Dynamite And A Laserbeam - Redux

Vol 9 - 6: The Training Camp From Hell - Part 4

[Beta Read by Doc43Souls]

[Training Camp of Hell – Part 4]

"I'm telling you, Toshinori, take a break," Tsukauchi's voice was filled with annoyance. But all things considered, he had every reason to be annoyed. It was true that Toshinori was potentially overdoing it, but at the same time, he hadn't had this level of freedom to do Hero work for ten years! Though it wasn't like he was professionally annoyed, it was a "friend being worried for another friend" kind of annoyed, if that made any sense.

The police detective took a sip from his coffee, sighing, before placing it back down on the table they were sitting at. His expression went from annoyed to earnest, a small smile making its way to his face. "Besides, I'm sure Nedzu would've liked it if you had been there to do Final Exams with the students. They had to call in Star and Stripe to cover for you, and the Americans weren't all that happy about it."

"I'm aware, but at the same time, I... I needed to pull my weight a little more than normal. Especially after recent events," Toshinori argued, making the Tsukauchi sigh in defeat.

"You're stubborn, Toshinori. If there was one thing I could change about you, it'd be that." That made Toshinori laugh, which made Tsukauchi crack a grin at the blond's reaction. It had been a while since they met up as friends, and not because of business reasons. He could get used to this happening more often, should things not escalate any more than they already had.

Right now, Tsukauchi and Toshinori were having lunch at a local diner. Breadbears Coffee and Sandwich Shop. It was an American branch that had expanded to Japan a few years ago, and its mascot was, quite literally, a bear in the shape of a loaf of bread. It was cute, and it had the best American-style French Toast on this side of Akihabara, but still.

Speaking of which.... "Why did you want to meet up in Akihabara?" Toshinori asked as Tsukauchi shrugged.

"Mikan, my daughter, wanted to go to that Final Fantasy Café, just over by the mall with her friends, so I decided to go with her to save money on gas. That, and I wanted to talk to you in a place that wasn't all that well known. Breadbears are rather out of the way, so I figured it would be the best place to talk. Especially seeing as our usual meeting place is currently undergoing reconstruction...." Tsukauchi said with a frown as Toshinori raised an eyebrow.

"Herbal Café? What happened to it?" Toshinori asked as Tsukauchi frowned.

"Endeavour fighting a villain happened. That's what," the detective grumbled, earning a disappointed sigh from Toshinori.

"That man needs to learn how to reign it in," Toshinori said as Tsukauchi huffed.

"For once, it wasn't his fault. Rather, the villain he was fighting had some kind of self-destruction Quirk. He was holding hostages, and for once Endeavor was actually trying to calm the situation down. But one of the police officers said the wrong thing, and he blew up. Endeavour was there to capture the villain due to his heat resistance. But... well, that didn't end up working out the way anyone wanted."

"I see..." Toshinori muttered. His eyes narrowed, cupping his chin. Nedzu was right. Villains were rising in their frequency of attacks, and it was becoming more and more dangerous for the everyday civilian. Although it made no sense. His increase in doing heroics should've begun to curb that. So why did it seemingly do nothing?

Was it because of All For One? Was it because of his brother? Or was it because of both? That was a scary thought... his brother and his arch-nemesis working together. From what he remembered about his Brother's Quirk, it was some kind of space-manipulating Quirk, almost like Star and Stripe's, but after he was introduced to the idea of Stand Users, he couldn't help but think that maybe his brother was a Stand User.