Zero Rush Pt. 1

“Want another spoonful, honey?” Rush asked.

“Ah… Nope, I’m already full.”

“Please, I made this dessert just for you.”

“Okay, I guess I can have another one—GULP.” She shoved the spoon straight down his throat.

Rush had gotten used to the whole husband-and-wife idea pretty quickly, but Tadashi still felt like he was drowning in all that intimacy.

“Cough, cough… It’s a good dessert, but I’m alrea—GULP!”

“Just one more bite! It’s almost gone.”

Yeah…drowning was a good description.

Walking through the corridors, Rush clung to our arm while Tadashi focused on the sharp glares thrown by all the students.

“She married that loser?”

“How could Miss More accept that?”

“He’s handsome… but compared to Rush, no one’s handsome.”

“Let’s kill him and dump the body in the river.”

I should focus on the bright side! I finally have a girlfriend… or maybe a little more than that. She just gets embarrassed at the thought of hugging, kissing, touching, talking, or even me saying her name.

"Rush… We don’t need to pretend, right? So you don’t have to push yourself so hard."

She turned red just from him calling her by name. Intimacy was a one-way street: if she initiated it, totally fine; if Zero did, it was unexpected.

“What do you mean, h-o-n-e-y?”

The word blasted through Tadashi’s ears like a trombone.

“I mean, everyone knows our marriage is arranged.”

“I guess they have an idea, yeah.”

“So we don’t have to… you know, be that close.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not bothering me to be close!”

Of course that doesn’t bother you — I’m the one they’re trying to kill!

“Besides, the marriage was arranged, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be real.”

We've known each other for a few days... She's definitely rushing things.

“Huh… fine then.”

She was too cute to break her heart.

The week went by, but nothing changed. Our school life was full of affection, but with few answers. We kept trying to put a face to our new sworn enemy, but the answer was always the same:

“I’m sorry, honey, but I can’t tell you about my master. Only the More can have that information.”

“I see, only people… from your family?”

“Oh no, More is a surname the most important members adopt… I don’t think I should have said that.”

The More Cult. So that’s what they were called. We were prying information from her little by little, but progress was painfully slow. Besides, it was much easier to just stamp the guy as the antagonist than to actually face him.

How do you beat a leader like that? If we just kill the guy, who’s to say the cops won’t come after us? And in these bizarre cults, what’s stopping another guy from just taking his place?

Man, I miss the simplicity of RPGs. Find the boss room and kill the dude.

— — —

Outside school, we’d been training a lot lately.

Was Master Zyg being too harsh with us? I don’t think so… it was just easier to watch than to actually do his training.

What are you talking about? I’m the one who has to do this every day!

I get tired by proxy too!

In yet another training session, we were carrying a huge oak tree we had cut down… well, technically me, back when we were still souls.

“Argh… This is way too heavy. Couldn’t you at least get off the tree?”

The Master pretended the log was a surfboard, even making wave sounds with his mouth. Tied by a rope that was already begging for mercy, we dragged the thing bit by bit.

“I miss the days when you trained without complaining.”

“I don’t remember you ever making me carry a tree like this.”

“A tree as beautiful as this one should be put to good use. I'm going to make some furniture out of it. At the rate you're carrying... maybe in a month. Hey, don't use a single drop of mana... understand?” he said, pointing to the mansion in the distance, on the horizon.

Yeah…Sorry, Tadashi, I tried to help, but the guy’s Third Eye is sharp.

“It's good that you're training hard. I heard you're eating a different dessert every day.”

“It’s true… sometimes she brings so much it’s even more than my lunch.”

With a sudden burst of strength, Tadashi sprinted a few meters carrying the massive tree, then collapsed, surfing on exhaustion.

“Okay, let’s take a quick break. But tell me, did you get any… special treatment?”

“No, we only kissed at the wedding, and it was awkward.” We got a flick on the forehead in response. “HEY, what was that for?”

“I meant spell lessons!”

“Oh… right. Well, not yet. Every afternoon she skips combat classes and leaves. The school doesn’t care; she’s their golden goose, so she’s got a free pass.”

“I see, the girl must be working on some new research.”

“Yeah… I guess.. I heard she’s an academic genius, but she never tells me anything about it. It’s always ‘honey’ this and ‘honey’ that, with no real answers.”

The Master lowered his sunglasses and gave him a suspicious look.

“Wait, so you haven’t directly asked her to teach you?”

“Well… I didn’t think there was a good moment to ask. And if she’s busy in the afternoons, there’s no point…”

The Master patted us both on the back.

“Hahahaha! You’re embarrassed to talk to your own wife, kid?”

Embarrassed, Tadashi folded his arms, holding back his frustration.

“It’s not as easy as it looks.”

“Listen, kiddo. I can teach you all about mana control, but spells? She’s a master! So man up and ask her properly. Otherwise, this marriage will end, and the only thing you will have gained is a few extra pounds."

The Master stepped in front of us, raising a bit of his mana flow.

“Now, show me how your mana control is coming along.”

“Huh… fine.”

Shi-nii, it's up to you.

Our mana control was excellent. Despite me being a genius, the Master really had helped. Body position, breathing, even thoughts could all affect mana. Tadashi had been working incredibly hard. To show our progress, I raised our mana, a green energy flowing through our body.

“Good, very good, Zero, but focus on keeping the flow inside your body. These particles you’re emitting are smoke from your soul’s fire. Even smoke can be used as energy — don’t waste it!”

Tadashi spread his arms as I raised our mana even higher. The energy went a bit beyond the limit I’d set to keep our true power hidden, but hey, it was good to show off a little.

With glowing eyes, Tadashi smirked.

“Controlling mana is like breathing for me, Master. You’ll have to find something else to teach—”

A sudden kick.

Right in the balls.

…

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Tadashi collapsed, legs clamped, screaming.

“I told you to keep it inside and you raised the flow. That leaked mana could have been used to form a defense barrier and block my attack!” the Master said, taking a puff from his pipe. “So really, it’s more your fault than mine.”

The pain was unbelievable.

Tadashi, I can feel it.

I’m ascending to heaven.

SHI-NII, GET BACK IN THE BODY PLEASE, Tadashi yelled, pulling me back with the chain.

Luckily, the Master was paying more attention to his pipe than to us. Otherwise, he would’ve seen the skeleton drifting up to meet his creator.

Suddenly, Tadashi jumped to his feet. His mana surged with his emotions — a quick, cowardly punch at the Master’s back. In a blink, our target vanished, the punch smashing into a poor oak.

It was a domino effect.

At least ten trees fell.

“Huh… looks like you got more trees to carry, don’t you, Zero?”

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

It took hours, but almost by dawn, with permission to use some mana to boost our strength, we managed to stack the logs into stumps in the mansion yard.

“Goddamn…” Tadashi panted. “Tomorrow we won’t even see the sunrise, the stumps will block it completely.”

Yeah, there were a lot of stumps…

“Nice job, Zero! But tomorrow will be worse. I hold grudges..Tthat sucker punch was brutal.”

Exhausted, Tadashi kneeled, begging for mercy.

“Please Master Zyg, forgive me. I let my anger get the best of me.”

“Fine… I’ll forgive you if tomorrow you come back with a lesson scheduled with your wife… and a date too!”

“Huh…?”

“If that’s complicated, I could always level this whole forest and make you haul more logs—”

“Consider it done, Master!”

“Good…”

We had just made up when, in a shared instinct, Tadashi and the Master spun around, ready to fight. A mysterious figure stood in the yard.

“G-gentlemen, there’s no need for aggression.”

“Oh… Mr. Sleeve. My apologies!” Tadashi said.

We lowered ours stances.

“Sorry to bother you so late, but I’d like to discuss something… just between us.”

“Make yourself at home, Sleeve. Want a puff?” the Master asked, offering the pipe.

“Oh, no thank you… I wanted to ask if you know the whereabouts of young Mr. Bourne?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t. I decided to stop paying attention to him after he abandoned his training,” the Master said, clearly saddened.

“Bourne… that name sounds familiar…” Tadashi whispered.

“Lady Zero asked me not to expose her, but she’s been obsessively looking for the boy for days. No one knows what happened to him. He’d disappeared before, but an entire week? That sounds strange to me.”

Master Zyg put a hand on the butler’s shoulder.

“I can see you’re worried, Sleeve. Don’t be. The kid’s probably just out partying. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll look around for him, alright?”

“Thank you, Master Zygmmubar. I was the last to see him. Maybe I could have prevented him from leaving the house in that state…”

“Don’t worry, he’s powerful as hell and dangerous too. It’d be way too hard for someone to kidnap him to… I dunno, harvest his organs.”

The butler looked devastated at the Master.

“Sorry, Sleeve. That slipped out.”

Crap, the butler’s gonna cry again…

For a master with all emotions in check, he’s pretty damn tactless.

“Are you sure it’s just tobacco in that pipe, Zyg?” Tadashi asked.

— — —

The next day came. Without wasting a second, during the first break Tadashi went straight to his wife.

“Hi, honey. Today I brought brownies—” his words were cut off by Tadashi’s finger on her lips

Like straight out of a dark romance, Tadashi posed as the dominant male. She seemed to like it, but little did she know that this attitude came from desperation:

I CAN'T TAKE TRAINING ANYMORE! I NEED TO OVERCOME MY SHYNESS.

“I have a very special request for you. How about we—”

Swoosh.

I don’t know what was redder: the girl’s face, or the blade of the lightsaber Tadashi precisely blocked with his arm. It was a sneak attack from behind, but Tadashi’s Third Eye was way too sharp.

Wrapping his arm in mana, I had saved it from being cut off. Tadashi didn’t even say a word, just executed the defense, trusting me 100%.

Nice, Shi-nii! Our synchro is perfect!

The laser blade sparked as it tried to pierce our defense, but it was useless. The boy who attacked us jumped back, preparing for battle.

Turning to the enemy, Tadashi crossed his arms, striking a badass pose.

“You know attacking from behind is for cowards. I’ll teach you some manners in front of a lady, you piece of shit!”

…

HAHAHAHAHA! HOLY SHIT, MAN, AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER TO DROP A LINE LIKE THAT, TADASHI.

What terrible timing, bro…

No need to point that out!

The mysterious student invites us to fight... thank goodness, I couldn't stand writing about those two shy romantics anymore.