Chapter 100: Bonus - : Surprise (III)

Chapter 100: Bonus Chapter: Surprise (III)

We’ve reached Chapter 100 in a blink.

Thank you for enjoying the fic so far, i will try to keep the same quality, and if possible increase it in the next 100 Chapters.

See you guys in the next one.

...

’I am thinking of useless things.’ Susan recentred herself before her cheeks started burning.

There was a really important reason she had arrived here today, acting like it was an accident after all. However, before she could act on that, Colleen’s hoarse voice came from behind. Her ragged breathing was finally under control.

"I am the one who needs water, Sue, not him." She sat up with great effort, the chi in her body already circulating to alleviate the cramps and pain.

"I need it too, you know?" John was still human after all.

"Says the guy who isn’t even breathing heavy." Colleen chuckled dryly.

His endurance was truly amazing in its own way; well, pretty much everything about him was. But what impressed her most was that seemingly never-ending stamina and calmness.

’They get along well.’ Susan smiled at the banter, handing Colleen a towel so she could wipe the sweat off her face before drinking some water.

And by the time she turned to John, he picked up his bag with a thoughtful look.

"I’ll go use the shower," John said, some words she had not expected to hear at all.

As he had expected before, he had gotten a bit too invested in the spar, and since it would’ve taken too much time for him to go back home and change before his next arrangement, he brought a change of clothes with him after asking Colleen about it.

"Yeah, it’s next to my room. Take your time." She let her back hit the floor again; they already went over this on the phone this morning.

John went upstairs without another word as Susan looked at her friend. Her crush was showering upstairs, completely naked. It was a level of escalation she wasn’t ready for something like that today.

’They are getting along a bit too well, aren’t they?!’

She knew Colleen was a straight shooter, but this? It went beyond being frank and easy-going.

Susan almost felt embarrassed to think about such things; it wasn’t like she had anything concrete going on with John to comment on this.

On top of that, her friend’s smug eyes were making her feel more conscious of herself. She was kept in the dark on purpose, and with nefarious intent at that.

"I know what you are thinking." Colleen smiled, sitting up.

"...You do?" Her ears turned red.

Susan could barely get the picture of the sweat-soaked tank top clinging onto John’s chest, not to mention the big, veiny forearms. And the long fingers too.

She coughed, shying away from the all-seeing eyes of this fake friend before her.

"Yes, it’s the look first-time observers have when they’re watching a martial arts display of this level." But Colleen had an oblivious smile of pride. "What do you think? Feel like learning a move or two?"

"S-Sure..." Susan laughed nervously; it was good that she could be simple-minded like that sometimes.

If she was actually caught about the fantasies going on in her head, this might become a bit too embarrassing.

"You should do what you came here to do, by the way." There was also this uncanny sharpness that Colleen had at times. "I mean, you are just asking for a number."

"Maybe to you..." Susan really wished she had half of that confidence.

Honestly, the first time she had asked for his number on instinct. But now that she had asked another time, especially after losing it, it was proving to be quite the tall order.

What would she do if he asked her a question? What if she seemed too eager or too interested in him?

Maybe the last part wasn’t that bad, but when she presented her worries to her good friend, she only laughed.

"The reason is as silly as I expected." Colleen shook her head in dismay, finally recovered from the sparring session. "If he knows you are interested in him, it is good for you, isn’t it?"

"Easy for you to say," Susan whispered. As much as she wanted him to notice, she wasn’t ready for that yet.

At least her heart wasn’t ready.

She could barely take her eyes off him before, but now there was something rawer about him. Just matching his gaze was giving her the shivers, and the bizarre part was that she liked that feeling a bit too much.

"I am sure you will tell him to his face if you were interested." She sighed.

"True that, I already told him that if he does well enough, I’ll give him a key to my room." Colleen shrugged.

"Wha-?!" Susan clamped her mouth shut and shook her friend by the shoulders.

’She’s just teasing me, isn’t she? She has to be.’ But unlike Susan’s expectation, Colleen was 100% serious here.

But before she could push her friend for the details, John came out into the dojo, moving the black curtains out of the way. Looking at the crisp linen shirt and jeans, with the still-wet hair, Susan was reminded of his look on the day of the party.

Compared to back then, his fierceness had gotten stronger. It was like he had this feral vibe similar to a tiger, but also kept it contained with a sharp elegance. Susan wasn’t even sure if she was making sense; she cared little about that.

Whatever it was, that made it even more attractive. So much so that she gulped when he stood before her.

However, before she could speak, John handed her a piece of paper, and on it was a number. His number. She knew because Colleen had already sent her the number after getting fed up with her questions, and Susan had memorized it already.

"In case your phone breaks again, at least you have a backup this way." John smiled, handed her the paper, and headed for the exit.

How did he know her phone was broken?

Susan could only look at the amused Colleen.

’I have to thank him first...’ She could handle her smug-looking friend later; she needed to talk a bit with John.

Maybe ask him when he was free or something like that.

Dinner? That may be a bit too forward. Coffee sounded nice; on second thought, it felt perfect. Now she just had to see if he liked coffee; if he didn’t, she’d have to return to the drawing board for ideas.

But by the time Susan reached the Dojo’s doors, John sat in a black Range Rover. She was sure he didn’t come here with a car today; Susan had seen him walk down the road from the second floor after all.

Still, there was a car here to pick him up. And through the transparent doors, right before the door to the car closed, she identified the woman in the driver’s seat at a glance.

’Agent Romanoff?’ Watching the car leave, she was a bit too stunned to even speak.

She could hardly mistake that straight red hair, especially after meeting her not too long ago. However, Susan couldn’t understand why John entered her car.

’It couldn’t be, right?’ Susan could only hear the car drive away as she peeked out of the door.

It didn’t look like they noticed her, at least to her.

[Susan Storm wants to know about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff. +5EP]

[Susan Storm wants to know about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff. +5EP]

[Susan Storm wants to know about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff. +5EP]

[Susan Storm wants to know about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff. +5EP]

Sitting in the passenger seat, enjoying the blast of cold air from the AC, John looked at the new long wall of notifications. The last he remembered, Susan only had a little crush on him.

And she did little to hide her interest, because if that was her hiding, she was very bad at it. Still, John didn’t mind. On the contrary, he found the way she would blush quite cute.

Maybe it was because he had only met strong-headed women since coming to this world, but Susan’s shyness was a breath of fresh air. She even reminded him of a small rabbit the way she looked up at him.

[Susan Storm wants to know about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff. +5EP]

[Susan Storm is wondering if you like coffee. +2EP]

[Susan Storm wants to know about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff. +5EP]

[Susan Storm is wondering if you like coffee. +2EP]

[Susan Storm wants to know about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff. +5EP]

[Susan Storm is wondering if you like coffee. +2EP]

Still, looking at the wall of notifications that appeared in his view, it seemed that this innocent crush was developing into something more intense, wasn’t it?

However, looking at this, he didn’t feel any discomfort. Instead, he only had one question at this moment.

’How does Susan know Natasha by name?’ He could only look at the woman in the black lace corset top and ripped blue jeans.

"Like what you see?" She smirked, handling the wheel with unshaken confidence.

It wasn’t every day that she considered what to wear, since pretty much anything looked excellent on her. So, she was a bit curious, even more so since she had dressed to impress today.

"You look sharp." John decided not to ask the question on his mind.

"You too." She chuckled as they entered the main street.

He was still curious about the connection between SHIELD’s Black Widow and the university freshman/rising actress Susan Storm, but there was no way this woman would give him a straight answer.

’I’ll just ask Susan the next time I see her.’ John decided to shift his concentration to another topic.

"Where are we going?" He still had no idea what Natasha wanted today.

"Harlem." She put on her shades as they stopped because of a red light.

"Why?" John tilted his head.

"A colleague told me about this new fried chicken place there, and I didn’t want to go alone." She shrugged.

"..." John blinked at her subtle smile.

It seemed that there were more surprises to come today, and refusing free fried chicken wasn’t an easy task.