4 days later, 7:15 AM, Akizo Tonomiya. As my alarm is going off, I slowly make my way to the next room, there Suma and Iroha were already at the table eating breakfast. Iroha had officially moved in as a roommate since she cancelled her rent weeks ago. She said that "close communication will make reaching the top of the partnered ranger leaderboard each month, especially since we're up against some of the toughest teams like the Bronze Bros or the Lilie Family". I have finally recovered from my leg injuries and my arm is usable in a fight again. It's not perfect but I am finally able to patrol again. "Toma Toma, come join us, school is starting in 10 minutes, can't go hungry while in class can ya" "Yeah, I'm coming". The school is a big 4 story building, it resembles a stereotypical Japanese school but with a bunch more windows. The front doors are about 8 feet tall and the first floor itself is 10 feet tall. The rest of the floors are 8 feet tall similarly to most houses and buildings. *Speaker* "Akizo Tonomiya, please head down to the office for a report". "Uuggh, I hate those things, I usually skip them as they literally do nothing for anybody anymore. "Hey, Toma, where do you think you're going?" "Uh, I'm going to the roof... Hey!" Iroha forcefully grabbed my hand and started pulling me to the report room, "You won't be escaping on my watch Toma!". There we stood, Mr. Itchigo, he chuckled to himself, "Thought I'd never see the day, you being bossed around by a girl?, not even the strictest of teachers could get you to follow them yet here you are". "Well, uh," I couldn't find an excuse so I just remained quiet. "Well Inisha, don't let go of him". She blushed slightly. "I wasn't planning to sir". "Hehe, well see you two later" he said as we walked out the door. "Soo, what was that about?" "What do you mean?" she ever so innocently said. "Nevermind".
5:32 PM, Akizo Tonamiya. Suma was sitting at the couch doodling when we got back, "Welcome home you two" she said in a babyish tone. "Did you do another report? "Yes" *Faster* "Did you do well at school?" "Yes" *Faster* "Did you fight another beast?" "Yes" *Faster* "Did you pass your test?" "Yes" *Really fast* "Are you dating?" "Yes... Wait" "I KNEW IT" Suma screamed. *Angry and flustered* "You made me say that, you little prick!!". Suma ran away from me as fast as she could, "We are NOT dating, argh, kids these days". *Riiing* a rift had opened up at Osaka Bay, this one was a serpent. "Iroha, get ready, we'll be using a new method of transportation". Crystal Transport, this system is painful to those who use it but it's better than running. This is one way short distance teleportation tech, it travels roughly 1 kilometer every crystal. These can only be used stationary, so no carrying any. We reached the site in 30 seconds, the short lived pain quickly wore off. "Toma, I'll get its attention while dodging through these crates, that should buy you time for finding a good weapon" She pulled out her sword and dashed for the beast, her steps silenced by the waves under the huge doc. My turn, I dashed in the opposite direction, "there" a fishing rod was laying near the edge *Crash* The beast had encountered Iroha. Better hurry, I grabbed the rod and tossed it to a smaller crate, "Here Iroha!!" she lightened the crate and buffed the rod. I tossed the crate at the giant beast's head, it smacked it away with ease but gave me time to reach the other side. Iroha was preparing a special skill, self enhancement (15%), that was all she could do for now. "Do you think that'll be enough?". "No, but I can try something else if that fails". Here we go, I tossed the rod around the beats neck and launched myself into its back, the thing flailed to try and get me off but my rod's grip was secured. Iroha appeared sword in hand and slashed the beast's eyes, the beast roared and unhooked my rod, I flew off landing hard on the ground, this one won't go down without a tough fight, it started shaking and releasing a vile smog. "It's Poison!!" I shouted over the rumbling, "We got to end this fast". "No problem, I got this," Iroha said, blinded by the light that started to shoot out of her fist, "Hey, don't do that, you'll hurt yourself". "Too late, I'm already at 30%, the burning was evident, she had no control over the enhancement. "Over here, I'll redirect the power to the beast, once it leaves your hand, try and get it to 100%" "Grh, I can't hold it anymore" (50%). "Now, GO" She jumped into the open, I concentrated my energy and punched her hand, the ability was disconnected from her hand and redirected at the beast (100%). The energy exploded in its face and the thing turned to ashes. "Arhg" her hand had been horribly burnt, "Lets go, I can carry you to the hall, they'll treat it. Can you still enhance my boots?" "yeah, I think I can". With my speed and enhanced boots, I was able to make it in 10 minutes, her hand was radiating a deathly heat. "We need a doctor, the wound is an ability burn". "Sure thing sir". She was rushed to a room and got bandaged pretty fast. "The burn will be gone in a day or two, don't let her use it in that time, keep it away from anything cold and put no pressure near it. She'll also need to stay here overnight". "Alright, that should work, I'll stand by then". The doctor left. *Shuffle* Iroha got out of the bed and sat next to me, "What a save" she leaned her head against my shoulder and fell asleep in seconds. "I-" *sleep*.
Bonus: After the cold walk devised by Suma a week ago. After I finished my shower, I made sure to check if Iroha had seen anything from Suma, "Anything?", "No, not yet". Sigh, this girl, I swear I will give her an earful once she returns. Suddenly the apartment turns ice cold, "W-what!!" Not here too *sulk*. "Toma, what are we going to do?", I'll be hiding in my bed. "Then I'll join you, I can't just freeze to death out here, plus body warmth will greatly increase our odds of survival". "What?? You would go that far just to not freeze to dea- wait that actually makes sense" to my dismay we had to share the bed for the night, it was still cold but at least we were not freezing anymore. This is just for heat, no need to overthink anything. *Softly* "Goodnight Toma". I didn't respond as I had pretty much fallen asleep.