--Saturday, July 25, 2172
"It looks like Midoriya needs another season of rigorous training…"
Sitting on a comfortable beach chair on a balcony with a perfect view of the fight, Kai commented with visible disappointment, grabbing popcorn from the large bucket on his lap. Visibly shaken, the other members of the training group present couldn't help but exchange glances as they swallowed hard.
"Don't be so hard on him, Kai. Midoriya-san fought well, but it was obvious he couldn't use his full power, or he'd end up killing Bakugo-san, who improved remarkably fast and put up a good fight."
Momo, sitting beside Kai with sunglasses on, commented as she brought her lemonade to her lips. Nejire, seated on Kai's other side, reached over to grab some popcorn from him and remarked with a cheerful smile, also wearing sunglasses.
"He did great, Kai-chan! He came out practically unscathed, while the explosion kid has broken arms and several ribs. I'd say that's a win!"
"I'll call for help."
Hearing Nejire, Melissa, who was nearby, spoke with a worried tone as she pulled out her phone. Kai took another handful of popcorn and replied calmly while pointing to the neighboring building.
"No need to worry about that. Your dad over there already took care of it."
Hearing Kai, Melissa turned to look at the building, where she saw her father waving with a small smile on his face. Melissa waved back as Mina, sounding a bit concerned, asked while looking at the pair of injured youths in the distance.
"Is Bakugo in bad shape?"
"Yes and no. The fractures in his ribs, jaw, and arms are minor injuries, easily treatable by someone with a healing quirk. The real issue is that he overdid it with his quirk, so his quirk factor took a hit. He'll need someone on Recovery Girl's level to ensure there are no lasting effects."
Kai commented calmly, sending a chill down the spines of the young heroes as they processed the severity of the injuries. Todoroki, sipping tea at a nearby table, spoke in a steady tone.
"I heard I-Island has top-notch medical staff and equipment. With All Might's influence, he should be fine before the airport reopens."
"That's a relief." Uraraka said with a sigh, at which point Kirishima added with a serious tone.
"Midoriya is really terrifying… I'm not sure I could take his punches without getting hurt."
"If he doesn't go all out, you should be able to handle a dozen. Next time, I'll hit you with comparable strength."
Kai remarked casually, causing Kirishima to sink into regret while the others looked at him with pity. At that moment, Kai stood up from his chair and spoke in a calm voice while watching the medical team pick up the two fighters.
"Well, it looks like the fun's over here. Disperse, I've got things to do."
"Yao Momo, wanna hang out?" As a pair of cats jumped onto Kai's shoulders, Mina asked Momo, who shook her head and replied with a small smile.
"Sorry, maybe another time. Today, we've got something important to do with Kai."
"Alright, then I'll find something to do." Mina replied with a slight pout, which made Momo laugh as she took Kai's arm, along with Nejire, before the three of them left together.
…
"Hey, am I the only one, or does Hado-senpai seem way too close to Saito for just childhood friends?"
Once the trio disappeared from sight, Tsuyu, the frog girl, couldn't help but comment, tilting her head with a finger on her chin. Mina replied thoughtfully while staring at the spot where Kai and the others had turned the corner.
"Yeah… That caught my attention too. They seem more like a couple than friends…"
"You're overthinking it. If that were the case, Yao Momo wouldn't be so calm around them. That's just how Hado-senpai is, a bit clingy, nothing more." Jiro replied in a calm tone, at which point Kaminari chimed in, mimicking a detective.
"Well, she's never hugged me the way she hugs Saito."
"And who'd want to hug you?"
Jiro shot back sarcastically while casually twirling the cord of her earphones, dealing a fatal blow to Kaminari, who trudged defeated to a corner. At that moment, Toru, the invisible girl, commented curiously.
"But I've also never seen Hado-senpai hug any other girl besides Yao Momo. Even though she's super cheerful and hyper, Hado-senpai always keeps a subtle distance from everyone."
"She hugged me once." Mina raised her hand and said. At that point, Jiro stood up from her spot and spoke in a bored tone while heading toward the exit.
"Saito and Hado-senpai are like that because they've been together their whole lives. Leave it at that. If you keep overthinking it, the only thing you'll get is a terrifying Demon King coming to settle scores with us."
Hearing Jiro, everyone, including Todoroki, couldn't help but shiver slightly. Mina quickly jumped up and spoke, visibly nervous.
"Y-yeah, guys, that's all it is. They're just really good friends. I never thought otherwise; you're all witnesses."
"I wanted to see if I could help with the reconstruction."
Kirishima quickly stood up and commented as he nearly ran out of the place, closely followed by the other boys, leaving Mina, Jiro, and Melissa behind. Melissa couldn't help but bring a hand to her chin in deep thought.
"Melissa-san, is there something we can do?" Jiro asked, looking at Melissa, who snapped out of her thoughts and nodded with a smile.
"Some shops have already opened. We can go shopping for a while."
"It's settled! Let's go shopping!" Mina quickly cheered, raising her arm in the air, which made the other two girls laugh before they all left together.
…
…
…
"Well, things got delayed a bit because of everything that happened, but we're here now, Kai. I want you to be completely honest with us. What are you hiding from us?"
Sitting across from Kai in the brightly lit living room of his suite, Shino asked with a serious tone as she stared at him intently. Beside her were Ryuko, Tomoko, Yumiko, and Momo, forming a semicircle in front of Kai, Keiko, Nemuri, and Nejire, who were seated together across from them.
Although Keiko and Nemuri couldn't help but glance at Nejire with slight surprise, they remained silent beside their man, who let out a small sigh and spoke in a serious tone.
"I guess it's more or less what you've imagined. I've been hunting down those responsible for my parents' deaths for years, and I've managed to capture four people. I'm keeping them all in a secret Sage ability called Alcatraz, which is essentially a dimensional prison that only she can access.
"These people are still alive and physically fine, but over the years, I've used them as test subjects to develop my medical skills and various abilities. So, their minds broke a long time ago."
Hearing the full story, the Pussycats fell silent while Yumiko stared at Kai in shock before glancing, narrowing her eyes, at Nemuri, Keiko, and Nejire beside him, who remained completely calm. Meanwhile, Momo stayed in her seat and closed her eyes, as if trying to recover from a devastating blow. Ryuko, for her part, looked at Kai with deep eyes and asked in a heavy tone.
"Angel's Breath, Vital Reactor, Mystical Palm… You achieved all of that through your experiments on those people…?"
"The Accomplices and the upgrades to the massages too. Basically, any ability that can affect your bodies or minds in any way was first extensively tested on them, and only after I ruled out any side effects did I use them on you."
Kai nodded and explained in a serious tone, causing Ryuko, Tomoko, and Momo to lower their shoulders and heads as if an enormous burden had been placed on them. Meanwhile, Yumiko looked at her daughter sitting on the other side with profound eyes, almost having a deep conversation through their gazes alone.
Shino, on the other hand, kept staring at Kai's firm and composed demeanor before glancing at Nejire, Keiko, and Nemuri beside him. At that moment, the latter two placed their hands on Kai's knees almost unconsciously.
Though she didn't know exactly how long they'd known, it was clear they had accepted it and chosen to support him, and that small gesture was practically a declaration. No matter what happened, they were on Kai's side.
But at that moment, Shino saw Yumiko stand up from her seat and sit beside her daughter, looking at her with a calm but determined smile, making her own declaration. Momo then murmured in a heavy voice, filled with a torrent of conflicting emotions.
"Kai… Could you heal their minds…?"
"There's a possibility I might be able to in the future." Kai responded, already bracing himself for what Momo would say next. As expected, Momo looked at him with complex eyes and asked in a hoarse voice.
"Could you release them and hand them over to the authorities…?"
"Impossible. I'll never let those rats live a single day in comfort, even if it costs me my life."
Kai spoke in a firm, cold, and authoritative tone that made Momo tremble, lowering her head in despair. Keiko quickly squeezed Kai's knee before gently stroking it, which helped him calm down a bit. At that moment, Tomoko stood up with her head bowed, drawing everyone's attention as they turned to look at her in silence.
With her head down and her hair covering her face, Tomoko walked step by step toward Kai as if carrying tons of weight, exuding an aura of sorrow and sadness. Seeing Tomoko in front of him, Kai braced himself for a slap, something the other women present also thought would happen.
Worried, Shino stood up to try and stop her, but before she could, something happened that left her stunned in her place. Tomoko sat on Kai's lap, then took his arms to wrap them around her waist. Lifting her head to look at her dear friends, she spoke with a sad but resolute smile.
"Girls, I'm sorry, but I'm retiring. As a pro hero, I can't accept this, but I choose my Kai, so I can only stop being a hero. I'm sorry."
"Wait, Tomoko, I never asked you to retire or anything like that." Kai quickly interjected in a serious tone, though with a clear hint of panic. Tomoko turned to look at him and replied with a loving smile.
"I know, but you're a bad boy, and pro heroes can't be with bad boys, so I can't keep being a hero."
"Seriously?! I thought pro heroes were the perfect match for a bad boy like Kai-chan! That way, we can use the amazing skills he created punishing bad guys to help hundreds of people!"
At that moment, Nejire commented with a huge, innocent smile, causing all the heroines to stare at her with wide eyes, as if a bolt of lightning had struck them directly on their heads. As the heroines exchanged glances, Keiko couldn't help but look at Yumiko with a congratulatory smile, which led Yumiko to laugh joyfully and look at her little girl with pride.
"If Kai's skills are used to save thousands of people… can it really be considered wrong…?"
Ryuko couldn't help but murmur, stunned, grappling with an intense internal moral debate that she could only voice aloud. Keiko looked at the shocked and conflicted pro heroes and spoke in a calm tone.
"It's like World War II. It was because of that cruel war, where over 80 million people died, that we have penicillin, computing, nuclear energy, industrial production, and the massive inclusion of women in the workforce. All of modern society is built on over 80 million corpses. So, was it good or bad?
"We're not the ones to decide, but it's more or less like the trolley problem. Would you sacrifice one person to save five? I suppose heroes like you must have faced that more than once. This time, it's the same.
"Are you willing to turn a blind eye to the capture and experimentation on the people who took Alisa and Jiro from us in exchange for abilities that let you save thousands of lives? What do you choose, heroes?"
""…""
Hearing Keiko, the girls fell into a heavy silence, looking at each other with doubt written on their faces. At that moment, Tomoko tightened Kai's arms around her waist and asked softly.
"What do you think All Might would do…?"
"That guy's got all the makings of a hypocrite. I'm sure he'd use the powers I gave him to try and put me in prison. After succeeding, he'd probably try to retire until someone gave him a cheap speech to go back to using the powers I gave him to keep being a hero."
"I can really see that happening…"
Nemuri couldn't help but murmur as she nodded, having spoken with the Symbol of Peace several times at UA. It definitely seemed like something he'd do, especially the part about coming back after a "cheap speech," as Kai called it. She could easily see herself giving that speech if it weren't about her Kai.
"I can even imagine the speech…" Yumiko commented softly, genuinely picturing the moment, to which Keiko nodded and spoke, acting as best she could with a mocking smile on her lips.
"It'd probably be something like, 'Though Kai did something terrible, by using the powers he gave you to do good and help the world, you can atone for his sins! If you let those powers go to waste, it'd mean the 'sacrifice' of the people he experimented on was for nothing! Someone who could be saved would die if you don't act!'"
***
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