Volume One [Mirai/Kenichi] [Closed]

Mirai walked toward the line of food stalls with her bag held in front of her and her heels clicking on the concrete. A soft Mona-Lisa smile graced her lips all the way there. As they arrived, she took a look at the different variety of foods they offered. Some of it was traditional Japanese cuisine, but she could have sworn one stall was just American. She chose to avoid the hamburgers and hot dogs and chose three Yakitori and a cold bottle of peach tea. When she went to pay for her food, Kenichi stopped her and insisted that he would take care of it.

"Thank you," Mirai said with a sweet smile. Once he finished getting his food, she looked around. They were surrounded by different shops, but nothing opened up into a park. "I wonder where we should go... I don't see a library, and this place is busy, so I doubt the cafes would be loud. Not really reading friendly... Any ideas?"

"No problem! It's the least I can do for a friend, after all"

Kenichi fancied himself as something of a kind spirit, and since he was the one who mentioned food in the first place, it therefore followed that he ought to pay for Mirai's meal as well. That was the least he could do for a woman who proved to be such welcoming company. When they browsed through the various food vendors, Kenichi stifled the urge to try one of each, realizing that he ultimately had no idea what a table was going to look like for the two of them until they find one. As such, he settled on a couple of skewers of yakitori, a box of tonkatsu, and a bowl of rice. After buying enough that would fill his stomach along with a bottle of soda, he would turn to Mirai as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Good point. Hm... maybe we can find a bench somewhere and sit down away from everyone else? If you prefer a quieter reading, of course. I usually like to dork out and read the words aloud," he humored, sticking his tongue out like a dork.

Mirai was curious about Kenichi's age. He seemed optimistic and energetic, and his kindness shined through his smile like the morning sun through an open window. She agreed to taking a quick walk. She was patient, and if they found somewhere comfortable to eat and read, all the better. And as luck would have it, the two turned a corner up the street and the city opened up into a park, or at least a small grassy area with trees, tables, and benches. Yeah, probably a park. Perfect timing.

"Well, there you have it. We can eat there," Mirai said.

When they made it to the park, the outskirts of it were filled with children and families. Most benches and tables were taken up. It was a beautiful day, so the crowds were not a surprise. Deeper in, along a side walk, there was a nice tree and a picnic table beside it. Excluding a candy wrapper that Mirai swept into an attached trashcan, it was clean too. Mirai sat her books down and took a seat. Before she sparked more conversation, Mirai took to eating some first.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Mirai said, cheeks pale pink. "I was secretly starving. I had been so excited to get to the bookstore that I forgot to eat and then spent too much time browsing, so thank you. I really needed something on my stomach."

As luck would have it, Mirai found an area that was more than ideal for reading manga and enjoying a meal. Grinning from ear to ear as he nodded in her direction, Kenichi followed the woman along the scenic route. As far as he was concerned, any location would have suited him fine, but he also wanted Mirai to feel comfortable enough in this sort of setting, too. Once they made it to the outskirts, Kenichi continued following the woman until they reached a picnic table. After getting properly set up, Kenichi sat down. Opening the boxes to each of his meal, he smiled up at the woman with a bright grin. He was actually thrilled to know he had helped in one way, even if he was always a man who was commonly hungry himself. His appetite was something akin to Son Goku, really, but he wasn't going to be super weebish and say something like that. The rising dragon had to look cool, after all, you know?

"Eh? Really? I suppose that makes sense. I'm usually always pretty hungry since I train so much, but I wanted to spend my money on manga first. I'm certainly glad I could help. Were you able to buy everything you wanted?"

The first bit of food really sated her stomach. Good food, a new friend, and some manga to read... This was a better day than she expected it to be.

Mirai looked to her bag as she finished chewing some of her food. She pulled out the books she bought and gave a so-so gesture with her head by leaning it left and right. "Well, I did want to pick up a few things, but I was hoping for a few more new things than I got. Most of this, I've already been introduced to."

"That's okay though," Mirai smiled and took another bite. "Do you have a favorite?"

Kenichi settled into enjoying his meal as he listened to his newfound friend. Companionship was always something he welcomed a great deal, a thing he would rarely reject unless he was suffering from some otherworldly paradigm shift in his personality. An extreme example? Sure. Fitting? Absolutely. Mixing his Tonkatsu together with his rice, he took a mouthful as he studied the woman's words. Chewing mouthful, and then swallowing, Kenichi grinned as he answered her promptly.

"Fist of The North Star. I'm a martial artist who studies several disciplines, and way this manga approaches it is so overtop that I kind of find it endearing, you know?"

It wasn't long before Mirai was done with her food. She didn't talk without mouth full, but she ate quickly and pushed the trash into the can next to the table.

"A martial artist, huh?" she said, wiping her hands on a napkin. "I'm not too bad at hand-to-hand combat myself." She didn't know how much of a downplay that would be to Kenichi. For all she knew, he was a true master and could give her a run for her money, or he was just a newbie. She went to speak more when something blew up behind her. She blinked, and turned back to seeing smoke rising in the air.

"Damn hollow..." Mirai sighed and started standing up. "I was hoping it wouldn't star any trouble, or someone else would take care of it... It's supposed to be my day off, but duty calls... I have to take care of this. Would you mind watching my stuff?"

"Is that so? Careful now, I might just find myself tempted to challenge you to a spar!"

Retorting jovially, a hearty chuckle booming in his voice, Kenichi would continue to enjoy his meal. It was always nice to meet a fellow martial artist, and if they were a woman? Even better. Before he found himself crossing paths with Arianda, his ideal woman had always fell into the categories of strong and capable, an untamed woman with a fiery spirit, as it were. Someone as martially accomplished as she was beautiful. Fate seemed to have other things in mind, factors that were heavily unforeseen, no question, but Kenichi would be a fool to voice a single complaint.

Of course, their peace was compromised by the smell of smoke rising in the air. Turning his gaze toward the cloud of smoke, Kenichi's eyebrow rose in curiosity. A Hollow? Rising up from his chair, he'd collect all of their stuff within a duffle bag, slinging it over his shoulders. And they were just enjoying a meal, too! Naturally, he wasn't going to let her fight on her lonesome. He'd at least follow her to make sure it went well.

"I'm coming with you. Don't worry. I've got all our stuff in a bag. Food and Manga, respectively."

The brief time before the hollow attack let Mirai look down at her current outfit. She could fight in this, though she'd prefer to remove the heels. She could fight in them fine, but why risk extra injury during a normal spar? She may just take him up on that offer. The explosion caught their attention though...

Kenichi rapidly collected their stuff in the bag. Luckily, she had finished eating and her manga was protected. She had a mini-fright when she realized food was chaotically packed away with her things, but realized it was mostly protected.

"Alright, just be careful," Mirai said letting out a relieved breath before making her first step, a step that let her vanish and appear much closer to the hollow.

It was a massive quadruped, shaped like a wolf, but had a hard armor that started at its mask and went all the way down its tail. It was heavy, as with each step the ground near it shook. It was strong enough to knock over anything it came in contact with, breaking through the sides of buildings as well. The scales acted like an armor, protecting everything but the undercarriage, leaving its belly a clear weak spot. Though its size was impressive, the problem came with its reiatsu. It was surprisingly strong for a mere hollow, somewhere around Spirit Class 6.

Following Mirai along the route leading to the hollow's location, Kenichi would vanish, darting about through the air in a fluid stride similar to Flash Step as his gaze finally settled on the large quadrupedal wolflike beast stirring up pandemonium in the city. From spiritual pressure alone, he discerned that felling the hollow would be no simple feat, and he slowly set the duffle bag down in an ideal spot where no harm would come to it whatsoever. Exhaling softly, he turned to Mirai as he cracked his knuckles, shifting his feet in a flow wholly exemplifying his desire to contend with the large hollow first.

"It seems that I made the right choice in coming along with you, after all, eh? Believe it or not, I've fought with hollows like this before. Ironically, most of those cases have been alongside a partner. If you don't mind, I'll take the lead and strike first. Something this big has to have a weak spot, so I'll keep it distracted and wear it down with my fists."

Stepping ahead of her, an aura of cobalt blue would emanate around his body, shrouding his form within several layers of electrified spiritrons. Entering the lightning stage, Shouryuu Ken, Kenichi vanished from his current position in front of her, reappearing above the head of the wolf, hurtling toward it like a shooting star of thunderous azure, slamming his fist against its crown.