The first thing Leo did was beeline straight for the manga section.
No hesitation. No distractions.
He zeroed in like a man on a mission.
Ryuji blinked. "He moves like he's chasing prey."
Sakura whispered to Tokiko, "He gets that from his mom."
Within moments, Leo was already stacking entire rows of manga into his arms — every single volume of One Piece.
By the time he was done, he looked like he'd built a paper fortress taller than his own head.
He muttered under his breath, eyes shining with something close to reverence.
"After all these years… I finally get to see the ending with my own eyes."
Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "You could've just bought volume 105 instead of the whole thing."
Leo, dead serious: "You don't start at the end, Dad. You sail there."
The other kids stared in awe.
Kotaro leaned over to Asagi. "Is… he okay?"
Asagi sighed. "No. But I think this is normal for him."
Then, Leo frowned and began scanning the shelves again.
He checked the shōnen section, the action section, and even the bargain bin.
No Naruto.
No Demon Slayer.
Leo blinked, stunned. "What kind of world has One Piece but not Demon Slayer?!"
Leo froze, thinking hard.
'No Naruto, no Demon Slayer… maybe those creators were never born here. Or maybe Taimanin history replaced them. Either way, this world's timeline diverged harder than the MCU multiverse.'
He sighed, muttering aloud. "So, no Tanjiro, no Zenitsu, no Nezuko… man, that's depressing."
Ryuji looked at him, half-confused. "Is that a type of ninja clan?"
Leo sighed dramatically. "In another world… they were legends."
Asagi raised a brow. "You're being weird again."
He just smiled. "Always."
Ryuji walked past, muttering to himself. "I swear, sometimes I feel like that boy's brain lives in another dimension…"
Leo then pulled out something, it was Bleach, as he went to Kotaro. "Hey, Cousin I think you will like this".
Ryuji looked at the first Volume of Bleach as he spoke. "That, it's practically ancient, but still a classic".
Leo died inside he was one again Remember this was the year 2057, if Bleach was already old in 2022 in his past life, this was even older
Leo stared at the Bleach cover like it had personally betrayed him.
"Ancient?" he repeated, voice hollow. "Dad, this is sacred text. This is literature. This is—"
Ryuji raised a brow. "—a comic about a kid with orange hair and a big sword?"
Leo gasped. "How dare you."
Tokiko tilted her head, curious. "Is it really that good?"
Leo crouched down, eyes glowing like a prophet about to deliver divine wisdom.
"Tokiko… Bleach is about death gods, honor, friendship, betrayal, and the coolest swords ever drawn. It forged a generation of warriors."
Kotaro blinked. "So it's, like, a ninja story?"
Leo turned slowly, deadly serious. "It's better than ninja stories."
Everyone in the store froze. You could almost hear the record scratch.
Ryuji folded his arms. "Son… do you want to be grounded?"
Leo instantly backpedaled. "I mean—it's equally good in its own… uh… spiritual way?"
Ryuji nodded. "That's what I thought."
Meanwhile, Sakura had wandered to another aisle and shouted, "Hey! This one has a girl with yellow hair and a giant scythe!"
Leo glanced over. "That's Soul Eater! That's a classic too! Grab that, you'll love it."
Rinko squinted at another shelf. "What's this one? Chainsaw Man? Why would someone name it that?"
Ryuji froze. "...Maybe not that one."
Leo smirked. "Actually, Dad, it's a deep story about trauma, poverty, and the human condition."
Ryuji side-eyed him. "Is that before or after the man turns into a chainsaw?"
Leo: "...Yes."
Asagi, meanwhile, had been quiet, flipping through a random volume of Bleach.
Her eyes scanned the art, the emotion, the tension of Ichigo standing before a massive Hollow.
She didn't fully understand the story, but she felt it — the drive, the resolve.
She shut the book softly. "…He fights even when he's scared."
Leo looked over, a bit surprised. "Yeah. That's kinda the point."
Asagi gave a small smile. "Then maybe I'll read this one too."
Leo blinked. "Wait—you're voluntarily reading something that isn't a training manual?"
She crossed her arms, pretending to be nonchalant. "Don't push it."
Ryuji watched the two and quietly smiled to himself.
'Guess my kid's found a way to teach lessons without lecturing.'
Tokiko, meanwhile, had somehow grabbed a stack of shoujo romance manga and was completely lost in them.
Ryuji looked over her shoulder, confused. "Why is everyone sparkling?"
Tokiko whispered dreamily, "Because… love is a battlefield."
Ryuji stared blankly. "We're doomed."
The store clerk blinked twice when Leo dropped his mountain of manga onto the counter.
The pile wobbled dangerously, like it might achieve sentience at any moment.
Clerk: "Uh… kid, you're aware this is… seventy-three volumes, right?"
Leo nodded solemnly. "Every great journey needs its full map."
Ryuji pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're not joining the Straw Hats, Leo. You're just reading."
Leo: "Same thing, Dad."
The clerk gave a hesitant laugh. "That'll be… 89,000 yen."
Before anyone else could react, Ryuji slid his card across the counter like it was nothing.
"Put it on the Taimanin Defense Budget," he said dryly.
The clerk froze mid-swipe. "…Excuse me?"
Ryuji sighed. "It's a joke. Mostly."
As the receipt printed, Leo was practically vibrating with excitement. "You are the best dad ever."
Ryuji crossed his arms. "I'd better be, for that price."
Sakura and Tokiko stood off to the side with their own picks — Tokiko clutching her stack of romance manga like a newfound treasure, and Sakura holding a single Soul Eater volume, inspecting the art.
Meanwhile, Asagi had three Bleach books in her arms and was pretending not to be excited.
Ryuji looked at the group. "Everyone got something?"
Kotaro raised his handheld console. "Found this old thing called a PS6. The store guy said it still works."
Ryuji blinked. "They still make those?"
Leo, deadpan: "Retro gaming is culture, Dad."
Ryuji: "Culture's expensive."
As they stepped out of the shop, the older Taimanin standing guard nearby whispered to each other.
"Was that Ryuji?"
"Yeah. Guy just dropped a small fortune on comics."
"…Taimanin's strongest budget spender."
Ryuji ignored them, carrying the shopping bags like a war hero carrying supplies through enemy lines.
Leo looked back toward the shop window, grinning. "See, I told you guys—fun doesn't always mean fighting."
Sakura smirked. "Yeah, but fighting for the last manga volume might count."
Asagi muttered, "If it's Bleach, then yes."
Ryuji groaned. "You're all hopeless."
Before they fully stepped out, Ryuji paused at one of the side shelves — the Western comics section.
A small nostalgic smile crossed his face as he picked up a few issues: Spider-Man, Superman, Nightwing, Iron Man, and even some Justice League and X-Men classics.
He glanced at the stack in his hands and chuckled softly.
"Haven't read one of these since I moved from America."
Leo looked up, blinking. "Wait, yeah—Dad, I wanted to ask that for a while."
Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "Ask what?"
Leo crossed his arms. "You're American, right? So, on your actual birth certificate, your name isn't Ryuji—it's something else, right?"
Ryuji smirked as they walked toward the counter. "You caught me, kid. Nope, I go by Ryuji here, but my actual name is Richard."
Leo's jaw dropped. "RICHARD?!"
Kotaro nearly choked laughing. "Wait, wait—your dad's name is Richard Fuuma?!"
Ryuji sighed. "No, no. Back in America it was Richard Collins. Took my wife's clan name when I joined the Igawa-Fuuma line."
Sakura tilted her head. "So, you're… like a foreign ninja?"
Ryuji nodded, smirking. "Something like that. Came here in my twenties, joined the Taimanin program, never left."
Leo grinned. "So basically, you're Spider-Man if he joined the CIA and moved to Japan."
Ryuji blinked. "…That's horrifyingly accurate."
Tokiko gasped, eyes wide. "Wait, so you used to live in America? What's it like there?"
Ryuji thought for a second. "Loud. Big cars. Bigger burgers. Everyone thinks ninjas wear black pajamas and shout 'hiya!' every five minutes."
The kids burst out laughing.
Asagi shook her head. "You actually left that for this?"
Ryuji chuckled, looking at the kids' arms full of manga and games. "Hey, don't knock it. This place gave me a family worth fighting for."
Leo smiled, softening a bit. "Guess that's one thing we both agree on, old man."
Ryuji side-eyed him. "Old man?"
Leo froze. "I—uh—I meant wise and youthful father figure—"
Ryuji ruffled his hair roughly. "Nice try, brat."
The group finally exited the store, arms loaded with treasures — manga, comics, games, and snacks.
Behind them, the clerk muttered, "That family just paid my rent for three months."
Ryuji didn't even look back. "Worth it."
Later That Evening – "Comic Night"
The Igawa-Fuuma household living room looked like a comic convention exploded.
Stacks of manga and comic books were everywhere — on the floor, the couch, even on Leo's head.
Leo sat cross-legged with One Piece volume 12 in his lap.
Ryuji leaned back on the couch, a cup of green tea in one hand and The Amazing Spider-Man in the other.
Across from them, Asagi, Tokiko, Sakura, Kotaro, and Rinko were flipping through different colorful covers, their eyes wide with childlike awe.
Sakura (reading a page of Spider-Man): "Wait, so this guy gets bitten by a spider and just… sticks to walls?"
Ryuji: "Yup. That's how science works in America."
Leo (without looking up): "That's not science, Dad, that's trauma with extra steps."
Ryuji side-eyed him. "Says the kid who meditates with anti-demon particles at six years old."
Leo pointed dramatically. "That's ninja magic, not radiation mutation!"
Kotaro, meanwhile, had picked up an Iron Man issue.
He squinted at the page. "So this guy builds his own armor with tech and fights gods?"
Leo: "Yup. Basically, he's the embodiment of 'rich and petty.'"
Kotaro: "...So, like your dad."
Ryuji: "HEY."
Everyone laughed.
Asagi, sitting on a cushion, frowned as she flipped through a Wonder Woman comic.
"She fights demons and gods with her bare hands? She's basically a female Taimanin!"
Ryuji: "Pretty much. Except fewer stealth missions and more dramatic speeches about truth."
Asagi (pouting): "I could do that too!"
Leo: "You'd forget the speech halfway through and punch the guy instead."
Asagi: "...Maybe."
Meanwhile, Rinko was staring at The Flash comic, her eyes sparkling.
"He's so fast! Like—like faster than any Ninja Art I've ever seen!"
Leo: "That's the Speed Force, Rinko. Basically, space-time caffeine."
Rinko: "Can I get that?"
Leo: "If you drink five energy drinks and spin really fast, maybe."
Ryuji: "LEO."
Leo: "Kidding! Mostly."
The laughter carried on for a while until the inevitable happened — the Great Debate of the Evening.
Ryuji, arms crossed: "Marvel's better. It's grounded, more human stories."
Leo, standing dramatically on the couch: "DC has literal gods fighting space demons and philosophical trauma arcs! Respect the mythos!"
Sakura: "They're both weird!"
Kotaro: "I like X-Men. They're just ninjas with bad PR."
Tokiko: "Spider-Man's the best! He's nice!"
Asagi: "He's always sad though…"
Leo (pointing at her): "That's called character depth, Asagi!"
Ryuji just chuckled, watching all of them bicker and laugh over characters and powers.
For a moment, it didn't feel like a secret ninja village or a world of demons and corruption.
It felt like… a normal evening — one he hadn't had in years.
As the night wound down, the kids started nodding off one by one, surrounded by open pages and snack wrappers.
Leo was the last one awake, reading quietly under the lamp's glow.
He looked over at his dad, who had dozed off on the couch, a Batman comic resting on his chest.
Leo smiled faintly.
'Maybe this world isn't so bad after all.'
To be continued
Hope people like this Ch and give me Power stones this is the last Ch of this week see you all next week