Tohka Yatogami's: Marvel Journey

"Ouch, that hurts." Tony groaned as Tohka helped him up, rubbing the spots where he'd slammed into. Tohka had to admit, Tony was remarkably lucky—any normal person would've ended up with broken bones after that, yet he'd barely sustained any injuries.

"Tony, what are you doing again?" Pepper's furious voice suddenly rang out, startling both of them into flinching.

"Nothing, just an experiment. I'm fine, really!" Hearing her voice, Tony immediately dashed to the control panel to explain. Tony might not back down to anyone else, but he always gave in to Pepper.

"Phew, that was close." With Tony's repeated assurances, Pepper finally bought his explanation. That's when Tony realized something. "Jarvis, how did she know? I just finished the experiment, and she called immediately. That was way too fast."

"Miss Tohka sent her an email earlier. Since it wasn't on the prohibited list, I didn't stop her."

"What did you send?"

"???"

"Never mind. Jarvis, pull it up for me to see." Seeing Tohka's confused expression, Tony could only ask Jarvis to show him the email.

"Of course, sir." As Tony's words fell, Tohka's email appeared on the screen. It was a video clip of his earlier experiment.

The video showed Tony activating his equipment, launching himself straight into the ceiling, and then crashing back to the ground.

"This is..." Tony's expression became a mix of embarrassment and disbelief as he saw himself looking so ridiculous. He turned to glare at Tohka, but...

"...???"

Seeing Tohka's utterly clueless expression, Tony could only swallow his frustration. With her looking like that, even his legendary wit failed him.

"Forget it. Jarvis, explain what happened." Helplessly rubbing his forehead, Tony asked Jarvis to show what Tohka had done.

First, Tohka had been fiddling with the buttons when Tony's command inadvertently caused her to activate the recording function. Then, startled by the incident, she accidentally hit the email button on the control panel, which conveniently had Pepper as the most recent contact.

"....."

Tony now wanted nothing more than to smack himself. He'd never seen anything like this before. Was this girl a natural airhead or a cunning trickster?!

"So, do you want to continue?" Tohka didn't bother trying to guess what Tony was thinking. Instead, she smirked at his disheveled state, clearly enjoying his misfortune.

"Of course! As a scientist, I'd never let minor setbacks stop me. But..." Tony suddenly had a spark of inspiration and looked at Tohka with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"What are you planning?" Seeing Tony's expression, Tohka instinctively crossed her arms protectively and stepped back, ready to draw her sword at any moment. At this point, Tony looked too much like a creepy uncle trying to lure a little girl, making Tohka extremely wary.

"How about this? I'll make you a custom suit for free if you agree to test these armors for me." Tony had realized that Tohka's resilience was remarkable—she hadn't been fazed by the earlier impact at all.

"No way, no way! Who wants your stuff anyway?" Tohka vigorously shook her head in refusal. While Tony's armor was impressive, it wasn't very useful to her. Besides, wearing it would restrict her abilities, and she had no interest in ending up like a Saint Seiya character who loses their armor in every fight.

"What if, someday..."

"Wow, look, it's Iron Man!" The crowd saw Tohka wearing the Iron Man suit flying in to confront some criminals, and then...

Boom! Before Tohka could even make a move, the armor exploded off her body.

"That's not Iron Man; it's 'Exploding Armor Girl.'"

"...."

Shaking her head vigorously, Tohka tried to dispel the ridiculous image from her mind.

"A bucket of KFC, plus a full-course Chinese dinner at home."

Ding. Hearing Tony's offer, Tohka's head-shaking slowed significantly, and her gaze became less resolute.

"Alright then, three KFC buckets for each meal, every day."

"...."

Tohka's head-shaking slowed even further, and her gaze wavered with hesitation. Seeing this, Tony knew he had her hooked and decided to sweeten the deal.

"On top of that, I'll throw in a full Manchu-Han banquet daily, prepared by the best chefs."

"Deal." Hearing this, Tohka no longer hesitated. She decisively walked toward the pile of equipment Tony had set aside, reaching out to try it on.

"Wait! You don't need those—I've already collected the data." Tony quickly stopped her. While the earlier test had been painful, it had provided him with all the information he needed, as well as insight into his design flaws.

"Jarvis, redesign the Iron Man suit. Start with specifications tailored to Tohka."

"Understood. Modifying data now." At Tony's command, Jarvis began updating the necessary parameters without hesitation. The suit was still in its early development stages, and its internal space needed precise calculations. A person with body proportions too different from Tony's wouldn't fit. In Tohka's case, her chest might even feel uncomfortably squeezed in.

"Alright, place your hand here." Tony gestured for Tohka to place her hand on the control panel. A 3D projection appeared, showing the skeletal structure of the suit's arm overlaying her own. As Tohka moved, the projected armor adjusted and followed her movements.

"Great, got it." After recording the data, Tony brought Tohka over to the workbench and began fitting her arm with a propulsion unit.

"Alright, give it a try now."

Bang.

"Are you okay?" Even though Tony knew Tohka was resilient, seeing her crash through a wall and leave a hole in it still made him break out in a cold sweat. He quickly ran over to check on her.

"No problem, no problem—just a scratch. Remember your promise; it's almost mealtime. Don't forget!"

"...."

Tony's eye twitched as he watched Tohka rise unscathed from the rubble. He couldn't help but feel relieved that it hadn't been him. Otherwise…

In any case, the Iron Man armor steadily progressed thanks to their combined efforts. With Tohka's help, Tony's progress was much faster. At one point, Pepper stopped by to deliver something but ended up scolding Tony after seeing Tohka crash into a wall due to a miscalculation with the propulsion unit.