Chapter 10
Title: The Blood Bath
A. N/ New cover for the story! What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments!
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Anyways! Let's begin
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Retsu's POV. -- 1st of April -- 2409 --
[Hinode Shopping Mall]
The shopping center here at Hinode city is huge, roughly the same size to the Tokyo's big shopping mall located at Kiyashi ward.
Our vehicle comes to a stop in front of the entrance to the gigantic mall district, letting me and Himiko get off from the back seats and exit the car, letting us see the place in its entirety.
The Hinode Shopping Mall is a Mega shopping district with a lot of stalls in its first floor.
The building is made so that, when you enter from the entrance, there is actually a level below you. On that floor, one can find a variety of clothing. Anything that one may want from children, to adult's wear.
Of course female, male and children's section are all devided to better help the costumer look for what they want.
On the floor that is the entrance, there are all kinds of stalls. Anything you could think of, ranging from herb selling stalls, to resturants, to barber shops, to coffe shops, and anything in between. There are even everyday need stores, selling kitchenware, electronics, or even personalized things that a heteromorph may need.
Then we have one more level above this one, where you will find the fun activities section.
There, anything from children's toy stores, parks, cinema clubs, and of course Arcades can be found.
"Come on! Let's go let's go! " Himiko takes hold of my hand, her shorter visage dragging me along, which i let her do so, and see this gigantic place with my own 2 eyes.
The security of this place isn't half bad either, with guards and even some pro heroes patrolling the place.
"Slow down Himiko-chan! We should look around the place as we go on. " I say, managing to slow the ball of enthusiasm down.
Himiko turns to me, smiling sheepishly while scratching the back of her head, "yeah, you're probably right. Let's go look around some stuff. "
We start looking around as we are passing by the stalls, seeing interesting stuff, like a place that helps make personalized heavy training clothes, or another stall where a customer who has four muscly arms, –the second pair protruding from under his armpits, is seen buying t-shirts that the stall owner has personally tailored for him.
As we pass by, Himiko sees a cart where the owner is selling a variety of cold treats. "LET'S GO GET SOME CREPES!!! " she practically drags me along.
Once before the cart, Himiko enthusiastically orders, "One strawberry flavored ice cream wrapped in Crepes please! " She says, getting an amused look from the cart owner, "coming right up! And what about the beautiful young lady here? " He asks me, to which i shrug, "Just make the flavor strong. " I simply say, leaving the choice to him, who gives me a nod, "right! "
While we are waiting for our crepes to be made, i take a look around the place, seeing the populated center with a lot of people walking by. Families, friends, and all kinds of people.
There is also a few who are glancing my way, and quickly try to look away when i turn my gaze their way. They are wearing civilian clothes to blend into the crowd, but their intentions are all over the place.
'What a bunch of amateurs.' I sigh internally.
A minute later and we leave the cart with two crepes wrapped in napkins, with Ice cream of different flavors in our hands. Himiko enthusiastically starts eating her strawberry flavored one, her other hand held in mine to not get lost, as we tread through the crowded place.
She turns to me and tries to sample mine, –regreting it immediately, "Ugh! How can you eat that thing? " She says, her face scrunched as if she's taken a bite of lemon.
I shrug, "i just like strong flavored stuff. "
We head through the crowd, on the way having finished our crepes, and step on an escalator stair to go to the second floor.
"You're gonna love this! I just know it! " Himiko says, her smile infectious as she looks up to me from her 115 cm (3.7 ft) height. 'She truely is precious. Just goes to show how cruel society can be for turning her into a Cold-blooded killer.' I idly think.
We get to the second floor, before Himiko starts dragging me toward's the arcade place, her enthusiasm leaping to new heights. "Come on! Come on! " She says, like a little child dragging their mother towards a toy store they want to visit,
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[Third Person POV. ]
Retsu, in her mood of trying to please the friend she's made in this world, puts her guard down a little, resulting in her not realizing they are being followed.
Or wait, does she?
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Retsu and Himiko enter the arcade, Himiko dragging her friend to the counter to get tickets so they can start playing.
Once they do, she drags Retsu towards a section where some new games have developed, but they are stopped from entering that part by a staff member who gives them a raised eye brow and a tired look. "You can't enter this section. It's for over the age of 18 only. " He says.
Himiko pouts, and Retsu gives the staff member a bored look, of course he can't see that because of her sunglasses and the big hat that Retsu is wearing.
Before the two can open their mouths to protest, another staff member quickly gets there, this one looking like the owner of this place considering the clothes he's wearing, but his head is full of sweat. "It's okay! Let them through! " He says as he runs over,
"But sir! They are chil-" "I said it's okay! Let. Them. Through! " The owner repeats, making the staff member sweat drop before he steps aside, letting the duo head in.
'Wow, they work fast, ' Retsu idly thinks while looking back, seeing from the corner of her eyes the bodyguards that got assigned to follow her and Himiko since they entered the mall.
Atleast 20 Men and Women in black suits and black sunglasses, also wearing wired earphone pieces to commune with one another, they've been in the background, protecting them and keeping an eye out since they entered the mall. 'Mother really doesn't take any chances huh, ' Retsu thinks, before turning her head and looking forward.
The duo of friends finally get to where Himiko has been trying to drag Retsu all along, the duo finding themselfs in front of a gaming table. There is a big computer screen in front of them, with two gaming chairs besides each other.
Himiko takes her spot on the left, with Retsu sitting on her right. "Alright, let's see what has you so enthusiastic about visiting this place. " Retsu says, leading to Himiko giving her a side smirk, "trust me. You're gonna love this! "
Once they are seated and has worn the headsets, Himiko clicks start, leading to the computer coming online, already in the game's menue.
The name of the game is written in bold letters at the top, leading to Retsu smirking, 'The Blood Bath, huh. Based on the name alone i can deduce why she'd like this game. '
It's a 2D fighting game where two players can fight each other in a ring. The controls are pretty standard, but Himiko's fascination of the game comes from her obsession with blood. And the game kinda fulfills that because of the blood effects it has during the matches.
Anyways, the duo play the game for a while, with Retsu at first having some difficulty in winning, coming from the fact that this is her first time ever trying games like these, and Himiko having played this game before, so she kept on winning the first rounds.
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Himiko's character lands an uppercut on Retsu's, finishing their 6th match with Retsu 0 and her 6, making Himiko excited because, during the K. O , Retsu's character's head blew into a gory mess.
"Haha! Take that! Himiko 6,Retsu 0! Haha! " She keeps on laughing, making Retsu tilt her head, "interesting mechanics. I think I've grasped the fundamentals now. Let us have another match. " She says, making Himiko stop laughing and turn to her, her head tilting.
"There is no way you just learned how to play in only 15 minutes! " She says, shaking her head left and right, making Retsu glance at her,
"Oh? Am i feeling a little tension from you, my dear Himi-chan?~ " Retsu says, leading to Himiko scrunching her brows in moch anger, "alright! Bring it! I'll turn you into a blood mist this time! " She says.
The 7th match begins, and from then on, the tides begin to turn.
On the 7th match, Retsu takes victory, blowing away Himiko's fighter with the final blow, there is a kamehameha like beam that her character shoots, and it tears through Himiko's character's stomach.
On the 8th, Himiko wins again, but it was very close, crushing Retsu's character's head. And so the duo continue playing for half an hour.
After half an hour later, the game begins to get monotonous for the two, leading them to get off from it, turning to see they have made quite a crowd of teenagers behind themselves, all wondering how are they so good, and should they even be allowed to be here?
The duo doesn't entertain the crowd though, shifting around them to go look for other things they could try out.
After a while of them just skimming around, sometimes trying out other games, and just having fun, quality time with each other, Himiko suddenly perks up. "I need to go to the bathroom. " She suddenly says.
The duo head to the restroom of the place, Himiko sprinting in while Retsu stands outside of the door.
The restroom area here on the second floor is kinda isolated, it's outside of the arcade and in a seperate space a few corners away.
As Himiko goes in, Retsu just stands there, leaning on the side wall with her left feet up, her eyes are closed and her posture seemingly relaxed while she is leaning on the wall.
A minute later and she runs out of patience,
"I know you're there, so no need to keep on hiding anymore. " She suddenly says, her eyes closed and her posture relaxed, as if she doesn't even care that someonehas been following her and Himiko since they entered the mall.
A moment later and in front of Retsu, air starts distorting a little, before a figure starts materializing out of thin air. It's a man with a brown goat on, a top hat to hide his bald head, and his right eye is patched in a black eye patch. His other, visible eye being the color of dark purple.
"So, you figured i was following you. Now I'm a little curious, how were you able to tell? " The revealed man asks, his identity unknown but his accent suggesting he's not from around here.
To his question, Retsu tilts her head and replies, "you are not the first one who has tried to come for me. All the previous ones were disposed of by me, what makes you any different? " She says, not answering his question and instead asking one herself.
The man gives out a tiny breath, the sound he makes seem to be amused, though his eyes never leave Retsu's form, alert for if she tries anything. "The difference between those previous ones and me is quite simple, " He says, before setting a foot forward, and the other a little back, as if bracing himself. " I came with a plan. "
Retsu tilts her head, letting the guy prepare.
He lifts a hand to his ear piece and presses on the button. "Do it, now. " He says, his eye focused on Retsu's form, not letting her out of his sight.
A few seconds pass, but nothing happens, making the man tilt his head in confusion, before he presses on his ear piece again, "come in. Do you copy? What's your status over there? " He asks, but the line is just static sounds, leading to his one working eye widening, and turning to look at Retsu's.
"You did this. You did something! " He states more than asks, making Retsu shrug. "Hey now, i couldn't let your group start a riot in the middle of the mall, making chaos to distract the pro's and let you take me away now could i? " She says, a little smirk on her face.
The man starts to panic slowly, looking back to see if anyone is coming for him or not, but he doesn't see anyone. Infact, he doesn't see anyone near this area at all!
He wasn't able to notice before because the idea of a little defenseless girl trapping him didn't even occur to him, leading to him getting sloppy and not even assessing his whereabouts and Invironment.
'She dragged me here to trap me? ' he questions, and starts looking around for any trap, but not finding any,
"Don't worry, it's just you and me now, no tricks or anything hidden anywhere. " Retsu reassures, but the mercenary doesn't take her words seriously.
After all, in his eyes she is still just a defenseless healer, she hasn't done anything noteworthy yet. right?
There should be others around who will jump him any minute now, right?
"Where are you looking? " Retsu questions, but the man doesn't look her way, making the girl give out a sigh before she conjures herself a blood sword, –and swings it towards him, a blood slash the size of his body height leave's the improvised sword.
The mercenary instinctively dodges the warning shot by jumping to the side, leaving him perplexed as he looks towards the child before him.
'Wait! Is this real? Is she the one who will fight me with no one to back her up? ' seeing as there is no one else appearing on the scene, the Mercenary concludes that it must be so.
'In that case...'
He turns his full attention to Retsu now, his full focus on her, and he doesn't see a little girl in that moment, but a fighter.
"You're finally using your eye for the purpose it was made for, " Retsu says,
"Alright, let us begin. " There is a little visible tremble in her voice, as if enthusiastic about the fight.
"Don't disappoint me now. Put up a good fight for me at least. " She says,
'i won't be Augmenting myself. My current normal physical strength alone is as strong as an 18 year old's, so let's handicap myself to at least enjoy this. '
this kinda reminds Retsu of her past, 'I'm reminiscing about Zaraki now, huh? I wonder how that Boy is doing. '
The mercenary gets ready, putting one feet forward and one back, before he lifts his hand towards his eye patch, quickly lifting it and letting Retsu see the prosthetic that's been weaponized into a lazer beam eye.
The mercenary shoots the starting blast, initiating the fight and making Retsu dodge the attack.
Around herself and her opponent she has already conjured walls of solid blood, not letting anything through to damage the building, nor letting anything in to break the fight.
After dodging the first beam, she crouches low before springing forth, her smaller size and weight but stronger physique letting her shoot towards her opponent, closing the distance in a breath and not letting her opponent take any more shots.
The mercenary tries to make distance again, so he jumps back, his back nearing the blood wall behind him. 'Tch! She's not that strong or fast, but her reaction and dodging ability is borderline superhuman. I need to end this in one decisive blow, I'm not fit for close quarter fights like this! '
Fwooosh!
His prosthetic eye shoots out another blast of purple beam, it's width not being that big, compensating that for its speed and piercing power.
This time, Retsu raises her blade hand and with fluid grace, parries the beam to the side with her katana, her form graceful and fully natural, using her flexibility to her advantage instead of raw strength. 'My body has grown tall enough for some of my techniques to be incorporated into my forms. ' this makes Retsu quite happy.
Retsu closes in on him again, this time the mercenary not having that much space to dodge, so he opts to use his quirk.
In front of Retsu, her opponent suddenly starts rapidly vanishing into thin air, and before she can get to him, he's already gone from his spot, making her frown, 'Invisibility? Or teleportation? ' she questions.
Retsu let's her instincts guide her, feeling movement to her right, so she lashes out, managing to connect with something.
Clank!
Sounds of metal hitting metal is heard, and the Mercenary turns visible besides her again, his teeth grittingin frustration, 'she's too perceptive! '
"Invisibility, huh. That won't save you though. " Retsu says, before she jumps back from their clash. In her hand her blood sword, and in the Mercenary's hand a long military blade knife.
He grits his teeth hard enough for grinding sounds to be heard, now realizing the situation he's in. 'She has me trapped here, in this makeshift ring.
In terms of pure Physical stats I'm stronger than her, but she has more skills in close quarters than me. And also that blood sword of hers, ' his eyes trail to her blade, a katana shaped blade that is a little longer and has a curve to it, 'that construct is strong. It was able to make a clanking sound against actual steel, meaning that it's density is on the same level as steel too. '
"Are you done strategizing yet? I'm starting to get bored here. " Retsu says, her eyes slowly going half litted and her posture seemingly relaxing, the blood sword she brings up and puts it on her shoulders, her visage and everything about her seemingly relaxed.
Even her opponent, somone who doesn't know much about close quarter fights or postures, can tell that she has lowered her guard.
Alas, like said so before, the mercenary is a long quarter assassin type, and this job of capturing his target alive just isn't his forte, but the money was good, and the description said his target is just a healer, it didn't say that she was gonna be such a monster in human skin.
'Agh dammit! The others are probably captured by now, and it seems i don't have any shot at taking her down in close quarters. She also won't let me make distance because of these blood walls surrounding us, and from what i understand she's toying with me by not flooding me with her blood control ability, choosing to fight me personally.
My only shot at being able to escape is my quirk, but she's able to sense me somehow, not good there either. ' no matter what strategy the mercenary thinks of, nothing seems to work. He is trapped now. He can't escape.
"–If you won't be attacking, then i will. " And his opponent just ran out of patience.
Retsu closes the few feet between them again, her sword poised to strike in an arc, making the mercenary bring up his blade too, trying to block it.
Retsu changes the trajectory of her strike in the last second, changing from an arc to a diagonal strike, exploiting the opening of her opponent, –who by now regrets not training his close quarters.
The strike lands on her opponent's shoulder, going down until his chest area and leaving a shallow cut, only piercing the skin.
"Mmmph-! "
He manages to control his voice, only letting out a quiet wimper at the strike, and tries to make distance by striking at her form with his blade. 'If i can just LAND A SINGLE BLOW... '
If he can land a single blow, then he is sure he would have a better chance at taking her down.
His prosthetic eye starts to turn a little purple, indicating that his compressed beam is ready, but he doesn't fire it. 'First, an opening! Or else this will be for nothing! '
They keep exchanging blows, Retsu closing the distance and striking at her bigger opponent. In terms of speed and precision, she beats him. But in terms of physicalstrength and defense, she is beat. –Atleast in her current state.
"This is getting boring. " Retsu comments mid clash, "i wonder what you thought when you didn't even think about practicing your close quarter combat, choosing to only strike from afar. " Another precisely executed slash, and it leaves another cut in her opponent's form, making the cut appear on his lower abdomen.
"I commend you on your skill, " Another cut appears on her opponent's chest area, tearing his coat up and letting blood spill out. "Your ability to adapt in these few exchanges tell me that you are talented. But..."
She feints a right and changes it to a low slash, striking at his abdomen wound, and making the wound bigger. "...That alone won't be compensating for your lack of current skills. "
SLASH! SKRITCH!
She tears apart his abdomen and let's more blood spill out.
By now her opponent is on his last legs, breathing heavily with blood spilling out of his mouth. His sight distorting and on the brink of fainting from too much blood loss.
Retsu, seeing this gives out a sigh, "sigh, what a sorry sight.
The whole point of me making myself so famous was so that competent fighters would come my way, letting me experience joy in battle once again, but it seems i was too hopeful of this world. " Retsu let's her blood sword dissolve away, at the same time her opponent having fallen face first, with a blood pool rapidly appearing under him.
She looks up, the tiny blood particles that she let loose into the air telling her of approaching bodies in her direction. "And they are here now too. " She finishes.
Her guard seemingly down, the mercenary siezes the chance, 'now is my chance! '
He barely manages to lift his head up, and shoot out his comressed beam, –a stronger than before blast leaving his prosthetic eye and closing on the girl a few feet away!
–who instantly makes her sword again and cuts the beam into two, letting it blast from around her form and hitting the blood wall behind her, not leaving a single dent on the construct. "A last ditch effort, huh.
In combat, i always praise my foes for their willingness to use any method to beat their opponents, So you have my respect, the man who i don't even know the name of. " She looks down, at the unconscious man with a blood pool rapidly appearing under him...
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Before the confrontation, before Himiko wanted to visit the restroom.
Retsu had sensed her pursuer the moment they set foot into the mall, her sensing ability being more like instinct than actual sensing, –though she has found a way to give herself long range sensing abilities too.
She was aware of her pursers the moment they entered the mall.
During her time with Himiko in the gaming section, she whispered something to Himiko's ears, "Himi-chan. I need to ask you for a favor. " She wispered, getting her friend's attention.
She made Himiko lead them to the restroom, a place isolated and with no other people, –courtesy of her bodyguards who she told through an ear piece she had in her ear to clear the area.
And so, by Himiko going to the restroom and Retsu accompanying her, she gave her pursuer the perfect chance to strike out.
When she was waiting for him to reveal himself, she got a little too excited and made him reveal himself sooner.
He also underestimated her because, the public only knows of Retsu's healing capabilities, nothing of her strength is mentioned to the media.
The pursuer also seems to have other accomplices that Retsu let her guards know of, who by the help of local heroes were able to find and apprehend them from making needless chaos in the mall.
All of this planning, everything Retsu did, from the day she decided to announce herself to the world, to everything else up until now. She has done these things so that she may find worthy opponent's who can satiate her hunger for battle.
Up until now, no one who was sent after her were able to put much of a fight, leading to Retsu slowly getting bored by them. She nevertheless thinks that this is far better than if she didn't make herself known. It is better than a monotonous life until canon would start.
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Sounds of running fills the hall towards the restroom of the second floor, a group of bodyguards in black suits and people in costumes, –Pro Heroes, close in on the scene.
As they round the corner, the last embers of Retsu's blood walls evaporate away, letting them see her and a man in tethered clothes who is stuck on to the wall by her blood control, unconscious.
Any trace of slashes or wound having vanished from his form, Retsu having healed him back to full health.
Besides Retsu is Himiko, having been a spectator behind the restroom doors all along, and loving what she saw.
The group get close, the pro heroes recognizing the now disguise-less girl as the Daughter of the number 3 pro hero.
Before the pro's can get too close, Retsu's Bodyguards move to surround her, not letting anyone else see nor try to talk with her.
"Ma'am, the suspects you told us about have all been apprehended. I hope that your spar was a fun one this time. " A short brown haired woman in a black bodyguard's suit comes before Retsu and bows a little, her eyes hiding behind glasses that are bigger and wider than usual, before gesturing behind her. "Let the pro heroes take care of the assailants, we should be heading back now. " She says, before turning to follow Retsu and Himiko who begin walking away.
They pass besides the pro heroes, the men and women in their 20 or 30s not daring to stop them.
I mean, what would they do? Confront her for her quirk use? The girl who is the daughter of theNumber 3?
And besides, her Doctor's license partially gives her authority to use her quirk in public anyways.
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Author's note/ I CAN'T STOP MYSELF!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT WORD COUNT BRUH! IT'S THE MOST I'VE WRITTEN IN A CHAPTER!!!
I really should learn to restrain myself...
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Anyways! Thanks for reading my book. Have a great day/night!