sarmadsadiq95: It's nice. And unlike Puss, the MC isn't keen on reincarnating again with all the trauma and stress that comes with it. At least Death's battle with him is shorter in a sense.

Re: Death's "battle" with Takei is less-personal than with Puss. Puss, shat away eight of his lives in… the Running of the Bulls in Barcelona… Poker with Dogs, his Drunk German Phase, his Mustachioed Muscle-Man Phase, that thing with the Cannon, his Shellfish Allergy, the Baking Incident, and most-recently that thing with the Giant and the Church Bell. For Takei, someone else had a hand in his "Second Life", but Death still finds it offensive. Just not as-offensive as Puss' was.

Dragon2234: I'm going to be honest I didn't like the chapter and I'm just gonna consider it non cannon or that it didn't happen.

Re: Ironically or unironically, Fujimi Yomi also questions the nebulous canonicity of her own "Back from the Dead Arc"~

beenjammin0421: I honestly was not a big fan of this chapter. I think it would have been better if you focused more On the main character and his interaction with death. Is him grappling with his changing identity between his old self and his new life? May be switching back-and-forth. Between his bodies and death, offering him a way to just end his suffering.

Re: Unlike most "Isekai Protag-kuns" that just brush aside the Existential Crisis of the whole thing, it's always bugged Takei because he didn't get any real sort of closure on it until then. And Death wouldn't "offer" him a way out; people are always moving towards him, he just has to sit and wait for it to happen.

Raidentensho: nice. so a bit from Devil Man, huh? sweet. though I was expecting some shout-outs from Saint Seiya from some fallen ones in armor. still, not bad at all. also wonder if his own quirk would have a jump-start after getting taken to the Villian Factory. this is indeed awesome. until then, later!

Re: Never saw Devil Man. This (as in the previous Chapter) was a mix of Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary with a splash of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and a little lore from My Hero Academia thrown in. I had a ton of fun adding the snippets about All for One in there, and MHA has toed the line into Supernatural territory with the "Vestiges" and the like. And it isn't just the Vestiges inside of [One for All]; when Stars & Stripes fucked with All for One and his eponymous Quirk, the "Vestiges" attached to the Quirks themselves that he'd stolen also fucked him up, but that in of itself links kinda well to the whole "Aiua" and "Philote" thing I took from Ender's Game to add a little science to the sci-fi-style reincarnation spiel that a post-post-post-series Clank pulled.
Don't know why Saint Seiya would be referenced, since if anything it'd be "fiction-within-the-fiction".
As for the Villain Factory, Takei would only get "Dr. Frankenstein'd" into a "Next Level" if what Trigger did to him, was impressive-enough to warrant the time, effort, and resources it would've taken to kidnap and bio-engineer him into a body that can HANDLE higher doses of Trigger. Once the Trigger wears off, the Power goes away but the body "remains". And that's what I really liked about the whole thing; getting to see how the Nomu came to be from the Prototyping Stage, all the way up to that panel with the "Anti-Symbol of Peace" in its Cultivation Fluid.

Jin Shirinue: I've been enjoying this but it's not going to feel like Ratchet and Clank until someone is wielding a gun bigger than their torso that does something insanely over the top. Like launch black hole inducing grenades, fire a dozen heat seeking shurikens at once, or turn people into sheep.

Re: I actually have his first "BFG" in mind~ It's a continuation of how he met Mei-chan, while also introducing another of the cast from MHA.
The tricky part is setting up the circumstance without it feeling like an ass-pull.

*AHA*

The first thing I noticed when I came to, albeit behind closed eyelids, was the familiar, too-familiar, chime of hospital equipment. I had a needle in my arm, another somewhere… less-than-pleasant… Instead of the smell of antiseptic I'd been expecting, the scent that assailed my nostrils instead was of shampoo; lavender-scented with a musty 'aftersmell'.

My eyes opening, lids creaking from being closed for who-knew-how-long, the space immediately before me was darker than it should've been, a curtain of white above my eyes, with a curtain of black in the opposite direction.

Of course, once the last of the "coma-lag" evaporated, I realized that someone had captured my lips from the left side with their own; chaste, yet desperate.

" . . . 'Omi. 'Y're u 'issing 'e?" I asked around the Undying Girl's lips as they held my own. Her silver eyes snapping open and regarding me with startled intensity, as she held my lips with her own, her face began to redden.

After turning redder and redder still for several seconds, she seemed to finally get her wits about her and leapt back with a yelp. Tripping over something I couldn't see and falling to the floor, the odd limb flying about, I was immediately reminded of bowling pins; all that was missing was the sound effect.

As I struggled to sit up, part of me was tempted to say- "Nice kiss." -, you know, as a reference. But I'm not sure it'd come off quite the same from the lips of a twelve-year-old…

"T-T-T-T-T-T-Takei-kun!" Yomi yelped as she flailed about on her remaining limbs. "I-I-It wasn't my idea! Shiori and Kuromi-chan s-s-said that kiss would help wake you up!"

"And why would the two of them come to that conclu-"

Of course, as soon as I said that, I remembered; before my little nap, I'd introduced Shiori and Kuromi to Yuyu Hakusho as part of our unofficial "Retro Manga Appreciation Club".

Since everyone was so up-the-ass of quote/unquote "real Heroes", it seemed like a perfect way to keep most folk out of our hair. We could talk about old manga from back when they were actually good, back before everything turned into a soulless copy of a soulless copy of a soulless copy of yet another soulless copy as people got less and less imaginative. I'd have been fine even with the surplus of Isekai sub-genre as the intervening decades tacked by, but everything just got so damn boring the closer to the 23rd century we got. And the only reason I could actually see the drop in quality over the intervening decades was because I had the one thing even the lowliest of Isekai Protagonists had to their names.

Perspective.

Still glad I didn't wake up to Botan of all people. My life's complicated enough without having to worry about world-destroying Demons.

Humans can cause enough damage as it is.

"T-Takei-kun! You're awake!"

My eyes turning to the doorway, I found Elma standing there, her expressive slit-pupiled eyes going watery as the armful of packaged bread she was holding fell to the floor, her hands going to her lips as the waterworks started.

"I'm back," I replied with a smile, letting out a startled squawk as she and Yomi both lunged at me, knocking the air from my lungs. "Can't breathe! Can't breathe!"

"Oh? Well look who's awake?" a familiar voice said through a grin, my eyes peering over Elma and Yomi's sobbing forms to see Doppel, her 'Chocolate Loli Form' clad in the Damoto Chugako's female uniform, standing in the doorway.

"Doppel… How long was I out…?" I asked as I yanked the oxygen mask off of my neck from where Yomi had moved it when she… Ahem.

"Bout a week," she replied, the sound of hurried footsteps coming up from the hallway. "Oi, give the kid a minute. And some breathing room," she said closing the door behind her. "By the way, that's an impressive coma boner you got there~"

"Coma what?" I deadpanned as I looked at the mound under my sheets. Yomi's face going red as she looked at it while Elma was largely unresponsive, I threw the covers aside revealing a familiar black-and-white form.

"Bub-kun! You came back!" Yomi squealed happily as she hugged the white-faced cat to her budding bosom.

"Hold up, isn't that the cat that died when you were a little girl? You know, the one from your flashback?" Shiori blinked, making her presence known.

"This is getting way too meta…" Kuromi groaned as she held her head.

As the doctors and nurses at the door demanded admittance, I took stock of my situation. I was in a windowless room, but I immediately recognized the architecture of the HPSC headquarters. Off to the side was a single-person cot, well-used, alongside a couple of suitcases with clothes spilling out. Yomi and Elma's clothes were both rumpled and they smelled a tiny bit ripe, whereas Shiori and Kuromi were fresh as daisies, their schoolbags off to the side. I was getting some Archer Season 10 vibes from all this, so I immediately came to the conclusion that Yomi and/or Elma had been by my bedside the entire time, whereas the others had been commuting.

At least I was only down a week instead of three years, which had me wondering what the hell this body… my body I reminded myself, was even made of. Or were baseline humans in this superhuman society just more-durable than their pre-Paranormality counterparts? I haven't seen or heard of any Quirkless Heroes quite on the level of Batman so I couldn't be 100% sure what "Peak Human" even was anymore.

The closest that came to mind were Kotetsu Kaburagi and Barnaby Brooks Jr., but they were borderline-superhuman in order to get the most out of their [Hundred Power]. Unless you were a beyond-Olympic-level athlete, you wouldn't get the steel-bending feats that Wild Tiger frequently displayed.

Off on the other side of the room, I noticed a small mountain of flowers and get-well notes, whom I assumed were from all my friends in 1-A. A touching gesture really.

Before I could give the notes the once-over they deserved, the door finally opened allowing doctors to spill into the room, and the first thing that was blurted out was-

"Who let that cat in here?!" one of them asked as Bub-kun, far warmer but still just-as-fluffy as he had been in Yomotsu Hirasaka, rubbed himself up under my chin.

"He's an emotional support animal. How else would he have gotten past the front desk," I said as I made a poignant show of stroking the cat.

"Um… That's fair, I guess…" the doctor replied in face of my flawless logic, he and the other doctors accepting my answer at face value.

Thank you, short attention span!

That and the global erosion of critical thinking skills…

But mostly short attention spans!

*AHA*

Once the nurses and doctors had ushered my visitors out of the room, the four of them stepping out and sending out calls or texts on their phones, I found myself bombarded with a battery of questions. How much pain was I in, did I have sensation in all of my limbs, how many fingers were being held up, so-on and so-forth. Of course, once I'd humored them, my immediate question was-

"Can someone get this fucking catheter out of me?"

At least I didn't have some high-tech poop-removal device on me this time. And sure, I felt like shit from being on an all-IV diet for the last week, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. Sometimes you have to eat less cake, get it in a flavor you aren't too fond of, have to share it with people you don't particularly like, need to sit through a boring lecture beforehand, etc. etc.

By the time I finally had a moment's peace, Hitomi had bulled her way into the room past nurses and doctors alike, mono-eye wide and watery as she looked at me.

"Hitomi-sensei," I grinned holding up a hand in a wave, something falling from it and onto my bedside. Looking down, I saw two black buttons looking up at me before I called out- "YOMIIII!"

*Elsewhere…*

"Clank, are you just as confused as I am?" Sigmund inquired as the two of them watched the goings on of Clank's 'Reincarnated'.

"Equally if not moreso…" Clank hummed, mind-bendingly confused not only by the seeming resurrection of a long-deceased pet, but also the exact quantum duplication of the same badge/hairclip.

"Maybe the cycle of life and death just works differently in that universe?"

"What I'm worried about is the cat's constituent matter… I mean, is it a duplicate of the original cat, or did the original cat's constituent molecules reconstitute themselves right there on his lap?"

"What, like Schrödinger's Cat?"

"No, that's the thought experiment regarding the superposition between an object in two states of being; no actual cat was experimented on. This is something completely different," Clank hummed. "This would be Yomi's Cat. Eh heh heh heh heh~"

*AHA*

"I… I'm so confused…" Yomi deadpanned as she held up the two identical badges beside one another up to eye level in her hands; after one of them had been re-attached, at least. They were alarmingly identical down to the tiny scratches and scuff marks from general wear and tear, even down to the strand of white hair that had come along for the ride when she'd placed it in his hand a week ago.

"You're confused? I'm the one who woke up to find a dead cat in my lap!" I cried as the black-and-white feline curled up in my lap like a furry loaf of bread.

"Wait, the one from your flashback?" Shiori blinked.

"Flashback?"

"While you were out, Yomi-chan went on about her near-death experience to Hitomi-sensei. And normally that sorta thing gets split between two volumes," the 2D Girl hummed.

"Wow, you really missed him, didn't you?" Kuromi asked as Hitomi continued to blubber, a waterfall of tears running down the whole of her face.

"Yomi, could you take Bub-kun somewhere else, please? Hitomi is massively allergic," I reminded her.

"Ah, right, sorry," the Undying Girl bashfully grinned, picking the not-dead cat from my lap and walking out of the room. Almost immediately, Hitomi's symptoms abated, showing that her tear ducts weren't just for show.

"Takei-kun, I'm so glad you're alright…!" Hitomi sniffled as she walked over to my bedside and carefully embraced me, bringing my head to rest against her bosom.

"Yeah, me too," I replied as I hugged her back, which only caused Hitomi's grip to tighten. "Tomi…! 'itomi!" I cried as I felt my air cutting out.

"Ah! Gomen! Gomen!" she rapidly apologized disengaging from the embrace. "Ah, but still…!" she said looking like she was about to chastise me before looking over her shoulder to the doorway where Yomi retreated from the moment she was spotted. " . . . I'm just glad no-one was seriously hurt," she sighed as she ruffled my hair. "And you even got an Awakening out of it. I'm so proud of you."

" . . . Hah?"

*AHA*

"EHHHHHHHH!"

As soon as I looked in the mirror to see what Hitomi was talking about and had my Jackie Chan Adventures-style "Do not look in the mirror" moment, I had a very exacerbated reaction to what I'd found waiting for me.

Mind you, my transformation was rather mild in comparison to what other Isekai Protagonists went through when they had an Awakening-equivalent event, but when I found a pair of Lombax ears waggling on the sides of my head in the mirror's reflection… And it was in that moment I remembered what I was doing before I actually bit the big one; even if I didn't remember what killed me apart from it not being a "Truck-kun".

All things considered, I'm both grateful and morose that I didn't wind up in the Ratchet & Clank universe when I reincarnated. Winding up in a post-post-post-series Tiger & Bunny hybrid-verse is seemingly random when compared to that, but not all Isekai Protagonists who inherit power from the nerdy minutiae they were exercising moments before their death wound up in that exacting same world. I remember an FPS-style Avatar got reincarnated into a fantasy world with his Inventory intact, and he was basically like Iron Man + Punisher on steroids…

And sure, the Ratchet & Clank universe had Deplanetizers and Biobliterators and other superweapons of a similar nature that would make every sphincter in a carbon-based body clench in terror beyond the capacity for rational thought… but at least I would've known my way around.

"At least I didn't turn into a 'Furry'," I muttered to myself as I experimentally flexed muscles I didn't have a week before, waggling the yellow and brown-striped ears about, angling them about like sleek, aerodynamic radar dishes.

I was able to more-readily pick up the sounds coming from the hallway, which momentarily confused me given the sheer amount of "insulation" my audial organs seemed to be covered in.

In that moment, the worldbuilding-obsessed portion of my brain from when I wrote fanfiction went into overdrive.

If I considered that Lombax were apex predators of their own world and their evolution went in tandem with the rapid advancement in ballistic weaponry after the advent of gunpowder weaponry, it was feasible that their ears could either dampen or sharpen their hearing as-necessary. Hearing loss was a buzzkill for any species, as was Tinnitus, so it was possible that Lombax could muffle external sounds at-will like built-in noise-cancelling headphones.

Just for kicks I tried, and to my amazement I felt the fur lining my ears flatten down over my ear canals, dampening the noise around me. Opening my senses back up, I felt the hairs on my ears stand outward, allowing external noise back in. After "toggling" my new "sub-Quirk" for a few times to get the hang of it, I stepped out of the bathroom, letting out a relieved sigh leave my lips.

Of course, now that my ears had softened from their Jak & Daxter-like appearance, I probably couldn't poke anyone's eyes out if they got right behind me anymore…

"All things considered, I guess it could've been worse."

"Yeah, you could've turned into a 'Furry'~" Shiori grinned, her pupils in their panel-border-like configuration, showing she had been using her unique form of multi-dimensional awareness to potentially read my thoughts through whatever media was observing us.

That or she'd just heard me say that and I was over-thinking things…

"Hey, I have to ask, what's with all the cops?" I said angling y ears towards the door way, catching the sounds of weapons in holsters, radio chatter, and the squeaking of uncomfortable shoes immediately outside the doorframe.

"Oh, well, you see…" Hitomi began, trying to find the words…

*One Week Ago…*

"Miss, ma'am, I'm afraid visiting hours are over," the nurse said entering Takei's room, Yomi still at his bedside, clutching his hand with Zombina standing off to the side.

"Hm? Ah, sure thing," Zombina hummed, taking a step away from the wall before-

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

"AIEEEGH!" the nurse cried as Zombina suddenly rounded, discharging her firearm three times.

*CRASH!*

"What's going on here?!" a doctor cried from around the corner, eyes going wide at the broken window and then to the Hero with her sidearm out.

"We need to move Takei immediately!" Zombina said looking out the window and down to the street before retreating and taking a defensive posture over her charge. "There was a Villain in here!"

"What? A Villain?" Yomi blinked, her eyes going to the floor where three flattened bullets were beginning to roll to a stop. "Wait, invisible and bulletproof?"

"It might've been a Support Item, but there was definitely someone invisible over in that corner before they went out the window!"

*Present*

Given I was acquainted with "Elma the Magic Dragon", I figured but didn't want to assume…

"So because of that you moved me here?"

"In as many words," Hitomi replied. "While they were investigating anyone with motive to attack you again, the HPSC had you under watch in an interior room. It'd look really bad if they couldn't keep one of their own safe after so-blatant of an attack."

"I see… And is it safe for me to leave?"

"Logic says 'no'… but being a Young Ward was always going to put a target on your back; especially against the guys the Mon Squad put away," Hitomi answered. "There haven't been any other attempts on your life since-then, but we're still trying to remain vigilant."

"So then I can leave?"

"Well, they do want to keep you overnight for observation, buuuut…"

"You had me at 'but'," I replied. "Elma! Bring the car around! We're getting ramen!'

"UMEEEE!" the adorable round-faced dragon OL squealed, drool running down her chin at the thought of sustenance.

*AHA*

"While I'm amazed my costume is still intact, I feel like wearing this again on the streets would be tempting fate," I said as I was presented with my Mon Squad uniform, which had apparently been laundered since I went down.

"That's… fair, I guess…" Hitomi admitted bashfully. "Let's try your school uniform instead."

"Yes, let's."

A change of clothes later and we were leaving the HPSC's private hospital. The whole time Elma looked guilty, only furthering my suspicions that she'd been the "Invisible Villain" Zombina shot at. I wasn't sure if Zombina's senses were just that honed or if she had a strong intuition like Kobayashi did, but then again, Kobayashi only guessed half the time that Tohru was using [Perception Blocking] at her workplace. And even if Zombina had been wrong about someone being there, it was better being safe than sorry, since I personally knew someone who could turn invisible that wasn't Elma, and since certain Quirks were always in high demand amongst the villainous underworld…

"Well, at least we don't have to smuggle you out of here like last time," Doppel hummed.

"Last time?" Yomi blinked.

"Long story. Don't ask," Kuromi hummed.

"That or read Chapter 11~"

"Shiori, not now…" I grumbled while Yomi shot me a confused look.

*AHA*

Once we were out of the hospital, we took public transit away from the heart of Tokyo until the high rises were a distant memory. We weren't quite out of the big city though, as we were still close enough to the major commerce center that we were able to hit up a not-quite-hole-in-the-wall ramen joint by the name of Retro Karaoke Ramen.

Weird ass name, but then again, some of the "Heroes" in this country were even weirder, so who was I to judge?

The place looked like your normal ramen joint with stools, tables, and booths, with a karaoke stage in the far back. What made the karaoke "retro" was that it had music all the way back from the pre-Paranormality era. Since that was basically two-hundred years ago, back before music became a soulless copy of a soulless copy of another soulless copy of some original song, only the hardcore musicophiles had a true appreciation for the stuff.

At this place, it was more of a gimmick, but as I leafed through the cheap-ish tablet for choice in song, one of them really stuck out to me, and after I finished my first bowl I sucked up my stage fright and took to the stage.

Since the guy with a freakin' metronome for a head had been completely tone deaf, at least the bar was pretty low already.

There isn't anything worse than getting up on stage after someone totally spanks it and you can't measure up.

Cue "My Way" by Frank Sinatra

And nowww, the end is nearrr~
And so I faaace, the final curtainnn~
My friiiend, I'll say it cleaaar~
I'll state my case, of which I'm certainnn~

I've liiived, a life that's fuuull~
I've traveled eeeach… and every highwayyy~
But mooore, much mooore than this~

I did it myyyyyyy wayyyyyy~

Regrets, IIII've had a fewwww~
But then agaiiin… too few to mentionnn~
I did… what I had to doooo~
And saw it throuuuugh… without, exemptiooon~

I plaaaanned, each charted course~
Each careful step, alonnng the bywayyyy~
And mooore, much more than thiiis~

I did it myyyyyyy wayyyy~

Yes there were times, I'm sure you knew~!
When I bit ooooff, more than I could chewwwww~!
But through it aaaaaall, when there was douuubt~!
I ate it uuuuup, and spit it ouuuuuut~!

The record showwwwws, I took the blowwwwws~!

Aaaand diiid iiiiiiit…

Myyyyyyyyy wayyyyyyyyyy~!

And while the song was by Frank Sinatra, way back in the late 1960s, the reason it came to mind to me was as the swansong of "Mr. Perfect Cell" at the end of TeamFourStar's much-acclaimed DragonBall Z Abridged as Teen Gohan atomized him at the conclusion of their epic beam struggle.

For a moment the restaurant was so silent you could hear a pin drop, or noodles sliding off of chopsticks and back into bowls or onto laps, but moments later the whole joint erupted into cheers. I'm not quite sure how it sounded in Japanese, since the lyrics were all in English, but I must've left a hell of an impression if I was getting a standing ovation for it.

Didn't mean I didn't retreat back to my table with an embarrassed flush on my face, but at least I didn't botch the whole thing.

Who knew that almost figuratively and/or literally dying could put things into perspective enough that stage fright would almost completely disappear? Because I sure as hell didn't.

"Takei-kun! That was amazing!" Hitomi clapped, eye wide and watery with tears.

"Y-You really think so?" I asked bashfully, ears perked up.

"Yeah, I do~" she eye-smiled happily.

And given how much of her face her eye took up, that eye-smile was megawatt-bright.

"You know, most people hit Random and sing whatever comes out," Doppel hummed as she ate. "Me, I just shapeshift into whoever sung it. No-one ever reported me, even before I got my license~"

"Huh. You don't say," I hummed as Doppel rapidly shapeshifted between Michael Jackson, Queen Latifah, Elvis Presley, and even Miley Cyrus.

That the only reason I knew it wasn't really them was because I knew Doppel personally, really drove home how-potent [Shapeshift] could be when done by a user willing to commit to the bit.

"Here. Sing this one," Shiori whispered into Yomi's ear from behind their tablet.

Though for me, she might as well have been whispering it into my ear.

Yomi looked over at me, so I shot her a thumbs-up. That seemed to be all she needed for that final push, because she nodded her head before jogging over to the karaoke machine, input the song code, and got started.

Cue "Shine" by Mr. Big

I never really feel quite right and I don't know why, all I know is something's wrooong~
Every time I look at you, you seem so aliiiiive~

Tell me how do you dooo it, walk me throooough it, I'll follow your every footsteeep~

Maybe on your own you take a cautious step~
Till you want to give it uuup, but all I waaant, is for you to~

Shiiiiine, shiiiine down on me~
Shine on this life that's burnin' ouuut~

I say a lot of things sometimes that don't come out right~
And I act like I don't know whyyyy~
I guess a reaction's all I was lookin' fooooor~

Yeea-yeeah~

When you look throoough me, you really knewwww me, like no one else eeever looked before~
Maybe on your own you take a cautious steeeep~
Till you want to give it uuup, but all I waaant, is for you to~

Shiiiiine, shiiiine down on me~
Shine on this life that's burnin' ouuut~

Shiiiiine, shiiiine down on me~
Shine on this life that's burnin' ouuu-uuu-uuu-uuut~

Maybe your own you take a cautious step~
Till you want to give it uuup, but all I waaant, is for you to~

Shiiiiine, shiiiine down on me~
Shine on this life that's burnin' ouuut~

Shiiiiine, shiiiine down on me~
Shine on this life that's burnin' ouuut~

Shiiiiine, shiiiine down on me~
Shine on this life that's burnin' ouuu-uuu-uuu-uuut~

Like with me, everyone gave Yomi-chan a standing ovation, but for me it hit a lot deeper than that.

"Shine", by Mr. Big, hit me right in the feels because of a weapons-grade nostalgia bomb, digging up another set of fond memories; the end of TeamFourStar's Hellsing Ultimate Abridged.

A part of me wants to comb YouTube for other abridged series that came and went since my time, but at the same time, I'm afraid I'll be woefully disappointed. Same as with the Ratchet & Clank series, I'm afraid that my faves won't even exist. And even if an anime exists in this world that existed in mine, there's no guarantee that the abridged series would've come about in the same form.

Not to mention, with how distracted everyone got by Quirks and such, abridging series might've actually fallen out-of-fashion-

"Hey, you're making that face again," Doppel said reaching across the table and poking me in the cheek, snapping me out of my internal monologue.

"Sorry, sorry," I said as I continued to applaud, Yomi's cheeks reddening as she returned to our table with a lowered head, her eyes darting between mine and her ramen bowl. "Yomi-chan."

"Hm?"

"Great job. You really got me, right here," I said patting my chest.

" . . . Shiori said you might like it~"

"Oh did she now…?"

"Don't blame me, blame Author-sama."

I immediately thought of "Menu-sama" from Log Horizon Abridged.

"Well, it was a lovely song."

"S-So was yours!" Yomi replied eagerly. "It felt… kinda wholesome and timeless… And it also hit a little close to home."

"Oh, you have noooo idea," Kuromi grinned.

"Uuugh."

"I think it had a lot of soul to it," Elma said finally coming up for air, with more empty ramen bowls at her side than Naruto frickin' Uzumaki ever put away in one sitting.

Thank Kami I'm not the one paying for all that.

Come to think of it, how-much compound interest could a quasi-immortal dragon accrue over two-and-change centuries…?

*AHA*

And apparently another thing that draws people in to Retro Karaoke Ramen, is that if someone manages to get a standing ovation during peak serving hours, their most-recent bowl of ramen is free.

Considering how-much live entertainment can cost, it seems like a pretty sound strategy. Especially because if someone doesn't get a standing ovation, even if they aren't eating their sadness away, that calorie-burn by itself might necessitate another bowl, if not a refill and/or snacks.

Elma for her part was positively glowing as she ate with friends, even if one of them was a work friend and only one knew she was actually a Capital-D Dragon. And that I'd had a hand in bringing a little light back to her life after all of her friends from the 2010s had all passed away… It made me feel like I'd accomplished something really special. Like I actually could make a difference in this world.

And sure, I was never going to get a medal for it, but I didn't extend my hand to Elma for the reward. Sure, part of it was my "softcore otaku" nature taking advantage of my "nerdy minutiae" like every other Isekai Protagonist in the history of ever, but-

"So, anything interesting happen at school while I was out?" I asked before Doppel could point out the expression my face was probably making.

"One or two things, but it'll be easier if you just see them in person," Kuromi hummed as we all got back onto the train.

"Hmhm~ References and cameos, ho!" Shiori beamed excitedly as we found our seats.

It was late-ish evening by the time we finally headed for home wholesale, and Yomi had basically clung onto me the entire time. Elma too, but Yomi clung to me for non-immortality-related reasons.

Come to think of it, while it's not a question of "could" so much as, "should I" bring her into my closest circle of friends?

Obviously I'd leave out the part about Elma unless Shiori and/or Kuromi express meta-knowledge of her themselves, but I feel like Yomi-chan could really understand what I'd gone through.

I certainly understand what she had gone through. You don't walk the Japanese equivalent of Limbo, fight zombies, and grapple with literal death and not come to an epiphanic understanding about certain subject matter.

Naruki and Togami were still just "normal guys", and I feel like if I brought them into my innermost circle, that we wouldn't be able to have stupid guy-talk anymore if they felt like they were talking to a pre-30s "Isekai Protagonist" and not "another guy".

"Takei-kun, I want you to have something," Yomi said placing something into my hand. Looking down at it, and then at her hairline, I wondered which was the original and which was the duplicate.

My brain was still confused by that part. Allegedly-No, she had given it to her grandpa before he'd died; no "allegedly" about it. Takuma had later given it back to her in Yomotsu Hirasaka when she had "died". That I understood, but I was still a bit iffy on how it appeared in my hand since I was technically in a coma and not clinically dead-dead and thus didn't "take it with me" into the Spirit World.

Then again, this is a world of superheroes with magical dragons on the side, so a little supernatural nonsense isn't all that hard to swallow. And since Elma was more or less in the same weight class as Tohru, I actually felt really safe from the magical side of things.

The mundane side of things however… still terrified the non-sentient excrement from my rear-most sphincter…

"Well look at that. Two of a kind," I grinned as I pinned the badge to my shirt, the blood vessels in Yomi's face dilating, her hand reaching over.

"So whatever happened to that truck guy?" Shiori asked killing the moment, Yomi's hand retreating to her lap.

"Someone caved half his skull in. Don't know who did it, but honestly, not our problem," Doppel hummed, transformed into what looked like a sumo wrestler in a yakuza-style suit.

Certainly kept the train perverts at bay. I'm sure these middle school girls, a busty nurse, and a slightly-bustier OL made for tempting targets.

*BZAAAAAAAP!*

*Thump*

"Geez, people still do this stupid bullshit in broad daylight?" Kuromi hummed as some pervert fell to the floor in a smoking heap, arcs of electricity dancing around the derriere of the high school girl he'd been fondling only moments before. At least if the burns on his hand and the smell of burning panties were any indicator.

"And they say heroism isn't dead," I scoffed as everyone who had been turned away from the molestation finally decided to do something about it.

*AHA*

Elsewhile in the Mon Squad Naruhata Branch HQ…

"Okay, Doppel's home with the kid," Kuroko said looking up from her phone, the others letting out relieved sighs.

"I'm still worried about that Invisible Villain you shot at at the hospital," Manako hummed.

"Given how pricey those guys tend to be, whoever hired them might not've been able to afford an attack on an HPSC hospital room," Zombina shrugged. "All we can do is keep a lookout for known suspects moving around the area."

"We've got the SCU on this too. Whoever tried to get at him, won't have a second chance," Kuroko added.

" . . . I hope you're right," Manako hummed, wringing her hands as she looked out the window. "This place is a stone's throw from home, but it almost cost Takei-kun… everything."

"Hopefully he'll understand why we did what we did," Kuroko nodded, the screen in front of them lighting up. "Places, people. Doppel just signed in."

Manako taking center chair, Kuroko on her right and Zombina on the left with Tio looming over the three of them, Doppel and Takei appeared on the monitor, the sofa at their backs.

"Hey guys," Takei greeted. "I miss anything interesting while I was out?"

"Well, Kuroyama convinced his daughter you were 'napping', so there's that," Kuroko said breaking the ice. "And uh… as for the other thing-"

"You've joined the war on drugs, basically?"

"Er… Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Doppel told me."

"Dammit, girl! We were supposed to break it to him slowly!" Zombina groaned.

"I tried, but then Elma slinked off to Kuroko's room like the owned the joint, and he figured something was up."

"You shouldn't blame yourselves for what happened to me. Or the old guy. If anything, blame the guy who made whatever tongue-blackening shit that Pillsbury Doughbot was on. Or girl. Girls can make drugs too."

"Gender equality aside…" Manako said rubbing the bridge of her nose. "We aren't sure how-long we're going to be here. Naruhata was already a bit of an… armpit, before they started hocking neo-steroids," she said choosing a less-offensive word for the city they were safeguarding, "so whoever's already here is either dug in really deep, or they have a network helping keep them hidden."

"We might've taken what happened to you a little… personally is all…" Kuroko added. "But we had no idea you were only going to be down a week. At best we just assumed by the time you woke up, you wouldn't have to worry about any more drug fiends running around and threatening to run over cute middle schoolers."

"And I take it you can't double back because it'd make the agency look bad."

"In as many words," Manako hummed.

"This isn't anything permanent. Once we make a major break and crack this case open for the police, we'll be able to come back," Kuroko added.

"We'll still be able to visit every once in a while, sweetie. You'll just be hosting Elma-chan and Torino-jii-san for a while," Tio said sweetly.

"Well, I get that, but…" Takei said as his eyes began to water. "If I'm not with you guys, who's going to play lifeguard when Kuroko's drowning in fumes from a sea of beer cans?!"

"O-Oi, that one hurts, you know!" Kuroko yelped while the others chuckled off to the sides.

"Who's going to give Manako-chan the snuggles whenever she looks right into the sun every morning?!"

"I-I don't do that every morning!" Manako squawked, going red up to the roots of her hair.

"Who's going to almost smother me to death and give me complicated feelings about the female form?!"

"I think he's talking about you," Tio whispered into Kuroko's ear.

"Who's going to help Zombina with her stretches every morning because she forgot to do them before bed?"

"Hey, I don't forget to do them every night."

"Yes, you do," the other said all at once.

"Who's going to walk around the house almost-naked and give me complicated feelings about the female form for a completely different reason?!"

"I can always swing by on weekends if you want~" the chocolate loli grinned cattily from his side.

"Who's going to make you girls home-cooked meals so you aren't eating convenience store bento every night?!"

"We were functioning adults before you showed up and became our Darling," Kuroko deadpanned.

"Yeah, only barely," Zombina deadpanned.

"Sweeties love-filled riceballs are way better than convenience store," Tio added, Manako nodding in acknowledgement.

"And lastly! Who's going to protect the town from Villain attacks?!"

"There are plenty of Heroes in town who can pick up the slack while we're gone," Kuroko hummed.

" . . . HAAAAAA haha! Oh hoh! Oh hoh hoh! Gyaaaaaaah haaa haa haa haa haa haa!" Takei laughed uncontrollably, actually falling off the sofa and kicking up his legs, emptying his lungs for several long moments before poking his head up and asking- "Oh fuck, were you serious?"

"Hey, swear jar, mister!" Tio pouted cutely.

"Take-chan, I know you have a pretty low opinion of most Heroes, but our peers in town aren't that bad," Kuroko hummed.

"No, they're worse, which is exactly the problem," Takei deadpanned. "In one day I saw a geriatric old man take down more Villains than the whole town put together. That does not inspire confidence."

"I mean… when you put it that way…" Kuroko said scratching her chin.

"If the crime rate goes up while we're not there, hopefully it'll put pressure on Asaka's heroes and they'll get their act together," Manako hummed. "That or it'll create a vacuum for some young blood to move in and fill the power vacuum we left behind."

"Yeah, not to toot our own horn, but we do kick some serious ass~" Zombina grinned.

"Well… I wish you the best of luck, then. I'll keep training, and I'll keep getting stronger so you all can sleep soundly at night. You don't have to worry about me."

"Aw, sweetieeee~!" Tio cooed, eyes misting as a desire to hug her young ward overwhelmed her.

To Manako's detriment, she was the nearest substitute.

"T…! Tio! Can't… breathe!" Manako cried through the head-crushing marshmallows on her shoulders.

"Takehiko."

"Yes, Smith-san?"

"If Elma turns out to be some kind of shotacon… make sure to use protection~"

"Dammit, Kuroko, you just HAD to make that crack, didn't you?!" Takei shrieked with a red face.

*AHA*

Contrary to everything I said, I actually did have faith in their ability to function without me around; I'm not nearly that self-involved. Though undeniably, living in Naruhata without my extra set of hands around would be inconvenient in comparison.

A part of me was tempted to pull up stakes and transfer over with them, but Kuroko and the others hard vetoed that idea. Compared to Naruhata, Asaka was far safer.

Or so they said. Half the Heroes I'd seen around town in the past few months wouldn't even qualify for C-Rank in the One Punch Man metric… Most of them were just strutting peacocks who even King could've beaten, and that's a pretty low fucking metric if there ever was one. Hell, even Hercule Satan from Dragonball Z was probably upper A-Rank material, though that said more about the power scaling in DBZ than it did the power-scaling of real-life Heroes.

Still, since I was pretty burned out from shaking the rust off on my way out of the hospital, I figured a couple hours of VRing were in order. And at least with Elma sticking around as a live-in, I didn't have to worry about Villains attacking an unguarded home.

Provided she didn't run out of snacks.

. . .

I might actually be in more trouble than I realize.

*AHA*

"Wild Tiger, welcome back to the world of the living," Stendhal said over the Private Chat once I signed in, my Avatar doing some stretches even though it wouldn't actually mean jack shit.

"Yeah, and here we were worried about you getting 'Isekai'd' on us~" Dust_2_Dust chuckled.

"You and everyone else following the Mon Squad on here," Sefgas added. "So, you have any wacky dreams while you were down? Maybe one of those 'It Was All a Dream' Isekais?"

"Well, does swiping the katana off a Meiji Restoration ronin count?"

" . . . Go oooon," Stendhal hummed sounding very interested.

"Well, it all started when I ran back to save a cute Zombie Girl from a Truck Villain…"

"Wait, do you mean a Villain driving a truck, or a Villain that was the truck?" Dust_2_Dust inquired.

In a world like ours, it was a perfectly legitimate question that could be asked with a completely straight face.

"The guy looked like the hate-fuck lovechild of Optimus Prime and the Pillsbury Dough Boy."

"I don't know what either of those are, but I'll assume it isn't visually palatable," Sefgas hummed.

"No he was not," I replied as I checked over my equipment before throwing a mantle over my head and venturing out into the SBC Glocken. "So, anyone in the mood for a little PK? I have something I want to try."

*AHA*

AN:
It isn't just my favorite Anime that I'd miss if I got "Reincarnated into Another World Without a Smartphone (& Internet)". I'd also miss Abridged series and my YouTube Subscriptions in general.

"My Way" by Frank Sinatra and "Shine" by Mr. Big were phenomenal uppers when I really needed them at work the week before I finished this chapter, and they got me through real slogs in the upper-90-degree heat inside a building with so-so ventilation; so when I realized that this was a good point to work in a little Karaoke, I thought, why the hell not?

And for the record, Takei being able to bring Yomi back the button-style hairpin he had with him in Yomotsu Hirasaka is perfectly valid within the realm of Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary Canon. You literally see it at the tail end of Chapter 16 that Yomi's grandfather takes it off his lapel, puts it in her hand, and sends it with her on her way.

Anyway, I plan to blend some more of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes into the story because it's perfectly Canon to My Hero Academia even if the art isn't the same. If you have ideas for Trigger-boosted Villains you think should appear, or something crazy to fall out of a Rift and cause problems for someone else in this universe, drop me a line in the Review section or on Discord, and I'll see you all next time.