Good morning, my readers! Today is the day of perhaps the most waited chapter in the story, Mizuki and Shinko finally meet up again! But before we look into that, there are the responses.
To guest:well, you'll find out immediately...
To Exodus12345:oh really? I'm kind of bummed out (got over though), but i did what i did to make the story deviate more from the canon and become more original. Anyway, as for the last part, Shinko won't learn Bomb's technique (it's not a spoiler, so i can immediately tell you that)
To Shinko this was a rather neutral morning:after having breakfast, Shinko received some mail (from an airplane) and found out he made a big jump in rank:from rank 101 to rank 69!
It was such an amazing feat to Shinko and now he was even more determined to find Mizuki.
Only problem was that he couldn't find her at all in Z city! When he asked Malaware about it, he said without any doubt that she was in this very city (it also didn't help that he called Shinko "Fluffy Boy", which made a bit angry).
With annoyance regarding his lost friend and a broken table (by sheer accident, he swears), Shinko went to sit at a bench, leaning his head to better feel the nice breeze.
As he leaned, Shinko bumped into something, eliciting a thud:it felt like a pretty muscular arm.
Shinko, not wanting to cause a ruckus with a stranger, got up...
...and he froze, coming to eye contact with a very beautiful girl he very well knew.
X X X
Mizuki was in a rather normal attire:long brown pants and a white T-shirt, she was sitting on a bench in a park, feeling down:after becoming a track and field champion (within E city anyway), she started her hero career and in doing so she could quit the school to actually work.
At the fitness test she impressed the S class hero Darkshine, whom she really admired.
Two weeks later, when she heard of Shinko's disappearance, she pleaded Darkshine if he could try to find him, but to no avail (as in he couldn't find him).
Now she was frustrated, and there was no monster she could aim her anger on, so she settled for a very long jog in the park.
After that, feeling a bit more relaxed, she went to sit on a bench, staring at the sky.
After some time, she felt something very fluffy on her bicep.
So, not in the mood to deal with an ill-mannered person, she turned to tell them to move away, but her words fell and her eyes widened.
Mizuki was now staring at Shinko, who had the same reaction.
She could not believe her eyes! Her best friend was finally there, alive and well!
Well, of course he was:Shinko was now a hero and he also got the maximum points in the fitness test, breaking various records. He also reached the bottom of the antlion nest by himself (something that really surprised her, even if almost nobody paid attention to it, saying that he found no monster on the way).
Mizuki, however, didn't exactly know how he would react to his given hero name, or if he knew about it already.
So, being speechless, Mizuki did the first two things that came to her mind.
"SHINKO!" Mizuki happily shouted, hugging Shinko tightly.
He stood frozed not because said hug was bone-crushing, but because his face was just above her big chest.
And then she delivered a medium chop to his head, shouting "I was worried about you!"
Shinko snapped out of frozen state as the height of her tone hit him, but recollected himself again.
"Really, you didn't have to run away! Now i can finally bring you home-" Mizuki continued, but was then interrupted by a sharp "NO!" from Shinko.
He then flinched when he realized the tone he used and began explaining "Look, it's nice that you came here for me, but now i have settled myself here in Z city:i'll still write to my family telling them i'm ok, but i can take care of myself!"
Mizuki sighed, while she liked many of Shinko's characteristics (such as his reliability and the goodness of his heart), she didn't like his timidity and his fear when he had to confront people he unwillingly hurt.
Still, at least he was okay and he was sorry for his action (the latter she expected), but she wouldn't let him go so easily.
"Say, how about we go around the city and chat a little bit to catch up?" Mizuki asked.
"Oh? Sure!" said Shinko happily.
X X X
"You REALLY live in the ghost town of all places?" Mizuki asked Shinko again as she facepalmed, again.
"Yep, the rent's really cheap there! I also made friends with another hero, Saitama:although the is kind of awkward to talk with, he's really nice" Shinko said, but inside his mind was imploding as he DID know how she would react to the fact he was living with a lot of monsters.
He just didn't have to bring it up and hopefully she wouldn't ask too many questions.
Suddenly they heard an explosion near a crossroad and various screams.
"Looks like a monster attack!" Mizuki said and turned to Shinko, but she couldn't see the fluffy boy anymore.
'Where did he go?!' she aked herself frantically, but she soon located him near the explosion.
While questioning how did he get there so quickly, she followed him. When Mizuki arrived Shinko immediately noticed her.
"Oh, here you are! Don't worry, it was just a man who turned into an orca. I already dealt with it" he said as her eyes widened at the remains of the monster:the legs stood erected, while the whole upper body was splattered here and there.
Judging by the size of the chunks of flesh, Mizuki could deduct that it was a pretty powerful monster, probably tiger level. It could have given her some trouble fighting it.
"Thank you Mizuki, for dealing with the monster" An elderly man said as he approached her.
Soon a small crowd assembled itself to cheer at her.
"Woah, she must be strong!" "Have you seen how beautiful she is?" "She should be promoted to an higher rank!"
Mizuki was a taken by surprise, bit still appreciated the cheers and even signed an autograph or two, while Shinko just smiled at her.
After some time they began searching for a cafe, but Mizuki was...troubled.
She knew that Shinko was a bit of an abnormality given his results in the fitness test and all, but moving and killing a monster faster than she could react was kind of a stretch.
Well, she would ask him later.
X X X
"So...how did you do that?" Mizuki asked casually as she sipped some coffee.
They both sat at an iron table, Mizuki settled for some coffee, while Shinko got a chocolate croissant.
"Did what?" Shinko said as he took a bite out of his croissant.
"Don't play dumb, it's you who defeated that monster" Mizuki said, a bit ticked.
"Ah, that! Yeah, nothing special" Shinko said nonchalantly.
"What do you mean by 'nothing special'? You defeated it without breaking a sweat!" Mizuki raised her voice a little.
"As i told you, it's no big deal. The people wouldn't even believe it was me because of how i look, besides i fought tons of stronger monsters" Shinko said nonchalantly and Mizuki stopped, the gears in her brain turning rapidly.
"You said you fought a lot of monsters? Wait, what is your training regimen?" Mizuki asked.
Shinko told her and her eyes narrowed.
"How many monsters did you fight?" Mizuki asked and Shinko shrugged "I...don't know since i lost count. I DID fight every day and my opponents have always been monsters, well at least wolf level, tiger level and demon level"
"But what about that dragon who was searching for some 'Fighter of the outskirts'?" Mizuki asked.
"That was just some title that the monsters around there gave me, but i guess the word spreaded" Shinko said, looking Mizuki in her widening eyes.
"You defeated that dragon, didn't you?" Mizuki finally said, a statement more than a question.
"Yes, but it was more of a sneak attack" Shinko answered.
Mizuki closed her eyes and, after some time, reopened them.
"So that's what you were doing on all those afternoons...it explains all the bruises and the pain spikes too...but...do you know how strong you truly are?" Mizuki spoke slowly, the situation still not making sense despite her thinking:Shinko broke the HA records by a margin that could not be ignored, but when he defeated that monster it looked like he was holding back.
"I don't know, that's the thing. I don't know if i even have LIMITS anymore" Shinko said as he suddenly started to tremble.
This was a recurring plague:throughout his training he felt sharp pains whenever he kept training, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
As he continued his training he felt stronger and stronger but, at the same time, more abnormal.
He could do things almost no one else could (the exception now being Saitama) and deep down this strenght always gave him the creeps:what if he lost control, what if he hurt someone without wanting to? What if someone tricked him into doing something that could be deep down malicious?
And, since he was this strong, no one could begin to comprehend his distress, thus alienating him from anyone and keeping his strength to himself (but still using it for anything he thought worthy, like for hero work).
His trembling stopped as Mizuki placed a hand on his shoulder, looking concerned "Hey, calm down Shinko, you're worrying me! What's this stuff about 'no limits'?"
"Exactly what it sounds:my strength is incomprehensible and no one can understand it, so i have to keep it a secret or people will only like me because of that, or think i am a cheater, or be afraid of me" Shinko explained hollowly.
"Oh come on Shinko, stop being melodramatic! It can't be THAT bad" Mizuki said, masking her worry with an attempt to downplay the situation.
But yes, there was some truth to his statement, so Mizuki wanted to use something similar to Darkshine's training method.
"Hey, come with me, i know the perfect place to test that strenght you worry so much about!" Mizuki said as she grabbed Shinko's arm, the latter jolting at her sudden touch.
X X X
Twenty minutes later and Mizuki, along with her bag and Shinko, were in a very large, unused scrap yard where people occasionally came to search for materials or anything else remotely useful.
"This is the place i sometimes use for training!" Mizuki explained with wide arms and was now in her hero outifit:it was a normal, blue female marathonet outfit.
Shinko was blushing lightly, but he had seen Mizuki in that outfit already when he watched her performance on an event.
Then she motioned Shinko to stand on one side while she stood by the other.
"Ok, this method is divided in three steps:flexing, lifting and offense" Mizuki explained to Shinko as she had his attention.
"The first one is self-explanatory, just flex as hard as you can! I'll go first!" Mizuki said as she flexed.
Shinko watched in slight awe as her muscles bulged, becomig stronger and slightly bigger.
"Now it's your turn!" Mizuki said excitedly.
Shinko got in position and slid his feet apart.
He took two breaths as he closed his eyes, then snapped them open and flexed HARD.
Mizuki, who had been watching closely, was knocked on her back by a gust of wind, which erupted from Shinko.
The concrete under Shinko's feet shattered, the shockwave propagating on a two meter radius.
As Shinko's shirt was obliterated, his muscles were revealed:they were toned and refined more than any other Mizuki had ever seen, swelling with power impossible for muscles that size.
Sure, they lacked Darkshine's greatness, but her gut (along with the rest of her body) told her they could very well make up and even surpass them in any other attribute.
As the wind died down Shinko's entire body relaxed, his amazing muscles returning to their original, harmless-looking form.
Shinko looked down on his chest, then back at Mizuki and blushed.
"I knew that shirt was garbage" Shinko muttered while looking down, but a hand on his bare shoulder caused him to look up.
"Shinko, your muscles are simply amazing! I think only Darkshine can rival them!" Mizuki said, unable to contain her enthusiasm.
"Thanks, yours too look REALLY good to me" Shinko said softly while looking her in the eye.
"Well, onto the next one!" Mizuki said as she moved to a pile of metallic-looking junk.
She tore out a car (which could contain four people), lifted it by grabbing it by the front and, forming an arc, slammed it on the concrete eliciting a metallic crash.
Mizuki drew a breath, some sweat on her forehead, and looked at Shinko expectantly.
He thrusted his hand in the front of a tram, his fingers digging in the metal with ease, and lifted it upwards without any effort.
Mizuki expected this and moved to the final test.
Now they were in front of a huge pile of metal scrap, each of them the size of a car.
"Ok, now we simply have to punch a durable object with all our might!" Mizuki said, pumping a fist in the air.
Shinko flinched:he didn't want to destroy the deposit and possibly damage the city.
However, Muzuki's confident look told Shinko that he could hold back, but the attack had to be cool-looking.
'Oh, then i can just do it like at the punching machine' the boy thought as he relaxed, thinking back to the fitness test of the Hero Association.
Suddenly a loud buzzing interrupted their training session "Attention, monsters of threat level wolf, tiger and demon have been sighted in the city. Please come to the shelter until a team of heroes has dealt with them" an intercom near the duo said with a robotic feminine voice.
"Well Shinko, i guess we can practice our offense on live enemies!" Mizuki said as she began stretching in preparation for the upcoming battle, while Shinko merely stood there as his senses sharpened.
After some time he heard a low buzzing from south and, as he turned his eyes, he saw a small, roundish bee coming towards it at moderate speed.
It flew towards Shinko, who grabbed it softly "Aww, what are you doing here all alone, little guy?" he said at the bee as he started to pet it. The bee monster appreciated the gesture and began making a sound between purring and buzzing.
Mizuki eyed the conversation and said "Ok, we found the wolf level, now onto the others"
Just as she said so, a powerful shot rung and Shinko grabbed the large, speeding bullet centimeters from the bee.
Mizuki reacted almost immediately, while the bee scurried along Shinko's arm three seconds later and hid itself on Shinko's back.
"Nice catch, little boy" said a voice from a scrap pile at their left.
A huge humanoid figure crawled out, clad in a western outfit amd hat, the most terrifying particulars being three snake-like eyes on his face and an anti-tank rifle as tall as him.
"I am Reptilian Poacher and you'll do as i say, give me that bee monster and maybe you won't die" the monster said, but Shinko stood still, looking him in the eye.
"Wait a minute! You used to be an A class criminal!" Mizuki said, too focused on the demon level to notice the bee on the Shinko's back.
Meanwhile Shinko passed the bullet he grabbed before from his left hand to his right.
"Exactly, but since the boy just grabbed my bullet, i'm really pissed off, so you're both going to die" Reptilian Poacher said as he loaded his gun.
"Consecutive Elephant-Slaying Bullets!" he fired three shots right at Shinko.
Mizuki panicked and lunged for his friend, but as the bullets disintegrated in contact his chest without leaving a mark, she relaxed and concentrated herself on the three reptilian monsters coming behind her.
Shinko simply throwed the bullet in his hand, with pierced Reptilian Poacher's chest before the incoming shockwave blasted it apart, leaving an unharmed lower body which, soon enough, erupted in a funtain of blood.
Meanwhile Mizuki rushed to the first reptilian and punched him hard in the face, then she twirled and, locking his neck with her powerful arms, she snapped it.
She then extracted her baton, which turned into a long pole with a spiked end, and thrusted it in the centre of the second reptilian's chest, killing him swiftly.
Mizuki then jumped with the pole to sneak attack the last monster, but it was faster as he jumped and tackled her.
Mizuki, however, wouldn't be defeated that easily:she spun around her opponent and locked his neck with her thighs, while she blocked his arms with her hands.
They crashed on the hard concrete, the monster taking the brunt of the fall on his back.
"Woah, you really are good at fighting!" Mizuki looked up to see Shinko with the bee monster on his shoulder.
"You only saw me on the field, but i know grappling too!" Mizuki replied happily to Shinko.
Then she squished the reptilian's head with both of her thighs, causing his head to get crushed.
Shinko fliched lightly at the display, but was happy for Mizuki nonetheless.
"What about this one?" Mizuki said, motioning at the small bee, who backpedaled behind Shinko's shoulder.
"Oh don't worry, he seems harmless enough, besides he didn't attack me on sight, so i'll keep him" Shinko said calmly.
"Ok..." Mizuki was uneasy, but Shinko was strong enough to take care of himself and the monster seemed docile enough.
"Oh and you might want to wash your legs" Shinko pointed out.
Mizuki looked down and grimaced at the blood splattered on her thighs.
X X X
A mid hour later Shinko and Mizuki sat on a pile of scrap, the latter's legs now cleaned and the bee monster on the former's lap.
"Well, i can see why you're worried about your strength" Mizuki said as she eyed the sky "Honestly the power you have is quite unnerving" She recalled the way she felt as Shinko flexed, and he wasn't even attacking.
"But i think you're worries are exaggerated:a hero isn't only made by its power, but by its heart as well. Shinko, you have a lot of heart" Mizuki motioned to the sleeping monster on his lap.
"Your kindness and compassion cannot be toppled simply by power, even this much" Mizuki smiled at Shinko and the latter, albeit smiling, blushed a little.
'He's also toughened his spirit' Mizuki remembered the days when Shinko would blush and stutter, now turned into one that could look and talk to her with his shirt off.
She spaced out, her mind over Shinko's muscles, then recollected herself.
"So, i think we can move out" Mizuki said, but Shinko remained put.
"I can't go in the streets shirtless now, there's no monster attack" he explained a bit embarrassed.
"Ok that's fair" Mizuki said as she dressed herself again and tossed one of her shirts at Shinko, which landed on his face.
"Thanks, even if it's...a bit large" Shinko said as he put it on.
Mizuki chuckled, it was a bit large after all.
"Oh well, that's what you get for not bringing a spare one" she teased him and Shinko chuckled in turn, the bee now awake on his head.
X X X
"Ok Shinko, can you tell me why there's a monster bee on your head?" Monoculor said as he eyed the bee weirdly.
"This little guy was attacked by some monsters, so me and Mizuki rescued him" Shinko told the simplified version of the story.
Monoculor addressed the bee "Ok then. Welcome to the Wastelanders, Beeline"
"Thank you" Beeline replied quietly before floating to the cyclop monster.
"Isn't that nice? I guess i was right after all" Gaia said as Ariol came from the bathroom.
The latter simply huffed, but he thought she was right.
Just a little.
"Oh, hi Ariol! Need anything?" Shinko asked his almost-to-be friend.
"Yes, i need to talk to you" Ariol motioned Shinko towards the couch.
"That day at the antlion nest, as i witnessed your strength and your fighting style, i can say...that the latter is close to total garbage" Ariol said as he sat on the couch, while Shinko's mouth remained half-opened in bewilderment.
"Your Wind-blades are quite good, but your movements are almost uncoordinated and your form is non-existent, even if it sometimes pretends to exist" Ariol continued as his eyes narrowed even further, to Shinko's surprise.
"I get what you say, but for the next week, starting tomorrow, i gotta train at Bang's dojo" Shinko said, trying not to anger Ariol.
He didn't want the guy to make a hole in the wall, or the roof for that matter.
"You mean the S class rank 3 Bang, the master of the 'Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist'?" Ariol questioned further, to which Shinko nodded.
"So that's how it is, then we'll follow this plan:you train at Bang's dojo and then pass to me his teachings" Ariol explained and Shinko sweated lightly, wondering how could he pull that off and also, deep in his heart, hoping Ariol wouldn't cause trouble with that technique.
Ariol, almost reading him in his mind, closed his eyes and sighed "Ok then, we wont do that, forget it"
At this, Shinko sighed in relief.
Suddenly Monoculor called them "Hey, come make the table over here! I'm starting to cook and the gang's coming!"
Shinko and Ariol got up to do just that, savoring the meals that Monoculor would make.
And that was the chapter! See you next Wednesday!