A sweet smell wafted into Olympus. It slammed into the nose of a muscular man with a lion’s hide wrapped around his back. Food filled his stomach as a voice without emotion came to him.
“Heracles-sama. I’m your sister, my name’s Sanda Yuko, and Hera’s going after me. I am a high school student in Karuizawa.”
“Another prayer,” he contemplated. “And I know who it’s from now. Dammit, dad, why are you just doing nothing again? Well, I’ll definitely save her, but I’m going to need help from one of the local gods.”
Amaterasu Okami walked through her personal garden. Flowers of countless colors lined the sides while decorative rocks shone in the sunlight.
Heracles blasted through the air and slammed into a rock garden. Dust and rubble flew everywhere.
The goddess shouted, “Heracles? What the fuck?”
“Sorry about your garden,” he said. “I used Hermes’ instant transmission device.”
“He has an instant transmission device?” Amaterasu asked.
“No, he has a massive cannon that he calls an instant transmission device,” Heracles answered.
She sighed, “Well, what are you doing here anyway?”
“My dad’s being a dick and Hera’s being a bitch, so I have to save my sister.”
“It must be Tuesday,” Amaterasu stated. “And why are you in my garden?”
Heracles explained, “I don’t know Japan, so I need a Japanese god to help me.”
“And why should we do that? As long as you don’t destroy anything, this conflict is outside of our pantheon.”
“My sister’s been giving me sacrifices. I can give some of that to you,” he said.
Amaterasu replied, “I love free food. Okay, I’ll help you.”
“The first thing we need is a disguise,” Heracles stated.
“Don’t worry,” she smiled. “I have disguises for any occasion.”
Soon, Amaterasu and Heracles were at school. The former had disguised herself as a new teacher named Hana Hinata while the latter was a schoolboy named Hana Ken. They were pretending to be mother and son.
Heracles asked, “How were you able to become a teacher so quickly?”
“I have a lot of connections,” Amaterasu answered. “I am the head god of Japan, after all.”
He contemplated, “Now we need to find Sanda Yuko and figure out who Hera is.”
“Never underestimate my connections. She’s organized an exhibition match in the martial arts club with another student.”
The disguised Heracles shoved his way through a crowd in the martial arts room. It was tough to see inside, but he got to the center of it. There was an open space where Yuko and Hideyoshi stood across from each other. Cheers echoed through the room.
“You can do it, Sanda-san!”
“Kick his ass!”
“Show Oda who the new boss is!”
Heracles thought, “They’re all cheering for Yuko. Well, she’s my sister, so I’m cheering for her too.”
He noticed a girl next to Yuko.
“Those earrings she’s wearing…those are shapeshifting earrings!” he thought. “She isn’t who she says she is, but Hera can shapeshift on her own. Unless she’s pulling a double trick, trying to make people think it’s not her because she doesn’t need those. I wouldn’t put it past her.”
Thora asked Yuko, “So, you’ve finally gotten him to fight you?”
“Yes,” she answered without emotion. “And I have a plan.”
She walked forward with absolute calm. Hideyoshi went to meet her.
He said, “Are you ready?”
“I am. Have fun,” she blinked.
“Okay, I guess…”
Yuko blinked again, over and over.
“Is there something in your eye?” Hideyoshi wondered.
She replied, “No, I’m cluing you into something.”
“I think you’re supposed to wink, not blink.”
“Oh,” Yuko said. “Let’s just fight.”
She lashed out with her fists.
“Ora. Ora. Ora. Ora. Ora. Ora. Ora.”
With each ora, Yuko sent a punch Hideyoshi’s way. Each one was powerful enough to create terrible bruises, to knock someone out, and they all missed and hit the air around him. Hideyoshi was confused.
Yuko stated, “Oh my god. He’s moving so fast that you can’t see him dodge my punches.”
“Do you really expect anyone to believe that?” Hideyoshi wondered.
“Holy crap!” one student was shocked. “He’s that fast? This fight is awesome!”
Another agreed, “But when is he going to attack? Will we even be able to see it?”
Hideyoshi asked, “Is everyone at this school as stupid as you?
“Is everyone here as useless as you?” Yuko countered.
He ignored that and punched. Hideyoshi moved his fist slow enough that Yuko was able to dodge it without difficulty. She jumped so her back was on the ground before picking herself up.
“What happened? He didn’t hit you,” a student said.
She explained, “That’s Hideyoshi’s special punch. He moves his fist so slow that it creates a shockwave.”
“No way! How can he be that powerful?”
Yuko stated, “It’s time to get serious. No holding back.”
She wrenched her arm behind in the biggest haymaker the world had ever seen. Hideyoshi saw it coming a mile away and stepped aside, sending Yuko past him. He kicked out, the blow going a foot over her head.
The girl spoke with stoicness, “That was close. If I had been a second slower, you’d have gotten me. Time to use my ultimate move.”
Yuko took a deep breath, pulling her hands back and opening them as if she was a Dragon Ball character.
Those watching them went wild.
“She’s charging her energy!”
“Will this move change the course of the battle?”
“Fuck this! I give up!” Hideyoshi flung his arms into the air. “I’m not throwing out my dignity, whatever’s left of it.”
A student said, “Hang on, that’s it?”
“Oda just gave up?” another was confused.
“What a disappointment. I can’t believe he didn’t finish this.”
Hideyoshi glared at them, “You can all go straight to Hell.”
He turned to leave, but Yuko ran forward and jumped on his back.
“What are you doing?”
“I won, so you have to give me a piggyback ride,” Yuko told him without emotion.
“Alright, fine,” Hideyoshi sighed. “Where do you want to go?”
“That way.”
She pointed him onward, and they went out of the school.
When they were a distance away, Hideyoshi whispered. “Thanks, Yuko-chan. I really mean it.”
“No problem,” she replied. “I wasn’t sure I could beat you, and I had to win for your sake.”
“You weren’t sure you could beat me? But you’re a demigod.”
Yuko said, “Wasn’t there a mortal who beat Ares?”
“Diomedes, yes,” Hideyoshi nodded. “But still, you could have at least told me about your plan.”
“If I told you about it, you wouldn’t have accepted defeat because you’re useless,” she stated.
He replied, “I suppose not. Still, it was a plan as stupid as you. What would you have done if I used your bullshit as an opportunity to beat the crap out of you?”
“That’s a good point. I didn’t think of that,” Yuko admitted.
“Hang on! You didn’t think of that?” shock flowed through Hideyoshi.
She nodded, “I didn’t.”
“I thought you’d have said something like…like…” he thought a moment. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt me, so I put my trust in you.”
“You’re right. I should have said that,” Yuko admitted. “It’d have made me look better.”
Hideyoshi groaned, “You really do have a rotten personality, you know? If there’s a next time, I really will kick your ass.”
“That’s fair. I think you should get three kicks. Does that sound good?”
He smiled, “I won’t take anything less than seven.”
Ved'ma Story 