The next day, after classes, you find Togo-sensei as she's putting up the last of the gym equipment. "I need relationship advice," you tell her, seriously.
"Oh?" She replies, sounding curious and interested. "What kind of advice?" She asks, pausing her work to turn to you.
"Well. Girls' love. Mai said you would have good advice."
She blinks several time, as if in confusion. "You're going for girls?"
"Well, a girl," you reply. Mayumi seems completely shocked, not necessarily in a bad way. "See, the guy I like, I want to make sure his wife likes me too," you explain.
Mayumi starts laughing, first a mild chuckle, then a flat out, belly laugh, uproarious in nature. She sounds kind of like a baboon. You wait for her to finish her laugh, and she heaves, wiping a teardrop from beneath her vivid violet eyes. "Sorry, sorry," she says, still catching her breath. "Ah, so perfect."
"Do you have any advice?" You repeat. Who cares about what she found funny.
"Mm, for married women? That's a hard game to play, in my experience," she explains, and you nod along. She's so wise! Wait, why does she know about seducing married women from experience? Has she been a man's mistress in the past? Wow! She's just like you, in that incredibly specific way! She's also very interested in exercise too. You're pretty similar, when you think about it. "The whole trick to being the 'other woman' is to find that missing place in their heart, and fill it."
"I see," you say, with a nod. But how could there be a missing place in Ten Man's wife heart, when she's married to Ten Man, of all people?! "Wait! Aren't you Ten Man's friend?"
"Um, well, yes," she says, her voice full of uncertainty.
"Do you have any more specific advice on how to seduce his wife?"
She laughs. "No."
Damn. "Thank you anyway, Togo-sensei! You were a big help!"
"Sure thing," she says, turning back to her work.
You have another patrol with Ten Man the next week, and you wind up walking through a prominent commercial zone in the city - they sell a lot of comics, electronics, cosplay clothes. It's covered in people, and even in your costumes, you and Ten Man barely stick out.
"You know, this is the kind of place my wife likes," Ten Man notes, as he strolls past an electronics store, used hardware and parts on display. You immediately commit that fact to memory. Should you learn about electronics to get on better with his wife? "Speaking of," he says, turning to you. "Ghost Bride." He remembers your code name! He called you 'rookie' all the time during your last meeting. "I spoke with her, and after much discussion, she wanted me to tell you something."
You listen, rapt and serious, doing your best to put on the impression of a professional. You don't want him to think that you're not paying attention.
"I hate to say something like this, when you're so sincere, but-"
He's cut off by a scream, a crinkling sound like fire. His head turns, and there's a masked man, his arms on fire, a manic laugh escaping his throat. Without hesitation, you touch Ten Man and wreath around him.
It's so nice, to feel Ten Man inside you, even if it's not quite the way you'd prefer. "Not so smart now, are you?!" The masked man laughs, walking forward calmly. Ten Man rushes forward, and you can practically feel the surge of power, as his body speeds up, his strides longer than any normal human's.
The shop owner flickers and moves, his body moving through space like a video that's skipping and running at triple speed, disappearing and reappearing as he simply flees the shop. A couple figures are still inside, trapped by the flames and the various displays - comics and action figures, you think?
"Coward!" The masked man yells, flames licking after the shop owner. "Ah, fuck it," he says, with a sneer. "I'll just destroy all your crap, you fucker," he says.
Then Ten Man slams one fist into his face, hard. The man just reels, tumbling, flame spinning as his body flies ten feet away, scraping along the ground, clothes torn and ripped up. That's the difference between a trained hero and a normal person, really! "Go handle the civilians," he says, his voice serious, as he strides towards the man.
You're not going to ignore a direct order from Ten Man! You escape his body with a tumble. Fortunately, these practice uniforms are fire resistant, so you cover your chin with your forearm and run through the flames. Past them is a blonde woman in her late twenties and a boy around ten or so. Neither of them seems to have much idea how to get past the fire, and presumably not any useful powers for that.
You could try to put out the flames with your power, but you're not confident that you can manage it - so instead, you heft the boy under one arm, toss the woman over your shoulder, and do your best to run and jump out. You may not have a physical power, but you've honed your body perfectly! You get out of the building, dropping the two bodies on the ground, the boy rolling around to put out a lick of flame that's caught on his ankle.
The woman, on the other hand, pants noisily, her eyes seeming to bleed black fluid that drips onto the ground. She coughs up more of the black fluid. Ten Man is distracted by subduing the man in question, binding his hands behind his back, his foot on the back of the man's head.
"Ten Man! I think something might be wrong with this civilian!"
He turns your way, and electricity arcs out and down into the man beneath him, instantly knocking him out. Such an amazing power! His eyes widen as he sees the scene, the black liquid starting to coil and wrap around the woman's limbs. His expression is a mix of concern and anger. "Calm down!"
"Like I'm going to calm down," she half-spits. Then she literally spits, more black fluid joining what's already there, starting to wreathe her body in it. This seems really dangerous. Is this her power?
"It's over, the guy's down," Ten Man responds, stepping towards the woman, his hands raised. "Calm down." He says it seriously, like to a child.
"Motherfucker tried to set me on fire," she responds, her voice gravelly and hateful as she rises to her feet. She's now completely covered in the black fluid, which writhes around her, bubbling and boiling, twisting and twining, like she'd been dipped in a witch's brew of earthworms and tar.
"He'll go to jail for that."
Ten Man seems to understand what he's doing, so you stand to one side, sliding one foot back in a defensive posture, just in case.
"He attacked me," she hisses, her emotional state perhaps worsened by her power. "I want to flay his flesh."
"Wanting things isn't wrong, but doing them is. Remember?" He says, seriously.
The woman's jaw unhinges - or maybe it's a faux-jaw, the effect created by the black material that covers her? In any case, the effect is certainly disturbing, a black tongue slithering forth, easily a foot in length. Ten Man just gives her a look, and she growls, slumping her shoulders. "Come on. We can just say he attacked me. Self defense. It's true, even."
"We're not saying that," Ten Man says, with a calm cadence. There's a crunch from somewhere inside the ever-growing black fluid, and finally the woman seems to relent. The fluids simply get slurped back up into her mouth, leaving an impeccably-dressed blonde woman in their wake, her white jacket so completely clean it almost hurts to look at in the daylight.
"Killjoy," she says, with a little smirk on her lips. "Sorry. You know how I get," she says, with a little smile, some inside joke.
"I do," he agrees. "You didn't hurt anybody, so it's fine."
The woman turns to you, at last. She gives a little chuckle. "Don't worry so much, I'm not going to attack you." She pauses for a moment, her expression muted as she processes the sight before her. "Ghost Bride?"
Wait a second. Wait. Hang on.
They know each other. They talk in a familiar manner to one another. She's scary. Her voice is the same as the woman on the phone, who was also scary. The woman on the phone was Ten Man's wife. This is Ten Man's wife.
Oh no! You need to make a good impression! Now!
You act on instinct, and drop to your knees, pressing your head to the ground in a show of absolute submission. You don't want there to be any doubt in her mind where you fall on the totem pole! Ten Man's a good man, and wouldn't hurt his wife by taking a concubine she didn't like! You swallow, your throat feeling raw with fear. "I'll fill the void in your heart!" You half-shout.
"Um. Sorry?" She asks, unclear on what the hell you're talking about. Of course she is! You're using weird language that doesn't make sense in this context!
"I'll be earnestly devoted to your service, or let you use my toned, nubile body, or use my perfectly honed body, but in a nonsexual way, like be your bodyguard or carry things for you or anything, or, help you with my newly discovered love of electronics, or, or," you stumble, looking for another idea. "Anything! Name a void, I'll fill it! I will do anything to fit your desires!"
You hear a cough from Ten Man, and your head uncertainly jerks up off the ground. His wife is looking at him, one eyebrow quirked. He gives her a look of his own, some silent communication. Dammit, you want to have enough rapport to manage that kind of silent communication with Ten Man. She's probably saying to let you down easy or something. No, she can't be saying that. That would mean that Ten Man, being loyal to his beloved wife, would reject you, but that can't happen, because he's your destined love. They must be communicating about something else. Yes. That's called logic.
"Come on, Ghost Bride," he says, offering his hand. "Don't bother this strange woman."
Strange woman? Oh! His secret identity! You completely forgot! "Y-yeah," you say, stammering, your heart still pounding in your chest. That's probably why she was so hesitant to respond to your expression of absolute submission. Duh! How could you be so stupid? You almost freaked out over nothing. You give him a big smile. "Sorry, ma'am! I thought you were somebody else!" You give her a salute.
Fortunately, most of the crowd seems to have dispersed from the area, between the fire, and Ten Man's wife's freakout. He's so wonderful to care for a woman with a power like that. Or personality like that? Well, either way, he's taking care of a woman with such an intense and obvious issue, and helping her work through it. Who knows what she might have done if he wasn't here? This just reaffirms that your love for Ten Man is true, because he's such a great man!
The two of you walk off, the unconscious form of that firestarter slung over Ten Man's shoulder. He eventually has him loaded into a paddy wagon and taken off, before taking a break at a cafe nearby. He orders some extremely greasy and nasty food, but that's okay, because he likes it, and it's his choice what he eats. Heck, if he wanted you to try some, you would. You'd listen to anything he said to you.
Oh yeah! There was something he wanted to talk to you about, before all this. "Ten Man," you say, and he turns to you. "You said there was something you wanted to say to me?"
He pauses, blinking, a bit of meat still being chewed in his mouth. Then he looks away, putting his food down in the plate. He swallows, opens his mouth, and doesn't say anything. He takes a breath, then exhales. "You know what? I think I need to check some things, before I can really have that conversation with you. Some stuff may have changed, you know."
You don't know, but you nod anyway. Whatever Ten Man says, goes.
Besides the incident with Mister Cinder (as you've taken to mentally calling him), not much happens for the rest of the patrol. Ten Man seems pensive, but you're not really sure exactly what to say, or how to comfort him. Besides, you should be professional. Being unprofessional with his wife earlier was a big fuckup! In fairness, you were under a lot of pressure!