Chapter 25
Over and over again, he watched.
For days on end without pause and without watching any other media.
Amai found other video shown of the six taking down the monster from every angle. He couldn't pull himself away from it. Each video showed a different angle, and a different face. He was confused as to why one wore a mask, another had Garou's hair style. But he couldn't ignore one thing.
They were human.
"How is this even possible? Had Alley told me she could turn them human… I would have taken them instantly." He said to himself. Over and over again, ever different angle and perspective, he saw them fight a dragon level threat with the greatest of ease, worthy of him no less. The one with Garou's hair punched a hole through the monster, the biggest out of them all brought it down and smashed the head in with great ease.
The six… were worthy to be called the children of Amai Mask.
He decided then and there that he would seek them out and see for himself as to what kind of people they are. However he wasn't holding out much hope. Garou raised them after all, no doubt infusing his own personality into these poor children who had no one to look up to but him. Yet he also wondered how they would respond to him.
He did abandon them after all, but they were infants, they couldn't possibly remember what he said about them or planned to do. No, these children will see him and instantly flock to his side, wanting to be with their real father.
It was only logical after all.
"I've decided…" he turned off his tablet, he went and showed and picked out a proper outfit to reintroduce himself. Amai dressed to the nines as he left his apartment and headed for City Z…
#
"DONE!"
Garou paused.
The two brothers have been sticking to their training, going up and down the stairs twice a day to get their endurance up. Today was day five, and they had just finished their second lap, yet Garou smirked. "How do you feel?" he asked.
Titan and Tempest were a little winded, however they were smiling. "Great! I don't feel as tired!" Tempest stated.
"Strange… neither do I." said Titan.
"This… is endurance." Garou explained. "You have built that up naturally in five days… five day!" Garou said with great enthusiasm on the days it took them to reach this point. "Which means this, you can get a lot stronger faster. But right now we are just scratching the surface. Two has become easy for now. Now we double it to four!" he announced.
There was no look of shock on the faces of the brothers, but a determined nod. "We start tomorrow. For now, take a rest… I do believe your sister is finishing that surprise project for you too…"
Their eyes widened. The six knew Alley was working on something special. They were banned from the backyard and were not permitted to peek under the massive black tarp that lingered there either. However they rushed back to the house when Alley came out. "Oh good, you two are here. I got the others in the back, it's all ready!" she said proudly.
Not even Garou knew what she was making, all she said was Melee requested it.
Curious no less, he followed them around back. The six were trembling with excitement and in their natural serpent forms. Alley cleared her voice and said. "Mom brought it to my attention that you guys like to read in the trees, but have since gotten a little too big for it…" she said.
Tempest nodded. "That hurt…" he muttered.
"So, mom asked me a favour… and I just finished it now. Lady and gents… this is your new manga tree!" The tarp was pulled off and away, before them stood a massive looking tree with branches thicker than metal beams! "This here is a hybrid of both nature and technology. When you meet Boros, you can thank him, this was his creation. The tree itself can hold over 40 tons of weight per branch. So Tempest, you should be fine." Alley explained.
There was no hesitation as Tempest and Titan quickly became serpent. They slithered up to the tree and began to climb. Tempest went near the top where he draped himself over various branches, there was no shaking, cracking or trembling of the limbs. "THANK YOU ALLEY!" Tempest cheered.
"It gets better!" she called. "Tap the side of the tree, you have a choice of either paperback mangas or digital mangas that can be pulled out of the side of the tree by tablet." She said. The other four were quick to slither up into their new hangout. They found comfy spots and began to read.
"Nicely done, so this is real and fake?" Garou asked.
"Yes, Boros found this on another planet that has hybrid life forms with technology. This tree is used mainly for lumber purposes, however considering the weight of the six as serpents, it would be perfect for a reading tree. It's close to the house and next to the hot springs so when winter hits, we can dome it up and the hot springs will keep it warm."
"You're an awesome older sister." He said and kissed her forehead.
"Thanks dad. I better head back to the lab and put all this away." Alley called for her drones as they gathered up the tools. Garou was about to go inside when Snek's kids came around back and saw the tree.
"Whoa…" whispered Pythan. "This is HUGE!"
"Wanna come up?" asked Yuki. "We got mangas!"
Bo and Conna was quick to climb up. Pythan and Angie however had trouble. It was then Garou noticed that since they weren't constrictors, climbing was more challenging for them. "We… can't…" muttered Angie. However a long, blue tail came out. Tempest coiled around Pythan before lifting him up and placing him on a lower branch, he did the same with Angie!
"Aaawww!" came the coo of Melee. "That's so sweet of him!"
"No one left behind…" Garou said and nodded his approval. The kids then went over the ideas of what Mangas to read. "Ooo I like this one, demon slayer!" said Yuuma.
"No, no read this one! Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi!" insisted Tempest.
"Are you crazy! No the better manga is My Hero Academia!" protested Rimuru.
"Solo levelling, hands down the best one!" stated Athena.
"Best let them hash it out, let's go inside." Garou whispered.
They ventured back into the house. Garou and Melee sighed aloud as they took a deep breath. "I never thought they would age so fast!" she said. "They grew faster than Snek's kids!"
"They still are growing, Titan and Tempest have taken training very seriously…"
"You haven't seen the others train?" she asked.
He paused to her comment. "They gave up on it!"
Melee shook her head to him. "Every morning at six am. Titan and Tempest wake up their siblings to have them run up and down the stairs with them." She explained. "Yuuma complained at first, but after three days, it became easy… he slowly understood what it meant to train and build up one's body. He hasn't said anything to you about it since he was too proud." The smirk came over her lips. "Sounds familiar."
"Yeah…" Garou muttered. He was like that too.
"I don't know if you have seen the news lately, but… people have noticed the six. Despite their last mall outing and haven't gone out from that moment on, people have been talking about them. They are starting to think they are related to Amai Mask." She whispered.
"People aren't that stupid," Garou chimed as he went to the fridge for a coke. "You know that, so do I…" he was about to open the bottle when a knock came to the door. "Speak of the devil…"
He approached the door and opened it.
There stood a rather humble looking Amai Mask.
"Where are they?" he asked gently and with great sincerity.
"Who?" Garou muttered bitterly. "There's no one in this house who you want to see, Alley is back at the Association so go talk to her if you want to do some hero work or whatever." He was about to close the door, when Amai stopped it.
"The six… my children!" he protested.
This made Garou growl. "You… don't have kids." He muttered. "If I remember correctly. You… wanted nothing to do with them, and would not acknowledge them as yours. You didn't come back to see them, to take them back now did you?"
Amai paused. He straightened his suit a little more before glaring at Garou. "Can't handle them?" he asked with a coy tone.
Garou bared his fangs. "Fuck off."
"What the hell is this?!" Melee demanded.
Amai peered beyond Garou, he smiled warmly to her and said. "I came to see my children."
Melee blew off his comment. "Last you told us, you don't have monster children. Nor would you be accepting these ones as your own."
"Times change… I've changed…"
"No, you just saw the video of them taking down a dragon level threat in human form." Garou said. "We all know you've seen it, anything that is remotely close to you, you naturally investigate yourself."
Amai glared at them. "I want to see them… if you do not permit me, then I will take Drax back home with me… permanently!"
Garou froze, he couldn't move from the anger swelling inside of him. "What kind of a dick move is that!" he demanded.
From the corner of his eye, he watched Melee leave the room. Amai however insisted it was within his right to. "Drax, is adopted under me, therefore him living his isn't something I HAVE to do. I can provide for him on my own terms but PERMIT him to remain here. Unless you want that to change?"
Garou was doing everything he could to prevent himself from beating the snot out of Sweet Mask, Melee returned just in time. "You have ten minutes. One is willing to speak on behalf of his siblings. You will not force them to do anything they do not wish, got it!" she warned.
Amai smiled, as if he won this battle. "Very well, led the way"
#
Melee stood at close distance. Amai was led around back to the new manga tree just made. She approached it along next to him before calling up. "He's here, and don't worry, so are your father and I!"
He dropped out of the tree with great finesse, and landed rather elegantly.
Tempest, in his full serpent form stood before Amai. It was then Melee realized, he was a giant compared to his blood father!
He towered over Amai who was five feet eleven inches. If she were to guess, he rivalled that of his uncles. He was perhaps an inch or two away from being seven feet tall! Tempest was also three times the size of Amai Mask. That was just his upper body!
However, Sweet Mask shook his head in disbelief. "No… I saw you… YOU were human!" he protested. "Turn back!"
"No," Tempest stated and crossed his arms. "I will not, say what you wish and be gone, we got some reading to do."
Amai stammered. "No, no, I saw you… you and your siblings… you were all human! You… you would be worthy to being called my children!"
"Are you shitting me…" Garou muttered to Melee.
"Looks are everything," she whispered back.
Tempest however showed no ounce of fear to Amai Mask. As a child, he trembled at the sight of him, now… there was a proud and commanding aura about him. "We weren't born human, Amai. We were born like this, we are naturally like this…"
He appeared devastated. But then, he froze. "Wait… you just called me Amai! I'm your father!" he protested.
Tempest glared at him, worthy of Sweet Mask himself. "Not to us." He said in a cold and bitter tone. His arm then raised as he pointed to Garou. "Our father, is over there next to our mother. You… where were you when we were growing up? We heard you say you wanted to kill us, the first day we opened our eyes and could hear the world, and the voice you possessed was unworthy and unwanted in a child's ear!"
"Whoa…" Garou whispered.
"Be that as it may, it doesn't matter. You all came from me! You are my children and you better befit that image, none of this… monster business here. You need to turn human and be proud of the image you are casting to the world being my children!"
"Shut the hell up." Chimed in Yuuma. "We don't give two shits about your so called image old man!"
"Who dares to say that!"
"I did, the name is Yuuma to you!"
"Yuuma? What the hell kind of name did you give my children!" Amai demanded as he turned to yell at Garou.
He merely shrugged. "I didn't," he said plainly. "They picked their own names." Then he smirked. "ROLL CALL!"
"Tempest"
"Titan!"
"Yuki!"
"Yuuma, you old fart"
"Rimuru"
"Athena!"
He shook his head to it all, Amai couldn't believe his ears let alone the names the children gave themselves. "No, no, the one daughter… should have been named Amelia!"
"Called it," Garou whispered to Melee.
"It's Athena" Tempest said defiantly. "Is this all you wanted to talk about? Are we done here?" he demanded.
"If you're done talking to him you can go back to your tree" Melee said gently.
"Thank you mom" he gave a gentle bow to her before slithering back up and re-joining his siblings.
Amai… was trembling with rage.
He turned sharply on his heels before getting into the face of Garou. "You… ruined them… they are nothing like me… how could you not tell them I was their father! I should be respected more than this!"
Garou only smirked. "Then next time, be a father. The kids are smart enough to know what they want, they know who they wish to call dad, and you ain't it." He said, but the smile vanished. "Are you done here?"
"This… isn't over." He warned.
With that, Amai stormed off. Garou shook his head to it all. "We can't win with that jackass, can we?"
Melee sighed. One moment, Amai Mask is a friend, next, he's the same asshole that wants them dead or at least held to his standards of what a hero is. But Garou was right, no matter what. They can't win. "Mom? Dad?"
They turned to see Titan standing before them, next thing either one knew, they were pulled into his arms for a hug. "Thank you" he whispered.
"Why are you thanking us for?" Melee asked.
"You cared about us since day one… Dad… I know you didn't really want us, we all know, but… still you have been a father even though we aren't yours."
Garou pulled out of the hug and found the others had come out of the tree. They heard everything Titan said and were nodding their heads in agreement. "Even thought we were young dad… he heard everything you said about us… you resented us for a little while, but… we understood why."
Melee covered her mouth in shock. Garou's jaw slacked a little in surprise too, but he regained his composure and sighed with embarrassment. "I am sorry I said that… I didn't… I didn't mean for it to come across the way it did… You were just kids… I was upset that your father didn't want you, and I didn't want the responsibility to raise you since I didn't know if you would have accepted me…" he explained.
"We do, a lot more than him" said Yuuma. "You let us be us, HE wants us to act a certain way and carry ourselves like he does. Ppfh! Like that's happening"
Garou smirked.
"Looks like we're stuck with you for good huh? In that case, you kid want to be stronger, get stronger, then I will help you. You saw him just now, he didn't threaten you once!"
"That's because you're here with mom," said Yuki. "But you are right dad, we have to work hard to get what we desire. From this moment on, we're going to train as you said. We have been doing some of Tempest and Titan's workout and I will admit, as hard as it was… I do feel I have become better for it."
Garou smirked. "Well rest up today, for tomorrow, the real fun begins!"