It's a Wednesday morning, the third day of internships.
I'm wearing my casual clothes to train, if I used my costume, it would definitely get shredded like the other one.
'I'll have to buy new clothes later…'
I didn't have time to dwell on it for long.
A leg passed right over me after I ducked at the last second.
Mirko tried to use the momentum from her missed attack, spinning on her axis, and used the same leg from the previous kick to strike downward, trying to hit me.
I rolled backward, but instead of landing on my feet, I threw myself into the air and released my Rinkaku, immediately firing it to try to impale Mirko on the ground.
She jumped out of the way, kicking one of my tentacles aside, and immediately rushed back at me, attempting another side kick.
I blocked the attack by combining my four tentacles into one. I slid slightly to the side from the force of the impact, but regained my balance, opened my guard, and tried to land a punch on Mirko.
She dodged the punch and began a counterattack, but to her surprise, I mimicked her previous move, spinning on my own axis and striking her cleanly in the ribs with my Kagune.
Mirko was sent flying into a tree, but managed to steady herself by planting her legs against the trunk.
Then she pushed off and launched herself back, pulling her leg back and kicking with force.
The kick barely missed, the tip of her "boot" passing centimeters from my chin as she flew over me.
I stepped back a bit, maintaining a low stance, with my Kagune hovering menacingly above me.
Mirko circled me, jumping from tree to tree, building momentum.
I followed her with my eyes before also starting to leap between the trees, moving in the opposite direction.
We met halfway, she came with her leg, and I with my Rinkaku combined into one. The attacks collided, creating a shockwave that lifted dust and scattered it outward.
We were thrown in opposite directions, destroying the trees in our paths.
I got up on a "couch" of broken trees, brushing the dirt off my clothes and taking a quick look at their condition, and apparently, no holes. Very lucky.
Nodding to myself, I moved toward Mirko.
She appeared walking casually, as if we hadn't just been fighting.
"Good job, brat!"
"To think that on the first day I was completely beating you down, look at you now!"
"HAHAHA, I'm a great teacher!"
I let out a resigned sigh. I'd already gotten used to her after these days of training.
"Oh right, we won't go too late today, I'm taking you to beat up some villains."
"Cool." I gave a thumbs up.
─── ◆ ───
Later in the afternoon, in the cabin's living room.
I was finishing a blood pack while Mirko finished putting on her costume and getting some things ready.
"Ready! Let's go," Mirko said, appearing already dressed in a clean outfit.
I was also wearing my own costume, the one that hadn't been destroyed, of course.
I placed the empty pack into the box and closed it.
Mirko didn't have any particular reaction the first time she saw me drinking blood, she didn't care at all, almost as if I were drinking some random juice, which I really appreciated.
We left the cabin, and before closing the door, we said goodbye to Daisy, who waved cheerfully with her paw.
"Is it okay to leave her alone?" I asked as she closed the door.
"Daisy's smart, she can take care of herself."
"She even has a garden, and she takes care of it herself."
"Got it."
We walked toward the back of the cabin, where I could see the mentioned garden, very beautiful and well taken care of, with everything from carrots to arugula and other vegetables planted.
Further ahead, there was a fairly large shed. When Mirko opened the door, it revealed itself to be a garage.
I couldn't help but stare in awe at what was inside, which earned an amused snort from Mirko.
"Nice to see you reacting to something without that stone face of yours all the time."
"Holy shit…"
I let it slip, but seeing five absurd motorcycles parked in a shed in the middle of nowhere was definitely not something I expected.
A matte black Harley-Davidson Sportster S;
A white and red Indian FTR 1200;
A fully white Kawasaki Ninja H2;
A black Ducati Panigale V4 S;
And a Triumph Bonneville Bobber Black 1200.
All the bikes had at least one modification, ranging from extra seats to smaller adjustments.
"Tinkering with bikes is what I do in my free time. Pretty awesome, right?"
"Very…"
The garage itself was filled with tools on the walls, but Mirko told me to save my questions for when we were on the road.
Unfortunately, she didn't let me pick a bike for myself, and I had to ride as a passenger on the Sportster S.
It would've been a bit difficult to talk because of the helmets and the wind, but the helmets had intercoms, so it was easy to communicate.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Tokyo, that's where things get messy more often."
"But we won't make it there in time, so we'll stop in Hosu first."
"We should get there at night."
"So we're going to patrol in Hosu too?"
"Depends. Hosu only has thugs and occasional robberies."
"The most notable thing was some sightings of the Hero Killer, and I doubt that guy is still in the city."
'Hm, wasn't that the guy who severely injured Iida's brother?' I found out a few days after the festival.
'Poor guy. In class he was pretending to be fine, but he was clearly shaken.' Maybe I should try talking to him when we get back from the internships.
"Then again, it might be worth trying to hunt that bastard." She tilted her head to the side, thinking.
"..."
Mirko spoke again after reflecting for a while.
"But don't get your hopes up."
"Nothing big usually happens there," she finished, speaking with conviction.
─── ◆ ───
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