Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Mai Pov. - October 20, 2xxx
"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Izumi asked once more, his breath slightly ragged from training. I snorted in my sword form. I could feel his sweaty hands grip my hilt tightly, and oddly enough, it wasn't as unpleasant as I'd expected.
I mean, after cutting up monsters and being covered in their guts and blood, a little sweat was really the least of it.
"I already told you yes," I said curtly. "It almost seems like you don't want me to go," I added. Izumi grimaced.
"I want you to really think about it," Izumi said as he continued moving. "And don't just go because you feel obligated," he continued. I sighed.
"No one's forcing me," I said dryly. "I'm your weapon, you're my meister, we fight together, even against an S-rank threat," I said honestly. "And quite literally," I added playfully, feeling her amusement through our soul resonance.
"If you're truly certain about coming to fight an S-rank monster, then I won't insist any further. But I would prefer you remain in your sword form throughout the entire raid," Izumi said seriously. I simply agreed.
"I know, I can't keep up with them, don't worry," I said easily. And I meant it. Sometimes, I couldn't even keep up with Izumi as she wielded me. Izumi was able to move me from side to side at such terrifying speed that even I, the sword itself, couldn't feel it.
And that was due to my poor abilities. My reactions were improving by leaps and bounds, but I still had a long way to go to reach the level where I could truly keep up with Izumi.
"Fine," Izumi said, grunting from the effort. "Can you increase the weight? Say, x50,000?" Izumi asked.
"Are you sure?" I asked uneasily, even though I added the weight swiftly. Izumi grunted as his arms trembled, yet he still swung me around and began to move me from side to side, holding me firmly.
"Y-yes, I could still move properly before," Izumi said through gritted teeth as he continued to strain. I just hummed. This was no effort for me, but Izumi had to train. Well, in theory it was my training too, since we had to keep training our soul resonance, but Izumi was training his body.
Apparently, he had said that he wasn't at the peak he could be. Between training his sword styles, his haki, and his daily life, he hadn't been able to train physically as he should have, especially since he needed specialized equipment for his strength level, and he needed to go to one of the gyms with such tools, which he couldn't do every day.
And then with his shadow quirk, he also focused on his shikigami, so despite continuing to train his physical strength, he never really tried to push himself beyond his limits.
Something I was doing now. I had placed tons of rocks inside his shadows until the weight almost crushed him, and then... And then, I had transformed into my new sword form and increased my weight to nearly 20 tons.
Gravity Blade. That was my new form, the one we had created, the one Izumi had shown me. A katana capable of increasing its weight almost without limit. And we had done it, even though it consumed part of our aura to increase the sword's weight more and more.
We had to practice that part, but Izumi had insisted on creating this sword mainly so he could train. And I could understand that. I'd seen him train before, and his idea of training was to grab one of the heaviest barbells and weights—30 times his size—that UA had available and start swinging it like a damn sword.
It looked ridiculously stupid, but I could admit it was the only way he could truly harness his physical strength. But now, with my new form, he could practically get rid of all that and just use me as a super-heavy weight.
Even after putting me in my sheath and then using me however he wanted, he even started doing handstand push-ups, just with his fingers, with tons of rocks in his shadow, while he placed me on the soles of his feet to act as extra weight. Damned lunatic.
Everything was in preparation for the fourth Jeju raid. I could understand. He hadn't spared any detail. After all, if I agreed to go with him, I'd be the one facing a damn monster above S-rank, capable of killing multiple hunters of that rank, including Goto Ryuko.
Oddly enough… he wasn't worried in the slightest. Seeing Izumi train even like this was just as calming.
"Shouldn't we create more swords?" I finally asked Izumi, he just hummed.
"Hmm, we'll do it, but simply to have more options. In less than a month, we won't have enough time to master those forms to use them effectively in combat. Besides, the monster doesn't have... anything special that we'd need to protect ourselves from or counter, so there's no urgency."
"I mean, unless we can create an anti-insect or anti-ant sword ? Yeah, we don't really need a fancy sword." Izumi finally said, then paused for half a second before continuing. "I mean, sure, we could create something like that, but it's not necessary. The problem isn't really causing more damage." he added quickly. I hummed softly.
"Something to make me faster? Hit harder?" I mean, like Derf, there must be other swords that improve attacks or something? " I asked with a hum.
"Oh, there are so many," Izumi said easily. "Depending on how the swords end up being created, practically any sword from a video game would actually be an option," Izumi said playfully. I stopped myself from agreeing with him.
"Good point. I can think of at least a couple dozen weapons that increase strength or agility, whatever that means in this world," I said dryly. Izumi chuckled slightly.
"Oh, definitely. But as you mentioned, after creating Gravity Blade, you have fewer slots left to create more skill swords, and those swords that only improve strength or speed... they're not really that useful. I prefer to keep saving those slots for swords with more specific skills that will help us."
"Unless we could create something of a very high level that exponentially increases our strength or speed, it wouldn't do much good, and I'm almost certain that such a weapon would kill us both right now. We nearly fainted while creating the Gravity Sword," Izumi said dryly. I grimaced.
"Good point," I said curtly. After that, we continued exchanging ideas about different swords. Honestly, I hadn't even considered the idea that my quirk was capable of something like this, of being able to create more than a measly bullet a day, and now I was exchanging ideas about swords with colossal creation abilities.
It's true that everything has changed so fast and... it didn't really bother me.
Once we both finished training, Lease Izumi and I separated to take showers and return to our dorms. I walked out of the dorm shower topless without a care in the world, drying my hair as I headed to my room.
While I was drying my hair, I heard my scroll ring. I blinked and picked it up before seeing the call. My eyes widened before I accepted the video call. Kasumi and Momo's faces quickly appeared, side by side. I sat up in bed and watched them.
"Kasumi? Momo? To what do I owe this pleasure? " I asked playfully, looking at both of them. Momo snorted.
"What? Now we can't call? Now that you're at UA, you're too superior to us? " Momo asked mockingly. I chuckled.
"I'm superior, not because I'm at UA, but because I'm me." I said petulantly before stopping abruptly in horror. Oh goddess, Izumi was sticking to me way too closely!
"Wow, UA teaches arrogance? That was a bit too much ego for our little Mai, wasn't it, Kasumi?" Momo teased with an amused smile. Kasumi just giggled. I rolled my eyes.
"My ego is fine." Quickly dismissing that.
"I don't know, you got a Meister and now you seem to have a massive ego, I don't know if I should be worried." Momo snorted. I rolled my eyes.
"My ego is normal," compared to Izumi. "But putting that aside, I'm glad you called." I said with a small smile.
"Of course! We're friends!" Momo said firmly.
"We are," Kasumi said more calmly. I smiled at both of them.
"Yes, we are." I nodded contentedly. I... I really didn't expect them to want to stay in touch after I left Shiketsu. They were the closest thing to friends I had in Shiketsu. I thought they were with me because of the Zenin family, or out of pity, or something, but I'm glad I was wrong. "So, any news from Shiketsu?" I asked curiously. Momo just sighed and shook her head.
"The same old thing, regular classes, training, internships, the same old thing," Momo said easily.
"It's definitely not as lively as UA, it seems." Kasumi said playfully, and I complained loudly.
"I wish UA was more boring!" I complained loudly. "Or at least that my Meister wasn't involved in so much trouble!" I grumbled in annoyance.
"Can't you... get another Meister if it's... such a big deal?" Kasumi asked worriedly. I just sighed and waved my hand.
"Don't worry, I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining. The truth is... I really wouldn't change a thing," I said with a small smile. "Even the difficult or not-so-pleasant parts, I really wouldn't change a thing. I'm glad I found my Meister." I sighed softly.
"You're in love," Momo said, her eyes sparkling. My eyes widened before I felt my face flush.
"I'm not!" I snapped forcefully.
"Oh, you definitely are," Kasumi said with a wide smile. I groaned loudly, completely embarrassed. "You know... the UA festival is in a few weeks, we can go and meet your 'dear' Meister," Kasumi said excitedly, my eyes widening even more.
"No! You can't come! " I hissed furiously.
"Ooh, Kasumi, you've had the best idea ever," Momo said with a huge, mischievous grin. I groaned loudly before finally giving in.
"It'll be good to see you again." I groaned, finally calming down, and the two girls nodded as well. "So? How are the others? Is Muta still healthy? Didn't she relapse? Aoi Todo, still just as unbearable?" I asked curtly. They laughed.
"Oh, they're fine. Should we take them to UA? I remember Muta saying she tried to get into UA but didn't make the cut. Maybe she'd like to see the campus." Momo said with a smile. I shrugged.
"Do whatever you want," I said, waving my hands. After that, we started talking about everything and nothing, and before I knew it, a couple of hours had passed before the call ended. I groaned and stretched lazily. I looked at my half-open books on my desk and groaned. Reluctantly, I sat down at the desk and opened the books.
After a few minutes, my bedroom door suddenly opened and I tensed up, before relaxing a little when I saw Maki in the doorway.
"Don't you know how to knock on the door?" I asked curtly.
"You're going to Jeju," Maki said, ignoring me as she entered my bedroom without permission. I just sighed as I continued doing my homework.
"Yes, I'm going," I said simply, barely paying attention. "We discussed it in front of you the other day, when we met," I added. I could feel my body tense up. Even though we were... better now, it was still slightly awkward being around her. I was still angry with her, though I could now admit it wasn't as much as I'd like, and with each passing day, that anger... just diminished more and more.
After all… she was my sister, my twin. Yes, she did something stupid, something that really bothered me, something truly selfish, but also… she did it for herself too. I could understand that. It was something she wanted to do with all her heart, and I would have supported it, I wouldn't have liked it, but I would have supported it. What bothered me was that Maki had been selfish enough to pursue her dream, even to the point of dragging me along with her.
I hated it, I hated that she dragged me into this, and I was truly furious with her. But I really couldn't keep my anger down. It was just… exhausting. We already had enough to deal with hating the entire Zenin family, even our mother.
Hating Maki compared to that was like comparing a candle flame to a raging forest fire. And I didn't even have the energy to bother trying to keep that candle flame alive.
"It's going to be dangerous," Maki said, finally pulling me out of my daydream. I sighed.
"Wow, a broken S-rank gate, where three raids failed and there were even confirmed deaths of S-rank hunters, is supposed to be dangerous? Who would have thought?" I said sarcastically. Maki snorted, and I saw her roll her eyes as she flopped onto my bed. My eye twitched. I might be forgiving her, but she was still incredibly annoying.
"You don't have to be so sarcastic, sister." Maki teased, lying back on my bed. I continued writing my homework. We were silent for a few seconds. "Izumi... he's for-"
"He's not forcing me to go." I interrupted, knowing exactly what she wanted to ask. We were twins, and even after a couple of years apart, I could read Maki just as easily. "He's not forcing me to go. He even told me to think it over carefully and reconsider. Several times." I sighed dryly.
"And yet you'll still go." Maki said with a defeated sigh.
"And yet, I'll go." I confirmed what Maki already knew. "Izumi is my Meister." I said easily.
"And our fiancé." Maki adds occasionally, I shrug.
"And that too." I said easily. Maki snorted playfully before falling silent.
"I really hoped you'd give up on this," Maki said honestly, and I finally stopped writing.
"What does that mean?" I narrowed my eyes in her direction. Maki looked away without meeting my gaze, yet I could still see a pained expression on her face.
"That... after our argument months ago, when we left the Zenin family, when you mentioned you didn't want any of this, when you had an obvious escape route ready at any moment, I thought you'd accept it, sooner or later." Maki said gently. "You said you didn't want anything to do with being a hero or a hunter, I just thought you wouldn't go through with it." She said honestly, and I stopped.
"I thought about it," I said as I put my books down. "But... things changed." I sighed. "Being... with Izumi, as his weapon and him as my Meister, it just... feels right. Even if I have to face monsters or villains, I need to be with him, it's... my duty as his weapon." I said as honestly as I could. Maki just stared at me before finally nodding.
"Just... take care of yourself." Maki sighed. "I... we're finally getting back on track, I... I don't want to lose you again. And not permanently." Maki said so softly I could barely hear her. I froze. Izumi's visions. My death against our mother. I guess she was thinking about that. My breath trembled.
"You won't." I said gently. We both remained silent for several minutes.
"So... you've already kissed Izumi?" Maki asked, and I looked at her incredulously.
"Of course not! What's wrong with you! Asking something like that after that talk?! " I blurted out incredulously. Maki shrugged.
"It seemed appropriate. You sounded in love with Izumi, and you spend a lot of time with him, you as 'his weapon' and him as 'your meister.' I thought you'd take advantage of the opportunities. I'm disappointed." Maki said, shaking her head. I blushed deeply.
"He's my meister! Not in any weird way! Stop saying it like that! " I blurted out, embarrassed. Her too?! After Momo and Kasumi, did Maki also have to make the same comment? Maki just smiled shamelessly.
"I won't deny it, sister, I can read you like an open book," Maki said confidently. I glared at her.
"Huh? Like an open book? You can barely read, you damn gorilla! All you do is train! " I mocked, Maki's eye twitched slightly.
"Oh, damn it—" Maki threw my own pillow at my face. Oh, that damn gorilla. I grabbed the pillow and lunged at her.