Two Sides to Every Coin (OPM Garou x OC)

Chapter 7: Reconnecting

It was a beautiful day in City Z. Kaana had woken up, her head groggy as she slowly lifted herself from her bed.
"Mm~" she moaned as she rubbed her neck, having slept wrong the night prior. It was early in the morning, since she'd go to the dojo to help teach classes. Bomb had passed his dojo down, but was Grand Master, so he was still there. Kaana was one of the two Masters of the dojo.
Heaving a huge sigh, she got ready for the day.
Getting to the dojo, she was immediately greeted by Bomb, per usual. As any day would go, Kaana would take the younger students out to the courtyard to train while the other Master handled the adults. Bomb watched Kaana's classes and assisted when needed, which was rarely.
With this being the case, Bomb would step away to periodically check the adult classes. At the end of the session, they all sat to discuss the learning of the lesson.
"Master, can you teach us the ultimate technique of Fist of Whirling Wind, Slashing Steel?" the oldest teenage boy asked, trying to mimic the hand work of it, while some younger children agreed with enthusiasm.
Kaana gave a light smile, but explained, "I will when you are ready. The technique is one a Master can execute. It isn't to be taken lightly, either."
"Can you show us?" The boy asked.
Then, a younger boy jumped in, "Yeah! Master Jirou says that you can't."
Kaana quirked a brow at this, "Oh? Is this true?"
This silenced the group, until a blonde boy spoke up, "Um, Master Jirou doesn't believe you have a place as a Master in the dojo...because you're a girl."
Kaana wasn't too surprised at this. Jirou was very thickheaded and, honestly, had it out for Kaana straight away when she came to stay with Bomb. Even now, Jirou loathes that she is a Master now. It's why they keep the classes separate: Jirou would try to start things with her. Of course, Jirou hid his distain for her well from Bomb. If not, Bomb would've expelled him long ago and Kaana would've been handed down the dojo. He wasn't going to let that happen.
With that, Kaana stood up, "I'll say this: Man or woman, anyone can be an amazing fighter," then, she turned away from the students, a wild, flowing red wind shot from her hands. With a powerful dragon claw strike, the wind was shot at a boulder, which was promptly reduced to rubble in seconds as the winds ripped it apart.
The students awed and gasped in amazement, mouths agape and stars in their eyes.
Kaana stood upright from her finished stance and smirked at the group, "And if you want to see more of that, then ask your parents to come to the Super Fight. Martial Artists from all over are participating, including myself."
The whole group stood quickly, all cheering in excitement, the oldest teen exclaiming excitedly, "Yes, Master!"
Just then, Kaana tensed and looked towards the compound, her sensitive ears picking up a commotion. It didn't sound good.
"Students, follow me," Kaana said urgently and ran up the stairs, her students following suit.

When Kaana pushed the side double doors open, she was shocked at the scene before her. Jirou was being held back by two of the adult students, aggressively trying to pull free and snarling angrily. He had a bloody nose, a bruised cheek, a black eye, and a busted lip.
And who gave it to him?
She looked to her right and her eyes widened, 'GAROU?!'
Garou was there, Bomb had him in an double arm lock as to prevent him from further causing any more injury to Jirou. He wasn't fighting the grip as much as Jirou was fighting, but that didn't stop the deadly glare and snarl he was giving the guy, though. Most of the students were frozen to the spot and it was clear that they did not want to get in Garou's path. This happened so quickly and Kaana just managed to see the end result of this.
Finally, she spoke up, disrupting the entire situation, "What is going on here?!"
This broke Garou's and Jirou's death glares as everyone looked her way, her younger students behind her. Garou seemed to come out of his rabid state as soon as he heard and saw her. Any malice and intent to slaughter had disappeared completely, "Kaana," he stepped out of Bomb's grasp, who allowed it, and started to walk over.
The students holding Jirou let him go and he stood disgruntled, knowing that this altercation was over.
Kaana felt anger fill her upon seeing Garou after he had rudely blew her off, and was starting fights in her dojo. If not been for everyone watching, she'd slap him across the face.
Instead, she barked at him, "What are you doing here, starting fights?! What gives you any right?!"
"Will you chill out? I came here to see you, but this idiot got in my way," Garou pointed over his shoulder at Jirou, seemingly unaffected by Kaana's anger. Jirou only snarled in response.
During this interaction, the kids were marvelling at Garou, "Wow, it's Master Garou! Master of Fist of Flowing Water, Crushing Rock. What's he doing here?"
The boys started whispering amongst themselves:
"He looks so cool!"
"I can't believe he used to hunt heroes!"
"There are rumors that he's part monster!"
"Look at how he's staring at Master Kaana. I think he likes her."
"You think they're dating? They're talking so casually with each other."
Garou caught the whispers and turned his gaze to the kids, "Hm?" this made the students quiet, nervous that he might've heard.
Garou addressed them, "It isn't polite to be speaking about your higher ups behind their backs."
The oldest boy bowed on behalf of the other students, apologizing, "Forgive us, Master Garou. It is just, we hold you in high regards. Master Kaana, as well. We meant no disrespect."
Garou raised a brow, then turned back to address Kaana again, "Look, I came by to apologize. It was disrespectful to blow you off when you had come to the dojo to speak to me."
Kaana went from seething, to looking a bit shocked, blinking at him silently. The anger left her body and her shoulders slumped. She can never stay angry at him for long and she cursed herself for it, at times.
"It's alright. However, I do think we need to talk about a few things," Kaana noticed him tensing at this, and she smirked, "Don't worry, I'm not going to tear into you or anything. Don't get so fidgety."
The students giggled at this as Garou relaxed subtly, but the man chose to ignore it. They were kids, after all.
"If you want, you can stay until we finish cleaning the dojo," Kaana suggested and Garou stiffly nodded.
Garou sat on the sidelines as the students raced across the floors, wiping them down. Other students putting the equipment away and such.
Jirou was sitting next to Garou, holding a tissue to his nose. The injured Master refused to say anything, but Garou did.
"Dipshit," Jirou side glanced Garou, who kept his eyes forward and said in an eerily calm tone, "If you so much as look at Kaana the wrong way, I will see to it that no one finds your body."
With that threat, Garou silently got up and walked away, leaving Jirou thoroughly terrified. Garou approached Kaana when she emerged in her street clothes. A blue T-shirt, black yoga pants.
"Ready? Been waiting forever," Garou's retort was met with an eye roll.
"Yeah, but we need to stop somewhere, first," Kaana replied, slipping her tai chi slippers on at the entrance, Garou doing the same.
"Where?" Garou raised a brow at her.
"I need to pick up Kenji from preschool. Saya's stuck in a meeting and Saitama's running errands," Kaana explained, "I promised to pick him up and watch him until they come home."
"Why are you bringing me along, then, if you're busy?" Garou crossed his arms as they exited the dojo.
Kaana hit him in the shoulder, "Because I want to and Kenji has been begging to see you."
"That kid really needs to stop with that," Garou placed a hand on his hip while they descended down the steps, "I ain't related to you guys."
Kaana huffed at this, "That shouldn't matter. He looks up to you, you should be honored."
Garou, in turn, rolled his eyes, "Whatever."
"You've really grown sour over the years, haven't you?" Kaana frowned at him.
Garou internally cringed, mentally kicking himself. He didn't want to upset her, but that's all he seemed to be doing, lately.
He sighed, then turned to gaze at her, "I'm sorry. I'm just in a fowl mood."
"No kidding," Kaana quipped, "By the way, why were you brawling with Jirou? What happened?"
Garou turned his gaze to the ground, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they reached the bottom, "Dipshit provoked me. He had it coming."
"What did he say? It usually takes a lot to rile you up, like that," Kaana inquired, but Garou wasn't going to tell her. In fact, she noticed the hardened expression that grew on his face. Clearly, just recalling what was said was pissing him off, "Nevermind."
~
Garou entered the dojo, Bomb greeting him, 'Garou, it's been a while. Welcome.'
'Thanks. Is Kaana here?' Garou asked, 'I need to speak with her.'
Bomb smiled, 'Kaana is instructing a class, at the moment. Today's session will be ending shortly, if you care to wait.'
'I can hang around,' Garou shrugged nonchalantly.
Bomb turned to the side, 'If I may ask a favor of you, I need to step away for a moment to address matters regarding the Judging positions for this year's Super Fight.'
'You've been selected?' Bomb nodded at this.
'I must sent in my answer, if you will supervise the adult class for a few moments,' Bomb then turned and left.
Garou really didn't care, but didn't quite understand why Bomb asked. That is, until he saw Jirou walk up to him. Now, Garou had never liked Jirou, as the man was full of himself and a poor excuse of a Master. However, Garou kept it as civil as possible, since he was in another Master's dojo. Jirou didn't hide that he hated Garou, except when Bomb was around.
'Hey, you,' Garou turned to the man, 'What is a monster doing in Grand Master Bomb's dojo?'
Garou hid the snarl that threatened to escape, but answered him, 'I'm here to see a friend.'
'Who? Kaana?' the man then scoffed, 'Didn't think she had any friends. Well, I shouldn't be surprised that a freak, like her, is friends with a hero hunting monster.'
Garou's blood was boiling, but kept his composure, not wanting to start anything, 'I see you have a problem with her. What'd she ever do to you?'
'She's a woman. A woman has no place in such a highly proclaimed dojo,' Jirou ranted, 'She isn't even that good at Martial Arts, the old fart just has a soft spot for her. No wonder he didn't officially hand down the dojo to me. If she wasn't around--'
'Kaana is an excellent fighter and rightfully earned the title as Master in this dojo,' Garou nearly snarled at the man, his composure on the edge of crumbling, 'You should show her some respect.'
Jirou crossed his arms, smirking, 'The only respect that she'll ever get from me is when she's down on her knees where she belongs, and is sucking me off.'
That's when Garou saw red and lunged at Jirou, pinning the man and punching him in the face. No one disrespects Kaana's honor and gets away with it. The adults, who were still running through their sets, heard the conversation from start to finish. They only stopped when they heard Jirou's lewd remark and partly saw Garou ramming him into the floor.
Bomb had come rushing out at the sound of the commotion, and saw Garou beating Jirou senseless. He pulled the platinum blonde off him, who was still in a rage. He realized that Jirou was standing up and trying to lunge at Garou. Not before the adult students grabbed him to prohibit anymore brawling.
'Son of a bitch!' Jirou struggled and shouted.
Garou wasn't even listening to what Bomb was shouting at him. A feral growl emanating from Garou's throat as Bomb held the young man back even more firmly. This had rendered the entire room silent as Garou seemed to just want to rip Jirou apart, a crazed animalistic glint in his eyes as he struggled to get free. This seemed to frighten Jirou, but he didn't stop struggling.
That was when Kaana had stormed in.
~
Garou wasn't going to tell her what happened, but he was going to make sure Bomb knew. No one talked that way about her unless they had a death wish. Next time, though.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Garou and Kaana walked into City Z, now waiting at the entrance of the small preschool.
There were some parents waiting, as well. Some were staring at the two.
"Which kid do you think belongs to them? Probably a delinquent with such a mean looking guy for a father," a mother had whispered to another, but was not being inconspicuous.
Garou noticed, but ignored the talk. Although, he couldn't help, but let his mind kind of wander to such an idea. Him, waiting for a kid of his own? He glanced at Kaana, who was oblivious to the talk and he suddenly found himself imagining her and him...with a kid.
Garou quickly shook the thought away, cursing himself for indulging such foolish thinking. Suddenly, the school bell tolled and little kids started to file out, all looking to find their parents.
Then, a little boy with brown eyes, fair skin and spiky black hair, came walking out. He was searching aimlessly, until he saw Kaana and Garou at the gate. His eyes lit up when they landed on the former Hero Hunter and he took off in a run, "UNCLE!!" a wide smile on his lips.
Kenji ran into Garou's legs and hugged him tightly. Garou was a bit surprised by the blatant display, but collected himself and grumbled, "I've told you to stop calling me 'Uncle', kid. We aren't related."
"Garou," Kaana shoved him in the shoulder. Kenji just looked up at Garou, eyes wide and smile on his face, "Mommy says if they are close with the family, then they are family. You're always around Auntie Kaana, so you're family."
Garou pursed his lips, a blush creeping along his cheeks. The innocence of a child can be disturbing, especially if they point something so obviously embarrassing out. Him and Kaana aren't even together, but in Kenji's eyes, he saw his constant presence with her as a form of family association. Garou kept his mouth shut.
Kenji then let Garou go and hugged Kaana's legs, too, "Hi, Auntie Kaana! Thank you for bringing Uncle! Is this my birthday gift?"
"Gift?" Garou inquired.
Kaana just grinned, "Kenji's birthday is in two days. He kept asking to see you for his birthday."
"Kid, how old are you turning?" Garou asked. Kenji turned to him, holding out his whole hand, "Five! I'll be a big boy, soon!"
Kaana ruffled Kenji's hair, "Well, you're parents aren't going to be home for a few hours. How about we grab some food? Maybe a little ice cream, too."
Kenji frowned worriedly, "But, Mommy doesn't want me eating ice cream."
Kaana gave a wink and held a finger to her lips, "It'll be our little secret. For your birthday."
Kenji giggled, jumping in place in excitement. Garou couldn't stop the smirk from appearing, seeing Kaana interacting so naturally with Kenji hit a soft spot in him. Kids have always been a small weakness for him. Seeing the woman he loves with a child, acting so affectionately had him imagining again. A child of their own.
He quickly stomped the thought away. Why was he suddenly so weak when it came to her? It was like a primal desire was scratching its way to the surface and making his resolves slowly crumble. He didn't want to feel the pangs of rejection anymore, but now there was these feelings of longing, pining. A longing to have Kaana by his side and take possession of her very being and have it meld with his. His mind started to turn fuzzy, a buzzing invaded his senses as a molten heat started to settle in his gut.