Chapter 41: Golden Snow in the Summer Sky
The morning air atop the Chill Vibes Agency building was crisp, carrying the scent of the ocean and the distant noise of the waking tourist town. It was a flat concrete roof, cluttered with ventilation ducts and rusting satellite dishes.
Aokiji stood on the very edge of the parapet, his toes hanging over the void. The wind whipped his white waistcoat and the collar of his indigo shirt. He looked down at the streets below with the casual disinterest of a gargoyle.
"Kuzan-kun! Please, I beg of you, step back!"
Tadashi—already in his full banana regalia despite it being 11:00 AM—was hovering nervously near the stairwell door. He clutched his helmet as if afraid the wind might steal it.
"That railing is rusted! It's not up to code! If the U.A. Champion falls to his death from my roof, I'll be sued into the Stone Age!"
Aokiji didn't turn around. He just watched the flow of traffic below. "Relax. I can't fall. I'd just freeze the air before I hit the ground."
He turned slowly, looking at the yellow-clad hero.
"So, Tadashi-san. About your Quirk."
Tadashi straightened up, trying to look dignified. "Yes?"
"You said you shoot cream," Aokiji said, his eyes scanning the banana suit. "Show me."
"Here? Now?" Tadashi looked around. "Well, alright."
He struck a pose, extending his palms forward like Iron Man. "Cream Shot!"
Splat.
A thick, white stream of liquid erupted from his palms, splashing onto the concrete roof. It wasn't impressive. It looked like... well, like heavy whipping cream spilled on the floor.
Aokiji walked over and dipped a finger into the puddle. He tasted it.
He frowned. "It's bland. No sugar?"
"It is 100% pure, organic dairy cream," Tadashi explained, his voice muffled by the helmet. "High fat content. But no, it is not sweetened. It is excellent for binding enemies or making slick surfaces, but as a projectile weapon, it leaves much to be desired."
Aokiji wiped his finger on a handkerchief. A glint of calculation appeared in his usually sleepy eyes. He looked at the sun blazing overhead. He looked at the town filled with sweating tourists.
"High fat content..." Aokiji muttered. "That means it freezes differently than water. It creates smaller crystals. Softer texture."
"Kuzan-kun?" Tadashi took a step back. "Why are you looking at me like I'm a science experiment?"
"Change of plans," Aokiji said, walking to the edge of the roof again. "We aren't doing flyers today. We're doing a live demonstration."
"Demonstration?"
"We're going for a ride."
Before Tadashi could process the sentence, Aokiji grabbed him by the back of his banana suit.
"Wait! A ride? Where? I don't have a vehicle!" Tadashi shrieked.
"I am the vehicle," Aokiji deadpanned.
"Ice Time."
The air around Aokiji's boots snapped. Moisture condensed instantly, flashing into solid blue ice. But it didn't anchor him to the roof. Instead, a curved ramp of ice shot out from beneath his feet, extending over the edge of the building and curving wildly into the sky like a roller coaster track manifesting in real-time.
"Hold on," Aokiji said.
"WAIT! NO! I HAVE A FEAR OF HEI—"
Aokiji jumped.
They plummeted.
The wind roared in their ears. Tadashi screamed, a sound of pure terror that modulated as his banana suit flapped violently in the slipstream. They hit the ice ramp with a heavy thud, and then—friction vanished.
They were gliding.
Aokiji surfed on the soles of his shoes, his left hand gripping the screaming Banana Hero, his right hand extended forward. From his fingertips, a continuous highway of ice generated milliseconds before they touched it, creating a twisting, turning path high above the streets of Kamakura.
"STOP SCREAMING!" Aokiji yelled over the wind, his voice calm but firm. "And start shooting!"
"SHOOT WHAT?!" Tadashi wailed, his legs flailing in the air.
"The cream! Aim for the sky! Maximum output!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
"Just do it!"
Terrified into obedience, Tadashi squeezed his eyes shut and thrust his hands upward.
"MAXIMUM CREAM SHOT!"
Two massive geysers of white liquid erupted from his hands, shooting straight up into the blue sky. Under normal circumstances, this would just result in a messy rain of milk.
But Aokiji was there.
As they surfed through the air, sliding past hotel balconies and over busy intersections, Aokiji released a subtle, pervasive mist of sub-zero energy from his entire body. He didn't freeze the cream into blocks of ice. He flashed-chilled the mist.
The physics of the high-fat cream reacted instantly with the cold. The liquid atomized, crystallized, and transformed.
It didn't fall as rain. It didn't fall as hail.
It fell as snow.
But not just any snow. Because of the fat content and the sunlight hitting the crystals at just the right angle, the flakes shimmered with a pearlescent, golden hue.
Down below, the bustling tourist district came to a standstill.
A vlog streamer, a young woman with pink hair holding a selfie stick, froze mid-sentence. "Chat, are you seeing this? It's... it's snowing? In July?"
She pointed the camera up.
High above, a streak of azure blue was carving a path through the sky. Trailing behind it was a man in a banana suit spraying fountains of white, which turned into a glittering curtain of golden dust.
The "snow" drifted down, touching the hot pavement, the confused faces of tourists, and the outstretched hands of children.
A child licked a flake that landed on his hand. His eyes went wide.
"It tastes like... milk!"
The realization rippled through the crowd. It wasn't cold, biting winter snow. It was soft, creamy, edible snow. A culinary miracle raining from the heavens.
"Look!" someone shouted. "That ice trail! That's the U.A. student!"
"The Monster of Class 1-A!"
"And the Banana Guy! Is he doing this too?"
Aokiji steered their ice-coaster into a sharp banking turn over the central plaza.
"Now for the branding," Aokiji muttered.
He released Tadashi for a split second (ignoring the hero's panicked squeak) and swept his arm across the horizon.
"Ice Saber: Partisan."
He didn't make spears. He formed massive, intricate letters made of thin, fragile ice. They hung suspended in the air for a heartbeat, spelling out:
CHILL VIBES.
Then, Aokiji snapped his fingers.
Cr-crack.
The letters didn't melt. They shattered. They exploded into millions of tiny, diamond-dust sparkles that rained down alongside the creamy snow, creating a literal spotlight on the little alleyway where the agency was located.
"Alright," Aokiji said, grabbing Tadashi again as they began their descent. "That should do it."
They spiraled down, the ice ramp melting away into mist behind them as soon as they passed, leaving no debris, only the memory of the spectacle.
They landed in the back alley behind the shop with a heavy thud.
Tadashi collapsed onto his hands and knees, kissing the dirty pavement. "Solid ground! Sweet, beautiful, unmoving ground!"
Aokiji dusted off his suit. He wasn't even out of breath. "Stop kissing the floor. We have customers."
"Customers?" Tadashi looked up, adjusting his crooked helmet.
They walked around to the front of the shop.
Tadashi's jaw dropped.
The line stretched down the block. Dozens—no, hundreds—of people were crowding the narrow street. Tourists, students, families, vloggers. They were all buzzing with excitement, holding phones, pointing at the sky where the golden snow was still gently drifting down.
"Where is it?!"
"The Banana Hero!"
"I want the ice cream that falls from the sky!"
"Is Aokiji Kuzan here?!"
Tadashi started to hyperventilate. "Oh my god. Oh my god. I don't have enough cones. I don't have enough change. How do I handle this? I'm not ready for fame!"
He turned to grab Aokiji. "Kuzan-kun! You have to help me! Crowd control! Autographs! Ice production!"
He patted the trembling Banana Hero on the shoulder.
"My job was the marketing," Aokiji said, a lazy grin touching his lips. "Operations is your department."
"What?! But—"
Aokiji had already sidestepped him. He was standing by the door, a look of profound boredom on his face.
"Hey everyone!" Aokiji suddenly shouted, pointing at Tadashi. "The genius behind the Golden Snow is right here! He says he's ready to serve the best ice cream in Japan!"
The crowd roared and surged forward like a tidal wave.
"WAIT! KUZAN-KUN!" Tadashi screamed as he was engulfed by a sea of customers demanding soft-serve. "YOU TRAITOR!!!"
Aokiji slipped through the sliding door like a phantom. He locked the "Staff Only" door behind him, muffling the chaos outside.
He walked slowly up the stairs, the wood creaking softly under his boots. He entered the small, tatami-matted guest room. It was quiet here. Cool.
He loosened his tie.
With a heavy, satisfied groan, he collapsed onto the futon.
He pulled out his phone. He opened the local news feed. The top trending hashtag of the city was already #GoldenSnowBanana.
A video played: A shaky shot of him and Tadashi surfing the sky, creating a winter wonderland in the summer heat. It looked... majestic. Ridiculous, but majestic.
Aokiji smirked.
"Mission accomplished," he whispered to the empty ceiling.
He swiped the screen off, plunged the room into darkness, and closed his eyes.
"Now... More time to chill."
Outside, the cash register began to ring, a frantic, rhythmic melody of success that lulled the Ice Prince into a well-deserved nap.
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