Chapter Text
During the process of rejoining society, Kokichi had to come up with a completely new way to fight. Since he no longer needed Ultimate Mechamaru, he reused some parts to build cursed tool gauntlets for him to wear. His right gauntlet contained small blades and a spiked shield for Sword Option, while his left gauntlet contained a palm blaster for Ultra Cannon. Using Puppet Manipulation, he could control these gauntlet through voice commands.
Why bring this up? Well at the moment, he was using these dual gauntlets to fight a giant wasp-shaped cursed spirit with Miwa and Mai. Utahime asked the three to exorcise it after getting reports of locals falling ill after visiting the mountains. And at the moment, things were turning out just fine.
"Heads up!" Mai called out as she cocked her gun. "It's flying towards you!"
Kokichi and Miwa smiled at one another. And with a brief nod, the two charged towards the wasp. Miwa readied her katana, while Kokichi activated his left gauntlet.
"New Shadow Style, Simple Domain! Quick Draw!"
"Left gauntlet, Ultra Cannon!"
But despite their combined strike, the wasp was still buzzing around. "It wasn't enough?!" Miwa panicked.
"One more hit should take care of it," Kokichi assumed. "Left gauntlet, Mode Albatross! Ultimate Can-!"
"Wait, Mechamaru!" Mai suddenly shouted. "I think there's a child nearby!"
"What?!" Kokichi panicked. He quickly moved his left arm ever so slightly, resulting in a massive beam of curse energy barely grazing the wasp. Because sure enough, a little boy showed up, blissfully unaware of the giant curse hovering above him. He clenched his frustration, not wanting to hurt this random civilian.
"Get out of here!" Miwa called out.
The boy turned to face the trio, but then the wasp stabbed him with its massive stinger, piercing him in the back. He screamed in pain as the cursed spirit pulled out its stinger. Once it started to fly off, Kokichi took the opportunity to run towards it.
"Right gauntlet, Sword Option!" Kokichi activated. "Ultra Spin!"
Once the dark-haired teen was in close enough range, he violently thrusted his right arm into the cursed spirit. He gasped for breath as it dissolved, still not used to a lot of active movement. But now wasn't the time to worry about himself. The young boy suddenly collapsed onto the ground from the attack and his skin was starting to look a little pale. Kokichi walked towards him to help him back on his feet as his fellow second-years hurried over.
"The damage doesn't seem too severe," Kokichi reported. "But we should probably bring him back to the school for inspection."
The boy groaned slightly. "Are you okay?" Miwa checked.
"Y-You're..." the boy muttered. He looked at Kokichi in awe. "You're Onikiriman!"
"Excuse me?" Kokichi asked, confused.
"You gotta be him!" the boy exclaimed. "The legendary masked hero, Onikiriman!"
"Great. This kid's gone nuts," Mai sighed. "What even is an 'onigiriman'?"
"Onikiriman is a tokusatsu that airs Sunday mornings," Miwa corrected. "It's a long-running series about masked superheroes who have rice ball-themed costumes. My younger brothers used to watch it years ago."
"Does Mechamaru even look like that?" Mai wondered.
"I was thinking the same thing," Kokichi agreed. "How could I possibly look like a rice ball?"
Miwa took out her phone. "Onikiriman has been played by different people over the past decade," she explained as she typed in a quick search. "If you look up the current actor..." Her eyes widened and she snickered a little bit.
"What's so funny?" Kokichi demanded.
Miwa tried to repress a laugh as she slowly revealed her phone screen. To Kokichi's surprise, it seemed the latest incarnation of Onikiriman was played by a man...with short black hair and bangs that were parted into three sections. A hairstyle that Kokichi just so happened to prefer these days.
"Please tell me this is a joke," Kokichi hoped.
Miwa shook her head as she failed to suppress her laughter, while Mai laughed even harder. Kokichi was not happy about this sudden reveal. How was he going to break the news to this kid that he wasn't this tokusatsu hero despite looking just like the actor who plays him?
Later that evening, the three students reported their mission results to Utahime. They had to stop by the school's medical center so Utahime could check up the injured boy, who was currently unconscious.
"Apparently this boy came to the mountains for insect collecting," Miwa recalled. "He heard reports of a rare bug and he just so happened to cross paths with us."
"What about the cursed spirit?" Utahime asked.
"It attacked the boy before Mechamaru was able to get rid of it," Mai answered.
"That explains the large bruise spreading across his chest," Utahime realized.
"How severe is it?" Kokichi checked.
"It‘s hard to say," Utahime replied. "Sometimes a cursed spirit leaves a mark behind before dying, which can vary depending on the curse. So about this boy..."
"Makoto," Miwa corrected. "He told us his name on the way over."
"Why is he smiling in his sleep?" Utahime finished. "He was cursed, so he shouldn't be in good health."
Kokichi winced a little. "He mistook me for a superhero on a Sunday morning show," he revealed. "Someone called 'Onikiriman'."
Utahime glanced at Makoto's sleeping form for a passing moment before switching her gaze to Kokichi. "Please listen to me, Mechamaru," she said. "This kid is safe thanks to you. He was directly exposed to curse energy, but somehow seeing your face made him feel better. Usually kids around his age are happy to meet their favorite characters. If you do look like this Onigiriman, you should spend more time with him until this curse goes away."
"You must be joking," Kokichi realized, frustrated with this extended assignment. "I know nothing about Onikiriman. How am I supposed to put on an act for him?"
"Leave that to me!" Miwa encouraged. "I can tell you everything I know. Just think of it as a special lecture."
Kokichi could only look at his angel in discomfort. While he was glad she was going to help him out, he was still wary about having to get close to Makoto. But if it was for the sake of helping him out, so be it.