MHA: Blackout

“How many seconds in eternity?” Kaizen asked himself, as he watched himself die once more. It could only be described as an out of body experience. Was he really dead? Why does he keep reliving this moment? Can't he just die already?

He was trapped in a perpetual prison of his last moments. He briefly wondered if this is some sort of punishment from a divine entity for his misdeeds in life. Or perhaps he was trapped in someone's quirk. Eventually a bright light engulfs the entire as he finally wakes up from his week long slumber.

He's been having these nightmares for a few days now. He's not sure what to make of it. But he does know he needs to settle some things with some of his friends. When he got back up, after checking up on his garden, he finally found the resolve to do so. First on the list, was Haya.

On his full human form, Kaizen knocked onto the girls door, hoping to hear a reply. "Hey.. it's me, Kaizen. You got a minute." This was the first time they talked since he got back.

Haya had just come from the kitchen, when her legs could feel the buzzing. She moved down the hall with her bowl, towards her door to find Kaizen. She smiled at him, as she held her bowl of grilled chicken sliced over jasmine rice. “Kaizen. Back in human form I see.” she commented before going to her door, moving next to him to open it. “I would ask you if you are lost, but you seem to have stopped at my door for a reason.”

Haya moved into her room, and placed her bowl on her desk, before she went to her bed, and motioned Kaizen to come in. “Seat.” she told him, as she crossed her legs as she sat on her bed, motioning him to the chair at her desk. “Close the door. Tell me what is on your mind, so I can eat.” she told him.

“Well, you seem to be in high spirits despite having one of your teammates almost die.” He spoke in a neutral tone before entering her room and closing the door as she requested. He sat on the chair and spoke up. “My near death experience aside, I am just checking up on you. I heard you’re not exactly on good terms with a few of our friends.” He was worried if it might have affected her temperament in the field, maybe he’s just wondering why she didnt follow his orders.

Haya chuckled as she listened to him. Her eyes didn't move, for once she let them look as dead as an blind person had. She decided moving them to make seeing people a little more comfortable was something she wasn't going to do anymore. "You weren't going to die. I checked your injuries myself and that Hero Pro I felt, I have worked with before." She said before she sighed and her smile vanished, "As for friends, I am not here to play nice. I came back for a job of my own. I told you that when we were on the mission. And it's not to play house anymore. I'll make nice with those I can, like you, but friends aren't needed. While I'm waiting I'll talk to Aika, I heard she's been a little off since I last talked to her. Otherwise, you can tell any friends if you want, good terms or bad, I don't trust anyone anymore. So they should just suck it up."

"If you say so." Was all he said to the statement regarding his brush with death. Hearing her downplay was a bit worrying but he didn't think too much about it.

Her next few replies however were even more worrying. "I see." Has Haya always been this cold? "And here I thought I was the cold blooded one." He commented half-jokingly. He hasn't had the best of luck with Aika as well but he won't be bringing that up anytime soon. "Anymore? Did something happen to change that?" He asked curious ask to what changed her view point.

Haya smirked, thinking of how to explain, “My family changed. How I see everyone has changed. And the fact that the people I trusted, well, let’s just say, I shouldn't have trusted them. And that includes family.” she told him before she sighed, “Listen Kaizen, everyone has issues in their past and family, some of us deal with it like you do, in combat and some of us use it to stay focused. If you need me to help you, then I will, I don’t trust you in the way I used to trust everyone, but you have yet to lie or betray me. Until you do, I have no problem going on missions and trying to limit the issues on missions. But my focus is on my mission, the path I have decided for myself. This is just a step in that direction, nothing more. My family are Assassins, that is what I am and that is what I will always be. It’s better for me that way.” she added.


After hearing all that, Kaizen had relatively simple response. "You're starting to sound like Vig."He sighed before giving a more serious response. " Regardless of whether or not your family are assassins or not shouldn't you be the one to decide whether you're one?" Kaizen questioned, seemingly unphased by the revelation. "If that's what you wanna be, more power to you. But I don't think you need to stop being friends with people just because you're an assassin." He added in. "What exactly do you mean by not trusting people the same way?" Trust can be such a fickle thing these days.

Haya tilted her head, “I have decided. What do you think I was doing while you were playing in snow? And stop being friends, means that I have friends to stop being with. To have friends you have to be about to trust them. Aika has decided to stay away, Hideki is a friend I am just waiting to betray me and Kuroi, well, I don’t believe he was ever my friend. So, that leaves everyone else, who were never my friends in the first place.” she sighed, “Look Kaizen, are you checking on me to change me or do you think I am going to tell you every little detail of why I am here and not killing those I have on my list? Because either way, you will fail and you might not like what you hear.” she added, curious for his line of questioning.

"I was here to check up on you, but after that, I just wanted to understand your line of thinking." He didn't really have any intention of changing her at this point. "Try me. There are many in this world I believe do not deserve to draw breath, but I don't think any of our friends and classmates are one of them." Kaizen might not like what he hears, but he wants to hear it nonetheless.

Haya smirked, “I wouldn’t kill them for sport, only if they got in my way.” she commented, “As for my train of thought, it is very simple. I have a list, targets that are mine to deal with. And if someone gets in my way, I will deal with them in the same way. Everyone else, and everything else, doesn’t matter to me anymore. My life before was built on lies and the only way that I am going to move past it, is to move past the old Haya, who was nice, shy and sweet; and stay focused.” she explained, “And that is all you really need to know.”

"By that logic, you would kill me too if I were to get in your way wouldn't you?" And there it is, the million dollar question, though he suspected he already knew the answer. "I don't see how those two are mutually exclusive from one another. But I digress." He had a better picture of what was happening in her life know, even if it's not the whole thing. "Though, your goals might be easier to achieve if you had an accomplice as cold blooded as you are."

Haya smirked as she got off the bed and moved to lean towards Kaizen, “Yes, Bugster. If you got in my way I would kill you without a second thought and I might feel bad about it, but that is something I can’t for sure say. And it wouldn’t stop me from getting you out of my way and to my target.” She moved a little closer and kissed the corner of his lips, “And I don’t need the help. I have my whole life to finish everyone off. So, just leave my mission to me and stay out of the way. You will live longer.” she said before she leaned back and smiled at him, as she stood up. “I like you Kaizen, I don’t want you to die. I want you to live a very long time and do a lot of heroic things. That is why, I want to help you, when I am not dealing with my own thing. So, I wouldn’t worry too much about what my mission is and focus more on your own. Next time, I’ll be more vocal about it.” she told him before she started back to her bed.

Kaizen was stunned for a moment by her actions more so than her words. He wondered where she learned that from. He stayed silent for a second before bursting into laughter. "HAHAHAAH. Interesting, most interesting." To think her personality would change so much over such a short period of time. "I see. I will watch over your career, with great interest." He said getting ready to leave.

Haya smirked, “I will do the same for you. But I imagine watching over you will be a lot easier than watching over me.” she stated. She wasn't going to be as obvious as she had to be in Japan. Either way, she didn’t want to kill Kaizen, she just didn’t want anyone in her way.

Next on the list was Aika. He hadn’t talked to her since the festival, considering how busy they were with hero work and school, he didn't really blame her. His near death experience had prompted him to treasure his friends just a bit more since he’ll never know when he won’t be able to do so again. Kaizen knocked on the girl’s door, hoping she’d answer. He was in his mostly human form, wearing a hoodie and jeans. “Hail, Aika. Its Bugster. You gotta minute to catch up? Over some lunch perhaps?” He spoke into her door.

It took a couple of minutes before Aika opened her door. She had headphones around her neck, and just looked at Kaizen with a raised eyebrow ”I suppose I got a minute. Need to head out soon anyway.” She said, moving to lean on the door frame ”Don’t recall you ever deciding to check up on people before.” Aika added.

“Well my recent experience has given me near perspective towards how fleeting life is, especially in our career path.” He explained while giving her a cheeky smile. “Oh? Did I catch you at a bad time? Come on! I’ll make you lunch! Tonkotsu Pork ramen!” He offered hoping that it would change her mind. He knew Aika was a bit of lonewolf, so he’d have to give her enough an incentive to spend some time with him.

Hearing his explanation, Aika raised an eyebrow ”Took you long enough to realise. Welcome to the human race bug. No one lives forever.” She said, before shaking her head ”And yeah, I can’t really afford to stick around for lunch. Got some business outside of school.” She said, before stepping back into her room and beginning to check her bag.

Kaizen always thought he could survive everything, mostly everything. So he always took stuff like this for granted. “Well, if you say so. Where are you heading off to anyways? Are you secretly an idol now or something? Going somewhere to record songs? Or is it something else?” Kaizen took a wild guess. Till this day, he still thinks she looks awfully similar to a pink-haired internet idol he is familiar with.

”Guess you haven’t been listening to the radio huh.” Aika muttered under her breath, before looking back at Kaizen ”What I’m up to or not isn’t anyone’s business but my own.” She told him, putting on the bag before heading out of the room and locking the door.

“Hmmm you didnt deny it…” Kaizen took that as confirmation that she is indeed some sort of an Idol. “And no….my radio got busted… I guess it's something to look forward to when I fix it.” The only time he’s heard hwe sing was during the festival and even then, it was pretty good. “Can I tag along? You won’t even know I am there…” He has been practicing the silent flying techniques of predator insects, looks like its a skill that will be a useful even outside of missions.

Hearing his question, Aika rolled her eyes ”Only to the school gates. After that, you keep following me, and you’re gonna get smacked.” She told him, before heading to the elevator and calling it. She did not intend on actually having anyone escort her to the recording studio. Especially not a giant bug who could easily serve as a bloody beacon.

“I can be your bodyguard! I’ll even hide all the buggy parts if that helps. I was a top-tier body guard during my days with the clan, 100% client satisfaction.” He offered half-jokingly. “On a more serious note…do you know what happened to Iniji? I’ve been stuck in the hospital for the last 7 days, so I wasn’t here for the debrief.” While waiting for the elevator he might as well ask abit about his other teammates.

Sighing, Aika entered the elevator that arrived and shook his head ”No, you can’t be. Don’t need one.” She told him, before glancing at him after the question about Iniji ”I wasn’t there for the debrief either. Skin got shattered entirely because of a crazy bitch sound quirk lady. Can’t tell you what happened during the mission either, since once that happened, I just lost focus.” She answered. Aika had a very good hunch as to what exactly happened to Iniji, but that was up for him to share.

“Hmm I see….He has an interesting past.. To say the least. ..”Kaizen replied, smiling a bit, he knew about his history but who else did he wonder? Surely all the teachers are in on it as well. “Speaking of Girls with killer sound quirks, how are things with you and Haya.” Last time he checked, they had activity together in the ferris wheel and that was all he knew about it.

Hearing the name that he brought up, Aika didn’t seem to give any reaction at first. She remained silent for the rest of the elevator ride down, and when it arrived on the ground floor, she briefly glanced at him ”Me and who.” Was all she said as she stepped off the elevator, starting to head out of the dorms without bothering to wait for Kaizen to catch up.

“I see…” was all he replied. He read in between the lines and assumed something most have happened to their relationship. It was polite to pry anymore than that. But what he did not expect was her trying to escape from him. Kaizen smiled, she should know better than to try and outpace the bugster. Kaizen easily kept up and eventually outpaced her. “Hey relax! You’re gonna be late, I’ll even fly you there if needed.” Kaizen said while running next to her.

”You don’t know when I need to be at my destination, so don’t go assuming that. And besides, I told you, past the gates, you ain’t coming with me.” Aika spoke with a colder tone now, clearly saying ‘get lost’, without actually saying the words.

“Oh?” Kaizen uttered with a playful tone before disappearing from sight. Once Aika arrived at the gates, she could see the bugster waiting for her at the gates, all armored up, looking like a boss from a video game that would stop the player from progressing. But as she got closer, Kaizen would simply step aside and let her through. “Wish we could have talked a bit longer… but we all have our choices to make.” he sounded rather sad, but respected that she wanted to leave alone.

After watching Kaizen’s whole charade, Aika stopped next to him ”Oh look, you keep on learning. Good for you.” She said in a rather sarcastic voice, before continuing on, stepping out of the gates.

As tempting as it was, Kaizen did not have the intention of following her without permission. He simply stood behind the gates and waved, unnmasking himself to smile. " Goodluck and see you later, Aika." He bid her farewell.



Few days passed, and Aika was heading out of the school. It was afternoon, meaning she didn’t expect to stay in the recording studio for too long. The walk to the studio wasn’t too bad, only taking about 30 minutes. Arriving at the building, she entered the lobby and sat down, waiting for her manager to arrive. She didn’t really like the thought of having a manager, but since she didn’t know the business well enough, she needed her.

A strange masked man could be seen at the counter, the way he sat seemed to imply he was the relaxed and lazy type of person. When their eyes finally met, he simply gave a friendly wave. “Yo.” he said with a modulated voice. “Are you looking for someone?”

Looking over the counter, Aika raised an eyebrow ”Got a recording scheduled for today. Ai-Sharp, six pm. Just waiting for my manager to arrive first.” She told him. It didn’t take long, and Aika’s manager arrived.
“Sorry for the small delay, I’ve run into some traffic. And it is harder to navigate the smaller streets in the city.” She quickly explained to Aika, before approaching the counter “Hello, I’m Tanashi Rei, here with Ai-Sharp, or Yamada Aika, for a six o’clock recording. Studio,” Rei quickly checked her phone “Studio B. We’ve reserved 2 hours.” Rei took out her ID and presented it to the masked individual, while Aika stood up and put her own ID on the counter for him to see.

The masked man opened up his tablet to confirm that they indeed scheduled at said studio at said time. He took his time looking at the two IDs, holding them like playing cards for a bit. “Everything checks out.” He motions one of the employees towards him while returning their IDs. “Take them to their studio.” He spoke, allowing them to proceed. “See you in two hours. Ciao~!” He was certainly an odd character but it was not unheard of. Once he was out of earshot, the employee awkwardly apologized on his behalf. “Sorry about that, he’s new here and a bit odd.”

“Well, as long as he can provide security, that’s all I really care about.” Rei said as they were being escorted to the studio.
Aika, however, glanced in the masked employee’s direction. She had a very good hunch regarding who he was behind that mask. She had seen him work behind a mask before already. As they entered the studio, she moved her thoughts away from Kaizen to the work at hand.

The two hours passed by rather quickly for Aika, who enjoyed working on her song. Even if the process was incredibly repetitive. Eventually, the door opened, and the employee escorted them to the lobby, before heading back to the studio. Rei smiled as she looked at Aika “Great work, as always. Only one more song, and your own debut album will be ready! But of course, you still need to choose another single to release before the album is released, and one to release with the album itself. Don’t delay too much with that. The production company is waiting to hear from me.” Rei told her.

Aika nodded once ”I’ve got some ideas in mind. And I’ll decide on both by the weekend.” She said.
“Excellent. Now, do you want a lift back to your school?” Rei offered, only to see Aika shake in response “Very well. We still have the meeting later this week, to start looking into outfits for your first concert. So I hope you’re ready for that. Until then.” And with that, Rei left the building.

Sighing, Aika scratched the back of her head. While she understood Rei was good at her job, it was a bit tiresome that all she heard from her was nothing but work-related. Then again, she didn’t hire her to be friends. And as that last thought passed in her mind, her gaze turned to the guard behind the counter.
Approaching the counter, Aika leaned on it and looked right at the guy ”Did you already forget I was able to tell who you were with a mask on? Or just trying your luck again? And you just happened to be working here now, Kaizen?” She asked, her voice giving clear vibes of both annoyance and anger.

“Can I help you with something, Miss?” The masked man simply replied as few of the employees turned their heads towards the commotion about. “Is there a problem here Miss Yamada? Did he do something to upset you?” one of the employees asked. The other employee seemed genuinely concerned by the sudden outburst.

Turning to look at the employee, Aika contemplated just spilling everything on the man, before shaking her head ”No. No problems. I just mistook him for someone I used to know. Someone that I would hate to think started stalking me.” She explained, before going and leaving the studio. Starting to head back to the school, Aika didn’t intend on going to her room, and instead went and waited outside the dorms. Flying or by foot, Kaizen would need to get back, and he couldn’t stop her from seeing him. He couldn’t turn invisible, after all.

Eventually, the blue masked man did finally arrive at the dorm's entrance. He seemed to be deep in thought about something. He rang the buzzer, specifically for Kaizen. “Geez this is the last time I am doing this..” he said to himself out loud.

”Alright, spill. Why’d you follow me?” Aika called out to the guy, before seeing who he was buzzing to ”So, I was half right. You aren’t Kaizen, but I'm guessing you’re related. Using masks like that is a stroke of idiocy, if I have to say so.” She told him, approaching him from behind with crossed arms.

“Oh its you again, guess you live here too?” He remarked rather casually. “Did he do something to piss you off?” He simply asked, not seeming to care about the other things she said while continuing to buzz for the bug. “The mask was always his thing, but I liked it enough to keep it going.” he replied.

”Yeah, I live here too. And what I’m seeing right now is pissing me off.” Aika then shook her head at the remark he gave about liking the mask ”Well, that gives me enough reason to go beat him up.”

Eventually Kaizen finally answered the door, and he was quite surprised to see the Blue masked individual with Aika of all people. “Ah Mr blue mask. And Aika?” He tilted his head in confusion. “Hey man..look its not working out…” he said to him in a defeated tone. “I know we are suppose to share this blue mask name and reputation, but it’s abit too much for me.” Kaizen trying to shush the man before he continued speaking. “You’re the real blue mask. I am just a pretender who got scared when a school girl yelled at him.”He said revealing that he was indeed scared when Aika confronted him about it. “So yea…I quit..” he took his mask revealing that he was indeed an insectoid just like Kaizen.

“What? Hey come one! We had an agreement here! You get the mundane easy stuff, I get the action!” Kaizen tried to chase after him but he was quick to vanish. “Great, now I have to cover his shift.” He said in an annoyed tone. “What did you do to him Aika?” He asked curiously, wanting to understand how such an event came to be.

Watching the whole exchange, Aika just remained still, arms crossed, until the other insectoid left. When Kaizen came back, she shook her head ”Don’t care who this blue mask was, nor do I care, but him showing up where I am? And he just so happened to be a bug like you, who has a connection to you? You better not bullshit me Kaizen, because I can tell when someone put a goddamn tail on me.” She approached Kaizen and glared right at him.

”Who the fuck do you think you are to do something like that? You are nobody. A goddamn nobody bug who thinks he is some kind of bigshot because he is fast and strong and can fly. Well guess what, those don’t mean jack shit. The most goddamn mundane abilities one can have.” Aika started yelling louder, her anger only growing ”You ever approach me again, mission or not, and I will push my diamond hand so hard against your chest, you’ll end up seeing your heart come out through your back.” She started breathing deeply, but the glare remained, as did her angry stare right at him.

"Can I at least explain myself first?" And so Kaizen began painstakingly explaining to Aika what had happened from his point of view. The one week of Kaizen absence sent the Blue mask double into a panic since he got request after request for high profile stuff, things he knew he couldn't handle. When he finally was able to get a hold of him, he asked what type of mundane job he could do while he recovers , preferably somewhere he could see pretty ladies. Kaizen, having Aika's idol revelation fresh on his mind, simply said, try a recording studio.

On that day the blue mask got his job. He seemed ecstatic to see a bombshell of a girl enter the studio, which would explain the quirky behavior. He even texted Kaizen a few times about whether he knew this girl since they were apparently in the same school.

"Well that's what I have to say. So go ahead and punch if you really think I was at fault here." Once more Kaizen did not offer any resistance to the pink girl who seemed to have a tendency to punch him.

Listening to the explanation, it didn’t seem to calm Aika down. Taking a step closer, she shook her head ”Bull. Shit. Don’t ever talk to me again, lying asshole.” She told him, before passing him and making her way to the elevator.

"Wow, hold it. I am many things but a liar I am not." Kaizen stopped her dead in her tracks. He ain't about to be called a liar just like that. "Read the conversation log if you must." Kaizen offered her his phone which indeed showed the exchange he had with his double.

"I've done a lot of stupid thing in the past, but can't blame me for coincidences." He didn't really know what else to say.

Being stopped in her tracks, Aika grabbed his phone, and without looking at it just threw it across the room, making it hit the wall ”Sure you ain’t. All liars say they aren’t that. Let go.” She told him, her voice quieter, but much colder than before.

"And what reason do I have to lie to you?" Kaizen released her while retrieving his phone. A bit busted up, but still functioning. "It's one thing to not believe me, but it's another thing to not believe in your own eyes." Kaizen sighed, disappointed at her reaction. Grabbing the mask, he silently returned to his room. Clearly hurt by the whole exchange. Today he found out what Aika really thought about him.

In the aftermath of their missions, Mari had mostly kept to herself, shut up in her room, venturing out time to time to take care of other things. It seemed a lot had been on her mind and yet seemingly just like that she was mostly back to herself. Humming to herself as she typed away on her laptop, Mari had her door mostly open with the balcony partially to allow air to flow through in the brisk autumn air.

Once again, the bugster found himself in a situation where he would like advice. Only this time, he did not hesitate to find her. Seeing her on the balcony, Kaizen flew up and hovered towards her. "Hail, Mari…..Do you have a minute to spare to talk about something? I assure you it's more important than relationship advice." Kaizen had a serious tone this time, with no joy and jokes at all, but considering he was brought back from the brink of death, it wasn't too bad.

“Huh?! Ah, Kaizen, you do know I have a door, yes?” She says a bit startled before giving him a glare before leaving her laptop alone. “Though I won’t turn you away would you mind landing? So tell me what this is all about.”

"As you wish." Kaizen landed on her balcony without delay. "It's about the recent performance of my time. To say that it was lackluster would be an understatement. Truth be told, I don't know what was to blame, though I suspect that my leadership may be lacking, leading to my teammates doubting disobeying my orders." He opened up about his recent blunder. "I am sure you have read the mission report for that. I am guessing the civvies are still missing?" That was what he was most concerned about.

“Hmm.. It is hardly your fault that your team did not listen. I don’t think those three would listen to anyone that isn’t themselves. I would have just removed them from my team or made it clear there would be repercussions. Simply put they had nothing to lose by not listening to you and are ultimately responsible for the hostage situation. I cannot say that them doing nothing would be the way of going about it but the failure of a team is not always the leader’s fault alone. In place of helping you they should have went after the villains from the rear or took out those closest to the hostages or sat up a delayed chase… But hindsight is 20/20 as they say. As to the civilians I cannot say that I know. That is a matter for the hero association and the police now. I am not briefed on everything.” Mari says in rapid order, judging the team as a whole rather than Kaizen.


“Yes…but even so…you wouldn’t follow orders if you believed a better course of action was available would you?” he retorted. “Amon followed my others and managed to disable the source of the zombification I believe. So I think he deserves credit there. Haya was cooperative at first, but decided that she had a better course of action. But Keiho…she apparently decided to have her own interpretation of my orders.” Kaizen further explained.

“If needed I was prepared to give my life for the success of the mission, but I do not expect them to do the same. But then again, I guess that's something difficult for them to accept. “ Kaizen sighed. “I too recognized my own faults, so I have a request. For the next mission at least, would it be possible for you to put me in your team? I believe out of everyone, you have the best leadership skills and mindset.”

“Hmm.. Would I not follow orders if I saw a better course of action?” Laughing a bit at that, no one knew of the Truth she had been given by the so called Seer.. But she always did believe that lies were needed for some of Society, that pure truth would bring ruin to all.

“In all honesty, what may be best for one may not be best for all. Unless your orders, or those of whoever above me were utterly incompetent I would follow and carry them out to the best of my ability. As to you offering your own being, such is not the first course of action we take, but anyone that wishes to be a hero must realize we also have a duty to serve. That this job claims the life of many a good man and woman and even then our justice is constrained to within the rules of the society we pledged ourselves to protect. Interpretation of orders however, that is another matter.. There is nothing wrong with pursuing an objective within the confines of one’s mission. If an order tells you to take something, then how to do that falls upon you. Exacting orders can be good or bad depending on the nature of the situation.”

“An interesting request.” Mari says after some thought, her tail swooshing back and forth as her ears perked a little. “Flattery however will get you nowhere in part.. I’ll agree to your request. However there are three things you should think about. Firstly, there is no school of command, while there are styles, it takes a drive or commitment to do such an order. Frankly not many in this class are able to do such. To see the lives of others as pieces in a game of chess by calculated risk.. Not all of them are able to inspire, nor to uplift. Many are not grand masters of strategy. There are many ways to lead. Secondly, to lead is to be a good liar or to have tremendous resolve, even when you know nothing you must not let that fear creep out of you into those that would follow you.

And thirdly, my own style of leading may not suit you. It is something you must find yourself. Say, Isa. She has a tremendous resolve, but her tactics are as brutish as they are simple. She has the markings of a good NCO I would say but not the temperance to ever truly follow another. By my own standards she is doomed to fail at a higher level, yet to be inspiring or a hero on the field, that she can do. At times leading is moving those pieces, at others it is to be but a piece yourself. You may follow me, but your battle is to know yourself, I feel.”

"I see..very well then, I shall take words to heart." Once again the wisdom bestowed to him by the catgirl was incredible. He could relate to disobeying incompetent orders since he too has done so while working under his clan. "I will be more mindful, of the external factors such as the temperament of my allies. Perhaps I am too accustomed to leading people from the front, or at least being the tip of the spear. That being said, thank you for agreeing to my request." He smiled, knowing he'd have a reliable leader on the next mission.

"There is another topic I wish to discuss." Kaizen took out a few photographs from a file, many of the photos were blurry, but it does show a distinct red robotic humanoid figure. "I've only seen this robot once before, and it was during the ambush of FoxGlove and his goons. I thought I decommissioned it the last time, but I was wrong. A possible lead perhaps?". He never did get the fat bastard back for what he did to him and his team.

“Hmm, maybe. Though for the machine to operate on its own, was it leased or.. No, that would be unheard of.. Then again..”

Whatever her thoughts were, Mari did not say them out loud, at least not in any detail as her chin was uplifted by the back of her fist in deep thought. “I cannot say this is too useful, we’ve been seeing a few of his machines as of late, though this one sticks out more. It is possible that the machine could be hunting you alone, or it could have been hired out to your attackers. Unless the weapon returns to him or he takes an interest in it, then it is unlikely to lead back to him anymore than the hundreds of weapons taken or destroyed up till now. If you wish to act as bait we may be able to affix a tracker unto it, but such a plan is risky and may be shooting in the dark.”

"It would seem that I end up in the bait role quite often." Kaizen chuckled, not that he was against it. "Sure I can do that. Though I would recommend bringing in some extra muscle in case things go south, maybe someone like Isa perhaps?" He suggested. This red robot seemed different from others. Why would this thing hunt him alone?

“Hmm.. It would have to be someone kept ignorant of the situation or understanding of it… I cannot ask Agi to help with it.. He is too much an idealist to understand the truth or rather the lies that are needed to make up a truth. My feelings for him aside, I think our work will remain distant things in time.. Either ways I can accompany you or you can try and talk others into going into town with you and I’ll make a tracking device, you are to attach it to the machine provided it does not destroy you and that it actually shows.” She says in reply.

“I would say Agi is a good match since his nanos could probably do some damage to the bot. But, I rather not give Agi any more glory than he deserves.” Kaizen jokingly protested. “I still say Isa would be a good choice. And perhaps someone else… Hideki?” He needed someone he could trust as well as someone who could trust him. “You mean if I dont destroy it right?”. Seems like the bugster was back to his daredevil self.

“Either way. Just seek out whoever and bring them here.” Mari adds in, turning back to her laptop.

The next day Kaizen approached Isa for a little favor. "Yo Isa. I got a favor to ask and I promise I'll make it worth your while. I’ll pre-order that game you’ve been looking forward to.. You know the one with the limited edition stuff, the works.” Kaizen offered before moving on to the actual favor. “You see… I kinda may or may not have stalker of some sorts, the strong kind, I would like you to act as back up muscle in case things go south you know?” He wasn’t exactly and felt that he gave her enough details to work with. “Whadaya say? Help a bug out would you?” He smiled.

“Huh? Er wasn’t really anything I wanted so you can save the money. And a stalker huh? You told the school about it or just one of those things you wanna do yourself? She asks a bit plain faced as she considers his words, scratching her head.

“You know me! I always try to settle things myself, but it's always good to have a little bit of insurance ya know?” Kaizen replied. “And if they don’t show up, we can go on an all you can eat lunch my treat. You can eat till your stomach bursts, or my wallet, whichever comes first.” he chuckled at the last part, realizing that he might have just risked bankruptcy.

“Eh..” Thinking about it a bit, Isa gives a shrug. “I don’t wanna piss on Kuroi, so just get me some meat to cook from the grocery store and thats good enough, plus I like beef bowls more anyways, so not like I’ll cost you that much.. Plus wouldn’t be right of me to abandon a friend like that anyways, so eh I’ll tag along.”

"Naisu!" Kaizen shouted, delighted to hear that she agreed to his arrangement. "Ah so my hunch was right, Kuroi is the wind beneath your wings!" He teased. A few hours later, Kaizen packed up everything he needed and called Isa out. "Whenever you're ready Oni."

“Oi, I’ll show you some wind beneath my wings with my boot up your ass.” She says with a bit of a glare in response. Though all this talk about a stalker bothered her a bit. “So what you want me to do, just come out swinging if you’re getting your ass beat or how we going about all this?” Isa asks as she makes toward the dorm exit.

"Pretty much. Shouldn't be too tough if we both go at it. Though you might wanna get civvies out of the way too if things get out of hand." And so the bugster and Isa made their way to the city, specifically where the bot was spotted the most.

A few more hours, it seemed like the bot was a no show, so Kaizen decided to go to the butcher to get the Oni some meat. "What meat would you like? I personally like the pork belly cuts." He suggested, slightly disappointed that his stalker didn't show up.

“Eh, beef, doesn’t have to be expensive shit, though, think I’ll take a break and go to the toilet, should be some public ones close to here. Who knows maybe you’ll get luck then.” With that she gives a small wave and heads off towards a park located close to them, leaving Kaizen more or less by himself aside from wandering civilians going here and there.

“Yea yea.” Kaizen replied as he exited the building with some meat. “I guess I shouldn't be looking for trouble.” He sighed in defeat while looking at the bill for the meat. He got a good haul from this purchase, and considering his new part-time job, he should be able to afford such a luxury. Still, it was a worrying thought, to think something like that might be hunting for him.

“Ah, hello there, bug boy.” Comes an electronic sounding voice, that of Dr Mobius as a drone that looked much like his face hovers down in front of him. “Nuhuhuh. Place nice or the crowd gets it. You see one of my Machines has taken a rather curious interest in you and wishes to fight you alone. Normally I would scrap it and bomb you here, but the scientist in me wants to see where this little obsession goes. So be a sport and follow my drone or I can just override my machine and have it come to thee.”

“Tch.. this again.” He remembered the last time he did this, he got ambushed pretty hard. “Very well.” Kaizen replied, while secretly typing an sos to his communicator. Isa and by an extension Mari should get a notification on their device. “Lead the way, Baldy.” One day this person is gonna find a fist in his guts. But for now, the bugster had to play nice and so he followed the floaty drone.

Letting Kaizen do whatever, the drone beckons him to a nearby construction site, where the red machine awaits him, its sensor eye sweeping the field as squeals of binary could be heard emitting from a voice modulator, what it was saying would likely be unknown to Kaizen, but clearly the machine had been waiting for him as it’s servo motors whirl to life, a blade in one of its hands as rocket boosters flare briefly.

"Do or die." The bugster face armor covered his face signifying that it was time to fight. Kaizen immediately attempts to cover the large mono eye of the red bot with a hail of webs. This was then followed by grabbing a steel beam with web strand and swinging it towards it.

Extending one of its arms to intercept the steel beam, the robot seems to use some form of defroster to melt away the webbing on it’s eye as the single vision slot focuses on him before swiping with the other clawed hand.

Kaizen bent backwards, narrowly avoiding the clawed hand to deliver a punch into the extended arm joint. Grabbing another steel beam from the side, he quickly maneuvered himself to the backside, thrusting the beam into any thruster opening he could find, hoping to reduce its mobility.

With six thrusters, the one on the leading leg was taken out as the robot grips onto the steel beam, digging it’s hand into it as it bent the steel bit by bit. Its red eye flashes to life as it lashes out with the thruster disabled leg into a low kick. The probe of Doctor Mobius keeps a watch on the show and calls out. “That’s it! Show him the fragility of the flesh! Ahahaha!”

As Kaizen flew backwards from the kick, he unleashed an explosion to regain his footing, planting his feet onto the ground as he skid across the ground. “Quiet.” The bugster shot a web strand onto the small probe attempting to fling it into the bigger robot. He repeated the process for a few other building materials nearby, such as bags of cement, power tools and a small mixing drum. Grabbing a few rebars, Kaizen begin flinging them in javelin like fashion, trying to pierce through the robots exterior armor.

As Kaizen carried out his counter assault, the probe flies away low and slow, though eventually caught and thrown at the larger construct. Next came the assorted goods that Kaizen used as weapons and next came the Javelin’s, as makeshift as they were. Most of these collide with the armored hull and do little, while some others sink through. Reaching out with its left arm extenders, the robot grabs a cement mixer and tries to bring the metal hulk down atop Kaizen as it’s eye flashes once more, binary screeching.

Seeing the robot grab the cement mixer, Kaizen saw this as an opportunity to strike. Forming a blade on left arm, he would leap towards the robot, slicing the mixer in half, using the forward momentum to continue forward to deliver a punch on it’s large “face”. He would crawl towards an area where one of his “Javelins” had stuck into. He would grab it, trying to use it to pry open some panels off the giant bot.

As Kaizen begins his assault, the robot reaches forward with a punch into the face of the bug and the other hand reaches for the arm grabbing the rebar rods, the two lights in it’s chest would ignite in an attempt to blind him as the robot answered his melee with one of it’s own, cheating just a little bit as its “eye” strobes.

Unknown to Kaizen, Isa had begun to track the disruption, carrying some of the food he left with a frown as she followed the bright light, leading to the melee, with a blank expression to her face she watches the duel, waiting to see if she was needed, or if this all would go too far, or if that quack had more of his toys waiting in the wings. Curiously minus the drone there was no sign of any interlopers.

The bugster recoiled backwards from the punch as well as the blinding flashing. Although he was blinded, he could still tell where the robot was holding him. "Cheeky bastard!" Latching onto one of the robot's fingers, Kaizen used all his strength to break free from the grip by ripping one of his fingers. This thing was smarter than the others. Leaping backwards, Kaizen saw an unused hooked counterweight ball and decided to put it to good use. The bugster began using it like a flail, swiping it side to side at the robot, trying to use the sheer force of each strike to damage it. With his last strike, he aimed at hooking onto one it's limbs.

Being more stocky and massive, the machine does not sway much from the hits as it remains stationary, its hardened rolled steel being more dense than the counterweight, as the last blow gets tangled around the left arm, some of the screen did seem cracked from the assault, it was still functional and while dented here and there, fully operational, minus the thruster. Lifting up it’s gappled arm, the machine whirls to life.

“So you need some help?” Isa asks from behind, where she was watching.

"How long have you been sitting there?" The bugster asked, tugging on the chain, wrestling with the strength of the red robot. Seeing a nearby unfinished building, Kaizen tied the chain to it's main supporting pillar , covering it with webbing for an extra strong hold. "Feel free to join in whenever!" The bugster spoke to her before burrowing underground. A few seconds later, he reemerged beneath a road roller that was behind the robot, lifting it off the ground and leaping upwards with it. He dove towards the robot aiming to squash it with the heavy equipment in hand, or at least damage it enough to get it to retreat.
“And here I thought you were one of those “A fight to shake the heavens in glorious single combat!” Or is the metal man beating your ass too much?” She says with a grin to her face as he attempts to road roller the robot. “Hell of a stalker though, here I figured it would have been a woman at least.” With those words out, she doesn’t answer how long she had been watching. The machine for it’s part deploys its shoulder blades to cut through the webbing and to get free as the road roller smashes into the ground where it was just standing at with a mighty blast of its remaining rockets, firing off a few of these blades they stab into the road roller, spilling out fuel and sparking an ignition of the contents in a miniature bomb.

"With a face like mine? I'd be lucky if it's a humanoid." He replied, raising the road roller like a makeshift shield and charging at the robot with it. He didn't care if it was gonna explode, as long as it damaged the bastard too. The road roller exploded, sending all manner of metal shrapnel nearby the two. The silhouette of bugster could be seen charging out from smoke, damaged and enraged. With large piece of jagged metal, he began violently stabbing the robot in between the armor plates and any other area damaged by the explosion. He wanted to rip out as much of it's innards as he could.

As Kaizen squares off against the machine, it’s eye seems to blink more and then stops, firing it’s boosters to slow the bugster down and to withstand the barrage, when suddenly it’s outer shell starts to glow as it took some internal damage, explosive bolts fired, ejecting the core with a BANG, with that the central core like before starts to fly up and away, having completed whatever it had sat out to do, leaves its body on autopilot as it tries to grab hold of the bugster, Isa for her part was now rushing into the fray attempting to catch the “head” unit.

Kaizen was blown away by the ejection of armor plates but quickly regained his footing. He attempts to pursue the core unit only to be stopped by the headless body. Seeing no other option, the bugster shoots the tracking device onto the bot, the size was small, barely noticeable and had a strong adhesive to it.

Turning attention back to the headless body, Kaizen jams the jagged piece of metal where it's head would be. He repeated this maneuver multiple times until either he or the body stopped moving, attacking like a feral animal..

Missing the smaller head unit as Kaizen threw the tracker and connected, Isa turned her attention to the large machine as Kaizen kept doing more damage to the shell, but then pulled it away and swung it up and into the air as the pulsating glow the machine was giving off from it’s electronics turned into a self destruct, spraying the area with shrapnel.

“Fuck’n hell, we should go after that thing before it comes back!”

Kaizen quickly gathered as many large pieces of the road roller and stood in front of Isa, shielding them both from the oncoming shrapnel. Once that was settled he turned to Isa for favor. “Don’t worry… I am sure it’ll come back again…” His faceplate retracted, as he gave a grin of excitement for what was to come.

“Well I mean, isn’t the point of all this to make sure it doesn’t come? But meh, you didn’t really need my help.. Maybe.. If we are done here we should get back, well depending how long the damn police report takes.” Isa says with a shrug.

“Yea it shouldn’t, but all the same… thank you for your assistance..” Kaizen said somewhat sarcastically considering she didnt jump in at all. “Whatever a deal is a deal, you’ll get your meat.” But then, the bugster realized, someone would probably need to clean up the mess he made while fighting the robot as well pay for property damage. But considering it was slated for demolition anyways, it shouldn’t cost too much right?

“Eh I dunno if it’s any good, so just call it even.” Isa says of the goods he left behind.
 
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Upon arrival to Surge Tech industries Iniji would find himself taken straight into the highly advanced tech industry by some escorts before being handed off at the front lobby with the receptionist. Luckily he wouldn't be waiting long as an older gentleman was seen making a beeline straight for the boy.

“Oh ho ho. You must be Iniji Irokei a pleasure my boy,” Allo Tamoyo founder of Surge Tech, and Tamoyo Rescue Corp spoke bowing to the boy respectfully as was nature before giving him a massive grin as he stood up straight rather well in shape for a old man. Being that he was the retired pro hero Surge Allo who held at his peak the number 2 spot it wasn’t very shocking that such a person would stay in shape past their prime life.

“I have been given the gist of your file, but I am a man of experience so tell me boy what would you like to learn from me while I have you for a week,” Allo asked straight to the point wanting to clearly get Iniji the results he wanted, but first need to know them.

Iniji took a bow at the older man, he was surprised that anyone outside of the school’s staff would even take him, unless the school didn’t really declare his deal to these former heroes. “I am honoured to make your acquaintance, Tamoyo-san.”

Lowering his head slightly at Allo’s question, Iniji wasn’t really sure. The dark shadow clouded over his eyes seemed deeper under the lobby’s steady illumination. An attempt was made to divert his gaze again, though Iniji held himself back from it to avoid being rude. “...Sensei told me...that I need to do something about my eyes. The only way I can defeat enemies without hurting myself is to remove their limbs and cut through their veins. When I use my quirk to do large scale things, it...slowly blinds me. I don’t mind that, I’m not scared of going blind if that’s what is needed from me...but...” The furrow between his brow deepened as Iniji thought about that statement.

“But I’ll be useless afterwards, won’t I? Past that all my worth would be gone, and it would be more beneficial for this world to just dispose of me.” There was a long silence. “I want to learn how to be a hero...without needing to rely on my quirk.” Iniji said in an almost lamenting fashion. “...I can understand...if that is not possible. I apologize.”

Well out of all the responses Allo had expected that had definitely been the most unexpected line to ever come out of a “hero in the works” mouth. The older man looked at the teenager for a moment mulling over such a response to the point he was rubbing his beard. The boy alone was having a hard time even looking at him in the eye. Something was definitely up, and while it was clear to say Suppression chose the most unique… it didn’t seem the hero line…

“It’s possible I have seen many worthless quirks still have owners who turned themselves into hardworking accomplished heroes. Yet it might be impossible for you cause it’s quite clear you don’t want to be a hero that badly, boy,” Allo responded rather harshly yet still with a sincere tone, and sigh.

“Monachopsis that’s what I would describe when I look at you. I think you do want to be a hero, but the act of it has definitely put you at odds with yourself. Quite frankly it sounds like you have a death wish child, and that’s why you chose this path as the release of life is very potential in this line,” Allo sighed not expected to have such a heavy talk right out the door. Yet even with that said he nudged the boy to follow him as he spoke in a stern voice.

“So let me ask this instead. I notice in your file you have impressively created gear to work with your high octane quirk I also noticed you barely had what someone who call proper schooling. Have you ever thought about going into engineering,” He oddly asked taking the boy into the lab areas showcasing numerous projects going off in multiple glass-viewed rooms of new tech ideas in the works. He wanted to see how the boy would respond to a marvel of ingenuity seeming to almost shift gears on the current topic.

“For heroes who have quirks that are hard to work with gear is everything as a life rope. It helps them fill the gap in capability after all to protect, and serve. It also allows for the growth of many new peace fairing projects. Humanitarian projects, better rescue gear, natural disaster preventative measures. Numerous ways to save people without going out on the field yourself,” Allo voiced halting a bit in the middle of the corridor to allow Iniji to soak it all in.

“Not all heroes are on the front lines after all. There are many avenues to being a hero. Like support gear makers.”

“I...I think there’s a reason why I must be a hero. I...I have to.” Iniji muttered as he followed the older man. That was how he was going to earn an ounce of forgiveness, right? Would anything short of putting his own life, his body on the line in order allow that to happen? His head was still a bit messy from everything that had happened.

“It’s just a past time, my quirk has limitations just like anyone…” Iniji paused as his words trailed off a little when Allo brought him to the lab area. “..else’s”. He never actually saw what a professional engineering lab is like, he’s never even seen what the inside of a high school or college in person before Suppression. It was always scraps and second hand books for him, and even those only brought eye rolls and confused looks to those that were around him before. There was a slight shine in his eyes reflecting the LED lights of the rooms and halls.

“I…” After a bit the bright lights seared his retinas a little, Iniji pulled himself back and closed his eyes for a moment, easing the strange flares that were burned into his overly sensitive vision for a bit. “...I appreciate being told this. Thank you for letting me know, Tamayo-san.” Although he returned to look slightly sad like before.

“There are reasons why I should be on the front lines. I do not want to walk away from that, it would be a betrayal of what I wanted to do.” Lowering his head, Iniji bowed again apologetically. “I always gave up easily on things, I always ran away when things went wrong. I don’t want to do that anymore.” His voice was shaking, but also firm. “...I’m not turning away...at least, not right now...not before I actually accomplish something in this life.”

“Alright if that’s what you have to concentrate on now. Then that’s what you must see-through, but when you change your mind I want you to give me a call, and let me work you into an apprenticeship,” Allo nodded now seeing a more determined albeit still hesitant Iniji. Yet while it seemed Iniji would through crafting as a side project it was clear the moment he saw it in mass splendor he was pulled into it rather fast causing the man to chuckle. The boy had an eye for making things that were very clear… even if he didn’t know it yet.

“Hmm first let’s get you some goggle’s my boy, can’t have you going blind on me,” Allo smiled going to a kiosk that had some protective gear in it one, in particular, being a high-tech looking pair of safety goggles. Offering them to Iniji he would find it a thousand times better on his poor eyes to allow him to see around without the agitation.

“Do you happen to have eye medication Iniji,” Allo asked on the fly before Iniji started his final reason for being on the field. The older man listened seeing a strange old bit of himself in Iniji.

“Heh, grandiose Iniji then lets get you prepped, and prime for that day to show your still standing in your own terms of worth,” the olde rman laughed excitedly lightly patting Iniji on the back as he took him to a particular project room with surprisingly nothing going on, but surrounded by materials, and tools.

“First off I heard you were able to use your quirk in a visual duality with Amano Yubiki’s quirk without limitation of the damage to your eyes. That means there is a loop hole around you damaging yourself through a second sight. Or better yet there is a way to trick your quirk to visualize without using your eyes, to say the least. Yet I imagine it will dampen your cutting ability greatly. Yet that in itself can be a grander tool,” Allo spoke pulling up a chair for Iniji while pulling up his own, and bringing up some schematic ideas for a sort of camera op goggle device.

“Ah…” Iniji muttered, he knew his own quirk better than anyone, that’s why he was able to come up and predict what his collaboration with Amano would be like. “...Yubiki-san’s quirk functions very differently than any device, it’s biological in nature.” During their trip to the resort, Iniji tried to research alone how to recreate the effect, though to no avail, he would require some biological medium to sense for him, something alive and sentient. It would be cruel to subject another thing to the price he must pay. “My quirk does not damage my eyes. It damages my optical nerves. Yubiki-san’s ability was directly affecting the brain, hence I believe that is why it was able to bypass the ‘price’. My apologies for the lack of information.”

Iniji didn’t want to dash the hopes of anyone helping him, but his situation was one that was difficult to resolve, and in some way, he didn’t want to resolve it. At least in this situation, he knows that someday there will be an end, even if it was an end of pure darkness, an end nonetheless. “...Biology is not my strong suit, and I must admit, to have another ‘being’ bear the pain for me, or to hand my mind off to an outside force...that’s not very..heroic, isn’t it?”

“I was actually very aware of that possibility hence why I asked for some of the bypass in advance,” Allo smiled holding up a jar of Mnemu opening the jar as the slime slithered out to rest on the table with the schematics.

“I reached out to your classmate Amano in advance, and she was very willing to help you. If the price of the organics nature is your concern it need not be the case as she informed me the slime you used originally had no negative responses to it. Another positive if you will if the opponent you sliced and diced was a fluid person but the environment was more so scratched than massacred by your quirk which I imagine means it lowers the output of raw power,” Allo notioned showing Iniji pictures from his prior mission in the room he let out the particular slime dicer attack in.


“This goggle design can help you move forward you will have to get used to the lesser strength of your quirk a bit of the reverse to what most have to do. The downside is you were directly connected to Amano when you used this combo, but with this design, you will be connected with Mnemu only which means the possibility of lesser force is also a chanced risk. The choice is yours my boy,” Allo nodded before smiling.

“And to add Mnemu itself cannot feel pain it has no reception of the concept and is more a sensation storage ergo this makes your list of checkmarks,” he noted.

“I see...thank you. I truly do appreciate it.” Iniji gave a weak smile and tried to look the other in the eye. He didn’t want to rely on Amano, but the reality was that he had been relying on other people since forever, everytime he tried to go off by himself it would only cause trouble. “I pray that Yubiki-san will not be troubled by this, her substance did not react well to my past acts.”

“Although, as useless as I am for a hero right now, lowering my damage output would only make me a greater burden, wouldn’t it? Perhaps it would be motivation for me to work harder.” Iniji felt like he was slacking off compared to the others, his quirk lacked power output, and cutting it further wouldn’t help him at all. If it was damage that he was concerned with, he could lower his output, it was more than enough to slice through the vertebrae of most people. “...Ah, in the end I’m still struggling…” Although he was heroic in a sense, as Iniji was perfectly fine with putting himself in harm’s way, was it for the sake of others? Did he care about protecting other people? Or is he just seeking a way out that would make him feel better about himself? “...I’m sorry, that was discouraging of me to say, even after all that you have done for me, Tamayo-san.”

“Sometimes you have to take a step back before you can truly run towards your goal Iniji… yes it would downgrade your damage output. Yet your capability to attack in higher frequency even if with lesser force will allow you to do more in the end with less consequence,” Allo explained as he mulled over how to help the boy come up with what he could.

“For now though how about we shelf this topic, and upgrade that impressive spray scythe of your hm?”

............................................................................................................................

With the moon glowing down upon the dorm of class 7 a lone blind hero in training was up on the roof using dual batons on a poor victimized dummy that had been brutalized to a rather aggressive session of well-aimed whacks, and electrocutions. In one of the pauses though something falling above could be heard before it plopped onto Haya’s head gushing out with water upon popping.

“AH HA I SEE YOU WERE NOT EXPECTING A SHOWER TODAY,” upon that yell a dozen more water balloons were dropped from above aiming to splatter Haya in a torrent of unprojected attacks.

Before they could hit her, she sent a shock wave of sound, with the baton, to break them before she turned to find the one that had started them. She took a breath and swung her batons together towards him with the intent of hitting and knocking him on his ass, at the least.

With a quick formation into a nano shield, the attacker was quickly revealed to be Agi out of the blue who laughed before pushing her back forcing her away before she could test out her new and improved electrocution trick on him.

“Though you would be up here. I heard what was going on with you these past few weeks, and well missy you are in trouble for not telling me you had problems,” Agi chimed pointing a finger at Haya even though technically she couldn’t see it so it was a little weird to just point at a blind person.

“Though I cant blame you everyone seems to be keeping secrets from everyone in this class lately. You alright,” Agi asked disengaging his shield as he threw her a water bottle. “Or do you need someone who can hit back to push out that frustration your relentlessly using to beat up the poor worn-down dummy you brought up here.

Haya sighed, as she listened to him, she knew it was Agi, but his statement just made her laugh. She said as she caught the bottle and tossed it to the side, “What I need, is to be left in peace. As for the dummy,” she said as she took her baton and placed the tip against it. She sent a sound wave through her arm to the dummy. Hearing it shatter, she smiled, “He is expendable. You can have him, if you want.” she told him, before shaking off the extra water she had on her clothes. She turned to go into the building to get a towel, “And only because of Allo, does that not happen to your little nanos.” she told him as she passed him.

She moved to find a towel, before going to get her collars from nearby. She locked them into place, around her neck, waist, and wrists. She was done training for the night, she was going to go to bed and ignore the fact that Agi had shown up.

“By all means, if you think you can,” Agis challenge was followed up by a grapple catching her right hand as she was shoulder tossed back towards the dummy unlike his usual strategy no Nano attacks followed in fact if as the sound of a reopening baton came to life followed by the sensation of electricity flowing through it was revealed Agi had stolen one of hers. In turn, the sound of a buzzing swarm signaled that all of his nano’s had come off his body as he walked towards her swinging the secondary baton a few sharp clicks before saying.

“I don’t need them to kick your gloomy ass,” Agi sharply insisted having quite enough of everyone around him acting all like one big group of emo’s up to this point from all the things they had learned.

“Unlike my last attempt I am going to kick a smile onto your face,” Agi motioned for Haya to bring it.

Haya turned towards him, her baton in his hand and her eyebrow raised. He took her baton from behind her and was challenging her with it. There was no way that this guy had all his marbles, was there. She smirked at him, “If I could kill you, I might take you seriously. But since you are not technically in my way, how about you had me back what is mine and ask your stupid question.” she said, extending her hand out to him, “If I have to take that back, you are going to need a lot more than that baton to stop me from hurting you. This way, you don’t get hurt and II don’t have to explain to Agami-sensai why I didn’t hold back.” she offered. He was going to annoy her until his questions were answered, and since Allo was her teacher, she respected his grandfather enough to at least warn his grandson, that she would not think twice to use every skill and force she had to hurt him.

“Then, by all means, start talking about what the hell is wrong with you, and Aika. Including what you’re refusing to talk about to the rest of us,” Agi challenged throwing the baton back to her.

Haya turned to him, as she caught her baton “I don’t know anything about Aika’s problem, haven’t spoken to her about it just yet. As for why I rather stay away from the rest of you. I am not here for the same reason as before. I have my own goal and you all are just going to get in my way, with trying to help. As for you, well, I don’t trust any of you guys in your little group. After all, birds of a feather and all.” she stated. “And please be sure to let Kuroi avoid me, I don’t really want to lose my temper, I still haven’t mastered my level two completely.” she commented, “Any other questions?” she asked as she tossed the towel after drying off as much as she could.

“You understand the more you lie to yourself about caring for others the more you will damper yourself,” Agi asked in response to her question. It was clear Haya was the source of Aika’s issues, and in turn Haya’s cause to that came from Kuroi there was no roundabout way to understand that she was straight to the point after all.

“Your eyes are just like everyone else Haya they can’t lie, and I can tell you don’t mean all of that. I believe you have changed, but you still care. You just think rejecting everything will allow you to avoid the pain this life gives,” Agi followed up

“But in my own opinion in contrast to yours, you need those pains to push forward now more than ever. Cause like it or not whatever you’re trying to do now… you’re going to need someone to back you up in,” Agi expressed. With Aika Agi couldn’t get her to budge, but he had at least cracked past her diamond shield. Haya though was different there was an element of emotionless wanting to be emotional, but that had now gone into a suppression in of itself.

“So fine play the tough game for now, but regardless of how much you push use back the moment you need help were still going to throw away what we’re doing to pull you up,” Agi spoke honestly not looking to create the mistake he had made with fighting Aika again.

Haya chuckled, as she nodded, she would agree with Agi, if it hadn’t been for the fact that she had already openly allowed Kaizen to believe that he was dying. “If you say so, Agi. But if I need help, your little group would be the last I would call. In fact, if my training had anything to prove to me, your grandfather is of more use to me then you could be. He was a lot of help finding my grandparents and locking them in their little cages. You can thank him for me, if you see him before I do.” she told him as she moved towards Agi. “I am sure you are a guy that someone can trust, but I don’t trust any of you anymore. Get in my way, and we will just have to see if what you say is true. But I promise you, if you get in my way, I won’t give it another thought in killing you. Agami-seisai made her deal, it didn’t include sharing.” she stated as she took out a baton, “These are not going to be what I do it with, either.” she warned him as she placed it behind herself again. “Any more questions?”

“Well, of course, he is he was Surge Alloy after all he reached the second rank spot of japan while also being a business madman creating both Surge Tech, and Tamoyo Rescue Corp. Of course, his usefulness is boundless he’s a badass like all of my grandparents,” Agi chuckled not taking a single word she threw an insult more so deflecting it with the fact that yes what she said was true.

“No you wouldn’t,” Agi blankly said to her killing remark rather nonchalantly as he watched her pass.

“You may be brooding all over yourself right now over your family, but you know what you have with use is real. Whether you want to accept that right now out loud is only a passing fade of current emotion,” Agi spoke rather on the nose.

“Maybe you can kill me, maybe you can’t hard to really say we have never trained against one another nor really worked side by side other than in class. Yet let’s put your money where your mouth is on a specific day we will meet up here at night again. If you can defeat what’s in front of you that night you never have to deal with me again,” Agi challenged.

Haya sighed, as she shrugged, “Fine. I will deal with what you put in front of me. Just tell me what day and I will be there. It is silly to have to prove it, but if it gets me some peace, then I would only be too happy to have it done and over.” she said, “And now, I am going to shower, thanks to you, I am already halfway there, might as well finish the job.”
 
Some time after the missions from before, Isa was a be better from her wounds if not fully healed, and so had her spirits a bit as Isa goes down into the eating room and wraps her arms around Kuroi, leaning her head against his own as she smiles before speaking up.

“Hi there!” Giving him a kiss on his cheek from where she stood, she gets quiet for a bit and speaks up. “You sure you want to do this? I mean it’s pretty much engaging me at that point.. And yah know the whole runnin a gauntlet thing.”

Feeling the sudden grasp from behind him, Kuroi paused in his movement. Feeling her head nuzzle against his, he smiles and leans it back a bit in response. “Hey Isa,” He greeted in turn, noting her silence.

He wasn’t taken off guard by her questioning. After all, his suggestion was just as sudden when they all returned from their assignments. “Oh, so you want a ring too, princess?” Kuroi asked in a bit of a deadpan manner, though hopefully by now it was obvious as a joke. “I mean… unless you have anything against it. After the past missions and stuff–Well, I don’t want to waste time when I know what I want.”

Everything could go from heaven to hell in only a few moments. He’d learned that from being here. Kuroi wasn’t very high-maintenance nor all that ambitious. So, for the things that he did like or want, he was somewhat worried about missing the opportunity.

“Know what you want ehh? Ha! I like that. Maybe I’ll even give you some of that.. But hmm.. Well if you want to meet them now, I could set it up and we go tomorrow, though I should warn yah, while they won’t take it too far…err so I hope or I’ll get in it, they aren’t going to take it lightly either you know.. Though in the few months we’ve been together yah’ve came a long way and Ma learned a thing or two from all of us in the class, so I don’t think she’ll try’n kill you for shits and giggles. Still I do sorta need to meet your parents as well but meh, we can handle all that later or when school is done with and we cleaned this mess.” Isa says, wanting his okay before she made arrangements for them to travel, seemingly content in choosing him as well.

Kuroi smirked at that before looking at her a bit suspiciously. “Huh, give me some of what?” He asked, though if it weren’t for the smugness, it could be taken as legitimate.

“Yeah, go for it… Not like you haven’t warned me a hundred times. It’d be nice if your mom didn’t kill me but, eh…” He said with a bit of a sigh. “I mean, would you be able to stop them if your folks wanted me dead? It’ll be fine, probably.”

Shrugging a bit at the other meeting, that could happen at any time. Though, he was still a bit worried about it. “You can meet them anytime really, though there won’t be any fancy test. Mom would probably just want you for dinner or something.”

“Nah I couldn’t stop them, but I’ve never seen them go that far.. Fine I’ll set it up.”

“Hopefully you won’t… But, cool. Let’s meet up tomorrow then,” Kuroi said, setting what would hopefully not be his demise in motion.

~~~

The following day, Kuroi was as ready as he could be. He wasn’t sure how to dress, though given it was a test more so than a simple meeting, he figured it should be something light and that he could move in. Aside from that, it was a bit nervewracking as well. Though that was how he found some comfort in the gauntlet so to speak. Kuroi would feel weirder about it if it was just a dinner with all her family. His mom put them through a gauntlet of their own, so this shouldn’t be too much.

Meeting up with him and giving him a light shoulder rub it didn’t seem to take long till they were on a train and out in the countryside for a little hike as a male with crossed arms stared at him, he seemed around their age, likely the older brother, and off to the side of him stood Kanna herself, giving a bit of a snort as she stared at him, as she speaks.

“Continuing past this path will me welcoming you into our family, or at least opening the door without reservations. While I could break you, I unfortunately must hold back a bit, through your fists we shall decide your worth and character. More than a few have been subjected to this, including my own husband and the spouses of my siblings. Though I think it may be a little early, Isa has always been head strong. Also by continuing past here you shall learn a secret of our family.. Provided you can reach the end. Ahead lies our temple grounds and the house of my mother and father. Do you wish to continue?”

Kuroi breathed and leaned into the shoulder rub, enjoying a bit of comfort before the “festivities”. The hike itself was fine, and further drove home how rural Isa’s family was. He knew that they lived at a shrine and such, but they really did have to travel a bit.

Standing in front of the two, Kuroi eyed the male, presuming him to be the brother Isa mentioned. Kanna was, of course, known to him already. She offered a chance to leave, though there wasn’t much of an option at this point.

“Right… unfortunately…” Kuroi murmured in a deadpan. The woman still frightened him, to say the least. Glancing at Isa a bit, he then looks back at Kanna. “Isa already told me generally how this works. Yeah, I want to continue.”

“Very well. In ten minutes you may begin. Isa, come with us. You’ll wait at the end.” With that said the man seems to stare at Kuroi for a bit and then stops a few feet from the entrance, with a ready stance he holds a wooden beam, nothing too special from the looks of it.

“Ten minutes…” He repeated to no one in particular. Watching Isa depart, his eyes turn toward the brother who doesn’t leave. Instead, the man readied a column.

Deadpanning at him, he was taking the oni bit to a great extent. Kuroi sighed, but began loosening himself up, doing various rotations of his limbs and joints. Pulling at his right shoulder with his left arm, he pondered how much force was necessary. This was Kanna’s family, so he didn’t really have to worry about hurting them, right? Thankfully, he didn’t have to rely on cutting attacks either.

“So, uh…Shingen, right? Is this a get past you sort of thing, or do I beat you in a fight?” Kuroi asked the guy. It was probably the latter.

Laughing a bit at that, Shingen who lacked the horns of his sister, smiles a bit in his priest like vestments. “Ah, I see Isa hasn’t forgotten her family at all. You can try getting past me in a fight if you like, in either case you must get past me and past this.” He says patting the wood. “I promise you, straight out trickery won’t stop my throwing arm.. Though as my mother says, fists are best to talk with us. Isa makes poor choices. I want to make sure my little sister isn’t making another.”

“Course not. She’s told me about all of you,” Kuroi replied. Pondering what he said, he tilted his head a bit. “Did she or your mom mention my quirk? I’m pretty straight-forward myself.”

With that, he gets into a ready stance as they wait for the ten minutes. Once the time was up, give or take, Kuroi started forward, heading for Shingen. He was going to wait to get as close as possible before activating his quirk. If he was like Isa, Kuroi was confident he could win in agility and possibly overrun him with volume if he could get in close. “I’m going to tell her you said that when I make it past you, by the way.”

“Do so if you like, I would tell it to her myself in all honesty. I’ve known her a bit longer than you to understand how she’ll react. I have some idea of your quirk, you ending up here was no surprise. I even know a bit about your family, but I won’t condemn you for that. But enough words, that won’t avail you of our fury.” Shingen says to make a get over here motion with his left hand.

“No surprise, huh?” Pondering that, Kuroi refrained from questioning further as it was obvious he more wanted to fight. Though, out of anyone’s fury, Kuroi wasn’t worried about Shingen.

As he got closer, suddenly Kuroi’s eyes gleamed red as a large column of blood poured out from his back and rushed straight at Shingen, aimed to slam into his chest. He figured all the family were Kanna-ish, but he wasn’t sure of all their powers. He was a bit like Isa, obviously, but was he as strong?

“Force alone is not enough.” The man says in a simple reply, with his monk like martial artist garments. Ducking low and to the side, the man moved with an air of serenity about him, if Isa was a raging Inferno then he was a mountain river, flowing, calm and strong. Possessing some strength he spun the wooden beam with one hand, looping around and behind Kuroi to hit him in the back if possible with the long 2x4.

“...Are you sure you’re related?” Kuroi asked rhetorically.

He wasn’t prepared for the difference in problem-solving between them. The brother seemed more serene and focused, and not quite as abrasive.

Returning to him halfway, the column of red split and pillared into the ground, lifting Kuroi up and into the air to evade the flanked strike. Once airborne, the two tendrils retracted as two more grew pronounced, shooting towards the wood and taking hold of it firmly as an anchor. The appendages tugged at it forcefully, though without much expectation that it would give way, but rather pull Kuroi to Shingen with a kick primed from above.

“Hmm..” Shingen says as he observes the other. “Much too aggressive, some time at the temple may do you both some good.” As the kick starts to rotate down, Shingen runs a hand under his chin before simply letting go of the wood as he aims a bit of a tripping kick to cause Kuroi to fall with his prize, the way was clear and Shingen was behind and without his board.

"Too aggressive?" Kuroi repeated, recovering into a roll as he hit the ground. Now he really was wondering if they were related. As the blood subsided back into him, he became a bit confused at this test. "Aren't you supposed to try stopping me?"

Running at him similar to before, Kuroi prepped his quirk. Though he wouldn't be attacking but rather launching himself up and over Shingen to bypass him..

Launching the hunk of wood at him, he smiles a bit. “Our job is to see your character and your survivability. How we each wish to do this is upon us all. You’ll have four more trials to clear.” Shingen says while not giving any real details on what those may be.

As the wood flies at him, the blood poured out and swiped at the wood, one stream coming from above and one from below, slicing the projectile. Then the tendrils expanded in width as more blood reinforced the columns. Stabbing into the ground, the two appendages vaulted Kuroi up and over the brother, landing with another roll to keep up momentum.

"Well, like I told her, even I can be pretty proactive when I know what I want!"

“Hmm..” With that Shingen stays where he is and lets Kuroi continue on as of all things a few blue barrels roll down the cliff side heading right at him in great number, every so often they would bounce or skip, here and there an opening, here and there an almost wall, it might be possible to wait out the storm but on the other hand that would take a long while.

Kuroi glanced back to see if the brother would do anything, but he simply stood there. Focusing his attention ahead, he noted the barrels and scoffed a bit. "I'm going to be actually jumping through hoops at this rate…"

Kuroi slowed down a bit, watching the barrels bouncing and rolling, before speeding up again. Similar to the school's obstacle course, Kuroi started to skillfully evade what he could. Vaulting over some, sliding under others, and even swiping or crushing some with his quirk. The onslaught of barrels wasn't going to slow him down.

Reaching further up the hill a trail of destruction from the barrels rampage could be seen, with a bit of other items of note, this seemed a bit like an obstacle course or a junkyard, it was hard to tell, by sections of walls, bricks, large tires, farm equipment, broken beams and other objects seem to liter the way, though it did not seem to be dangerous so much as a pain that would demand careful maneuvering or pushing aside junk to clear the path. Whatever the case may be, most of the items didn’t seem that old, while some did. This path was also rather rough and hadn’t seemed to have seen use in some time. The story behind it however could be solved at another time.

"The hell… did someone bust a house here…" Kuroi wondered to himself. Still, while a bit annoying it was similar to the other challenges. His agility helped him squeeze past, around, or over obstacles. In the case of typically immovable objects, his quirk did the work. As he moved past it, Kuroi glanced behind at the weird graveyard of things one last time before proceeding onwards.

Upon clearing this challenge, the actual gauntlet seemed to unveil itself, as a man with two large horns and an ANVIL fatigues set stands at the front of the group, assorted people with and mostly without horns were milling about, of assorted ages, some looked mean, others did not and a large range of ages were present, all in all eight figures stood along the path with a few others just standing there as if to be watching.

“Well you’ll be at the final boss soon, I expected my little girl to pick someone a bit more handsome, but eh you aren’t too bad. So yah might be wondering what in the fuck we all are here for, pretty simple, we’ll all lay into you, some serious, some not, just depends. Yeah? Anyways just keep standing as we hit you and reach the other side.”

Pausing in his destination as the moving mountain entered his pathing, Kuroi stared in a deadpan. So that was where the oni came from. Her dad was about what could be expected from assumptions and her description. Still, with the presence of the others Kuroi felt he was getting jumped by the mob, which in a way, he was.

“...Thanks…?” Kuroi said, unsure if that was actually a full complement or full insult. “So you want me to just take hits as I walk?”

It was a bit archaic maybe, but not unexpected considering the purpose of everything.

“Fight back if you want, we’ll just gang up on yah then. Fuck’n honrable fight’n is more of my Wife’s thing, but we are simple folk, eh. And most of them don’t swear as much as me. After All though, the main point of this is to see if you can take a good hit from a kid..well our kids. So come on, let's get this over with, some of us might live longer but none of us are getting younger.” He says with a taunting smile, sweeping a hand along. “Like I said, none of us are here to kill yah or put you in the hospital, but time’s wastin.”

“...I don’t think swearing’s the issue here…” Kuroi commented with a sigh. His eyes gleamed red, though his quirk didn’t activate with any offensive intent. Instead, the blood covered his body like a vest to dampen any hits. He still couldn’t harden it like his father, but it would offer some protection.

Stepping forward, Kuroi approached the line. “Alright… just don’t make me any less handsome.”

As Kuroi went down the line his blood power did manage to intercept the blows, till he reached the end, then a small girl who looked to be less than eight years old sucker punched him gaining a hit in, but the way was clear and he still stood. At the end of the path stood two women, one was Kanna and the other was a bit older, with green hair and red eyes, elements of her facial features bled into Isa and Kanna, who also stood alongside them, the green haired woman gave off a frightening aura, though it remained to be seen if Kuroi knew enough about history to know who she was.

At this junction Kanna speaks. “Your task for now is rather simple, pick one of us and survive for one minute. We won’t be trying to kill you but we shall throw everything at you. Remain standing and everything is finished.”

Kuroi lurched every so often until he reached the end. Thinking he was safe, he was unprepared for the innocent-looking girl’s sucker punch. He grabbed his jack with an exclamation of pain, moving past the girl with narrowed eyes. That was probably his fault for not assuming all of them were mini Kannas.

Speaking of, she was next, with Isa and another. She seemed to have some resemblance to the other two, and Kuroi considered who of the family it was. He was also surprised that Isa was an option, though he wasn’t going to choose her. Kuroi didn’t really want to fight her, for one. For two, he felt that this was probably the best opportunity to make sure Kanna didn’t have any further contempt for him. The green-haired woman–Well, she didn’t want him dead, as far as he knew.

Rubbing his jaw a bit, he glanced at Isa a moment, then at Kanna. “...You.”

“Yes. Me.” Kanna says in response to the “You.” The green haired woman seemed a little dejected but returned to the outer edges to watch as Isa stepped back as well.

“Your minute starts now.” With that Kanna quickly steps off on a single foot, leaving a bit of force in her wake as she opens up with knee strike towards Kuroi’s chest.

“Oh, fuck I hope I don’t regret this…” Kuroi murmured to himself as he saw the woman start. His eyes instantly turned red as he prepared to react. The pillars of blood poured out again and crossed in front of him to act as a barrier. Kuroi was pushed back a bit as the knee connected, though a few other tendrils dug into the ground to keep him steady. Then, the appendages formerly shielding him whipped up and rushed Kanna like a torrent.

Meeting his own limited counter attack, Kanna pounds on the material, aiming to grab and rip them apart or to pull him by them. “Hmmmph”

Some blood splashed about, disconnecting from the main stream in response. However, the majority of it remained and continued pushing against her despite being pulled. Wanting to avoid having the appendages fully ripped, the other tendrils he used for foundation released the ground to allow himself to be pulled. Though if dragged closer, they would attempt to grab her legs and destabilize her footing.

Rooting her own footing in place, Kanna lowers her center of balance and attempts a sweep kick with the material grabbing onto her leg, another means to pull it as she grunts a little in response. “Amusing.”

“Huh, is that a compliment?” The leg sweep yanks him closer with Kuroi ceasing much resistance. Using the inertia provided by Kanna, the other tendrils traveled to rope her body and limbs. Of course, Kuroi didn’t expect that he could pin and hold her. It was to give her some obstruction so that he could follow-up with a kick to the chest. She told him to survive and that was what he was aiming for, nothing more.

Either by allowing this freely or being hindered, the kick connects as Kanna lays hands upon Kuroi’s kicking leg and attempts to slam him into the ground before spinning him off and throwing him. “I guess survival would be a compliment for you.”

Kuroi winced when she grabbed his leg, preparing himself for the incoming pain. He felt himself flung down and grit his teeth as he diverted some blood to pad his back before hitting the ground. Then he felt himself yanked in another direction and released, his appendages releasing and following suit. As he flew a bit, the blood spiked out to embed into the ground and stop his movement before retracting slightly as he stabilized on the ground. “I’ll take what I can get…” He said as the arms coiled the air around him in a defensive posture.

With his immediate reactions and actions, Kanna rushes forward smashing into his arms with significant force behind her right fist. “Ha!”

Exhaling in preparation, Kuroi intercepted her attack as one tendril hovered in front of him to shield, or rather deflect in this case. The other body of bloodshot out to coil around her arm and, with a twist, pull, and kick at her legs, attempted to vault her over him using her own force of movement.

Following his movements, Kanna does go over him but makes use of the movement to land on her feet, sliding with them as she regained her fitting.

“Well that’s that. Don’t think you can so easily walk away, nor expect special treatment from me once you come to ANVIL. Which I’m sure you will, not so much Isa. If you have any questions, about all of this, then she can answer.” She said, pointing by means of a bow to the green haired woman. “Or ask Isa if you don’t care for a detailed answer.” She adds in.

As the woman seemed to relax, Kuroi did as well with a sigh of relief. The blood seeped back into his skin and his eyes turned to black once again. “So… that’s it? Or is a little girl going to run up and clock me?” He asked a bit sarcastically.

Rubbing his chin a bit after that, he wasn’t really planning to walk away, less he wouldn’t have gone through with this. “Yeah, I’m planning to go to ANVIL, though I’ll settle for you not wanting me dead… uh…” Glancing over to the green-haired woman who seemed disappointed that she missed the chance to beat his ass, Kuroi looked between her and Kanna. “And… she would be?”

“Hmm, unless you do something for one of us to come after you there should be no problems, you are free to come and go as you please and up the visitor path even.” Kanna says.

“As to who she is..”

The other woman speaks. “It’s normally polite to ask the name of the person, hey, were you raised by animals?” The green haired woman said. “You may call me Grandma, Grandmother, call me hag and I’ll beat you down… Though I once had a name that is likely too old for you to remember, Ayai Shakushain, the Crimson Berserker. I am Mother to Kanna and either mother or grandmother to anyone not a spouse to one of those things… I used to have and still do have the lingerings of a great madness and violence within me, it speaks from the quirk.. This test is to see what kind of person you are and to see if you can survive our worst. As my daughter said, you are welcomed.”

Kuroi glanced over to the green-haired woman as she spoke. Her speech mannerisms were weird, though apparently this was the grandmother. The one that made Isa not very worried about his own family. She was fairly upfront about her “madness”. It was an eerie feeling, but different from the one that he felt with his dad. “I wasn’t really planning to call you that… but noted.” He wasn’t going to call her that anymore than he would Kanna. “Can’t say I’m familiar with the name, though I don’t know much about hero or villain stuff outside of what pertains to my family… Isa only told me a bit.”

“Hmm, then leave it that way… We all can change, hey, but it’s harder for some. Anyways, I’m going back out to the fields, hey, watch yourself yeah?” The woman says with a nod and a wave, leaving Kanna, Isa and the others where they were, she seemingly was done with all of this for the time being.

“I’m not so sure about everyone being able to change but there have been stranger things. I’m going to go help clean up the mess, you can meet everyone later if you like once you two are married, provided you are that decent.” With that Kanna makes her own departure with most of the rest, minus one older looking man and it seemed Isa’s brother had returned to speak with said older man.

“So…” Isa says.

“Uh, yeah, thanks… grandma…?” Kuroi said, still somewhat unfamiliar with the transition. Turning back to Kanna as she said that, it seemed all of the stigma wasn’t gone, though it was a start. Staring a bit blankly as she walked away, he sighed. “Okay, that definitely wasn’t a compliment…”

Hearing Isa speak up, he turned to her. “Well, I’m alive. That’s good, I think… Was that good?” Kuroi asked, not certain on how to gauge either of the women’s reactions.

“I mean, it wasn’t that bad, she’s not trying to kill you now or outright distrust you, she did say you could come and go as you please here, so you came further than yah think!” Isa says to him with a bit of a slap on the back. “I mean it could be worse, but uh.. What do we do now?”

“Well, I’ll take it for now…” Kuroi mused at that with a hum. “Well, I think I have to get a ring or your grandma might kill me.”

Smiling a bit at that victory, he turned to her and scooped Isa up in his arms, a bit gleeful he wouldn’t have to worry about ANVIL’s miko very much more, even more getting her approval. “Or maybe you should get me one for taking all those punches, hime… including that sucker punch.” Though the question of what to do next was a bit stifling since Kuroi was mainly focused with getting through the gauntlet. “Uh, I dunno. Celebrate?”

“Sure! Let’s go! And ha! Maybe I will, want me to carry you too?” Isa says with a smart assed grin.
 
For all those who have been watching this rp did, unfortunately, hit an unexpected end but keep a look out we plan to do a future jump to close up some villains we really came to like. Keep an eye on these works as they go up.