Chapter 76
[105]
“Dammit!” Sho yelled, throwing his suit’s helmet against the wall of their hideout. “Slippery bastard got away! I didn’t take Spider-Man for a damn coward!” He kicked the side of their couch and flipped it over.
“Calm down.” Minato said in his usual monotone. “We don’t even know if he’s still alive. With all of the hits he took, he’s likely to bleed out without proper medical attention. What we need to do for now is lie low and put our ears to the ground. Listen to the chatter among the underground and see if anyone finds him or his body. That’s our best play at the moment.”
“I don’t give a damn about the ‘best play!’ I wanted to see the life leave his eyes as I skewered the bastard! I missed out on my chance the first time, I won’t miss out this time!”
Minato rolled his eyes as he removed his suit. It had been a long night and he wanted some shuteye before making his next move. As he climbed into his bed, he heard Sho digging through their mini bar, shattering several bottles as he searched for his preferred drink. How Kingpin ever thought that the two of them would make a good team was beyond him.
It didn’t take long for Minato to realize that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. Not because of Sho’s loud complaining, he could deal with that. The real reason for his insomnia was because of the room they occupied. After spending so much time in a concrete cell with only a tiny light source, to tell the time, he couldn’t stand the idea of staying in here. So, going against his own advice, he decided to leave their bunker.
“Where the hell are you going?” Sho asked, still wearing his Scorpion suit, a TV remote in his hand and a beer bottle wrapped in his mechanical tail.
“Out.” Minato replied, pulling on his coat.
“Out? Didn’t you just say to lie low?”
“Well, unlike you, I know something about subtlety.” Without another word, he walked out of the room.
He walked up to the surface, the morning sun shining on the buildings across from him. As he thought about what he might do with his time, Minato found himself unconsciously heading in the direction of Yongen Jaya. Back to see Ren.
“I could use a cup of coffee.” He said to himself.
Ren however, wasn’t at Leblanc that morning. After reassuring Sojiro that he was okay, he decided to get showered and dressed for the day, but not dressed for school. If last night had taught Ren anything (aside from the fact his sleep schedule needed some work) it was that he was woefully unprepared to take on foes that knew how to fight. Up until now, he’d been fighting against criminals and psychopaths who relied heavily on their powers and equipment, but power was no match for experience. That much had been made very clear.
His complete failure to combat Scorpion and Prowler frustrated Ren more than he let on. If he was going to fight them again, he needed to review everything Makoto had been teaching him up until now. It was because of that that Ren found himself in Protein Lovers throwing punches against a practice dummy (using minimal force naturally, he couldn’t afford to destroy their equipment) and trying to remember the moves his opponents had used against him.
“Your form’s off.” A voice came from behind Ren.
He turned to meet the face and was surprised to see a woman with silver hair. The woman wasn’t old by any means, probably in her early 20s, and her figure suggested that she visited the gym frequently. Her outfit consisted of a black sports bra and black yoga pants with a white stripe down each leg. Her oddly colored hair was tied up in a simple ponytail behind her and she wore bright red lipstick. Her most striking feature, aside from her hair, were her eyes which were a dark red, they reminded him of Makoto’s.
“-you hear me?”
“Hm?” Ren snapped out of his daze, realizing that he’d been staring at her a bit too long.
“I said your form is off.” She repeated. “When you strike, you’re swinging your arm too much. It wastes effort and affords your opponent an opportunity to dodge.”
“Oh.” Ren said, befuddled.
This woman didn’t look like the fighting type to him, more like a model, like Ann. Even if she did have thighs that looked like they could crush his head and now he was getting off topic. Actually, what had he been thinking about again?
“Would you mind showing me?” Ren asked, his face not revealing his thoughts.
“Alright.” The woman cracked her knuckles and walked up to the dummy as Ren stepped aside.
Suddenly, as if turning on a switch, the silver haired beauty gained an air of tenacity, assuming a fighting stance similar to one he’d seen Makoto use before. When she began to punch, her fists flowed like water, hitting her target in rapid succession with absolutely no wasted movements. With a final movement, she uppercutted the dummy and sent its head flying from its body.
As the head landed on the floor, Ren let out a gulp. Even with all of the fighting experience he’d gained so far he wouldn’t have been able to manage such a feat. Sure he could send the dummy flying across the gym with a single punch, but what she’d done was something entirely different, focusing on speed and precision rather than power. It was clear to Ren that there was a huge gap between their fighting abilities.
“Dammit. The gym’s gonna charge me again.” She said to herself as she looked at the dismembered dummy head. “Sorry about that, got carried away I guess. Did you at least pick up on what I was doing differently?”
“Uhhh.” He wasn’t quite sure what to say. He’d seen the whole thing, but at the same time, it was too fast to properly observe.
The woman let out a sigh before walking over to his right side. Without a word, she grabbed his arm and forced it into position.
“Here. Like this, see?” Her tone made it sound like she was talking to a small child. She bent his elbow and had him softly punch the headless dummy. “Get it?”
“Y-*ehem* Yes.” Ren said, his voice cracking slightly.
“Good.” There was a brief beat of silence between them as they looked each other in the eyes, her arms still holding Ren’s bicep. The silence was then interrupted by a buzzing sound from the corner of the room. “I’ve gotta get that.” The woman said as she walked away.
Ren watched her walk for a moment before deciding that was creepy, instead turning his attention to the clock. School would be starting in an hour, he should probably start getting ready-
“What!?” The woman’s voice came from the side of the gym. Her phone was pressed to her ear as she stood over her purse. “I’ll-I’ll be right there!” She hung up and started grabbing her things. As she pushed open the door to leave, her head shot back towards Ren, seemingly remembering she wasn’t alone. “S-Sorry I’ve got to go.”
“What happened?” Ren asked, somewhat worried for her.
“Something wonderful.” Her crimson lips turned up in a smile. With that, she ran out the door without another word.
“Wait! I never got your-” The door slammed shut.
“Name.”