Chapter 39

" y-you're...!"tommyrod said

" you're taken your ingredient procurement went too far" teppei said as he pointed his finger at tommyrod " you're under arrest bishokukai"

" Saiseiya Teppei" tommyrod said

"W-what the hell?" Barrygamon said

"S-Saiseiya?" Match said

" teppei-kun " aiko said as she looked at teppei

"It was you?!" Tommyrod said as he realized something as Teppei wasn't listening." say,something Dammit!"

" The more one speaks, the less weight one words holds " Teppei said " until they become light and fluffy as the air itself"

" What the hell do you want Saiseiya?" Tommyrod said " did somebody give you a request to capture us or something?!"

" I can't deny that rounding up folks Who trade and capture ingredients illegally is also my job" Teppei said " But I didn't come here for you, however if you're going to get in my way..." As he stared at tommyrod giving a serious expression " I don't mind capturing you Bishokukai Sous chef tommyrod!"

" this is bad he's lost his Cool!" Bogey said

" The blood of that Knocking master jirou runs through this guy Teppei's veins " Barrygamon said " Even though he's a saiseiya, he's a preeminently a powerful man"

"Sous chef!" Bogey exclaimed

' Teppei-kun be careful!' Aiko though as she looked at her friend

"Just try me asshole!" Tommyrod exclaimed " Who the fuck did you say you're gonna capture?!"as tommyrod was going to hit Teppei as Teppei got in a stance.

" IMPACT KNOCKING! MEDIUM!" Teppei said as he struck tommyrod as tommyrod froze for a second as he managed to tighten his fist to try and hit Teppei. " huh? You sure have a lot of nerve ganglions are those for the insects?" As he swiftly dodged Tommyrod's attack " I'll have to make it reach further into your body"as he hit Tommyrod's arm " WELL DONE!" As he quickly jabbed into different parts of Tommyrod's chest as tommyrod couldn't move.

" Tommy-Sama!" Bogey exclaimed

" Sous chef!" Barrygamon said

" Yeah! Go Teppei-kun!" Aiko cheered at her friend.

"If you weren't already wounded" Teppei said "I wouldn't have had the luxury of using knocking on you. But even so to bring the bishokukai Sous chef tommyrod to this condition that toriko sure is something "

" I...can't...move..." Tommyrod said " it can't be...I-I've had knocking done to me?...there's no choice at this point " as he released a giant hybrid insect

" Wh-What the hell is that?!" Teppei said

" how the hell should I know?!"Aiko exclaimed

"H-He really hatched it!" Barrygamon said

"The hybrid egg that was created from cross breeding tens of ferocious insects " bogey said " it's the hybrid beast that tommy-Sama was incubating in his body the entire time!"

" Damn...he pretty much took all of my stamina with him..." Tommyrod said as he was now sickly pale with white hair and his body frail and weak. "Such a problem child...now rampage to your Hearts content" as he passed out.

" Hey! Ai-chan! This reminds me of the time that we were faced with that Scorpion mantis a few years back" Teppei said as he looked at the bug as Aiko looked at it.

" yeah but that's different! This is a huge hybrid bug problem here!" Aiko exclaimed ' I hate bugs! I hate them!' She though as she mentally freaked out.

As the bug attacked releasing a small breath attack as Teppei and Aiko dodged it. As they looked at a bit of it hit match's leg.

" it exhales sub zero air" Teppei said " what kind of organism is this?"

" forget trying to figure it out lets just get rid of this bug!" Aiko exclaimed as Teppei lightly chuckled

" You still have a fear for giant bugs don't you? Tell me do you still dislike swamps? Or heights when you get on a plane?" Teppei said as Aiko pouted " it's still cute Ai-chan"

" hey! less talky more knocky!" Aiko said as she playfully punched him as he smiled.

As the giant bug aimed it's snout at the as the two dodged as it released an attack as the Teppei and Aiko jumped the two swiftly dodged the bugs claws as the bug released a silk web hit Teppei's leg as it was dragging him and Aiko as Teppei took out his glove as his thumb nail extended as Teppei released the two from the web as the kept they're distant away from the bug.

" Yep just like old times Ai-chan" Teppei said as he smiled

" yeah but let's save the nostalgia for later " Aiko said as they stared at the bug.

" sub zero breath and high temperature gas" Teppei said

" and it shoots spiders silk and scorpion poison too" Aiko said

" this is a dangerous creature" Teppei said as Aiko agreed it was a dangerous bug.

" you got a plan?" Aiko ask

" I though you had one Ai-chan" Teppei said

" nows our chance, let's go get the soup!" Bogey said " if we stay here, we'll get mixed up in here and get eaten!"

"Hold on bogey" Barrygamon said as he took out what looked like a hair ball like phone." I've got a call from Yuu I see hey bogey there's no reason for us to be here any longer "

" all right we got the soup!" Bogey said " Now let's hightail it out of here!"

" Hey you guys!" Teppei yelled out to the two that were running " you better off not going outside for a while now! Actually it's best if you'd stayed right here"

" if you don't it's your funeral" Aiko bluntly said

"Are you an idiot? Like hell we're getting sucked into your fight with the parasite emperor!" Bogey exclaimed as he and Barrygamon ran " hate to break it to you, but our job is done here!"

" they're leaving their comrade behind?" Match muttered

As the two were running through an entrance

" it's tommy-sama we don't need to worry!" Barrygamon said "he's got the life force of a demon"

" yeah we've got no reason to be worried about him!" Bogey said

As they stop when the ground was shaking as they saw a giant creature with multiple heads with sharp teeth.

" W-What the hell?!" Bogey exclaimed

As the two were eaten by the giant creature. As the sane creature broke through the wall as the others looked at it.

"So you showed up" Teppei said " Ruler of ice hell, hellberos?"

" You revived that!" Aiko said as she looked at the giant creature

" yep, my skills changed the last time we saw each other" Teppei said " does your first breath of fresh air in a century feel good?"

"What is that?"match said

" The wild beast that once stood at the pinnacle of this continent" Teppei said

" you've really gotten better Teppei-kun!" Aiko said as she smiled

" going to different places around the world and releasing creatures that've had knocking done to them is another one of my duties" Teppei said " but even so releasing a monster like this has turned out to be a real pain in the neck" as Aiko turn to the giant bug as she practically gripped Teppei's arm so that he could turn and look.

As they dodged the bugs attack

" that creepy bug just molted!" Aiko said " just how fast that this creepy gross bug grows?!"

As they saw the two giant creatures battling each other as the bug carried the hellboros off somewhere outside.

" wow it took it up with him" Teppei said

"Wow fighting off the boss of this place without batting an eye" Aiko said " that creepy bug is something"

" but on the other hand Hellboros hasn't eaten anything in a hundred years so it doesn't think of the bug as anything but food" Teppei said as the bug broke through the ceiling. " Oh man"

" I think that took care of our bug problem " Aiko said

As the creature was gone as Teppei stared at the gourmet show window as he felt arms around him to see Aiko.

" it's so good to see you Teppei-kun!" Aiko said

" it's nice to see you Ai-chan" Teppei said as he stared at Aiko as she smiled brightly

" Saiseiya " match said getting the two friends attention "I'm part of the gourmet mafia, I've committed many acts of illegal ingredient trading and capturing. I'm prepared to be arrested by you."

" Match-San" Aiko said ' this guy has a kind heart...even if he is part of the mafia ' she though

" I have one favor to ask " match said as he held his sword " Can you overlook this until after I get the soup? If possibly I'd like to bury these guys afterwards as a grave marker for the show window, because I'm...the only one that can move, please look the other way until then"

" I don't intend to bury them" Teppei said " there's no need to bury them"as Teppei stepped closer to match " to my eyes you outlaws are shining brighter than the show window "as his thumb nail extended as he swiftly destroyed the ice that was incasing match's leg.

" Ah toriko-kun!" Aiko said as she ran to him as Teppei followed.

" Even though he's damaged this badly he's very much alive" Teppei said

" oh that's good" Aiko said " I was worried"

" is he your boyfriend or something?" Teppei asked as Aiko slightly blushed

" No what makes you say that! Teppei-kun!" Aiko exclaimed " just give me a hand with him!"

"He's stopped shivering so he no longer maintain his body temperature, it seems" Teppei said as he grabbed a few leaves from the tree. " his body is functioning normally. Toriko has a fearsome life force " as he squeezed the leaves extracting the juice as it dropped in his index finger.

"Nail Chuu sha" Teppei said as his index finger nail expanded as he injected it to Toriko " don't worry Ai-chan the leaves of the protective tree are filled with revitalizing elements that stimulate the heart. It'll put a lot of stress in his body but Toriko should be able to endure it, his blood pressure will spike a bit and his body temperature should return to normal"

As Toriko gasp as Aiko put her hand on his cheek as he sweated a bit.

" ooh you're awake how do you feel Toriko?" Teppei ask" pretty crappy,I'll bet" as Teppei took out the box that he carries around in his chest pocket.

" did you even have to ask that?" Aiko said

"Aiko...who's he?" Toriko asked as he gasped a bit.

" ill explain later Toriko-kun" Aiko said as Teppei took out a seed.

"Come on komatsu-kun found the soup and waiting" Teppei said

"komatsu!" Toriko exclaimed as he tries to move but the branches prevented him as he gasp a bit as Teppei was holding out a seed.

"You've regained cardiopulmonary function for the moment" Teppei said "but there's still significant damage to your body " as Aiko and Toriko looked at the seed. " it's a fertilizer seed, it's bitter but if you swallow it you'll be okay, Take this Toriko"

" That has use restrictions is based on eight Gourmet laws..." Toriko started

" what ever just swallow it!" Teppei said shoving the seed in toriko's mouth as he swallowed it." There's a small poison in that seed , it will kill a few cells, but you'll recover rapidly after that" as Teppei stood up as Aiko was still there as Toriko looked at her as she smiled at him.

As he groaned from the pain as Aiko could only do is try and comfort him until it stopped.

" it's a drug that pushes the body's natural recovery to its limit" Teppei said as Teppei turn to the others.

" Aiko...are you...okay?" Toriko said as he groaned

" I'm fine. I'm sorry if I gave you a scare" Aiko said as she saw his gaze soften at her.

" it's fine Aiko..." As he remembered something as he slightly blushed " did you hear anything that I said a few moments ago?" As Aiko looked at him as she tries to think for a second.

" I could barely make out what you said all I could hear was my name" Aiko said

' I couldn't tell her. Not even if it was my last moments with her...Damn it! What's wrong with me just how hard is it to tell her how I feel?!' Toriko though

"why are you helping us?" Match asked Teppei

"It's something you come to understand after long years of reviving ingredients " Teppei said "that those ingredients have life spans, that rot away,lives that are impossible to revive by any means. The Gourmet show window is dying, it can no longer be revived"

" what did you say?!" Match said

" And I understand when lives can be revived" Teppei said "none of you are meant to die here"

" Teppei-kun" Aiko said

"well that's not the only reason I helped Toriko" Teppei said as he glanced at Aiko as she smiled as Teppei dropped a seed as it grew to doctor aloe as he used it to wrap up everyone. As they started to carry the bodies.

" Aiko how do you know him?" Toriko asked

" Oh I know Teppei-kun for a few years now" Aiko said

" around ten years Aiko we met ten years ago" Teppei said " we were little kids back then right" as the two smiled.

" yeah back then you didn't have that hairstyle " Aiko said playfully

" yeah, I guess but wow y-you really grown, your hair got longer I kinda like it now " Teppei complemented.

" Oh, thanks Teppei-kun" Aiko said as she touched her hair.

' She knows him that long that explains why They're really friendly with each other...I don't like this feeling...I think I'm getting jealous...but why? they're friends. I'm sure it's nothing for me to worry about' Toriko though as he stared at the two laughing a bit.

" Komatsu!" Toriko exclaimed as the group saw komatsu with Tina and the others. As komatsu looked at them.

" hey komatsu!"Aiko said

" Sorry we're late komatsu" Toriko said

As komatsu started to let a few tears down as he was relieved that his friends were okay as he sniffles a bit.

" T-Toriko-San...Ai-chan...I...I...couldn't protect the soup!" He cried out.

there you have it guys! I can't closed the votes yet because theres a tie between two people right now. So the votes are still open! Please leave a review on which one you want Aiko to be with! Il be posting another chapter soon! See you guys soon!