Lunamugetsu: I do not own Toriko. Be prepared there is some fluffy moments in this.
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Previously:
"Toriko-san, you're really warm," Kimiko sighed as she snuggled into his arms.
"Rest Kimi, we've got a long day tomorrow." Toriko patted her head as her breath started to even out.
"Okay, Toriko" Kimiko fell asleep before she could finish and continued to snuggle into Toriko's embrace.
"Kimi," Toriko rested his hand on her head, "I wasn't joking."
I do like you more than just as a friend.
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The next morning, the two had risen, eaten their breakfast, and packed their supplies before they continued their journey. Kimiko looked at her blue haired friend in wonder as he hadn't said a word while they were climbing the giant vine.
Maybe I shouldn't have told him I heard, but would that have really made much of a difference, Kimiko thought, It's not like he was saying anything serious, She looked up at Toriko who looked like he was deep in thought, Maybe I'm just overthinking this.
"Hey Kimi." Kimiko looked at Toriko in acknowledgement, "You thirsty?" He held out his canteen for her to grab.
"Yes, thank you very much," she said as she took the bottle from his hand.
"High altitude air has low moisture content and dries you out. So yo9u better make sure to keep hydrated." He explained, "The temperature is more or less ten degrees and we're almost 3000 meters up. The oxygen density is starting to drop. I also should slower the pace so that we don't get tired out. Let's make sure to do our best, right Kimi."
"Yeah!"
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"Kimi, it's getting pretty cold, how are you doing?" Toriko said as he looked at the tiny chef.
"I'm fine. If I can survive Ice Hell, I can survive this weather!" Kimiko said giving him a bright smile making Toriko mirror hers, "Plus I have my Lighter Suit."
"You're all prepared, aren't you?" Toriko reached into his bag and took out a chocolate bar, "Want some chocolate."
"Yes, please!" Kimiko said as her eyes lit up at the sight of the sweet treat making Toriko chuckle before handing her the chocolate bar. Kimiko smiled before biting into the chocolate bar giving a content face while the chocolate treat melted in her mouth as the aura around her somehow started to turn into a warm setting with flowers floating around her.
Calm down Toriko, He thought as he took a deep breath, That sweet aura that's surrounding her is all in your mind, don't pay too much attention to it. Quick, say something before she thinks you're staring!
"When the oxygen content is low, your body's digestive ability drops. The best foods are those with a lot of energy in small quantities. Our journey is just about to get started, let's be prepared."
"~Yup~" Kimiko sang while munching on her chocolate bar.
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The two had climbed up the vine for hours, enduring the cold dry weather as they kept on climbing towards their destination. When the sun had set, the two then camped out on a large leaf that supported their weight.
"The stars are so pretty!" Kimiko said as she looked at the night sky that were filled with glowing lights, "I never thought that I'd see so many stars in the sky."
"Well we're 3000 meters up so there's nothing that's blocking our view from them," Toriko said from his seat, he smiled as he watched Kimiko stare at the sky in amazement.
"It's like the stars are cheering us on," Kimiko said making Toriko laugh only to stop as he saw that Kimiko was now clutching her head in pain.
"What's wrong?"
"Just a bit of pain in my head." she informed him
"Altitude sickness." Toriko muttered, "Is the pain bad?"
"It's nothing, I can live with it."
"Sit next to me, Kimi. It's not safe to stand while your head hurts." He patted the spot next to him for her to sit at.
"Okay." she responded as she sat next to him and checked the pot that was currently resting on the camping stove that she brought with her.
Toriko looked at the little chef in concern as he remembered what his father had told him.
It's extreme climates and weather conditions. If you can't withstand them, you'll never stay alive in the Gourmet World. Toriko you need to train your body. No, you need to make your cells themselves adapt instantly to all kinds of environments.
"The temperature, air pressure, and oxygen content, are far lower here than on the ground, and the environment here is like a mountain. Where the weather can change quickly between rain, wind, and snow. It's a great training ground. I have to adapt to the environment, huh." He muttered before looking back at his traveling companion, he frowned as he felt a wind blow and she gave a slight shiver.
"You cold Kimi?" Kimiko jumped at his accusing tone.
"Huh, uh not really." She sang while looking in the opposite direction
"Really." he grinned making Kimiko sweat
"Y-Yeah!" Kimiko squeaked as Toriko lifted her up and set her into his lap with her back against his chest.
"It's okay if you're a little cold, there's nothing wrong to ask for me to help. We're reaching for the same goal after all." He said as he hugged her closer to him.
Close, really close, Kimiko blushed as he hugged her.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" He asked as she hadn't said anything.
"I'm just not used to being so close to anyone like this," Kimiko looked up to Toriko making him see her flushed face.
"Do you want me to stop?" he asked
"No, it's okay. I know you're just trying to make me feel better. Like I said I'm not used to being so close to people like this," she said "Besides, I know that you wouldn't hurt me, Toriko-san."
"Aw Kimi!" Toriko laughed as he ruffled her hair making Kimiko laugh as she tried to playfully swat Toriko's hand away. She sighed as she leaned against Toriko, looking at the night sky.
"Hey Toriko-san, do you see those two stars over there in the distance, the brightest ones that are right next to each other." Toriko looked at to the direction she was pointing to see the two stars that were outshining all the smaller ones. "When I was little my mom told me a story about them."
"Really? What was it about?"
"It was a story of young couple, they were as close as can be, they never even spent a night apart. They weren't wealthy by any means but they lived such a rich life by just being at the other's side. The villagers that always saw them knew that they were just meant to be together, with how they were each other's perfect half. Yet their happiness couldn't last forever, war had come and the men had to leave to fight. So the young man had to bid farewell to his wife as they prepared for war. The villagers always saw how each night the young lady would stare at the sky every night since her husband had left. Months went by, and the young lady fell ill. The villagers would often come by her house to take care of her and despite her frail state the young lady would always look out at the night sky. It was in the afternoon that the young lady had succumbed to her illness, she had went peacefully and with a sad smile on her face. Later, the villagers found out that her husband had been killed in battle that very morning. When the couple's funeral was held, the villagers watched in amazement as two bright stars, that were side by side, appeared in the night sky. They believed that it was the souls of the young couple wanting to stay together, forever in the night sky"
"That's an interesting story," Toriko said
"Yeah, it's a bit long, and sad, but they were together in the end. It's nice to think that I could experience love like that couple," Kimiko looked up at Toriko, "I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure you didn't bring me along to tell you a story."
"No, it's fine. It gives a nice change of pace, especially when we're risking our lives for our passion." Toriko paused to look at the sky, "Have you ever thought about it? Having a relationship."
Kimiko paused at the question. She gave a small smile before answering, "Yeah, I have, but it's not something that I'm obsessing over. As a chef, bringing out the flavors in every ingredient I cook with is the most important. I'm pretty average in the beauty department, plus I don't really think anybody is interested in dating me . Also, it's difficult to have a relationship when I have such odd work hours and I'm too busy to be with them. It's fine anyway, besides i can focus more of my time on cooking. After all, being able to feed people delicious food, is why I'm a chef. "
"Kimi," Toriko paused before ruffling her hair while giving a boisterous laugh, "You really are an amazing chef!"
"Toriko-san!" Kimiko laughed as Toriko hugged her.
"C'mon Kimi! Let's get ready to go to sleep!"
"Yeah!"
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"All warm, Kimi?" Toriko said as they were wrapped up in the bedroll together. Kimiko gave a slow nod as her eyes started to droop. "Rest, we've got a lot of hiking to do tomorrow." Kimiko gave another slow nod before leaning more towards Toriko. "Kimi?" she gave a small hum signaling that she was still awake. "If it means anything to you, I think you're beautiful, especially when you're doing what you love." Toriko moved his arms to bring her closer to him. He gave a small smile as he felt Kimiko snuggle closer to him.
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Kimiko shrieked as a strong gust of wind blew almost knocking her off the leaf she was standing on. She quickly grabbed onto the leaf as another strong gust blew.
"This wind is intense." Kimiko looked up to see that there was still quite a way to go.
"Kimi!" Kimiko turned to Toriko who was holding some rope. "Climb onto my back. I'll tie us together so that we don't lose each other."
"Okay." Kimiko stood in front of Toriko as he tied the rope to the clip that was attached to her bag, he then bent down so Kimiko could climb onto his back. He then wrapped the rope around each other, he gave a sharp tug before tying a secure knot. Looking back at Kimiko who was resting her head on his shoulders, she gave a firm nod to signal that she was secure.
"Are you sure this is okay, Toriko-san. I'd hate to slow you down."
"Don't worry, Kimi. It's training time for me," he reassured her.
"Training?"
"The beasts here don't have a high capture level, our enemy is the altitude. So you better rest up."
"Okay," Kimiko responded only to stiffen as she saw a large blue gorilla walking towards them. Its size easily being twice the height of Toriko and had razor sharp fangs. "Toriko-san! Up ahead!"
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Air Gorilla (Mammalian Beast) Capture Level 40
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"Oh, there are strong beasts here!" Toriko said completely unfazed at the new creature growling at him. His eyes widened as he saw that a part of the vine had broken off from it's main branch, and had taken a shape of a mouth before taking a bite of the Air Gorilla.
"What's going on?!" Kimiko cried in fear.
"That's a Killer Bean Tree!"
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Killer Bean Tree (Plant Beast) Capture Level 46
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Kimiko shook in fear as she saw that multiple parts of what she thought were vines started to move. The heads of the plants roared before grabbing multiple Air Gorillas that were in the same area. One of the plant heads caught a glimpse of Toriko and Kimiko and headed straight for them.
"There's no avoiding it, hold on tight Kimi!"
"Right!" Toriko avoided one of the plant heads and quickly jumped onto the vine running up. While jumping over the vine heads that were trying to eat them he held his arm back and prepared his attack.
"FLYING FORK!" Toriko yelled as he pinned a the Killer Bean Tree back onto the large vine rendering it immobile. Turning around Toriko ran toward the Air Gorilla that was heading towards them, Toriko sent a swift punch at the Air Gorilla's midsection promptly knocking it off the vine. Toriko quickly jumped as more of the Killer Bean Tree went to attack him.
"LEG KNIFE!" The man exclaimed as he cut the plants away and landed on another vine. The two took a sigh of relief as they were safely away from the other creatures only for the vine they were standing on to move and open its mouth.
That's just not fair, Kimiko thought as Toriko jumped off the vine only for it to send out its vines to wrap around Toriko's leg and swung them out into the open.
"KNIFE!" Toriko yelled as he effectively severed the plant from them. Both of them then started screaming as they realized that they were now falling off the large vine.
"We're falling!" Kimiko panicked as she clung onto Toriko in fear.
"Calm down, Kimi!" Toriko yelled as he pressed a button on his jumpsuit that activated the wingsuit function. Kimi held her breath as Toriko started to glide through the air instead of plummeting downward. "It's a special Flying Squirrel Suit."
"Wow. It feels like we're flying!" Kimiko said as they glided above the clouds. She was broken out of her musings when the sound of crowing reached her ears. Looking toward the sound of the crowing she saw a flock of purple birds with orange beaks flying towards them.
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Drill Bird (Avian Beast) Capture Level 13
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Her eyes widened as she saw the birds fold up their wings and started spinning making them move in a drill-like motion towards them.
"Toriko-san! We've got incoming!" Toriko looked over to where Kimiko was gesturing, only for one of the birds to drill through one of the flaps of the wings on Toriko's suit, it was quickly followed by others. The two watched as the birds that missed the two had turned around and were now aiming for them.
"Got no choice," Toriko sighed, "FLYING KNIFE!" THe birds quickly scattered away as they didn't want to get injured. Kimiko yelped as the two were plummeting downward as Toriko's wingsuit was ruined. Toriko gritted his teeth as he tried to maneuver his body to end up closer to the vine. When he could see he wasn't close enough he quickly started to move his body in a frantic motion, like he was trying to swim towards the outstretched leaf. The two held their breath as Toriko's fingers just slipped past the leaf, which motivated Toriko to swim harder towards the leaf. The two both gave an audible sigh of relief as Toriko managed to grab onto the vine.
"I felt like I lost ten years of my life in that moment," Kimiko sighed
"C'mon Kimi, we've got a lot of ground to cover. Since we fell down here, we've got to make up for it. So hold on tight," Kimiko nodded at Toriko's statement and tightened her grip on his shoulders. Kimiko rested her head on Toriko's shoulder and turned to look at his face. His eyes were set in a determined stare with serious look on his face.
Toriko-san looks really cool, when he's focused, Kimiko blushed as the thought crossed her mind and quickly shook it out of her head. She quietly told herself that she shouldn't be thinking about how attractive her blue haired friend is.
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"Hey, Kimi," Toriko said making Kimiko look up. "You better be prepared to hold on tight, looks like we got a storm brewing." Toriko pointed at the clouds in the distance, the clouds were considerably darker in color and Kimiko could see a flash of lightning among the layer of clouds.
"What is that?" she asked
"That's the forbidden zone of the sky, the cumulonimbus, it's also known as a thunderhead. At their largest they can get up to ten thousand meters tall. With torrential rain and lightning it's definitely one monster cloud!" Toriko explained, "you already have your Lighter Suit on, so just put on a thicker jumpsuit over it, just in case any debris fly at us."
"Okay." While Kimiko was putting on her second set of clothes, she watched as an Air Gorilla from one of the other vines was swept off into the air and disappeared into the dark cloud layer.
"Near the clouds, the air is a turbulent storm," Toriko explained, "We've gotta keep out head in the game, or, we'll be blown away."
"To think, it was sunny just a moment ago. Why did it change so suddenly?"
"The air above the ground became unstable and caused a sudden updraft, which is what created the cumulonimbus. The quick ones will take only a couple minutes to form," Toriko started to fumble through his bag before brightening as he took his hand out, now holding onto a leaf, "There it is, an Oxygen Leaf" He placed it inside a breathing mask before closing it and handing it to Kimiko, "put this on, Kimi."
"What for?"
"It's an oxygen mask, you won't be able to breathe normally from here on. The leaf that's inside there is from a rare Oxygen Tree, even with the smallest amount of sunlight, it'll create oxygen. It takes the carbon dioxide in your breath and converts it using photosynthesis. The leaf will still continue to produce oxygen even after it's been picked for about a month."
"I'm guessing, the leaf will get the light to produce oxygen by the lightning that's in the clouds. Wait, what about you, Toriko-san, are you going to be okay without wearing a mask?"
"Yup. Don't worry, Kimi! Trust in me!" Toriko said as he patted her head, making Kimiko smile before she put on the mask and pulled up the hood of her jumpsuit to wrap around her head. After they tied themselves together he gave her a look to make sure she was okay, she nodded, signing that she was ready.
"Brace yourself." Toriko warned, just then a cold gust started to blow at them, " A patch of negative fifty degree air that the cumulonimbus rams into the ground. A downburst. It's like a freezing bomb!"
"Toriko-san" Kimiko said as she noticed that ice was starting to form on both of them.
"SHIVERING!" Toriko's face started to turn red as he started to vibrate his body at a high velocity. Kimiko started to relax as the ice chunks that were forming on their bodies was starting to melt off. She held on tight as Toriko started to lean on his knee.
"Shivering sure does drain my energy." Toriko muttered, "There's less than half as much oxygen here compared to the surface. I have to be careful about draining my energy, or else." Toriko got on all fours and started to crawl up the vine.
I can't oppose the environment. Follow it, yield to it, adapt to it. Toriko thought, Gotta try and keep as much oxygen in my lungs as possible. Stabilize the oxygen content in my blood
Toriko kept on climbing through the harsh wind for a couple of minutes until the wind suddenly stopped, making the two look up. Kimiko's eyes widened as she spotted large blocks of ice falling towards them.
"Hail?!" Kimiko exclaimed as she gripped onto Toriko's shoulders.
"KNIFE!" Toriko slashed the gigantic ball of ice in half.
"That was as big as one of the icebergs in Ice Hell," Kimiko cried
"Hang on tight! We're going to cut our way through!" Toriko stood up and started running up the vine while avoiding all of the hailstones that were falling. The two were brought to an abrupt halt as a lightning bolt struck the area right in front of where Toriko was running.
"That was too close," Toriko breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they were both safe. He looked back to Kimiko to see that she was hiding her face in his shoulder and she was trembling. "Kimi? Are you okay?"
"Toriko-san," she managed to say after a moment of silence, "I'm scared. This place is extremely outrageous, it's nothing like the other places we've visited. I don't want us to be going to our deaths."
"Kimiko." Toriko said making Kimiko look at him, "Calm down. We're fighting nature, but it's not our enemy. If we calm down and cope with it, we'll make it through, I promise! Let me say this, we didn't come here to die. We're on this journey to eat, and to live!" Toriko took a deep breath and looked up, "There's not much oxygen. Maybe I went a little crazy there." He went to take another breath only for him to see an oxygen mask being offered to him.
"Take it." Kimiko's pained voice said. Toriko quickly looked back to Kimiko, her face was pale as she had no oxygen mask to help her breathe.
"Kimi! What are you doing? You'll die if you do that!" Toriko took the oxygen mask and quickly placed it against Kimiko's face.
"But you need it more than me, you're suffering in this harsh weather. I'm sorry, I doubted you, and my resolve," She managed to say while taking slow breaths
"Kimi." Toriko gave a small smile, "I told you, don't worry about me." He went to fasten the oxygen mask around her face. "Leave it to me,Kimi. Believe in me!"
"Okay!" Toriko grinned at her response and started to run up the vine.
"You better hold on tight, Kimi! We're going to break through the cumulonimbus!" Toriko shouted as the wind started to get rougher around them.
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Kimiko kept her eyes closed as the lightning flashed through the clouds along with being pelted by rain. Her grip on Toriko remained strong while Toriko was crawling up the vine.
"It's so dark, I can't even see. I have to rely on my sense of smell alone," Toriko went to move forward only to be swept off the vine by the strong wind and slammed into another part of the vine. Toriko grunted as he went to move only to be caught off guard by the lightning that struck the vine they were on, destroying it. Toriko quickly tried to steady himself in mid-air while the wind kept on pushing him around.
That's more energy than I thought, Toriko started to struggle as he tried to find something to grab, this is bad I'm starting to lose consciousness.
Snap!
Toriko quickly looked down to see that the rope that kept him and Kimiko together had broken off.
"Kimiko!" Toriko's heart started beating fast at the thought of the chef falling. A second later his mind registered that someone was gripping his looked behind to see that Kimiko was hanging onto Toriko by her bare hands.
"I believe in you, Toriko!" she shouted as she struggled to keep her hold on him. All the frustration that Toriko had in his heart immediately went away at her words. His mind calmed and his thoughts were clear as he knew that his traveling companion had trusted her life to him.
"Leave it to me, Kimiko. You take it easy in this storm of air currents, 'cause you're riding on Toriko Air!" Toriko smiled as he heard Kimiko laugh into his shoulder.
I can't just breathe normally, in this low oxygen environment. I can't let any of the oxygen I breathe in escape, Toriko took a breath, Stop the air from escaping in the upper part of the windpipe. Bring in cold air, freeze the component of air with the highest freezing point, carbon dioxide. Discharge just the carbon dioxide and suck in just the oxygen. This is it! This is how to breathe! Just like the old man said, breath that doesn't turn white even when it's cold. I can't really do it smoothly yet, but this way I can move my body freely. Toriko gently maneuvered himself so that he grabbed a leaf and pulled himself back onto a vine. While walking back up the vine, Toriko stopped as he saw a light in front of him and the weather had calmed down.
"What's happening, the wind died down all of a sudden," Kimiko commented only for both of them to widen their eyes at what was in front of them. A gigantic yellow bird that was illuminating its surrounding with their presence alone.
"The legendary thunderbird, said to live within thunderheads, the Lightning Phoenix!" Toriko exclaimed while Kimiko marveled at the creature in front of her.
"Sorry about this, but I hope you can spare a feather!" the bird only gave a squawk as Toriko plucked one of its feathers as it left.
"It's strange, the sind didn't get anywhere near it," Kimiko said as the weather started to return to being hectic. Lightning flashed again, the electricity getting ready to strike at the two only for it to come in contact with the Lightning Phoenix's feather.
"The feather works just like I thought it would." Toriko grinned, "Let's get to the top, Kimi!"
"Yeah!"
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"The sky's brightening up." Kimiko said as she noticed that that the weather had cleared up.
"That must mean we're close to the top. Hold on Kimi!" Toriko then started running up the vine and quickly launched himself through the last layer of clouds. Once he jumped through they were assaulted by the rays of the sun, Kimiko closed her eyes on instinct of the sudden brightness.
"Look, Kimi!" Kimiko opened her eyes letting them adjust to the sudden brightness. She smiled as she saw green fields of grass growing in the sky. The vast array of foliage that she could see made her heart jump in excitement.
"This is where the vegetable garden of the heavens is, Vegetable Sky," Toriko said as he landed back onto the vine that lead to the grass. Hopping on the last of the vine he gave a pondering face, "Look at this, Kimi. Grass are putting roots into the clouds" He took a deep breath of the air, "It smells like deep, rich, soil. I'm going to step on it."
"Are you sure?" Kimiko gave a slight yelp as Toriko stepped onto the grass. At the shock of them hitting solid ground Kimiko let go of Toriko's shoulder and fell onto the grass. She gave a small laugh as she felt the grass beneath her. Kimiko gave a sigh of relief before lying down on the grass and looking at the blue sky.
"You okay, Kimi?" Toriko went to sit down next to her, she gave a nod signalling that she was fine.
"We did it," Kimiko said, "there was so many times that I feared for my life while climbing that vine. I swear, I thought I died" She then went to sit up and remove her mask and goggles. Toriko's eyes bulged as Kimiko removed her mask and goggles, he saw that a ghostly apparition was trying to leave her body. He looked to see that it reminded him similar to a cartoon ghost that was still connected to their body.
"Kimi! Your soul is trying to leave your body!" he exclaimed while pointing to the spirit that was still attached to Kimiko.
"Well, when we were going up that vine, I kept on seeing my life flash through my eyes over and over again. I'm pretty sure that I saw my previous life too. I guess my heart just couldn't take it anymore." Kimiko's soul said as it floated near Kimiko's pale body.
"Previous Life! Man, you must have been scared," Toriko shook his head, "That doesn't matter! Kimi, get your soul back in your body!"
"It's alright, Toriko-san. Just imagine that my soul isn't out of my body." the ghost waved as if it wasn't a big deal, Toriko sighed before he lifted Kimiko's body in a princess carry and started walking deeper into towards the vegetable garden.
"Toriko-san, although I was scared out of my mind, I remember your words calmed me down. It made me determined to see the Vegetable Sky." Kimiko's soul said making Toriko grin
"I'm the one who should be thanking you. It was dangerous for me in that cumulonimbus, too." He said as he looked down to the chef that he was carrying, "The reason I found the right way to breathe was because you believed in me."
That, and you said my name without any honorifics, Toriko thought, He took another sniff of the air and looked at the clouds that were sitting on top of the grass.
"Is something wrong, Toriko-san?"
"I can smell volcanic ash. These clouds have a large amount of volcanic ash in them, they must have come from the volcanoes on the surface. The ash must have collected to form this cloud. The grass by absorbing the minerals from the ash, then. There are a lot of active volcanoes on the surface around here, and I think Wool Volcano is near here."
"The ash from Wool Volcano is chock full of minerals, no wonder the grass here is doing so well. Not to mention it's warmer up here, since we're in the stratosphere, there's no harsh air current," Kimiko's ghost said
"This is just weird," Toriko muttered before looking at Kimiko's spirit.
"Look Toriko-san, it's a worm!" Toriko looked over to where Kimiko's spirit was pointing to see a translucent worm that was wiggling itself across the grass.
"That's a Mineral Worm. The little master of the fields that only shows up in fertile soil!" He said as he crouched down to look at the little worm. "If this guy's here, then we're close!"
"Vegetable Sky!" Kimiko's soul exclaimed
"That smell, it must be that way!" Toriko started to run while carrying Kimiko's body.
"Wait for me Toriko-san! You're still carrying my body!" Kimiko's soul shouted as she followed right after him. Toriko grunted as he pushed some trees out of his way and then grinned as he saw a large array of vegetables before him. All of them ranging in size and a symphony of colors were laid before him.
"So pretty!" Kimiko soul exclaimed, "It's a vegetable carpet. This is the vegetable garden in the heavens! Vegetable Sky!"
"This is the smell of vegetables!" Toriko took in a deep breath, "It smells just as strong, deep, and rich as grilled meat or fish! It doesn't smell like raw vegetables at all! If anything they smell, fresh, crisp, and refreshing." Toriko started to run over to a daikon radish field and gently laid Kimiko's body on the ground before pulling one of the radishes off the ground. He marveled at the size of the radish as it was a good two to three feet long. "I've never seen a daikon with so much heavy fiver and water content. KNIFE." he peeled the skin of the radish and sliced a segment off for him to taste. "I give thanks to all this world's great bounty, itadakimasu." He took a bite and instantly brightened at the taste, "Delicious! I can't believe how fresh it is! It's like a clear mountain stream gushing out in my mouth, spreading through my body. And then afterwards comes the deep flavor of oden soup broth. And no matter how many times I chew, it's still crunchy! I had no idea that daikon's were this delicious! How are you doing, Kimi?"
"It's delicious!" Kimiko exclaimed, she was completely alive and fine. Her skin had taken on a youthful glow with a clear complexion.
"You're back to normal! And your face is sparkling! How did that happen? Your soul was practically leaving your body!" Toriko yelled
"I think, it's because I ate this cucumber," Kimiko said while munching on the cucumber that she was holding
"Wow, that must be one amazing cucumber," Toriko muttered as he saw Kimiko chewing on the vegetable in pure bliss. He grinned and then patted Kimiko on the head, "C'mon, Kimi. Let's try the other vegetables!"
"Right!" The two ran off to another part of the vegetable garden. Looking at a bunch of tiny pumpkins that were growing in the patch, Kimiko smiled at how cute they were.
"Amazing! There's a ton of Marshmallow Pumpkins!" Toriko said as Kimiko picked up the pumpkin, it was small enough that she could hold it in-between her fingers
"How cute!" Kimiko gave the pumpkin a little squeeze and grinned as it popped back to its regular size. She then plopped the tiny pumpkin into her mouth and melted at the flavor. "They're all fluffy and melt in your mouth!"
"How rich and sweet!" Toriko said as he ate his, "It's like honey was mixed in with it."
The two stood in front a gigantic broccoli tree. Kimiko's eyes widened as she hadn't seen a broccoli that was the size of a tree before.
"A Broccotree! C'mon Kimi!" Toriko picked her up and jumped onto the top of the tree. Taking a huge bite, he instantly moaned at the flavor, "So soft, and has a gentle texture. It's like it's been boiled!"
"Wow! Thousand Island dressing is gushing out!" Kimiko exclaimed as she looked at the area that she took a bite out of.
"There's no way I could stop after one bite." Toriko said as he got dressing all over his face.
"Toriko-san, you're getting dressing everywhere," Kimiko laughed before getting a handkerchief out of her backpack and wiping Toriko's face.
"C'mon, Kimi!" Toriko said as he grabbed her hand, "I saw some spring filled with fried potatoes!" The two traveled over to a spring that was currently holding hot oil that cooking french fries.
"A Potato Spring!" Kimiko said as she looked at it, "Amazing, these are all fried potatoes!" The two sat at the edge as Toriko took a gigantic leaf to fish out the potatoes from the oil.
"Right out of the fryer! Piping hot!" Toriko said before shoving a handful into his mouth, "Hot! Hot! Hot!" he fanned his mouth to cool the fries that were currently in it.
"Toriko-san," Kimiko laughed at her friend's antics before taking one of the fries to eat, "Yum, the natural salt hits the spot!"
"Yeah, it's delicious!" Toriko said while shoving the rest of the fries into his mouth and swallowing them.
"So fast." Kimiko sighed, "C'mon Toriko-san, let's try the tomatoes next!"
"Sure!" The two went over to the vines at where the tomatoes were growing. Kimiko's eyes widened at the size of the tomatoes, as they were bigger than her head. Toriko grinned and picked a tomato for her. After giving a quick thank you she then took a bite and her eyes shine.
"It's sweet!" She exclaimed as she went to take another bite.
"That's cause it's a fruit, that's why!" Toriko said while eating one of the tomatoes he picked. Looking over to Kimiko, he grinned as he saw that she was making a mess of herself from eating the tomato.
"Something wrong?" Kimiko asked, Toriko only grinned before pointing at her face.
"You got a little something on your face," he said making Kimiko touch her face and blushed as she saw that the tomato juice was staining her face. She quickly pulled out her handkerchief to clean up her face, only for Toriko to snatch it from her hands.
"Toriko-san?" Toriko only grinned and wiped her face himself making Kimiko blush.
"Since you cleaned my face, it's only fair that I get to clean yours," he said as Kimiko's face reddened making Toriko laugh. "Don't be embarrassed, Kimi. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Yeah." she said with a flushed face.
"C'mon Kimi, there's tons more to eat here!" Toriko said as he grabbed her hand. Kimiko nodded as she tightened her hold on Toriko's hand.
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That was so embarrassing, Kimiko thought as she was walking back to Toriko. While they had filled themselves up on nutritious food. They had forgotten that healthy foods tend to pass through the digestive systems easily. So when they had finally finished eating, their body's had told them that they needed to relieve themselves.
"I never thought I had to go to the bathroom in a garden in the sky," Kimiko muttered. She gave a sigh and let the warm breeze calm her down. She suddenly looked in the direction that the wind was blowing, as if it was telling her that something was there. Letting her curiosity get to her, Kimiko started to walk over the hill. Her eyes widened as she saw plant that had multiple leaves open in array that made it look like a blooming flower. To Kimiko, the amount of leaves the plant made it look like a rose or a lotus flower in mid-bloom.
"Is that," Kimiko's eyes widened, "The Ozone Herb?"
I've got to tell Toriko-san, Kimiko thought before turning and running towards the blue haired man.
"Toriko-san! Toriko-san! I think I found it!" Kimiko yelled.
Although Kimiko was telling at the top of her lungs, Toriko's focus was completely taken by what he was seeing. For what he saw was a footprint, the footprint that he knew was distinctive to GT Robos.
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Lunamugetsu: Whew, that took awhile to write. Anyway, shout out to Kei Kei Yuki for being inspired to re-watch Toriko, I never thought I'd inspire anyone in my life, but hey good for you. Tell me what you think about the moments in this chapter, I'd really like to know. Please REVIEW!