Chapter 24: NO. 24 - Sukuna vs. Mirko

Chapter 24: NO. 24 - Sukuna vs. Mirko

Damn, the unstoppable terminator herself, Mirko.

With a fierce cry, Mirko lunged forward, her leg slicing through the air like a whip. I pivoted to the side, my Ruyi Jingu Bang staff spinning in a blur to block her initial strike. The impact of flesh meeting solid tungsten steel echoed through the clearing, sending a shockwave up my arms.

"Hoh! Not bad! You must be pretty strong to be able to take on one of my kicks!" Mirko yelled as she glared at me.

"Hah! If this is all you got, this will be a disappointing fight!" I roared back.

[+20 SP]

Mirko's left eye twitched at my provocation, causing me to grin.

In the original series, Mirko, or Usagiyama Rumi, was one of Japan's strongest heroes. The woman was an unstoppable force of nature. During her fight with the High-Ends, Mirko continued fighting despite losing her limbs and getting extremely injured.

In other words, she wouldn't stop coming after me unless I knocked her out or killed her.

Killing her wasn't an option; she had an important role to perform in the future, and I didn't want to be labeled as a hero killer either.

That and I didn't want to deprive this world of her thunder thighs.

Damn, these teenage hormones...

Using Nue or the insect-like wings from my Construction technique to escape would be easy. Mirko had no way of chasing a flying opponent. Sure, she could try pursuing me on foot, but she couldn't keep up for long.

But I didn't want to run.

No, I wanted to test myself against her.

Right here and now.

I wanted to see how my refined martial arts prowess did against an actual pro!

Let's see... I currently have the Ten Shadows, Cloning, Bird Manipulation, and Ratio equipped. My eyes looked over at the nearby body of water. Hmm, Disaster Tides would have made this a breeze. Oh, well.

"Let's see how pure skill and CE enforcement alone can do first," I whispered, my staff held at the ready.

Seeing her move again, I countered by thrusting my staff forward, aiming for Mirko's midsection. She ducked low, the golden tip of the staff grazing the top of her head as she rolled to the side.

"I was hoping I would run into you eventually! Who would have thought tonight was my lucky night!" Mirko said with an excited grin. "I'll do the police and those weak heroes a favor by taking you down!"

Quickly regaining her footing, Mirko launched a flurry of kicks—one after another, each kick more powerful than the last. I danced backward, my staff twirling defensively before me, deftly deflecting her powerful strikes. The rhythmic thuds of her feet against the warehouse rooftops reverberated below us as we exchanged blows.

"Is that so? Try your best then, little Rabbit!" I said with an air of arrogance, playing into the role of my namesake.

[+30 SP]

I had to act it up. Win or lose, after tonight, Japan's pro heroes would gain a huge insight into the once-mysterious Sukuna from Mirko.

With a sudden burst of speed, Mirko leaped into the air, performing a spinning kick.

"Lunar Ring!"

My eyes grew wide seeing her rapid spinning kicks. I instinctively reinforced my entire body with CE and raised my staff above my head just in time to absorb the impact. The sheer force of her attack jolted my arms fiercely, staggering me back.

Shit! She's strong!

I quickly repositioned myself, using my momentum to swing my staff down in a sweeping arc.

"Not bad, little Rabbit! Not bad at all!"

Mirko rolled to avoid the strike, but I had anticipated that. As she sprang up, I dashed in and thrust my staff forward, aiming for her legs. She expertly jumped over the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the tips of her boots barely missing contact. As she landed, Mirko delivered a low kick that swept the ground beneath me in an attempt to knock me off balance.

"You're pretty good! But it's time to get your ass kicked!"

"Big talk from such a little package," I muttered as I dashed back and twisted my staff to keep Mirko at bay.

Mirko's smile grew wide at my comment. "Cocky bastard."

[+45 SP]

"Hey," Himiko said, playfully placing her foot on my chest as she used a pickaxe to mine several blocks of iron. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Yeah... I guess I should be," I drawled, placing several wood blocks down for our ambitious mansion. "But who cares, right?"

"Well, shouldn't you be there?" Himiko slowly said as a skeleton walked into her cave, launching arrows at her. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Man, fuck school. My limbs are too sore for me to bother in going." I said as I crafted a wooden door. "Besides, I sent a clone in my place. I love that technique."

"Did I ever tell you your quirk, er, your ability, is broken? Like completely." Himiko continued exploring her cave and came upon some diamonds beside a stream of lava. "Oooh, diamonds!"

"Heh, it is a bit broken. Ain't it?"

After her first week of living with me, Himiko finally mustered the courage to ask about my quirk. Seeing no problem in explaining how my abilities worked to her, I described the concept of curse energy. At first, she was skeptical, but when I had her try on one of my pairs of Maki's specialized glasses, I was able to show her Zaiko and my Shikigami.

From there, I told her what I was currently capable of. Safe to say, Himiko was both amazed and in disbelief at my laundry list of abilities.

I was a little worried about revealing the truth to her at first, but after a couple of weeks together. Himiko had proven herself to be an extremely loyal person.

A very touchy person but still loyal.

After that, telling her what I did at night was easy. That is, without all the gruesome and darker things I encountered or did. All she knew was that I was some sort of Vigilante. This was an easy sell to her, considering the way we first met.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"What do you say about finally meeting some of my friends? What do you think?" I looked away from the game and stared at Himiko with a genuine smile.

[+20 SP]

Himiko looked taken aback and quickly became excited. She placed her controller down and crawled over to lay on my chest, her arms around my neck.

"Really?!" Himiko yelled, seemingly oblivious or uncaring of our current situation. "I can finally meet Mei-chan, Keiko-chan, and Izuku-kun! You mean it?!"

"Yeah, I think so. Now that you have a better handle on your impulses, thanks to the daily doses of blood I give you, I think it should be fine." I brushed back her loose blond hair with a smile. "I trust ya."

[+40 SP]

Himiko smiled widely with a rosy red blush and shoved her face into my chest, causing me to wince.

"Ah, sorry!"

"I-It's fine."

Himiko hummed and rubbed my chest gently to try and soothe my pain.

"Want some waffles?"

"...yes."

-

AN:

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed today's Chapter!

Now, after seeing the sheer number of power stones I received last week, I've come up with some new PS goals for the bonus Chapters, which should let me breathe between uploads so I can write. Hopefully, these are fair, and I hope you all continue to read, comment, and leave funny comments. That is what motivates me to write this.

Sunday - Free Chapter

400 PS - Bonus Chapter # 1

800 PS - Bonus Chapter # 2

1200 PS - Bonus Chapter # 3

1600 PS - Bonus Chapter # 4

2000 PS - Bonus Chapter # 5

2500 PS - Bonus Chapter # 6