kscans

I had won. Despite the advantage of going first, I still won.

I felt like shouting from the depths of my stomach and striking a triumphant pose. It was that joyous of a victory. A legendary victory.

Even a useless guy like me could do it! The sense of accomplishment filled my chest as I celebrated with the rest of the Sales Department.

It felt just like landing a huge contract. EEven the losing side seemed to take it well.

“Next time, we won’t lose!” they said, all cheerful and sportsmanlike. Man, I love moments like this.

The victory party kept the hype going, and we wrapped things up on a great note. The after-party was fun too, and I wanted to go home in a good mood and collapse into bed… but unfortunately, I still had plans.

By now, it was already past midnight, but the other person was busy too, and our schedules only lined up at this ungodly hour. So, with a quick teleport, I arrived at the training ground owned by the Mutual Aid Society.

And there she was.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No worries. I should be the one apologizing for asking you to come at this hour.”

It was Chika-san.

I couldn’t help but gulp at the sight of her in tight-fitting training wear. Maybe it was the alcohol, but my self-control was… Huh!? Chika-san gave me smile. A very meaningful smile… I pulled myself together.

Crap! Pull yourself together!

Well, there’s no social issue since she’s divorced now, but… emotionally… That little forbidden fantasy that had been haunting me even before her divorce crossed my mind, making me hit the brakes.

“Nah, it’s fine. Wanting to shake off the rust is totally understandable.“

“Thanks.”

I was here to help Chika get back in shape. Although she’s returning to the Mutual Aid Society, her work style… is that even the right term? Well, anyway. Her work arrangement will be on a part-time basis similar to mine, mainly in the regular world with occasional requests.

Her main job? Running a company. After all, she was a CEO. Gotta take care of the employees. But if anything happened to Rika-chan, she wanted to be ready. That’s why she was making a combat comeback.

That said, it had been nearly twenty years since she’d been in the field…

“By the way, how are Rika-chan and Hikaru-kun doing?”

“Still stuck in lectures. They were studying until midnight. Now they’re resting at the Mutual Aid Society’s hotel.”

“Still studying!?”

Back in my day, I’m pretty sure it only took two or three sessions. Rika-chan and Hikaru started training during Golden Week, so I figured they’d be done ages ago. When I said that, Chika scoffed.

“Of course, they’re still studying. Things are completely different now. The curriculum got way longer. I even joined one session after work and nearly fainted.”

“It changed that much?”

“Obviously. We’ve had tons of factions rise and fall, and on top of that, there’s been a world crisis almost every year.”.”

“Ahh…”

“Moreover, you’ve been handling everything, Hiro-kun. You even prevented the world’s destruction the day before we reunited.”

The whole end of the world thing? I guess I had gotten used to it. At this point, it felt like the annual hay fever. Annoying, inevitable, and coming back every damn year.

“But the faction stuff doesn’t really matter, right? Even if some groups get popular, businesses fail all the time. Can’t be worrying about every single one.”

“You can’t just talk about world-ending threats like they’re some failing restaurant chain… There are still remnants out there! You’ve completely lost your sense of danger…”

“Ahem!” I cleared my throat and changed the subject. I was starting to sound like an idiot, and honestly, that was embarrassing.

“Time’s limited, so let’s get started. You ready?”

“Of course. But what about you? Think you can handle it?”

Instead of answering verbally, I beckoned her with my hand. Chika-san grinned. Ah, yes. There it is. I almost forgot. She’s way more hot-blooded than she looks.

“Here I come…!!”

As Chika-san stomped the ground with all her might, magma erupted. Seeing the tsunami of magma completely blocking my view, I was overwhelmed by an indescribable nostalgia.

(Ah, yes. Her ol’ endgame special.)

See, a tsunami of magma is a hell of a visual. Anyone seeing it for the first time? Yeah, they panic. Even if they have a way to defend themselves, their brain still goes, “Oh no, hot! Must dodge!” And when people dodge, they usually jump up. That’s when she circles around and BAM! Free hit.

But defending isn’t necessarily the right answer either.

(I could just blow it away, but hey, this is supposed to be a warm-up. Might as well play along.)

I deployed a barrier to block the magma. The magma failed to barbecue me, but instead of disappearing… it just stayed there.

Now the entire training ground was a swirling, bubbling ocean of magma. I looked around, up and down, left and right, searching for Chika-san, but she was nowhere to be seen.

(…Nope. No sign of her.)

I knew what trick she was using, but figuring out where she was? That was another story. Somewhere in this sea of magma, she was hiding. Literally fused with it. Normally, this kind of stealth move gives off some kind of hint like ripples, shifts, even just a weird feeling.

But nope. Nothing.

Because Chika-san isn’t just some regular magic-user. She’s a Star Priestess, someone who was practically born from absorbing the Earth’s power. Her affinity with nature is so ridiculous that once she’s blended in, nobody gonna find her through normal means.

Unless I blow every last drop of this magma in an instant, she’s basically invisible.

(…That said, she’s hesitating to attack too.)

This whole move of hers is all about ambush tactics. Even if you survive the first wave of magma, you’re still stuck in an enemy-made environment. The magma is her advantage. She can stay hidden, strike whenever she wants, and keep me on edge the whole time.

Keeping my guard up against a sneak attack like this? Exhausting. Sure, I could just nuke all the magma away, but that’s easier said than done. Chika-san is quite strong after all.

(But, just standing around isn’t fun. Let’s shake things up.)

Time to escort this lady properly.

(Alright, if I were fighting someone using this tactic… what would I do?)

I took a deep breath…

And started inhaling the magma. If I keep swallowing it faster than new magma can be generated, it will eventually disappear.

“WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE—!?”

Chika-san’s voice rang out as she jumped out of hiding, completely flustered. I fired two light bullets with a time delay towards Chika-san. My plan to guide with the first shot and hit with the second was perfectly executed.

She tried to block, but still got sent flying straight into the wall.

“Well, if we’re shaking off the rust, we might as well go all out, right?”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

I swatted away the barrage of wind blades with my hand. In addition to the overwhelming quantity that blocked my view,

(She’s added color to the invisible wind blades… it must be a diversion.)

Somewhere inside that flashy attack, she was hiding the real invisible blades. And just as I realized that… I felt a presence behind me. It’s going according to plan, but she’s too slow.

The earlier magma burst was a bit excessive due to excitement, but now I’ve restrained myself to about the level of strength Chika-san had back then.

“You’re wide op—…!?”

I turned around, saw it, and froze.

WHAM.

An impact nailed me right on my cheek, sending me flying.

“HEY! Hiro, what the hell!? You were right there! You could’ve dodged! Why’d you just take the hit!“

Chika-san scolded me, hands on her hips and leaning forward.

I rubbed my cheek, groaning.

“Uhh… Chika. Take a look at yourself.”

“Hah? What are you—”

“Just do it.”

She glanced down. Paused. And blinked.

“Wait. Huh? Are my boobs… smaller?”

Actually, it wasn’t just that.

“Wait a sec. Why does everything look… bigger? Why am I… shorter??”

That’s right. Right now, Chika-san looked exactly like she did in the past.

(Oh, shit! Chika-chan…!)

A deep, overwhelming excitement surged through me.

t/n: a lot of sentences was altered up to make it more comedic. it’s accurate, but not true to the source.