In Love with A Monster || Garou X OC || One Punch Man Fanfiction ||

8. Ambush

IRUKA's POV:

''Onee-san? You're here too?'' The little boy inquired as he shifted his gaze from Garou to me and back again to him. ''Were you alone with the old dude?''

''Tha-That's not important right now! W-What are you doing here this deep in the forest?'' I quickly rushed to scold him, taken by surprise by his question. ''You should be home! Or at least at the park near your house!'' I ignored his comment about me being in Garou's company. My cheeks were heating up with embarrassment.

''Ah... Y-Yes, I was at the park earlier, but...'' His little voice paused, unsure what excuse make up in front of me.

''What do you want?'' Garou's voice demanded, slightly annoyed. Tareo shifted in his spot. A not so unusual behaviour from the shy kid. His next words however were quite unusual.

''U-Um... C-Could you please leave... this shack?'' He asked Garou while holding tight to his shirt. I assumed he was asking me to leave as well. Tareo was not one to ask anyone to go away, or to impose his will on anyone, which was exactly the opposite of what he was doing now. I blinked at him, ready to scold his strange demand before Garou beat me to it.

''Huh?'' The silver haired man's gruff voice vibrated through the small shack and echoed loudly in the dark, making the kid shriek with sudden surprise.

''Why do I have to listen to you ?''

''W-Well, the other guys told me to say that to you...''

''You're hanging out with that bunch again, Tareo?'' I tried not to sound way too mad at the kid. He was still shaking and trembling both from Garou's obvious scary appearance and tone, and also from the whole situation he was in. I guessed he was also embarrassed to have been caught by his babysitter roaming in the forest with a group of kids his age when he was not supposed to. He nodded.

''I thought I told you to be more careful around that group of boys. They're way too irresponsible for kids your age. I'm not sure you should be hanging around them.'' I added to remind him of my opinion about his so-called friends, and also to briefly give Garou an idea about the dynamic of the group. Tareo was the weak one, obviously.

''Your friends? Just say you don't want to.'' Garou asked him after glancing briefly from me back to the black haired boy.

''But...'' Tareo whined. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. Garou got annoyed quickly.

''Stop, crying. Jeez, you're annoying.'' He said but the boy kept whining. Snot and tears were cascading on his cheeks. It was not a pretty sight. I instinctively reached for something inside my bag.

''Don't worry. I won't be here too long.'' Garou added before I was able to comfort Tareo. '' If you still got a problem, bring your friends here. Got it, you dumb brat?''

''O-Okay...'' The kid calmed down at the sound of Garou's words. I gave Tareo a tissue from my bag to wipe the snot and tears from his face. The babysitter in me kicking in.

''Here, blow your nose, Tareo.'' Garou stood up as he gazed down on us.

''Why don't I give you some good advice to stop people from making fun of you?'' The tall man added a moment later. He must have figured that the kids in his group were bullying him because he was small and fragile. The weak one. I somehow had the impression that Garou was speaking from his own experience whilst advising the boy on how to approach bullies.

''Huh? Yeah, I wanna know.'' Tareo whimpered.

Whatever advice he was about to give Tareo, I imagined would be useful and smart, however they were only kids, and children their age are only naturally ignorant and mean, most of the time. But they meant no harm with ill intent whatsoever. Unlike if they were a few years older maybe, like in middle school or high schoolers' age. Kids at that age are wilfully and consciously mean and cold to each other. But Tareo's friends... They're another story. They're too young to understand the meaning of courage. They just admire the concept. Thus, the fascination with Heroes.