A week after Game Dev's adventure ended:
"Work… never ends…"
"Sensei, your face is wilting!"
Mash was dying.
While saving Game Dev, Kivotos saw its usual fights and disputes. Mash handled incident reports, paperwork, and raids on shady adult companies as usual.
"So… much…"
"Sensei, take a break. You've been at it nonstop."
"But it won't decrease otherwise… and no time for training."
The workload overwhelmed even invincible Mash. No one was on duty today because:
"Even for students, rampaging in Seminar was too much. Penalty: three weeks, no duty roster."
Rin's words left Mash alone with a monstrous pile of paperwork.
"Arona-chan, search 'work, reduce, muscle' online."
"No amount of muscle helps with this."
"Right…"
Mash sighed, thinking, If only Yuuka were here… Then, his phone (not Schale's tablet) pinged with an email.
"Who's this…?"
"Sensei? Something wrong?"
"Arona, look."
"An emergency?"
The email was frantic:
"H-help, please!! If this continues, everyone… jksjttjjtt,!, ha!"
Mash sprang into action.
"Can you trace it?"
"Hold on… Here!"
"A minute's run."
"It might be a trap…"
"Even if it is, I can't ignore a cry for help."
"Right, that's you. Got it!"
Mash dashed to the source. If it was a trap—
"I'll just punch it."
At the location, an empty alley, Mash sensed a faint presence.
"Anyone here?"
He felt something approach.
Tap… tap… tap.
"…This feeling."
A familiar bad-adult vibe, like the ex-Kaiser director. Someone Mash already despised.
"Hehe… I've been waiting."
The Black Suit, a Gematria member who deceived Hoshino Takanotsume, stood before him.
"Schale's Sensei… or Mash Burnedead? Been a while… Nice weath—"
WHAM!
Mash, mid-greeting, landed a spinning punch to Black Suit's face.
"Gah!"
Black Suit flew back, crashing into a pile of trash bags.
"…Oops, reflex."
Twitch.
"That was a solid hit… Can't leave him like this."
Mash carried Black Suit to an empty building, treating him. Black Suit's face was not pleased.
In the deserted building:
"I deceived Hoshino, experimented, planned to study her mysteries until she died… but a full-force punch before I've done anything is harsh, no?"
"Reflex, sorry."
"Am I a cockroach to you?"
Black Suit's face, cracked worse from the punch, was bandaged and tightly bound to a chair by Mash.
"So, why're you here, Kuro… Kurosuke-san?"
"Black Suit."
"Right, Black Suit-san."
"I'm sorry for deceiving you. How was my two-day-crafted message?"
"You bored?"
"…"
"Well, it worked."
"I knew you'd come, Sensei."
Black Suit's sticky tone made Mash recoil.
"Stalker? I'm good, thanks."
"Please, just listen normally?"
"You think you deserve that?"
Mash cracked his knuckles. Black Suit's actions were unforgivable, but he might have info, so Mash kept him tied.
"Hehe… I called you for a reason."
"?"
"Join us, Gematria. 'Deltoid Magic: Barbaria—' Wait, please!"
Mash moved to attack; Black Suit desperately stopped him.
"Gematria's the students' enemy, right? No way I'm joining."
"Enemy? I just seek mysteries."
"By putting students in danger."
Mash calmed, lowering his hands.
"That all? I'll untie you, so go home."
"Don't be hasty, Sensei."
"What?"
"Human curiosity never stops."
"…"
"Gematria won't leave until we unravel Kivotos' mysteries. And you, Sensei—a being who can rival gods—I won't let you slip away."
Black Suit inched forward, still bound.
"I'll pursue you, learn everything about you. Punch me, kick me, half-kill me—I won't stop."
He shouted, closing in:
"I won't give up on you! To stop me, you'd have to kill me! What'll it be?"
"…"
Black Suit laughed, his eyes burning with resolve. Mash was stunned—this man was that desperate to know him, to chase mysteries?
"If you're that serious, fine."
"!"
"I'll share my secret."
"A secret… Hehe! Your invincible body's secret? Perfect! Tell me—'but'?"
Mash ripped the ropes off, holding up two fingers.
"Two conditions."
"A deal? Fine."
"First: never touch Hoshino, Abydos, or any students again."
"A shame, but worth it for your weakness."
"Second condition."
"Yes, what—"
Mash handed Black Suit a dumbbell and black training gear.
"Here, take these. Wear this."
"Sensei? What's with the dumbbell and gear?"
"You'll do my training routine."
"…Huh?"
"You gave me impossible tasks before, right? Payback."
"But you cleared those easily!"
"True, but I was annoyed, so this is petty revenge."
"That's harsh."
"Let's go. They say there's no easy path in life."
"They do, but…"
"My secret's my life on the line. Get ready."
Black Suit paused, then—
"Fine."
He shed his suit, donned the gear, and faced Mash with his cracked face.
"I'll take your trial."
"Here we go. First up…"
"Bring it."
"50,000 push-ups and 50,000 sit-ups."
"Hehe… What, 50,000?"
"Ready—start!"
"Wait—"
Black Suit tackled Mash's routine: 50,000 push-ups, 50,000 sit-ups, 10,000 leg raises, 10,000 squats—two sets.
"Ugh… hah… urk…"
"Water, then next: one-hour run."
"One… hour?"
"With dumbbells."
"For… my goal!"
"That's the spirit."
Mash ran at Black Suit's pace as mercy. Black Suit thought his adult stamina would suffice, but—
Running with dumbbells, swinging them, was brutal.
"I do this run almost daily."
"Hah… hah… (Daily?)"
Black Suit realized Mash's insane physicality. Mash wasn't sweating or tired.
"This saved me. Work ate my training time."
"Glad… urk… I helped…"
"You okay? Thirty minutes left."
"…Hehe… ugh…"
"Yikes."
Black Suit pushed through, nearly vomiting, for his goal. Three hours later, he finished, collapsing on a park bench, ashen.
"Burned… out…"
"Black Suit's now White Suit."
"Don't joke…"
"Cream puff? Protein within 45 minutes is key."
"Pass… I'd puke."
"Got it."
Mash ate a cream puff beside the exhausted Black Suit, then spoke.
"You finished my routine. Impressive."
"Thanks…"
"A promise is a promise. My secret."
"I've waited for this!"
"I have a weakness."
"A weakness! Perfect! Tell me!"
"So hyped…"
Mash stared, then revealed it. Black Suit's joy turned to despair.
"My weakness… is…"
"Yes!"
"My…"
"Yeah!?"
"Ears."
"Oh! That's… huh?"
"If my ears are touched or breathed on… I go 'ahh' and lose strength."
"That's it?"
"Yup."
"No other weaknesses? Why's your body so strong?"
"That's the secret. My body? 'Trained a lot.'"
"No flaws? Special traits?"
"Nope."
"…"
Black Suit slumped. His hard-earned info was trivial, his strength just "training."
"My… effort…"
"Told you my ear weakness. Deal's done."
"You're cruel…"
"Hey, I delivered."
Mash kept his word, no deception. Black Suit wanted to punch his past self.
"Black Suit-san, chasing your goals to the death is great. But ruining innocent lives isn't."
"Preaching's useless on me."
"Just saying."
"First time I've been praised. Thanks."
"Sure."
Mash ate another cream puff. Black Suit muttered, "Waste of time…" then stood shakily, face serious.
"Sensei… Mash Burnedead."
"?"
"A warning: Gematria's Beatrice. Be cautious."
"Why?"
"She's our strongest, rumored to have various abilities."
"Rumored?"
"She's secretive. Even her powers are just talk."
"…"
"She chases mysteries obsessively, like she's trying to change herself."
Black Suit muttered, "Said too much…"
"Beatrice is dangerous. More than me, she'll do anything—lives mean nothing to her."
He turned to leave.
"Black Suit-san."
"Yes?"
"Thanks for the heads-up. But don't worry."
Mash raised his fist, declaring:
"I never lose to bad people."
"Hehe… No need for my warning, then."
Black Suit staggered away. Mash watched, then headed back to Schale.
"Beatrice, huh… Why warn me? Whatever, he won't bother students now. All good."
"Beatrice is dangerous. More than me, she'll do anything…"
"I can't lose to someone like that."
Mash steeled himself for a future foe.
---------------------------------------------
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