Chapter 17

"Are you insane!?"

He smiled to her tone. "My sister asked me the same thing… I think I am still all there though… but what do you think?"

Knuckle decided to take a chance. He was at the association by himself when he saw Fubuki not too far from him. He approached with caution and introduced himself to her. "Miss Fubuki, may I have a moment of your time?"

She was rather stunned. Despite being around for a while, it was the first time they had really interacted with each other. She gave a questionable nod before Knuckle began guiding her to one of the smaller dining areas. Alley had set up little mini sections for heroes to eat at if they wanted to have some more privacy, here Knuckle was able to speak with Fubuki with little interruption. When they sat down, she appeared rather curious. "Knuckle Brawler… Melee's brother, correct?" she asked.

"In the alien slime!" he said proudly.

"What?"

"It's nothing," he insisted. "Uh… so… what I wanted to ask you… is there a way for me to… ask out your sister?"

She froze, her face nearly drained of color as she stared at Knuckle oddly. "Ask out Tatsu!?" she demanded. "Are you insane!"

He laughed since his sister said the same thing, in fact Bun-Bun too! Knuckle shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think I am, but I would like to get to know her. I know she is a very strong, independent woman, and I like that in a gal! I hate the kind that try to depend on you for every little thing, pain the ass and I dated too many of those chicks. But Tatsumaki… she's a woman who can take care of herself. I like that" he said and grinned.

Fubuki shook her head to it all. "NO ONE has ever dared to ask out my sister… NO ONE. She's stubborn, can be pig headed and is too confident in her own power…"

"Yeah but, I can understand her way of thinking and why she is. Tatsumaki is a very strong woman, but I also believe that's just a front too. Despite her power, she has to be strong, she has to appear strong to everyone so no one messes with her… or with you." He explained.

Fubuki paused. "Wait, how on earth did you get to that conclusion?" she demanded.

Knuckle shrugged. "I may look like a total meathead, but you got to understand, my family, we were fighting monsters and bad guys LONG before the Heroes association came and went. I was a rather damn good detective despite my boorish nature and size. I ran into her only once before, I tried to make it look like I accidently ran into her and offered to take her out to dinner for the incident… needless to say it didn't work."

She nodded. "My sister is difficult to get along with to say the least, we still have our spats and she is still far stronger than me…"

Knuckle nodded and sighed. "So no suggestions huh?"

She paused but then smiled. "I wouldn't say that… I do have an idea, but I don't know if you would be into it."

Knuckle paused. "I'm listening…"

#

In the main cafeteria.

"Mmm, those chief get better and better!" Suiryu was helping himself to another feast. He has found himself no longer able to hunt down animal looking monsters, his disposition made that clear, so for the time being, he will stick with the cafeteria food at the association to keep his hunger at bay. So far, Alley has not objected to it. "Still got no clue how I am feeding her like this… oh well!" he shrugged it off and went back to his meal.

He was about to start his fourth course when he heard. "There you are!"

He froze, as he was about to tear into a massive steak. A voice he had not heard in a long while. However, he was nervous to it. But… Why would she be here?! Slowly, he turned his head far enough, instantly he looked forward again, scared to death. "Shit it is her!" he muttered.

"Suiryu!" She came from the side and made certain he saw her. "You aren't even going to look at me? That embarrassed huh?" she said and giggled.

"Lin… why… how did you get in here!?" he demanded.

"Boyfriend!" she said and smiled.

He froze once more. "Boyfriend?! I didn't approve of any boyfriend for you! We had an agreement!" he protested.

Her arms crossed. "Oh really? When where you going to tell me about your wife and soon to be child?!" she demanded.

Heroes began to pause and watch on as the two argue, many appeared worried. "Is… he cheating on Alley!?" one asked.

"He's not THAT stupid." Said another.

Lin however heard everything too, she turned and glared at the masses. "HE'S MY OLDER BROTHER!" She snapped at them.

Instantly the crowd broke up and went about their business. However Suiryu heard a familiar chuckle. To his right he saw Max laughing it up! "Max…" he growled.

"Sorry, couldn't resist!"

Lin-Lin took a seat next to Suiryu. She her smile grew as she stared at his odd state. "I never though you would let yourself go like this…" she joked.

"Not funny," he muttered and tried to get back to his meal. Yet before he did, he paused as he turned and glared at Max. "Wait… boyfriend… you mean…. YOU'RE DATING MY SISTER?!"

Max nodded. "We have been going out a few times a week, probably why you don't see me at the house often anymore. Lin and I go on walks, we train, I've been teaching her how to fend off monsters. She's getting stronger each day too!"

"Since when!?" he demanded as he turned to Lin.

"Well…" she said as her voice trailed off. "We were sort of seeing each other after the super fight when he and I faced each other," she explained. "He was the first male opponent I had that didn't hold back. I appreciated that since all the others went easy on me since I was a girl. He made me see the faults in my technique and showed me I had much to improve upon." She explained. "We fell out of contact after the last super fight turned him into what he is now. We just reconnected a short while ago. I am still learning a lot from him and intend to do so. But also. Max is very sweet, he makes me laugh and we have a great time together…"

Suiryu's glare turned to Max. "When were you going to tell me?" he demanded.

"I was going to after I learned she was your sister! You kept falling asleep, but also, I didn't know you two were related."

Suiryu sighed, but his stomach was grumbling. "Talk later, I got to eat" he muttered and went back to his meal.

He ate a little more disgruntledly than before, but his glare was on Max the whole time.

"Hey Suiryu!"

He paused as Hunter came into the cafeteria with Jag. "You eating well for sis too?"

"Not now…" he muttered between mouthfuls.

Hunter paused, he turned to Max who was now shying away. But then he saw the new face at the table. Her eyes were fixed on him oddly. "Wait… are you the son of Garou?!" she asked.

"One of many to say the least," Hunter announced proudly, yet paused. "Don't think I don't notice that death glare you're giving, Suiryu. You need to calm down or you are going to rally up sis again!"

Lin paused. "So… your sister… is in him?" she asked oddly.

"Yep" Hunter said as he took a seat.

"Apparently there are creatures with great power, when they obtain a mate they hoard them into themselves to ensure no other male can get to them. Monster females are exceptionally rare." Said Jag.

"You've been paying attention too much" Hunter snickered.

"Monster females?" muttered Lin.

"Think about it, even I noticed it too. There are hardly ANY female monsters. I haven't even run into one to be honest." Hunter said, he suddenly crossed his arms and appeared deep in thought. "Huh, that may explain why dad wasn't upset when Alley and Suiryu got together…"

Suiryu paused from his meal, he remembered all to well how he and Alley got to be together. Max even shied away from the subject. "Not exactly a proud moment for either one of us…" Max said offhandedly.

"Oh? What happened?" Lin-Lin asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Suiryu.

"I will." Hunter announced. "When my sister began to… mature in a sense. Male monsters took notice right away. It didn't affect the family since one. Most guys were family. Second, Alley's scent only appealed to those who were strong. Genus said it was a monster trait that strong scents attract strong males to the female…"

"Shut up!" Suiryu snapped. "Look, we know what happened, can we just drop it right now!"

The table froze. "Suiryu…" whispered Lin.

He was embarrassed. "I never told you this because it wasn't something I full agreed with. I love Alley, don't get me wrong, but how this all came about… it's still uncomfortable. I wasn't myself, I was brash and was willing to do whatever it took to obtain her… I went toe to toe with Max, forcing him to push beyond his limits. His monster form changed as did mine because of it."

She turned to Max who nodded. "It's true. We… we are not proud of it. Not to mention it made Alley force herself to choose between the two of us, I cared for Alley, but not to the extent that Suiryu does. You at lease regained control of yourself Suiryu. It took you and Alley being together for me to come to my senses."

He nodded, but still, the notion didn't sit well with him. "Suiryu… is this why you didn't tell me anything?" Lin asked. Her hand gently crept over to brace on to his left. He gently squeezed it and nodded.

"I lost control of myself… when has that happened to me?" he asked.

"Oh a few times, I know that. Especially when you wanted to try drunken fist combat!" she laughed.

"Drunken fist?" Hunter asked with great curiosity.

"Pretty much, you fight drunk!" she explained and snickered. "Your movements become wild and unpredictable. But also in doing this, your body isn't at its fullest potential. Suiryu tried this method for a year… My God, you vowed to never drink again after! You went to void fist combat soon after."

He gave a small smile to it all, she was right. "But what was with this sour look you gave Max? I noticed it." Said Jag.

The smile quickly vanished. "He's dating my sister!" he protested.

"Yeah, so?" Hunter asked with his arms crossed. "You enveloped mine. Going to have a kid with her. You don't see me or my other brothers breathing down your neck now do you?"

Suiryu paused to the notion. He was being foolish over something so trivial. Not to mention, Max is a dear friend. He wouldn't dare harm Lin-Lin.

He began to smile once more, before he broke into laughter. "You're right as always Hunter! I'm being silly. Perhaps it's hormones!"

"Perhaps it is. Now, you know if ANYONE harms your sister, we got your back… you are my brother in law after all are you not?" Hunter asked and gave a wink. "Son in law of Garou… not as catchy, but could still strike fear into the hearts of many!"

With that Hunter got up. "Let's go Jag, we got to train some more. I am meeting your family soon aren't I? I got to be in top shape. Let's head to the fake Association to spar!"

"Sure, but please don't challenge any of them to battle, they will accept without hesitation." Jag pleaded as the left the cafeteria.

"Son in law of Garou… I like the ring of that."

Max however suddenly began to look quite nervous…