Chapter 38: Night Patrol
Author: Geraint
(MC's POV)
While hanging Rumi's laundry on the veranda, I noticed that Ryukyu and Rumi were in their hero costumes, silently staring at me from behind.
...
"Mirko... I understand that you two are in a romantic relationship, but is it really okay to let him even wash your underwear?" Ryukyu looked puzzled.
In my hand were Rumi's panties, which I hung with a clip together with her paired brassiere.
Rumi just grinned and shrugged her shoulders.
"It's fine. It's just a piece of cloth."
(Yeah, Rumi's right. It's nothing but a little piece of cloth, and I feel nothing.)
"Still... aren't you embarrassed letting a guy touch your underwear?"
"Well, if it were another guy, I'd get really angry and might kick his ass... but if it's Ichika we're talking about, it's fine."
"Is it because he's your boyfriend?"
"Nope. Ichika grew up in an orphanage. Since most of the time the nannies there were really busy taking care of the other children, Ichika volunteered to do all the chores—cooking, laundry, cleaning, dishwashing, and even changing babies' diapers. When it comes to household chores, Ichika is probably the best in the orphanage. Even the caretaker admits it herself."
"That's..."
"Look at my laundry. They all look clean and good as new. Washed carefully and gently. You can ask him to wash your laundry too, Ryukyu. Hahaha!"
"No, thank you... I can do my own laundry," Ryukyu refused.
After I finished hanging Rumi's laundry,
"Are you two going somewhere?" I turned around and asked curiously.
"There will be a live performance tonight. Mirko and I are in charge of patrolling around the concert hall," Ryukyu explained.
"I see... Can I go with you guys?"
Rumi was about to say something,
"Ichika, you shouldn't—"
"It's fine."
Ryukyu interrupted her.
"Yay!"
"Ryukyu, is this really okay?"
"Mirko, we're short on manpower right now due to the incident the other day. A lot of pro heroes are still in the hospital recuperating. I'll take any help I can get—including him—to keep the place safe. That's the most important thing right now."
"But he's not a pro hero... He might get taken into custody again."
"So you're worried about him."
"I'm not!"
"It's okay as long as he doesn't fight directly and just reports to us any suspicious movements. I'll take full responsibility."
I smiled at Rumi.
"You heard her?"
"Ugh!"
Rumi's face turned red.
"Please take care of me, Rumi."
She got mad and pointed at me.
"Fine! Just don't steal my opponents, okay? And you're not allowed to fight! Let me be the one who kicks their asses!"
"Yeah, it's been a while since we hung out together. I'm really excited."
"Don't forget this is work, Ichika."
"Of all people to be telling me that, it would be you. Hahaha!"
"Shut up!"
Ryukyu clapped her hands once, and the two of us looked at her.
"You guys, we have to work together."
Arriving outside the huge hall at sunset, there were a lot of people entering through the entrance gate.
"This place sure is crowded."
"Well, famous musicians and bands from all over Japan will be performing today."
"We didn't come here to play, Ichika."
"I know! Those words should also be said to you. Unlike you, I'm a real kid. When I looked away from you for just a minute, you already got into a fight with some random delinquents. Who's more troublesome between the two of us?"
"Hey! Don't just bring up the past! I'm already an adult, and everything is different now!"
Rumi and I glared at each other.
Watching us, Ryukyu sighed and pointed to the right side.
"You two will patrol around here while I go to the other side."
"Oh, sure! Leave it to us!"
I gave her a thumbs-up as she left the two of us.
"Let's go, Rumi!"
"Okay..."
While walking around together, seeing a lot of couples holding each other's hands, I decided to make a move and held Rumi's hand—but she slapped it away.
"Hey! I didn't come here to flirt with you!"
"Look, Rumi. There are a lot of intimate couples around. Aren't you feeling jealous?"
"Not one bit. What I want is to fight someone strong."
"What about me?"
"You're too strong. It's not fun anymore. Just wait a little bit more, and I'll kick your ass someday."
The two of us stopped and looked carefully at our surroundings.
"To tell you the truth, I don't really consider myself strong."
"Oh, really?"
"It just happens that I haven't tasted defeat yet. I always expect that there's someone stronger than me."
"Like All Might?"
"Yeah, maybe."
It was already dark, and the night started to get chilly.
Looking at Rumi's outfit,
"What? Where are you looking at?"
She frowned when she noticed.
"Don't you feel cold in that costume?"
"I'm fine. I can easily move around with this."
As I sighed, I took off my coat.
"It can't be helped then."
I went behind her and placed my coat on her back.
"What are you doing? I don't need it!"
She shook off my coat.
"You'll catch a cold!"
"I won't!"
Looking away, I grinned.
"Well, idiots don't catch colds..."
"What did you just say?"
She became mad again.
"If you consider yourself not an idiot, then you have to wear this coat so you don't catch a cold."
"Ugh... Fine then."
She decided to wear my coat.
"Hehe..." I giggled at her reaction.
Her face turned red as she hugged herself while wearing my coat.
"Why am I acting different when I'm around you?... It's really frustrating..."
I heard her mumbling and just smiled.
"Did you say something?"
"Nothing!"
She immediately denied and turned away.
As the cold night continued, Rumi and I decided to rest on a bench together, sitting next to each other.
I saw Ryukyu walking back to us, holding some cans of coffee she bought from the vending machine.
"Thanks for the hard work! Here."
She handed me a can with a latte flavor.
"Oh, thank you."
"I saw you drinking it a lot, so maybe you like it."
"Yeah."
I opened the can and drank it.
"It's such a big disappointment that he didn't perform at this event."
"Yeah, he only releases songs but never shows up or performs live."
Behind us was a group of friends talking as they passed by.
"I heard he refused the offer to perform here tonight. Such a letdown."
"Dude, I love his songs, but I don't even know if that singer is real. No one even knows what he looks like. His songs and voice are incredible, but... I don't know. Maybe I should stop listening."
"It might just be a voice made by a computer."
"Hahaha! Maybe you're right."
I noticed Ryukyu and Rumi were listening too.
"Ryukyu, do you know who this famous or whatever singer they're talking about?"
Ryukyu looked surprised and glanced at Rumi.
"You don't know? We see his name on posters and TV every day."
"I don't know... No! More like I don't care."
Rumi sipped her coffee.
"That famous singer's name is Fujiwara Ichika," Ryukyu told her.
Rumi suddenly spat out her coffee and started coughing.
Cough!Cough!
"You mean this guy beside me?" Rumi pointed at me.
"Yeah. Looks like Falcon never told you. Most pro heroes recognize that name."
"Ichika..."
Rumi frowned at me.
"Well... how would I tell you when you didn't even contact me for almost five months?" I said, dejected.
"I'm sorry..."
On the other side of the entrance path, I saw some people holding placards as they gathered.
"Huh? What are those?"
"Don't mind them."
Ryukyu frowned and spoke while Rumi made an unpleasant expression.
"They're here again."
"Yeah, these protesters have been increasing lately as rumors spread out. This is really bad." Ryukyu sighed and rubbed her forehead.
Reading the placards:
[FALCON IS ALIVE! LET HIM FREE!][HE SAVES PEOPLE FOR FREE!][PRO HEROES SUCK!][WITHOUT FALCON, CRIME RATE GOES UP.][CAPTAIN FALCON IS THE REAL HERO, NOT PRO HEROES!][Please free Falcon!][WE NEED FALCON!][ALL MIGHT IS NOT ENOUGH!]
Before I noticed, somebody threw a can toward us, and it was about to hit Rumi in the head.
I immediately moved and caught it with my left hand, which surprised Rumi and Ryukyu.
"So fast!"
The teenager who threw the can looked shocked.
"Why did you do that, kid?" I asked, furious.
He looked frightened but willed himself and shouted,
"You guys are the pro heroes who captured Captain Falcon, right?! You have to free him! I know he's still alive!"
I frowned.
"Let me tell you the truth, kid. Captain Falcon is really dead! Just go home instead of wasting your youth here."
"No, he is still alive!"
"What a persistent kid," I muttered.
"You guys took him away!"
"Yeah, what if we did? You can't do anything about it anyway. Hahaha!" I laughed evilly.
"You pro heroes really suck!" the boy cried and ran away.
Ryukyu and Rumi stared at me with squinted eyes.
"What?" I shrugged.
(To be continued.)
(A/N: I'll fix my mistakes later.)