Chapter 1 “Faster, Better, Future!”

What if, what if the world was inhabited by people with extraordinary powers? What if we lived in a reality where you could walk outside and experience a fight that only existed in comic books and pop culture? Well that is the world we live in today. One night, a child glowed as bright as the sun. After that moment, people all over the world were reported to have abilities unknown to mankind.

Soon, the world was shook by this phenomenon and before we knew it, we were living lives that we only thought existed in movies and TV shows, these beautiful and special abilities are commonly referred to as “Quirks” and with this, a new job overthrew the thriving workforce: “Professional Heroes” these people spend day in and day out protecting the world and serving as our champions.

People who want to become heroes have to go through intense training, and one of the best schools to go to is the world famous UA High, some of the best heroes, Best Jeanist, Endeavor, All Might, even my mother, Inertai enrolled at this academia and became big successes,.

Today, I begin my 12 month training program to get me in shape for the entrance exam next year. But little did I know the hell that I was about to go through.

[Bao Sai, Okinawa, Japan [3:59 AM]

Early in the morning, the sun is nowhere near rising and the majority of Japan is still sound asleep, getting enough energy to carry them through today, just to repeat the same cycle over and over again. That's how the world runs. Imagine if the world just stopped working for a day, the world would be a disaster. Hospitals, fire departments, law enforcement, most importantly… professional heroes, if we took these people for granted, would the Earth still be a safe place?

That’s a little philosophic idea I thought of, people blame these individuals daily for not acting quick enough, for being a second too late, for not saving the day.

We’re still human, even with these powers we have in our DNA, we’re still prone to making mistakes and making bad decisions, that’s just how I think anyways.

I’m in my bed, fast asleep, when my mother walks into my bedroom.

“Kotoshi dear, wake up! Today, I will turn you into an incredible hero! You better be prepared for anything I throw at you today!~” Mom says to me, flicking the lights on and off.

Snore

I’m still sleeping, my mother as you could guess, was a little annoyed.

She walks over to my bed, touches my blanket, and yanks it off of me.

I still don’t wake up, my mother obviously furious touches my clothing and forces me off of my bed, and drops me to the ground.

Bump

“Ow… Okay, I’m up…” I say weakly.

My mom walks out of the room, as I put on a new pair of clothes, my other ones got messed up from yesterday, they were completely torn.

“Oh snap, so it really wasn’t a dream.” I say looking at my torn suit.

“Though I do admit, this feels so surreal, one day I’m a complete loser, and now I’m going to train to be one of the elites? It feels like my life went 180 after my body convulsed on the roof that Saturday.” I say reminiscing the time when I first used my powers,

Using my powers, it felt… liberating.

I headed into the bathroom, and started brushing my teeth, but that’s when I looked in the mirror.

“What the…” I say looking at my body in the mirror

My body, it changed. My hair went from dark brown to practically blonde, and my eyes were albino white. It was like I was a different person now.

When I finished brushing my teeth and washing my face, I walked into the living room, where I was greeted by Natsuki with a cup of coffee in her hands.

“Good morning Koto! Here, have a cup of coffee!” Natsuki says to me as I take a sip.

“Woah, what happened to you? It looks like you bleached yourself!” Natsuki said examining me,

She went around me, looking closely at my hair.

“I don’t really know either, it doesn’t matter really.” I said as she backed away from me.

“Are you kids ready? We’re heading to Yao Sai for training.” Mom says as she takes a sip from her own cup. We both nodded as we all headed out the door

Yao Sai is a city neighboring Bao Sai, coming from the twins that founded it, Yao and Bao.

They thought naming their cities “Bao” and “Yao” were too short, so they added “Sai” to it, showing their relation to each other, and now it’s the cities we know today.

[Yao Sai, Okinawa, Japan [5:20 AM]

We hopped into a taxi, paid the driver and went on our way.

About 10 minutes later, we arrived at the big city of Yao Sai, Bao Sai is way less uptown compared to Yao Sai, with Yao Sai constantly having events and concerts, Bao Sai is more of a downtown area, with more community things happening.

Natsuki peered out of the window, gazing at the beautiful cityscapes as the sun rose, making all of the skyscrapers sparkle, “So… The Momentum Hero: Inertai, to what do I owe the pleasure?” The driver asks, “The pleasure is all mine, thank you for driving us to Yao Sai.” Mom said to the driver, “Anyways, I see you have company, interns maybe?” The driver asked.

“They’re not, I guess since it’s a worst kept secret, I should introduce them to you.” My mother said, “Okay, gimme the juicy intro, it’s spiked my curiosity.” The driver said, as we entered the city.

“This is Kotoshi, my adopted son, and this is his friend Natsuki, they are going to be training under my wing for the UA Entrance Exam next year.” Mom said to the driver.

“Oh wow, going for the big leagues at UA huh? You two should be lucky you’re training under a big shot like Inertai. I also wanted to be a hero, but my quirk is Reflex, basically gives me perfect reflexes, not much I could do with that. I guess I just wish I had a more usable quirk” The driver said as we pulled up.

“Anyways, enough meaningless ranting from me, have a nice day!” The driver said as we all piled out of the car.

“Thank you, here’s a tip.” Mom said, bringing out and writing a check.

The driver happily accepts it and drives off.

“Give back to those who gave to you, it is better to give than receive.” Mom told us while we nodded to all of her advice.

“Anyways, what do we do first?” Natsuki asked, “Well, it’s right in front of you.” Mom said as we looked around to see what she meant.

The only thing that was in front of us was a skyscraper, a very tall one at that with about 40 floors.

“Your first training is to climb up to the top of this skyscraper.” Mom said,

“So this is what she meant by ‘Be prepared for anything I throw at you today.’ This is going to be rough…” I say in my mind.

“Climb to the top!?! Isn’t that kind of dangerous?” Natsuki says,

“I think she means climb up stairs to the top, not literally climb it.” I said to her

“Oh, phew, that's a relief.” Natsuki said, “You two can walk up the stairs, I’m going to climb it.” Mom said, holding onto a button on her shirt.

She then zoomed up the skyscraper at incredibly high speeds, leaving us behind.

“Oh wait, I can do that too! Good luck Koto!~” Natsuki said as she turned into an oni and started climbing the skyscraper.

“What.” I said as I was left alone.

Ring!

A notification appeared on my phone.

[Notification]

Sender: Mom

“I’m already at the top, get moving.”

“That’s alright, I can just take the-” I say before getting another notification.

“Do not take the elevator.”

“Aw c’mon…” I sigh before heading into the building.

[Floor 5]

My legs feel like they are on fire, my heartbeat is just as loud as my breathing, but I need to keep going.

Ring!

[Notification]

Sender: Natsuki

“I’m at the top now! What floor are you on? ”

I sigh and keep going.

[Floor 20]

My legs feel like they’re going to collapse, My breathing is unstable and my heart feels like it’s beating 200 beats per minute. I keep going, for the sake of being a hero.

“I’m pathetic if I can’t even run up a building. I WILL KEEP GOING!” I say as people also traveling up the stairs are giving me weird looks.

[Floor 40]

My energy is completely gone, I would’ve eaten breakfast today if I knew we were doing this.

Every step feels like a nail is going through my foot, but finally I reach the top.

I stumbled on top of the roof, my face completely white.

“Finally, you’re here, I thought you’d take longer, great job.” Mom says as I plop down on the floor in exhaustion, my side felt like it just got hit by a bullet and my mouth feels like metal.

“I- Wheeze I made it to the top!” I say weakly, my body looking like I just saw a ghost.

“You want some water?” Natsuki says, handing me a bottle of water.

I gulp it all down, my mouth feeling relieved.

Mom walked up to me, a smile on her face.

“Kotoshi, you want to know what’s the great part of climbing up a skyscraper?” Mom asked me,

I thought about it for a moment, “The great view?” I asked “No,” Mom replied, “The fresh air?” I ask again, “Nope,” She said smiling, “Well, I give up, what is the great part of climbing up a skyscraper?” I ask sarcastically, “Going back down!~” She smiled.

I nearly fell to the floor in despair hearing that.

“You’re kidding…” I groan, I see my life flash in front of me.

No? Am I just overexaggerating? Well, moving on.

“Can I just take the elevator…” I ask my mother, on the brink of collapsing.

“If someone was trapped in a fire, would you say: “How about I just ignore him?” You have to get used to pushing your limits, besides, you wouldn’t want to be late for school would you?” Mom said to me, “THERE’S SCHOOL TODAY?!?” I say to her, “Yeah, it’s monday, I expected us to be done here quickly, go home and get ready for school.” Mom said to me.

“NONONONONO!!! I’m going to be late!” I think in my head, I panic, my heart is beating fast.

I dash down the stairs, completely ignoring the pain in my sides, I wasn’t going to be late for school. Not with him as my teacher.

I cleared all 40 floors in no time flat, in fact, I got down in 10 minutes. I guess time goes by fast when you’re in a rush.

Eventually, Natsuki and my mom came down by elevator.

“I called the school, there’s a gas leak, so school’s out until it’s fixed.” Mom said to me.

“Wow, really? Phew You really had me in a panic attack there.” I say sighing in relief.

We had all of this free time, so we didn’t really have a game plan.

“So, I have an idea, let’s spend the day here!” Natsuki said, “Well, it’s not a bad idea. After all, the Saiku Mall food court is phenomenal.” I replied approving of the idea.

“Mom, can we please spend the day here?” “Ms. Tanaka, may we please spend the day here?” We both said to Mom simultaneously.

“Well, I was going to do some quirk exercises- Wait, I know! Okay, let’s make a deal,” Mom said to us, “I’ll take you two to the Saiku Mall, you can get all of the stuff you want, and eat all of the food you want,” Mom said to us, “Did you hear her? All of the food! Hehe.`” Natsuki said to me.

“Okay, what do you get?” I ask her, “I take you to a special place, a place that I think you’ll recognise.” Mom said to me.

With a deal like that, Natsuki and I see no reason to refuse.

“It’s a done deal, let’s go!” I say, “Yummy food, here we come!” Natsuki cheers.

[Yao Sai, Okinawa [6:05 AM]

We walk down the sidewalk, and end up in a more residential area, cars rushing by us, and the sun just about to rise.

I look at the sky, at how golden the sunset is, but then I see a blue stream of light flowing upwards, I look to where the light is coming from, and It’s coming from a cemetery.

“I’m going to check that out, and be right back.” I said climbing over the fence, “Where are you going?” Mom asked me, I didn’t listen as I ran deeper into the cemetery.

I ran deeper, leaves crunching with every step, I finally found the source.

There was a boy there in a red plaid jacket and blue jeans looking at a grave,

“Rest well, old friend.” A person said as the beacon of blue light stopped,

I’m hiding behind a grave, making sure not to make a sound so he didn’t notice me.

“Kotoshi!” Mom yelled out, alarming the unknown person, he fled.

“Kotoshi, what were you thinking? Running off like that.” Mom said clearly worried.

“I’m sorry for worrying you Mom.” I say to her, “I’m not worried, just… give me more context before running off like that.” She said to me, as I looked at the ground, then looked her in the eyes. “There was… a person there, you scared him off when you called out my name.” I said to her,

“Anyways, let’s go, Natsuki probably attracted another villain by now.” I say to my Mom as we walk back to the sidewalk. We still had time to kill, the mall didn’t open until 9:30, so after regrouping with Natsuki, we decided to go to kill some time,

[Mr. Waffle, Yao Sai [6:35 AM]

(Natsuki’s POV)

Welcome to Mr. Waffles, the local favorite breakfast place to eat waffles!

Meet the mascot for this cafe, Mr. Waffle, he looks so dazzling in his tuxedo.

Koto ordered the chicken and waffles, Ms. Tanaka got the blueberry waffles,

I got THE TRIPLE DELUXE OVERLOADED WAFFLE STACK, with bacon!~

Our food arrived! And my Triple Deluxe Overloaded Waffle Stack was exactly how I ordered it!

It’s three waffles, and each layer has a fried egg, sausage bits, and maple syrup, creating the most delicious waffle ever, and since my quirk runs on calories, I can eat as much food as I want without ruining my physique!~

I’ve had waffles similar to this, but this beats all of them by a mile.

First of all, They make their waffles, like a silver dollar pancake, but they make them thick and fluffy, so they’re slim but tall.

Second of all, the sausages have a sweet maple syrup coating, they didn’t skimp out on the sausages either, they made sure every square was filled with savory sweet goodness.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Third of all, it was made with love, you could see it in the people working there. When I look for good food, I don’t look at the food, I look at the people making it, the passion going into every chop, every slice, and every flip. Food isn’t good because you added a whole bunch of ingredients, it’s the time and effort put into making it that makes it an incredible dish.

That’s why I want to be a hero, I want people to look at me and know that they’ll love me for my hard efforts, not just because of my super awesome quirk.

[Yao Sai, Okinawa [7:30 AM]

(Back to Koto’s POV)

Since we had about 2 hours left to kill, my Mom decided to bring me to an outdoor basketball court, which was strange, we don’t have a ball. Natsuki went to explore the park a little

“Uhh, why are we here Mom? We don’t have a basketball to play with.” I ask my Mom,

“Even though I heard all about your quirk, I never saw it for myself, I needed an open area for you to show it off, and since we have time to kill, show me what you can do!” Mom said to me,

“Uhh… What? You want me to spar with you?” I ask her as she nods, “I don’t care, go all out! Consider this the next part of your training.” She said to me touching a button on her shirt.

She started moving at high speeds, doing circles around me, “And since we’re sparring, don’t expect me to hold- BACK!” My Mom said stopping and about to punch me in the face, I instinctively blocked it, activating my quirk.

Fwoom!

My bubble shields the attack, and my Mom fist flew back as the shield grew.

“Incredible, I never knew my son, the helpless kid that I took in, came with a secret gift.~” She says winking, wiping off the dust from her clothes, “That’s not all I can do,” I say lifting up my foot, my Mom intrigued.

“GO!”

I said taking a step forward, adrenaline rushing through my veins as I rushed forward with incredible energy and great speed, but she just tapped the button again and dashed out of the way.

Skid!

I slide across the concrete floor, embarrassing myself.

“Heh, HAHAHA! This is just too rich… Kotoshi, this is the first time I’ve had this much fun with you!” My Mom said,

“You mean you didn’t when I was younger?” I thought in my head

My Mom laughed with joy, “C’mon, get up.” Mom said helping me up,

Turns out, the impact was so powerful that it cracked the concrete.

I looked at my arms, they were completely fine! I expected them to at least have some scratches, or some type of burn but nope! They’re completely spotless.

“Kotoshi, you have potential! With that speed and power, you could be a great hero!” Mom said to me proudly. “Although, I have a few suggestions, let me get out my notebook, I need to write some of the things you could improve on, Squeal! I can’t wait to train with you!” Mom said with excitement.

“Whatever Mom, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy!” I say to her,

Mom continued writing in the notebook, “Okay, the first thing I need you to train on is having more control,” Mom said to me, “Control?” I asked her,

“Yes, I noticed it with a first glance that you just jump, now what I want you to do is try to run with it, have a little more control of your quirk. I did the same thing as you when I was in training, I’d always launch myself in the direction I forced myself in, but what that does is keep you set in that direction, and leaves you open if you miss, but if your feet are closer to the ground, you can really take advantage of your quirk!” My mom said to me

“Eheh, this is going to be awhile” I said to myself,

So we started training, the first time I tried to do anything remotely close to this.

“Okay, activate your quirk, but when you charge ahead, make sure you start running.” She said to me as I activated my quirk.

Fwoom!

I got into position, and started running, and it worked! Sort of, I just ran in a straight line and almost tripped if it weren’t for my mom catching my fall

“Hey, not bad! With a few more tries I bet you could master that.” Mom said to me, as I nod with a confident face, starting my training session.

For the next hour, we trained hard trying to master my quirk,

I use my quirk again, doing my regular run cycle, I trip, falling on my face.

“Kotoshi, lift up your legs! If you drag your feet when running at high speeds, you trip easier.” Mom said to me, getting up from the concrete

My mom gave me tips for keeping balance while running at such high speeds,

“Focus on maintaining an upright posture, landing midfoot, and keeping your strides short and quick.” Mom said to me while running in place, giving me an example.

Before I knew it, I learned basic techniques, such as running and turning.

I was training by running around the court, My mom was keeping track of my time.

“GO!” Mom yelled as I released my quirk, giving it my all, at my first right, I leaned a bit to the right, and got it done perfectly, and that success continued all the way around.

I was finally getting the hang of my quirk, even if

After my training session was done, I collapsed on the bench.

“Ayy, I feel so tired…” I say as Mom hands me a water bottle, “Yeah, I know how you feel. Listen, your quirk should be treated as a muscle, the more you train it, the stronger it’ll be, you’re making great progress now, imagine in a year, you’ll be readier than ever.” Mom said to me,

“Hey you two, I’m back!” Natsuki said holding three churros, “Who wants a churro?” She continued.

“I do!” I say “Sure, I’ll have one!’ My mom said, “Churros all the way around!” Natsuki said

“Let’s train, and when that time of the UA Entrance Exam rolls around, let’s blow it out of the park! To heroes!” I say, “To heroes!” Mom said after me “To churros!~” Natsuki said,

[Saiku Mall, Yao Sai [9:45 AM]

We arrived at Saiku Mall, and started shopping around. While we were there I found a shop that was selling Yen Kimono merch. If you’ve never heard of him, he’s this J-pop sensation. I'm the hugest fan of his songs and listen to him whenever I’m studying.

We also got some new clothes for Natsuki and I. I also found my favorite (Besides my mother)

pro hero’s merchandise!

My favorite pro hero… is Rabbit Hero: Mirko, She’s extremely strong, I love her rabbit ears, and I might have an itty bitty crush on her but that doesn’t matter. Her design team went to a different level on the patterns and sheer quality of her merchandise. I bought four shirts from her newest collection: Lunar. I even put one on in the changing room, though I do admit, My mom looked jealous when I came out with it.

“Sigh… Why am I not my son’s favorite? And her of all people. Mirko has everything, a strong body, beautiful looks, and even has a more powerful quirk than mine. It just makes me so… jealous.” Mom pouted to herself in her mind,

“Hey Mom, are you alright?” I asked my Mom as she realized that she was deep in thought, “Sorry Koto, I was just thinking about something, it wasn’t important. Did you want to ask me something?” My Mom asked me, “Yeah, we’re ready to go wherever you want to take us, Y’know, to do your half of the deal?” I said to her,

“We were barely here for an hour!” My Mom said to me, “Me and Koto are very quick shoppers, besides, we already have our hands filled with stuff!” Natsuki said, having three bags in each hand. “Alright then, let’s head off.” My Mom said, as we left the mall

[Yao Sai, Okinawa [1:01 PM]

So after getting Natsuki, and getting some delicious food from the food court, we took a taxi, and before long… “We’re here!” My mom said, as I looked out the window, I was greeted with a massive building, I immediately recognised it.

“We’re going to QATABA?!?” I said in shock, “What’s Katana? Is is some type of sushi restaurant?~” Natsuki said, “Not Katana, QATABA!” I said.

We got out of the taxi, I took an upwards glance, seeing the mass scale of this building, it was incredible.

“So uhh… Can you tell me more about this place?” Natsuki asked me, “Yeah! I did a report about this a while back, so I know a thing or two about it.” I said to her

Back before pro heroes and hero licenses existed, back when the quirk phenomena was still starting, people started creating fight clubs in underground buildings and in shady neighborhoods.

The government put a stop to this, as there were now Quirk Restriction Laws that were introduced to regulate and limit the usage of quirks. Obviously, the people who did these types of activities for fun became furious and quirk fight clubs became a controversial topic.

After many years, one man stood up against the government, claiming that this type of violence is no different than wrestling and boxing matches we see on television.

This case went back and forth, with the government finally caving in and providing a system that allowed two people to go head on without a registered hero license.

As it stands today, there are 9 official sites where people can freely test and train their quirks.

This place is the “Quirk Active Training And Battle Arena”, also known As QATABA, is where commonfolk and pro heroes alike can train.

[QATABA (Lobby Area) [1:03 PM]

“My mom used to take me here as a kid while she trained, I was in the child drop-off area.” I said, “And from what I remember, you were bullied a lot for being quirkless. I wonder what their reaction will be when they see your quirk!~” Mom said to me.

“Yeah… I wonder.” I say, as we walk into the building.

There, I saw a face that I haven’t seen in a long while.

“Welcome to QATABA! Oh, Ms. Inertia, it is a pleasure to have us in your presence.” A person greeted us.

“Wait… Sanzo my man!” I said to him, “Oh? Kotoshi is that you? Dab me up!” Sanzo said as we both shook hands.

“Woah, what happened to your eyes? They are almost whitish in color.” Sanzo asked me, pointing at my pupils. Not knowing the answer myself, I dodged the question, and he quickly moved on to something else.

So back when my mom dropped me off at the daycare, I made a friend named Shuichi Sanzo, he was the son of the CEO of the Okinawa QATABA.

When I was old enough to live by myself, I stopped going with my Mom to QATABA, so I haven’t seen him since… I was 14. So two years.

“So what brings you to QATABA Kotoshi? And I see you got yourself a girl as well, ah? I see you.~” Sanzo said, teasing me.

“She’s just a friend, but My mom brought me here to train my quirk.” I said, shocking him.

“YOU HAVE A QUIRK!?! Oh you gotta tell me all the juicy details, how’d you do it? Consuming mutating chemicals? The creator of the universe giving you powers? DNA fusion?” Sanzo said, bombarding me with questions.

“Ehh… Nothing close to those options, especially the last one.” I said to him

“Oh! I have an idea, let’s go to the training area, and you can show me for yourself!” Sanzo said as he grabbed my arm and ran off.

He dragged me into the training area, it was like a huge area with pits filled with granite structures, a whole bunch of people were training with these formed granite.

“Hello, Can I see both of your membership cards?” The reception lady asked us,

“Here’s mine, and since mine’s a Diamond Deluxe membership, I brought a friend with me to the training area,” Sanzo said, handing her his membership card, “Alright, be careful out there!” The reception lady said as we walked out on the field.

“Hey Kotai, make a training dummy form.” Sanzo said to the man that had a granite pattern on his skin, “You got it Master Sanzo,” The man said touching the ground forming the training dummy.

Koga Kotai

Quirk: Granite

“He can manipulate and form granite from organic sources or from his own skin that is conveniently made out of granite!

He doesn’t need a lot of stamina to use this power, so he can use his quirk as much as he likes.”

“Master?” I said, “My dad is

He formed three training poles, each in their own spot.

“Kotoshi, tell Kotai when your quirk is ready and we will begin.” Sanzo said to me as I walked up on the training platform. “Ready!” I said, getting in position.

Suddenly, three granite poles grew out of the ground. One on my left, which was closest to me, one on my right, further away from me than the first pole, and one at the end on the training grounds, each of them were about 50 feet apart.

“Okay kid, the training dummies are set up, let’s see what you got!” Kotai said to me

“Kotoshi! Let’s see it!” Sanzo said to me, I glanced at him and nodded.

I activate my quirk, creating a bubble, “Okay, a shield quirk, pretty common.” Sanzo said to me,

“Ohho, You haven’t seen anything yet.” I say as I run forward, activating phase 2 of my quirk, I

run at high speed adrenaline rushing through my veins.

SMASH!

I crashed into the first pole, smashing it, Sanzo standing there completely amazed.

I then jump towards the second pole and do a sort of wall jump back flip.

Spring! CRUSH!

I stomp on the last pole, crushing it into small shards, I then race back and destroy the second pole. “Done! How was that Sanzo-” I said, glancing at Sanzo, and a small crowd was there, standing completely stunned.

“What’s wrong? What’s with the crowd?” I say completely clueless,

“Most of our regulars here aren’t able to make even a dent in the training pillars, let alone break it. So for a complete newbie like you breaking all of the training pillars with ease, It definitely attracted some attention.” Kotai explained,

“I’ve gotta admit though, that quirk of yours is crazy strong, could we spar sometime?” One of the people in the crowd asked, “Yeah, I want to spar too!” Another person said,

“Leave the kid be, he’s a newbie after all.” A woman said in the crowd, everybody turned to see who it was,

“Wait, I know that voice, that intimidation, that tone, that… that’s!!!”

Mirko, an incredibly well-known pro hero, passed through the crowd, walking with such amazing confidence, “Mommy- I mean, Rabbit Hero: Mirko?!? I mean Ms. Usagiyama, I’m one of your biggest fans!” I say fanboying out, as my brain was going at a hundred-million miles per hour. After all, I was talking to the woman of my dreams. Emphasis on dreams, do not ship us.

“I can tell, I was on vacation, when I decided to work out at Okinawa’s QATABA, I saw you, tell me, what’s your name?” Mirko asked me,

“Eheh- I mean Kotoshi Tanaka, I’m training for The UA Entrance Exam next year.” I say, getting my act together, “Kotoshi huh, rings a bell. Oh wait, you’re Ai’s kid, right?” Mirko said as I nodded.

“That’s right, he’s my kid!” My Mom yells from all the way across the room, I saw furious anger in her eyes, it was the first time I saw her as angry as this.

“Mom? Is everything alright?” I asked her, she ignored me, and walked up to Mirko.

“You…” My Mom said to Mirko, “Ah, Ai, is there anything you’d like to ask me? We are rivals after all.” Mirko said as passively as possible,

“I challenge you to a duel.”

Chapter end.