Chapter 64: Adolescence - 18
"So you’re heading over to Naruhata tomorrow?"
Toru asked, taking a bite of her bento, her turquoise hair tied back into a ponytail. Since she was no longer unwillingly invisible, her opinion on hair care had gone a complete 180.
"Mhm. I need to buy some stuff over there."
Isshun nodded absently, staring up at the rooftop fence as he considered his plans.
’Though maybe I should probably look around other stores after my fuel cell purchase goes through.’
He couldn’t be bothered to go again so might as well try to fit as much as he could into that single trip.
It was simply too much work (it really isn’t).
"Naruhata... I remember heading over there with some friends to try and get a picture of the Naruhata Vigilantes."
Toru mentioned offhandedly.
The Naruhata Vigilantes were pretty popular online, and Naruhata was close enough to their neighborhood for a quick sightseeing trip by subway so it wasn’t a surprise that she had already tried looking for them.
It was also pretty unusual for a group known online as ’Vigilantes’ not to have been arrested by the Police Force yet.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get pictures of them.
Mainly because it seemed like they weren’t doing much vigilante activity anymore.
Speaking of the Naruhata Vigilantes, though...
"But isn’t Pop☆Step officially wanted by the Police Force for terrorism across Naruhata?"
Toru looked at Isshun, worried.
"Aren’t you worried? What if she comes back and does it again? She’s still at large, isn’t she?"
"Why would I be worried? We have these so-called heroes trying to catch her, no?"
Isshun merely shrugged. What was the point of worrying about a small-time terrorist who could control explosives?
Not even including his own safety, the number of casualties actually caused by Pop☆Step was zero. It was primarily mass building damage that led to a subsequent villain designation despite her being a minor.
In his time as a friendly neighborhood phenomenon, he had never encountered anyone he considered a ’large threat to society’.
Even Pop☆Step, in the eyes of Isshun, was merely a more showy law-breaker.
At most, it was a mugging or a bank robbery using inherently violent Quirks.
And Quirks, for the most part, used up stamina, which Isshun would graciously take for himself as payment.
One might ask: But that Pop☆Step in Naruhata seemed to use telekinetic explosions?
What if she didn’t need energy to utilize her explosions?
He wasn’t close enough to analyze it, and the news footage wasn’t zoomed in enough to tell what caused the explosions, but it seemed to activate through her mind.
Then the approach would have to be different. Simple as that. Isshun’s known repertoire might only be teleporting the energy out of villains and handcuffing them, but his primary feature wasn’t just his teleportation.
It was his supercomputer-like brain.
Then again, what were the chances that on the day he decided to go to Naruhata, shit would get out of hand?
Isshun popped a piece of candy into his mouth, glancing at Toru. "I’ll probably be heading there right after school ends tomorrow."
"Unfortunately for you, you’ll have to walk home all by your lonesome."
"Hah?!" Toru interjected, a wave of annoyance flooding her. After she’d just spent all that time worrying about him. "What’s that supposed to mean! Also, I always walk home by myself anyway!"
"Haha..." Isshun chuckled, letting out a small breath of amusement.
"..." Toru could only glare at Isshun, with no way to fire back. Her teal green eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Let’s see what happens."
"See what?" Isshun said, with a hint of a gloating tone. "What happened to being your lifelong benefactor?"
"I never called you that!"
Ding!
A notification from his phone rang.
"Hold up," Isshun said, checking his phone. If there was a benefit to living in a world centuries into the future, it was the laxness of electronic use in schools.
Opening LINE, he saw the text.
[Xx_CopyKing_xX: getting on after school? new patch out]
It was a friend.
[vani118: which game?]
[Xx_CopyKing_xX: palorant]
[vani118: character?]
[Xx_CopyKing_xX: ostra nerf]
[vani118: alr? nerfed twice in back to back patches.]
If there was one thing that had changed over time, it was that Isshun’s friend circle had increased by one.
Though it was an online friend instead of a physical one, Isshun didn’t really mind.
Despite training Toru and Nejire, Isshun still had plenty of free time.
Their sessions rarely lasted more than three or four hours, and Nejire’s costume project had stalled while they waited for the necessary materials.
They both had their own lives, too. While Toru and Nejire both played some video games, they were both relaxed game enthusiasts.
Like Minecraft 3 or Plus Ultra Mario Party 2290 Jamboree.
Those two names were enough to give Isshun whiplash when he first saw them, though they were both enjoyable. He preferred action games or shooters, with the occasional RPG.
Which is where Xx_CopyKing_xX came in.
Games were infinitely more enjoyable when played with someone else, and Isshun was a believer in this line.
He had attempted to play shooters with the two girls, before giving up pretty quickly.
Watching Isshun text someone else while ignoring her, Toru felt even more annoyed.
"Is it that CopyKing guy again? You know, Shishou, my parents tell me that you shouldn’t trust anyone on the internet," Toru said in a smug, lecturing manner.
"What if the person on the other side is a bad person?"
Isshun looked up with an unamused look that he usually reserved for when Toru said something stupid.
"...What’s that look for? I know what I said wasn’t wrong!" She doubled down, crossing her arms and puffing out her chest to look and feel more confident.
"Haa... Toru." Isshun rubbed his face in mock resignation. "Who am I?"
For a few seconds, Toru fell into thought, using all of her available brain cells. "...Are you going to start about how smart you are again?"
"You’re learning," Isshun said flatly, putting his phone back into his pocket after agreeing to play with CopyKing after school.
"Hey!"
Toru stood up in indignation, as if she were going to bonk Isshun on the head, but fell back down into her chair in resignation.
"Realized you can’t win?" Isshun added, which made Toru feel even worse. "Though to answer your question, the probability of CopyKing being an adult is extremely low."
"...Now you’re just using big words that I don’t understand to gaslight me into believing you..." She narrowed her eyes, her opinion unchanged.
Isshun looked at her with an eyebrow raised in challenge. "Are you really this confident?"
"..." At that look, Toru couldn’t help but second-guess herself, but she shook her head, getting those wandering thoughts out.
Isshun dryly laughed.
"Then how about a bet?"
"...A bet?"
Toru’s expression turned cautiously curious.
"Whether the person I’m talking to is the same age as me or not."
--+--
A/N: Last interlude before naruhata, while also introducing a new friend. you’ll probably be able to guess who it is... right?
Its a martin luther king miracle.
Also, idk how yall hit 2000 fast as hell... you’ll get your bonus Chapter on saturday or sunday.
Another ps goal then? This time it’s going to be harder... though there are quite a bit of entertaining fics on wn so it’ll prolly be pretty hard.
3500PS - Bonus chap?
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