The Duality Hashira MHA x KNY

Chapter 45: Attacking With Light

"How are you settling into your new place?" Aoi asked as she placed a tray of meat buns on the counter behind her and then went back to the stove.

"It's bigger than I thought that it's a bit overwhelming," Shoto replied as he grabbed a meat bun from the tray. "Don't get me wrong it's a nice place, but it's a bit bigger than I expected. It made me realize how much upkeep the estate needs... and that I need to buy groceries to cook my own food."

"Not excited to actually walk up to a stove and cook something?" Aoi teased.

"I'll try to cook something myself, but I don't think I can make tea if anyone comes over," Shoto said.

"Why not? It's the easiest thing to make," Aoi asked.

"I don't have good experiences with making it," Shoto said as he stared at the meat bun in his hand and shifted where he was standing.

"Did you spill it or something?" Aoi asked, looking back at the new Hashira behind her to see the expression on her friend's face showing how uncomfortable he was getting. His face was angled to where Aoi could only see his right side, hiding the burn on his face. It didn't take long for Aoi to guess that the topic probably caused the burn on his face. His awkwardness about it also suggested that the event might be the cause of his hesitance to enter the kitchen. Seeing that Shoto didn't seem to like the current topic, she decided to slightly change what they were talking about. "Just buy stuff that's easy to prepare at your place, like some small and light snacks. As long as you do your work around here I don't mind sharing any of the big meals I make for everyone. That should take care of most of the food, right?"

"You don't mind?" Shoto asked, turning back to Aoi.

"Just don't slack off unless you wanna get cut off," Aoi replied as she turned back to the stove. "Now take that over to your friends, they're for you guys to share."

"Alright, thanks," Shoto said as he grabbed the tray of meat buns and walked out of the kitchen. He continued down the hallway with the tray in one hand and his meat bun in the other.

"Hey, Shoto!" Okemia called out to him as she walked up from behind. "What are those?"

"Meat buns, Aoi made them for us," Shoto told her. "Want one?"

"Sure," Okemia said as she grabbed one. "What are you doing here? Don't you have some Hashira business to take care of?"

"My new rank doesn't mean everything has to change, I also have a job here so I'm not leaving anytime soon," Shoto said. "I won't be sleeping here though since I have my own place."

"Oh, that's cool," Okemia said. "So if I asked you for more training?"

"I would ask what you want to do since we could work on your swordsmanship, breathing techniques, or your quirk," Shoto said. "I'm going to default to quirk for now until your ankle heals up."

"Great, thanks," Okemia said. "Can we... start training attacks? The mission you guys went on reminded me how much work I have to do in order to get to that level. I want to be able to stand up on my own and support those who can't, just like you and Tanjiro have done for me back in Final Selection."

The two remained silent as they continued down the hallway. Okemia twiddled her thumbs as she awaited an answer, she asked this question before and got shut down since she didn't have much control. She could only hope she could prove herself to him to show that she was ready for this next step.

"Not here," Shoto said.

"Huh?"

"Once you finish your rehabilitation visit me at my place," Shoto told her. "It's pretty isolated so it should be a safer place to practice the potentially destructive power you have. Once you recover if you want me to help with your rehab training I can do that, but I want to practice the offensive part of your quirk in a more isolated environment."