"Move, Tsurugi… I have to go."
"No way, Hasumi."
"No matter what?"
"No matter what."
In the meeting room of Trinity's renowned Justice Task Force, Vice-Chair Hasumi Hanekawa and Chair Tsurugi Kenzaki locked eyes in a tense standoff. Normally, their bond—forged through friendship and trust—outshone all others in the group, whether in peacetime or on duty. But today was different.
"Fine… I'll force my way through!" Hasumi declared.
"Bring it!" Tsurugi shot back.
"Wait, stop!" cried Toriko.
"Hasumi-senpai, no!" pleaded Mashiro.
"Hasumi-senpai, taking on Tsurugi is reckless—please reconsider!" Ichika urged.
"Thanks for the concern, Toriko, Mashiro… but this is urgent!" Hasumi insisted.
"You don't have to go this far!" Toriko protested. "Did you just call this 'no big deal'!?"
"This is my life—my purpose! Tsurugi, move!"
"Never," Tsurugi growled.
Their glares clashed, hands twitching toward weapons. Tsurugi's eyes sharpened like a predator's, her long hair bristling with raw intensity.
"Why, Tsurugi? Why are you stopping me!?" Hasumi demanded.
"…"
"Why are you blocking me from getting the limited-edition Special Cream Puff!?"
"Because you're on a diet," Tsurugi replied coolly.
Hasumi clutched a crumpled pamphlet, her voice breaking. "It's finally here! The Special Cream Puff—rare, limited to double-digit stock! I've missed it three times! This time, I have to get it!" Tears streaked her face.
"I get it," Tsurugi said. "But weeks ago, you told me, 'If I try to eat sweets, stop me at all costs.' So here I am."
"Curse past me!" Hasumi wailed.
"And how many times have you done this with every limited-edition sweet? Ichika, Mashiro, Koharu, even Toriko—they've all helped with your diet. Are you going to waste their efforts?"
"Ugh…" Hasumi faltered.
"Toriko even worked at the cream puff shop while helping you," Tsurugi pressed.
"Ughh…" Hasumi's resolve wavered, her rifle dipping slightly.
"Even so," Hasumi said, voice firm again, "I won't give up! I'll get that Special Cream Puff!"
(She's using that line in the wrong context…) Toriko thought.
(When's the last time Hasumi-senpai looked this serious?) Mashiro mused.
(She's so cool… but this is about a cream puff…) Ichika sighed.
The three juniors watched, half-sidelined, as Hasumi, possessed by her craving, raised her rifle, Impairment, aiming at Tsurugi's forehead. Her voice, calm yet absurdly dramatic, cut through the room.
"I swear—sick or healthy, always and forever—enjoying sweets is my justice."
"No way that's true," Ichika muttered.
"If that's your justice," Tsurugi said, gripping her dual pistols, Blood & Gunpowder, "I'll stop you—as your friend. That's my justice."
"Cool… but this is about sweets, right?" Mashiro whispered.
"We should back off," Toriko said. "We won't survive if we get caught up."
As the juniors retreated, Tsurugi aimed at Hasumi.
"For my justice, I'll stop you," Tsurugi declared.
"For my justice, I'll defeat you," Hasumi countered.
The Justice Task Force's top two were about to clash in an unprecedented battle.
"TSURUGI!"
"HASUMI!"
"So… Hasumi got wrecked by Tsurugi and ended up here," Mash summarized.
"Not wrecked! My sniping skills are superior!" Hasumi protested, bound in ropes.
"And close-quarters combat?" Mash asked.
"I'm skilled there too! But… no one beats Tsurugi up close!" Hasumi admitted.
The fight had ended in Tsurugi's victory. Both were elite, evenly matched overall, with Hasumi unrivaled in sniping at Trinity. But against Tsurugi in direct combat? No chance. Hence, Hasumi's current predicament.
"My Special Cream Puff…" Hasumi whimpered.
"I bought one. Want it?" Toriko offered.
"Really!?" Hasumi's eyes lit up.
"No," Tsurugi snapped.
"Ugh…" Hasumi slumped.
"Haha, she's been like this since yesterday," Toriko laughed.
"Sensei, can't you do something?" Mashiro asked.
"What can I do?" Mash replied.
"It's just… seeing Hasumi-senpai cry is too much," Toriko said, voice soft.
"Toriko…" Hasumi's heart twinged.
"How about I train you?" Mash suggested.
"…What?" Hasumi blinked.
"Great idea!" Ichika cheered.
"Huh!?" Hasumi stammered.
"Agreed," Tsurugi said.
"Seconded," Mashiro added.
"I'm in!" Toriko nodded.
"All three of you!?" Hasumi gasped.
Mash saw the solution: to help Hasumi's diet succeed, he'd become her trainer.
"I'll oversee your training," Mash said.
"N-no need! You're busy, Sensei!" Hasumi protested.
"No worries. The girls handle patrols, and I'm mostly free," Mash countered.
"But dragging you into my diet…" Hasumi trailed off.
"If a student's struggling, I help. That's what teachers do," Mash said.
"Very Sensei-like," Mashiro noted.
"Kihyahya! Get to it, Hasumi!" Tsurugi laughed.
Hasumi despaired. Mash Burnedead, Kivotos' strongest human weapon, as her trainer? His workouts, born from his father Regro's brutal regimen, were unimaginable. Training under him wouldn't just burn fat—it might erase her very existence.
"The Justice Task Force is about teamwork, right?" Hasumi said slyly.
"Hasumi-senpai?" Toriko asked, wary.
"Helping a struggling teammate is justice, isn't it?" Hasumi pressed.
"Wait a sec—" Mashiro started.
"I've got it!" Hasumi declared. "I don't have to train alone. You all join Sensei's diet with me!"
"WHY!?" the three juniors cried.
"It'll be fun together!" Mash said cheerfully.
"Sensei!?" they gasped.
Hasumi had dragged all four into her torturous diet. "The more, the merrier" became "we suffer together." Was this justice?
"Hasumi, that's too much—" Tsurugi began.
"Tsurugi!" Hasumi interrupted. "Training with Sensei means spending time with him. Sweating together, refining our bodies, sharing moments… that's youth!"
"—!" Tsurugi froze.
"Youth…" she whispered.
"Exactly," Hasumi smirked.
"Youth… with Sensei… KIEEEE!" Tsurugi squealed, blushing furiously.
"Plan worked," Hasumi grinned.
"Is this… justice?" Ichika muttered.
"Tsurugi-senpai got played…" Toriko groaned.
"Calm down, Toriko. We'll die together," Mashiro said.
"That's not reassuring!" Toriko wailed.
"Let's get started. My toned-down menu," Mash said.
Thus began the "Mash Bootcamp," a grueling regimen Hasumi's diet had morphed into, dragging her juniors along.
As expected, Mash's training was based on Regro's brutal methods.
"My legs… won't move…" Hasumi gasped.
"Haa… haa…" Mashiro panted.
"Toriko… you okay?" Ichika asked.
"I see… the Cream Puff Club… across the Styx…" Toriko mumbled, delirious.
"She's hallucinating! Toriko, stay with us!" Mashiro cried.
The trio—Ichika, Mashiro, and Toriko—faltered with each round, exhausted. Yet they completed the menu, Toriko fainting briefly before resting. The regimen, even "toned-down," included:
500 sit-ups
30-minute run
500 burpee jumps
Repeat 5 times
Hasumi, under Mash and Tsurugi's watchful eyes, tackled the final burpee round with desperate fervor.
"More rhythm!" Mash coached.
"Y-yes…" Hasumi gasped.
"Better timing!" Tsurugi barked.
"Y-yes!" Hasumi wheezed.
"Shed your worldly desires!" Mash shouted.
"Yes! …Oh, I'm craving a parfait," Hasumi mumbled.
"SHED YOUR DESIRES!" Tsurugi roared.
"S-sorry…" Hasumi whimpered.
"100 more! You got this!" Mash encouraged.
"How… are they so fine?" Toriko panted, watching Mash and Tsurugi.
"Those are humans who've transcended," Ichika said.
"Mash-sensei's not even sweating. What is he?" Mashiro muttered.
Mash knew the training was brutal for Hasumi, but without it, she'd never succeed—and never enjoy sweets guilt-free.
"For sweets… for myself… for everyone!" Hasumi shouted.
"That's the spirit! My best friend!" Tsurugi cheered.
"50 more! Fight!" Mash called.
For herself, her accidental victims, and Sensei, Hasumi finished the last 50 reps.
"F-finally… done…" she collapsed.
"Good work. Here's a treat," Mash said, handing her something.
"Sweets!?" Hasumi's eyes sparkled.
"Protein," Mash corrected.
"Why!?" Hasumi wailed.
"Protein within 30 minutes post-workout is essential. And Tsurugi just said no sweets," Mash reminded her.
"Right…" Hasumi chuckled weakly. "But now—"
"See you next week, same time," Mash said.
"…It's not over?" Hasumi paled.
"Exercise isn't a one-day thing. I'll stick with you for a week," Mash said.
"Nooo!" Hasumi cried.
A week later, Hasumi hit her weight-loss goal, and the others toned up—a grand success!
…Or not.
"No sweets for a while, senpai," Ichika said.
"What?" Hasumi gasped.
"Punishment for dragging us into that death rotation," Mashiro added.
"Here's Mash-sensei's menu… for if you gain it back," Toriko said, handing her a paper.
"I'll be watching," Tsurugi growled.
Hasumi, banned from sweets, stood at the edge of despair.
"Let's all watch our eating," she muttered.
She did, somehow, get to eat the Special Cream Puff. A happy ending… maybe?
Toriko panting through training… cute, right? Totally cute. (Fact.)
Still screaming "Thank you, Yostar!" for Hasumi's memory lobby.
Note: Fixed Mashiro's name (was mistakenly Kotama, a different character).
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