A/N: I don't own Penn Zero: Part Time Hero

Chapter One: A Death in The Family

Normally, Penn didn't want to pry to deep into Sashi's life, mostly because he feared getting pummeled by her for said prying, but after nearly four days of not seeing her, he felt it was time to step in. At first, the part-time hero and Boone had assumed that she was not feeling well and decided to give her some space until she felt good enough to return, but after three days as not so much as a single phone call from her, Penn's concern for his friend began to grow.

He had tried to call and text the part-time sidekick multiple times, but not a single of his attempts to reach had succeeded. Again he considered letting whatever was bothering Sashi to just let it run its course. The violent teen was never the one to handle her emotions all that well and had a tendency to lash out at those around her when she upset. Penn remembered the time he once asked her if she was ok after screwing up her task in a mission and in response she nearly broke his arm before storming out of the theatre.

Regardless of his fears for his own well being, the young girl was still one of his best friends and he had to at least see her face to face to find out what was troubling her—even if that meant that he may be putting himself at risk to do so. Thankfully it was the weekend, so he could go straight to her apartment without worrying about the fate of the multiverse today. Penn did think about bringing Boone along, but after hearing that it was meatloaf night at his house, he had better chance of taming a lion then getting the heavy-set boy from his mothers cooking.

Once he reached Sashi's apartment, he knocked on the door, not knowing if he'd be welcomed in or get punched out by a surprise attack by Sashi for disturbing her. Thankfully, it was Sashi's mother who greeted the ginger. Right away, Penn could see something was clearly wrong just by seeing the forlorn look on the woman's face.

"Uh, hello Ms. Kobayashi" Penn began hesitantly "Is Sashi home?"

"Hello, Penn" she replied with a forced smile through her sadness "And yes she's home. She's in her room"

"If this isn't a good time I can leave" the part-time hero reasoned

"No, no, It's fine Penn-San" she insisted as she moved aside to let him in "Sashi could use a friend right now"

Still unsure as to what exactly happened in the Kobayashi household, Penn stepped inside and headed directly for Sashi room. As he did, he noticed Sashi's farther silently standing in front of the apartment window, looking out to the world around him, although the boy was pretty sure he wasn't looking at anything in particular. For a brief moment, he considered at least saying hello to the man, but his better judgment dissuaded him from doing so.

As he did at the front door, he hesitantly knocked on the door to Sashi's room and waited for an answer from his friend.

"Yes?" the girl's voice asked half-heartily through the door

"It's me, Sash" Penn answered "I wanted to see if you were doing ok"

"Go away…" she ordered in monotone voice

"Sashi…" her farther suddenly spoke up in a stern tone as he kept his eyes on the outside world "Let the boy in"

A few silent seconds passed before finally the part-time sidekick finally opened the door, revealing herself to her friend. Penn was taken aback by her drastically different appearance. Gone was the strong and confidant girl, who had fought alongside the boy on countless missions, this new Sashi was morose and depressed. She had removed her specs, showing her pink and puffy eyes to him after clearly crying for hours. Her make-up around her eyes has been smeared by the tears she had wept. Her hair was out of its usual pigtails and instead in a frazzled mess. Sashi was also out of normal attire and instead in a black T-Shirt with the band 'AC/DC' on it and pair of blue shorts.

"What do you want?" she growled at the boy, narrowing her eyes at him as she did

"I uh…came to check on you" Penn said in response "Are you…ok?"

"Do I look ok to you?" the part-time sidekick gritted through her teeth

"Um…no?" the redhead replied

It was then that the girl's farther glanced over to his child with a steely gaze in his eyes, silently ordering her to behave. Although Penn didn't see the gesture, Sashi did and wordlessly compiled with her farther.

"I guess your not going away until you get an answer, huh?" the violent teen continued

"If you want me to leave, I'll leave" Penn assured her

"No…it's fine" she informed him before gesturing for him to enter her bedroom

Penn made his way into her room before his friend closed the door behind him. Despite it being noon, Sashi kept her room the blinds to her room drawn, allowing for little light to shine into the darkly lit room. Sashi then wordlessly walked by him and took a seat on the edge of the bed in a sad slump.

"What happened, Sashi?" Penn questioned gently

Sashi didn't answer right away, instead she let out a long saddened sigh as she leaned back a bit, letting her arms prop her up as she did.

"My grandfather…he passed away…" she finally said, not making eye contact with the boy as she said those words

Those words hung in the air for several moments before Penn could make a response.

"I…I'm sorry, Sashi" he began slowly "I didn't know…"

"You didn't know because you had no right to know" she sneered at him before instantly backing down "I'm sorry…I just—"

"Hey, it's ok" Penn reassured her as he took a seat next to her "I understand"

"It's been four days since he died and I still can't get over it" Sashi furthered "I feel so helpless"

"It's called grieving, Sashi, it's a thing we all do in our own way" the part-time hero informed her sweetly before asking "So, will there be a funeral?"

"Yeah, in Tokyo" she answered "my family's flying out there in two days"

Sashi's eyes began to swell up again with tears. Penn had never seen the part-time sidekick cry before—he even assumed that she was incapable of such a feat. But yet here she was, letting steams of liquid run down her face. However, rather then make some joke, Penn reached out and hugged his friend tightly. Sashi was never the biggest fan of human contact, but right now she welcomed the ginger's embrace. She hugged him tightly as she started to weep freely into his chest.

"I hate feeling like this!" she wept "I can save entire universes from being destroyed, but I can't stop my grandfather from dying?! It's bullshit!"

"I know Sashi, I know" the redhead soothed as he rubbed her back "But we can't stop people from dying, it's just how life is"

"I still think its bullshit!" the girl spat

At that moment, an idea popped into Penn's head. It wasn't the most sound or logical plan, but he wanted to be there for his friend in her time of need.

"What if…" he hesitantly began "What if, I went with you to Tokyo?"

Sashi pulled away from the part-time hero's chest to look at him in the eye with a mixed expression of confusion and anger on her face.

"Are you serious, Penn?" she questioned sharply as she pulled away from him "You can't just invite yourself to a funeral—let alone one in another country!"

"I know it's not the best decision" Penn answered "But you're my friend, Sash. I want to be there to support you"

"You can't just drop everything and go to Japan!" the sidekick reasoned harshly as she stood up "You don't even know how to speak Japanese!"

"That's were you'd be wrong" the ginger replied as he suddenly began to speak in the girl's native language "I've been taking lesson on how to speak Japanese for nearly six weeks now, it's pretty good right?"

Typical Penn Zero, just when the violent teen had him all figured out, he goes and does the unexpected. It's what Sashi admired about the boy, he was no ordinary hero back any means necessary and that's what kept both his friends and enemies on their toes.

"You've been learning how to speak my language and you didn't tell me?" She asked suspiciously "Why?"

"Because you're my friend and I want to share something other than kicking Rippin's but" Penn explained as he continued speaking Japanese "Besides, I doubt you'd have the time or the patience to teach me a single word"

"You'd be right about that…" she muttered before speaking up "But you still can't go!"

"Why not?" he questioned, switching back to English

"Because my family is staying Tokyo for a whole week and you and Boone still have work to do" she reminded him

"I've got a lot of vacation days I've been saving up for according to Phyllis" Penn said before he stood up to face her "plus, Rippin and Larry are still pretty sick after that oyster night fiasco at the school cafeteria, so I think the multiverse is safe for the time being"

Despite, giving him a fierce glower and crossing her arms, Sashi was starting to consider the option, however there where still a few bases that had to be covered.

"What about your aunt and uncle?" she questioned "Or Boone for that matter?"

"Uncle Chuck and Aunt Rose should be cool with it" he replied simply "as for Boone well, he won't even come within a hundred feet of an airport after watching Snakes on a Plane. So, can I come?"

"We'd be honored if you joined us, Penn-San" a voice said

The two turned around and saw Sashi's farther standing the doorway. Neither knew how much of the conversation he had heard, but it was probably not enough to get him to start asking questions about his daughter's line of work. Sashi clearly was still hesitant about letting her friend join them in Japan, but she did not want to start an argument with still grieving parents, so she relented.

"Ok, fine. You can come" the part-time sidekick gave in

Before Penn could say a word, Sashi spoke up again

"But we should tell you right now PZ that the rest of the family doesn't care much for outsiders" the violent teen warned him sternly "While your there, you will follow our culture's rules to the letter, got it?"

"I understand, Sashi" he assured

He then turned his attention to her farther.

"Arigato, Mr. Kobayashi" Penn thanked with a respectful bow and a warm smile which was returned to him by the older man

"Your welcome, young man" he said "Now I suggest you go home and tell your aunt and uncle about this and start packing"

"I will. Thank you again, sir" the boy answered

Before he left, Penn gave another hug to his friend; he returned it with one of her own. Once he had departed from the apartment, Sashi turned to face her farther with a cold gaze.

"Why did you let him come with us?" she hissed "He dousen't know what the rest of the family is like! They'll kill him for the slightest screw-up!"

"Your friend seems well-versed in our culture, Sashi" her farther reasoned calmly "Besides, that boy is a true friend if he is willing to travel the world with you in your time of need"

"I should at least tell him about your brothers" Sashi commented "maybe he'll stay out of this out if he knows the truth"

"Your uncles are dangerous men, but I doubt even if you told him the truth he'd say no" the old man informed her "and my brothers will no doubt be more concerned about the future of the clan than some American there"

"I hope your right dad" she muttered "I hope your right…"

A/N: I was inspired to write this story after rereading one of favorite comics: Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. I've always wanted to do a Japan story and putting Penn in place outside of his regular superhero settings is another thing I've wanted to do, so I mashed the two wants together and we have this, it's odd how my mind works sometimes.