17 I guess

As Igarashi run he eventually he reached the city.

He made sure through his ki sensing that there was no one around with a view on him and he flew up on top of the nearest building. from there it was a constant running session where he tried as much as possible to keep low profile.

The difference between running at night and running through the day is enormous.

In one he just had to make sure he didn't make much sound and keep away from the light. In the other he was visible the whole time, so his only method of keeping low was to constantly check his surroundings with his ki sensing as much as he could while running.

He kept himself as low as he could so that his figure is as unclear as possible. His speed doing the rest for him as only a slight blur was visible wherever he was.

Luckily being at such a neglected part of the city the population was lower and without any cameras having the rooftops in their line of view he wasn't noticed by anybody.

Finally reaching the orphanage he jumps straight into the tree he was training at before and enters into the systems training dimension to quickly change his clothing to what he usually wore at the orphanage.

When he got out he went straight to the backyard door and entered the building. With his great hearing and his ki sensing he could feel that most of the smaller kids where sleeping. That's what they usually did after eating.

But he couldn't anyhow escape the person that was at the other side of the hallway...

Hiroto strode towards Igarashi with wide steps, anger evident on his face.

"Oi! Where have you been all this time?! We where searching for you before but you where gone!"

He reached Igarashi and crossed his arms while bending down a little bit.

"You made everyone worried!" He shouted.

'Time for acting'

Igarashi looks up at Hiroto with a tired gaze, his shoulders dropped and both of his eyes half closed.

"I'm sorry... I was sleeping... I woke up because I'm hungry..."

To drive his words deeper he grabbed his belly with both hands and looked up at Hiroto with the most innocent face he could make.

Hiroto visually calmed down a little bit but anger was still there.

"You made trouble for everyone searching for you. And where did you even go? Nobody could find you. You didn't go outside of the orphanage did you?"

His words where laced with concern towards the end. None of the children where allowed outside and for good reason. You cant have toddlers running in the streets with all the dangers out there.

Igarashi raised his fists up and raised his tired voice slightly to accentuate his "childishness"

"No! I went to my super-secret sleeping spot! I sleep well there! I dont like playing with the others so I hide there...

But I will never tell you where it is! You wont take it from me! My secret spot!"

Hiroto is skeptical and doubtful of Igarashis words but he decides to let believe him. By his point of view Igarashi is a very sleepy and lazy kid. Antisocial even. He always ignored the other kids who tried to play with him and preferred the comfort of his bedsheets and his mattress.

It makes sense that the only time he got up without being forced by anyone is because he went somewhere to laze around uninterrupted.

Hiroto sighs as he drops his hands and turns around to walk away.

"What sort of monkey species are you supposed to be? I dont think monkeys are as lazy as you are...

Your food is probably in the microwave, remember to heat it up before you try and eat it."

Hiroto isn't on off the brightest of kids, and definitely not of the very responsible type. But you cant expect much from a early teenager. He didn't linger on his doubts and decided to gloss over the fact that there aren't really many spaces in the orphanage Igarashi can go to disappear. And anybody responsible would probe until they know where his secret spot was.

He pauses for a moment and looks back to little Igarashi who was following him, trying to get to the kitchen.

"Oh, I forgot to say, you are quite lucky. Jess was called to work a little early today, she doesn't know that you where lost for hours."

His expression turns more serious as he continues.

"Dont make her worried ok? I wont forgive you if you do. And I dont care that you are a baby. I will punch you."

Hiroto leaves after ending his 'order'.

Igarashi stops for a moment as the words are processed.

He doesn't want to worry Jess either. Why would he? To tease her? Her feelings are not a toy for him to take entertainment out of. He honestly wants to take care of her and help her whenever she needs him. To be there for her as her brother. But he cant.

His ambition and the path he has chosen from before he was sent here. It just makes it impossible to have a simple life. To be a active member of a normal persons life.

His path means that he will have enemies in abundance. And the ones that will attack his family to get to him make up the largest portion of those enemies.

His family members have to be strong enough to contend with most of his enemies and be able to protect themselves if he isn't there. Yes, the items from the system could help his tremendously on this front. But relying on tricks like those could go wrong. Something unaccounted could happen and he could potentially lose that very family he swore to protect.

In the series there weren't really any cases of this that he could recall. But this is reality. Not a manga or a animation. Just like he isn't one of those webnovel protagonists that have their d*ck ridden by lady luck. Or being able to deal with anything at any time.

The best he can do to protect her and his loved ones is keep his identity hidden and cut interactions as soon as he can.

Igarashis lips twitch. His tired act broken. Looking at the ground with a resolute face.

"I will make sure not to..."

His words where barely audible, but as they echoed in the hallway Hiroto caught on to them. Even though he only nodded as a response.

Igarashi suddenly looks up at Hiroto who was just about to turn into the other hallway and calls out to him.

"Hiroto!"

Hiroto takes a sudden stop and turns his head to look at him with a slightly annoyed expression.

"What is it now?"

Hiroto was slightly weirded out by Igarashis serious expression. It was determined. Unlike what a child should have. And he wasn't expecting it. But his thoughts didn't show as he stared back.

"You will protect her, wont you? Wont you keep our family from harms way?"

His words where simple. And yet they resounded through Hiroto. These where not words of a child. They where mature, far from fantasy and playfulness. They where absolutely serious.

It was no question

It was a expectation.

And Hiroto knew. Understanding completely what the child in front of him was saying.

"You doubt me?"

Both smirked, Igarashi satisfied at his brothers determined and assuring reaction. Hiroto entertained by Igarashis sudden serious demeanor.

Hiroto strides back to Igarashi with a widening playful smile.

"Im the oldest and strongest guy here! Of course I will protect those whom I love! I told you didn't I?"

Hiroto stopped when he came right in front of Igarashi, quickly raising his hand and pointing at his own face, his smile.

"I will be a hero. One of the best. I will work hard and climb to the top. If I cant protect my family I cant protect anyone else. So rest assured, I will keep them safe."

Igarashi satisfied at his brothers determined response smirked as he started walking away

"I look forward to it"

Sure. Hiroto was a kid. But his brother had potential. Even though he most likely wont be adopted and his life will be tough, if he really tries he will become a great hero.

Igarashi will by no means rely on him to protect jess and the kids. So the reason he spoke was simple...

It felt correct.

It felt like he had to say it.

Nothing more.

But now that he said it. He hoped that this will make Hiroto try harder, to devote more to bettering himself and his abilities. Life has already been against him. Only through work will he triumph. To prove himself and stay true to his potential.

Who knows. He might even reach the top 10. Though highly unlikely unless he awakens. Something nigh impossible.

But he must try. Because if he doesn't he is condemned to be weak.

Hiroto grabbed Igarashi in a headlock and laughed.

"You little shit! Why dont you stop acting around me? I dont know how you monkey quirk does it but you can be way more mature than you are supposed to! A couple days ago you couldn't even form a sentence correctly!"

"Well... maybe."

In truth, Igarashi already gave himself away to Hiroto last time they talked. Acting childish is annoying, and since there isn't really much of a point acting in front of Hiroto anymore, he might as well be a little more laid back.

After that it was a normal day.

The rest of the children woke up and got to playing as heroes and villains. Jess eventually came back from her job and took care of them before taking Igarashi and using him as a hug pillow for the rest of their day (To Igarashis annoyance). But since he was was being immobile for a long time he took the chance to train his ki sensing over longer distances.

It wasn't much effective since he was being pestered by Jess and interrupted by the kids laughing and playing. But those annoyances where useful to condition his ability to sense passively without concentrating.

---------------------------------------

The following two days where nothing but boredom for Igarashi. the only things keeping him entertained where his nights out patrolling and his combat training with the puppet.

He started getting more into his matches with it. Unlike everybody else he can adjust the puppets raw power and hence its always stronger than him. Which in turn pushes him to be a more effective fighter. Sadly there is a small issue.

Due to his size its easier to evade rather than block, and his whole fighting style is centering around his speed and maneuverability. When he grows older that wont really be the case. As a saiyan the chances of being tall are very low, but his enemies wont be double and triple his height most of the time like they are now.

When his body grows it will be necessary that his combat style is more versatile and his proficiency as a "in your face" close quarters fighter is cultivated thoroughly.

Of course whatever he has learnt is very much useful. Its just not practical for the long run.

On his third night after the bank incident he finally saw the movement that he was expecting during the last two days. He noticed a very sudden spike of heroes moving in his territory.

Just during a hour of running he counted around 32 heroes. And it wasn't just them, there where also a good amount of agents, presumably from the hero safety commission, stationed at different locations.

The disparity of skill between these two different forces was evident. Igarashi doesn't believe that neither forces came to apprehend him. Most of them where soo weak that even together they wouldn't be able to defeat the juiced up Rhino. And going by his display of power he has made it clear that he is on another league. The Law enforcement higher ups wouldn't send a bunch of weaklings to fight him.

What they probably did though is send these weaklings to get more info on him. And that's where the disparity of skill becomes painfully clear.

Most of the heroes are literally walking in the roads in hopes to get a glimpse of him, with only a small amount on the roof tops. And even from the ones that are competent and have good positioning some of them dont even have the correct equipment to search for him in the night.

They seem to be searching for him using only their eyesight. Sadly for them the lights aren't strong enough to allow them to notice a speeding (tiny) figure in the distance.

Cherry on top, there was no cooperation between them.

Igarashi had no issue avoiding them at all.

The agent though are another story.

These guys are not only correctly equipped, but they cover most of the city with their numbers and their long ranged thermal binoculars. And every couple blocks there is at least one guy with a sniper.

These guys meant business.

They where coordinated and their positioning was as such to cover as much ground as possible.

Igarashis skill in keeping himself hidden was put to the test. And sadly for him, his skill wasn't good enough.

He had to rely a lot on his enhanced vision for surveying from a far and as much as he could with ki sensing. And he didn't move on the rooftops as much as he normally did, he instead opted to run through the alleyways as he was much harder to spot that way.

His tiny stature also helped tremendously.

But sadly he was still spotted. Even if it was for barely a second before he maneuvered and they lost trace of him.

He was stressed. The situation wasn't at all to his favor. He couldn't risk going back to the orphanage under the watchful eyes. If he was caught entering it would be game over for him.

He jumped through the window of what seemed to be a uninhabited apartment and quickly entered his training dimension.

Its impossible to find him here, and due to the different time ratio he now has more time for himself to think of a way out of the situation...

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End of chapter

2419 words

Happy Christmas. Hope you enjoy it.

I know I wont. I've got almost as many lessons as I normally have and more studying. But I do have a couple days free. So there is a chance for another chapter coming out during these 2 weeks.

And I also hate having to dress up as Santa Claus for my little cousins. I never believed or even liked the idea of Santa even as a kid. And its only gotten worse now that I have to act as him.

As always please point out my mistakes, I wont be fixing them but do tell me.

Thanks for listening. Have a good time brothers and sisters! Merry Christmas once again!

(Bold of me to assume a female is reading this. lmao jk)