Cleaning up the remnants of the Assassination Alliance took quite a while.
The main problem was that the surviving branches, realizing an unstoppable Monster was hunting them,
scattered and went to ground.
Aokiji and Flash needed more than a week to finish them off completely.
Counting the Monsters they dealt with along the way,
the progress bar had firmly broken past 40 % and was heading for 50.
If only a few more big-time evil organizations would show up.
He could fill the bar in one go.
"There really aren't any other dark powers left?" Aokiji asked.
"Pretty much none," Flash answered.
"The Slave King, the Drug General, the Heart Collector, the Bizarre Phantom Thief, the Invincible Bandit King…"
Flash rattled off the names of the underworld's most notorious bosses.
"I've already taken care of all of them."
Aokiji felt it was a waste.
If he'd handled them himself, he might have unlocked the next character template.
The Artificial Espers they'd captured earlier
had given up nothing, even under Flash's interrogation and the threat of Impel Down.
Probably because of their modifications, any relevant memories had been wiped.
With the Assassination Alliance wrapped up, Aokiji and Flash parted ways.
He returned to his villa in Z-City.
"Where's the milk I told you to buy?"
The moment he stepped inside, Tatsumaki stormed up, furious.
She seemed determined to keep hounding him until he put her in touch with Fubuki.
She was even shamelessly camping at his house.
And, according to her,
since Aokiji was now on [Tsukuyomi]'s radar,
they would definitely make another move.
Using him as bait might let them uproot the [Tsukuyomi] organization for good.
"Don't tell me you think milk will make you grow taller?" Aokiji pulled a cola from the fridge.
"You're twenty-five solid, twenty-six virtual, twenty-seven fuzzy, twenty-eight nominal—face reality."
"I just like milk! Got a problem with that?!"
Tatsumaki clenched her fists, protesting too loudly.
She'd never met such an infuriating jerk!
Who tacks three extra years onto a girl's age for no reason?!
Aokiji tossed her a can. "Better to gain some weight than height—you're so thin your ribs stick out; it's painful to look at."
Her legs and rear impact-absorbers were nicely padded, yet her upper body was almost skeletal.
In that skin-tight dress that showed every curve, you could sometimes see the outline of her ribs.
Tatsumaki caught the can sullenly:
"None of your business. Painful to look at? Nobody asked you to hug me."
…silence…silence… "Hey! Stop going quiet at moments like this!" A blush crept up as she crushed the can.
"Clean the floor," Aokiji said lazily, eyeing the spilled cola.
"Heh—" Psionic power surged, and her smile turned scary.
"No more floor to clean from now on."
The tiles cracked, lifted, and hovered.
Then they flew straight at him.
Aokiji sighed and dodged.
The shards crashed into the backyard, raising a cloud of dust.
No wonder Fubuki ran away from this psycho.
"Fine, I'll take you to Fubuki," he gave in; her willful antics were too much.
"But your sister's an adult, it's normal for her to live on her own. I'm a hero now; if you try to drag her away, I can't just watch."
He added silently that it might even bump the progress bar.
To get rid of this pest, Fubuki would have to suffer a bit.
"I'm her older sister; I don't need lessons from you!"
The nuisance showed no self-awareness, arms folded proudly.
"I'll contact the Association," Aokiji said, glancing at the bare concrete. "But first fix the floor."
"So annoying." She clicked her tongue and raised a hand.
The shards floated back and reassembled piece by piece.
But clear cracks remained.
"Looks ugly—just pay for it."
"Are you kidding me??"
——
Fubuki felt uneasy.
In her recent hero work she'd seen her judgment was sound.
She counted as a rare combat asset among heroes.
All her years of psychic training hadn't let her down.
Yet memories of her sister's power since childhood, and news reports of Aokiji defeating Monsters one after another,
only sharpened her sense of the gap.
"Why do I feel so on edge…?" she wondered.
She calmed herself and headed to the Monster sighting the Association had sent.
I'll work harder and prove my worth!
Make that lazy guy agree to mentor me!
And one day… In her dreams she'd never surpassed Tatsumaki.
She only hoped to earn her sister's recognition
and, someday, be able to protect her.
"The Association says Fubuki is one of the most diligent and capable among the first batch of recruited heroes."
On the rooftop of a high-rise.
Aokiji sat on the edge, long legs dangling.
Tatsumaki beside him kept her eyes fixed on her sister.
"Let's watch for a bit, get to know her better, then figure out how you two should get along."
Tatsumaki rolled her eyes: "I told you, I raised Fubuki from age five—how could you know her better than I do?"
The rooftop wind was strong; he batted away a skirt that slapped his face.
"But she stopped being five a long time ago."
"You don't have to plan every little thing."
Learn the difference between protection and a cage.
"Hmph!" She stepped away. "Don't touch my skirt, perv!"
I'm supposed to let your skirt keep hitting me in the face and not push it away?
Whatever I do, you're unhappy.
He wiped the scent from his face
and looked at her in disgust… she clearly hadn't listened to a word.
Below,
Fubuki had already encountered the Monster.
She flung off her coat, revealing a custom-tailored elegant dress that hugged her curves.
"Donut Monster, threat level Wolf."
Her tone confident, hair and skirt lifting as her power activated.
"I can handle this alone!"
...
(Throw some stones)