Chapter Text
After we leave the restaurant, there’s a robot attack because of course. I have to do something pretty rude to lose Junpei but hopefully he’ll just accept it as me being freaked out.
It’s another GallaSmasher, but I’m able to get the upper hand this time. I dodge the first swing of its hammer and slice the arm coil, successfully severing it. With its surviving hammer, it smashes a nearby building, sending a ton of rubble my way. It catches me off guard long enough for the chest antenna to come out again.
However, thanks to the archery goblin, it never gets the chance to even power on said antenna. A couple of arrows pierce it and it's instantly useless.
From there, I disarm the GallaSmasher for a second time and finish the fight with a good old fashioned decapitation. After the hunk of junk collapses, I’m quick to pinpoint maybe where the arrows were coming from. I’m also quick to find absolutely no goblin.
I huff a little until I find one lone, black and red arrow laying on the roof. I was on the right path but I wasn’t quick enough. Although, to be frank, this archery goblin thing is really proving itself to be a good ally.
Maybe the Ninja of 1777 was over exaggerating.
Stashing the arrow away in the Ninja sash, I take a moment to just kinda stand here. What was I doing?
My phone dings. It’s Junpei: “Where’d you go???”
I think the location tracker on my phone automatically turns off somehow when I Ninja up. I should get back on the ground and find him. I’ve got some explaining to do.
“Ninja!”
My head snaps up. Am I really close enough to the roof’s edge to be seen?
“Hey, Ninja!” Junpei calls out again.
I can’t ignore him. He’s actively looking for me, and now he’s spotted his all-time favorite hero-slash-supernatural-being.
I hop onto this apartment building’s fire escape and secure the Ninja scarf to its railing. Upside down, I lower myself down to Junpei’s eye level. I’m sure to keep a tight hold on the scarf and keep my legs slightly intertwined with it for extra stability. “How may I help you, citizen I’ve never met before?” I ask.
Junpei giggles as he stuffs his phone in his pocket. “I kinda lost my boyfriend. Have you seen him around?”
“Uh… What’s he look like?”
“Purple hair, green sweatshirt, handsomely lanky…”
I shake my head. “Sorry, I don’t think so.”
Junpei shrugs. “I’ll find him sooner or later, but in the meantime,” he pauses, scratching the back of his head, “I wanted to thank you.”
My mind blanks. “For?”
“For saving me so much. I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to really thank you.”
“O-oh, well, you don’t have to thank me. It’s what I do.”
His eyes connect with mine. “I want to. You do so much for so many people and you’ve done so much for me.” Junpei clasps his hands behind his back and scuffs his sneaker in the dirt. “So, would it be okay if I gave you a kiss?”
“A kiss?” I repeat. “Don’t you have a boyfriend? You just said –”
“Yeah, but I don’t think he’ll mind. If anything, he’ll be jealous he didn’t get to kiss you.” He chuckles before adding, “He also shoved me into some trash cans, so eh. Fair is fair.”
That doesn’t inherently seem fair but I can’t stop myself from saying, “Okay then. Sure.”
Carefully, Junpei searches the edges of the Ninja mask at my neck. Chills run up my spine as I fight a wave of panic. No one’s ever touched the mask like this while I was wearing it before. I’m half afraid he’ll rip it clean off me…but he doesn’t.
Instead, he slowly pulls the material over my nose and leaves it there. His hands gently rest on my cheeks. Then, somewhere between “forever” and “before I know it,” his lips are on mine.
I’ve never realized how badly I wanted to Spider-Guy kiss my boyfriend before.
Except…
He’s not Spider-Guy kissing me, he’s Spider-Guy kissing the Ninja. And he’s doing it so casually and tenderly. Wait, does this mean he’s cheating on me? With the Ninja?
If he’s so willing and open to kiss the Ninja, is he kissing other guys when I’m not around? He doesn’t know I’m the Ninja, so this is technically cheating. At the same time, it isn’t cheating because I’m the Ninja. My boyfriend can’t cheat on me with me – but he doesn’t know I’m me.
Oh, this is hurting my brain…
Ever so softly, our lips part, and I’ve got one of my classic lovesick shoob smiles on my face. I can feel it.
“Y’know, Ninja, you’ve got a smile that could light up a room,” Junpei says sweetly.
Heat growing in my face, I divert the conversation. If I get all flustered in front of him, he’ll know it’s me. “H-hey, that’s a nice necklace. It’s the Ninja six, yeah?” My voice totally doesn’t crack at all when I say that, trust me.
Junpei grabs the small, red boxy piece of metal hanging from his neck. “It’s a nine? Like the nine on your suit.”
Is…is this a nine? Really?
I grab the fabric over my left chest area and pull on it to see it. Still looks like a six to me. When I look back at Junpei, he’s holding his necklace upside down for me. That’s definitely a nine. “Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah, I knew that.”
I did not.
Junpei replaces the Ninja mask over the rest of my face and I almost faint. This is so ridiculously intimate. “Maybe you should go lie down,” he says, still smiling. “Bet you’ve had a big day ninja-ing around.”
“Yeah.” I nod, not sure where to go from here. “Uh, hope you find your boyfriend. You should probably tell him you kissed me, by the way.”
My boyfriend, who doesn’t know he’s my boyfriend, chuckles. He absently rubs the red nine on his necklace. “I will.”
After I desuit and get back to the general area we were in, I get another text from Junpei: “You won’t believe what I just did! You’re gonna be so jealous, Koyo!”
I bring up our tracking app, and I see Junpei’s a block away. I’m not looking forward to this conversation. We reconnect in front of a café, and Junpei doesn’t rush to hug me for once. I try to initiate the hug but he turns away from me with a fake pout. “I don’t know if the guy who pushed me into a bunch of trash cans deserves a hug,” he taunts.
Defeated, I lower my arms. “That’s fair. That was a total shoob move, and I’m really sorry. It’s just…when danger pops up like that, I go into panic mode and bolt. I can be pretty stupid when that happens.”
Junpei’s fake pout shifts to a mischievous smile before falling with guilt. He quickly wraps his arms around me. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was completely my fault. I’d never do anything to hurt you on purpose.” I did shove him on purpose, but I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I could never.
I separate our hug, hands patiently on lower back, I ask, “What was your text about?”
Junpei’s eyes light up. “Oh! I kissed the Ninja!”
“What? That guy’s like 800 years old!”
“I guess, but he’s cute!”
Heat rises in my face, but I do everything I can to will it away. My brows pull together. “But isn’t that gross? He’s centuries older than any of us, and he might not even be human.”
Junpei holds back a laugh. “One of my favorite book series is about a teen who falls in love with a thousand-year-old vampire who’s also eternally kinda a teenager.” He scratches his face and looks away. “It’s actually really stupid; don’t look into it.”
I stick my tongue out. “Alright, whatever.”
“Are you jealous?” he asks in singsong voice as he leans on me. Then his smile drops. “Or are you mad? You’ve got every right to be mad.”
“Nah, I could never be mad at my Junie-pie.” I give his nose a peck. I think I've got something up my sleeve for this. “I am a little jealous, though, I gotta say. Now, you and Howard have kissed the Ninja.”
Junpei jumps back, eyes wide. “What?!”
Arms folded behind my head, I smirk. “Yep. I’m the only one who hasn’t kissed him yet,” I take a wistful breath and gaze into the clouds, “but one day.”
Nailed it.