It had been an adjustment the last couple of months.
From that point onward, the Hanamura siblings were figuring out their new "normal" and what that looked like for their family.
Chiro had moved into the Hyper Force's base while continuing his training and finding he was thriving fully immersed in it. There wasn't a hard time limit, he had all the time he wanted to focus. His mind and body were challenged in ways it had never been before.
Mila could see the change in his confidence. While Chiro never lacked it, it only grew and the change was a welcomed one.
The light in his eyes, the way he carried himself… although, not to say everything had been perfect.
Mila found herself not sure what to do with herself a lot of the time. Refurbishing the store had been a massive project in and of itself.
It was up and running now but that had been an… experience to say the least.
"WHAT THE FU-"
Mila covered her mouth, bouncing in place anxiously as she looked at the damage to her store. She had managed to convince Gibson to let her leave the base just to stretch her legs, provided someone was with her.
And checking in on the store, she decided it was a massive mistake.
She groaned as she looked at the large bay glass window that made up her store front.
"Oh nooooo…" Already the numbers were tallying up in her head.
The broken pots, the display cases that kept flowers fresh, all of it had been so pricey when her parents had bought them. She had gotten good at keeping them running but broken beyond repair?
Her heart beat faster, as she whined a bit, bouncing even more anxiously.
"Holy Shuggazoom…"
How much was this going to cost to fix?
Otto popped up beside her, his hand turning into a wrench.
"Just leave it to me! I'll have you back up and running in no time!"
"Uh, let us actually help, Mila. All of us." Nova cringed. "We all kinda feel responsible that you got caught up in this."
"Do I have to chip in any money?"
"No!"
Mila gave a shaky thumbs up before her knees buckled under her anew as Chiro caught her arms.
"Okay, that's enough sticker shock. Back to base."
She looked back at the store, shaking her head.
"Hnnnn, this is gonna be normal, isn't it?" She mumbled.
Chiro grimaced, rubbing her shoulder.
"We'll try. Now, come on, let's get you back home."
"And you moved out… Oh gosh you are moving out…"
This actually originally was chapter 13 but I wanted a bit of breathing room and to explore the aftermath of Arc 1, hence last weeks chapter. This chapter, was one of my favorites that I had written back in December actually. I honestly, had been wracking my brain over how Mila was going to react to this one when I got to it and when it happened it just flowed. Chiro got distracted by a pretty lady. Good thing he TOTALLY meant to do that on purpose...
Thank you, everyone who's been enjoying the story so far, your feedback means the world to me and it makes me smile every day.
