When Tacki displayed the new costume, both Saitama and Mitsumi were floored with how accurately detailed it was done down to the shoes. Mitsumi now moved into the bedroom with Tacki to try it on. Kianna wasn't at the apartment yet on being with King, and Kamiko was still helping with the restaurant. When she walked out to show Saitama what it looked like, his jaw dropped.
The only other major difference than it being sleeveless like a tank top was how the pants he had were like a split skirt to trail between her legs for full movement. The rest appeared very similar in style. The white cape-like veil fluttered out behind her when she moved. The thin belt was set with a square yellow topaz and yellow gold. Instead of a zipper along the front of her top, it was a gorgeous teardrop pendant of yellow topaz set in white gold. Even the buttons were circular black onyx buttons cut in a diamond facet to sparkle as she moved. The armbands had the veiled sleeves of yellow to flutter around her as well. The gloves and shoes were made of red velvet for comfort and support.
She did have a set of matching color fans that were at her sides, too, but it was the specialty fans that were carefully set in a dual holder with the other set. One set of fans would be used to dazzle. The other set would be for defense and attack. The dazzling fans were made of the same yellow fabric as her outfit on the outside and made with the white silk to match the cape for the inside. Small topaz gemstones were set in it with small yellow feathers to line each fan part. It was perfect! And it looks so cute! And those legs! I'll punch anyone that tries to touch her. SHE. IS. MINE.
"Stay right there!" he said and bolted into the bedroom to change. He came out five minutes later to stand side by side with her. He was in his new glittering costume to match up with her. He pulled her close and kissed her intensely.
"The two of you could be like the cute old couple that loves to dress the same!" Fubuki snickered.
"Not complaining," Saitama grinned back. "Inichi, how far off is that guy?"
"Ah. About ten minutes now," Inichi judged.
"I gotta say. You both appear to be quite the pair. I'd almost say brother and sister," Zenchu grinned wickedly.
"Shut up," Saitama warned. That got Mitsumi laughing at it all. "Anyways, Inichi, can you get the old man to show up? Um…the one with the grey mustache and hair? I always forget his name sometimes…"
"Ah! You mean Bane?" the blue monster asked.
"Yes. I want him to see if he can help Mitsumi a bit. Just watch her move and pose and stuff," Saitama nodded.
"I sent the request. He's…curious. Quite curious! He's on his way now," Inichi chuckled. When King and Kianna finally walked in, they paused in shock at the costumes. Explanations were quickly given now.
"S class?! Huh. Well, I gotta admit that I'm not sure why," King admitted. "Then again…eh…I still question myself. I can't really do anything."
"You are never beaten in games," Kianna pointed out. "And I love that!"
"Ah…well…maybe…" King chuckled and accepted her snuggling nuzzle into his side. "I know Saitama can get kicked around pretty easily…"
"You. Shut. Up," Saitama growled. Mitsumi struggled hard not to laugh and failed when Saitama tickled her. "And it's not funny!"
"Yes! It is!" she squeaked and finally got lifted and cradled in his arms to get ravenously kissed. It was when Inichi was able to tell them the important man was outside that Saitama finally relented.
"Not funny," he grinned at her.
"Whatever you say," she winked and got carried out. He carried her down the main stairway to confront the important man and his assistant.
"Hello. Ah…oh!" he blinked on seeing them now.
"We got a small upgrade in costumes," Mitsumi chuckled. "Since I plan to marry Saitama, we figured it was best."
"I see. Anyways, we wanted to have you come down to the association," the important man started. Then Bane arrived with Inichi's help.
"Not yet," Bane said. "Mitsumi, may I see those fans you have? The ones with the crane pictures on them. Inichi showed me an image of them. I need to check something."
"Oh?" she frowned and gave them over for him to examine.
"The cranes…I haven't seen these…not for ten years…!" he said with complete shock. "Use them. I need to see what they can do."
"Ah…" she frowned and took them back.
"I'll explain everything," Bane promised.
"You can't be serious…!" Inichi hissed with his own shock. "That…they should have died out! I mean…"
"Inichi?" Mitsumi asked.
"Show him how the fans work. Everyone stand back, please," Inichi said quickly. Mitsumi now appeared very worried, but Saitama only squeezed her to show he wasn't leaving her side. She nodded and flicked out the fans to show the deadly blades within them. Bane now took out a sheet of paper to toss into the air. She struck out with the blades with an accuracy that could rival Shenjou's lightning quick strikes with several quick flicks from the fans. It was almost instinctive from how she was trained.
Saitama's jaw dropped when the paper floated like confetti around them. The important man and his assistant were also in their own form of shock. Fubuki was speechless. Inichi was now sending an intense message to Sweet Mask with this important discovery.
"Mitsumi…your mentor…she was the sole survivor of a group of assassins. They were known as the Wind Crane Clan. I only met her once," Bane admitted. "She didn't plan to teach anyone her skills. But she trained you…"
"My mother and father wanted my sisters and I to learn a unique skill. Something to help entertain and promote things. They found her. Mami Ito, that is. My sisters lost interest quickly. But…I loved the fans…" she shrugged. "She never told me who she was in truth. But she insisted to teach me a lost art of defense. When I mastered it, she…gave me these fans. She said she had no daughters and could think of no one else to gift them to. She made sure I knew exactly how to use them. How to strike. Block. Mesmerize. All of it. She said…'I don't want you to hurt with them. Not like how I did'…"
"The board member that spoke with you knew who your mentor was. Did he know that she was also a member of this group?" Saitama asked.
"Ah…I don't think so. Mami refused to train anyone, from what I understood, too. She was in a few social events to perform. It's how I knew what fan dancing was. I didn't even think that it was part of a style of attack. I knew that Lady Mitsumi had the fans…but I didn't piece it together," Inichi admitted.
"She was actually going to sell the fans. We hid them from her. They were the last gift from a mentor that loved her and cherished her. We couldn't let them part from her," Zenchu said.
"Those fans are likely the only ones left in existence," Bane said.
"I wonder if Tacki can recreate them…" Mitsumi blinked.
"Ah! Because she loves to create things and restore them?" Fubuki asked.
"I can ask her," Kianna nodded. They looked over now to see a sleek car coming up to screech to a halt. Sweet Mask was now practically running over to see them and his eyes were full of excitement.
"Did you really learn those skills?!" he asked.
"Ah…yes…if it's what Inichi told you…" she said. Saitama narrowed his eyes and pulled her to his side to show he was watching everyone.
"It makes sense. Why didn't I…?!" Sweet Mask hissed. "Silver Fang, can she spar against you? I need to see something."
"What?" Bane asked.
"Why?" Mitsumi frowned.
"Ah, yeah. Why?" Kamikaze said when he came back over with Iaian.
"Just work with me," Sweet Mask said. The important man looked at his assistant with a small shrug.
"Hmm. I need to know why," Bane said now.
"Oh? You want to see if she can be more than just rank 10?" Inichi mused.
"Yes," Sweet Mask nodded.
"Hmm. Fine. No funny stuff," Saitama warned.
"I will watch over everything," Inichi nodded.
"I'd like to have this live streamed, though," Sweet Mask frowned. "The Hero Association needs to witness this."
"I know who to bring back," Inichi said and contacted Genos. Within five minutes, the cyborg was there to show his own intense shock at what he was told.
"So…she's actually a bit dangerous?" Genos frowned.
"To those that disrespect her and our family," Zenchu nodded. "She wouldn't dare hurt an innocent. You know that. She didn't even know that she had this until just now."
"I am aware. Very well. The moment the spar starts, I shall record and send the footage," Genos nodded. Kamiko was soon there and she was quick to inspect Mitsumi's costume. She examined the fans after that and nodded that everything was good. She moved to watch from the complex railing to stay out of the way.
"The others are at the restaurant," Kamiko said. "Inichi will inform them of this. Everything is fine."
"Okay," Mitsumi nodded. Bane thought and took off his black sweater to reveal his hardened upper chest and stomach of solid muscle.
"I don't want it damaged," Bane chuckled.
"Eh…Tacki can fix it. She fixed my sleeve," Kamikaze nodded. "Pay attention, Iaian. You are probably gonna see an innocent girl trained by a master assassin. And she didn't even know it."
"What?" Iaian asked. Mitsumi frowned, but Saitama pulled her close to kiss her forehead. That quickly calmed her back down.
"After this, we'll finish our day off and cook dinner," he promised.
"Okay," she nodded and let him kiss her passionately.
"You didn't know. Did you?" he frowned.
"No…" she frowned and got squeezed.
"It's okay. Let's see what happens," he nodded. Bane bowed to her respectfully and pulled himself into a defensive posture. She now stood up and had the deadly fans at her sides. They were closed for now. For a tense few seconds they simply watched each other. Then he made a slight movement. She twirled out of his way, and he just barely got out of reach of the deadly fan blades.
"Oh!" Iaian gaped. The two stalked each other now, and Bane rushed at her to slam into her. She neatly dodged him with a backflip and sliced out with the fans with a simple flick of her wrist.
"Hey!" he gaped and found the back of his pant leg slashed open. Zenchu was giddy with complete excitement now.
"I'll fix it later!" Tacki shouted out.
"Thank you!" Bane said and was quick to dash at Mitsumi. She leapt into the air and slashed out with the fans again. He had to quickly duck and flatten against the ground to keep his skin from getting sliced. He did notice a few hairs from his head floating around him. When he looked back at her, he saw how all six fans were out and circling around her neatly. Then she twirled at him much like how Zenchu did with his spinning attack.
"She's my sister!" Zenchu whooped at this. For five minutes, it was a stalemate battle of dodging and attacking. Bane had no chance to even pull his full attack together from how strikingly swift Mitsumi truly was.
"Enough," Saitama said now to stop them. She was panting a bit now and he saw it. "That's enough."
"I agree," Bane nodded. "You almost got me a few times!"
"I'm sorry…" Mitsumi frowned.
"No! Don't be! What you did was amazing! You still remember everything. Usually you would be out of practice, but I'm sure the venom had something to do with that if it kept changing you around," Bane mused.
"That may be true," Genos said.
"I can't…believe it…" Sweet Mask said with wide eyes of disbelief. "Bane…she needs to be the new rank 4. Her outfit is perfect, despite the coloring. That fan attack is just…I've never seen an attack be so elegant and beautiful! Simply stunning by all designs!"
"That's fine by me," Bane chuckled. "I'll still be in the top ten, so I'm not complaining at all."
"What do you mean 'despite the coloring'?!" Saitama growled.
"Love, hush," Mitsumi said with a warm smile at him. "I love your outfit. That's what matters. Right?"
"Yeah. Okay…" Saitama muttered, but he pulled her to him and kissed her. "Anyways, are we done now? I want to finish my day off with her."
"Hmm…" Inichi frowned and kept an eye on his old friend. :Don't you dare say anything stupid. I'll bubble you and send you to another city to protect you if you do. Yes, she has an amazing attack. Yes, she is beautiful and perfect in face and form. Remember she is not single! Mr. Saitama will kill you!:
"Ah. Yes. I'll have to go over a few things with the Hero Association management. You may get a call later," Sweet Mask said and was quick to start walking off to mentally ingest what he just saw.
"Yeah. I may be the one to call you," the important man nodded and was quick to walk off with his assistant.
"So, Saitama," Mitsumi asked when he scooped her up in his arms.
"Mmm?" he smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Would you ever spar me?" she asked.
"No," he said flatly. "Never. I can't bring myself to think of that."
"Okay," she nodded.
"So, if she turned evil, you wouldn't hurt her?" Zenchu asked.
"Can I slap you now?" Saitama asked blankly to get Zenchu hissing.
"No!" he snapped.
"That was very impressive!" Kamikaze chuckled. "I did have a small favor to ask you, Mitsumi."
"What's that?" she asked.
"Can you spar against Iaian real quick?" he asked to get his disciple gaping.
"Um…I don't know if I should," she frowned.
"Just a quick round. I need to check his reflexes," Kamikaze muttered.
"Have him go against Zenchu," Saitama said.
"I can do it!" Zenchu nodded.
"Eh…I want her to do it, though," Kamikaze said.
"I don't know," she said again. "Bane was just barely able to keep up with me. I mean…"
"Why?" Saitama asked with his neutral expression. "You saw what she does. Why bother with it?"
"Just…please? Humor me?" Kamikaze asked. Mitsumi and Saitama both sighed as one.
"Fine…" the both said together. Then they looked at each other and burst out laughing. Zenchu found himself gaping with surprise at it.
"Did they really just synchronize sigh and pout?!" Fubuki asked while giggling like crazy.
"Ah, yes. They are definitely of one mind at times," Kamiko laughed in her tinny way. "That shows true love for sure!"
"Once again, I'll be watching everything. No funny stuff!" Saitama said.
"What's going on?" Suiryu asked when he jogged over. "Orotsu wanted me to come back here to see something?"
"Ah. It appears that Lady Mitsumi is going to become a hero. And she will be right under Mr. Saitama in S class at rank 4. You will see why in a moment," Inichi nodded and had everyone back away.
"Ah…do you really want to do this?" Iaian asked.
"Not really. But everyone else wants me to," she shrugged.
"Okay…" he nodded and drew out his sword to show he was ready. Despite missing an arm, he had learned how to counter the problem. Saitama stood to watch with his arms crossed over his chest. Mitsumi now moved to stand in front of Iaian and watched him calmly. She saw he was actually nervous.
"Come on. Don't wimp out," Kamikaze muttered. The moment Iaian lunged forward, Mitsumi was dashing out of the way with her fans flicked open. The shine on the blades momentarily blinded the young man enough for her to dart behind him and blow a hot breath of air along the nape of his neck.
"Arrgh!" Iaian cringed. He turned to attack only to find her gone and letting a fan blade painlessly skim over his right arm. It was just enough to lightly tear the cloth. She was purposely not drawing any blood or letting the blades touch his skin with intensely trained surgical precision. When he turned to face her, she was simply standing there as though she never moved. Suiryu couldn't believe what he just witnessed. That girl! Damn! How did Saitama find her?!
"Okay. Done," Saitama said. When Iaian charged forward, Saitama simply reached out and grabbed the sword in mid-swing to stop him. "I said. Done."
"Ah. Right…sorry…" Iaian grimaced. Saitama nodded and let the sword go. When he turned to see Mitsumi, he was quick to dash over and scoop her up in his arms. He kissed her forehead and started to walk back inside with her. Kamikaze was just in shock that Saitama stopped a sword in motion and didn't get hurt. He didn't even mess up his glove!
"Tacki, can you fix their clothes?" Mitsumi asked.
"Yep! I can do that now," she nodded. Mitsumi sighed and started to hum softly while Saitama carried her. Zenchu chuckled. Then he paused at the tune she was softly humming. His eyes widened at the flashback memory. The field of white flowers. She was there sitting in them. I was ready to kill her. But…that smile! That radiance of life! Such pure innocence! I couldn't touch her…I just…
"Zenchu!" Inichi said and quickly lifted him into a bubble.
"Zenchu?!" Mitsumi frowned.
"Lady Mitsumi…!" Zenchu whispered with a blank stare. "Help…me…!"
"Inichi! Put him down!" she said.
"He's having a memory flashback from that tune you just did! Bring out the flower!" Inichi urged. "We need to snap him back to the present!"
"Here!" Kamiko said and gave it over. Mitsumi lifted it up for Zenchu to see. His jaw dropped and he cringed. Now Inichi gently dropped him to let Mitsumi hug him close to show everything was fine. He was panicking now and she was softly comforting him.
"Easy…it's okay…" she kissed the top of his head like a concerned younger sister. He slowly started to calm down again and just focused on the gentle, sisterly touch of her hands moving through the top of his hair. "What did you see? Can you tell me?"
"I saw you again…in that field of flowers…" he said softly.
"Did you?" she smiled.
"Yeah. You looked…dirty. A bit thin from running. You told me you were trying to find your way for two months on your own. You had a bag of clothes nearby to show you had no place to stay. All you had on you for personal possessions was a purse with your emergency bank card and that clothes bag. And that damned bracelet!" he seethed. "It was after you told me most of what you were able to tell me…I saw the hired killer in the background. I slaughtered him without a second thought."
"How many did you kill that tried to kill her?" Saitama asked now.
"Twenty. More or less throughout the two years I've been with her," Zenchu said. "I ensured her safety at all times."
"Have there been any recently?" Kamikaze had to ask.
"There was…" Zenchu nodded.
"Where?!" Bane asked now.
"The night we vented our rage after hearing how Lady Mitsumi was abused by that…schmuck! I was watching over the apartment complex to ensure no one would try to investigate the damages. I found the fucker sneaking around our building. I learned how to be swift, silent and leave no traces. He didn't even get a chance to scream," Zenchu growled. "And they're all the same, too. Some back alley thug looking for a quick buck."
"Where is the body?" Genos asked now. Zenchu sighed and grimaced.
"Trash bag behind the building in a dirt ditch," he said now.
"Aww…" Kamikaze grimaced. Iaian blinked at this news and didn't know what to think. Even Suiryu was a bit shocked.
"Hmm…" Inichi frowned and sighed. "Zenchu did ask me what the thoughts were on that one. I confirmed his suspicions. As much as we wanted to alert those around us…"
"You protected her. It's fine," Saitama said calmly. "If you heard those thoughts that he wanted to kill Mitsumi, I would have been the one punching him down. Maybe slap him first, though. If it happens again, we need to know who is doing the hiring. I think we all know who, but we need concrete evidence."
"Zenchu?" Mitsumi said with a hard frown.
"Yeah. I hear him. Okay. If another comes around, then I'll…maybe maim him a little. Keep him from running," Zenchu smirked.
"No. You get me," Saitama said slowly to ensure he was heard. "No more senseless killing unless we know it's warranted. I'm sure it was, but we need information. We have to pin all this crap back on Mitsumi's other family."
"Right," Zenchu nodded. "I'll do that."
"Good. Okay. It's time to finish my day off with Mitsumi. No more sparring! Eh, Bane, I may want to see if Mitsumi can learn something from you. If you would want to help her," Saitama said and was able to pull Mitsumi back into his arms to cradle her.
"Oh! I definitely would! There is nothing wrong with target practice to keep up those skills. I can set up something easily," Bane nodded and put his shirt back on. He was quite impressed with Tacki's mending skills, too, when his pants were fixed back up without a trace of getting cut.
"That was incredible!" Suiryu said to Mitsumi when they got back into the apartment. "I'm not sure you'd be able to beat me in a match, but that fighting style was intense! What's it called?"
"I don't know. All I know now is that my prior mentor who taught me fan dancing was some form of legendary assassin from the Wind Crane Clan," she shrugged. Now Suiryu's jaw dropped with shock. "Um…I guess you've heard of them? Huh."
"Heard of them?! It was one of the tales I read that had me want to start learning martial arts to begin with! I mean…eventually I just wanted to have fun in the end, but…yeah! That's amazing! Um…could you teach me something?" he asked now. Saitama cleared his throat and lightly glared.
"You said you wanted to be my disciple. Or didn't you?" he asked.
"Well…yes! I mean…can't I learn from both of you?" Suiryu asked.
"I am more based on stealth. I think. And you're not slender enough to keep the fans from hitting you. You have too much bulk. Saitama, though…he may be able to pull it off…" she mused.
"Oh?!" Saitama asked now.
"Yes. So…maybe if we get a dojo we can test a few things. Maybe," she smiled and got kissed by him. "Anyways, should we change and see who is going to cook dinner? I'm getting hungry."
"Probably should," he nodded and proceeded to carry her into the bedroom. "Eh, Suiryu, you can go back to Neutral Grounds now. I think they have another two hours. Oh! We still have that teddy bear! Do I sign it so we can raffle it off? Or should we just keep it?"
"You know…let's wait and see what I become as a hero. Then we can both sign it," Mitsumi chuckled.
"I should sign it, too," Fubuki mused.
"I could, too," King nodded.
"I can make a specialized card for all the signatures!" Tacki beamed on hearing this. "That would really make the raffle start off very high in price! Oh! Maybe we can even do a type of bidding on it? The fans would go wild! We can do a bunch on them like that!"
"What's this about?" Kamikaze asked. Tacki told them of the raffle idea now and he found himself highly amused. "Add me to the list!"
"I wonder if we can have various heroes simply sign postcards to sell, too," Mitsumi mused at the idea.
"We can do that!" Fubuki nodded.
"Let's change and we'll figure it out," Saitama said and carried Mitsumi into the bedroom. Suiryu was still in shock about Mitsumi and was starting to get a touch jealous that Saitama found her first. He forced himself to sigh and turn to leave the apartment. Inichi was keeping a close eye on him. He was also highly concerned about Sweet Mask. He was now planning to make a list of any that thought they had a chance with Mitsumi. The last thing he wanted was for Saitama to go on a killing spree. He likely wouldn't, but Inichi wasn't about to test the theory to see if it was true.
