Chapter 14: Ryōzanpaku/ Cyberpunk: Happy End
The next day, I went to the Ryozanpaku dojo.
Since you were excused from school, I came right away in the morning, missing Miu, who was currently at school.
Opening the round door, the first person I saw was Apachai-sensei.
"Apa-pa! Emiya-chan! It's been a while since you've been here!" One of the deadliest people in the world stared at me with an innocent expression.
He was dressed in a yellow sports shirt and blue shorts, wearing a headband for Muay Thai practitioners.
The first thing that comes to mind for an ordinary person when they see him is: Mountain and Threat.
In fact, he is one of the kindest people I know.
"And to you, Apachai-sensei." My words made him slightly embarrassed and he began to scratch his cheek.
But if I leave it like this, he will increase the overflowing desire to teach me, which in his understanding is always sparring. It seems like nothing bad... Only he does not know how to free himself.
Even before reaching Master (6), I will simply be wiped off the floor. Unlike the original story, where Apachai Hopachai was a Great Master (7), a rank at which people were already the peak of human capabilities, in other words, super humans.
So now in this world, people are several times higher because of this and the levels of strength have risen even higher. I am only a novice master (5), who is only suitable for the realm of Martial Arts.
I have taught all the martial arts taught by my teachers, but to become a Master, I need not just memorize, but understand my spirit.
If you put a real Master against me, then even with the strength of my body and mystical eyes ... I will not be able to win. Only the world in which I lived is absurd.
I certainly won't lose, but I can only defeat the Master through exhaustion, which can last for days, so I'm not considering that option.
The problem is not only in my creation of what is essentially a martial art, but also in my seemingly perfect body. Even before the mystic eyes, I had incredible talent, mastering everything almost instantly, and my physical parameters grew incredibly easily.
I mastered any technique in the first five repetitions, and my body quickly met the requirements for new ones. But sensei Koetsuji and Ma immediately pointed out my shortcoming - too ideal a physique.
My body absorbs everything too easily, without having time to feel the martial art itself. They explained my problem using the example of a stream.
My body is like a sponge or sand that instantly absorbs moisture, while others have difficulty absorbing it, like clay. And in order to prevent the water from pouring out, people move it, creating depressions and paths for it - something I lacked.
My body simply could not feel the martial art. For it, there was no difference between a series of strikes and stances from washing dishes and a light warm-up. Therefore, I have been stuck at this stage for a long time - I cannot comprehend the essence of Martial Arts.
After all, their essence is precisely in overcoming yourself, the limits of the body and your own personality. And now I've disappeared for a long time, wasting all the teachers' efforts. I bought gifts especially for this, to at least soften their anger a little.
"Wait, Apachai-sensei. I have something for you!" I stuck my hand in my bag and pulled out a whole box of chicken along with a bag of cheeseburgers.
"Apa! Is this for me?!" he fell on my knees, fixing his gaze and hands on the food.
"Here, this is my apology for not coming to visit you." I smiled wryly, seeing that he wasn't even looking.
"Apa, don't say that. Emiya-chan is Apachai's best student. Apachai is glad that Emiya-chan is back!" After which he grabbed the food and jumped onto the roof of a three-story old Japanese mansion.
'We've dealt with one, there's still...'
Before I could finish my thought, I saw the emotionless head of the cold weapon sensei peeking out. She looked at me with an empty gaze, but I could see that drool had already formed at her mouth.
'Another easy target.' It's time to start appeasing them by catching them one by one.
***
I was sitting inside the hall, while the masters were sitting around me in disarray.
Master Koetsuji, who taught me Jiu-Jitsu, was stroking the Aztec stone manuscript that I had previously ordered and was looking at me attentively. Although he really liked the gift, he was not as moved by it as the others.
Which is probably not surprising, considering that he is crazy about achieving the perfect body, turning all his white and red muscles into pink.
At the same time, Master Sakaki, a 100th dan karateka, was rubbing his cheek against a bottle of old liquor with visible joy.
Master Shigure, who was not much older than me, was sitting in the corner and eating cookies and chocolate with her pet, the mouse Tochumaru, who knew martial arts.
Kensei Ma, a master of all styles of Chinese Kenpo, who was in solidarity with Koetsuji, was now looking at me with approval, rubbing a plate in the sleeves of his robe, which was a 2TB hard drive, which was completely filled with adult content.
A slight half-smile appeared on my face when I realized that I was able to reduce my problems by at least half.
"Now I understand why you could not continue training, which is undoubtedly a loss. But looking at your so-called digital certificate, nothing can be done." I, however, felt something was wrong and removed my smile.
"So, since you have fully recovered, it's time to start training to make up for the time you've missed!" He almost shouted it in a firm tone, and all the masters in the room lit up their eyes like laser beams in my direction.
My body unconsciously passed a cold wave of trembling, filling me with weakness. Saying that I had not yet fully recovered was useless. There are two professional traditional healers here in the persons of Koetsuji-sensei and Ma-sensei, who have a modern doctor's license.
This will only dig me an even deeper hole, that after examining my body they will understand even more about the limits of my body, turning the unbearable training into hell.
I would sincerely like to transfer my body to autonomous mode, but everyone here is a Grand Master and will immediately understand that I am not focused and not giving 120%.
Shedding a single tear, I braced myself for the suffering and twisted inventions of Koetsuji-sensei that take the capabilities of the human body to a higher level.
***
Lying on the futon, looking dehydrated and dead tired, I turned my head towards the sound of the shoji being pulled aside. I saw an angel with a tray of food.
"Miu-san..." I was glad that someone needed me after everything that had happened.
The masters simply passed me around to each other after thanking me with all their hearts for the gifts of their training, turning me into an even less noticeable shadow of a human silhouette each time.
"Hehe, they must have been overly happy to see you back and went overboard." She sat down next to me and placed a mini-table tray in front of me.
It contained rice, some salads, fried chicken, miso soup, and a few other dishes.
I sat down with difficulty, keeping my shaking hands on my knees, I never thought I would feel like this before I signed up.
While eating slowly, I saw her bright, casual smile.
'Has she already met Kenichi?'
"Miu-san is really beaming today, so happy to see me? Or did you meet someone special?" I smiled, realizing that most of the masters were eavesdropping. You really can't be alone in this place.
She blushed all over, turning her head from side to side.
"Not at all, it's just that today was my first time at the new school! Yes, that's exactly it!" My doubts grew stronger at the last sentence, while she tried to convince herself of her words.
"Wow, really?" To which she nodded her head vigorously with a cute serious face. "I think this guy is lucky to have Miu-san, I even envy him." I added with a devilish grin.
"Waaah! Stop making fun of me!" she approached me and began to hit me with the soft bottom of her fists on my shoulder and back.
"Hahaha!" I continued laughing until she stopped and wiped away the tears that were welling up, addressing her half-seriously.
"But I'm not worried about Miu-san, she has a good eye for people, right?"
To which she blushed even more so that steam came out of her head and pouted, turning away from me.
"Hehehe, Miu-san is very bright and kind, so she attracts a lot of people." Having received my first entertainment of the day, I began to enjoy the moment.
"By the way, Miu-san, what about me? Do you think I'm a good person?" I began to press her until she didn't know where to look to avoid my gaze.
"Crack*
I heard the sound of wood cracking and with my eyes I saw the Elder - Miu's grandfather, who was looking at us through the wall, squeezing the wall.
All the color in my face instantly disappeared and I realized that I had begun to cross the line.
"Well, to be honest..." Miu lowered her head and looked at me, still embarrassed, which would not leave any normal man indifferent. It would have affected me too, if...
*Crack-Crack*
I was not focused on her now, but on her grandpa, who was a Legendary Master (9), being at the peak of what a mortal man could achieve. Beyond that, only the realm of Gods and unquestionable Power, like Lala's father - the Emperor of the Milky Way Galaxy - who can blow up a planet with his own strength.
Damn, if you think about it, it's some kind of cliche, where a woman interest has an influential and strong background or a very loving superpowered parent/guardian...
'I need to somehow stop Miu, otherwise my days will turn into hell! But I can't shut her up, or else the Love Misfortunes that I got from Yuuki Rito will go off! This is just an Ecchi Situations Generator! What should I do?!'
Instantly, my head felt like it was struck by lightning, making my head crystal clear and an idea was born at that very moment.
"I... actually..." Miu started tapping her index fingers together when I interrupted her.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
"Itadakimasu!" I said this deliberately loudly, which scared her a little, and began to eat quickly, constantly chewing and washing it down with soup and tea.
"*Burp!* Thank you for the food!" I bowed to her and sat up correctly, hitting myself in the carotid artery and passed out, falling head first onto the pillow.
She stared at me stupidly for a few seconds, her eyelashes fluttering loudly a couple of times, then tried to hold back her laughter, but couldn't, and managed to squeeze out a couple of giggles.
Covering him with a blanket, she whispered in his ear: "Good night. Emiya." Then she picked up the tray and left.
In the distance, the sounds of falling trees could be heard, but now her head was filled with other thoughts to notice it.
As for me, unaware that everything had become worse, I was now fast asleep, my consciousness gone into the world of Cyberpunk.
"Huh?" I was shocked to see David in front of me.
"Hello, choom." to which he waved at me and I hesitantly responded.
Seeing my complex emotions on my face, he grinned.
"Don't be so afraid, I didn't come here to rebel or to displace you. After all, the eyes' system recognizes only you as the owner, and I'm just a registered user."
"Then what are you doing here?" This was the most important question for me at the moment, considering that he should still be in the Cyberpunk world, and not in the Mystic Eyes space.
"What can I say... I'm tired." He smiled sadly at me.
"Tired?" I didn't understand his question, because how could the system create such a consciousness.
"Yes. I'm tired of all this. And first of all, let me explain. I thought a lot and eventually managed to negotiate with the system to speed up time in my world so that you wouldn't have to watch everything. 30 years have passed."
"Wow..." was all I could squeeze out of myself, adding this with wide eyes, to which he smiled knowingly.
"All the corporations fell apart, as did their dynasties and influence, the network became one again, and human rights and living standards became even better than in our world. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah," I think I started to see where he was going with this.
"I've achieved a lot, but... I still haven't been able to know happiness..." I stood there silently, not rushing to interrupt him, to which he looked at me for a few seconds and nodded.
"I took care of Mom, introducing her to a decent man who would love her, and I helped Maine's team, especially forcing him to remove his cyber implants. But Lucy... I still couldn't work up the courage to approach her. After all, she's not who *we* know. Now that no one is chasing her, we just want her to be happy, and not force ourselves on her."
I nodded, and he smiled.
"I've prepared all the information for you, which for a hacker like me is a matter of minutes. And you don't have to worry. All the moments with negative and unpleasant events I either cut out or censored. After all, it wasn't you who did this and it's not you who should suffer from these memories."
This time I nodded with gratitude, getting ready to listen to the request that was being prepared, which was not difficult to understand.
"I don't want to live in this world any longer, so I would like you to transfer me... to the world where David died. I want at least Lucy to meet a happy ending in this crappy city."
"Okay, I got it." I had already received the data transfer and my interaction with the system had accelerated many times.
"Good luck to you... and live happily." I extended my hand forward, slowly dissolving him.
And when he became almost transparent, he smiled with tears in his eyes: "Thank you, you are the best brother I could ever dream of."
***
"Oh... damn... where am I?" my head was violently storming.
'As if I would drink with Pillaf again... Although wait, he died, right?'
At that moment, I was pierced by realization and immediately opened my eyes, looking at the blinding sun from above.
"Ow!" After a little scolding, I turned away, feeling a burning sensation in my eyes. "Damn, did they slip me burnt optics?"
Starting to massage my eyes with my fingers, I was once again in a stupor.
"Skin... It feels just like real!"
Opening my eyes and looking at my hands, I realized that they were real! The implants that he had received as a keepsake from Maine disappeared and were replaced by his pumped-up, but human hands.
At that moment, my vision began to blur, and my heart began to beat wildly.
Instantly, three consciousnesses intertwined.
"Ha... Ha-ha... Ha-ha-ha-ha!" David began to laugh with bitter tears of loss and the joy of a new life.
After a long time, he stopped and after a couple of minutes, returned his conscious gaze. He had been through a lot for this to stop him.
He was lying on a piece of a cube that consisted of compressed scrap metal. Walking around it, he found a door that led inside.
Opening it, a small room the size of a closet appeared before him.
It contained clothes, a gun, a phone and a suitcase full of Eurodollars.
"Damn, it's so hot in here that I didn't even realize I was walking around naked. The last thing I needed was to catch something at this dump."
After getting dressed and taking everything from the inside, I went out and the cube instantly fell apart. I just chuckled at this, walking towards the road, dialing the number of a good trusted driver along the way.
"Hello, Falco, how are you?"
"No, it's really me, choom. What do you mean, a prank?"
"Yeah, It's me, really me! Remember how I helped you get over your breakup with your ex? I even remember that potent cocktail you brought back from the clan."
"How am I still alive?"
I chuckled.
"I'm built different."
"Anyway, I want to make someone's night out unforgettable, but spending it with Delamaine would suck, you know? So I'm going to need a best man for the day."
"No-no-no, Choom, you don't get it. You don't have to do this for free. I'm paying you, and I want this to be the best day of her life, okay?"
"Anyway, can you pick me up? I'm at the dump, heading for the highway near Santo Domingo."
I raised my head, shielding the light from my eyes with my other hand.
"I want to make it before sunset, can you?"
I smiled at the answer.
"I knew I couldn't go wrong with you. Speed and reliability. And again, sorry to interrupt your retirement. We'll talk about the rest later, don't forget to dress up."
***
Standing in a suit with a bouquet of lilies in my hand, I sprayed air freshener into my mouth and fixed my hair, which screamed *corpo*.
*Ding-dong*
Pressing the doorbell, I began to wait with anxiety, feeling discomfort, feeling sweat running down my body again.
"Who the hell is that?" the door opened abruptly.
'That evil voice of a beast, so beautiful...'
"Yo, Lucy!" I smiled brightly at her, causing her distrustful and wary pose to instantly melt.
"D-David?!" she said this in shock, looking at me with disbelief, joy, sadness and pain.
It hurt me so I tried to cheer her up, I don't know how much, talking nonsense, but I had to get down to business.
"...Hahaha, anyway, you're probably thinking *why are you still alive?*. Haha, to be honest, I don't know myself. The last thing I remember is Adam Smasher's gun looking at me, and then I woke up in a dump. And no, it's a setup and not a trap, you probably checked yourself. 100% organic! The only technology I have is a phone and a gun that I left with Falco, by the way, he's our best man for today. Anyway, I honestly don't know how I'm alive and how I ended up like this. Maybe there is a God and I'm his favorite, Hahaha! Haha... Lucy?"
She stood in front of me with a scared face.
'Is this a dream?' I could see her face, to which I smiled nervously.
After a minute of silence, her gaze changed and became tenacious, serious and strong-willed.
She instantly came up to me with a look that I could call furious, that I almost got scared, even knowing that it was not directed at me, and grabbed my jacket
After which she practically growled:
"You. Me. Bed. Now!"
"W-wait, Lucy! I prepared a date for us! I even reserved the best restaurant and hotel room just for us!" I tried to calm her down, hearing her growl with her mouth closed, overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions.
"YOU! BED! NOW!!!"
After which she lifted me by the jacket into the air and flew into the apartment with me, loudly slamming the door.