Chapter 84: Bonus - : John & Gwen (I)

Chapter 84: Bonus Chapter: John & Gwen (I)

This is the bonus for 5k stones from last week.

2.5k stones for the next bonus.

...

"Since you are the illustrator..." Her eyes turned serious as she leaned forward. "...You must have volume 2 and more of Saiki K, right?"

’...Ouf, Gwen.’ John closed his eyes in resignation.

Considering that she could’ve asked a lot more pressing questions, he decided to give in this time. Yep, just this once.

He stood up and closed the window before drawing the curtains. When he turned to her, she had this suspicious look in her eyes but also looked very amused as he sat down at the computer instead of doing what she thought he was going to do.

John already had the computer out in the room, working on Fullmetal Alchemist, before Gwen came in. As he clicked away at the massive screen, she stood behind him.

’I haven’t seen these components and devices on the market.’ Her eyes studied the inside of the PC and the 32-inch screen that made the file explorer pop in a way she didn’t know was possible; the windows he ran were also not the current ones.

Still, watching him make his way through the folders as he opened volume two of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K was where she forgot about everything from before.

’Nendou’s on the cover, OMG!’ This guy was her favourite character so far, second only to Saiki.

And she was so excited to read more that she didn’t even give John the chance to stand up. With a swift motion, she sat down on his lap and took control of the keyboard as soon as the file loaded into the comic reader.

Like, why was he even getting up?

’You are my chair now, heh.’ She got herself comfortable on his thighs and leaned on his chest with a smug grin.

"I was going to get you snacks." He said.

"...Shucks." Gwen did regret not letting him go for a moment, but it was a bit too late for that.

Her entire mind was on the unreleased volume on the screen. She was quite skeptical when she first read this work, because even with the over-the-top art, it didn’t have the typical John Doe Trademark. Well, it was a good change of pace from suffering, so it was all ok.

Still, a teenager that had every power imaginable? It was a recipe for disaster. Gwen was expecting something else; still, what she got was an absurd comedy with an equally absurd cast of characters.

Even with the second volume, Saiki sounded so done with his parents, but he was still trying to help them renovate the room so they could sleep together, and that was after he helped them repair their marriage in the first volume.

She totally understood his frustration when he just wanted to stay home, but got sent to the beach by his mother. It was quite something, and really heartwarming, to see the strongest kid in the world unable to talk back to his mother.

’She’s the perfect mom for him though.’ Gwen smiled, remembering how much that woman’s upbringing had saved the world from an evil narrative-breaking supervillain.

And she was sure Nendou was just a psychic playing the fool; like, what did he mean that he walked to a house at random just because he felt like it belonged to Saiki?

Even if he was just dumb, it was the adorable type of dumb. And then there was Kaidou. He really wanted to be special, but it was quite funny to watch the antics he got up to.

As someone who wore a mask and swung from building to building on the daily, it wasn’t her place to make fun of him. However, he was a sweet bean through and through.

’I really wanna punch that four-eyed for tricking him.’ Thankfully for her, Saiki was already helping his ’not-friend’ out.

Still, she was a bit stunned by Teruhashi. In fact, this girl wasn’t at all what she expected her to be.

"This one looks a bit familiar?" She tilted her head at this radiant, soft beauty and ridiculous charm. Gwen was sure she had seen her somewhere before.

"I used someone as a reference for her." John rested his chin on her shoulder, nodding at the page like he was admiring his own work.

"Who? Me?" She pointed at herself with a smirk.

"No... Susan Storm." He blurted.

John hadn’t copied the art one-to-one.

He had adhered to the character designs, but the art style was closer to Murata’s with that extremely detailed work and dramatic duality. He had even made sure to work tirelessly on the background that was usually left plain white in actual volume. It helped him get extra practice in and also improved his skill, so it was worthwhile.

Still, the reason he chose Susan as a reference for Teruhashi was that her angelic aura did match well with this overconfident and rightfully arrogant girl’s innocent front. That was the only similarity between them, though.

’I hope she recovered properly.’ He hadn’t gotten a call from her; she did seem a bit pale during one of the latter interviews regarding the attack on Centurion Club. And her phone wasn’t connecting either. ’Maybe I should ask, Colleen?’

But before he could think further about the attack on Harry’s party, he felt Gwen stare borrowing into him.

"I mean, you are pretty, but the cool type. It wouldn’t really match." He shrugged.

"Seriously..." She pinched his cheek with a sigh. "But I agree."

Gwen refocused on the story as Teruhashi, with her arrogance reaching the moon, started chasing after Saiki, who was ignoring her.

’Like, girl, c’mon, this is embarrassing.’ She couldn’t stop laughing when Teruhashi thought she had fallen for Saiki and was hallucinating about him, not to mention his reaction to hearing her thoughts.

She really enjoyed Pluto and Princess Mononoke, but this might be the best recent work for her. There was never a dull moment in these Chapters.

Like, how can a guy that could change human recovery time, perception of hair color, and much more get so spooked by a cockroach that he teleported across the globe?

’Nendou is in the same category as a cockroach.’ Gwen cackled when that happened; she was almost a bit embarrassed for clapping like retarded seal in John’s arms.

Still, the more she read about Saiki, the more she kept glancing at John, who kept smiling at her reactions.

He also had this devil-may-care expression with others, but he always helped when it mattered. He helped Peter, saved the people at the bank, hunted down Kraven before he could attack her, and even saved Harry at the party against the attackers.

Not to mention this goofy side he had that only people close to him could see.

But if it wasn’t for her, John wouldn’t have used his powers in public and probably wouldn’t have gotten involved with SHIELD like this.

And it wasn’t like he didn’t know about her powers; she was sure that he knew about them even before Stark Expo. However, even if she hadn’t told him why she kept it hidden, he understood she must’ve had a reason and stepped in before she was forced to make a choice.

Even when she acted like the Daily Bugle didn’t affect her, he looked through that easily and made a choice she could never make herself. He knew it could make her upset with him, and he was still willing to do that. And even apologized for hesitating for a moment.

’Seriously... how closely have you been watching me?’ She felt her heartbeat quicken remembering the way he said those words.

That’s why, even if she had a ton of questions about his powers, about his real connection with John Doe, what he was doing in the secret meetings with Natasha, and why he had a direct link to Nick Fury, she had no intentions of asking them.

If they were answers he could give her, she wouldn’t need to ask him anyway. That much she believed.

’And no matter the answer... it won’t affect what he means to me.’ As the volume ended, she shifted to his right thigh and turned to face him.

"Did you enjoy it?" John’s palm rested on her back.

"I need twenty more volumes to be satisfied." She leaned closer with a smirk. "I did see a volume three in there, and something labelled Fullmetal alchemist as well."

"No, you didn’t." He closed in, his lips just an inch from hers.

"Do you really think you can distract me like this?" Her eyes narrowed as she reached for the mouse.

He answered her question by taking her lips, like he was declaring ’Yes’. And he was absolutely right about it because she let go of the mouse immediately.