Unwanted Visitor - Hiroshi's Humanity Arc

End of month four.

Hiroshi woke up, bright and early as usual. He was actually disappointed that he wasn’t training today. He felt his stomach. He had begun to become toned and had grown much more muscle. He curled his biceps.

“Damn, even I’m impressed,” Kuro-Yami laughed. “I can feel your power growing, Hiroshi. You might even be able to take the force of a Carte Blanche soon enough.”

“Well, that won’t stop me from continuing to train hard,” Hiroshi shook his head, avoiding the compliment. He got dressed, had his usual banter with Tomokazu, and then walked downstairs and out the door. He was surprised to see Wisteria absent outside his door. She was usually there and waiting for him. He shook his head. She probably just slept in. He started walking to Wisteria’s cottage. Today they were supposed to go to the movies. Hiroshi began questioning everything.

“How come there are televisions in this world, but no smartphones or vehicles? What kind of movies do they watch here? Are fantasy movies in this world also treated as non-fictional movies?”

“Stop it, you're giving me an aneurism,” Kuro-Yami sighed, covering his ears, but it was no use. He could always hear what Hiroshi was thinking.

As Hiroshi got closer to Wisteria’s house, he noticed that she was talking to a man in the doorway of her house. He had long brown hair, bright green eyes, chiselled jawline and bright cheeks. His nose was a perfect size, and his face was almost exactly symmetrical. His fringe has even spaces in between each strand of hair. Even Hiroshi was shocked at how handsome he was. Unfortunately, Wisteria seemed to be in distress. Who was this guy?

“Grant, I told you already! I’m not getting back together with you!” Wisteria yelped. Hiroshi hid behind the corner of her house. An ex-boyfriend?! She had never mentioned him. He decided to listen in, just to make sure she was safe.

“I just miss you, Wisteria. Think of all the fun we had together!”

“What, like when you beat me up!? Do you think I had fun during that?!”

Hiroshi froze. A million thoughts went through his head at once. Beatings?! Wisteria was beaten?! He clenched his fists. He knew it. The human race was so rotten. Such a wonderful woman, and she gets abuse?! How was that even fair?

“Listen to me, Wisteria. You’re nothing without me. Get back together with me. No man wants to date you like I would,” the man hissed at her. A manipulator too...did this guy's list of bad qualities ever end?

“I said no, Grant! What don’t you understand about that?” Wisteria screamed in his face. Hiroshi smiled. He was happy that at least she could defend herself. What a strong woman.

That’s when Hiroshi saw the fist.

Without thinking a second thought, Hiroshi travelled at near light-speed and grabbed the man’s fist. Wisteria was taken aback at his sheer speed. She had never seen Hiroshi travel at that speed before. Hiroshi grabbed Grant by the collar, spun him around, and smashed him into the wall of Wisteria’s house. He pulled him closer as Grant gasped for air.

“Listen here, you little prick. She told you no, didn’t she? If I see you come around her house again, I will do so much worse than push you into a wall. You understand me?” he growled. The adrenaline rush was something he hadn’t felt since the Tournament.

“Y-Yes! I won’t! I promise, Sir!” Grant yelped out. Hiroshi nodded and dropped him. The man ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. Hiroshi watched and made sure he left. He turned back to face Wisteria, who was blushing. He was overwhelmed by his emotions. He rarely lashed out like that.

“S-Sorry, Wisteria, I think I went a bit overboard,” he said apologetically, hanging his head in shame.

“And I can also dodge near the speed of light,” Wisteria laughed softly, putting her hand to her mouth.

“Oh, right of course, sorry for all the trouble.” Hiroshi could have kicked himself. She had been working on her manna distribution a lot over the past few months, and she had almost mastered light speed. Hiroshi realised that's what training sixteen hours a day over the last four months does that to a person.

“No harm done. I’m just glad you wanted to protect me,” she smiled. Hiroshi tried to keep composed. She was so adorable! “Hey, after the movie, would you like to eat dinner with me and my parents?” she asked, hoping for a yes.

“Well, I...um...you see,” Hiroshi stuttered. He couldn’t let this happen. He was only going to put her at risk. On the battlefield, he wouldn’t be focused. But wouldn’t he be unfocused anyway?

“He would love to go!” a strong arm hugged his right shoulder, and he looked to the figure that appeared to his left. “In fact, Hiroshi was just telling me how bored he was going to be tonight without something to do!”

Kage...

“Oh wonderful! My parents are excited to meet you, Oshi!” Wisteria beamed at him. “I will see you tonight! I’m just going to get my money and I will be right back!” she rushed back into her home, slamming the door behind her. Hiroshi gave Kage a look. His mentor had set him up for a date. Kind of.

“What the hell was that, Kage?!”

“Hiroshi...I know how much you care about that woman. I see Tomokazu and Bibi getting on well. I have a feeling that they will get together soon. Why can’t you too?” Kage asked out of concern for his student.

“I told you my reasons already! Besides, why do you care?!” Hiroshi retorted, annoyed that Kage was pushing it slightly too hard.

“Because I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did,” Kage replied calmly. Hiroshi had no response, so the mentor continued. “There was once a girl I cared about. Stunning. An absolute gem. Her personality was bubbly, like Wisteria’s. I could have settled down with her, and had a wonderful family. However, I let my career get in the way. Shortly after I decided to not reveal my feelings for her, an attack came under the capital. A big one, too. A lot of civilian casualties. Including her,” he took a sigh of distraught, trying to keep his emotions deep in his heart.

“I’m...so sorry,” Hiroshi felt bad for lashing out at his mentor.

“I wish I had told her at least once that I loved her...tell her Hiroshi...before it’s too late,” Kage ended the conversation, patting Hiroshi on the shoulder.

Emotions and love. Why did they have to be so confusing?