Chapter 36: Ain's Visit
Because he had beaten Ian, Axel received punishment from the Naval Academy.
Perhaps it was because of Garp's influence, or perhaps because Axel had defeated Ian so decisively, but the punishment was not severe. He was only suspended for one week.
To Axel, that was practically a reward.
He had finally stumbled upon a rare chance to break through one of his bottlenecks, only to have it interrupted twice in a row. He had truly been driven to the edge of frustration.
So after returning home, he shut himself in his room and began thinking carefully about his ability.
Vector manipulation was not as simple as most people imagined.
It was not merely the control of "vectors" in the narrow, textbook sense.
At its core, it was the manipulation of direction. As long as something had direction, he could interfere with it, redirect it, alter it, and influence the forces contained within it.
On its own, the ability was not necessarily overwhelming.
But when paired with Axel's abnormal calculation ability, it became something terrifying.
That combination was what made it nearly invincible.
In the original story, Accelerator had once shattered the ground around him with a single step. Even the glass of nearby buildings had burst apart in response.
Axel still did not fully understand how that had been achieved.
Maybe it was because the ability itself had grown to that stage.
Maybe it was because its application had surpassed his current understanding.
Either way, he knew one thing clearly.
In his current state, he could not reproduce anything like that.
So far, in every battle, he had relied on technique rather than force.
He had focused almost exclusively on redirecting blood flow inside an opponent's body to bring them down, while ignoring countless other uses of energy around him.
That was a mistake.
When a normal punch was thrown, it naturally generated air resistance.
The stronger and faster the strike, the greater that resistance became.
That was unavoidable for ordinary people.
But he was not ordinary.
With his ability, that resistance could be turned into additional power, layered onto the punch itself.
And after impact, the resulting reaction force could also be redirected back into his fist, stacking power upon power.
If he could manage that properly, then with his current level of physical strength alone, the force of his attacks could increase by more than double in an instant.
The problem was not the theory.
The problem was control.
The direction of a punch changed constantly depending on movement, posture, target, and angle. The resistance and reaction force also shifted in that same instant. Their directions never remained stable. They conflicted with his original line of movement at every turn.
How to gather those forces, redirect them, and make them obey his will in real time...
That was the key difficulty in front of him.
Just as Axel was about to start experimenting, there came a knock at the door.
He frowned slightly.
"Who could that be?"
For the past few days, no one had bothered him.
Maybe Garp simply preferred quiet, or maybe no one wanted to disturb the Marine hero's so called grandson. Either way, Axel had been left alone without interruption.
Which meant whoever was outside now was unexpected.
Could it be that old man Garp had come back?
Axel got off the bed, walked to the door, and pulled it open.
Then he blinked.
"...Huh?"
The surprise on his face was genuine.
"Ain? What are you doing here?"
Ain tilted her head and looked at him with a playful, bright smile.
"What kind of welcome is that?"
She was not wearing her school training outfit today. Usually, at the academy, she wore fitted training clothes and shorts suited for physical practice.
But now, she was dressed in a cute animal patterned top paired with light blue shorts.
The look made her seem even more like an ordinary cheerful girl than a Marine student.
Axel scratched his head awkwardly.
"That's not what I meant. I was asking how you even found this place..."
Ain put a finger to her lips and smiled smugly.
"Well... I got your address from the school."
She paused, then added with obvious satisfaction,
"I used tutoring as the excuse."
"Tutoring?" Axel repeated, stunned.
When did he ever need tutoring?
He could memorize most lessons after hearing them once.
Seeing his expression, Ain clearly misunderstood.
She thought he was the type who hated studying.
Unable to hold it in, she burst into laughter.
"Pfft... hehehe... That's right. I came to tutor you."
Before Axel could even properly react, Ain had already walked right past him into the room as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She set her bag down, opened it, and took out a notebook.
"These are today's notes. After Ian left, Teacher Tony took over. He's actually pretty good. He's serious during training too."
Axel stared at her for a moment, then finally said honestly,
"But... I don't need tutoring."
"No way."
Ain puffed out her cheeks and rejected that answer immediately.
"How can you say you don't need it? If you want to become a proper Marine, building a solid foundation of knowledge is important too."
Axel fell silent.
The problem was that he had never said he wanted to become a Marine in the first place.
Being a Marine was not without its appeal, sure. But to him, it still carried too much of a feeling of being bound, of belonging to someone else's system.
He disliked that kind of restraint.
Maybe if he really were part of Garp's family by blood, his thinking would have been different.
Maybe then, becoming a Marine would have felt natural.
But reality had already given the answer.
Dragon and Luffy had both chosen paths completely different from Garp's.
That alone said enough.
Axel gave it one more try.
"Can I refuse?"
Ain looked at him and answered with absolute firmness.
"No."
There was no room for negotiation in her tone.
Seeing that, Axel let out a resigned sigh.
Then, because he truly did not understand her persistence, he finally asked,
"Why do you even want to tutor me?"
Ain's expression softened.
"Well... I just felt like I should."
She hesitated for a moment, then continued more honestly.
"It was me who told everyone that they should respect the teacher. I really thought that was the right thing to say. But I didn't expect things to turn out like that. So... I feel like I should do something."
Axel's lips twitched.
Yesterday, those words had just been something the children said in the heat of the moment.
He had not expected Ain to actually take responsibility for them in her own heart.
That was... surprisingly sincere.
He looked at the notebook in her hands and then at the earnest expression on her face.
In the end, he relented a little.
"Fine. Just leave the notes here. I'll read them myself."
That was his attempt to send her home without outright rejecting her.
It was not that he disliked Ain.
Any normal boy would not mind being alone with a pretty girl.
The real problem was something else.
He still wanted to train.
And more importantly, Axel was still a shut in at heart. He had never been good at dealing with girls one on one. Even now, with Ain standing in his room and looking at him so naturally, he felt awkward in a way that battles never made him feel.
But Ain was completely unmoved by his attempt.
She found a seat, opened her notebook, and said in a teacher like tone,
"Today's lesson began with..."
Axel stared at her for two seconds.
Then he silently gave up.
He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.
Since she clearly had no intention of leaving, the only thing he could do was endure it.
Seeing him obediently sit down, Ain smiled in satisfaction and began explaining the lesson seriously.
She talked a lot.
Far more than Axel expected.
By the time she finally announced the end of the lesson, Axel felt more mentally drained than he had after some actual fights.
In a strange way, this had been more exhausting than combat.
"Next is the training field portion," Ain declared enthusiastically. "Since there's no proper training ground nearby, we'll just replace it with a spar between the two of us."
Axel's eyelid twitched.
There it is.
So that was your real goal.
He replied immediately,
"No. I refuse."
Ain looked disappointed at once.
She had clearly been looking forward to this.
"Why? You already fought Binz, so why not spar with me?"
Axel coughed lightly.
"I'm not feeling well today. Let's do it another time."
Ain narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Then she leaned closer.
And closer.
And closer still.
She stopped only when her face was a short distance from his, so close that Axel could feel the warmth of her breath.
She studied him carefully, frowning all the while.
"Liar. You look perfectly fine."
Axel forced himself to keep a straight face.
"I have internal injuries. Ordinary people can't tell."
Ain stared at him for another moment.
Then she asked flatly,
"Are you looking down on me?"
"How could I possibly dare?" Axel answered at once, shaking his head so fast it was almost a reflex.
Ain snorted.
"Hmph. Boys are always like this. Always looking down on girls."
She put her hands on her hips, eyes full of stubborn pride.
"One day, I'll become an outstanding Marine warrior and prove to all of you that girls can be stronger than boys too."
.....
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