A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol. 2

by Brandon Varnell

  Ryoko poked her tongue out. “What’s the problem? This is just my way of greeting you.”

  “Your way of greeting people needs work,” Alex rebutted.

  “Speaking of greeting, aren’t you going to introduce me to this hottie right here?”

  Alex clicked his tongue. “Ryoko, this is Gabrielle. Gabby, Ryoko. She’s Selene’s friend, the one I was just telling you about.”

  “I’m your friend, too, you know,” Ryoko said. “Or are you so self-important now that you’re a big bad cop that you and I can’t be friends?”

  “I never said that,” Alex muttered.

  “Hi!” Gabrielle greeted. “I’m Gabrielle Angelise! It’s nice to meet you!”

  Ryoko’s grin revealed sharp canines. “Hello,” she greeted before raising an eyebrow at Alex. “Where exactly did you find this bodacious little hottie? Don’t tell me you’ve been cheating on me. Oh, Alex, how could you?”

  “Ha-ha.” Alex’s dry laugh could’ve put deserts to shame. “You’re a funny girl. Anyway, Gabrielle is a friend who’s staying with me because—”

  “Alex is my fiancé!” Gabrielle declared, grabbing Alex’s arm and holding it to her chest. Feeling the soft swell of her cleavage on his arm made Alex’s face flood with color.

  Ryoko blinked several times in shock, but she was quick to recover. Her sly grin made feel like nuclear-powered batteries were vibrating in his stomach. “Fiancé, eh?” She elbowed him in the ribs. “Getting yourself hitched at such a young age. Who knew you had it in you?”

  Alex didn’t know how to answer Ryoko. He couldn’t tell her that he and Gabrielle were pretending to be married. Did that mean he should play it up and say they were? But what about Gabrielle’s feelings? Yes, she was enthusiastic when it came to telling everyone that they were engaged, but would she like it if he did the same thing?

  “Stop bothering them, Ryoko,” Selene said from behind Alex. Turning, he watched as his childhood friend walked up to Ryoko and bopped her on the head. “You’re being a pest.”

  “Heh-heh, sorry, Selene.” Ryoko poked her tongue out and gave her friend a coy smile.

  “Sorry about that, you two,” Selene apologized on her friend’s behalf.

  “It’s fine,” Alex said.

  “Selene!” Gabrielle’s beaming face was a beacon of joy. “Thanks again for going shopping with me the other day. I had a lot of fun!”

  Selene’s smile was a lot more composed than Gabrielle’s. “You’re welcome. I had fun, too.”

  “What’s this?” Ryoko stared back and forth between the two. “Do you already know her?”

  “We’ve met before,” Selene said evenly.

  “Hey, if you’re here, Ryoko, then shouldn’t there be one other person?” Alex asked. “Where’s Serah?”

  As if summoned by her name being called, a pair of hands snaked underneath Gabrielle’s armpits and cupped her generous chest. Gabrielle blinked several times and looked down. Her face was nonplussed, as if she didn’t know what was happening. Meanwhile, the pair of hands had sunken into her superlative chest as though they were made of gelatin.

  “Hmm,” Serah mumbled as her face peered over Gabrielle’s shoulder. “These are… eighty-nine centimeters up top… and seventy centimeters on the bottom. You have really nice boobs.”

  “Thank you!” Gabrielle said, seemingly unbothered by the fact that some random person was groping her tits.

  Alex’s cheeks could’ve put turbo engines to shame with their heat. “Serah, I’d appreciate it if you stopped grabbing Gabrielle’s, um, chest.”

  “Sorry,” Serah apologized, though she didn’t stop fondling Gabrielle’s massive mammaries. “Whenever I see such a magnificent pair of tits, I can’t help but want to feel them. These have to be the most amazing sweater-stuffers I’ve ever seen!”

  Ryoko laughed. “That’s Serah for you. Speaking of, let me get a feel of those snuggle pups.”

  “Ah! Hee-hee! That tickles!”

  Alex turned away as Ryoko joined Serah in her blatant breast fondling. It didn’t do him much good, since he could still hear what was happening. If faces could combust, his would have already exploded.

  “Oh! You’re right, Serah! These are amazing!”

  “Aren’t they? I’ve never seen someone who has such a large chest!”

  As Serah and Ryoko gushed over Gabrielle’s boobs, Alex turned fifty shades of red. Beside him, Selene wasn’t looking much better.

  “I’m really sorry about them, Alex,” Selene apologized.

  Alex tried to pretend that he wasn’t getting hot and bothered. “It’s not your fault.”

  “By the way, your name is Gabrielle, right?” Serah asked, still cupping Gabrielle’s boobs.

  “Yep! My name is Gabrielle Angelise!”

  “Right, right. So, tell me, has Alex touched these magnificent mammaries yet?”

  If Alex had been drinking something, this would have been the moment where he spit it all out. Turning around, he pointed a finger and opened his mouth to defend himself from these perverse accusations.

  Gabrielle beat him to the punch. “He’s grabbed them several times, and he stuck his face in them last night.”

  “Stuck his face in them, huh?” Selene sent him an accusing glare.

  “I-it wasn’t like that!” Alex shouted.

  “So bold!” Ryoko exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “I hadn’t realized you were such a beast, Alex. You must have matured since you graduated from primary.”

  Alex was in a quandary. If he told her that she had the wrong idea, then it would be like saying they weren’t engaged, and since he and Gabrielle were pretending to be married, that was a no go. On the other hand, if he didn’t deny it, then he would be labeled as a pervert.

  Then again, since Serah and Ryoko have been groping Gabrielle this whole time, I’m not sure if they have any right to speak.

  “How about you two say that after you stop groping my… fiancé,” Alex said. His tongue felt thick as he spoke the dreaded f-word.

  “Fine, fine, we’ll leave her alone… for now,” Ryoko said.

  Serah and Ryoko stopped having fun with Gabrielle, who still seemed completely unbothered by what had just happened. Alex didn’t know if she was just extremely resilient to embarrassment, or if Gabrielle was simply so used to other people grabbing her boobs that she didn’t care. Either way, he figured that he was embarrassed enough for the both of them.

  “So, what are you two doing here?” Selene asked.

  “We were seeing the principal lady!” Gabrielle said.

  “Principal? You mean Ms. Tepes?”

  “Yup!”

  “What were you two doing with the principal?” asked Serah.

  “She asked me to meet with her,” Alex explained. “After the meeting, Gabrielle wanted me to show her around, and since I’m no longer a cadet at the police academy, I figured it would be fine.”

  “You’re no longer a cadet?” Ryoko needed several seconds to process that. “What happened? Did you blow something up?”

  “Ugh!” Alex doubled over.

  “Now that I think about it, I do remember hearing about someone who caused over two-million credits worth of property damage, and you’ve always had a bad habit of making things go boom!”

  “Gugh!”

  “That was you, wasn’t it?”

  “U-ugh… maybe…”

  Serah and Ryoko stared at Alex, who slowly turned his head, unable to bear the sight of their deadpanned stares.

  “D-don’t look at me like that. Everything that happened was just a series of unfortunate circumstances that I had no control over.”

  Serah and Ryoko glanced at each other. Then Ryoko, acting as their mouthpiece, looked back at him. “Alex, you destroyed the science lab in sixth grade, set fire to the second floor in seventh, and created a robot army that randomly stripped people of their clothes in eighth. You’re a walking natural disaster.”

  “Don’t spout off all of my ill-
fated disasters like that!” Alex paused, his face scrunched up, and then he realized something and shouted some more. “And that last thing didn’t happen!”

  “You’re right. I made that up,” Ryoko admitted.

  “Don’t make up random stories about me on your own!”

  “Relax, I’m just teasing you.” Ryoko grinned. “You’re still so uptight.”

  I’m only uptight because you tease me! Alex wanted to shout.

  “A-anyway.” Alex cleared his throat. “Gabrielle and I are almost done with the tour, so we’ll be leaving soon.”

  “Before you go,” Selene started, “Gabrielle, would you like to hang out with my friends and I tonight? We’re going to karaoke.”

  “You want me to spend time with you?” Gabrielle asked. The shock in her voice, apparent to all, startled the three girls. Ryoko even took a step back.

  “Well, yeah. I mean, we’re friends now, right?” Selene said, and then she turned to Serah and Ryoko. “What do you two think?”

  “I’m down with having her come with us.” Ryoko gave Selene a thumbs-up.

  “So long as Alex doesn’t come, I’m good,” Serah said.

  “Do you still hate me?” Alex asked.

  “I never hated you,” Serah replied. “I just don’t like men.”

  “Alex, can I go to karaoke with them?” Gabrielle clasped her hands in front of her face. Her eyes were shining like shuttle headlights.

  Alex sighed, then gave her a smile. “Sure. Go and have some fun with your friends.”

  “Thank you, Alex!”

  This time, Alex was prepared for Gabrielle’s lunge. He only stumbled a few steps back as the girl hugged him, though he still couldn’t do anything about the pain of feeling his ribcage creak underneath the girl’s strength.

  13

  Jameson de Truante was a wealthy and affluent individual. He came from a noble family, so he was of noble lineage. His parents were important members of society, which thereby made him important by association. To top it off, he was handsome and had an impeccable sense of style. Anyone who thought differently didn’t understand his greatness.

  One of Jameson’s life goals was to find a woman as amazing as himself. There was not a single woman in his entire school who could hold a candle to him. He’d searched high and low, but even to this day, he’d never once found a female worthy of being by his side.

  That was… until today.

  It happened as he was walking to his next class. A beautiful girl with hair spun from silver and eyes like gems walked past him. She hadn’t been wearing the school uniform. Instead, her lovely body had been adorned by an equally lovely dress, allowing him to gaze upon her alluring figure. She had been entrancing. He’d been so dazed that she’d walked by him before he could ask her to be his.

  He’d been in a slump for the rest of the day—until he saw her again. She was hanging around by the gate after school, the same smile that he remembered from before causing her lips to curl delightfully.

  Jameson had been about to walk up to her, but then he’d noticed that she was talking to someone, a familiar face that he could’ve sworn had disappeared from his life.

  It’s Alexander! What is that little cretin doing talking to my woman?

  Indeed, Alexander S. Ryker was there. He stood beside the girl, chatting with her as if they were lovers. Jameson did not know what they were speaking about, but the smile that the girl wore, obviously directed at Alexander, now rankled on his nerves.

  Hiding behind a tree, Jameson spied on the two as they spoke.

  “So, you’re saying that humans use repulsors to generate atmospheric flight?” the girl asked.

  Alexander nodded. “That’s right. We have a repulsor field on the bottom of our shuttles. What it does is create a focused beam that lifts objects into the air via magnetic detraction. Of course, the repulsor only lifts the object, it doesn’t help the object fly. We have propulsion engines for that.”

  “Sounds unnecessarily complicated.”

  “How so?”

  Jameson’s heart almost exploded when the girl adopted a thoughtful mien, placing one hand under her chin, while the other went to her elbow as she cocked her hips at an angle.

  Su-such beauty!

  “Well, on Angelisia, we use anti-gravity nodes.”

  “I can pretty much guess what those are, but could you explain the deeper intricacies for me?”

  “Of course! Anti-gravity nodes are small discs about the size of a thumbnail that are made from a unique type of metal that negates gravity when charged with electrons. The nodes are placed inside of our ships to create a matrix that negates the effects of gravity. With it, we can control ascension and descension with a simple push or pull of our handles.”

  “I see. That’s pretty interesting. I wonder what would happen if we created a repulsor field similar to your anti-gravity matrix…”

  “That sounds like fun! We should try that when I come back from karaoke with Selene and the others!”

  Alexander grinned. “Definitely.”

  They get along well… a little too well.

  Seeing Alexander talk to the girl that he had decided to make his woman caused boiling red anger to bubble in his stomach. Did that penniless little twerp not realize that he, Jameson, the King of Romance, had fallen in love with that girl at first sight? This brat should have realized that and left his girl alone!

  “Gabrielle!” a voice called out.

  Three girls exited the school and ran up to Alex and the girl, who he now knew was called Gabrielle—ah, what a lovely name. Jameson thought he vaguely recognized the three girls. Weren’t they in his class? Well, it didn’t matter. Those people were obviously unimportant.

  “Hey, guys!” Gabrielle waved back, and her smile seemed to pick up a level of vibrancy that could have blinded someone if they looked directly at it. “Are you ready to go?”

  “You bet your cute ass we’re ready,” a girl with dusk-colored skin and dark hair like a lion’s mane said. What was her name again? Ryumo? Ryofu? Something like that.

  “Heh, so you’re all ready for karaoke tonight?” one of the other girls asked, a blond girl with green eyes.

  “Yes!” Gabrielle nodded enthusiastically. “I don’t know what karaoke is, but I’m super excited!”

  “Then let’s go!” Ryomofu cheered.

  “Yay! Bye, Alex!”

  “See ya later, Gabby.”

  Gabrielle and the other girls waved at Alex as they left. Jameson remained where he was, deep in thought.

  So her name is Gabrielle? What a beautiful name. So perfect. So angelic.

  Jameson was so overcome with emotion that he couldn’t help but wrap his arms around his body and wiggle in place.

  He never noticed the people inching away from him.

  14

  With school over and Gabrielle heading off with her new friends, Alex waited for Alice and Jasmine to arrive at the front gate. The students were all leaving. Some glanced at him as they passed, but most of them ignored him in favor of conversing with their friends. Before too long, Alice and Jasmine arrived at the gate.

  “Hey, you two. How was school?” Alex greeted.

  “Oh ho ho ho! I excelled in all of today’s classes,” Jasmine said, her chest swelling with pride. “But that is only to be expected. As someone who has been hailed as the Queen of Intelligence, it is only natural that I, Jasmine de Truante, would have an easy time in class. Oh ho ho ho!”

  “Oh, yeah? Then how come you’re failing two of your classes?” Alice asked.

  “Oh—hurk!” Jasmine appeared to choke on her own spit. Alex grew worried, but then she spun around to face Alice, an angry expression marring her cute face. “T-those failing grades are just a fluke. Yes, a fluke. For someone with my outstanding intelligence, it can only be a fluke. The teachers are clearly jealous of my superior intellect and are sabotaging me.”

  “You get average grades in every other class,” Alice retorted dryly.
<
br />   “U-ugh! J-just shut up! You’re ruining my image in front of Alexander!” A blushing Jasmine shouted at Alice. She looked about ready to stick out her tongue and blow a raspberry, but then she glanced at Alex and seemed to think better of it. Coughing into her hand, she laughed some more. “Oh ho ho ho! Alice, you are such a kidder! Oh ho ho ho!”

  Alice just stared at her. “Right… so, Bro, where’s Gabrielle?”

  At the mention of Gabrielle, Jasmine started choking again.

  “She went out with some friends,” Alex said.

  “Does that mean it’s just us today?”

  “Looks like it. I don’t think Gabrielle will be coming home until later.”

  “Hmm…”

  “What about you, Jasmine?” Alex asked.

  “Oh… oh ho… I’ll just… have dinner the same as always.” Jasmine tried to give him a smile, but Alex could tell that it was fake.

  Jasmine de Truante was a noble, the daughter of a shipping magnate who owned an infamously large corporation called To Ro Shipping. It was a shipping company that spanned the entire solar system, the largest company currently in the shipping industry.

  As the daughter of a successful and wealthy man, Jasmine’s life was often a lonely one. Her father was always away on business, her mother was constantly attending political functions, and her brother was off doing… whatever it was that James did. All that waited for her at home was her robot maid, which Alex had built for her.

  “Then why don’t you come and have dinner with us?” Alex suggested.

  “W-with you?” Jasmine’s eyes went wide.

  “Yeah! It’ll be fun! You haven’t come over for a while, right? I’ll make your favorite meal.”

  “You will?”

  “Of course.”

  “Oh ho! I-I wouldn’t want… to be a bother…”

  Alex knew that Jasmine was holding herself back. She really was a kind girl despite trying to act like a rich snob. He’d never heard her badmouth anyone, she never put up with people who bullied others, and she always did her best to please the people around her. That included her no good father who was never home, her just as terrible mother, and her disgusting lecher of an older brother.