- Chapter 2 - The secret lab...and something more

Risa was still looking at Aky with a blank expression on her face...

"Eh?..."

"I said, I want to join you!"

Aky speaks up a bit louder...Risa snapped out of it as she finally tells a normal sentence:

"I'll...I'll think about it..."

She knew that Aky does a good job at keeping secrets, though she wanted to see if he really is ready to join the private projects of her group...

"It's a secret lab after all! But...you didn't have to get in my room to tell me that!"

Aky just puts his tongue out and says:

"I think it would have looked cool!"

Risa sighs and pinches his cheek a bit...

"You are smart, but sometimes you really act like a dummy...anyways, I will think about your request to join the lab, just give me some time..."

Aky nodded a bit while smiling as he soon enough wished his roommate a good night and got back into his room where he almost instantly fell asleep...though Risa had a hard time falling asleep after this conversation, she sent a message to her best friend Okure Sayakawa who worked with her in that lab before she fell asleep, they agreed to meet eachother in a café tomorrow...

The next day...

Risa got pretty early in the bar that day as she looked kind of nervous, the thought of rejecting Aky's request to join was something that was bumming her a lot, after all she did view him as an amazing friend and she almost never says no just like him, she wasn't sure if he would be serious in that job and how will he manage it while working with her grandfather, though Aky does remember the things he has learned in his past as well as all the martial arts and sword techniques he has learned, but he doesn't remember the faces of the people that taught him those things, Risa doesn't know those things even after 2 years of being his roommate...

Soon enough her friend Okure has arrived, she was about the same height as Risa, medium sized blonde hair and bright silver eyes...

"You came a bit early Ri Ri! What is it that you want to talk about?"

Okure sat down as she almost instantly looked at Risa with a smug look on her face, she poked her cheek a few times as she says:

"Oooh, I know what it might be! You're not a virgin anymore! You've found a boyfriend!"

Risa instantly gets all pouty and pushes Okure's hand away...

"No, Okure!! Stop it! I'm...still a virgin, okay? I wanted to talk about something else and it's very serious and important!"

Okure puts her hand under her chin as she seems to be interested...

"Aww, still a virgin...anyways, I'm listening to you! It might be worth my attention!"

Risa took a deep breath as she puts both of her fists on to the table...

"Listen Okure, I know you are usually acting silly and I accept it, but now I really need your help, you are my best friend and I trust you the most! So keep this a secret between us, okay?"

Okure sighs...

"Another secret Risa? It must not be something as silly as your other small secrets, I'm still holding those secrets between us two...so just shoot it and tell me, I won't tell anyone!"

Risa calms a bit down and begins her talk:

"So I'm sure you know about my roommate, Aky, you know, the tall, dark haired guy with green eyes that works with my grandpa...well, he is one of those demi-humans, but he is a rare one, a dragon...and he also wants to join us in our work, he wants to be a hero, yes...he can hide his horns and tail in the public, so that makes his true identity unnoticable...also, I am not sure if he has any combat skills to be a hero...so please, what I need you to do is to not tell anyone that Aky is a demi-human and tell me what would be the best for us to do, shall we reject or accept him to us?"

Okure seemed to listen every word Risa has said...then she smiled after a few seconds...

"I see, so Aky is one of the demi-humans, perfect! Even if he doesn't have any combat skills, I can teach him plenty of stuff! After all, I'm a master at swords! If he isn't a sword fighter, there are a few people like Kida who can teach him! You do know that Kida is a master at martial arts! So I think we can accept him after all, he is a part of the strongest demi-human species so his abilities are a big advantage for him! We do have a few demi-humans working with us, riiiiiiiight?"

Risa's expression got more bright after Okure said these words...she nods and says:

"Yeah, yeah!! That's right! I might be a bit too overprotective towards Aky since he is a rare specimen, but yes! We do hold rare species like him with us...and even they are ready to be heroes like us!"

Okure smiled as she sipped her green tea, Okure is a professional at weilding swords, her hero name...it's "Fire Saber"! She is also slowly making her appearence in the newspapers and other things...though unlike Risa, she appears in the afternoon when the Sun is still there, so she guards the city at day while Risa guards it at night...

"So, how is your boyfriend Okure?"

Okure replies:

"Oh him? Well...umm...we broke up yesterday..."

Risa replies with a shocked expression on her face:

"What?! What did you do to that poor man?!"

Okure rolls her eyes...

"That son of a dog cheated on me...so he deserves it, I'm not bothered about it at all!"

The two continued their conversation...

Meanwhile, Aky was at work of course...he wasn't thinking about the event that happened yesterday since he kind of knew that Risa would not accept him there...but he was also getting a feeling that he might get in there! But it didn't matter to him that much...he just wants to explore and do more activities in here...

"Today I'm finishing a bit earlier...it's Sunday after all, so that means I can get more time to rest and perhaps do some gaming...it's kind of weird for a demi-human like me to be interested in video games, but that's how it is!"

He thought to himself while he was looking at the clock on the wall...

"What should I buy for dinner? Hmm...instant ramen? With some chili? Sounds good enough..."

His shift was soon enough over, he waves goodbye to Haichi...Aky takes a look at his sketch of the dream he had every night as he goes to a nearby store to buy everything for his dinner, he still is trying to figure out why he is getting it and most importantly, where that place is...he thinks that the lab where Risa works has the answers, so it was his plan to join her and try to figure that out...

"It's already nighttime...winter really has short days..."

He said to himself as he exits the store, the clear night sky caught his attention as he was looking at it for a good few minutes, Aky sure does love looking at the stars...

A few minutes later he was back in the apartment, of course Risa was not there, she was doing her duty, while Aky was preparing the instant ramen with chili, he really loves adding the spice to his food...after his noodles were done, he looked out into the streets as he can just admire the beautiful night...he then picked up the TV remote so he can binge watch his favourite movie...

...hours later....

Aky was done with the movie and all the food...he looks out into the window once again as he sees the same sight as he did few hours ago, he thought that he could see Risa once again, but he didn't...oh! It's because she is already inside of the apartment...

"Hmm...what a long day...huh-? Aky? What are you doing?"

She notices her roommate just staring into the streets through the window...he soon enough noticed her and looked back...

"Oh! There you are! You know, I couldn't sleep, so I...you know...just decided to see if I can see you through the window while you are doing your heroic work!"

Risa nodded as she was visibly tired, but she then sat down in front of Aky...

"Aky, listen to me carefully now...it's about the lab, so don't fall asleep while I'm talking! I know you like my soothing voice, but I just want you to listen!"

Aky nodded as he didn't say anything...so he just lets Risa speak...

"Okay then, so...you were accepted to join the lab by our boss...pretty easily actually. But!! If you don't obey this one rule, you will be kicked out after we erase all your memories that are about the lab! Don't tell anyone our intentions, not even gramps! So that is another secret I'm giving you to hold! And you should also be loyal to the boss as well, yes...but you get what I mean! When you get in there, you will be taking a few tests which are for strength, speed, skill and such things...I know you don't want to show me your abilities, but out there, you might need to show them, at least a bit! Not for me, but for yourself so you can get accepted! And once you complete all the tests you will be given a recommended role! But...I'm pretty tired to talk about all of that now...so yeah, tomorrow we are going to the lab at exactly 2 p.m., you got it?"

Aky smiled as he yawned...

"Yeah yeah, sure thing, I'm lucky that tomorrow I'm free from work! Hmm...should we...go to sleep now? Yes, I think I can finally sleep..."

It seems like Aky was staying awake for a bit too long, Risa nodded as she was also moments away from just dropping down on to the ground and falling asleep...same goes for Aky...they both go into their rooms and they both instantly fell asleep...

In the morning...

Aky was awake since about 8 a.m. and just staring at the wall in front of him...

"The dream...what happened to it? I think I heard...a voice...a familiar one...but...I don't remember its words..."

He then just goes into the bathroom so he can get ready for the new day! He was shocked after hearing that voice because he didn't remember its words, up until now he was able to remember every single detail of his dream crystal clear, but now he can't remember a few words of a voice...that was bothering him a lot, but the fact that he is going to the secret lab today made him feel a lot better, so right after eating his breakfast he began to get his outfit ready...right after he began doing that, Risa woke up and just began to stare at him...

"Good morn- um...Aky? What are you doing?"

Aky looked at her as he was having a big smile on his face...

"Good morning Risa! I'm just getting my outfit ready for this exciting day!"

Risa just stared at him...

"Mmm...mmh...yeah, sure...just don't wear anything stupid..."

A few minutes later while Risa was having her breakfast, Aky came in front of her as he shows off his outfit! He didn't pick anything too heroic, he picked something that actually really fits him...a blue scarf, elegant black shirt as well as his favourite grey coat...of course, to match his upper body, he wore grey pants and a pair of elegant shoes...

"So! What do you think?"

Aky stood there proudly...Risa was surprised to see that he actually has a taste in clothing...yeah, he wasn't always good at picking outfits...

"You...you do seem pretty ready...you did hit the spot in your first try! You may go on with that outfit!"

Risa said as she was of course fully awake now...

"We indeed have a few demi-humans in our lab, but I'm worried about one that might harm Aky...we should probably keep him away from her..."

Risa tought to herself as she has imagined another demi-human that is known for challenging newbies into a fight...she wants to keep Aky away from her at any cost...

"So! When shall we go, Risa?"

Aky asks as he was visibly excited to go...Risa looked a bit worried for a few moments before just smiling at him...

"...but, seeing how much willpower he has, she might not attack him...let's just hope she doesn't come early from her mission, I don't want to ruin Aky's first experience..."

She thinks to herself before saying:

"Let's go now! We shall not waste any time!"

Aky's face assured Risa that he was excited...though she didn't know about his real motives, she thought that he just wanted to become the one who saves everyone...that was one of his motives, but he wanted to join so he can perhaps find out at least a bit about his past...

Twenty minutes later...

They both arrived at a big abandoned building...Aky was surely confused...

"Risa, this is just a random abandoned building..."

Risa puts a finger on his mouth as she knew what she was doing...

"Hush! I know what I'm doing! Now let's go in and I'll show you how we get in there!"

Aky nodded as his face was giving an even more confused expression...they both got in as Risa koved towards a random vase on the floor, though it was not just any vase, it was the key part to enter the secret lab...

"Now just stay there! I need to write the password...I'll give you the password on a paper once we are done in here!"

Risa says as she then taps the vase three times in a row, after waiting a bit, a keyboard appears on one side of the vase, Risa slowly began typing the password, Aky leans in and tries to see the password, but Risa was covering the whole keyboard with her hand, it was like when someone is typing their password on an ATM...Aky shrugs it off and just waits for her to finish typing it...a silent beep sound was heard as the vase hides the keyboard and goes back to its normal look, Risa begins walking towards a direction of a random old door...

"Follow me now."

Risa said as she soon opens the door and on the floor of that room was a staircase which was an entrance to the lab, it seems like it is really deep underground...

"The door closes after 2 minutes once it's open, so get in here!"

Aky was admiring how secret it is...he gets on the stairs with her as she closes the door of the staircase with a button on a wall...they began walking down...

"It seems a bit more secret than I've thought...you've really got a great security system out here!

Risa smiles...but now Aky got a feeling that they are doing something more than just running a hero business...

"Not sure why...but I think they are running a business than no one from outside of the lab needs to know about...could it be that they are planning to improve humanity in a way? Or are they perhaps trying to stop an evil company...after seeing so many anime shows and movies, this may be a similar scenario like in some of those fictional worlds..."

Ten minutes later...

They finally arrived after that long walk down the staircase...

"Finally...so I guess the staircase is some kind of a security as well, if someone brakes in they will just give up after five minutes of walking down these stairs! Or...not...heh!"

Risa chuckles...

"I mean, if someone dumb and lazy does get in, this would be very perfect! But it's because the lab is extremely secret!"

The lab was not like any original lab, it was filled with aquariums, test rooms, training areas and such rooms...as soon as they arrived there was Risa's boss waiting along with her best friend Okure...

"So here you are, young man Aky...or should I say, young dragon...my name is Yugi Toshinori! It is a pleasure to meet you!"

He is a man in his mid 40's, he has dark blue hair, black eyes and a visible scar on his neck, he is not very tall, but surely taller than Risa and Okure...Aky steps forward as he shakes his hand with Yugi's hand...

"It's a pleasure to meet you, mister Yugi!"

He knew that Risa needed to say that he is a demi-human...so he wasn't surprised after Yugi called him a "young dragon"...

"Yo! I finally get to meet you Aky! Name's Okure, nice to meet you!"

Aky smiled as he shakes Okure's hand as well...

"So, you want me to show you around a bit before you begin with your tests?"

Aky nodded as he began to follow Yugi, the boss showed him around as he was seeing the rarest artifacts and creatures a human can find in this massive lab, he was amazed...

After a while they finally finished with the tour of the whole lab...

"So Aky, you ready for your tests? I expect a lot from you!"

Aky shows a thumbs up...

"Of course! Boss!"

Yugi smiled at him as he was visibly proud, he sees a lot of kindness and compassion in Aky, though so many willpower and potential...he also knew that there is a possibility, a high possibility, a certain person challenges him into a fight after he finishes his tests...everyone got challenged into a fight with her and everyone lost and only a few certain people got close to beating her...

Now both Aky and Yugi were in a big white room and in front of them were several different looking punching machines, ones were for punches and ones were for kicks...in front of them was a man in a kimono, it was Kido, the martial arts professional Risa ans Okure were talking about...he has a short brown hair, as well as brown eyes, his height is average, he is just a bit taller than Okure who is a bit taller than Risa...he immidiately steps forward and shakes Aky's hand in excitement...

"Greetings, Aky! We've been expecting you! My name is Kido Yagashi! Everyone calls me a master at martial arts, but I'm nothing more than just a professional at it! I will be writing down your results of your physical tests! As well as your tests for combat skill and intelligence! Oh wait...thos are all the tests we have!"

Aky chuckled a bit as he sees that Kido is a very energetic young man...Kido keeps talking...

"Okay! Your first test is muscle strength test! Here we have five different levels of punch and kick strength! For punch strength, level one is a normal punching machine you see at amusement parks, level two is a bronze punch bar, level three is a metal punch bar, level four is a titanium punch bar and the final fifth level is a diamond punch bar! The same is for the kicking machine!"

Aky looked surprised...

"You people really have the money to afford all of this huh..."

Kido laughed a bit as he looked more excited the more he waited...

"Our boss is a billionare! So yes! We have these! Now then...choose your punching or kicking machine and give it your all!"

Aky nodded as he approached the first level of the punching machine...but he didn't look all that amused in front of it, he skipped all the way to level five as he was feeling extremely confident...

"Such...confidence..."

Kido says as he watched Aky just casually going to level five already...Aky looked at the diamond bar for a few seconds before backing up a bit...he rises his left hand in front of him as his right hand forms into a fist...he takes a deep breath and then exhales as he charges his massive punch...Kido and even the people outside of the room can feel the power of his fist as it was getting harder and harder...then...

!!𝙒𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙃!!

Aky's punch perfectly hit the diamons bar which also had several thick layers of diamond...his punch...it was so powerful that it crushed all the layers and left a hole in the machine as it soon enough crumbled...the wall behind the machine also had a massive hole in it...Risa, Okure, Yugi and Kido were watching in shock as they knew that no one ever came close to breaking that machine...except for one person that isn't Aky...

"O-o-o-oh...my...g-god...y-you...you just came here...and just casually destroyed this strongest machine!!! U-um...w-what about the kicking machine? You wanna try it?"

Aky looks back at Kido and nods...he immidiately approaches the level five of the kicking machine, the diamond one...just like the punching machine, it had several layers in one bar...once again...without charging, Aky swings his right leg...

!!𝙒𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙃!!

The kick od his does the same thing his punch did to the punching machine he punched...the kicking machine was now almost fully destroyed, as well as the wall behind it...everyone looked at Aky in shock, Yugi knew that he can easily get the new ones and he does have reserves for those machines so he didn't care about that...Kido wrote on his small notebook:

"Punching machine level 5: destroyed"

"Kicking machine level 5: destroyed"

A few minutes later...they were at a big running field in a different room which was way bigger than the last one...

"Okay! Now here we will test out your running speed and agility!"

Aky puts his hands on the ground as he was ready to run...Kido was surprised at how confident Aky looks...

"O-oh...w-well then, run through that 50 meter field ten times! Ready...set...GO!!"

As soon as Kido said "GO!!" Aky dashed forward as he quickly finished all of those sets...in less than ten seconds, Kido and everyone else were shocked...it was a while since they all were shocked at someone's score on their tests...Kido gulps as he looks at the timer on the wall...

"I-It's...5.56 seconds! This guy...he is something else..."

After a bit they were in the final room...there Aky was met with lots of AI controlled dummies...

"Okay! Your final two tests are here! Here we will test your fist and sword fight skills, we did make a special field in here for archers, but since you are more a melee fighter, you will do it here!"

After giving him the instructions, a fist fight dummy approached Aky as he swung a fast punch...Aky quickly dodges it and delivers a series of fast punches, those combos were from ancient techniques that beat every single modern martial arts technique...

Soon enough came the sword fighting dummy, Aky was given a wooden sword to fight it...and look at that, he was even having sword fighting skills, every time the dummy tries to hit him with its sword, he dodged it or just countered it...soon enough the dummy was completely demolished like the other dummy...Aky's tests were now done...

After a few moments of discussing which type of a fighter he will be, he chose to be a martial artist type of fighter, even though he is equally amazing at fist and sword fighting...

"Aky! That was...astounding! I never knew you had this much power!"

Risa said amazed as she finally knew how powerful Aky is...well...that probably isn't his full power...Yugi and Okure were amazed as well!

...

"Oi, oi, oi!! What's this blabber about?!"

A girly voice came from behind them as they all looked back...it was a girl with long white hair, purple eyes and...messy red horns...her hands also had red claws and scales...she was as tall as Yugi, a bit taller actually...

"It's you...so I guess you actually came here to challenge Aky...Niza!!"

Niza looked at them with a smug smile on her face while her purple eyes shined...

"Indeed I did..."

Aky was shocked...

"Is that...a demi-human? A dragon?"

He said silently...

- 𝙀𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 -