--Sunday, August 2, 2172

In his seat on the bus, Katsuki Bakugo sat staring at the ceiling with a lost gaze, swaying gently from side to side with the movement of the bus. But his mind wandered more than his body, replaying over and over his fight against Deku, along with what he had seen him doing in the battles against the Nomus and in the few days of camp.

No matter what angle he looked at it from, it was incredibly obvious that in their fight Deku had held back, which inevitably led him to a conclusion that made him grit his teeth with hatred. He had ended up half-dead in a hospital bed against a damn Deku who was holding back. In other words, he was now among the "weak ones" in Class A.

Because of this, in the last few days, while training, he watched all his classmates closely and soon noticed the obvious. All those who got along well with the class representative, Yaoyorozu Momo, performed incredibly heavy training routines and seemed quite accustomed to them, something that filled him with a sense of urgency.

Everyone was improving incredibly fast, especially Deku, who had pulled a Quirk out of who knows where and was mastering it at an absurd speed. But he remained almost the same as at the beginning, and the ball-throwing test had made it painfully evident to everyone—he was the only one who hadn’t improved in all that time.

(Motherfucker...)

Remembering Deku’s terrifying Quirk, Bakugo couldn’t help but grit his teeth harder than ever, nearly splintering them. The fact that that good-for-nothing bastard had managed to keep hidden for so long a Quirk so terrifying, and even more incredibly, similar to that of his idol All Might, was something he couldn’t stand. Just remembering it made his whole body itch with the desire to drag that green-haired son of a bitch across the floor.

But now there were more serious things to face. Even though he trained almost to the point of breaking his bones every day in class and secretly at home, the results he obtained were minimal, which filled him with infinite frustration. He needed to find a way to become stronger, whatever it was, and he needed it fast.

The problem was that absolutely nothing came to mind, a fact that led him to clench his fists unconsciously. Bakugo looked at the bus ceiling with sharp, somewhat desperate eyes. Just then, a shadow covered Bakugo’s face, and a voice echoed beside him.

"Kacchan."

"What do you want?!"

Hearing that irritating voice, Bakugo couldn’t help but click his tongue and ask with an expression full of hatred and annoyance. Midoriya took a step back but soon mustered up his courage and stepped forward again to comment in a serious, though slightly nervous, tone.

"I-I’ve been thinking about it, and if you want to improve, I think the best thing is to have a partner to fight with... All this time I’ve been training with Saito and I feel that what has helped me improve the most is fighting against him. Even though I’ve never been able to land a single hit on him, I always learn a lot..."

Midoriya finished speaking with a somewhat bitter expression while subtly glancing at Kai, who was writing on his laptop with Momo resting on his shoulder. For his part, Bakugo couldn’t help but open his eyes slightly and turn to look at Kai with a hint of disbelief.

Although that Deku was a damn walking disgrace whose mere presence could drive him crazy, he now understood one thing very well. Deku was strong—damn strong; if he got serious, he was basically a miniature version of All Might himself. But even so, he was incapable of touching that arrogant blue-eyed bastard, which only spoke of how terrifying he was.

"Fight...?"

At the same time, Bakugo couldn’t help but mutter slowly, internally feeling it was the answer he was looking for. Thinking back, in the heat of his fight against that useless Deku, several ways to use his quirk had occurred to him, and the control and power of his explosions had improved a lot.

"Yes, fight! I think that’s the method that can help you the most, and I can help you with that!" Midoriya commented excitedly, which brought Bakugo back to reality and led him to reply full of rage.

"Get lost, piece of trash! I don’t need anyone’s help, much less a damn Deku’s!!"

"Wait, Kacchan! Think about it a little..."

Soon, Midoriya and Bakugo entered a discussion in which Bakugo shouted full of rage and Midoriya laid out clear and logical reasons. But so much noise inevitably led Kai to frown and look at the pair of boys, at which point he clicked his tongue in annoyance before activating his Conqueror’s Haki and commenting in a cold voice.

"Save your little fights for when I’m not around; you’re a fucking pain in the ass."

Visibly nervous, Midoriya immediately fell silent and nodded like a chicken, while Bakugo, cold sweat on his forehead, spat on the floor playing tough and looked away in silence. As Midoriya returned to his seat, Kai deactivated his Conqueror’s Haki and went back to his computer while muttering to himself, visibly annoyed.

"Fucking bastards... "

But while he was muttering curses, Kai noticed Momo let out a long sigh, which led him to frown and turn to look at her and ask in a more serious tone.

"What’s wrong?"

Hearing the question, Momo turned to look at Kai a bit lost, as if she didn’t understand. After a few moments, she came back to herself and responded in a soft voice while a calm and cordial smile formed on her face.

"... Nothing."

At that response, Kai turned to look at Tama, who was lazily sleeping on top of Momo’s seat, and activated his Conqueror’s Haki at low power, waking her up. A bit alarmed, Tama opened her eyes and looked around, but seeing the way her master was looking at her, the white cat somehow understood his intentions and soon activated her white aura.

In an instant, Kai and Momo were surrounded by a thin film of Tama’s aura, which made them look a bit blurry, but from afar it was easy to overlook. At the same time, Kai closed his computer and took Momo’s hands as he turned in his seat to face her and asked in a serious tone.

"Did they do something to you? Or did the attack affect you a lot?"

Seeing how serious Kai was, Momo’s smile melted with warmth and love; feeling her husband’s genuine concern was a wonderful sensation. But, although she felt happy, Momo couldn’t help but look at the seat where Mina was and let out a small sigh and explain in a low voice.

"... It’s nothing; it’s girl stuff that’s a bit new to me, and I don’t really know what to do...

"Girl stuff...? I’m not particularly good at that..."

Kai couldn’t help but comment defeated, which made Momo laugh a little. Feeling a bit better, Momo guided Kai’s arm to wrap around her waist and rested her head on his chest, then closed her eyes and commented in a calmer voice.

"For now I just need this... I’ll figure out how to solve it, but don’t worry, it’s nothing serious."

"If you say so..." Kai commented in a low voice, then looked at Tama and added seriously as the white aura disappeared.

"But don’t forget, if you need anything, just ask."

"I know... Rest assured I will..." Momo replied softly, as if falling asleep.

Kai let out a small sigh and kissed Momo on the head before turning to look inquisitively at Mina, who was watching everything through the gap between the seats. Meeting Kai’s gaze, Mina almost jumped, startled, but soon a bitter and somewhat guilty smile formed on her face before she looked away.

Meanwhile, Kyoka Jiro, seeing that Saito seemed to understand it was a problem between Momo and Mina, couldn’t help but let out a small sigh. Although she imagined this would be the end, she really didn’t expect it to come so soon, and being in the middle of the two was much worse than she had imagined.

After all, in her heart she couldn’t blame Mina, since not falling for the charm of that blue-eyed bad boy was too difficult—so much so that it was better to learn to hide it than to avoid it.

(I wish there was a way for everyone to be happy... But I guess life isn’t that forgiving...)

Kyoka couldn’t help but look at the dark bus window as she propped her elbow on the armrest to hold her chin, letting out a long sigh. At the same time, Kai turned his head to look at the front of the bus, meeting his gaze with that of the blonde wannabe aristocrat, who quickly turned away in panic. Raising an eyebrow, Kai quickly communicated with his reliable assistant.

[Keep an eye on that guy, Sage. He’s acting stranger than usual.]

[I’ll do that, master.] The beautiful fairy soon replied with a calm expression, focused on the holographic screens surrounding her.

...

...

...

--Monday, August 3, 2172

"We’ve finally arrived; start getting off in order!"

After finishing the night on the bus, it finally stopped, so Aizawa stood up from his place and announced in a tired voice, which indifferently woke the students, who began shouting full of enthusiasm and curiosity.

"Finally!"

"Where have they brought us?"

"I hope it’s the beach! I’m tired of the mountain!"

...

Soon, the group got off to find Vlad King, Mirko, and the Pussycats in front of a huge building, while behind them the sea could be seen. Seeing the view, the group couldn’t help but burst into enthusiasm, cheering loudly, at which point Kirishima exclaimed, raising his arms.

"Yes!! We missed the test of courage, but now we’re going to have the beach!!"

"Did they bring us over by ferry or something? I didn’t notice it at all!" Kaminari shouted, full of surprise, as he gazed out at the sea.

"Oh no! I didn’t bring a swimsuit!" At that moment, Toru exclaimed, full of sadness. Momo, who was clinging to Kai’s arm, turned to look at her and commented with a small smile.

"Don’t worry, I’ll make one for you with my quirk."

"Yao Momo! You’re the best!"

Toru exclaimed, looking at Momo as if she were a goddess, which made the beautiful black-haired girl laugh. At the same time, Mina couldn’t help but mutter to herself, looking unusually subdued.

"I didn’t bring a cute one..."

Hearing Mina’s murmur, Kyoka Jiro looked at Momo and commented aloud, though slightly nervous.

"Yao Momo, we don’t have any either."

"I’ll make swimsuits for all the girls. You can tell me what designs you want." Momo replied in a calm voice, although her gaze couldn’t help but linger a few seconds longer on Mina. At that moment, Aizawa announced from atop a rock.

"Alright, kids, this place will be our camp. It will be shared by both Class A and Class B. You have 30 minutes to leave everything in your respective rooms and come back to officially start the training."

While sad and disappointed shouts echoed everywhere, Ryuko laughed playfully and soon added as she raised a hand in the air.

"Don’t make those faces! Since the courage test was canceled, today we’ll all cook together at the beach, and at night we’ll do the test of courage again!!"

"Yeah!!"

"Let’s go!!"

"That’s the way!!"

Without delay, many young people exclaimed excitedly and ran to the building, returning shortly after and officially starting the training.

...

...

...

While performing a complete routine of martial arts, quickly switching weapons—all incredibly heavy—and wearing compressed weights on her limbs, Momo couldn’t help but sigh heavily. Looking at Kai cheerfully fighting against the rabbit hero while the Pussycats occasionally watched him with "hunger" shining in their eyes, and then looking at the sad Mina to the side, Momo couldn’t help but feel her confusion deepen.

On one hand, she felt somewhat ’betrayed’ by Mina. That her best friend would look at her fiancé was no small thing. But at the same time, Momo knew she was a hypocrite; while she felt betrayed by her friend’s thoughts and feelings, her future husband slept almost daily with other women with her consent, among whom was her own m*ther.

Few things could define hypocrisy so well, but, although she knew it, she could do nothing about it. Like her m*ther, Nejire, the Pussycats, Nemuri, and Aunt Yumiko were her closest family—she loved them and trusted them with her life; that’s why sharing her husband with them didn’t cause any psychological burden for her. Especially because Nemuri and the Pussycats came before, and from the beginning she planned to share Kai with Nejire.

But apart from them, apart from her family, Momo felt she couldn’t share her husband with anyone else. That twisted, possessive, almost tribal love that occurred in the intimacy of their home was something that belonged only to them; only they could understand it, accept it, and achieve happiness through it. Another person would probably feel disgusted and call them crazy at the very least upon finding out.

Perhaps because she understood that so well, her subconscious developed in a somewhat strange way, in which she didn’t feel "jealousy" toward the girls of her family. The most she would feel was envy, and she would seek compensation from Kai if something happened. But with others, all her feminine territorial instincts activated.

She became jealous and possessive, and it bothered her even when they looked at her husband too much. He was hers and her family’s, and no one else was allowed to touch him. Moreover, if their strange and twisted love-sexual relationship were discovered, the scandal would be such that the careers of the Pussycats, Nemuri’s, Nejire’s, and her own would be over without possibility of redemption. Professional heroes had lost everything for much less, so they had to be extremely careful.

(I’m sorry, Ashido-san... You’re a great friend, the best I could have wished for... But my Kai is off-limits... Forgive me for being a damn hypocrite, but that’s what I am...)

Looking subtly at Mina in the distance, Momo made a strong cut through the air with a sword while inside she reached a conclusion in her heart and apologized. Her love, her family, and her career were the most important things in her life, and nothing and no one was allowed to put that at risk, not even her best friend.

***

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