THE CURSED GAMER

Chapter 107: Internship (4)

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The Interns were supposed to spend the next week with their mentors, all the time. In other words, they had to sleep in their place as well.

So, after training ended Rumi took a shower first and then Neji did too before going to rest.

However, that night, Neji couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.

Not because anything 'special' had happened, but because he had to sleep on the couch.

Because there was only one bed in the entire mansion. Truly, it was as empty as it suggested from the dining room.

Rumi offered the bed to Neji out of courtesy, while wanting to sleep on the couch herself. But Neji was a gentleman, he couldn't let her sleep on the couch after spanking her ass for two hours straight. She needed something soft to lie down on. That's why he took the couch for himself.

'I should have called mom to send some beds…'

Hours later, he was woken up neither by the chirping of birds nor by the ray of sunlight falling over his face. Instead, he was startled awake by the excited voice of Rumi Usagiyama.

"Wake up, it's already 5 AM!" 

At Rumi's yell, Neji's eyebrows twitched as his eyelids sprung up.

"What…?" He rubbed his eyes a bit before sitting straight. "It's only five?"

"What do you mean only five?" Rumi said, grinning from beside the couch as she stood with a hand on her waist. "I took a morning shower, prepared breakfast, and talked to Ryukyu for a bit, who also is super lazy like you. God, she's so loud when she's sleepy."

She giggled. "Anyway, get freshened up and come to the dining for breakfast. We will continue our match after that-"

Neji cut her off mid-sentence. "Weren't we supposed to go out for a stroll? I am sorry, but is your butt too sore?"

"..." Rumi stared at him blankly. "Listen kid, I am a strong woman. Such minor… injuries are nothing to me. But yeah, we will go for a stroll. I almost forgot about it, my bad."

The last part was not true. She was just trying to fool him into training with her more. Not because she liked being hit on her backside, of course. But because she was now back to full energy.

But she had promised to take this seriously. Neji was still a teen, strong or not. He needed heroic education, for the most part. That's why she had called Ryukyu so early, to ask her for tips.

"Get freshened up quickly," Rumi spoke once again before stepping out of the room.

Neji gave a loud yawn as he stretched his body and strolled inside the bathroom. However, instead of washing his face and brushing his teeth in the normal boring way, he decided to use a [Cleanse Pill] just for today.

To make it seem like he did do something in the washroom, the next five minutes were spent with Neji messaging his girls.

[Yaomomo: We are staying at Ryukyu's office. She said she wouldn't go home this week to keep watch over us.]

[Neji: What about Nejire?], 

[Y: She'll be staying here with me for the week. Hehe, I heard her talking to your mother about that. When your mom was constantly giggling on the phone about how Nejire-senpai was being so considerate about her future sister-in-law, her face was something you'd love to see.]

[N: Oh… Sounds like you two are getting along. A lot of development from that first slap.]

[Y: -_-]

[N: Heh. Also, be careful around Ochako, or as a whole just be careful about the topic. You never know, walls have ears these days. Literally.]

[Y: Okay, okay. You worry too much. I will go now, I haven't brushed my teeth yet.]

[N: Yikes, using your phone even before washing your face.]

[Yaomomo has left the chat]

"Not even a proper goodbye. Tch." Neji sighed in sadness from the deepest part of his heart before shaking his head.

He also wanted to talk to Nejire, but he wouldn't. They have had a heart-to-heart talk after Neji saw the Sports Festival recap. He'll be acting cold until she promises not to take such risks after this.

In the last match in the 3rd year stadium, Nejire was up against Mirio Togata. The young man was trying to finish it quickly since he didn't want to fight a friend too seriously, but Nejire didn't let him. She had the right, of course. She was stronger than most Pros in Japan, she at least had power enough to not let the match end too quickly.

But then, Mirio's new quirk <Black Whip> went out of control again which was why his attempts to hold back were rendered meaningless as Nejire started to fight head-on. In the end, the fight escalated too deep for Mirio to back off, and so he had to use a few strong blows to keep the stubborn girl at bay.

Truthfully, Mirio wasn't wrong at all. He even went out of character as Neji remembered seeing him not holding back against Class 1-A, in canon. All the fault was on Nejire who was going on and on, risking her life even, just because she knew her brother could simply heal her.

"Neji?!!"

A yell from another room caused Neji to blink and come out of his daze. He shook his head at the bloody image of Nejire before yelling out a response and running for the dining.

—★—

"Nice costume." Rumi whistled as she observed Neji's armour. "Makes you look a bit buff, too. I like it."

Neji wore his mask and threw his hoodie above his head before speaking, "Yours is nice too. Glad to finally see it in person. Though…" 

Neji's eyes landed on the start of her thighs. That's where her costume ended, usually. It only covered her crotch while putting her butt on display. But today, the costume was stretched down to almost her knees.

"New changes?" Neji asked, acting oblivious.

"...Y-yeah, it's a new change." Rumi cleared her throat. "I might change back to the previous one if I don't like it… but I will wear this for today," Rumi said in a neutral face though Neji could see a hint of red hue on her chocolate cheeks. 

This was the first time she had blushed in front of him.

"Anyway," she spoke again. "We are getting late. You can use your quirk freely for today. Just don't harm anyone, not even villains, unless necessary. You are pretty fast, so if you really have to, just save the civilians in danger. Other than that, watch."

Then, Rumi turned around and kicked the ground, hopping over the boundary of her estate as Neji followed with blasts of his quirk.

"Also, no quirk unless it's necessary!!"

Rumi's voice rang from metres ahead as Neji sighed and dropped from the sky before trying to imitate her super fast hops.

—★—

There were barely any villains in the city. The few that the two encountered were thieves or robbers, nothing special. That was quite expected in a city where one of the Top 10 heroes resided.

So, Pro Hero Mirko guided her intern, Shatterstar to another city nearby. When they reached that place, they knew something big was happening around the corner.

"Oi! What's up with that commotion?!" Running ahead, Mirko asked a passerby while pointing her finger at the one-story building where smoke was rising with police surrounding the place.

"U-uh!? Oh, it's Mirko!" The guy looking to be in his 20s yelled out. "There's a villain in that building! It's a hot spring, where people were bathing at that moment just when a villain fled inside from the Police."

"Thanks!"

Without slowing down at all, Rumi gave the man a thumbs up before leaping in the air again. Neji followed from behind.

When the police saw her coming, their faces brightened and they started to chatter amongst themselves. From the side, the highest-ranking officer stepped up.

"Mirko, it's an emergency. The heroes we have here are unable to help." The stern-looking bald man with a scar down his face spoke in a rusty voice. He glanced at Neji once before dismissing his existence after realising he couldn't even recognise the costume. "We have managed to evacuate most civilians from inside but… The villain has still managed to take three high school girls as hostages."

Rumi looked at the building. There was smoke above it and many holes were on the walls, clearly made by someone's quirk.

"The smoke is just steam from the hot spring that has become too hot because the control machine broke due to the villain's assault." The officer said after he noticed Mirko's gaze. "That's why we are trying to get the girls out faster… The villain isn't someone with a right mind and has past cases of sadistic assault. For all we know, he might throw one girl in the boiling hot water and threaten us to clear the road."

Mirko frowned at this. "What's his quirk?"

"It's a quirk named <Blade-Tooth> which allows him the ability to lengthen, sharpen, and manipulate his teeth into webs of powerful blades. The blades are sharp enough to pierce steel, easily. And since he has 32 teeth, it's like walking into a rain of blades. That's why all the other heroes are scared to approach him."

At his words, Rumi grinned and chuckled. "Heh, guess it's a bad day. He sounds like a perfect counter to me, but I will get to him."

Blade types were a bad match for strength types. But Rumi had rarely faced problems since she is a speed type as well. However, from the description, it would be hard for even her to come out unscratched... 

"You know," Neji, who's been silent until now, spoke. "You don't have to take meaningless risks, I expect to spend the next 6 days having fun with you."

Both the officer, shocked at his words, and Rumi, amused, stared at him as a wave of golden shockwave swirled around his body. 

"Just let me handle it. I am a counter to almost every type, you should know already."

More so, Neji knew who the villain was, exactly.

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Author's Note: Neji has a week on his hand ???? How shall he spend it?