Saiyan System (English)

??? Pov

The next morning, Ikaris woke up feeling a weight on him. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Laila lying next to him, still fast asleep. He took comfort in that closeness, but then he remembered the night before. The intense training, the conversations, the exhaustion... He should have blacked out right there.

He got up slowly so as not to wake her and went into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. The reflection was still that of a ten-year-old, but his eyes didn't carry the innocence typical of that age. She sighed heavily. No matter how many times she looked, she still couldn't get used to it.

While he was thinking, he heard a hurried knock on the front door. He frowned and walked towards it, it was a long way from his bedroom to the front door, but his enhanced senses allowed him to hear the knocks from afar. When he opened it, he was greeted by a tense silence. On the other side stood Icaro, Helena, João and Julia, all with expressions that ranged from shock to confusion.

Icaro was the first to break the silence.

"Ikaris...?" His voice carried disbelief.

I tried to smile, but I knew it was strange.

"It's me." I replied, trying to sound natural.

"What?" Julia's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

John ran his hands through his hair, visibly trying to understand the situation.

...

Ikaris stared at his reflection in the bedroom window, still getting used to his new reality. His ten-year-old body and Saiyan tail were not something easy to ignore. He sighed, knowing that he would now have to face his friends.

There was the same group as always from school: Icaro, Helena, João and Júlia. Laila was by his side, holding his hand as she always did. When he approached, there was immediate silence.

"Okay, that's weird," said João, frowning.

"Very strange," added Helena, staring at Ikaris' tail.

"But at the same time, kind of cute?" suggested Julia, tilting her head.

Icaro crossed his arms. "So, you've turned into a mini-Saiyan. That's temporary, right?"

Ikaris scratched the back of his head. "I... I don't know. It could be yes, it could be no."

I may have said I didn't know, but deep down I knew... this was permanent, and I was more than happy with that.

Helena rolled her eyes. "Of course, because our life wasn't crazy enough already."

Julia, however, smiled and grabbed his tail. "That's so soft! Like a cat!"

Ikaris winced at the touch and pulled his tail back. "Hey! That's sensitive!"

Everyone laughed, breaking some of the tension.

"Well, you're still you, so whatever," said João, shrugging. "But I still haven't got used to this kid version of you."

"You've only just seen him like this, if even I, who've been seeing him like this for two weeks, am not used to it, imagine you," Laila said between little giggles muffled by her hand.

Laila then held Ikaris' hand and smiled at him. "But none of this changes who he is. And I'll stay by his side, always."

Julia smiled. "Well, if Laila accepts, who are we to question it, right?" Helena sighed.

Helena sighed. "Let's just hope this doesn't turn into a bigger problem."

Ikaris laughed, but deep down he knew that this was just the beginning of a complicated new phase.

Suddenly John stopped for a few seconds, alternating his gaze between me and Laila. "You... were sleeping together, right?"

I nodded innocently, which I regretted a few moments later.

Suddenly I saw João look at Laila deeply, and then look up at the sky from my window.

"I didn't expect that from you Laila, I knew you were strange... but he only looks 10..." When João said that, I felt a terrible chill come over me, holy shit, I couldn't even muster up the courage to look at Laila at that moment.

Then everyone there seemed to notice, and fell silent, casting questioning glances at us.

Only João was looking out of the window at the sky, if he'd had a cigarette in his hand... the scene would have suited him so well...

But God, he could have said anything, ANYTHING, and he said it right away... apparently I lost a friend today, I'm going to leave flowers on his tombstone João.

Silence hung over the room like a shadow. Everyone was absorbing João's words, but the mood changed instantly when Laila clenched her hand into a tight fist.

Ikaris didn't dare look away, but he could feel her menacing aura growing. He could swear that even the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. His instincts screamed at him to run, but he was stuck there, watching his own doom unfold.

"João, it was nice to meet you my friend..." I gave a resigned sigh, but still didn't dare look at Laila as she let go of my hand.

"João," Laila began, her voice so sweet that it sounded like imminent danger. "You have exactly three seconds to rephrase that sentence."

John, still staring at the sky through the window as if accepting his fate, let out a heavy sigh. "I don't take back anything I said. What I saw, I saw."

Icaro, Helena and Júlia were completely still, as if they didn't want to get involved in João's imminent execution. Helena even held back her laughter, probably anticipating what was to come.

Laila smiled. A smile of pure revenge. "Good." And then, without hesitation, she picked up a pillow and threw it directly at João's face with a force that made him fall sitting on the floor.

"ARGH!" João defended himself with his arms. "That's domestic violence!"

"We don't even live in the same house!" Laila retorted, grabbing another pillow to make sure he learned his lesson.

Ikaris sighed, finally relaxing a little. In the end, the group dynamic hadn't changed that much. They were still the same old friends, even if he was now physically a child with a Saiyan tail.

After what seemed like a long time, Laila was shoving the pillow down John's throat, I wanted to do something, but Laila's gaze prevented me from moving.

Finally he managed to get the pillow out of his mouth and take a deep breath.

"Okay, okay, I get it!" João surrendered, standing up while raising his hands in a sign of peace. "Let's just pretend this conversation never happened."

Helena laughed. "Yeah, better for you."

Icaro, who had been quieter during the confusion, finally approached Ikaris, crossing his arms. "Jokes aside, Ikaris... are you okay with all this?"

The question made everyone fall silent again. Laila held Ikaris' hand again in a gesture of support.

Ikaris took a deep breath, looking at his own hand and then at the tail that swayed slowly behind him. "It's strange, to say the least. I still see myself as before, but everything has changed. I feel stronger, faster... but at the same time, I'm still me. So yes, I'm fine."

Icaro nodded, looking satisfied with the answer. "Good, because whatever happens, we're still here."

"Yes!" Julia agreed excitedly. "And if you don't get back to normal, at least you can pass for an anime mascot!"

Ikaris frowned. "I'm not a mascot, Julia." Holy shit, what was she thinking?

She smiled. "It is now."

Everyone laughed, and the tense atmosphere finally dissipated completely. Even with all the changes, even with the challenges that lay ahead, one thing was certain: he still had his friends by his side.

And that made all the difference.

Looking at each of them there, it was as if nothing had changed, everything remained the same...

........

Ikaris pov

Time passed, apparently my mother and stepfather had left home, and the day before they had left my little brother Breno at a cousin's house.

It was just us at home, so Icaro, João and I went into the kitchen to make lunch...

Well, we made a rather absurd amount, luckily my mother had bought a lot of things to make, if it was the usual amount of food we had at home, we wouldn't be able to feed even myself alone, imagine with five other people.

Soon the table was ready, we made a whole chicken, a beef parmigiana and a four-cheese lasagna.

And then...

The war began...

......

The table was a real battlefield. Empty plates scattered around, cutlery dumped any which way and a pile of chicken bones denounced the intensity of the war that had just taken place. The group was scattered around the living room, some slumped in chairs, others leaning back on the sofa, all with expressions of pure satisfaction and food exhaustion.

Ikaris, however, looked at the empty plate in front of him with a victorious smile. "I may have lost a few battles, but I won the war," he muttered to himself, satisfied with his performance over lunch.

Laila, standing next to him, lightly punched him on the shoulder. "You ate almost half the food yourself, you little monster. If we'd known your appetite was going to be like that, we'd have done more."

Icaro, still recovering, held up a hand. "I honestly thought I was going to pass out after the third round. I've never seen anyone eat that much."

Julia laughed, resting her head on the table. "And to think that this little monster here was a normal kid until a few weeks ago. Now he's got a tail and a metabolism that defies logic."

"I'm still normal!" I retorted, but everyone looked at him in disbelief. Even he knew it was a lie. After all, he could literally turn into a giant ape, at least the size of the building we were in.

João, who was lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, sighed: "I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a plate of lasagna again without remembering that massacre. But it was a good lunch."

Helena, who had spent much of the meal trying to compete with Ikaris and failing miserably, simply muttered "never again..." before closing her eyes and trying to rest.

The group sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the moment. The sun was streaming in through the window, bringing a comfortable feeling of post-meal laziness. It was one of those simple moments, but one that lingered in the memory.

Laila then looked at Ikaris with a mischievous smile. "And now, mister mini-Saiyan, what's the plan for the rest of the day? Are you going to train again?"

I thought for a moment. "Actually, I think today I just want to enjoy the day with you. It's been a while since we've spent time together without something crazy going on."

Suddenly something clicked in my head... in fact, it had been a while since we'd spent time together doing... well, anything.

Icaro nodded. "Good plan. I'll go for it. But nothing involving physical exertion, please."

I rolled my eyes at Icaro's comment "Look who's talking, the little gym rat." Icaro just ignored my comment, he was still recovering...

Julia, however, soon perked up. "We can play something! We haven't had a games session for ages."

João raised his finger. "Only if it's not that fighting game that Laila always wins. I refuse to get angry today." I laughed.

I laughed. "Fine, fine, let's go for something quieter then, I'm also afraid I'll end up turning into a super Saiyan if I go for a match with Laila."

With that decided, the group spent the rest of the afternoon together, playing, talking and laughing as they always did. Even with all the changes that had taken place, that moment showed that, in the end, some things never change.

And for Ikaris, that was enough.

.......

Soon it was time for everyone to leave, and only Laila stayed by my side.

She absentmindedly began to fiddle with my hair as she said, "Well, what do you want to do tonight? Would you like to lose at Skullgirls to me?"

I shuddered slightly at this comment, but was careful not to be too abrupt and make her stop messing with my hair.

Hey, don't judge me, this is a wonderful feeling, no one is crazy enough to run away from something so good, especially when it's your girlfriend.

"Do you want to continue the crisis in the infinite lands? I remember there are three movies of this animation." I urgently tried to divert the subject, I didn't want to risk having to play against her... it was too humiliating...

"No, I wanted something with more action today, I'd seen some videos of Castlevania, it looks interesting, do you want to watch it?" She kept playing with my hair with her fingernail, giving it a light stroke, holy shit, that's really good.

"Come on, I've never seen anything about it, I've only heard of the game, the anime must be good." No matter what, no matter where, no matter when, all that matters is getting Laila's mind off Skullgirls, and I'll make that my main mission tonight.

We soon went to my room and lay on the bed cuddling.

I must say, there are some great scenes in this anime, what incredible animation!

However, I soon fell asleep... apparently I was already used to Laila's weight on top of me while I slept, I didn't even remember that I had forgotten to do today's daily mission, aka my Saitama training.

Hello, the author here, I'm just stopping by to let you know that English is not my original language, I only know the basics, I have a version of this fanfic in Portuguese which is my birth language, so if you want to see it, just go to the link below

I'm currently translating with DeepL, but if anyone has a better option, let me know.

Portuguese version -> (https://www.webnovel.com/book/28373957608441305)