Crazy trouble with love part 9
Child Emperor and Zenko
Series: Onepunch Man
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"I told you, you can't just lock down the server when you go on a coffee break." Child Emperor sighed, sitting at the reception desk while a nervous secretary rubbed the back of her head.
"It was an accident…"
'The third one this month.' he idly thought as he typed away, working on getting it back and running. "Don't worry, this is nothing I can't fix."
"Thank you!" She said gratefully. "I'm going to grab some coffee, do you need anything?"
"I'll pass, I might as well run a scan while I'm here." He said as she nodded and left the room. 'Either we need to dumb down the system or higher smarter employees.' he just kept his face focused on the screen, wanting to take care of the scan as soon as possible.
As he focused, the front door opened and a young girl walked in, carrying a large box wrapped in cloth with her.
'Stupid idiot forgot his meal again.' She thought as she made her way through the building. "Big bro!"
Child Emperor's ears picked up the sound and turned, sucker in mouth, to spot the girl walking by. That's when it felt like time suddenly slowed down as his eyes widened, his fingers stopped, and the sucker falling from his mouth as he watched the girl in slow motion with sparkles around her face as she passed by the front desk. All he could do was stare as she walked past him, feeling like his world had stopped. 'Who…..who is that?'
His heartbeat picked up with his face turning red as he simply watched her as she rounded the corner and snapped out of it, things going back to normal as he put his hands on the keyboard, confused on what just happened. "I-wha- what was that?! Did I have a stroke and see an angel?!" he wiped his forehead, noting some sweat and stood up. "Who even was that girl? I've never seen her before."
"Hey, so did you get me back i- why is your sucker on my keyboard?" The receptionist asked, coming back with a cup of coffee.
"I need to check on something!" He quickly sprinted off, leaving the woman there standing confused.
"What was that all about?" She wondered as she watched Child Emperor disappear. 'Heroes are so weird.'
(Later)
Child Emperor typed away at his computer, trying to look up all the symptoms he was feeling, desperate to find the answers. 'I'm lightheaded, my heart is pounding faster, is this some kind of new monstrous virus?!' He thought nervously, unable to get the image of that girl out of his head. 'My hands are sweaty too, I need to find out-ah ha!' he pulled several articles, all health related, but as he read, it was basic stuff he was already aware of that he knew he couldn't have. Thank you personal scanners.
As he read he noticed that there was another article that was pulled up, this one asking if you had these feelings after seeing a specific person. He rubbed his chin and thought back to the girl from before, making his face heat up before shaking his head.
"No way! Nuh-uh! It couldn't be! I don't believe in that love at first sight! It goes against everything that has sense and logic in the world!" He declared loudly, yet he found himself opening the article regardless. 'I-It's just to prove that this isn't love! That's all!'
He leaned in and started to read it, telling himself it was crazy. But the list of symptoms it told matched up with his own, making him gulp as he shook his head.
"No…no no, it can't be. That's just something people use in romantic movies and books. There's no possible way it's actually possible, especially for someone like me…..right?" He thought, feeling unsure as he imagined the girl. "Could I….is it possible?"
As he envisioned the girl, he recalled how she came there for her 'big bro', which made him hold his chin.
"If she can come in here without any problem, she's been here before, which means he could be a hero. Maybe if I browse through the files I can narrow it down and find out who." he started to open up the hero files with his own password. "I'm just doing this to make sure it's true. It's purely for safety reasons."
As he began to look through the files, he started to sort out likely candidates for this 'big bro', obviously ignoring the women's files and narrowed down the files to those who reportedly had siblings. After that, he started to narrow it down to those with younger siblings. Finally he narrowed it down to ones that were around his own age range. As he pulled up the files he noticed that Metal bat's hair color was the same as the girls, and he began to connect the dots.
"Metal Bat is her brother?" he muttered, eyes wide in shock as he started to break into a cold sweat, briefly envisioning her with a bat and smashing a bus just as easily as him. "She must be strong if they're related…" He thought, imagining her destroying a building with a single swing. 'Still…even if she's his sister, how can I just forget about her?'
He put a hand to his heart, leaning back in his chest as he felt it beat and looked up in thought. 'I mean, she's beautiful…' he looked at the computer and sat up. "I wonder…since I'm already here, I wonder if I can find out more about her. Nothing weird after all, but if she comes by again, it won't seem so out of place if I know more about her." He muttered as he began to type away before pausing. "Wait.. what do I even do if I see her again?! T-They didn't cover this in statistics!"
He stared at the screen while his hands started to shake. "D-Do I try and make small talk? Would she even WANT to talk if she came by for her brother? Dang it! This has never happened to me before!" He wailed as he held his head before freezing. "Wait, this…this is just a new problem, I got to where I am by studying and tackling the problems head on, if I study I'll know exactly what to do!"
With that new mindset, he started typing away in a blur with a focused look. 'I'll need to do research to handle this the right way. If I can deal with school and classes, I can figure this out in no time flat.' He thought as he began to pull up several screens, searching for different topics, from talking to girls to how to ask someone out. Although internally some of them felt a bit odd and a bit out there. 'Ok, I need to read everything, I want to know everything that I need to ensure that I can ask her out the next time I see her!'
(The next day)
Child Emperor clutched his bag's straps, standing near the entrance of the headquarters, having been called in to help them with a small virus, and hoping the girl, named Zenko, might show up again since Metal Bat was called in early. 'Ok, last night was…weird, and I know that I need to add some filters to my search engines in the future, but I think I'm ready!'
"Child Emperor?"
He jumped and turned to see the same woman from yesterday walk up. "Huh? What?"
"You're here to help, right?"
"Oh, yeah yeah." he nodded, clearing his throat.
"Then…why are you standing here?"
"...hero stuff, don't worry about it." He said, not able to come up with a good excuse. "Now then. Where's the virus… it's on your computer, isn't it?"
She looked away and gave a nervous chuckle, making him look unamused. "Well…it snuck by me."
'You mean slipped by while you were goofing off?' He thought with a sigh. 'I'd tell the president of the hero association to fire you, but luckily you've given me the opportunity to stay near the doors.'
"So shall we get to it?" She asked as she gestured towards her computer.
"Yes, let's." He said as he sat at the computer. "Now then, I should be able to fix this, were you on any strange sites I should know about?"
"Of course not. I was doing my job the whole time." She denied, shaking her head. 'And certainly not looking at photos of the demon cyborg~'
"Right… Well, I'll get this fixed soon enough." He remarked, plugging his pack into the computer and started running an antivirus software. "This shouldn't take too long."
"Great, thanks." She sighed as the doors in the front opened up, making Child Emperor perk up.
He turned and stiffened up, face going red as soon as he saw it was Zenko walking in, another bento wrapped up and under her arm.
"Stupid brother forgot his lunch again…" She muttered in annoyance, not noticing Child Emperor.
'She came! She really came!' he thought, feeling his heart pick up again. 'I need to do it!' he stood up and made a move to walk over, except for the fact his legs didn't move. 'W-What? Why can't I….why do I feel so scared?!'
Zenko kept on walking, going past the front desk without even turning her head as Child Emperor opened his mouth, only to feel his throat go dry with no words coming out.
'No, why?! She's right there, just say something, anything!' He thought, trying to get something out, but by the time he let out a heave, she was already gone. 'No! What was that?!' He thought, feeling disheartened before pausing. 'Ok, she has to come back this way after she gives her brother food, right? I'll try again then!'
"Child Emperor, the scan is finished." spoke up the receptionist.
"Huh? What? Oh, right, yeah, I'll uh…get started and get it fixed." he muttered, going back over to try and finish this up in time. 'As soon as she comes by, I'll be ready.' He thought with determination. 'She just caught me off guard, that's all! I'll be prepared this time!'
(1 hour later)
The young genius let out a yawn, staring at the screen in boredom since this scan was STILL going, and so far, he hadn't seen Zenko since she came in. 'Where is she, is she still even in the building?'
"Ugh, is this going to take any longer?"
"It should be done any second now." He sighed. 'At least with all this time, I was able to decide on what to tell Zenko when I see her again.'
Ding.
"See? It's finally done." He sighed as he sat up. "Now then, can you promise that you won't ruin your computer again?"
"Yes sir." she bowed her head bashfully.
"Good." He sighed as he turned back to where he had last seen Zenko. 'Now how do I find an excuse to stay here and wait for her?'
"I'm just glad it's done. Thank god I didn't need to log out that girl." she remarked sitting down.
"Wait, girl?"
"Yes. She comes here often, and I usually log her out when she leaves, but I couldn't while the scan was going on." She explained as Child Emperor stared at her in confusion.
"You mean she's already gone?!" He asked as his heart dropped in his chest.
"Yep, she slipped out a while ago."
'Nooo!' he thought, his head drooping down as a small depressed cloud came over his head. 'I can't believe I let that happen…'
"Welp, thanks again for fixing my computer!" She said as she gently pushed Child Emperor away from the computer so she could get to it.
All he managed was a silent nod before making his way out of the building, staring at the ground. 'Damn it, all of that work, for nothing! What kind of hero am I? I couldn't even talk to her!'
He walked down a street leading up to the building, but as he gripped his pack, he stopped when he felt something click.
'Wait…Wait a second…that's it! I can just find out where her house is and visit directly!' He thought with a grin. 'Yes, I can meet her on my terms, plan everything out! There's no way I'd freeze up if I do it like that!'
(The next day)
Child Emperor stared up at the normal looking suburban house in a normal neighborhood, minus signs of graffiti on some of the walls, and gulped. His legs were shaking, palms sweating, and feeling like he was gonna pass out. "This is it. Her house. Just need to walk up, say hi, and…and….come on, you know this part! Don't go blank right now!" He muttered to himself, trying to build up some courage. 'Come on, you've planned the defeats of monsters, been on the field to fight monsters, and this is what is tripping you up?!'
He gulped and tried to keep from looking out of place and managed to force himself to start walking towards the door, his heart pounding like a drum. 'Just- just one step after another, knock on the door a-and then just ask her out! SIMPLE!' he thought, feeling nervous.
As soon as he reached it, he brought his hand out, mentally yelled at himself to do it, before knocking and waited. 'Ok, when she opens the door just smile and ask her out before you chicken out!'
It took about a minute before it opened, showing off Zenko, with Child Emperor stiffening up and seeing sparkles around her face as his face went all red.
"Hello? What do you want?" She asked, one eyebrow raised in mild curiosity. "Who are you?"
"Uh…." he let out, speechless and feeling like he wanted to crawl into a hole. 'Oh no, not now! J-Just say something!'
Zenko put a hand on her hip while not looking happy. "Did you come here for something? If not, buzz off, I've got other things to do than be part of some stupid prank." She said with a frown as Child Emperor shook his head.
"R-Right, I uh…I…you….uh…..hangout?" He got out nervously.
"What?"
"I-I meant…do you…want to….you know…hangout?" He clarified while trying to stop stammering. 'Damn it, don't be weird! Ugh, why is this so hard?'
"You want to hang out?" she questioned with suspicion. "Just WHO are you?"
"I…..Child Emperor?" He stammered out, trying his best to keep talking in a coherent manner. "You know, hero? S Rank?"
"You're a hero? Like big bro?" she looked intrigued before holding her chin. "Hold on…Child Emperor….I think I've heard that somewhere."
"Y-Yeah, I am one of the top heroes…." He got out. 'Is this going well?'
'Why is another hero like big bro showing up here just to hang out?' She thought as she rubbed her chin. 'Why me of all people as well?'
"Oh! I…uh…brought these too." he quickly reached into his backpack and pulled out a small bouquet of flowers, making her eyes widen as he kept from staring her in the eyes. "I-I thought maybe a small gift for the sudden visit might make up for it, i-if you like flowers I mean!"
'Flowers? Wait….he's the same age as me… ah, I think I get it now.' She thought before crossing her arms. "Well, this IS pretty sudden. It makes more sense to call ahead and tell a girl if you're coming by, but I'll forgive you this one time, thank you though." She said as she took the flowers from him.
'S-She forgave me! Progress!'
"So, where did you want to go?" She asked as he perked up. "I don't plan on just walking around with no plan all day."
"O-Of course of course!" he nodded quickly. "Well….I was thinking maybe we could go to the mall."
"Well let's get going then, I don't want my big bro catching me doing this. He can be a huge pain in the butt." She said as she was about to move forward before pausing. "Let me put the flowers inside then I can go."
He nodded and waited till she went inside before grinning and pumped both fists up, doing a small celebratory dance on the spot while cheering in his head. 'Yes yes yes, I did it, I did it! I finally asked her out!'
After a minute Zenko came back out with the two of them making their way off through the neighborhood, with the hero noting the silence and went over possible questions in his head to break the awkwardness. "So uh…. How are you?"
"Good. You?"
"Oh! Uh, good, good." he nodded, with her not looking at him and just looking ahead of them. 'Ok, maybe not a good way to start it off.' "So….enjoying the weather?"
"Yes."
'What else do I talk about?!' He thought, starting to panic. 'I don't want her to have a bad time with me!'
"So tell me. Why did you want to hang out?" She asked curiously. "We don't go to the same school, so how did you even know about me, let alone want to hang out with me?"
Kid Emperor tensed up, but kept it together. "Well you see, I was busy updating some of the files on the Hero Associations catalog, when I learned about you from Metal Bat's file. So…I thought it might be an interesting change of pace from the usual routine!" he made up while trying to give a smile, but with a small bead of sweat on the side of his head. 'Please buy it.'
'I don't buy it, but I'll play along for now.' She decided before sighing. "Really? That's kind of boring."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You're just here to update big bro's file? Kind of a boring reason to hang out."
He blinked and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, there's usually someone else who worries about that, but they had to ask me because they were understaffed this week. It's not so bad really, but I guess it CAN be boring."
"Well, if it is boring would you like to just skip this? If you just want to talk about big bro I could text you the info." She suggested. 'Lets see how he reacts to that.'
"No!" he spoke up before holding his hands up. "I-I mean, no. I mean, we're already out here and on the way, so it only makes sense we see this through to the end so it's not a waste."
"Alright then, let's go." She nodded. 'So he does want to spend time with me.'
'Ok, I managed to keep this up. Just need to not falter for the rest of this and we should be good.' he thought as she looked back forward while he took a moment to stare slightly. 'Ahhh, she really does look like an angel up close.'
"Do you want to get something to eat?"
"Oh! S-Sure. Whatever you want." he nodded quickly. "T-There's a place that has some nice food nearby, d-do you like sweet stuff?"
"Of course." she remarked plainly. "Who doesn't?"
"Great!" He said with a smile, leading her towards the shop.
'Huh, so he does have a spine. Good.'
When they got to the shop, it was clear as day it was a popular bakery with all the various pastries on display. "Wow, they have a lot of stuff." Zenko said as she smiled a bit.
"Yeah, I come here a bit on my way to school, so I have a pretty good idea on some of the good stuff." he smiled while trying to sound impressive.
"Well, what would you suggest then?" She asked, turning to him.
"I recommend their premium strawberry crepes. They have a special cream put in with the fruit that makes it taste better than candy." He suggested, making her widen her eyes slightly.
"Alright then." She said with a nod. 'Huh, so he was telling the truth… Maybe this won't be as awkward as I thought it was gonna be.'
"Hey there kids, what can I do for you?" asked the chef behind the counter with a smile.
"Hi, two of the strawberry crepes please." He said with a smile.
"Coming right up." He turned and went to work on getting them made, leaving the two kids standing there in silence as they waited.
"So…. uh…." Child Emperor started, unsure what to say now. "Uh…."
'Hmm, must not do much small talk. Or maybe it's just being on a date.' She thought, looking him over. 'Then again, if he's my age this is probably his first date too.'
"Uh….w-what subjects do you like in school?" he managed to get out, only to slap himself in his head. 'Why would she want to talk about that?!'
"I like art and music, they're interesting subjects." she replied calmly. "They're way more fun and less boring than the rest of the classes I take."
"Really? Cool, I personally like math and history, they're interesting compared to the other classes like gym." he shuddered. "I…don't really like it all that much."
"So you're a nerd?" she questioned bluntly, making him feel like he just got an arrow through the chest making him nearly fall over.
"Well, uh, I mean…kinda? I make robots to help me do hero work…" he let out while poking his fingers together as his face turned red.
"Good, I like people who are smart, and nerds are smart." she nodded, making him perk up with hope in his eyes.
"T-Then I'm a huge nerd! I could even graduate college if I wanted too!" he declared with a thumb to his chest, feeling immense relief. "I've even been working on establishing a better system for future generations. The current one is….lacking."
"Really? How so?" She asked curiously.
"Well…it's kind of long and boring. I don't wanna bore you with it."
"No, really, I wanna know." She pressed.
"Well, u-"
"Two strawberry crepes, here ya go kid." spoke the chef, cutting them off as Child Emperor went ahead and paid for them before handing her one as they exited the bakery.
"So, to the mall right?"
"Sure. and we can talk about the school system while we get there." She added.
(Later)
"-thus it's clear that the current system prefers memorization over actual retention of knowledge." he finished, finishing up his crepe while his date was wide eyed in realization.
"That's….wow. I never really thought of it like that." She said in amazement. "That was…that was fascinating."
"Really? Thanks, I'm glad you found it interesting." he smiled before looking ahead of them. "Hey look, we're here. I guess I got too into it, huh?" He tried to joke.
"I'm glad you did, it's nice to talk to someone serious for a change and not someone who treats me like an idiot for being young."
"Wait, what?" He asked in confusion.
"I'm not a big hero like you, everyone else treats me like they would any other dumb kid, it's nice to be treated like an equal for once." She replied with a smile before walking ahead of him, making him follow her into the large spacious area, if you count dozens of people as spacious. "Let's see if we can find something for you."
"Something for me?" He asked in confusion.
"Yeah, new clothes." she remarked plainly while pointing at his attire.
"Why would I need new clothes?"
"I may like nerds, but you don't have to dress like one."
"Eh?" he replied, a question mark over his head. "I'm confused…"
"We're going to get you some new clothes, don't worry about it." She replied while waving her hand before taking his own and started leading the way, not seeing his face turn red as he looked at the hands.
'W-We're holding hands! Does this mean we're dating now?!'
At this point he was so focused he didn't notice where she took him until snapping out of it when she started handing him a pile of clothes for him to hold onto. He blinked as he looked around, then looked at the clothes in confusion. 'What just happened?'
"Go put those on, then let me see how they look."
"Oh! Right." he quickly nodded before heading over to one of the stalls and looked at the clothes, gulping nervously. 'I hope at least one of these is me.'
'I hope he looks good in them.' she thought as she waited outside the stall. She tapped her foot on the floor, hearing the sounds of clothes moving around before it stopped. "Are you done?"
"Um… are you sure you gave me the right clothes?"
"Positive, are they on?"
"Yeah, they're on."
"Let me see." She said as Child Emperor sighed and opened the stall door.
"Well… what do you think?"
"Hmmm, too dark." she remarked as Child Emperor was decked out in a pair of ripped blue jeans, a leather jacket that looked too big on him, and a white shirt underneath. "Unfortunately punk isn't the best look for you, try on the next pair of clothes."
'Even I knew it wasn't.' he thought, going back in the stall.
'Shame, I thought he would look cooler in that.' she thought with a sigh of disappointment.
"How's this?" He asked, walking out, now wearing a green flannel shirt over a pair of jeans. "It feels more comfortable."
"Hmmm, you do look better in green than black." She mused, rubbing her chin. 'Huh, green looks like a good color on him.'
'Phew. That's a relief. I did NOT feel like the others would be worth the trouble.' He thought with a sigh of relief. "So, we're done then?"
"For clothes yeah, but not for everything else." She said as he blinked in confusion.
"Everything else?"
"You think we're done just because we found you some new clothes? Heck no." She said as she shook her head. "We have a lot more to do."
"Really? Why?" He asked in confusion.
"Don't worry about it." she waved her hand. "Let's buy those and keep moving."
"I…ok." He said, letting her lead him along. 'I guess it couldn't hurt, and it's not like I'm strapped for cash.'
(Later)
'I stand corrected.' Child Emperor thought, nearly bucking under the sheer mass of bags he had to carry. "D-Do I really need all of this?"
"Of course." She nodded as he let out a small groan. 'Wow, I can't believe he actually bought it all.'
'These are heavier than I imagined!' He thought, struggling. "C-Can we sit down for a bit, please?"
"Good idea." she replied as they walked over to one of the numerous benches and took a spot, letting the hero give out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Thank god…" He sighed, leaning back on the bench. "That was….a lot."
"You ever consider lifting weights?"
"No….too busy… studying…" He panted. "And….trying….to save people…"
"Hmmm, fair point." She mused as she rubbed her chin. "My big bro says the same thing when he can't come to my recital, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, especially if he promises he'd show."
"Fair enough, he does do his best, but at the end of the day he's only human." Child Emperor nodded as he glanced at her. 'Should…should I ask her if she had fun and if this was a date?'
"He's too stupid sometimes." she huffed, crossing her arms.
"Yeah….hey, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"Was….was this a date?" He asked nervously.
She turned to him with a straight face. "Of course it was."
"R-Really? So we're dating now?" He asked excitedly, his heart feeling like it was about to jump out of his chest.
"Of course not." She said bluntly, making him freeze.
"W-What? Why…"
"We can't be dating unless we go on more than one date, duh." She said, rolling her eyes. "So, when do you want to go on the next one?"
He went slack jawed, staring at her in shock. "Y-Y-Y-You mean, you really wanna go on another one? With me?!"
"Yes, unless you don't want a-"
"NO! I-I mean no, I want to go on another!" He nodded quickly with a smile breaking out on his face. 'This is the best day ever!'
"Glad to hear." She said, a small smile appearing on her face along with a hint of red on her cheeks.
(Timeskip)
Child Emperor hummed happily as he walked down the hall of the hero organization, feeling like he was on cloud nine. He was so engrossed with his own personal thoughts, he wound up bumping into someone. "Oof! Sorry, I-"
"Oi, watch it!" snapped Metal Bat, looking irate before looking down. "Oh, sorry kid, didn't know it was you."
"It's fine, is something wrong?" He asked in confusion. "You seem…angrier than usual."
"Damn right I am!" he fumed, gripping his bat tighter while clenching his other hand. "I think some creep is putting the moves on my sister!"
"W-What? What makes you think that?" Child Emperor asked, suddenly realizing the danger he was in.
"I can't prove it, but she's been acting differently. Lately, she's been…peppy." he remarked. "She suddenly has stuff that I know I didn't buy her, and she even said she didn't want to hang out with me next saturday! Something is going on, some pervert is seducing my little sister!"
'Oh no!' he thought with a gulp. "W-Well…maybe she's hanging out with friends."
"Nope, I checked, and they all have alibis!" He said, rubbing his chin. "Hey…you're good with tech and stuff, right? Do you think you could figure out who's been trying to corrupt my little sis?"
'Crap!' Child Emperor tried to give a convincing smile. "W-Well I am pretty good at that, so it wouldn't be hard per say…"
"Great, thanks buddy, I know you won't let me down!" he smiled, slapping Child Emperor on the back hard enough to make him nearly fall over, but keep balance.
"No problem." he replied with a sweatdrop. "Uh…we better head to the meeting, don't wanna be late."
"Ah, yeah, right, let's go." He said with a nod, and began to walk off.
Child Emperor waited until he was a few feet away before quickly pulling out his phone. 'I need to tell Zenko he knows!' He looked down and began to type as quickly as possible. 'Zenko! Big trouble! Metal Bat is on to us!'
'What? How, I didn't tell him anything.'
'He noticed the new stuff and how you've been more upbeat. He even asked me to help him find the 'creep' who's trying to 'corrupt' you.'
'Wow. He's not gonna be happy when he learns that the creep is you.'
'That's why I'm gonna try and figure something out. If he finds out it's me…'
'He won't. Even if he does, you're strong enough to survive his wrath.' She texted back with a smiley face and peace sign, making him smile with a blush.
"Oi, you coming or not?" Metal bat called, making him jump a bit.
"Y-Yeah, coming!" He called, running off for the meeting room where the other heroes were already there, waiting for the two. 'Wait, Metal bat said he thinks she's dating someone, and Zenko didn't deny it….we're officially dating!'
(Later)
"Child Emperor, you find the bastard yet?" Metal Bat demanded, marching towards the diminutive hero.
"Uh….no? Not yet." He fibbed, rubbing the back of his head.
"What's taking so long? I thought you'd find the creep by now." He groaned. "Can't you track this guy or something, or spy on them….wait, can you hack my sister's phone?"
"Well it's not that easy. There's a…lot of paperwork to deal with. If I go off and do whatever I wanted, I'd be breaking too many laws, and I don't wanna get a record like that at my age."
"C'mon, isn't there anything you can do?" Metal Bat groaned. "I just want to keep my sister safe!"
"I understand. I'll try to see if I can find some way around the details, but I can't guarantee anything." He deflected nervously.
"Fine, I guess I'll have to do this myself. I told Zenko that due to a new spree of monsters in our area she isn't allowed to go out unattended. I'll catch this creep right in the act when she goes to meet him!" he declared clenching his hand into a fist, making the small hero gulp.
"R-Really? Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Yep, I'm positive! In fact, I have good reason to believe she has a date tomorrow!"
'Crap!' "Tomorrow? How are you so sure?"
"Positive! I saw her texts when she left her phone unlocked, unfortunately I don't know this bastard's name, he's named 'Cutie' under her contacts." Metal Bat grumbled.
'Cutie?!' Child Emperor's face lit up with a blush.
"See! You think it's scandalous too!" Metal Bat declared, pointing at Child Emperor's face. "Which is why when I catch him, I'm gonna smash his face in."
"I-Isn't that an over reaction? This might just be a kid she's seeing!"
"All the more reason to step in. There's no way I'm letting some little punk think he can put the moves on MY sister." He growled in frustration.
"Um… wouldn't that be assault if you went through with this?"
"Whatever. I know what I'm doing." Metal Bat grumbled as he turned to leave.
Child Emperor waited till Metal Bat was out of range before quickly getting on his phone. 'Zenko, your brother is planning to stalk you from now on in an attempt to find me.'
'What?! That jerk!'
'What do we do? Do we have to cancel our date?'
'No way! I'm not giving up on it just because he thinks he can tell me who I can and can't date.'
'Should we try to reason with him and tell the truth?'
'Do you want him to try to kill you?'
'Of course not! But what else can we do? He'll see me and get even more mad since he thought he could trust me.'
'I say we just wait it out, we can keep it hidden from him.'
'Are you sure? What if he catches us? What if he sees us out in public? I've seen the damage he can do when angry, it's nothing to take lightly.'
'Don't worry, I can control my big bro, I promise.' She gave a smiley emoji with a heart. 'Just relax, otherwise you'll be too stressed for our date.'
'Wait, how are we going to do that, your brother is going to be following you tomorrow, right?'
'I have my own ways to take care of that.'
(Later)
'Where is she? Did she manage to lose Metal Bat?' wondered Child Emperor, glancing down at his watch as he waited for Zenko.
"Isamu!" Called Zenko's voice, making him perk up. He turn and spotted her running over with a smile. "Alright, let's go."
"Hey, how are you doing? Is…he nearby?" He whispered, looking around for her big brother.
"Nope, we've got nothing to worry about." she grinned. "I gave him the slip at the house, he has no idea where I am!"
"But aren't you worried he'll find you?"
"No, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't, he's pretty good at his job, but he's not all knowing." She said smugly. "There's no way he'll find us, he'd have to search the whole city."
'And probably tear it apart too.' He thought before shaking his head. "Alright, then let's get started."
"Good." she held his hand, making him smile as she lead the way. "You can buy me some ice cream."
"Sounds good." He said with a smile as they made their way to the ice cream store. 'Even if Metal Bat came and beat me up now, I could die happy~'
(Omake)
In a meeting of all the S rank heroes, minus Metal Knight, Metal Bat was fuming. Arms crossed, foot tapping, and blood veins in his head looking ready to pop.
"That little bastard…..corrupting her….gonna get him…."
"Oi, keep it down." remarked Tatsumaki casually with annoyance. "Some of us are trying to listen."
"Zip it half pint!" Metal Bat snapped back in annoyance. "You'd be muttering too if your little sister was being corrupted by a bastard!"
"Not possible. If Fubuki was involved with someone, I'd already know." She remarked smugly, ignoring the look Genos was giving her.
'So she doesn't know about master and Fubuki? Interesting.'
"As soon as I find that bastard, I'll need a new bat." he growled while gripping said weapon. "I'll beat him so bad there won't be a thing left…"
While Metal Bat fumed, Child Emperor wasn't noticing as he kept glancing down at his phone under the table with a smile.
'Your brother is really mad, he must have noticed you disappeared last night.'
'So what? I'm a big girl. I can handle myself, especially with a strong hero keeping me safe~'
'I wonder how mad he's be if he knew we were texting each other right under his nose.'
'Forget that, imagine how mad he'll be when you win me a prize at the amusement park this weekend? You ARE gonna make it, right?'
'Wouldn't miss it for the world~' He let back, ignoring the sound of a metal bat hitting the ground due to said hero growing more and more annoyed. 'And then afterwards we could go to that new cafe that opened up.'
'Sounds good, can't wait!'
"I'LL FIND THAT RAT BASTARD!"