Chapter 34: Rumi Vs SHAZAM IchikaAuthor: Geraint
(MC's POV)
Walking behind Rumi and Ryukyu, who were patrolling the area after the attack of the villains.
"Today was supposed to be our day off! I want to kick some villain asses instead of doing this boring patrol," Rumi complained.
"We have no choice, Mirko. A lot of Pro Heroes got hospitalized from that incident, and there's no one else available to patrol the area," Ryukyu responded.
"Ugh! This sucks!"
"It's your job as a Pro Hero, Mirko. Don't complain and always stay on alert."
The two of them halted and turned toward me.
"Why are you following us around?" Ryukyu asked.
"Well... I'm actually from Tokyo, and I came here for vacation. I have no one to show me around, so I decided to follow the two of you," I explained, shrugging my shoulders.
"Oh, really?"
"Do I really look that suspicious?"
"Obviously!"
"Eh?"
I noticed that Rumi was staring at me again.
(Her rabbit instinct is scary. I won't be surprised if she recognizes me later.)
"Guess I'll be honest then..."
Sighing as I walked closer to Rumi,
"Rabbit Hero, Mirko... I would like to invite you for a drink tonight!"
"Huh? Sorry, I don't drink."
"What? Aren't you already... Never mind! How about a family restaurant?"
"I'm not interested."
Rejecting me, she turned around and continued walking with Ryukyu.
"Hey! Wait! I'm not finished yet!"
I followed after them.
"Go away!"
I smiled, remembering that she was the one who always followed me around in the past, and now our roles were reversed.
Arriving in front of a playground park,
(How nostalgic...)
Rumi and I used to hang out a lot in a playground park. It always turned into our battleground, and I just ran around avoiding her lethal kicks.
"Hey, Mirko! How about we have a match right now?"
Rumi stopped and glanced at me with cold eyes.
"Fine, I'll accept your challenge," she said as she faced me, stretching her neck.
"Mirko, stop it! He's a civilian," Ryukyu spoke with a warning tone.
"Ryukyu, this guy might look goofy at first glance, but my rabbit survival instincts are already telling me that this guy is bad news."
"What?!"
Ryukyu was surprised.
"Don't worry, I don't have any ill intentions. I just want to have a match with her."
Facing each other in the empty playground park,
"Will you tell me your name?" Rumi asked.
"I'll tell you later, after the match."
"Okay..."
Ryukyu stood between us to judge the match.
"Are you okay with this, Mirko?"
"Yeah. This will be exciting!"
"Settle the match quickly before someone sees us. Let the match begin!"
"A minute is already enough!"
Rumi charged at me quickly and launched multiple kicks.
I just moved side to side and avoided all of her attacks.
"This kind of fighting style..."
She jumped back, keeping her distance.
Raising my guard, I moved closer to her.
"This is bad!"
It looked like she already knew what I was going to do and raised her arms.
Throwing a left jab, she immediately jumped away and crossed her arms.
Thinking she could avoid it, but my fist reached her and hit her left elbow.
"Ugh!"
She fell to the ground, holding her elbow. Her face was red as she glared at me, looking frustrated. She was sweating profusely.
"I thought something was strange when I met you, but I understand now. What are you doing here, Ichika—No! Captain Falcon!"
"Captain Falcon?!" Ryukyu looked surprised.
Placing my index finger over my lips,
"Ssssssh... Somebody might hear us, Rumi. I just ran away from the eyes of the Hero Public Safety Commission, and they don't know that I came here to see you. It's your fault for not contacting me for almost five months, and I got worried about you."
"Ichika, that's..."
I placed my hand below her jaw as I moved closer and said her name.
"Rumi."
She stayed still and didn't resist my attempt to make a move on her.
"You don't know just how much I missed you, my idiot."
Seeing her flushed face up close, I squatted down and kissed her on the lips.
"Hmph..."
Rumi placed her arms around my neck, and our kiss deepened.
I felt like I awakened something in her that I wasn't aware of.
When I tried to pull away, she didn't want to let go.
(This is bad! I overdid it!)
"Hmph!"
I tapped her shoulder several times, and finally, she let go of me.
A thread of saliva stretched out between our mouths, and she was breathing heavily.
I noticed Ryukyu looking away with a blush that reached her ears.
"Oh, I remember! Your real name was Ryuko, right? Rumi told me about you."
I glanced in her direction while pulling Rumi's arm to help her stand.
"Don't worry about me, Falcon. I won't tell anyone about you being here. Ah, before I forget! I have something important to do, so farewell—"
"Wait!"
I ran and approached her.
"I told you! I won't tell anyone!"
"Yeah, before that—my real name is Yagi Ichika, and I'm this idiot's fiancé."
"Oi!" Rumi wanted to complain.
"Rumi has been in your care these past several months, and I wanted to thank you for that. Please continue watching over her so she won't do anything reckless, and nice to meet you." I slightly bowed in front of Ryukyu.
"Falcon... About your real identity, I swear I won't tell anybody... Ever since that kidnapping incident happened more than seven months ago, I was disgusted with myself as a Pro Hero. I was one of those Pro Heroes who surrounded you that night, and I was focused on catching you. The guilt of not saving those kidnapped children earlier as they were begging and crying for someone to save them... I just can't..." she looked really regretful.
"It wasn't your fault. The mission given to you was to catch me, not save the children. More like, you weren't even aware they were there."
"Still..."
"It's fine... I'm already glad you guys prioritized saving those children once you found them over catching me. Just never forget that your job is to keep this country safe from villains—not to catch bounty criminals. That was supposed to be my job."
"The Captain Falcon I remembered was supposed to be a child who could turn into an adult."
"Yeah, that's me. This is my adult form, but without a hero costume." I pointed at myself.
"Any plans on becoming a Pro Hero?"
"Well, I'm considering becoming one in the future, but not as Captain Falcon anymore. For me, Captain Falcon is already dead, and now... I'm just an ordinary Falcon."
"Then I'm looking forward to working with you in the future, Falcon."
"Sure! How about a few drinks sometime? I want to see Rumi get drunk."
Rumi grabbed my collar and shook me.
"Hey! I remember that you're still 10 years old! You're not supposed to drink at your age!"
"I'm currently the same age as you in this form."
"Let's just hang out somewhere—just the three of us." Ryukyu shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
"Okay."
You got mail! You got mail!
Taking out my phone and opening it, I read the emails I received.
The sender was unknown.
[Thank you, Brother! Mayumi-san gladly accepted my confession and we're going to have a shotgun wedding after I propose to her.]
"Wow! That was fast!" I was surprised.
[Please tell me your personal info! I would like to invite you to my wedding, and feel free to bring any companions with you.]
[P.S. My ex-girlfriend's reaction was priceless, and seeing her like that made me feel great.]
[Thank you very much for your wonderful wisdom. I was enlightened.]—From: Mr. Segawa
I closed my phone and put it back in my pocket.
"What's wrong? Why are you grinning like that? It's kinda creepy," Rumi said, looking at me suspiciously.
"Nope, I was just invited to a wedding."
"With who?"
"The man who was about to jump from the building just now. He said he's going to marry his ex-girlfriend's mother. Anyone wanna come with me?"
...
Rumi and Ryukyu were silent.
(To be continued.)
(A/N: I realized that the readers possess Power Stones. I need them in order to erase half of humanity. I'll fix my mistakes later.)