9 Chapter 9 : Close

*A/N*: I created a discord recently if you want to talk or just see lewd pics: https://discord.gg/pRaqNADp7C

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"Look here, Sweetie! Is it better than the previous one?" Said Miku showing Kurai a collar for the umpteenth time.

The said cat was currently resting in Akio's arms. When he heard her, he turned his head to the right, 'Ain't no way I'm wearing a collar woman!' His pride wouldn't let him. He was still a human at heart, after all.

Miku, seeing his gesture, understood again that he didn't like it. She let an exhausted sigh out.

*Sigh*

They have been at this for a good hour now. "Okay, okay Sweetie I won't insist more… I get it, you don't want to." She looked at him with a smile.

"But you have to understand that if you're lost someday, this will be the only way for us to get you back!"

Kurai proudly raised his head to the ceiling.

"Meow!"

'Heh, me, getting lost? If you only knew…' He derisively thought.

Akio looked at his wife, "You know Dear, he's a very smart cat, I'm sure he won't ever be lost."

He continued. "And if that happens, I'm also sure he'll find the way back alone." He said the last part looking at Kurai and rubbing his little head.

"I know but—…" Miku wanted to add something before Akio interrupted her gently.

"Now, now, Dear, you're just being a scaredy-cat no? Ahaha!" He joked to lighten the mood.

Miku exhaled again. "Fuuuu…" She relaxed the tension of her face and smiled.

"Indeed, you're right! Ahah!" She approached them and rubbed Kurai's head too.

"You're Mama's smart boy after all, right?"

"Our! Ahah!" Added Akio.

"Anyway let us go Dear, we already stayed here too long, we should visit other stores too!" He pulled on his wife's hand and gave her Kurai instead.

He liked resting in her arms more, that much Akio understood.

Since they wasted a lot of their allotted time in the pet shop they decided to go to other floors.

Cocoon 3, the building they were in, was composed of 3 floors.

They only visited the first one as of now, and were moving upstairs. The second floor was mostly composed of bookstores, manga, and other shops for phones, computers, or any other devices.

All of a sudden a female robotic voice echoed in the mall.

"Dear customers, Cocoon City facilities will close in about an hour. And this notice is applicable to every Cocoon building, from the first to the third. Thanks for your understanding, and we wish you a good shopping session in Cocoon City."

Miku glanced at the speakers from where the voice was coming from. "See Sweetie, we gotta go soon. " She looked back at him.

"Miaw." Kuria tried to sound apologetic.

But Miku continued to rub him as if understanding him already.

'Anyway, malls were a trend in my time too. But so much developed? Heh.' He lamented as they were climbing on the elevators.

When they reached the 2nd floor, Kurai saw a bookstore in the corner of his eye. 'I should use this opportunity to learn more.'

He then jumped out of Miku's embrace with agility. "Miaou!" He looked back at her, trying to signal her to follow him.

He resumed his course toward the bookstore "Ah! Wait Sweetie!" She chased after him with a bit of worry.

Akio followed them, chuckling at her wife's worries.

Kurai reached the bookstores and waited for Miku to come back.

She came a few moments later, with a short breath. "You shouldn't run away like this!" Miku berated him cutely, with her index raised.

'Oh seems like I didn't lower my speed enough under the excitement.'

"Come here, we were going to the bookstore anyway, I have to buy something for a friend in Hiroshima." Miku continued and opened her arms for him.

Then, Kurai swiftly jumped in her bosom, and they entered the store.

They mostly saw rows and rows of manga, classed neatly by categories. 'Oh I see, this is one of Japan's biggest industries,' Kurai noted.

He observed the covers but nothing seemed to appeal to him 'Eew… why most of the covers are little girls in skimpy clothes?'

Miku saw him looking and said, "You wanted to take a look? Alright let's go!" She added excitedly without waiting for him.

'Sigh, I guess she likes this kind of reading instead of books…' They entered an alley named 'Shonen'.

Miku went straight toward the end where a shelf could be seen.

There lay the manga which sold the most copies this month.

Meanwhile, Kurai reflected on what he saw until now, 'Most of the manga use female exposure and harem to appeal to the reader huh?' Indeed there had been too few instances where he saw a Shonen without a harem when he walked in with Miku.

'A harem though? Is that the average Japanese man's dream?' He sneered.

Miku was still going through the manga's panel. 'Now that I think about it… I never had one.'

'Fucking different girls on the side isn't the same as dating multiple women at the same time.' He thought, reflecting on his past.

He added, grimacing, 'And with the girls not killing each other…'

'This must be why it works only in fiction, huh. But should I give it a try?...Ummm...Maybe I—' He turned his attention to the entrance, seeing Akio finally arriving.

The man took his time coming, instead of running after him like his wife.

"Hey! Dear…" He tried to converse with her but seeing her so immersed in her manga, he preferred silence.

"Come here Kurai!" Instead, he opted for taking charge of their cat.

Their cat, who escaped Miku's clutches to settle on Akio's. "Let's go to the book and newspapers section of the store." He told Kurai.

"Meow!" He tried to approve of his decision. 'Finally something more productive!'

"Ahaha! I see, you don't like manga that much too, huh?" Akio laughed, finally founding a fellow like him in Japan.

Kurai was observing his surroundings again while they walked. He saw some creepy dudes laughing and salivating in the corner, 'What's this—' He raised his little head.

'Oh, hentais, that's the equivalent of magazine porn from my time, if I remember correctly.' He recalled Playboy and some others.

'Mmh, they are the so-called 'degenerates' of Japan huh? A bunch of perverts…' He looked away, not wanting to waste anymore more brain cells on them.

Finally, he and Akio reached the book section.

There, a lot of books about heroes, or biographies could be found. But work of fiction too. Akio though, was walking toward the newspapers. But something caught Kurai's eyes. 'Wait I think I heard of her somewhere!'

'Yes that's right in one of the TV shows! They briefly talked about the tragedy of 9 years ago...Nana Shimura's death...'

Akio saw him but decided to let him go. A cat couldn't read after all…

Kurai climbed the shelf and looked at the book, it was a book recalling the events at that time. He went around the book and read its back cover:

`Nana Shimura impromptu death at an unknown villain's hand.`

'Symbol, and role model of the young generation, more particularly little girls all around the world aiming to be a hero like her, this was Nana Shimura profile. Learn more about how she grew up, where she studied and how she met her end by reading this book.' Kurai finished reading.

'Role model of little girls all around the world, huh? True enough.'

Kurai completed, 'And I can understand why, it must have been the first time a woman rose to the top of the rankings. Many girls would've then dreamed of having the same career as her.'

But the book in itself didn't interest him that much, how could something who used a person's death be worth his time? The book was probably another propaganda pushing young people with 'dangerous' quirk into the 'right path'.

There, he also saw books about All Might, and his escape to the States after his mentor's death. And the books went on and on about his 'cowardly act'.

'Sigh, this is what happens when you leave public opinion in the hand of incompetent people, people who never fought their whole life, and people who were basically spoon-fed, never having to struggle for something. All the while working behind a desk.' Kurai ranted venomously.

He also surprisingly discovered the 'talking mouse's' book: 'Tips for a verbal argument or how to win each talk'.

Kurai noted. 'Um, definitely useful. That rat got brains.'

That's how the time passed for them; Kurai skimming through relevant books and Akio reading today's newspapers. Until Miku joined them back after reading her manga, just a few minutes before the closing hour of the mall.

The little family started going back to the exit at the same time as other people, no, it would be more correct to say that every customer from Cocoon 1 to 3 was going back. It was nearly 6 pm, and a lot of stores closed around that time of the day.

Seeing the time, Miku opened her mouth, "Um, we'll be back around 10 tonight... I guess I should ask Kunishe to bring us dinner when he comes to get us back." She thought out loud, nodding to herself.

"Good idea Dear!" Added Akio from the back, with Kurai in his arms. Who was showing his thankfulness to him after such an informative day, while he didn't buy any book because of his actual form, just skimming through the back covers of most of the books gave him a more than enough global understanding of the world.

They would soon see their car in the parking lot. But at the same time Kurai, who wasn't sleeping for once, saw a car far away, driving a bit too fast. 'Um...? I can't determine his speed because of the distance...' He, nonetheless, still kept an eye out for it.

***

[Back in time for a bit.]

A creamy blond hair little girl, adorning an angelic smile, all of a sudden, exclaimed to her friend.

"Look! Look! Nemuri-chan! That's my Nana poster!" She looked back at her best friend, with her smile widening.

Nemuri looked at her too, and murmured her answer, loudly enough for the blondie, Yu, to hear it. "I know I was there when we both bought a poster…" Her face reddened the more she looked at Yu.

Finally, feeling like she couldn't bear it anymore, she tore her gaze away from her purple eyes.

"Moouh! You're no fun Nemuri-chan!" She said with an overly aggravated tone.

Nemuri kept her head down from embarrassment, seeing other people looking at them, and her mother chuckling on the side.

She knew deep down that she was socially awkward, very much so but she still kept her smile even though she was embarrassed.

But she couldn't say that she disliked those moments with Yu. 'It's being with her that makes the moments good!' She idly thought.

For a few moments, they continued their little banter before Yu asked a seemingly innocent question.

"Hey, hey, Obasan! Is Oji-san good now?" While it may seem like an easy question to answer for Yuna, that wasn't the case at all. [1]

'Um, my husband? Oh…' She pondered for a while until it clicked.

"Did you overhear your mom talking about him?"

Yu nodded fervently, "Um, um, that's right!"

"Makes sense...Ahaha! Yeah, anyway, he still sleeps sometimes when he forgets his quirk!"

Nemuri forced a smile, remembering her father's quirk, which put whoever consumed his bodily fluid to sleep. In this case, he was mainly the one suffering the most, even if he developed a slight immunity.

Without missing a beat, Yu continued, "I see, he can sleep a lot this way! I love to sleep too!" Yuna couldn't help but rub her little head before such cute childishness.

Yu leaned on her hand, and relaxed, her smile shining even more, rivaling the sun's brightness.

"Do it more! More Obasan! It always feels so good!" Nemuri could be seen nodding wisely on the side.

"Oh! My bad, it activated instinctively" Said Yuna referring to her quirk, awoken by her motherly instinct.

It should be good to know that her quirk allows her to produce a calming aroma from her body. Like some sort of perfume. Which activated when she patted Yu's head, further enhancing the power of her pats.

Yu continued to relish in that feeling with a sloppy smile, not bothered at all by her apologetic tone.

"Hehe!"

Yuna then stopped, which directly caused Yu to snap open her eyes and look at her with puppy's eyes, asking for more.

"Nuh-Nuh little lady! The usage of quirks isn't allowed in public! I did that by error." Yuna shook her finger.

Yu continued but saw that it didn't work. "Humph, mean Obasan!" She walked forward and took Nemuri's hand.

Nemuri blushed at the closed between them, while Yu looked back and added, "I hope Nemuri-chan will have your quirk so that way I'd have unlimited pats!" She nodded to herself and resumed her walk looking high above, feeling proud of her remark.

Yuna shook her head at the kids' behaviour; her daughter, lost in her own world, and Yuna's direct & honest attitude.

This is why when they reached the parking lot, she couldn't see the car speeding right toward the little girls sooner… They obviously didn't even see it too, each being occupied with their thoughts, until the car's headlights made them snap their eyes to it.

Nemuri and Yu directly focused their senses on the blinding lights, but stopped in their tracks when they both understood what was coming.

As they were soon to be 4 years old girls, the aspect of death never crossed their minds yet. So getting confronted to it so early was a huge shock for them.

Nemuri managed to recover her shock first but the fear was too overwhelming for her, she could only plunge her head into Yu's inexistent chest. Gripping her with all the strength she could muster.

Yu on the other side lost her smile and only looked at the car with wide-eyes.

As the car approached the little girls, someone else further away already saw the car coming way before. 'Fuck, fate had it that they had to cross the street at the same time as this crazy mofo...'

While he did say previously that he would help people in need because of his 'selfishness', he was referring to 'those times', being in the alleys, with no one around. Not helping people in broad daylight.

The situation didn't wait for him to unfold though, the car was still driving toward them, as it just grabbed Miku and Akio's attention too.

10 meters.

That was the distance separating them, and the car was still approaching the girls with a speed triple the maximum authorized one. It was around 20 meters away when...

Before he knew it... Kurai moved instinctively, his brain had yet to process it, and one second later he crossed the 10 meter gap, pushing the little girls out of the car's way. Just in time to save them.

It's not that he didn't want to save them, what held him back more was the fact that it was in plain sight. In the end he couldn't make a choice, even if it seemed cruel, so his body didn't wait for a command and moved.

Kids were his weak spot, and his body couldn't let them die in front of him without battling an eye.

What he didn't notice too, was how Miku wasn't pushed back. What should've happened was her getting a backslash from Kurai accelerating from 0 to around 35km/h. Which in fact, should've pushed her back, but Kurai unknowingly used a very sloppy form of Shunpo, no, could it even be called Shunpo at this point?

What his body wanted to do was, going from point A to point B with the least amount of steps, and it did. Albeit not like the original, no… Very far from that.

Sadly, it happened unconsciously and Kurai didn't notice it. But 2 other people did.

'Shit I've done it now.' He thought after distancing himself from the 2 girls still on the ground.

He felt 4 pairs of eyes on him before the passers-by started noticing too. He could guess that Miku and Akio were looking at him, and then maybe the little girls' 'mom' and finally one of the little girls? 'Probably.' He thought.

""Beautiful."" He heard 2 dazed and small voices at the same time before feeling someone grabbing him.

Kurai was surrounded by a soft material, with a sweet smell. He could even hear, albeit with difficulty, female footsteps running toward them. But he couldn't see anything.

Everything was dark. As if someone hid the sun away.

[1] : Obasan/ Oji-san : Aunty, Uncle