Lunamugetsu: I do not own Toriko
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"Honey, wake up."
"..."
"Honey, c'mon I made breakfast."
"Breakfast!" Toriko shot up from bed, still dazed as his hair was messy from rolling around in bed. He looked over to his side to see that Kimiko was standing at his bedside. Her hair was in its signature ponytail and she was wearing a frilly apron over her clothes.
"C'mon sleepy head, time for breakfast." she giggled as Toriko sat in bed still dazed.
"Huh?"
"Aren't you hungry, honey?" she said making Toriko even more confused.
"Yeah, I guess I'm just a little sleepy" he said making Kimiko smile.
"C'mon, you wouldn't want the food to get cold," she kissed Toriko on the cheek before turning and leaving the room.
"Uh yeah," he said as he was left alone.
What's going on? Kimiko is acting so sweet to me, more than usual. It's like we're, Toriko smiled, a couple.
"If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up," he said and moved to get out of bed only for his legs to get tangled up in his bedsheets making him fall face first into the ground.
"ACK!" Toriko shouted as he woke up in bed. He blinked as he recognized that he was in his bed and looked over to his side to see that it was empty.
"Ah man! It was too good to be true! Of course that was a dream!" Toriko shouted as he fell back against his pillow. "Wait, where's Kimi?" He looked over to the empty side of the bed. He could smell that she was in the bed, but he could feel that the bed was cold indicating that she had woken up awhile ago. Getting out of bed he noticed that the shirt that he had given to Kimiko to where was folded up and placed on his nightstand. Walking out of his room and heading towards the kitchen he gave a shout for the chef only to receive silence in response. When he walked into the kitchen, he didn't see anybody in there.
That's strange, he thought as he looked around only to see a note on the fridge.
Thank you for letting me stay the night. Sorry I couldn't greet you in the morning, but I have work today, so I asked Terry to take me and Yun home so that I could get ready. I made sure to cook you a big breakfast before I left, I put it in the oven to keep it warm. Feel free to come over at the Hotel Gourmet if you want more of my cooking, I'll make sure to prepare you a feast!
From, Kimiko
Toriko gave a smile at Kimiko's note and opened the oven to see an array of dishes that were being kept warm. Stacks on stacks of pancakes, dozens of sausages along with strips of bacon, tons of crispy hashbrowns, with a large plate full of scrambled eggs, accompanied by a mountain of toasted bread.
"Looks good!" Toriko drooled as he took out the plates and put it on the table. Before he dug into the food, he heard Terry barking as she walked into the kitchen. "Hey Terry, how was Kimiko and Yun?" Terry gave a bark as she sat beside him. He then looked at his phone and then back at Kimiko's note. He placed his fork down and picked up his phone, dialing a number that he was familiar with.
"Yes, I would like to make a reservation."
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Kimiko hummed as she and Yun walked into the Gourmet Hotel. Her penguin partner was merrily chirping as he waddled alongside her. She gave a smile as Yun greeted everyone as she went into the locker room. After a quick change she headed to the kitchen to help with prepping the food.
"Morning Chef Kimiko!" Daisuke greeted as she walked into the kitchen with the other chefs.
"Hey, Daisuke-san," she greeted back as she took out her knife set, grabbing her trusty knife, honing it before going off to cut the vegetables.
"Hello everyone," Shigeo greeted as he walked into the kitchen, taking the empty spot beside Daisuke to help in preparing the food. The staff all greeted him back in return.
"By the way, Chef Kimiko," Daisuke said getting her attention.
"Yes," she answered
"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened the other day with your combo partner?"
Kimiko blushed and gave a small laugh as she recalled the scene of her crying and running into Toriko's arm.
"Well, it's a situation based on a lack of communication," She tried to explain to them.
"~Ah, some relationship troubles, Chef Kimiko~," Gin teased only to keel over as Shin elbowed him in his side.
"Don't tease people for your own amusement, Gin," Shin scolded
"It's fine, Shin-san, teasing is just in Gin-san's nature," Kimiko reassured him, "And besides Toriko-san and I talked it out, there's nothing wrong anymore."
"Congratulations, you solved a problem in one day, that most shoujo anime would take weeks to fix," Gin joked as Shin handed him a basket filled with tablecloths.
"Amazing, what talking does, right." Kimiko quipped as she julienned the almond cabbages.
"Chef Kimiko, you have to head to the rooftop kitchen" the hotel manager said as he stuck his head into the kitchen.
"Huh? Did someone make a reservation for the rooftop?" she asked.
"Toriko-san requested you to make his food," the manager said.
"Okay, I'll make the appropriate preparations," she told him.
"Thank you, Chef Kimiko," the manager said before leaving.
"I thought the manager always made the preparations," Shigeo asked
"When it comes to Toriko-san, I always help out," she answered, "It's the least I can do."
"Yeah, especially when you disappear on those food adventure things he always drags you along," Gin piped in.
"It'd probably be even more frequent now that you two are combo partners. If this keeps up, the manager might keel over from stress" Shin said making Kimiko give a nervous laugh.
"C'mon let's not joke about that, I'm going to go make sure that the rooftop kitchen is stock," she said before leaving, Yun following right behind her.
"Man, I wish I could have a partner that reserves a hotel rooftop just to spend time with me," Gin sighed only for Shin to grab him by the collar and drag him back to work
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Kimiko hummed to herself as she washed the strawberrice before placing it into the rice cooker. She looked over at Yun who gave a chirp as she turned on rice cooker. In the baby wall penguins hand was a floatie that he had grabbed by the pool.
"Huh? Oh, do you want to go play in the pool?" she guessed making the penguin nod, "Normally, I'd say no, but Toriko-san probably wouldn't object to you playing with the pool."
"Play with what?" a voice piped in making Kimiko look up to see Toriko walking onto the rooftop, with a gigantic sandwich that was currently in his mouth.
"Toriko-san! You're early!"
"Well, Terry and I finished up hunting earlier than usual, so I just dropped myself off here," he explained before shoving the rest of the sandwich into his mouth.
"Well could Yun play in the pool while I prepare your food," she asked.
"Sure, I don't mind," he said making Kimiko smile before patting Yun on the head making the penguin chirp.
"Remember to be careful, okay Yun." she reminded the penguin making chirp before diving into the pool with his floatie.
"It's like you're a doting mother," Toriko laughed as he ruffled Kimiko's hair making the chef pout. "By the way, thanks for making me breakfast."
Kimiko perked up at his statement and gave him a smile, "It's the least I could do, I hope the food was good."
"It sure was," Toriko said, "I ate it all in under a minute!"
"Why does that not surprise me," Kimiko sighed, "C'mon, I'll make you something to eat. Any requests?"
"Since you're cooking it, any food is fine," he said as he watched Kimiko heat up an oiled skillet and placed a slab of meat in it. Before he could say anything the rice cooker dinged and released a stream of steam. Kimiko grinned and opened the cooker revealing the bright red strawberrice that she had placed in there.
It's so nice, that these cook so fast, Kimiko thought to herself as she looked at the rice..
"Ah! Is that strawberrice! It looks delicious!"
"Yup! And it's piping hot too!" Kimiko replied before closing the rice cooker and quickly turned back to her stove to flip over the slice or meat that she was cooking.
"Now for the Spiced Beefsteak to finish cooking," she said making Toriko drool at the sight of the cooking meat. He felt a tugging on his pant leg and looked down to see Yun with an innertube around his mid-section.
"Uh, something wrong?" He watched as Yun flapped his arms up and down and gestured towards the tube, "Wait. Are you stuck!" Yun nodded his up and down making Toriko sigh. He knelt down and gestured for the penguin to hold his arms up so he could try and pry the innertube off of him. After a couple of moments of prodding with the innertube he was able to slip it off the penguin. He gave a sigh as the penguin just danced as if nothing happened at all. Once he stood up he saw an array of plates with steaming hot foods right in front of him.
"That looks good!" he drooled making Kimiko laugh.
"C'mon Toriko-san, dig in!" Toriko immediately cut into the Spiced Beefsteak and placed it in his mouth.
"Delicious! Tender meat that melts in your mouth, made even more stimulating with several kinds of spices. I can't even begin to describe the flavor!"
"I grilled this too." Kimiko placed a plate that held of cob or steaming corn that was on a bone.
"Ah! Corn on the Bone! What a savory aroma!" He took a huge bite of it, "Cornlike sweetness is overflowing from the meaty kernels."
"It's nice to be able to cook for you," Kimiko said as she leaned against the counter, "Especially since you went off to the Gourmet World, even though your father told you that you needed more training."
"I needed to see it for myself or else I wouldn't have been satisfied," He explained, "But how did you even know I went to the Gourmet World."
"That's because Sunny-san told me. He told me that even your life might be in danger there, so he gave me Jiro-san's contact information," she said
"Freaking Sunny," Toriko muttered as he finished the last of the Corn on the Bone.
Well, it is true that the Gourmet World was a hell of a place, He thought.
"Still that bastard Sunny" He grumbled, "He lied to me, claiming that the Gourmet World was no big deal." He looked over at Kimiko who was getting out another skillet, "It wouldn't surprise me if he was using this as a chance to get me out of the picture."
"Get you out of the what?" Kimiko turned her head to look at Toriko, "I didn't get the last of that sentence."
"It's nothing, Sunny's a freaking asshole," Toriko complained making Kimiko smile.
"Sunny-san was worried about you, too. That's why he told me you were heading for the Gourmet World, Toriko-san." She said as Toriko frowned,
"Well he's the one who told me how to get into the Gourmet World. I'm sure he thought it would be 'unbeautiful' to be the one to call in the calvary."
"Is that why he came to visit me," Kimiko sighed, "In any case, the most important thing is that you came back." she handed him a mountain of strawberrice.
"Awesome!" he took his chopsticks and started to inhale the rice, "It's got just the right amount of sourness, like vinegared rice and the more you bite into it the more the sweetness of the strawberry comes out! This rice is like a dessert! Delicious!"
"Anyway, let's celebrate your safe homecoming," She said as Yun grabbed an ingredient that looked like a bunch of bananas from the pantry and handed it to her. She smiled before thanking Yun, "I'll cook all of my best dishes for you."
"I can't wait!" Toriko said as Kimiko peeled the banana ingredient and sliced it up in a quick fashion before placing it onto a hot skillet. "That's a Roast Banana! That's one of my favorites!"
"I'll put some Caramel Caviar on top." she plated the cooked banana and took a scoop of the Caramel Caviar and placed it on top. Toriko was practically drooling a waterfall as she handed him the plate. He picked up the Roast Banana and shoved it into his mouth before giving a cry.
"Delicious!" his eyes practically shined at the flavor.
"The Century Soup is almost ready!" she said as she stirred a pot. Toriko and Yun both stared at the aurora that the soup created. Kimiko gave a giggle as she saw both of them. She gave a smile as she served them dish after dish. Both of them being in complete bliss as she gave them more food. After several courses, Yun was currently waddling around while nursing a full stomach. Kimiko gave a giggle as Yun finally sat down and gave a sigh of being content.
"I sure am glad that we became partners," Toriko said as he poured himself a glass of wine while Kimiko was washing the dishes.
"By the way, Toriko-san." she said getting his attention, "How did the ingredients in the Gourmet World taste?" Toriko swirled the liquid in the wine glass before taking a sip.
"I didn't eat anything in the Gourmet World."
"Really!" she exclaimed
"Yeah."
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FLASHBACK
Toriko sat across from Jiro as the man cooked some shells on a leaf.
"Look at these Toriko," Jiro said as he held out the shells that had the design of cured ham across the shell. "Ham Shells. Rare, right. It's not every day you can eat an ingredient in the Gourmet World."
Toriko gave a grin as he looked at Jiro, "Thanks, but I'll pass."
Jiro gave a smile in turn, "I understand."
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"W-Why?" she asked, "You're more of a glutton than anyone, Toriko-san. I thought you'd jump at the chance to eat anything there?"
"I thought I'd wait 'til I could eat with you." he answered, "I'm sorry that I went into the Gourmet World alone, without so much as a note. I'm sorry that I made you worry."
"It's okay, I know you didn't mean to," Kimiko reassured him.
"The Gourmet World is a more complicated, profound land than I thought. It would be difficult to understand everything there and conquer it with my strength alone." he looked straight at the chef, "Kimiko, I need your power."
"Toriko-san."
"As for the Gourmet World's food. Kimi, let's join forces and eat together!" Toriko cheered
"Yes, Toriko-san!" Kimiko answered back with a smile as the aura around her became warm.
Ah, there's the warm and fluffy atmosphere again, Toriko thought as Kimiko rolled back her sleeves.
"Alright! I'm fired up, I've got enough energy to make a feast!" Kimiko said as she grabbed her knife.
"Yeah! Go for it, Kimi!" Toriko cheered her on while Yun watched with him.
"It won't take long!" she told him as she chopped up ingredient after ingredient each of them all being uniformly sliced, one after the other.
"Wow, she's really going to town," Toriko commented
SHKLANG!
Everyone paused as the blade of Kimiko's knife snapped off its handle and fell to the ground.
"NOOOO!" Kimiko screamed as she ran over and picked up the blade, "M-My knife!"
"Wait a minute, isn't that a Don Acorn!" Toriko looked at the hard shelled ingredient that was roughly the size of a basketball, "Its shell is so hard that it takes a special hammer to crack open!"
"I made such a stupid mistake," Kimiko cried as she gingerly handled the knife, "Even though it was my prized knife." Yun chirped as he walked to stand next to her.
"It could have been worn after years of use. Either way, it's broken and there's nothing you can do about it. You'll just have to buy a new one." He said
"I-I know that this knife wasn't expensive or anything, but it was the first knife I ever bought with my own money that I saved up while I was in training. I can't count the number of ingredients that I've used this knife on over the years. This knife helped me grow, it was with me every step of the way. I am where I am now thanks to this knife. There are so many memories!" she cried as she looked at the broken blade,"Thank you! You've worked so hard for me. You've always been there for me when I needed you!"
Kimiko's sincere heart when it comes to objects may be the source of her ability to hear the voices of ingredients, Toriko thought as he looked at the crying chef.
"A knife, eh," A thought struck him, "That's right!" Kimiko and Yun both turned to look at Toriko as he took out a piece of paper.
"Isn't that."
"The list of ingredients that the old man asked me to capture." Toriko finished as he opened it, "There was a name in here that got my attention." He pointed it out to her, "Melk Stardust."
"Wait, could you be referring to the Knife Sharpener Melk, whose knives are what every chef dreams of!" Kimiko exclaimed.
"I've never heard of this ingredient called Melk Stardust myself, but if there is a connection to the Knife Sharpener Melk, then maybe he knows something about it. Apparently, Melk lives on the rocky Melk Mountain, which people stay away from. What do you think, Kimi? While we search for Melk Stardust, maybe you can have Melk make you a new knife."
"Really?!" Kimiko exclaimed as she wiped her face, "I'm all for it! I'll get to meet Knife Sharpener Melk!"
"Yun?" the baby wall penguin chirped as he looked at Kimiko.
"Oh. I'll bring you back a souvenir, so don't get into any trouble while I'm gone." Kimiko knelt down and rubbed his head, "I'll ask Tina if you can stay over at her place."
"Yeesh, and you were sobbing up a storm a minute ago." Toriko joked.
"Well I'm thrilled that our first trip together after becoming partners is one where I get a new knife!" She said
"Well, searching for the ingredient is the main thing for me. But this Melk Stardust," Toriko paused, "I have a feeling it won't be so easy to get our hands on."
Telling the manager about this isn't going to be easy either, Kimiko thought as she patted Yun's head.
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In the IGO's office that was on the tallest pillar, with no walls or roof to cover the office. There was only office furniture that was placed on the open area, with only a row of bushes that marked the edges of the pillar. The president Ichiryuu sat at his chair looking at the report that he had just received from Life Basin.
"Geez, what the hell is Toriko doing?" he muttered, "That reckless kid."
"Hey! I'm here!" a voice boomed as another man walked into the office. Ichiryuu grinned as he saw the man wearing a bandana and sporting a long white coat with multiple splatters of red that colored it along with that piece of wood that he'd always smoke.
"You're late, Yosaku! How long were you going to make me wait?!" Ichiryuu scolded as the man went over to sit at the couch.
"Rules are made to be broken," Yosaku said, "But I kept my promise to come here, didn't I ?"
"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"So.." Yosaku took a long drag of his cigar, "what about Toriko?"
"According to a report from checkpoint 18. Toriko entered the Gourmet World without any special training. How reckless can he be." the president sighed.
"Toriko knows about breaking rules, too." Yosaku said, "I'm sure he couldn't just sit around and do nothing about hearing that GOD is going to appear in the Gourmet World soon. GOD, the summit of all this world's ingredients. It seems Toriko means to put GOD on his Full Course of Life Menu. And to make matters worse, the Bishokukai, is after GOD too. Besides, all my efforts to stop Sunny were for nothing too. He went into the Gourmet Word and was lucky to make it back out alive. He finally felt guilty when that chef friend of his went to go check up on him. The Four Kings are a pretty interesting bunch."
"Well, I can think of one who's a lot more trouble than the others," Ichiryuu muttered, "Wait, chef friend?"
"Oh you've met her, the little squirt that Toriko formed a combo with. Although Sunny always gets angry whenever I mention that."
"Interesting," Ichiryuu grinned making Yosaku raise a brow.
"You're not getting any weird ideas are you?"
"Of course not," Ichiryuu stood up, " Anyway we'll have to take measures before going to the Gourmet World, won't we?"
"Yeah."
"Then shall we go?"
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Kimiko gave a sigh as she followed Toriko as he walked down the rocky path.
"Something wrong, Kimi?" Toriko asked
"Uh, it's nothing" She sighed.
"Is this about what happened at the hotel when you left." Toriko said making Kimiko freeze.
"Uh, I don't know," she said turned her head away from Toriko.
"You're a bad liar," he teased making the chef sigh.
"Well I feel bad, especially since I left on such short notice," Kimiko said as she remembered telling the hotel manager that she was leaving.
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"NOOO!" the manager cried as he clung to the chef preventing her from leaving. "You can't leave! You just got here!"
"I'm sorry, but I broke my kitchen knife, I can't prepare food without a knife." Kimiko told him only for the manger to shake his head.
"We'll just buy you another knife, you can't leave!" he pleaded only for Toriko to gently pry them apart.
"C'mon, Kimi, we gotta go," Toriko said as he hauled her over his shoulder and started to leave.
"Sorry, I'll make sure to work extra hard when I come back!" Kimiko told him as the manager cried out for her to come back.
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"It just makes me feel bad that I cause the manager so much stress," She sighed only for Toriko to pat her head.
"There, there, look on the bright side, you're going to be able to meet Melk," he said making Kimiko's eyes sparkle at the prospect.
"That would be amazing!" she gushed, "I wonder what kind of awesome techniques I'll be able to see, just to be able to see them would let me die happy!"
"It'll be my first time meeting him too, but I hear he's quite a dynamic guy." he told her, "In order to test the sharpness of the knives he makes, Melk slices apart huge beasts. He also traverses extremely dangerous areas to mine natural whetstones. And his body is covered with scars from cuts by his own are the rumors, anyway."
"Those were rumors?" She asked
"Melk knives are famous, but the man himself never appears in public," he explained, "so the various rumors about him have taken on a life of their own."
"So Melk's a charismatic cutler that nobody knows, huh?"
"Well most of his requests are taken by mail and some say he hates people altogether. That could be the reason he lives in this isolated area deep in the mountains."
"Melk-san is the epitome of a brilliant craftsman, so they must be really proud of their work." Kimiko reasoned..
"Anyhow, we won't get anywhere until we meet this Melk face to face. That goes for Melk Stardust and getting him to make you a new knife. But to do that, we have to climb this first." he stopped as they came across a staircase that must have been made for a giant as it extended for miles upon miles the ending being out of Kimiko's peripheral view.
"What is this huge staircase?!" she exclaimed
"This is Melk Mountain. They said that Melk himself carved out the stairs." he said
"Just how high is this mountain?! I can't even see the peak! Just how many steps are there?"
"The elevation is 4,000 meters, so I guess there are about 20,000 steps to the top."
"20,000 steps," Kimiko started to shake, "I've never climbed any kind of staircase like that!"
"It should be a cinch compared to Vegetable Sky, right?" Toriko laughed, "Well, let's go!
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Kimiko took a breath as she grabbed the next step and heaved her body over to get onto it. She panted before looking up to see that Toriko was a good couple of steps ahead of her.
"Toriko-san, wait for me! Please, don't leave me behind!" She cried
"You getting tired already? We haven't even been climbing for an hour!" Toriko yelled as he looked down at her.
"Don't you think the steps of this staircase are exceedingly large," She complained before pulling herself over another step.
"Maybe this is the perfect size for Melk!" Toriko laughed, "He's probably like a giant, huh?"
"Well the only person I've ever seen that was huge was Knocking Master Jiro." Kimiko sighed.
"C'mon Kimi! Let's go!" he shouted as he easily scaled the large steps.
"Wait for me!" She yelled as she tried to catch up
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Kimiko panted as she climbed another step, the sky was colored orange as the sun was about to set. She gave a groan as she saw that they were nowhere near the summit of the mountain. She didn't even think that they were at the halfway point.
Just what kind of person is Melk-san, to make such a ridiculously large and long staircase. Could it be that Melk-san made these stairs so that they could concentrate on their work in peace, she thought.
"Wait a minute," she said, "Why can't we just fly to the top by plane?"
SCREECH!
Kimiko looked at the sky to see humongous birds that had lobster claws as wings and had a squid body with tentacles as tailes.
"Oh that why," she sighed, "This is a common theme with having monster infested skies, no wonder planes get through here."
"Hey Kimi," Toriko said getting her attention, "Why don't we camp out here 'til morning?"
"Sure, let me just, uh, catch up to where you are!" she gave a sigh before going up another step to reach Toriko.
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Kimiko hummed as Toriko tended to the fire that he made by using one of the rocks on the side of the steps, she stared as the meat that she had placed down to cook was browning.
"The rocks here are filled with sulfur, so they're perfect for making a fire with," he told her before sitting down next to her.
"Toriko-san," she said getting the blue haired man's attention, "do you really think Melk-san will make me a new knife?" she handed him one of the cooked skewers of meat.
"Well, you won't know 'till you ask him," he said
"A lot of craftsman are ill tempered to begin with, " she pondered, "What'll I do if I suddenly intrude on him and make him mad at me?"
"If you offend him, just pray he doesn't test out one of his Melk knives on you," he joked making Kimiko pout, he smiled. "Tomorrow, when we reach Melk's workshop at the summit, we'll find out if he'll make the knife for you and whether or not he has any information on Melk Stardust."
"Yeah, that's true." she sighed
"And at worst, you can always buy a new knife at a gourmet department store. It doesn't matter if you have the best knife, I know you'll always make delicious food," he patted her head making Kimiko laugh.
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"EEEEEEEEKK!" Kimiko screamed as she ran from a bunch of harry beasts that were crawling towards her.
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Furnip (Mammalian Beast) Capture Level 15
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"Furnips, huh? They're cousins of monkeys that live in mines," Toriko said, " that must mean that the there's a grindstone extraction ste in this area! Melk's workshop must be nearby!"
"Great!" she screamed before tripping at climbing a step making her come face to face with a pile of bones. "Oh I did not see myself going out like this." She turned her head as she heard the Furnip roar as it jumped up to pounce at her. She closed her eyes in fear, that was when she felt something wrap around her waist and yank her out of the way.
"Kimi, you okay?" he said as they ran away from the Furnip.
"I feel like death is closer than the workshop," she cried, "Is there a reason why you aren't fighting them?"
"The thing is," Toriko said as he put her on his back, "These guys aren't tasty at all!"
"Basically you don't wanna fight unless it involves eating afterward. Huh"
"Exactly," he said
ROAR!
The pair stopped as they saw a pack of animals at the top of the stairs They were hunched over quadrupeds that had rows of sharp teeth and long hairs that covered their bodies.
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Rock Wolves (Mammalian Beast) Capture Level 18
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"There are more in front of us," Kimiko cried.
"Those are Rock Wolves!" Toriko grunted as he looked back and forth between the creatures that were cornering them/ He took a step back before jumping over the pack of Rock Wolves and scaling the stairs. "Hey Kimi! There it is! The top!"
"Great!" she shouted. Toriko then paused in his ascent on the stairs, confusing Kimiko, "What's wrong?"
"They've suddenly stopped chasing us." Kimiko looked behind seeing that both the Rock Wolves and the Furnips were staying where they were.
"It's true," Kimiko said as Toriko let her down.
I get it, Toriko thought as he looked at the top of the stairs, They don't want to get near the summit, where Melk is. Even though their capture levels are nothing to sneeze at. What kind of man is Melk?
"Toriko-san," Kimiko said getting his attention, making him look at Kimiko who was currently heaving herself over a step, "Let's go!" Toriko gave a grin as he saw that Kimiko was currently trying to lift her leg to hook herself over the step.
"You need some help?" he asked
"Uh, no it's okay, I can do this, I just need a second," she blushed as she heard Toriko give a small laugh. "Don't judge me! I'm just a bit tired after running for my life!" her outburst only made Toriko laugh more which in turn made the chef glare at her combo partner.
"Sorry," he took a breath to calm himself down, "C'mon, let's just give you a boost." he went and grabbed her waist and lifted her up onto the next step.
"Thank you," she pouted as Toriko effortlessly jumped onto the next step.
"C'mon Kimi, just a couple more steps to go!"
"Yeah!"
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"It's official, I hate stairs," Kimiko panted as she finally reached the very top of the mountain. She then looked around to see a stone house that was in a shape of an igloo. There was steam coming out of the chimney indicating that there was somebody inside. At the side of the house there was a tall tree where the leaves had all come together to form a ball at the top. She gave a smile as she looked at the building in front of her " This is Melk-san's workshop!"
"That's strange, shouldn't there be a sign?" Toriko said as he stood beside her. He then became alert as he felt something head towards him.
What is this sharp fighting spirit?! He thought as Kimiko walked towards the house.
"Well since Melk is such a world renowned Knife Sharpener so there's probably no need to put up a sign, right?" she tried to reason.
Is Melk working right now? He thought, But that fighting spirit I felt.. If it was aimed at us
"Kimiko!" he shouted making Kimiko pause in front of the door.
STOMP
Kimiko and Toriko turned their heads to look at a giant bipedal creature with scales covering its entire body. It had one eye and sharp teeth with a forked tongue.
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Scale Kong (Mammalian Beast) Capture level 22
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"That's a Scale Kong!" Toriko yelled, "Could a creature with its level have climbed up?" Kimiko held her breath as the Scale Kong gave a roar before charging towards them.
SHIIING!
It's that fighting spirit from before! He thought.
"Scale Shave!" in a moment the Scale Kong paused only for most of its scales to fall off its body leaving only pale naked skin to see. The Scale Kong gave a screech before covering up its body and running away.
"I've still got a ways to go." Toriko and Kimiko looked behind them, "It looks like there are a few scales left." the two looked at the figure in blue as they walked past them, "I'm guessing it's around 30% perfection."
"W-Wait! You're the one who did that?" Toriko asked
"Yeah, that's right." they said.
"I see. So the fighting spirit that was as sharp as a knife belonged to you, eh. Then you were on guard against the Scale Kong, from the start. " Toriko said, "That technique you used to remove all those giant scales at once. You've got quite the way with knives. So who are you? A disciple of Melk's?"
Fighting spirit? Kimiko thought only to hear the person scoff.
"Disciple?" they said, "I am Melk! Knife Sharpener Melk!"
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Lunamugetsu: it's been awhile since I've updated, if you're wondering, I did a rewrite of chapters 1 and 2. Nothing really serious changed, but I did add a scene to each of the chapters, but nothing really magor that you wouldn't be able to live without reading. I'll be rewriting some of the other chapters when I can, but I will still update this story.
Kimiko: Thank you for sticking with the story.
Lunamugetsu: Yeah especially since you'll be seeing someone naked soon.
Kimiko: Wait, what?
Lunamugetsu: Yeah, there's also going to be a scene where you're going to be naked too.
Kimiko: Wait! I need context! What's going on?!