The sun set behind the school as Thor, in his disguise, talked with Yuko.
“It’s weird,” she said without emotion. “I once told someone that if I ever met someone as good as me, I would crush them, but I don’t want to crush you.”
Thor replied, “It’s only natural that you wouldn’t. After all, we formed a bond of friendship instantly.”
“A bond of friendship?” Yuko wondered.
“Yes,” he nodded. “Beating the crap out of someone together makes you instant friends. Sometimes, beating the crap out of each other can make you friends, but that tends not to work between women.”
“Then if you fight with a guy, you’ll be friends?”
“Not necessarily, but it can happen,” Thor stated.
Yuko asked with her stoic voice, “Do you have a lot of friends, Thora?”
“Of course I do,” he smiled and made sure to not use specific names. “There’s my sidekick, my maid, the guy who watches the bridge outside of my house, and this troublemaking idiot who hangs out with my dad a lot.”
“Let me ask you something. If someone wants to back you up in the face of certain doom, but they’re only doing so out of gratitude, are they your friend?” she asked.
Thor answered, “No, they are not. They’re an ally, but a friendship is a stronger bond than just gratitude.”
“If you want to crush them, does that make them your friend?”
“No, it doesn’t,” he said.
“I see,” Yuko wondered. “If one of us crushed the other, would that make us friends? He’s a guy, so the fighting thing should apply.”
“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t,” Thor sighed. “If you go with that, make it clear to him that it’s a friendly fight. He’ll think you’re crazy if you attack him out of nowhere, and you don’t want to make enemies with someone who you want to have as a friend.”
She nodded, “Got it.”
Hideyoshi had spent lunch pouring over books, looking through his mythological sources. His already tired mind ached from that. Concentrating in classes was hard enough, but this was pushing it beyond that.
“I’m not abandoning Yuko,” he thought. “I know I told her that she’s fucked, but I won’t give up! This is my determination!”
Then a smile formed on his face. It was something he read many times before; however, one that could be critical. In truth, Hideyoshi couldn’t believe that he didn’t think of it sooner.
“Eureka! I should probably run naked through the streets now, but I’d get arrested.”
The moment classes ended, he went out to where Yuko walked home. To his surprise, she was already there.
Hideyoshi said, “Hey! Sanda-san! I’ve got it!”
“I do too,” she pointed at him and spoke with a stoic voice. “You’re my useless rival now.”
“W-What?” he blinked in shock.
Yuko stated, “I’m going to crush you.”
“H-Hey! I told you already that I’m not interested in that, idiot!” Hideyoshi took a step back.
“Don’t be useless. Just fight me.”
She stepped forwards with one foot and threw her hands up.
“No damn way!” he said. “I’m not fighting you!”
“It’s alright. We’re friends,” Yuko replied.
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Hideyoshi shouted.
“What?” she tilted her head in confusion. “Are you really a man?”
He thought, “Shit! She just insulted my masculinity! Yuko’s wondering what kind of man would back down from a challenge by a woman. Dammit, that’s a low blow. Does she really want to crush me that much?”
Yuko was thinking, “I told him this was a friendly fight, so why doesn’t he want us to beat the crap out of each other? Does he…does he not want to be my friend?”
Her face didn’t express it, but sadness had crept into her.
“Hey, Sanda-san,” Hideyoshi’s eyes narrowed. “I am a man, but unlike you, I’m a smart representation of my gender.”
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“It means…that I’m smart enough to know I can’t beat a demigod and secure enough in my masculinity to run for it!” he took off in a sprint.
Yuko chased him, catching up with and running alongside him.
She wondered, “So, you’ll fight me if you have a chance to win?”
Hideyoshi replied, “I never said that!”
“Why not?” Yuko tilted her head.
“Because I don’t wanna!”
“You don’t have much of a choice. I’m faster than almost everyone in school. At any moment, I could attack and crush you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Hideyoshi smiled.
He took off at even greater speed.
“He’s fast,” Yuko thought. “I’m actually struggling. Oda-san, I want to crush you even more now. No, you’re the only person worthy of being crushed at me. I’ll crush you and then we’ll be friends.”
Hideyoshi turned and started running in a circle around a tree. Yuko did the same thing. They chased each other around the tree, only for Yuko to realize something.
“If I turn around, he’ll crash into me and then we can fight.”
She stopped in her tracks, but Hideyoshi wasn’t there. Yuko looked around. He was nowhere in sight.
Yuko asked, “You’re up that tree, aren’t you?”
“If you thought of that sooner, you might have caught me, idiot!” Hideyoshi jumped down a distance away from her and blasted off.
“You’re useless,” she ran after him, her emotions still not showing. “You don’t even understand that we’re racing at this point. If I can catch up to you, I’ve crushed you. Without even knowing it, you’ve accepted my rivalry.”
He stopped dead in his tracks. Yuko crashed into him and they fell to the ground.
Hideyoshi said, “You shouldn’t have told me that, idiot. I would have kept going with this nonsense if you said nothing.”
“But manga characters do it all the time and it doesn’t backfire on them,” Yuko replied.
“You can’t believe everything you read in manga!” his eyes widened in shock. “Hang on, you read manga? You have time for that?”
She stated, “I don’t read it, but my brother does. He tells me about it.”
“That’s a bold-faced lie! Where did you get the time to read manga? In fact, where’d you get the time to chase me like this? Shouldn’t you be studying, you idiot? You won’t reach your full potential if you waste time,” Hideyoshi asked.
With a blank face, Yuko answered, “You’re right. I should be studying and not spending time with someone useless.”
“Then just go home,” he said. “But first, I’ll tell you something. I might forget if I don’t do it now.”
“What is it?”
“I have a plan. Hera is a goddess, but she has a lot of gods who hate her. Artemis and her have fought twice and Hera tormented her mother; however, she’s weaker than Hera. Heracles, on the other hand, is stronger than Hera and had his life ruined by her. If you can get Heracles to protect you, we might be able to make it out of this.”
“How should I get Heracles to help me?” she asked.
Hideyoshi answered, “Make a shrine for him and burn some food at it.”
Yuko wondered, “What’ll that do?”
“It’s a sacrifice,” he explained. “The food you burn will go to Heracles.”
“Gods are motivated by getting free food?”
“Of course they are. Everyone wants free food,” Hideyoshi stated.
“I see,” Yuko nodded. “Then if I give you free food, you’ll be my rival?”
He groaned, “Take this seriously, dammit!”
Ved'ma Story 