Welcome to Underground I Love the Way Samurai Train in Shounen Manga
Part 2
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Sure enough, Sago-style training went well. In order for Toukchan to get used to the sensation of high heat, I started by getting her to experience heat that was only a little over 41°C. Specifically, I had her put her hands in water that was heated to 45°C while her pyrokinesis was activated. That day, she experienced growing pains that were different from before, and was able to produce 45°C flames the next day. In addition, it appears that pyrokinesis and heatproofing activate as a set, and she experiences heat normally if you do something like suddenly throwing hot water at her while she has her guard down.
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When she saw that the training was successful, Kaburagi-san was at a loss. After sending Toukchan, who was innocently delighted, home, she remained seated at Amanoiwato"s bar and downed a cup of sake in one gulp.
"Rather than creating a training method based on theory, Sago-san can successfully create one by only relying on his intuition. It"s a bit unfair, you know."
"Umm, I don"t know what to say about that."
It"s like when I would try to solve a difficult math problem by studying hard and using the correct formula. I would be enthusiastic about it when I got it right; but if the person sitting next to me was able to get the correct answer with just their intuition, it would seem like I"m making a big deal out of nothing. What Kaburagi-san said bothers me as well.
I know Kaburagi-san isn"t blaming me, but since the atmosphere was now awkward, I decided to distract myself by polishing a wine gla.s.s. Kaburagi-san continued,
"Most likely, Sago-san has an innate talent for training superpowers. *Mou*, I guess I"ll leave everything concerning superpowers to you, ok?"
"Yes, please leave it to me."
Everything concerning superpowers has now been entrusted to me. While acquiring knowledge and skills as the owner of Amanoiwato, I"m also seriously considering how to improve the training menu. Outwardly, I own Amanoiwato, which is actually a front for the secret organization"s headquarters, and have no superpowers. Toukchan"s training regime is supposed to be created by the mysterious boss. In Toukchan"s eyes, the bar-master of Amanoiwato always has a sour look on his face while polishing wine gla.s.ses or making coffee. I wanted to use summer vacation to get on better terms with her. But I"m just reaping what I sowed, since I was the one who chose to have an unsociable and taciturn character.
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Still, for Toukchan"s ignition temperature improvement training, I decided that, while her power was activated, to submerge her hands in hot water; starting at 45°C, and then adding 8°C to the temperature multiple times. It will be a little painful, but she should be able to endure it without getting burned. Currently, she"s able to endure a temperature of 45°C; apparently, 45°C feels like 36°C (the same temperature as human body heat), so 46°C should feel like 37°C, and etc. In short, at temperatures over 44°C, her heatproof ability will activate. This makes it possible to exceed human limits.
Our first goal is for the hot water to reach 100°C. With her hands plunged into a pot of hot water whose temperature has been adjusted with a thermometer, we increase the temperature; 45°C, 53°C, 61°C, 69°C, 77°C, 85°C, 93°C, and then finally 100°C. The next goal is to reach 1700°C using a gas stove. Because having Toukchan suddenly thrust her hand into the fire of a gas stove would cause her to get severe burns, we"ll use a frying pan and adjust the temperature. As she presses her hands into the burning hot frying pan, Toukchan is the very image of someone getting tortured.
It took 200 days of increasing the temperature by 8°C per day to reach 1700°C on the gas stove. Half a year. Not only summer vacation, but also winter vacation is over. We quickly move on from the gas stove and aim for 3000°C with an oxyacetylene burner used for welding. Dynamite… made of nitroglycerin, burns at 4000°C. Any temperature higher than that is at the level of the sun (on the surface 6000°C, it can reach up to 15 million °C in the center).
If you compare nitroglycerin"s 4000°C to the sun, it"s relatively easier to make preparations to reach nitroglycerin"s temperature. It takes one year and four months for Toukchan to reach this temperature. It feels like it was both a long and short amount of time. It"s good that she didn"t become "kettle girl" and stop growing at under 100°C. It would"ve been quite troublesome if she couldn"t even reach the ignition temperature for paper (450°C).
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It was around August when Toukchan stopped being "kettle girl" by surpa.s.sing 100°C1. I decided it was time to also start flame emission training. Toukchan is unable to produce a state where her hand is clad in flames by default. While that"s cool in its own way, if it"s this way she"ll turn into a "human bullet mahou shoujo" who can only fight by hitting things with her burning hands. We need to extend the range of her flame emission.
To start off with, I had Toukchan try to raise the temperature of only her index finger. Next, while keeping the temperature of her index finger at 100°C, I had her raise the temperature in her other fingers to 41°C, and hold it that way. It took one week for her to fine-tune her temperatures like this. Next, I had her practice raising the temperature of only the thumb, only the little finger, only the ring finger, only the middle finger, and so on. Since she got the hang of it from the index finger training, this time it only took her three days. Now that she"s learned how to fine-tune the temperature of her fingers, Toukchan should be able to learn how to individually adjust the temperature of various parts of her hand.
Toukchan is now able to adjust the temperature of various parts of her hand and have the temperature change flow smoothly between parts. There"s finally vigorously moving temperatures! If the excessive energy causes flames to shoot out from her hands, it will be a success.
It seems that Toukchan seriously applied herself to training her ability, since she experienced a "level up" at the end of August and became able to shoot out a small amount of flames. The temperature also reached 300°C, only a little bit more until she reaches the ignition temperature for paper. She"s already reached the point where she"s able to easily ignite and burn up wood chips. It looks like it"ll be safe to allow her to start partic.i.p.ating in the battle against the world"s darkness sometime in September.
The continual firing time, which seemed to extend indefinitely, stopped at 18 hours in August. It seems to have hit its growth limit. When Kaburagi-san and I noticed it, we both felt relieved but also a bit disappointed, since it seemed like Toukchan had reached the limits of her youth. *Maa*, at any rate, she probably will never even need to use her pyrokinesis for 18 hours continuously. And if you include time for sleeping, it"s almost like there"s no limit at all. From now on, we will focus on temperature improvement and flame emission training.
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Speaking of summer vacation, Toukchan still had to do her summer homework for school. Toukchan could now be seen sitting in front of the bar rather than in the secret base, except for when she was doing her standard ability training. She was currently experiencing every middle-school boy"s delusion, except it was real; she was receiving one-on-one tutoring on her homework from a gentle and beautiful "onee-san" (though her beauty is the result of plastic surgery). There was even working air conditioning.
d.a.m.nit, I wanted "secret individual lessons" over summer vacation when I was that age, but I never got them. Fully enjoy your youth, Toukchan. If you wait ten years it"ll be too late and you"ll end up with many regrets.
Kaburagi-san and Toukchan became as close as sisters over the summer vacation. Toukchan admires Kaburagi-san and views her as an ideal adult and female figure, although I wouldn"t say that it"s blind acceptance, since when Kaburagi-san starts drinking alcohol in the evening, she makes a slightly unpleasant face (Buddhism forbids alcohol consumption), even though Kaburagi-san has told her that she stops drinking later on in the evening, since it"s bad for her skin.
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When it comes to religion, Toukchan seems to do things her own way. After watching her for a while, I"ve gradually come to understand that Toukchan"s version of Buddhism is relatively moderate. From the teachings of different Buddhist sects, she chooses the ones she likes, creating a mixture of different Buddhist practices. She pays her respects to Buddha and would take to task a corrupt monk that extorts money from the other monks and people who come to the shrine; but while she dislikes alcohol, she does consume meat. When Kaburagi-san pointed out this discrepancy, she replied seriously, "It"s fine. Buddha has a merciful heart, he will forgive me." Should I be concerned about this…?
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I also want to get along well with Toukchan, but there"s no sign at all of her opening up to me. I know that nothing will happen even if I wait for something to happen, and nothing will start if I don"t make the first move. Only by taking action will I be able to get closer to Toukchan. So I studied latte art2 during summer vacation. Cute latte art can win over any junior-high school girl"s heart. Amanoiwato is a bar, but during the day it"s transformed into coffee shop. There"s nothing wrong with making latte art in a coffee shop.
I want to have a slight change in my character; from now on, I want show an awkward, fatherly side and timidly reach out to Toukchan through heart-warming latte art, which will sweep away my harsh outward appearance and behavior. Kaburagi-san expressed her worry, saying "Are you sure you can pull off such a complicated character?", but I wanted to do it. I"ve been feeling a little lonely lately, after all; it"s like the girls have the power, while I"ve been ostracized. It seems that I will fade out if girls continue to gain power, so the next member of Amaterasu will be male.
Having bought a complete set of espresso machines and other equipment needed for latte art, I worked on latte art training while Toukchan worked on pyrokinesis training. If I ask Amaterasu"s investor to buy me something, it"ll just *pon* appear. "Mama Kaburagi, buy it!" It"s not good to be so reliant on her, but I don"t even remember asking her to buy it. Seems like it"s useless to resist. I"ll always be indebted to her.
I"m more dexterous with my psychokinesis than with my hands; if I use my psychokinesis, I can easily draw Byodoin"s Phoenix Hall3 in the coffee cup without even practicing (I think Toukchan would like it), but the bar-master isn"t supposed to have any powers, so I"ll have to use my hands in front of Toukchan.
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On the last day of summer vacation, Kaburagi-san was absent, so Toukchan was sitting in her usual seat while silently writing out the Heart Sutra, when I silently slid her a cup of coffee with latte art drawn on it. I worked hard to create that latte art, and when Toukchan saw it, her eyes suddenly rounded.
"It"s a tiny cat! So cute!"
Toukchan"s face went *patu* and suddenly started sparkling. How dazzling. Toukchan is the cute one, not the cat. I made my usual sour expression, but I had to use psychokinesis to hold down my facial muscles and keep from smiling. Toukchan quickly said thank you. I"m glad I"m the bar-master4.
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After summer vacation, Toukchan changed schools, and her new life was about to begin. Changing your environment can wear down your mind, so I want to help her feel better by providing cute latte art, and maybe that will help change her opinion of me.
So. Toukchan moved into a company owned house in the Adachi district of downtown Tokyo near Amanoiwato for her second semester of school, and transferred to a junior high school in the city. This is all a result of Kaburagi-san"s work behind the scenes. There are two reasons for doing so. Commuting time and home environment improvement.
First, commuting time. It takes about an hour by train to reach Amanoiwato in Tokyo from the Hasumi family home in Saitama. This was fine during summer vacation, but it"ll be difficult to spend two hours making the round-trip once second semester starts. There"s also the train fare to consider. Next, home environment improvement. In the first place, the poor relationship between Toukchan"s parents stems from her father"s low salary. Therefore, Kaburagi-san invested a large amount of money into the company that Toukchan"s father works for, stating that the conditions for doing so were to transfer her father to their headquarters in Tokyo, and to increase his salary. The company quickly agreed after they saw the amount of zeros on the check, and Toukchan"s father was promoted.
There was a sudden personnel change, and since Toukchan"s father was so delighted at his good luck he never questioned it. Toukchan"s mother was also delighted, since she no longer had to work part-time due to her father"s salary increase. If Toukchan moves as a result of a parent"s work transfer, there shouldn"t be anyone who hates her and she can make friends at school. The Hasumi family quickly packed up their luggage and moved. Toukchan was also glad that her parents had stopped fighting once her father transferred to headquarters.
Times like these show how important Kaburagi-san"s money is. Although this time, Kaburagi-san seems to have lost quite a bit of money due to forcefully pushing through the matter, and that"s not even considering our later expenses, so I"m a bit worried.
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Even before we decided to look for schools for Toukchan to transfer into, I was already thinking about it. Do you know why?
"A pretty female transfer student who turns out to have superpowers!" I"ll be able to recreate that cliched scene and watch it up close and personal!
Alright, commence operation "Boy Meets Girl"!
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Footnotes:
1: In case you"re confused, the previous section was a tangent about the training regime he developed and the results. We"re now going back to where we left off before that.
2: Latte art is creating patterns and designs with the foam that results from pouring steamed milk into espresso. I personally like this one ⇒ Latte Art
3: Phoenix Hall is part of the Byodoin Temple in Uji, Kyoto and is on the back of the 10-yen coin. Here"s a photo comparing the two ⇒ Byodoin Temple: Phoenix Hall
4: Police! We have a loli-con here! He"s trying to tempt junior-high school girls into his creepy underground bar by claiming it"s a cafe and giving them cute cat latte art! Arrest him!