Tohka Yatogami's: Marvel Journey

"..."

Tohka stared blankly at Tony, beginning to question her life choices. Guess what she just heard? Tony was delivering an impassioned speech.

"I met this little girl in Afghanistan. Her parents were killed by the same terrorists who kidnapped me."

'When did I ever say my parents were dead? Are you cursing me or something?'

"This little girl helped me through the most difficult time of my life. We were both captured by terrorists together."

'You were the one who got caught, not me. Your bad luck has nothing to do with me!'

"To one day escape their clutches, we were always careful. Finally, we found an opportunity, and she escaped under my protection."

'Hey, hey, I'm the one who saved you! How is this your achievement now? Where's your shame, Iron Man?'

Watching Tony deliver his heartfelt performance, Tohka was furiously ranting in her head. However, she wasn't foolish enough to say it out loud. Not only would it embarrass Tony, but it was clear he had a purpose for doing this.

Tohka could sense that Tony bore her no ill will, but she was still stunned by his shamelessness. What kind of nonsense was this?

"Let's go. The press conference is over."

"Oh, okay." It wasn't until Pepper discreetly tugged at her that Tohka realized everyone had already left.

As for the bald, bearded Obadiah Stane, he had long disappeared somewhere.

The first announcement was fine—it was within everyone's expectations. But Tony's second announcement about shutting down Stark Industries' weapons division was earth-shattering.

The sharp-nosed reporters all rushed back to write their stories. By tomorrow—if not this afternoon—the news would have spread across the entire U.S.

"Alright, here's your identity documents." Back in the car, Tony handed Tohka a file folder.

Curious, Tohka opened it to find the first line reading: "Tohka Stark Yatogami."

(Don't criticize me; this is just the name on the document. I'll still go by Yatogami Tohka in the future, as I really don't know how to arrange it otherwise.)

"You!" Seeing this, Tohka was visibly upset and raised her head to glare at Tony. His presumptuous decision had clearly gone too far.

"Calm down, we'll talk about it later." Seeing the serious expression on Tohka's face, Tony immediately tried to reassure her.

"Hmph." Although Tohka was annoyed, she wisely chose to stay silent after seeing Tony's expression. She had a feeling he had more to say.

When they returned to Tony's mansion, he led Pepper and Tohka to his basement and spoke to them in a serious tone: "Someone wants me dead. What happened earlier was clearly a premeditated ambush. My movements are always classified; ordinary people wouldn't have known where I was."

"Who would do something like that?" Pepper immediately showed a worried expression after hearing Tony's words.

She also understood why Tony chose to speak here—under J.A.R.V.I.S.'s surveillance, it was impossible for anyone to plant a listening device in this room.

"I don't know. But to know my movements so precisely, and to supply the terrorists with my company's weapons—it has to be an insider. And not just any insider; it's likely someone high up, possibly one of the board members."

Hearing this, Tohka nodded in agreement. If Tony couldn't figure out something so basic, he would've been dead countless times over by now.

"Just in case, I'll draft a will. Tohka, if anything happens to me, as long as you can keep Pepper safe, you'll also inherit part of my assets."

"Alright, leave it to me." Tohka didn't hesitate to agree.

It seemed that in the original storyline, Tony chose to remain silent because he couldn't ensure Pepper's safety.

But now that Tohka was here, that concern was eliminated.

"Tony, what about you? And Tohka—how old is she? Does she really have the ability to do this?" Upon hearing this, Pepper looked at Tohka with concern.

Having never seen Tohka in action, she couldn't believe that this seemingly naive and adorable girl had the ability to handle such a task.

"Don't worry. She's incredibly strong. If it weren't for her, I'd probably be dead by now."

"By the way, Tohka, you can stay in my villa for now. Once this is over, I'll arrange for you to attend school."

"Okay." Tohka agreed without a second thought.

After all, she had nowhere else to stay. Living in Tony's luxurious villa was both comfortable and convenient.

As for whether Tony might try anything inappropriate, she wasn't worried in the slightest. After all, Tony was just an ordinary person. Even if he donned his armor, Tohka was confident she could cut him in half with one swing.

Having read the original story and some comics, she knew that while Tony was flirtatious, he was also a man of principles.

"Alright, that's it for today. Don't worry, as long as I stay careful, that rat in the shadows won't be able to do anything to me. Let's go—I'm starving. I only had a burger earlier, so I've already ordered us a feast."

"Food!" Hearing Tony's words, Tohka's eyes lit up, and she bolted out of the room.

If someone as wealthy as Tony called it a feast, it was bound to be extravagant. That alone was enough to excite Tohka.

"Wait, I just ordered it. It hasn't arrived yet."

"I know. I'm just going to greet it."

"..."

Tony was speechless at Tohka's impatience but didn't stop her. He could use the time to have a private conversation with Pepper.

Even if Tohka hadn't run off, he would've found a way to send her away. This just made things easier.

"Food, food, where's the food?" Running out of the basement, Tohka immediately looked around, searching for something to eat.

Her attention was quickly drawn to Tony's wine cabinet, filled with an impressive array of fine wines.

Even though Tohka didn't recognize the brands, she knew there wasn't a single subpar bottle. Tony had impeccable taste, and anything in his collection was bound to be exceptional.

Without hesitation, she grabbed a bottle from the middle and started drinking straight from it.

"Ah, refreshing." Letting out a satisfied burp, she had to admit her luck was pretty good. She had picked a wine that didn't require decanting; otherwise, it would've tasted like vinegar.