Chapter 9

(Third Person P.O.V.)

After the rogue Avatar incident a while ago, Akishisa was currently helping the Chemistry teacher Mr. Fuse on chemical delivery up to the storage unit.

Mr. Fuse clearly had a lot of pent-up anger in himself as when he was heading up with Akishisa with boxes in their hands, the older man complains out loud, "Damnit, I don't know what's going to be slowing down my day more: all the superpower-fighting crap going on recently that's affecting the rate of delivery for my classes' supplies, or the school's broken lift forcing us to do all this labor manually…" He even nearly trips on the top step since he can't really see what's in front of him.

Akishisa didn't really let his teacher's whining bother him all that much, the student knows Mr. Fuse is only really doing this to help save the school's reputation since the media swarmed in like hungry piranhas finally finding their prey.

He did notice how his teacher almost lost his footing up and down the stairs, so he tried to be careful. Unfortunately for him, lack of proper maintenance this month meant the tread he stepped on broke under his weight, making him indeed slip ALL the way down the flight of steps. To rub salt into his bruises and broken bones some more, the chemicals he was holding slipped and splashed all over him, causing tremendous agony to the student.

He was in too much pain to scream for help, so Akihisa tried to get up by grabbing what looked to be a metal box with something sticking out, his blurry vision from the fall making him not realize what it was: an old circuit breaker fuse box that he popped open on his way through his body's force, making it damaged, especially on the lever Akihisa chose to grab without seeing the exposed wires connected to it. With his chemicals having flammable icons on them for a good reason, a small explosion that set the student ablaze, now making him finally have the lung power to scream madly.

The Chemistry teacher heard his pleas 2 flights up as he didn't notice his student dragged behind, so he quickly smashed a nearby case to get the fire extinguisher and save Akihisa before then pulling out his phone and hitting the fire alarm to get 119 emergency services right here and now.

As the light fades, we cut to the following Saturday morning where Yuuko is now sitting in a train heading her way to the hospital to see her beau Akishisa. The ride was taking a while to get there, so she decides to vent silently by internally shouting, "What was it with that guy and always getting into trouble? First the museum, then the robotic scorpion attack, in my own dreams, and now this? What's next, he's going to cause a blackout all over Japan by running the wrong way?" She realizes after doing all that that she's making herself look crazy to the passengers around her, so she decides to calm down and take a few relaxing breaths.

Sure enough, her calmed state is rewarded handsomely when she sees the train finally stop as where she needs to get off, so she quickly gets to her feet and jets out, hoping to see the hospital based on her phone's GPS app. On her way though, she takes her eyes off her phone to hear a commotion going between a little girl and some older kids who are doing typical bully endeavors of insults, assault, and size comparison. Upon a closer look, Yuuko recognizes that little girl to be none other than Hazuki Shimada, Minami's younger sister.

While she didn't like getting into trouble herself without becoming Giganta, she knew this was a situation she could resolve easily with her regular size, so she ran towards to the bullies and exclaimed, "HEY, LEAVE HER ALONE!" Her stern look as well as pointing sharply where they should leave made the crude kids stop what they were doing and book it before their mommies were called to the scene.

Once they were gone, Yuuko got down to Hazuki's level and pulled out a nifty little handkerchief to wipe away the little girl's tears. "Hey, are you okay, did they hurt you badly?" the older girl said to comfort the young one. Hazuki stopped crying so she can reply, "Well I'm ok now, thank you." Yuuko then stated with a warm smile on her face, "By the way, I'm Yuuko, Akishisa's girlfriend, he told me all about you."

Saying this piqued the little girl's interest. "Oh, Baka Onii-chan's girlfriend? How much did he tell you about me?" Hazuki asked with a cute smile on her lips, her bruises no longer bothering her.

"Quite a lot of things really," Yuuko answered, "Tell me, are you also on your way to go see him at the hospital?"

The little girl nodded. Her head tilted though, so Yuuko continued on:

"I'm also going too, maybe you can come with me so we can go see him together?" Hazuki then clapped her hands a lot and jumped for glee. As such, the two went off to go meet Akishisa.

Elsewhere, over at The Sea of Japan area is where a large ship transporting wild animals was heading its way to the nation for a zoo's demand for such exotic creatures. One of them, a gorilla, proved to be secretly more intelligent than what the others were let on.

When no one was looking, he opened a secret hatch under his cage's floor to get a cobbled-together handheld device. He then boasted in his mind, "Good thing I, Gorilla Grodd, got that inferior but useful human into aiding me." The mastermind simian knew he needed muscle while on his way to his intended destination, so he concentrated on controlling the minds of the other gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans.

He only could dominate so many brains at once, so he made sure the only human he could lord over was the captain himself, especially since the man had some info on him that Grodd could take advantage of really well.

His plan was falling into motion, so he said to himself, "Perfect, I can sense it from here. The Speed Force, the very thing that made my kind superior to mere humans! With it, I can outdo any mind on the planet and retake the throne as King of Gorilla City!"

OMAKE (BONUS)~

While in his coma, Akishisa saw some strange visuals his mind could muster that seem to be spelling out something to the student himself: The void he was in was dark with a glowing yellow road shaped like a lightning bolt streaking ahead of him.

Behind him were a hoard of snarling apes, all seeming to be ready to tear him to pieces the moment he makes his first move. Just the sight of it made him want to not make sudden actions.

However, at the end of the golden road he could see a door held within the arms of a statue of Yuuko's Giganta. Clearly, this is his path to regaining consciousness, so he tossed his fears aside and ran for the door, making the apes start chasing him down. As he headed his way through the electrifying road, he could feel himself getting faster, and faster, and faster, and then…!

END OF OMAKE (BONUS). TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER~