Chapter 26 Heatburst is Still on the Stage

The silence left by the villain’s departure was instantly filled by the violent pounding on her door. Mirai let out a long, weary sigh.

“One after another. Of all the people, it had to be Enji-kun.” 

She glanced at the spot where the void had been. 

“God, I wish I could use void magic to escape my problems. Not fair, Mr. Villain-kun. Now I have to deal with him.”

“OI, OSANAI! I COUNT TO FIVE! THEN I BLOW THESE DAMN DOORS OPEN! ONE…! TWO…!”

Mirai reached out and yanked the door open just as Enji was drawing a deep breath for “THREE!”

“What do you want, Enji-kun? Also… Shota. What?”

 “An explanation! That’s what I’m here for, Osanai! Why are you quitting the academy?! Did you get scared?! Did those damn shadows scare you so much you got cold feet?!”

He jabbed a burning finger at her.

 “The strongest student in the class chickens out because of some black farts who can speak?! I got beat down too! We all did! I heard Shota was found naked, these damn shadows must have molested him, but even he didn't quit and that say a lot! Unlike you, I’m only growing stronger from my defeats! I’m not giving up, no hell I’m giving up! I’ll crush them next time! But how about you?! The great Kenji’s daughter! The one with the steel drills and the battle dress! You just throw in the towel after a few defeats?! This can’t be true! I demand an explanation!”

Mirai stared at Enji’s furious face. Arguing with him felt as pointless as trying to explain color to a blind man.

“You wouldn’t understand, Enji-kun. But if telling you makes you leave, fine. I’ll tell you... it’s because of Shota. I found him in his hospital bed, hugging a naked older woman, shouting about how much he loves her. Now I don’t want to be anywhere near him.”

Enji’s head snapped toward Mirai, his eyes wide with disbelief, as if checking to see if she was joking.

 “HUH?!”

Then his head whipped around to Shota, who had gone deathly pale and looked like he wanted to vanish. 

“HUUUUH?!”

Then back to Mirai, his brain short-circuiting. 

“AH?! You’re telling me, you’re quitting the academy… because you found him cheating on you?!”

“Yep.”

“ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!” Enji roared, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“For something this stupid you’re quitting the academy and locking yourself in a room?! Quit messing around! This is so stupid!”

"I told you, you wouldn't understand. I told you the reason, now get out."

"Like hell! I'm not leaving until you snap out of this bullshit! This loser Ultra Extra cheated on you? What a nonsense! If words won't work, I'll beat some sense into you! A real fight! That's something I can understand! If I beat you, you are going back to Academy. If I lose... then that's that. I will leave you alone! Or are you scared to face me?!"

A visible vein throbbed on Mirai’s temple. Enji had just reduced the most soul-crushing moment of her life into a joke. Her head snapped up, her hollow eyes now blazing with rage.

“Oh yeah, big shot? You think this is a game? Fine. You want a fight? You’ve got one. I was just thinking about going out to look for a punching bag that looked somewhat like Shota. But you... you will have to do just fine.”

Then, she turned her burning eyes to Shota, who flinched as if struck.

“Hey, you. You will be joining too. Don’t think you get to just stand there and watch. I’ll take both of you. Let’s go. Right now. The training grounds. I will give you a pounding of a lifetime and I’m going to enjoy it.”

-----------------

The Academy's Advanced Sparing Arena

 On one side stood Enji, flames already on his fists, and Shota. On the other stood Mirai.

"NOW! This is what's going to happen, Osanai! We win, you're back on the team! I had a word with Instructor Arata! He's holding onto that resignation letter! You're still a student! All you need to do is take it back! NOW! If a miracle happens and we lose, we give up! As agreed, but that will NOT happen, because I, THE GREATOOO HEATOBURSTO-SAMA, IS HERE!"

Without a warning, he launched himself at her.

 "BLUE FLAME: JET HAMMER!" He became a screaming blue comet, his fist aimed directly at her center.

Mirai didn't dodge. She didn't flinch. A massive, brutal gauntlet of solid steel formed around her arm in an instant, and she met his charge with a devastating, punch.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

 The reinforced walls of the arena cracked. The ground shuddered violently, the concrete floor shattering and sinking inward from the force.

Mirai clicked her tongue, "Tck. Useless arena. Can't even handle a small fight."

 She slammed her foot down, and the entire fractured floor transformed into a solid sheet of steel.

Enji didn't hesitate, he unleashed a blistering assault. A three-kick combo hammered against her steel guard, each impact a concussive BOOM-BOOM-BOOM that rang through the arena. He followed with a powerful JET SPIN KICK that finally blew her massive steel fist apart, shattering it into shrapnel and forcing Mirai to take a single, sharp step backward.

"Ha! Not bad, for a hot head! Managed to make me move. But is that all you got?!"

"That's not all! I still got—"

He couldn't finish. Mirai didn't let him. In the opening, she delivered a devastating steel-clad roundhouse kick to his side. The impact sent him beaming across the room like a blue cannonball. He slammed into the far wall blowing a massive spiderweb of cracks into the reinforced material and sending up a cloud of dust and smoke.

Mirai slowly turned her head, her terrifying, ecstatic smile finding Shota, who stood frozen.

"Hey, hey, don't be shy, it's your turn, Shota~!"

"Mirai-chan, wait! I don't want to fight! I just want to talk! I can explain—!"

His words were cut off as a carpet of razor-sharp steel drills erupted from the floor, shooting towards him. He rolled to the side. Then barely dodged a second and then a third volley.

 "What's the point of all this running around, Shota? You said you'd beat me to keep me on the team. One is down, and you're not doing anything. What happened to keeping me in the team? Looks like you don't need me after all."

She stopped her assault, letting him catch his breath. 

"All that talk, and this is it? Looks like I was right to quit the academy. How about you just say you give up, and we can call it a day."

Shota stood panting. Then, he did something unexpected. He raised a hand, and a small, flickering sphere of flame—a Tier-1 fireball—shot towards her.

Mirai didn't even flinch. She caught the pathetic projectile bare-handed, the flame sputtering against her palm before she crushed it in her grip. Her fist trembled, not from pain, but from rage at its weakness.

"Hey, hey, Shota," She opened her palm to show it was completely fine.

 "Just admit defeat. You can't beat me alone. Not with this."

"Mirai-chan, I do not want to beat you. I'm just staling, I'm not alone, not anymore."

A roar erupted from the cloud of dust and smoke where Enji had landed.

"OOOOIIIIIII! WHO SAID HE'S ALONE?! HEATOBURSTO-SAMA IS STILL ON THE STAGE!"

The dust cloud was blasted apart by a torrent of blue flame. From it stepped Enji, his body now encased in a sleek, fiery battle armor of solidified blue flame, its edges wavering with intense heat.

"OI! Osanai! Don't think you're the only one who can use battle armor! I told you, I got stronger after fighting those damn shadows! I won't let you quit the academy until I beat you at full power!"

He crouched, and the blue flames around his feet intensified. 

"THE REAL SHOW STARTS NOW! ROUND TWO! LET'S GOOO!"

He kicked off the ground. The force was so immense that the entire shattered wall behind him burst outward. The solid steel floor beneath his feet melted into a molten trench from the sheer velocity of his launch.

She barely had time to erect a thick wall of interlocking giant steel drills and activate her own Battle Dress before Enji was upon her. His kick, blazing in a vortex of blue fire, didn't just hit her defense—it melted through the center of the steel drills and connected with a devastating impact.

The force sent her flying backward like a shot, obliterating what remained of the arena wall.

"WITNESS THE POWER OF THE GREATO HEATOBURSTO-SAMA, OSANAI! WHILE YOU CRY IN A CORNER OVER YOUR LOSER BOYFRIEND, I BECOME EVEN STRONGER!"