Something light, nothing too fancy…

Inviting Naomi to a picnic was an impulsive reaction from the victory high I was on. If I hadn’t just won a round of Hunter Games, I probably wouldn’t have done so. At least, not this soon. Though, I was feeling pretty good about myself, and I could tell she was, too. So I seized the opportunity and went to the kitchen to prepare a simple lunch for two.

I was no chef, but I could whip up a mean sandwich. I had become well-practiced at crafting the perfect sandwich over the years. Turkey, ham, roast chicken, you name it. It was always our go-to meal for those lazy Sundays in front of the television, back when we had time on a weekend.

I pulled out some fresh bread and cheeses, some fruits, and a jar of homemade marmalade my mother had given me the recipe for. As an afterthought, I also added a fresh garden salad and strawberry shortcakes to the menu. As well as a mason jar of lemonade with mint from Hayashi’s garden.

I could usually care less about how food was packaged, but this time, every item had carefully been tucked into a wicker basket. I found a checkered red and white blanket in the storage closet and double checked my arrangement before covering it with the blanket.

After preparing everything, butterflies started to salsa dance in my stomach. It was an odd feeling, like I had a reason to be nervous about Naomi and I sharing a meal together. I already knew that we had chemistry, so I tried swallowing the nerves away and walked over to the river.

I told her to meet me there at 12pm, but I was going a few minutes early to set up. The dojo wasn’t far from the river, and it didn’t take long to get there.

After I found our spot, I took in the scene for a second. It was awesome weather for a picnic, the sky clear, and the river just as picture perfect. The reflection of the bright sun streamed across the water, sparkling like diamonds. I crouched over and looked into the water, being able to see the fish swimming through. The last time I was here, I went fishing, and I caught a big bass for the dojo that lasted for days….

I spread the checkered blanket under a willow tree as the scent of food filled the air, mingled with the sweet fragrance of wild roses. The longer I basked in the peacefulness of the river bank, the more my nerves continued to flutter. “This is just a quick lunch with Naomi,” I muttered to myself. “There’s nothing to be jittery about….”

“So the talking to yourself is just part of the Nero experience, then?”

I whipped around, Naomi creeping up from behind me. She nearly gave me a heart attack, the ivory-haired ninja making it her mission to sneak up on me every chance she had.

“Crap, Naomi!” I gasped. “I told you to swing by at 12pm!”

“You’re a little jumpy for a monster hunter, Nero.”

“When the hell did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago,” she admitted. “I was behind that tree.”

I deadpanned her.

“So it was a premeditated jump scare, nice.”

I watched as Naomi’s face softened, a hint of a smile falling on her usually stern lips.

I smirked. “You think that’s funny, huh? You must love scaring the shit out of people.”

She snickered. “No, it’s not that.”

“Then what’s gotten you in such a good mood? Our win?”

“No, it’s not that either….”

“Then what?”

She turned around and grabbed the basket, then walked back over to me. “Let me help you set up.”

It was nice seeing Naomi like this, her usual serious and distant persona replaced with a rare warmth. Her icy eyes sparkled, showing an uncharacteristic playfulness that I found endearing. She was relaxed with me, and I had the night before the games to thank for that. Before then, she was always wound so tight, always on guard, as if the weight of the world was sitting on her shoulders.

Our lunch was pretty calm, and the quiet murmur of the river provided a soothing backdrop to our meal.

The topic came up about how I liked my job before this career. I told her that it kept me busy, even though it never really helped with the bulk of the bills. Things have always been rough when it came to money, a concept she luckily didn’t have to deal with. “I had Sophie sell all of my Pokemon cards a few years back to help pay for stuff around the house,” I said as she held an actual conversation with me that had nothing to do about hunting. “Was the saddest day of my life! But then I got into cosplaying, and wasn't really good at it until I started making the outfits on my own.”

“You craft costumes?” Naomi asked me with disbelief in her squinting eyes.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Yeah, I do. I even take orders on the side. Most of my clients go to our school. But I put that on pause, been that way for a few months, now. Even though I enjoyed the side gig, I needed something with a steady stream of income.”

“Your mechanic job?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Which is funny, because it doesn’t pay the bills. Not in the way I want it to, anyway. But, that doesn’t matter anymore.” I smiled. “Naomi, I still can’t believe we just earned 20 grand for what we did out there in the arena.”

She smirked. “And we will earn more as we climb the bracket.”

“Last night, you asked me why I was being so nice to you. Well, this is part of why. You might not have told me directly but… I could tell that you care about my family being happy.”

“Sophie and Nataly?”

“You knew about them before we even teamed up, didn’t you? Which means that you care a lot about me and my dreams. Providing for them is all I ever think about. Having that hunter license, ranking up, collecting rewards and climbing up the leaderboard. They always come first, and the fact that you knew that and have been looking out for me… I just…” I paused, realizing my chest was starting to swarm with butterflies. “I don’t take that kind of appreciation lightly, Naomi….”

She stared at me overwhelmed, before she started popping fruit in her mouth. She stuffed the piece of cantaloupe between her lips and proceeded to chew quickly. When she threw another one in her mouth before she could finish the first one, I knew that I was making her fluster up, and she didn’t know how to respond.

And frankly, neither did I….

At this point, it was obvious that she liked me and that I felt the same way about her. Despite that, she still felt like she didn’t deserve what I wanted to give her. If she didn’t think she was worthy of friends, the idea of having a boyfriend must have been terrifying to her.

I didn’t want to ruin what we had. We were still in the building phase.

But I was doing everything I could right now not to lean over there and kiss her.

Baby steps. I wouldn’t rush it. Naomi gave me space to grow into my powers, so I should give her space to grow into her confidence.

I chuckled. “You sure were hungry…” I teased. “I thought you said you weren’t the early day eater type?”

“Something about this conversation…” she murmured with a mouth filled with food. “I’m starving….”

Just as she said that, I heard something behind us. When I turned around, I saw Felix, and he was dragging something at his feet. I got up and took a closer look, realizing that it was a kid no older than 14 years old, hogtied, and bloody.

“Felix?” I called out, rushing to him. The boy had a piece of cloth wrapped around his mouth as he panted heavily, glaring at me. With his hands tied behind his back and his ankles roped together like that, it was hard to imagine that Felix had snagged an actual monster, and not a human.

“I got him,” Felix grunted excitedly. “He tried to run, but I caught him!”

“Caught what, exactly?” I asked skeptically.

“The flesh eater. The one who was stalking our camp! Hayashi and I couldn’t find him last night, but here he is!”

Naomi walked over to the boy, knelt down in front of him and gently removed the cloth from his mouth. As soon as she freed him, he snapped at her, bearing his sharp fangs. “Come closer, slut!” he growled. “I’m so fucking hungry!”

“Naomi, stand back,” I instructed her. And then, I looked up to Felix. “Felix, this isn’t a typical shadow walker.”

“What? What are you saying? This thing is definitely a monster.” Felix looked down at him, a cruel smile spreading across his face. “He was looking for some lunch,” he said. “but he was sloppy.” Felix tugged the rope around the boy’s neck, the boy wincing in pain.

“We should tell Hayashi about this, and—”

“What are you talking about, Nero? We kill the shadow walker right here and now!” Felix pulled out his hand and stretched his palm flat, ready to decapitate the kid until I stopped him.

“Felix, wait!” I shouted. “We aren’t going to kill him!”

Felix glared at me. “I thought we talked about this, Nero…. Grow a backbone and learn to take care of business!”

“You’re not considering the fact that this isn’t one of our regulars. Clearly, he’s lost blood. Lots of it. And yet, he hasn’t transformed. Why aren’t we asking ourselves why? He’s still in his shifter form.”

“And what does that matter? If we don’t kill him now, he could transform and cause us grief. Why give this sleaze an opportunity to do that?”

“He wouldn’t have allowed you to tie him up if he could transform,” Naomi said. “What if this isn’t even a flesh eater?”

Felix looked at Naomi and I disappointedly. “You two are serious, aren’t you? Since when did we start questioning the authenticity of monsters?!”

“Since we learned about the alternate version of Compound 7,” I reminded him. “This could be a by-product of that serum. All of us know about the Katsuro Project. So while you’re eager to off this guy, we need to take the proper steps and report him.”

“I don’t understand how you passed anything with that mentality,” Felix mumbled under his breath. That insult was directed to me, but it didn’t matter. Felix wasn’t thinking rationally. After his loss, he wanted someone to pay for it, and I couldn’t let him lash out on someone who might help us solve the Compound 7 case. Keiko was still out there. It didn’t matter how many of Katsuro’s warehouses we’d shut down. As long as she was alive, that serum was still a problem.

The grip on the rope linking Felix’s fist to the monster’s neck grew tighter. Naomi took a step closer, trying to talk some sense into him. “We have two options—report him, or kill him. If we kill him, we could be making a huge mistake. Like Nero said, he could be linked to Compound 7, but we’ll never know unless we give Hunter Corp an opportunity to study and interrogate him.”

“Study him? Like they studied all of the other demons, right?”

My chest went tight as he mentioned demons.

“Why is it so important that we kill him right now?” Naomi asked.

“Because we are hunters! Unless you’ve forgotten what we’re doing here, we kill monsters!” Felix barked at her.

“Hey, Felix, calm down,” I said seriously. Dude looked like he was two seconds from blowing up.

“Fine. Suit yourself. If you can’t stomach the sight of me getting rid of these insects, then the both of you can turn around and mind your own,” he said, before Naomi locked his arm in place with her meta.

“No,” she said strongly, and without warning, Felix retaliated.

With his other hand, he flung her across the field, Felix catching the both of us off guard.

Without thinking, I struck back. I rammed my arm against his throat and pinned him against a tree, Felix holding his breath and squirming against my grip. “What the hell is your problem?!” I growled at him. “You’ve fucking lost it! Attacking one of your own, for what?!”

He winced.

“If you need something to punch, do it out there! Don’t take it out on us!”

He glared back at me.

“Quit being an asshole!” I said, then finally let him go, but when I turned my head down, I noticed that Felix still had the rope in his hand.

I pivoted around and saw that he’d already killed him, the kid’s head oozing at the heel of my foot.