Ultimate Kaisen

One Step Forward

"I already apologized about that, but you can't deny that you're not actually miffed to talk to me." Ben's expression changed into a sly grin once he noticed the look of hesitation in Gwen's eyes.

"True." Admitted Gwen with a bemused smile, causing Ben to slightly snicker.

"So,how did your day go?" Asked Ben.

"Same as always for the most part. Nothing really eventful has happened since you left." Said Gwen with a shrug.

"Yeah, you did say that." Said Ben, slightly trailing off.

"And you find that hard to believe." Said Gwen, noticing Ben's slight hesitation. Deciding to be honest with her, Ben sighed in response.

"Of course I do. From what you've told me, I've been gone for the better part of a month. The fact that no bad guys have tried to take over the world, destroy it or even threaten other planets since then is pretty jarring to me." The worry in Ben's tone, though understandable,did make Gwen slightly nervous,as she wished not to add to his worries.

"There have been bad guys." Reassured Gwen.

"C or D rank villains don't count,Gwen." Said Ben with a scoff, not pleased by her placing the likes of Serpent as a legitimate threat.

"All right." Said Gwen as she held up her hands in defeat.

"But I'm serious though, things have been pretty mellow since you left. Nothing out of our control has sprung up, and since it's us we're talking about; Myself, Kevin and Grandpa Max, nothing ever will." Though wary at first, the sincerity and confidence in Gwen's voice followed by the warmth of her smile did help to ease an already tensed Ben.

"I guess you're right." Said Ben with a sigh.

"I'm just worried that's all." Ben's smile, though small,was sincere as well.

"Which is completely understandable." Said Gwen in understanding.

"Earth's greatest hero is currently M.I.A. It's only right that he hopes nothing bad happens while he's away." She then placed her hands on her waist and sported a smirk. She knew the boost those words would give to Ben's ego.

"True." Said Ben, trying to contain a snicker but failing as his face lighted up a bit.

"Not that I don't appreciate you checking up on us, but I'm pretty sure you could have done so earlier." Said Gwen casually.

"Yeah, sorry about that again. But it's just like I said, it's pretty important." Said Ben apologetically.

"No duh, considering what time it is." Said Gwen as she rolled her eyes before smirking once more.

"Did anything unusual happen in your day?" She asked.

"Oh you have no idea." Said Ben with with a smirk of his own.

"Oh? Do tell." Said Gwen as she leaned her head forward slightly, indicating that Ben had piqued her curiosity.

"Well for starters, the most interesting thing about today happened earlier on. And since telling you about it right now would more or less make it the only thing we'll talk about this night, I'll shelve it for later." Said Ben, causing Gwen to briefly blink in confusion.

"Ok,if you say so." Said Gwen as she regained her composure.

"Don't worry, the next thing is pretty interesting in it's own right." Assured Ben with a small smile.

"Which would be?" Asked Gwen.

"Itadori and encountered another special grade today." Said Ben, causing Gwen's eyes to widen.