M&M: Mellow and Musashi 1

“Hey rookie! Nice work out there; you looked like you knew what you were doing. Have you done this work before?”

Mellow Proudmoore looked at his employer, Ranmaru Hitsuoka; an older man with a grizzle white beard and a body that put gods’ to shame. He wore the top of his chef’s uniform unbuttoned, reveal his black shirt stretched over a chiseled chest and impressive six-pack abs. His large hand held a large plastic container that he offered to the younger man, filled to the brim with what looked like rice and beef.

”Hitsuoka-san, you didn’t have to.” Mellow laughed, accepting the food easily. “You know I eat enough with the funding I get. I don’t want to mooch of you any more than I already am.”

“Nonsense! Ever since you stepped into the kitchen, my customer count damn near tripled! Giving you the occasional treat isn’t a bad thing.” Ranmaru guffawed, voice deep and boisterous, as he slapped Mellow’s back. The younger man didn’t even flinch. “Oof. You’re sturdier than you look.”

“Told you, didn’t I? Low-tier superhuman up in here.” Mellow grinned as he stuffed his work uniform back into his bag. “Do you need any help closing up?”

”No need; I can manage by myself. My daughter should be coming home right about now anyway and she’s no stranger to seeing me close up shop by myself.” the older man shook his head. “Go on home, Mellow-kun. You’ve got school tomorrow right? Wouldn’t want you to wake up late helping an old man with his shop.”

“To be fair, it’s a great shop.” Mellow grinned, making his boss laugh. “Well, if you’re sure. Good night Hitsuoka-san.”

Mellow left the establishment and began his trek home.

It wasn’t a long journey by any means and Mellow wouldn’t be tired out by it as much as normal people would be thanks to his physiology, which carried the added fringe benefit of requiring less sleep to function; and while he could take a bus back to the area his dorm was, he preferred not to.

Kawakami, for all its hubbub as the home to Momoyo Kawakami, Kawakami Academy, various people with various powers, and frequent incursions of delinquent gangs, was a peaceful city and Mellow had long learned to appreciate the peace and quiet before things went to shit with fire and bullets and spells and Ki attacks strong enough to clear the sky of clouds.

The young man was unfazed by the darkness, unmoved by groups of people squatting and in alleys and parks, undeterred by the cold and loneliness.

But he stopped all the same when he saw a familiar figure stumbling down a street in a dress that likely cost more than everything he owned combined.

”What the…” Mellow blinked, and approached. “Musashi? Musashi, is that you?”

“Wha~?” the legendary Japanese swordswoman spun to face him, stumbling back a few steps. “Oh! Mellow-kun! Hi~! What’cha doin’ out sho late~? You weren’t--” she hiccups. “Doin’ anythin’ ba~d were you~?”

The young man approached, wary and cautious; he wasn’t able to make out a lot of details in the low light, and while the way she walked and spoke should have been a good indicator of her current state, Mellow had to make sure. He leaned in and took a deep whiff of the air around her, wincing when the scent hit his nose and he registered what that smell belonged to.

“You’re drunk.” the young man commented.

Musashi giggled, leaning back with one leg raised and her arms on her back. At that angle, gravity did its job and pulled her dress against her curves and features in just the right way as to highlight once again how attractive she was. A beautiful face with cheeks flushed red from alcohol, perky breasts as large as ripe melons, skin as smooth as satin and as supple as velvet, lips so soft and kissable like cherry blossom petals, silky hair that cascaded down her head like threads spun from heaven.

…okay, maybe he was getting a little too descriptive, but Mellow was a man who appreciated things he wouldn’t ever be able to attain. And Musashi was definitely one of those unattainable things.

He sighed and gently pushed the samurai’s raised leg down with his foot, righting her stance. She giggled.

”I want to ask where you’ve been but I doubt I’d be able to understand your drunken mumbling.” he huffed a laugh and walked past her. “C’mon. I’ll walk you home.”

”Hey! I’m not dat drunk!” Musashi pouted, cheeks puffed, and kept up beside him. “I didn’t even drink dat mush! Juzz…” she paused and raised a hand. “Uhm. How mush alcohol ish in twenty bottles of sake again?”

“Enough to get you drunk, at least.” Mellow chuckled. “What were you even doing to drink so much? Were you invited to a party or something?”

“Mm!” the samurai nodded, beaming so bright that Mellow had to squint. “Dere wash… wash a gala or sumthin’ dat sum fancy dressed guy threw and he invited me along! I figured dat I’d go sinch dere wash free food an drink sho I did!” she giggled sweetly, twirling around and stumbling a few steps. “An’ it was amashin’! I met sho many people, ate sho much tashty food, drank sho much good drinks! Dere was danshin’ and mushic too!”

“Really? Sweet.” Mellow nodded, checking the time. “Did you do anything other than that?”

“Hmm… I think I poshed for photosh and shpoke in front of camerash…” Musashi put a finger to her lip. “Met shome important people, shigned shome thingsh and-- hey waitaminute!”

The samurai stopped, wobbled, and point a finger in between Mellow’s eyes with a stormy expression made less effective by the blush on her face. His irises rolled to follow the digit, then traced the beautiful arm it was attached to until he refocused on Musashi’s equally beautiful face.

”You didn’t anshwer mah queshtion!” she proclaimed. “What’re you doin’ out sho late?”

“Didn’t I answer that already?” Mellow raised a brow, unable to resist the urge to mess with her.

“Eh? You did?” Musashi blinked once, twice and thrice in quick succession. “I don’t remember anythin’ though…”

“You can’t even remember that?” Mellow shook his head in faux disappointment. “Man, you’re drunker than I thought. You should really lay off on the drinks, girl.”

“I-I’m not dat drunk!” Musashi stomped her foot childishly, cracking the sidewalk where he foot lay. “Now shtop teasin’ me and anshwer the queshtion!”

“Alright, alright!” Mellwo laughed, arms raised in surrender. “I just finished my part time job and I’m on my way back to my dorm. This is the usual route I take home, and I just so happened to bump into you.”

“Shee? Wash dat sho hard?” Musashi huffed, cheeks puffed. “An’ here I wash, thinkin’ you were doin’ somethin’ naughty. A kouhai shouldn’t be worryin’ their senpai like dat, y’know!”

“Hai hai, Musashi-senpai.” Mellow nodded, rolling his eyes. “This lowly kouhai promises not to worry his amazing and drop-dead gorgeous senpai whenever he runs into her in the middle of the night on his way home from his part-time job.”

Musashi made a wonderful impersonation of a freshly cooked tomato, red-faced and head steaming, as she drunkenly stammered denials and tried to brush off the young man’s praise. Mellow grinned at her reaction, satisfied that he still retained his past life’s talent at making girls blush. He turned and walked away, an arm raised and beckoning her to follow.

”Now it’s getting late and we have school in the morning. I’ll walk you back to your place.” Mellow said. “C’mon, we don’t have all night.”

There was a moment of silence after his proclamation, long enough to make him believe that Musashi was going to refuse and he’d be forced tail her if she went pub crawling. Then he felt something heavy slam into his back.

Mellow stumbled forward with a yelp, arms flailing and legs moving to compensate for the added weight and momentum. His hands tried to catch a lamp post to help steady himself, but he missed by scant inches before falling face-first onto the pavement. It didn’t hurt much, he had endured far worse in his past life after all, and he didn’t feel his things breaking or anything similar so he wasn’t as ticked off as he could have been.

So he sighed and tilted his face up.

“Musashi?”

“Hm~?” came the reply, positively purred atop his back. “Yesh, Mellow-kun?”

”Can I ask what drove you to tackle me to the ground?”

“Well~ Thish shenpai of yoursh felt really hurt when you teashed me back there, sho I decided to exact shome payback.” she giggled, shifting her position along his back for a more comfortable seat. “Now giddyap horshey!”

Mellow tilted his face back to the pavement and sighed internally as he forced his body to move. He planted both hands onto the pavement and pushed.

He was catapulted back to his feet, going from prone to standing upright in a single second. Musashi yelped and held on, arms wrapped around Mellow’s neck while her shapely legs locked themselves around Mellow’s middle. The young man too a few steps back to compensate for Musashi’s weight, then leveled out and tentatively put his hands on the samurai’s thighs to support her better.

“...y-you meanie…” Musashi complained, arms loosening as she relaxed. “I wash scared for a second dere, y’know?”

“You’re literally one of the strongest PP in our group of misfits!” Mellow pointed out. “You can run over water, cut buildings to pieces, and fire beam slashes! What’s a fall from barely two meters off the ground going to do besides hurt your ego?”

“Shilly kouhai’s don’t talk back to their shenpais, you know?” Musashi pinched his chest, just hard enough to make Mellow wince “Now shaddap and get movin’.”

“Alright, alright.” he sighed and resumed the trip. “Say, you did tell your dorm mates that you were going out, right?”

“Mm… I told ‘em about it sho… they won’t be too… worried…” Musasi yawned and rested her cheek on Mellow’s shoulder. “Mmm…you’re sho comfy Mellow-kun~”

“So I’ve been to--” he pauses and shifts his weight forward. “Oi, don’t you fall asleep back there! I don’t want to clean up your drool off my shirt! Musashi! Hey, Musashi!”

His reply was a soft snore, and the feeling of something wet beginning to seep into his shirt.

”God fucking damn it…” Mellow swore softly, adjusting his grip on the woman's thighs as he carried her.

Well, at least the cold won't be bothering him overly much on his way home now.