“Hah, hah, hah, HOLY SHIT!” John said to himself, now back in his leathers. He was inside a restroom stall, having just squeezed through a hole he created with Dig and resealed the opening. He collapsed on the toilet and rested his head in his hands, trying to calm himself down. 

When he drove away from Mt Lady and Rumi, he turned down another corridor and into an exhibit room. After casting darkness over a pair of cameras, he put the motorcycle away and used Dig on the wall, making a pocket he could squeeze into. It appeared to be a narrow utility corridor, so he sealed himself up, and once he was sure there were no cameras again, he deactivated his armour. He followed some waterlines until they branched into a wall, then dug his way through that wall as well, ending up in this stall. 

That sword was… alive. No… not alive, but it had spirits within it. They didn’t control me, but they showed me how to move and activated the sword’s abilities for me. It was like there were Quirks embedded right inside the blade. I know I joked about my gatcha weapons being Quirk weapons, but apparently, there really are Quirk weapons. And that gem in its hilt… that thing is pure nightmare fuel. Hell may or may not exist, but that is the only thing I can compare it to.

When the fight was over, and he sheathed the sword, it spoke to him briefly. It thanked him for saving Mei, its previous wielder’s daughter and true-blooded member of House Takeyama. It lamented the fact that he already had a bonded sword, but assured him that the Sword of Truth was indeed a worthy companion for a Paladin such as himself and could indeed exceed even its own powers. Finally, it told him that the Takeyama bloodline was thinning and could use a good infusion from a powerful Paladin bloodline like his. John just chuckled at that last one, still coming down from his combat high. 

After handing off the sword to Yu, he tried to leave, but then Rumi attacked him. He felt the power of that weapon infuse him once again, and he managed to knock her out with a single blow.  

There is no way in hell I could do that normally; this infusion thing it did was just plain incredible. And that teleporting? Or whatever it was would be incredibly useful. If I could only learn that somehow. Maybe in the gatcha draws? My luck, I would get something else silly, like basket weaving. Oh well.

He raised his hand and focused his mana on it, causing flames to engulf it. He clenched his fist a few times, nodding at the feeling. He might not be able to teleport, but the short time with that blade taught him how to imbue himself with his own magic. Whatever that Quirk was, it was based on something similar to mana. 

Cancelling the spell, he stood up and left the stall. Taking a moment to tidy up his appearance, he considered his options. He wasn’t sure if he got away cleanly this time, but he was going to feign innocence for the time being. 

He stepped out of the restroom and looked around, trying to get his bearings. He was in an unfamiliar hallway, apparently one of many that they hadn’t explored that morning. No surprise there, the museum was gigantic. It would take nearly a week to see everything it had on display. 

Choosing a random direction, he started walking. He had no idea how he was going to excuse his actions and explain where he had disappeared to, but that didn’t matter too much. He would just have to wing it, and if this was the moment he was found out, well, he always could return to DEN. 

He somehow made his way back to the main entrance, where there were a dozen police officers carting off the three villains that he had knocked out. Rumi and Yu were also there, chatting with a pair of people in suits, whom John assumed were detectives because of the badges hanging from their lanyards. 

“MR. WAYNE!!!” A voice shouted, and suddenly John was struck by a pink-haired missile. He was knocked backwards and onto the floor as Mei clung to him tightly, her boots making a whirling noise like a jet engine winding down. 

“Good to see you too, kiddo.” He said with a chuckle, hugging her back. “Glad to see you’re safe.”

“How did you get away? Did you meet the Twilight Knight? Did you know he killed that villain with my mother’s sword? And he has a motorcycle that seems to be able to disappear? What do you think his armour is made out of? It blocked all the acid that the villain was spewing everywhere.”

“Easy, kiddo. I briefly glanced at him while I was getting away, that’s it. How did you know what he did?”

“Easy, I just opened the security cameras on my tablet.” She replied, sitting up on him and pulling out the tablet. She showed him a camera picture of him in the utility corridor, swapping from TK to John. She then hit the delete button, erasing the video, then hugged him again. “We can talk later, but for now, thank you. Thank you for saving my life.” She whispered in his ear.

Crap, I missed a camera! Wait, is she hiding my secret?

John was stunned and didn’t get a chance to recover before Yu and Rumi walked over to him. Rumi was frowning at him for some reason, while Yu had an unreadable expression on her face. She was still holding the sword in her hands, the blade seeming to be once again dormant. He thought he heard a faint cackle of laughter in his mind, like the spirits in the sword were laughing at his predicament.

“Umm, howdy you two. Did you get them?” He asked, sitting up. Mei still didn’t let go of him, staying spider monkeyed around his body. 

“We got some of them. I heard you managed to nearly get yourself killed by attacking one from behind.” Rumi said, still frowning. 

“Well, I couldn’t let him kill anyone else, not if I could stop it.” 

“Hmm… Well, you’re lucky the detectives here are quite understanding. Since I still haven’t registered you as my sidekick yet, they will let it slide, but we are heading over to the HPSC after this to get you legalized to do hero work.”

“What?” He said, blindsided by her statement. 

“We will talk later, after you give them your statement. Now, I think our newest student has something to say to you.” Rumi said, then gestured to Yu.

Student?

Yu didn’t say anything at first, then knelt beside John and embraced him and her daughter. “Thank you for saving my daughter’s life. I have no words, just thank you!” She said, then started to cry. He embraced her as well, hugging both mother and daughter tightly. 

He had no idea what in the world was happening here, and Rumi was still glaring down at him for some reason, but it seemed that he got away cleanly. For the most part.

That Evening

Jaku City

*Wack*

“Ouch, damnit!”

“Keep your guard up!”

“I am! Are you trying to break my arm?”

“Toughen up, buttercup. Now, come at me again!”

John and Rumi had been sparing in the dojo for some time. John wasn’t sure what exactly had happened today that changed her attitude, but she was being way more intense than she usually was. A cursory use of Scouter didn’t tell him much, and she wasn’t really in a talking mood right now to see if he could draw out what was really going on. 

Earlier, he had given a statement to the detectives that he had hidden within the walls of the museum to get away from the fighting. They hadn’t asked how he managed to do that; they were more concerned with the fact that he had put his own life in jeopardy to try to fight Toxic Chainsaw. The man hadn’t been seen in years, and most had thought he was dead, famously escaping from All Might years ago. Apparently, the man could choose to spew a variety of acids and poisons from the blade of his chainsaw, able to enfeeble even the strongest heroes if they touched it. 

John sweated a bit at that; the only reason he wasn’t killed was that the man had decided he wanted to toy with his prey like some sadistic cat. 

Afterwards, Rumi, Yu, and Mei went to the Hero Public Safety Commission, where she registered her dojo as a hero agency, with her and Yu as founding members and John listed as their sidekick. She grumbled a bit about wanting to work alone, but when he questioned why she was doing this, she just said it was for the best. All Scouter said was that she was going to train them hard to become the best hero agency in Japan. 

That’s when they split up, Yu saying she needed to return to the Takeyama estate with Mei for a bit, but would be back to train with them tomorrow evening. Mei had given him another hug, then they left John alone with a very irritated rabbit woman. 

*Wack* *Thunk*

John sprawled to the ground, having just blocked a tornado kick Rumi hit him with, leaving his arm numb from the impact. 

“Rumi! I don’t have super strength!”

“No? You managed to do something pretty incredible earlier, didn’t you? Get up! Show me how you beat that man!”

“Grrr! I tackled him from behind, hitting the back of his knees. I didn’t stand toe to toe with him.”

“Yeah, but you would have, wouldn’t you? Show me! Show me your resolve! Otherwise, I am just going to keep beating you senseless.” She replied, assuming a defensive stance, beckoning him to attack her again. 

He slapped the ground, bounding to his feet again, then assumed a fighting stance she had shown him. He infused his body with his healing magic, chanting the spell in his mind rather than speaking it aloud. After playing with infusion earlier, he discovered he could do this now. He then channelled the mana throughout his body, strengthening his joints somehow. It wasn’t a spell, but he seemed to be a bit lighter on his feet, a bit faster, a bit stronger. 

He was still no match for Rumi yet, not by a long shot, but he could feel that the gap was closing. What he needed was time, time to train these new skills that the sword had shown him. Time to grow stronger. Time this sadistic rabbit didn’t seem to want to give him. 

He quickly closed the distance, faking a punch before tossing a front kick towards her, then leaned back as her foot nearly collided with his head. He stepped in after it and ducked, almost catching her heel to his temple again as she brought that same leg backwards. He tried to punch her calf as it passed, but her other leg had already come up and snapped towards his ribs, forcing him to block instead. 

She is just so damn fast!

He snapped a couple of quick jabs at her, then tried to catch her next kick. He managed to grab it, but the sheer power behind it sent him to the ground. She landed on his chest and started to punch his face, forcing him to cover his head with his arms. He bucked his legs upwards and managed to get one around her neck for half a breath, but she somehow did a backflip from that kneeling position and landed by his feet. 

“The hell is going on, Rumi? Are you trying to kill me?”

“Kill you? No. I’m just forcing you to be honest with me. When were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

Does she know too?

“Apparently, you’re not ready yet. No matter, get up. I’ll beat it out of you yet!”

“I thought you were the straightforward one!” He said, standing again, cycling his healing magic.

“Oh? I’m the straightforward one? Now I’m curious about how many other women my apprentice might have on the go. Now, come at me.”

Women? What in the world is she talking about? I don’t have any women in this world.

Scouter once again told him nothing, just how she was waiting for him to attack again, and what she would use to counter. 

“Are you jealous that Yu hugged me for saving her daughter?” He asked.

“Come at me, John Wayne. Show me your resolve.” She said, not rising to his bait. 

“Fine. Let’s dance, partner.” He said, adding a wind element to the mana he was cycling through his body. He had no idea whether it would make him faster or not, but he was willing to try anything at this point.

They collided again, his fist moving even faster as he seemed to be able to keep up with Rumi. Her eyes flashed surprise for a moment, but her sadistic grin finally returned to her face, and she sped up even more. “That’s it, John! Show me! Show me what the blood of the Bates can do!”

He ducked down under another roundhouse kick, then slammed his fist into one of her breasts, causing her to bounce back. He charged forward, intent on following through on the attack, but another foot connected with his chin, sending him flying backward. He crashed into the floor, his vision going blurry. 

A shadow crept over him, and he felt Rumi straddle his torso. He started moving his arms to block the incoming punches, but she grabbed them and pinned them above his head.

“It’s been a long time since anyone has landed a hit on me.” She said, her face dangerously close to his. “Well done.” She then leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It was just a simple kiss, no tongue invading his mouth, but it was completely unexpected. 

“Did you let me hit you?” He asked, still disoriented.

“Maybe a little, but you did surprise me with that burst of speed and caught me unprepared, so I think you deserved the reward. Be ready, John. I won’t be going easy on you again.” She said, then kissed him again before getting off of him and offering him a hand up. “Now, let’s get you practicing on your footwork. It’s sloppy as hell, and I won’t have any apprentice of mine fighting criminals without knowing how to move properly.”

“Right.” He replied, taking her offered hand. He guessed she thought his heroics earlier were due to the blood he shared with his sister, and wanted him to bring that side out in his training. He had no other explanation at this point, though he would continue to listen to her thoughts with Scouter later on. 

Maybe I’m just worried she figured me out. I need to stop being so concerned about that. If it happens, I’ll just roll with the punches as I did in other worlds. What is the worst that can happen?

Musutafu

Takeyama Estate

“You say he used Godslayer to defeat that villain, and it didn’t reject him?” A woman asked, holding said sword in her hands.

“Yes, mother. It even allowed him to use The God Stone to seal his soul away.” Yu replied, kneeling before her mother’s throne. Hinata Takeyama wasn’t an actual queen, but might as well be with the power she wielded. She was an ancient woman, over seven hundred years old, but didn’t look a day over thirty. She was similar in appearance to Yu, though her hair was even lighter, a platinum blonde that bordered on white, and her eyes were crystal blue.

“Is he a Paladin? I thought they had all perished.” She replied, then looked down at her daughter. “Oh, stand up, Yu. Come here and hug your mother. It’s been so long since you returned home. I missed you.”

“Mom.” She replied, then embraced her. “I missed you, too. Sorry for bringing shame to the family name.”

“Nonsense. You just needed to grow up a bit more.” She replied, then sniffed her. “Do I smell a man on you? Has my daughter finally found someone?”

“What? No! Just…” She explained what had happened the rest of the day at the museum, though she was sure her mother already had the official reports. It was her place after all. If anything, it was surprising that she hadn’t activated her Quirk and dealt with the problem herself.

“Ahh, good. I’m glad to see you will finally be taking your training seriously. I’d like to meet this man sometime soon and thank him for saving my granddaughter from that villain. How about you bring him to the ball in three weeks? I had intended to introduce you to a few people there, but I think it would be good to bring him as your date instead.”

“What? You want me to ask him out on a date?” 

Her mother trilled a little, “Ha, honestly, Yu. It’s just a ball. I’m not asking you to marry the man.” 

“I guess that won’t be a problem.”

“Good. Now, tell me, how did you convince Mirko to…” 

They talked for a good while more, bringing Mei into the room to see her grandmother. After an hour, they departed, needing to return home with her daughter so she could sleep and attend school the next day.

After they left the throne room, Hinata held the sword before her, nodding at something her ancestors were telling her. This Paladin, John Wayne, had a bunch of secrets, and it was now her problem to deal with. 

“Not of this world, hun? Well, you two may have given him the green light, but he will have to convince me that he is worthy of my daughter.” She said to the sword, then hung it beside her throne.

She had only wielded it once; the weapon did not entirely reject her, but it did not accept her as its new owner. Anyone not of the Takeyama family who picked it up, who it deemed unworthy, would be incinerated by its power. The villain earlier was only allowed to touch it because it could sense a Paladin nearby and wanted to get closer to investigate. That was why she had no problem with the sword being displayed alongside her deceased daughter’s hero outfit. 

She would keep it close by for now, sensing that things were changing in this world and that she might need the weapon again soon.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep