AN: Happy Easter everybody. Two notes + One note.

1 - As of now, I have officially completed my self-designated challenge. From the day of March 12th (my B-day) to the 31st, I have successfully posted at least a single chapter of something every day. So yay~. Sadly, I cannot keep doing this every day moving forward or I will burn out hard. I'll do my best to post when I can.

2 - As it's a holiday and I completed my challenge, I'll do a double post for today. The next chap should come out in 5-6 hours as I have a few things to do.

3 - Enjoy the chap! Like, Comment, Review, tell me your thoughts.

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Chapter 8: Heading Home.

"Would you like to join the IGO?"

"Secret agent man say what now?" Axel blinked at the guy in the epic pair of sunglasses. He was being given first aid by one of the soldier guys who popped up at the end when the agent walked over and blurted out an invitation.

"Would you like to join the IGO?" The man continued without pause.

"Dude, I just came out of that things fucking eyeball." Axel pointed at the now unmoving corpse after he and Nathan had turned its brain to mush.

"And?"

"…I'm going home."

"We can offer you exclusive resources and hunting grounds suited to your talents."

Axel winced as the soldier tightened the bandages around his burnt shoulder. "Look, I've had a long day, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm actually sober. I'm not accepting some sketchy offer right now."

"Sketchy..."

"Have you looked at yourself in the mirror and said that line? You basically radiate shady scammer vibes right now."

"Axel..." Off to the side, Luke looked like he wanted to strangle him, while Sam seemed to find something hilarious.

"Sir, I assure you the IGO is an upstanding organization."

"That's what a shady group would say."

"..."

"Sir." Luke cut in before Axel could say anything else to magically piss off another living being. "Axel's a new hunter, and as you can see, he's highly exhausted. He's obviously not in the right mindset to consider a responsible decision."

"Why are you speaking for m-..."

"He's HIGHLY EXHAUSTED." Luke intensely emphasized, making Axel huff and just let it go. It wasn't worth the effort, and frankly, he was still in a great deal of pain from his final maneuver.

~ A little while ago ~

The Emerald Great Leg burst through into the clearing behind him.

"Get out of there, Axel!"

'It's now or never.' Ignoring the madly waving Luke, Axel spun around, digging trenches into the dirt to bleed off his momentum as he slid to a stop.

The sharkodile's roar practically drowned out the world as Axel's stormy grey eyes reflected its approaching form, growing larger with every second.

"You with me, Luc?"

"Reow!" His blue-furred feline growled in his best intimidating stance and grabbed hold of the water Axel summoned.

"Good." He equipped his trusty frying pan and kitchen knife in both hands and felt the heat build beneath his feet. "SAM! FIRE!"

The sharpshooter didn't let him down as he ignited his fire thrust and launched at the beast before it could fully open its mouth, charging directly for its nose as the world lit with white light.

Yet the explosive force barely reached him before the Emerald Great Leg's nose smashed head-first into the questionably impenetrable force of his barrier enforced with almost every point of mana he could funnel into it.

Axel couldn't see it, but he sure as hell heard the massive crunch as the beast's entire elongated nose fractured inward before the spring shot force of the attack launched him out of the explosive range of the dynamite, with only a bare second resummoning of his barrier behind him to take the force of him flying into and through tree's from the rebound force.

His organs shook fiercely, but the barriers absorbed the majority of the shock, and he eventually came to a stop nearly a kilometer away, steaming from where the heat of the explosion licked him. "Barriers for the win." A chuckle rumbled in his throat as he dropped to his knees with his barrier floating beside him, undamaged from a capture level 8's full-out charge.

"Raaoooo." Lucifer's whine caught his attention as the poor feline fell off his head, falling into Axel's shaky arms with spinning eyes. The kitten had used the water Axel summoned at the last moment to protect the two.

"I got you, bud." He smiled down at the dizzy soot-covered kitten, not a trace of a burn or injury on him. "Told you we would be fine, right?"

Lucifer blinked up at him and shook its fuzzy head before rubbing against Axel's cheek affectionately.

"Thanks for trusting me, Luc."

"Ro."

A bond had sprung up instantly between them that was being tempered by every little step of the way.

"Want to go eat that bastard now?"

"Rao."

And by a shared hunger for aquatic life.

~ Back to the present ~

Axel came back to himself as the soldier finished applying first aid and slapped his good shoulder. "There ya go. You still might want to get that shoulder burn checked out at a hospital. Cauterizing is always nasty business."

"I'll manage." Axel shrugged it off and stood, grunting at the feel of the bandages restricting his movements. "Thanks."

The guy nodded respectfully and turned to look at his catch with a trace of awe. "After what you did, don't mention it."

Axel hummed in reply as he held a hand to his chin and mumbled. "How am I going to move this thing?" He already filled his Item Box, but there was only so much room in it and over a ton of monster left partially buried that was worth a fortune.

"I believe I can help with that." The agent finished with Luke and somehow caught his mumble.

Axel gave him a side glance. "Oh, it's you again."

"My apologies; I had forgotten to introduce myself." The man held out a hand. "Johannes, Vice-Chief of the IGO Development Bureau.

"That sounds impressive." Axel met the hand. "Axel Marq, chef of The Tiger's Bourbon."

"Truly?" The man sounded confused. "So you're really not a hunter?"

"Hn." Axel pointed ahead with a chin. I just came for some fish and booze, and this thing jumped me."

"You came for fish and booze….?"

"Hn."

"With a simple frying pan as a weapon?"

"Hn."

"And did you mention being intoxicated earlier?"

"Hn."

"...Does the name Mansam mean anything to you?"

Axel's eyes had trailed to Lucifer, where the feline was running up to him after thoroughly leaving his mark on the beast, and he blinked as he misheard the name. "Handsome?"

"….Never mind." Johannes seemed very nervous for some reason, but Axel ignored the guy as Lucifer reached him.

"Hey bud, finished?"

"Rao." Lucifer nodded and climbed up to perch on his good shoulder before waving a paw toward the beast. "Rao. Ro. Reoooww."

"Hn. Excellent job."

If anything, Johannes became nearly silent seeing him with an obviously young feline. "And he has a feline partner..." The man mumbled uncertainly before speaking up. "Is that a baby Bush Tiger?"

"Is it?" Axel shrugged, wondering why the man sounded so hopeful for it to be true, and looked at his bud, who shrugged as well. "I guess so?" Neither felt like bringing up Lucifer's apparent abilities with water and fire that were unrelated to the Bush Tiger species, but Johannes didn't need to know that.

"I see." The man took a thankful breath and continued. "You will need a permit to bring him into a populated area. Allow me to set that up for you."

"Really going the extra mile there, man." Axel raised a brow. "I'm still not joining your shady group."

"We are not shady…." Johannes grunted and fixed his sunglasses. "Anyway, I am not requiring you to join at the moment. Consider it a courtesy. The IGO will also take charge of transport for the Emerald Great Leg. Or purchasing it if you wish."

"Uhu." Axel mouthed 'shady' to Lucifer. "Well, as long as the meat gets to me, I won't disagree. I'm willing to sell half of it."

As much as he wanted to keep all of it, there was no way for him to store that much meat before a portion went bad. His Item Box didn't slow down time, though it did keep things cold and contained, and he had yet to try out how long the Basement Dome slowed expiration.

It was better to finally get some money to his name.

Johannes nodded without hesitation. "Of course. The IGO buys at market price. 2,500 Yen per 100 grams of meat."

"Can you make sure those three get a cut of the profit?" Axel nodded over to where the hunter trio were talking with the guards.

"No problem." Johannes guaranteed. "How much?"

"10% each." Ten percent of even half of the beast was going to be a large payday, but Axel felt it was fair to give them each a cut. Nathan got in the thick of it with him, bashing their way to its brain. Sam used her explosives, helped slow it down by widening the leg wounds, and acted to light the fuse without hesitation. Luke, despite not doing any direct damage, had been spouting helpful encyclopedic knowledge since they had met.

"Understood; if you're set up in Gourmet City, I can have it delivered within twenty-four hours."

"Hn." Axel handed over his address without concern. If an issue ever threatened him, he could just close the door and shut off the world connection.

If the secret agent dude wanted to be overly polite and helpful for some shady reason, that didn't matter to Axel. He was too tired and came up with blanks on how to transport everything. 'Let them do all the work, I'll think about consequences later.'

Before he could leave, however, Johannes stopped him one last time. "Sir, do you plan to continue your hunting?"

"I might." It was pretty fun, and Axel knew he was only scratching the surface of the seafood this world had to offer.

"In that case, if I cannot convince you to join the IGO, I'd like to urge you to visit the Gourmet Hunter Saloon."

"The what?" Axel had to blink at another thing with 'Gourmet' in it.

"There is a bartender at a certain location that offers helpful insight to new hunters. He also works as a middleman for bounties and job offers issues by the IGO and third parties." Johannes handed over a card with the name 'Bar Heavy Lodge' written on it.

'So he wants me somewhere he can find me.' Axel studied it with an absentminded hum. "Sure. Thanks for the help, shady agent guy."

"The name is Johannes, sir."

"Hn." Axel left with a wave and walked up to Luke. "Yo, you know about this place." He showed the guy the card, and Axel immediately disliked the excited smile that burst out on the human golden retriever's face.

"Of course! It's the best place for hunters to get reliable jobs where they won't get backstabbed by the client. And the owner is a really cool retired hunter with lots of life experience. I learned a lot from him when I was first starting out and…."

Axel already had what he wanted, so he droned Luke out and turned to Sam and Nathan. "The guy in the suit will handle the pickup. I'm selling half of it and giving you all 10% each. You cool with that?"

Nathan grunted, and for once, it was Sam who had to explain to a confused Axel. "The big guys fine with it, but are you sure? 10% of half is already a lot, 30% isn't a small sum. I just supplied the explosives."

"Meh, you all participated."

"You sure?"

"You want it or not?"

"I'll take it."

Axel nodded at Sam's firm reply and flicked Luke in the forehead before he could start a well-passioned speech. "Good. Make him shut up and accept it, and we'll have no issues." Axel had never seen Sam move so quickly to sucker punch Luke. "Capitalism." He turned to Nathan. "You got something to write with?"

"Mn." The big guy reached into his bag and handed over a pad and pen without question.

Axel appreciatively took it and wrote his address down. "Come by my place sometime, I'll cook a meal on the house."

"Mn." Nathan took it and patted Axel on the arm, almost dislodging Lucifer from his perch with the force behind the simple gesture. "Good. Chef."

"Damn straight." Axel chuckled and ignored his throbbing arm with manly pride. "Aight, I'm going home before I manage to piss off something else."

He turned and started walking before a shout got his attention. "Now, wait just a minute!" Luke came running with a flagging Sam flapping in the wind. "We're going back the same way; let's all go together."

"No, stay away from me."

"What?! Why?"

"You smell."

"I smell?! Have you smelt yourself?! You smell like you went through a bonfire!"

"He technically went through a bonfire." Sam helpfully chimed in and was ignored.

"You smell like sweat and failure."

"It's over 200% humidity in this lagoon! Of course I'm gonna sweat!"

"You didn't deny the failure."

"….Damn Cocovine fruits are hard to find, alright?!"

"Cocovine?"

"Yeah, these red oval shaped…..what are you holding?"

"I stumbled on these things a while back; here ya go." Axel tossed three of them over, and Luke fumbled with the catch.

"These are Cocovine fruits!"

"Hn."

"How did you find them?! Where were you keeping them?!"

"Have you tried not failing?"

"Axel!" Luke tossed the fruits aside to chase after a speed-walking Axel, leaving Sam to catch the fruits they had initially come to find.

"…" She silently stared at the fruit and then over to Nathan, who came up to study them before shrugging. "If it means I no longer have to swim, I'll take it."

"Mn."

0000

Seeing the four hunters walk off, Johannes finally allowed himself to wipe away his growing sweat with a napkin. 'I really hope that young man isn't who I think he is.'

Looking toward the Emerald Great Leg corpse, he rapidly regained his composure and straightened his shoulders. 'Even if he's not, he has frightening potential. If his talent as a chef is half as impressive as he is for hunting, he's a future powerhouse in the making.' He thought back to the explanation the hunter Luke had given him. 'And showing signs of supernatural abilities before gourmet cell activation? He must have frightening potential. It's like I'm dealing with another Toriko situation all over again.' He shook his head at the future headache he could already see another problem child being. 'The chief and president need to hear of this.'

Turning to the officers who joined him, he was internally amused by how excitedly they were pointing at the corpse, speaking with a trace of awe for the new hunter on the block. 'He won't remain unknown for long. I'll have to speak to Morijii about keeping an eye on him and making sure no unsavory elements sink their claws into him.'

Coughing into his fist, he got the men's attention with ease. "The situation here is under control. I'm heading back to make a few calls and get a retrieval team down here. Secure the perimeter and make sure no scavengers come running."

"Sir, what if a Bush Tiger appears? We aren't equipped to handle capture level 3 beasts or higher."

"You have nothing to worry about." Johannes fixed his sunglasses with a glint. "You won't see anything higher than a level 1 for hours. That explosion and the beast's roar will keep everything stronger away for a time."

"Aye, sir!" The men saluted and assumed posts while Johannes hurried back to base camp.

'Chief Mansam has some questions to answer to.'

0000

"Raaooo." Lucifer marveled at the moving floor, sticking to Axel's shin and smacking the floor with a paw.

"It's not alive, Luc. Nothing to proclaim dominance on."

"Rao." Lucifer disagreed and kept smacking it.

"Feel free."

The two were following the moving tunnel back into the city and being given a respectful distance from some other hunters who had seemed to approve of Axel's casualness to his current state.

He hadn't bothered to clean himself up back at the base camp and quickly ditched the hunter trio when Luke tried to drag him off to an inn. A quick job offer to Sam, offering an extra 1% from his cut, and Luke was knocked out with a well-aimed, and apparently well-practiced, spatula.

The two conscious members of the group parted with him on good terms, promising to look him up when they had time before Axel took off for the tunnel, uncaring of his mummy-like appearance from the neck down. 'Bandages count as clothes.' That was Axel's argument, and he was sticking to it until he could get home and stuff a few pairs of clothes into his Item Box. 'Needed better shoes anyway.' His old ones had been practically begging for death with how long he kept them.

"Rao." Lucifer's chirp broke him out of his thoughts as the feline climbed back up to his perch.

"Taught the floor a lesson, bud?"

A satisfied purring rumble was his answer, and Axel could only chuckle and scratch his ears.

The tunnel came to an end, and a quick scan of his Gourmet ID let him through. "One second, sir." A guard stopped him at the sight of Lucifer. "I need to see your ID for a moment."

Axel shrugged and handed it over. "Problem?"

"You need a permit to bring beasts into the city." The guard explained politely, if not slightly aggressively like he expected a fight, before the machine beeped green and he relaxed. "My apologies, sir. Everything seems to be in order."

Axel took his ID back and just nodded as he walked away. 'Guess the secret agent guy moves fast.' He had forgotten about the permit detail and was thankful it was dealt with easily. 'I just want to go home and collapse.'

His little adventure was far more active than he had been in years. Even if he still found time for morning jogs in Central Park, his day was much more than a simple jog. 'Now that I think about it, how did I survive that long?' The odd thought occurred to him just as he heard a familiar voice.

"Axel?! What the hell happened to you?!"

He turned to the voice and matched gazes with Abby's green eyes, stepping out of her booth with a bag and likely going home.

[Image #1]

"Act casual." Axel whispered to Lucifer and kept walking, pretending he didn't just hear her or make eye contact.

"Ro." Lucifer posed like an Egyptian Sphinx.

"Axel!" A hand gripped his wrist like a vice.

"Damn, didn't work." Axel mumbled and found Abby standing next to him with an intense look. "Oh, Abby. Good morning."

"Don't you good morning me! You just tried to walk away."

"I did no such thing."

"You made eye contact."

"Twas not me, but my cat."

"You don't have a cat!"

"Exhibit A." Axel pointed to his shoulder, and Abby blinked at the imperious posture of his blue feline.

"Rao." Translation: Bow down mortal.

"Oh! You are adorable!" Axel could only blink before his feline was stolen from before his eyes and trapped in a bosom of the softest pillows. Even Lucifer was dumbfounded before he melted under the pampering he was getting. "Who's a good kitty, you are."

Abby looked like she was on cloud nine and Axel did the responsible thing. 'I'll always remember you.' He put his hands together and bowed, ignored Lucifer's widening eyes, and turned to leave.

"Rao!"

'Farewell, my friend.'

"Huh? Axel! Get back here!"

He most certainly didn't go back.

Sadly, it seemed Abby was taking the same train as him.

"An Emerald Great Leg, huh? I heard they're pretty rare." Abby commented while sitting next to him with Lucifer on her lap, the little traitor ignoring Axel to get his tummy rubbed.

Axel sent her an odd look at the calm response after hearing an abridged version of his tale. "Have you ever gone hunting?"

"Hm? Once or twice, but it was only for seasonal stuff. Puff Pumpkins are a must-have in the fall, and they're harmless once you give them a tap on the head."

"Puff Pumpkins?"

"You don't know of them? They pop up in the changing seasons, and they…." Abby went off explaining the things while Axel fought his growing exhaustion, threatening to have him nod off on the comfortable train ride. "Axel?"

Abby's concerned voice brought him back with a shake of his head. "Hm?"

"Are you sure you're ok? I can take you to a hospital." The woman had fretted over him initially, but Axel convinced her it was just superficial burns under the bandages, and she let it go.

"I'm good." He stretched a bit and winced at a throb from his shoulder. "Just need to sleep it off. Been a while since I pulled an all-nighter."

"Ha, what a noob." Abby stuck her nose in the air proudly. "I'm practically nocturnal now."

"That's cuz you work the night shift."

"Po-ta-to, po-ta-to. Get on my level."

"Do you play video games when no one shows up at your booth?"

"….it gets boring, alright?" Abby flushed and held up a curious Lucifer to hide her face. The curious kitten started tapping her head with a paw, seemingly finding her blond hair interesting. "It's the night shift, so I don't get that many customers in the first place."

"Is that why you were so cranky when I showed up?"

"I was not cranky!" Abby avoided his deadpan gaze. "I may have been a little out of it from a twelve-hour Palworld binge I was on, but you showed up when my shift just started." Her eyes narrowed then. "And you could neither write in standard nor had an ID. Have you lived under a rock your whole life?"

"Nothing wrong with a good rock. Coral seems nice."

"…I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"Hn."

Abby rolled her eyes and got up at a chime from the intercom. "This is my stop." She gave Lucifer a final cuddle. "I still want to hear how you met this adorable creature."

Axel's mind flashed back to a shit ton of drinking and the following chaos. "…You probably don't."

"Why does that answer fill me with dread?"

"You're smart?"

"Axel, did you just compliment me?"

"I guess I did."

[Image #2]

"Maybe you're more injured than I thought." Abby giggled and handed Lucifer over, bending over to kiss him on the cheek. "Feel better. I'll stop by for my free meal and if you're not healed up, I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Pushy woman."

"I am what I am. See you!" She left with a wave, and he watched her go as the doors closed with a hiss.

'Not that I don't like pushy women.' He held a hand to his cheek in bemusement. Most of his ex's and flings were the type to take what they wanted while he was lost in a world of culinary or oceanic thoughts, not that he couldn't clearly say no if he wished to, but he had long since identified that confidence was an attractive trait for him.

"Rao?" Lucifer rolled over in his lap curiously, and Axel could only chuckle.

"It's nothing, Luc."

0000

Inserting his key into the door, Axel walked into his restaurant slash home accompanied by the welcoming jingle of the bell. "Home sweet home." His voice rang in the darkened room, and almost unconsciously, his mood seemed to dip.

"Reow." Lucifer sneezed and jumped off his shoulder to inspect a table, the movement shaking Axel from his momentary funk.

"Don't get hair on my tables, bud."

"Rao."

"Sure, sure."

Axel left him with a head pat, trekking through his narrow kitchen and up to his room, collapsing face down on his bed without a care for his current state. 'Just a short nap.'

He was dead to the world in seconds.

Chapter End.