The man standing in front of them had long black hair tied into a neat braid, sharp and refined features, and a body so slender and elegant it could easily be mistaken for a woman's. Today, however, Sonic wasn't wearing his usual ninja uniform. Except for the streaks of purple war paint under his eyes, there was barely anything to hint at his identity as a ninja at all.
"You sure you want to fight ?" Shinji asked, his eyes eting the aggressive stare Sonic was directing at him.
"If you're scared, just step aside. I'm only here for Saitama," Sonic replied without a shred of hesitation.
It was obvious he didn't see Shinji as a threat. He wasn't interested in wasting ti on soone he considered irrelevant. His eyes, his attention, and all his intentions were locked on Saitama. Beating the bald dick was his only goal.
Saitama didn't respond with words. He simply reached over and took the kunai from Shinji.
"Oh? You want it? Sure, take it this," Saitama said with his usual indifference.
"Don't go handing out other people's things like that!" Sonic snapped back almost instantly. But his frustration vanished just as fast. A mont later, his face was calm again, and in his sharp eyes shimred a quiet, simring killing intent. "Saitama, today's the day I kill—"
Before he could finish, the red-eyed young man next to Saitama suddenly tossed the kunai back at him. Although "toss" wasn't quite right, he didn't return it gently at all.
Sonic's pupils shrank as he saw the weapon flying toward him. But speed was his forte, his pride and identity as a ninja. A throw like this? Child's play. With a confident smirk, he snatched the kunai out of the air, casually mimicking how Saitama had done it earlier. He had no idea Shinji had barely applied any force to that throw.
"…Hm?"
It was only after catching it that Sonic noticed sothing unusual. A strange marking had appeared on the kunai's handle. From that mont onward, his fate was sealed.
In an instant, before Sonic had ti to even process what was happening, Shinji activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and teleported directly in front of him.
"Let show you what real ninjutsu looks like," Shinji said in a flat, composed tone. He was even courteous enough to give a warning, but even with that, Sonic couldn't react.
"What?!"
His mind reeled in shock. He was frozen in disbelief, unable to comprehend how soone had managed to appear right in front of him in the blink of an eye. No one should be that fast. No one.
While he stood paralyzed, overwheld by confusion, a Rasengan had already started forming in Shinji's palm. It was a small one, and it was evident that Shinji didn't intend to kill him. If Sonic hadn't looked down on him earlier, Shinji wouldn't have lifted a finger. He would've left the matter to Saitama without a second thought.
He hadn't even imbued the Rasengan with Kamui's power. If he had, the consequences would have been far more devastating.
The mont the spiraling chakra sphere hit Sonic's abdon, his body was launched through the air.
"Puh!"
He crashed into the ground, the breath ripped from his lungs as consciousness left him on impact.
[Ding! Host has defeated "Speed-o'-Sound Sonic", reward: 40 points!]
"Is he okay?" Saitama asked, peering down at Sonic, who lay unconscious on the ground. His expression showed a trace of concern.
"He's fine. Still breathing. But he won't be bothering us anyti soon," Shinji replied casually, his voice relaxed.
"That's good. Thanks for handling this guy for , dude." Saitama let out a relieved sigh.
No matter how much trouble soone caused, as long as they were human, he never wanted them to die. It wasn't just his easygoing nature; it was also that his overwhelming strength made it difficult to take most opponents seriously. Like Madara Uchiha once said: What kind of adult gets angry at a child?
"No problem," Shinji responded, brushing it off.
With that, the two resud their grocery trip, leaving Sonic unconscious in the street with no idea when he'd wake up again. At the supermarket, they filled their cart with discounted groceries, mostly stocking up on non-perishables that would last longer.
Saitama, being a practical man, liked to shop for an entire week in one go, only making extra trips for the stuff that spoiled quickly. After paying at the register, they began heading back ho.
On the way, they passed by the sa spot where Sonic had fallen. The ninja was still there, lying exactly where they'd left him. An ambulance had arrived, likely summoned by concerned pedestrians.
"He's still out? Maybe you hit him harder than you ant to," Saitama remarked.
"I didn't. I was careful not to overdo it," Shinji replied with a faintly awkward smile.
"Well, maybe it's for the best. He might think twice next ti before acting up," Saitama shrugged, continuing past Sonic without slowing down.
Just then, the sharp wail of the ambulance siren jolted Sonic awake. He sat up with a start, pain surging through his abdon. His head throbbed, and for a few seconds, everything was a blur. After shaking his head hard, the mories ca rushing back.
"!" Sonic's gaze sharpened as he recalled the mont he'd been defeated. His eyes instinctively darted forward, spotting Shinji and Saitama walking away in the distance.
"You…!" he growled, pointing at Shinji. He was just about to shout sothing when the paradics lifted him onto a stretcher.
"Wait!" he shouted, trying to push them away, but the Rasengan had taken more out of him than he realized. His limbs were weak, and his body ached too much to resist. He couldn't shake free from the paradics holding him down.
And just like that, Sonic was strapped in and carried off into the ambulance.
"Was that guy yelling at us just now?" Saitama asked, glancing back at the noise.
"Probably. Let's just pretend we didn't hear it," Shinji replied.
"Yeah, sounds good," Saitama nodded, and they kept walking. "Why I feel like crushing nuts for so reason?"
…
Back ho, after unloading all the groceries into the fridge, Shinji collapsed onto the couch with a tired sigh. He let himself sink into the cushions for a mont of peace before finally pulling out his phone to check it. As expected, the screen was flooded with ssages from Lily, an endless stream of text that made him wonder how one person could possibly have so much to say.
[15:06]
[Since you're so curious, do you want to know why?]
[15:18]
[Fine, I'll tell you. I don't have any friends. I've never been able to fit in with the other kids at school, so I've always admired Lady Fubuki for forming the entire Blizzard Group on her own...]
[Even in the Blizzard Group, I don't know why, but I still feel this subtle distance between and the others, like I can't really connect. So I've never made any friends there either.]
[Only Lady Fubuki feels different. But since she's soone I admire so deeply, I can't really call that a friendship either.]
Even though Shinji hadn't responded at all, the ssages kept coming, one after another, as if silence on his end didn't matter in the slightest. Until…
[15:40]
[Um...]
[Can you be my friend...?]
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