Kimiko held her phone to her ear.
"Hello, Papa"
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On a large ship, Toriko and Kimiko stood in a room full of Bishokuya watching the man who had hired them, speak.
"Gentlemen, You've done well assembling here. First I'd like to thank you for your bravery and spirit. Now then, without delay, I'll tell you where we'll be heading." Colonel Makkoi said, "The Century Soup is in the intense cold continent where everything is frozen, Ice Hell."
The entire room went into uproar as the Bishokuyas jumped out of their seats to protest. Toriko watched as some of them started to yell in fear of the place, he then looked at Kimiko who wasn't fazed by the news.
What is she thinking? He thought as she remained emotionless from the screaming.
"Long ago, when there was no cold storage and selective breeding technologies the old gourmets. They were said to have gone to a legendary continent to gather ways to store their Full Course Ingredients, that continent is Ice Hell. It's also known as the Gourmet Refrigerator." Makkoi said unfazed from the Bishokuyas screams of protest. "The news that the ice continent is breaking apart came a few days ago. The cause of that is because of a large eruption of Methane Hydrate. Which you may know as Burning Ice. The location is the towering giant ice mountain at the center of the continent. It seems underground around the area the Methane Hydrate has bursted out of the ground and broke apart the ice. It is a place that is said to have been in ancient times where a multitude of gourmets stored their full courses. The dazzling extravagant ingredients sleepin the ice, like those pioneers are displaying their own work, they shine with beauty. It is also known as the Gourmet Show Window. When that ice is thawed something hidden will flow out, and that is the Century Soup. No matter what we must find it,. The once in a century legendary soup!." the Bishokuyas stood still as the Colonel Makkoi then smiled, "So to make sure that you're prepared for the weather, I have Rider Suits for all of you. So deliver the soup to me and you will be paid 10 billion!" the people cheered as they were handed their Rider Suits from the men that were dressed in tuxedos, and then proceeded to change.
Kimiko stared at the package containing her Rider Suit and then looked at Toriko who ripped his suit of the package.
"Toriko-san, I'm going to go change in the bathroom."
"Sure, I'll wait for you on the deck." Toriko nodded as he went to take off his shirt and change.
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Kimiko sighed as she locked the door in the bathroom and then proceeded to lean against the door.
Papa was right, she thought as she started to remember her phone call
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"So you're going to look for the Century Soup." there was a slight pause, "Then you must be heading towards Ice Hell."
"You know about it, Papa?"
"That place is dangerous Kimiko, are you sure you want to go there?"
"Don't worry, Papa. I'm going with Toriko-san, not to mention there are a bunch of other Bishokuya here. I'll be fine."
"You can't fault a father for worrying, the temperature over there is beyond freezing. Plus we both know how the cells react when you're under stress."
"You worry too much, I already talked to Miketsukami-kun, I'll be fine."
"..."
"Papa?"
"Just be careful."
" It's going to be okay, I'm an adult now."
"I know."
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Papa, you don't have to worry about the cells.
Kimiko looked into the mirror analyzing her appearance. Looking at the small amount of makeup that was applied to her face, her hair that was stylized in a fancy bun.
After all, it's not the cells you should be worried about.
She smoothed out her purple dress, smiling at how pretty it looked. She played with the purple bow that was at the back of her dress.
The most dangerous thing that could hurt me.
She smiled as she saw herself in the mirror, she couldn't even remember the last time she got dressed up like this. Her smile stretching as she looked at her appearance.
HOW COULD ANYONE LIKE YOUR UGLY FACE!
YOU DON'T DESERVE ANYTHING PRETTY!
YOU'RE DISGUSTING!
CRACK!
Kimiko trembled as she removed her hand from the cracked mirror. Her eyes widened as she saw blood coming from her knuckles. She took deep breaths as she cradled her injured hand to her chest while looking at the broken pieces of glass. Her image becoming distorted among the many pieces. She leaned against the door gently lowering herself down as she tried to calm her breathing.
Is me.
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Toriko stood on the deck of the ship in a black skin tight suit that covered him from the neck down.
"Man that dude must be loaded, I heard that these suits cost 7 million a peace." He muttered.
"Goes to show how he's prepared for this, not to mention his information about Ice Hell," Toriko jumped and then turned around to see Kimiko in her suit with her backpack hanging on her right shoulder.
"Even so, it seems there isn't a suit made for a horse," Kimiko looked towards the source of the voice and recognized it belonged to the man that saw at the bar, "Hello, Toriko-san," he greeted from atop of his horse. "I am a member of the Gourmet Knights. My name is Takimaru."
Is it safe for a horse to even be here? Kimiko thought
"Gourmet Knights, eh." Toriko said and then saw Kimiko's confused look, "They're a devoted band of Bishokuyas dedicated to the teaching of the happiness of Gourmet Doctrine. They are only a few of them but they got supremely strong hearts. It's surprising to see a young man like you with them."
"That's because I'm a new member."
"I see, how's Ai doing."
"W-Well, leader is doing great. I was surprised when I heard I would meet you, Toriko-san."
"Well-" Toriko was cut-off as a breeze brought a specific scent to his nose. He looked over at Kimiko who wasn't showing anything out of the ordinary.
"Kimiko-" Before he could finish, an alarm on the boat rang making everyone on deck look around to see something moving in the water.
"What is that?" Kimiko asked as she looked at the ocean.
"It's a wild beast!" Takimaru exclaimed as he tried to calm down his horse. Kimiko went over to grab the rails on the side of the boat and saw gigantic sharks that were heading towards them.
"It's a school of sharks!" Her eyes widened as she saw that the sharks had legs and were climbing aboard
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GRAND SHARKS (CAPTURE LEVEL 6)
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"These Grand Sharks should do just fine." Toriko started to drool, "They'll make delicious sashimi. Hey Kimiko, can you cook this?"
"Uh, yeah." Kimiko said as she watched the beast start to get ready to take a bit out of Toriko.
"I'm counting on you!" He then faced the shark and dealt a punch towards its abdomen sending it back. Looking closer, Kimiko saw that he hadn't had punched it with his fist at all, but with his index finger. "Knocking Complete."
"Performing Knocking with just a finger." Takimaru looked over at the edge of the boat to see that the rest of the Grand Sharks were climbing onboard. A crowd of yells brought Takimaru to see that the rest of the Bishokuyas that were on board were now charging at the beasts. One man brought his sledgehammer towards a beast's head while others brought their guns or swords. He then watched as a hairy troll threw an axe at one of them only for it to bounce off harmlessly and provoked the shark to chase after him.
"So noisy."
"Vice Boss!" Kimiko looked over at the man who was wearing a white suit over his Rider Suit. He gripped his sword, got into position, and then struck.
"Iai San Mai Oroshi" she heard him say and her eyes widened as she saw that the shark had now been fillet into three pieces.
"Vice Boss!" one of his subordinates said
"Clean it up. I'll be resting in the cabin."
"Yes, sir!" another one of his subordinates as they watched him walk away.
I didn't even see him draw his sword, Kimiko thought as the subordinates were cleaning up the mess.
"Sennuki Shot!" Kimiko looked over at Takimaru to see that all of the Grand Sharks were all on the ground with their bodies twisted.
"He separated the bones and joints. What a technique." Toriko said
"So that's what he did." Toriko jumped as he saw that Kimiko was right next to him. "So that's where you were Kimiko. I guess none of the Grand Sharks noticed you, huh?" he patted her head.
"Yeah," she sighed, "But with all of this commotion, do you think we'll be able to get to the continent safely?"
"The trip's just starting," Toriko said, "By the way, Kimiko."
"Yeah?"
"Why do I smell blood on you?"
"... huh?" she gave him a confused look
"Before the Grand Sharks came aboard, I smelled blood. Coming from your direction." He watched as she flinched at his sentence and then started to play with her hands.
"I guess, I can't keep anything from you Toriko-san," Kimiko sighed and then looked up at him. "I actually cut myself on the broken mirror in the bathroom." She showed him her injured hand, "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. My cells have already started to heal them, I guess I didn't do a good job in cleaning my hands, if you can still smell the blood."
Toriko remained silent as he held her right hand. There was light scarring over where the faint scent of blood was coming from. He observed that her scars were starting to fade and were starting to look like her hand was never injured in the first place.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." Toriko smiled and then patted her head.
"It's fine, just make sure that you take care of yourself." He looked at her and sighed, "Kimiko I car-" he was cut off as a large serpentine creature came out of the water, roared and then proceeded to get on the boat.
"That was weird, " Kimiko said as she watched the other Bishokuya try to take out the beast. "Anyway, what were you going to say, Toriko-san."
"Don't worry, it wasn't anything important." Toriko sighed
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"Looks like we'll be reaching our destination soon," Toriko looked at the large floating chunks of ice that they were passing.
"No kidding, I can feel it," Kimiko rubbed her hands together, while occasionally breathing on them.
"Yeah, well it's not called Ice Hell for nothing," Toriko then looked at Kimiko and then blinked tilted his head in confusion and then blinked again.
"Toriko-san, you okay?" Kimiko asked as Toriko continued to stare at her.
"Kimiko, your hair's white." Toriko pointed
"Huh?" she blinked and then pulled her hair in front of her eyes, "Oh, my winter coat must be coming in."
"Your what?" Toriko blinked as he looked at the white locks of hair she was currently smoothing out.
"Foxes that live in cold regions gain a winter coat when the weather turns chilly. We lose most of our body heat through the top of our heads, so basically my hair is changing so that I could keep warm and maintain my internal body temperature." She explained
"Really, I thought you could only copy other animals abilities."
"It's not that simple, the Shadow Fox must have had ways to survive in the Gourmet World than just copying the other beasts there. There must have been times when the Shadow Fox was isolated and had to adapt on their own." Kimiko paused, as Toriko placed his hand on top of her head. "Toriko-san?"
"Wow, your head is pretty warm now. This winter coat is pretty handy.," Toriko smiled and then looked at Kimiko who was silent.
"Kimiko?" she looked up at him and then gave a small smile.
"Is it really? I hope it's not weird" Toriko only grinned and laughed
"Kimiko, Sani's hair is white, blue, green, and pink. Your hair turning white is not even close to weird." Kimiko smiled and then giggled
"I suppose you're right," Kimiko said as a cold breeze blew over the ship.
"Cold, why can't I have that winter coat that you have!" Toriko complained as he rubbed his hands together making Kimiko giggle.
This is bad, how could I have thought. No, Toriko-san is different than, Kimiko looked over at Toriko who was still rubbing his hands together, I shouldn't let that bother me now.
"Hey, Kimiko, I think I see it," Toriko said bringing Kimiko out of her thoughts, "The ice continent, Ice Hell." Kimiko looked over at where he was looking and saw a land mass made out of purely ice. She gulped as she saw that the land made of ice was taller than any mountain that she had ever seen.
"That's Ice Hell?"
"It's incredible, Are we going over it?" another passenger said
"Of course, gentlemen, hope you have good food luck." The colonel said
"Everyone look up!" Takimaru exclaimed. Kimiko looked up to see that a piece of ice from the continent had broken off and was falling towards them.
"What do we do!" A person said as others tried shooting it with their guns, but only panicked as it had no effect.
"Vice boss!" Kimiko looked over at the man in the tuxedo.
"It's impossible, it's too big." he said as he gripped his sword
"Toriko-san!" Kimiko exclaimed only for Toriko to pat her on the head.
"Don't lose your head. Everyone, get back!" Toriko walked to the bow of the ship and took a deep breath, surprising everyone.
"Toriko-san!" Takimaru exclaimed
"What is he trying to do?," the man in the white tuxedo asked
Toriko grinned and then swung his arm, "FLYING KNIFE!" the falling piece of ice now had a cut in it, "FLYING FORK!" Kimiko's eyes widened as the ice started to crack even more, "Still needs one more push, huh?" Toriko clenched his fist, " 5 REN KUGI PUNCH!" Everyone shouted in surprise as the ice started to shatter into tiny pieces when it came into contact with Toriko's fist.
"He broke it into clumps of ice!"
"Amazing"
"Flying Knife, and Flying Fork. I expected to power up even more at Gourmet Town, but I guess you have to expect it wouldn't be possible for this hunk of ice. Still the BB Corn was tougher!"
"Just how tough was the BB Corn," Kimiko muttered as the ice fell down around them.
"Amazing, as expected of Toriko-san."
"Astonishing," The man in the white tux said as he watched the woman with white hair walk up to the blue haired man. "Toriko, eh? I think for the people I'll be working with. There's be no man more memorable."
No, it's also possible that it will end up as a struggle for the soup in the end. Do I need to prepare to fight him, he thought as he watched the Gourmet King laugh and pat the woman on top of her head. Wait, did she have white hair before?
"Now then," The colonel said getting everyone's attention, "From here a helicopter will be transporting you gentlemen to nearby the summit of the ice shelf. After that you'll be ascending on your own power. Since a helicopter or a plane can't land on Ice Hell. But you should know that our number of people will get considerably smaller. There's only one helicopter, though. If you divide into two camps there'll be plenty of room to ride. Get ready, right away!"
"I'll go in the later group! I'll go once I'm ready by eating till I'm full!" a large man said
"Okay, Kimiko we'll go in the first camp."
"Okay, Toriko-san," Kimiko nodded
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"It's strange," Kimiko said getting Toriko's attention as they were seated in the helicopter.
"What's strange?"
"For a wealthy person like Colonel-san to be here. I mean, it's such a dangerous place and all." she pondered
"He didn't come."
"Huh?"
"All of those black suits that were around him. They're Gourmet SP. They're made up only of the world's most select schools of martial war, the elite in personal bodyguarding."
"That still doesn't explain why you said he didn't come." She replied
"It's like I said, he didn't come." He then looked over at Kimiko who looked liked she was contemplating about something. "Something wrong?"
"Not really, I think that Miketsukami-kun mentioned something about them to me before." Kimiko answered
"Really?" Toriko repeated, "By the way Kimiko, I've been wondering. Back at the lodge, who were you making a call to?"
"Oh, I was talking to father." She said
"Really? What'd you tell him?"
"I just wanted to ask about when he brought me to the Heavy Lodge." She answered
"Oh yeah, did he answer."
"Yeah, he said it was right around the time I met Miketsukami-kun," Toriko blinked at her answer
"Wait, how long have you known him?"
"Well, I've known Miketsukami-kun ever since I was about seven." Kimiko said as she tried to fix her hair.
"Really? So has he always been like that?" he asked
"Like what?"
"You know, kneeling whenever you come by shouting about how he's a disgrace that he didn't notice something so tiny." Kimiko sighed at his explanation.
"No, we just used to play together." she explained
"Then why does he act like he's so obsessed with you. Did you save his life or something?"
"No way, I never did anything like that. I'm not really sure what I did to make him act so loyal, besides I don't really mind the way on how he acts."
"So has he always been with you? But he didn't know about you getting sick." Toriko thought about when Miketsukami was asking for Kimiko to kill him for him not knowing that she was sick.
"That's my fault, actually." Kimiko said as she scratched her cheek in embarrassment, "I didn't really have the heart to tell him that I was dying."
"That's understandable. I'd hate to imagine how he'd react." Toriko shivered at the thought.
"Toriko-san, Miketsukami-kun isn't that bad" Kimiko pouted Toriko causing him to grin and then pat her head.
"No, Miketsukami is a lot worse," Toriko replied as he continued to pat her head
"First group, time for you to depart!" one of the suits opened the door of the helicopter making everyone leave.
While the Bishokuyas left one by one. One of them watched as Toriko and Kimiko exit the helicopter.
Did he say Miketsukami? The person thought as they followed the rest of the group out.
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"Understood, I will make preparations in advance," said the silver haired man before he hung up his phone.
"Kimiko-sama, why would you," he gripped his phone tight.
"What's wrong, Miketsukami? Upset that our boss is going on another trip?" Kakashi asked
"The trip is fine, it's the location that's making me upset." Miketsukami said
"Oh, and why's that?" Watanuki asked
"For Kimiko-sama, the cold brings bad memories."
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Lunamugetsu: I have my final exams next week, and I'm procrastinating on studying. I really need to study. Well wish me luck. I hope you like this chapter, tell me what you think. PLEASE REVIEW!