--Monday, August 10, 2172

"Hello everyone, it’s a pleasure to meet you all again."

In the mansion’s living room, Shiraki Junpei greeted them with a calm and cordial smile as he scanned Kai and the 8 impressively beautiful women accompanying him.

At that moment, the person accompanying Junpei turned to look at him with a frown. His companion was a woman of average height, slender, with short brown hair, dressed in a navy blue tactical suit with a reinforced chest plate bearing a golden plaque in the center with the letters "IW"—an engraving that was shared by her belt buckle.

"You know them?" The woman asked in a firm, though somewhat resigned, voice. Junpei turned to look at her and replied with a calm, cordial smile.

"Yes, quite the coincidence. It turns out the Saito family recently hired my services. But as you’ll understand, due to patient-therapist confidentiality, I can’t give more details."

"I knew there was something off when you decided to tag along out of nowhere..."

The woman muttered, defeated, but soon looked seriously at Kai, who was sitting with a frown surrounded by two beautiful women with enormous breasts and hair of different colors—black and blue—and then announced in a firm, professional tone.

"My apologies for the inconvenience to everyone. I’m known as Iron Warrant, a professional hero specialized in criminal investigation. I imagine your guards have already informed you, but today we only wanted to ask Saito-san a few questions regarding Tanaka Ryoichi. If it’s a problem for you that Shiraki Junpei is present, we can come back another time."

"Tanaka? Like Tanaka Aiko?" At that moment, Yumiko couldn’t help but ask with a frown.

"Exactly." Iron Warrant nodded with a serious expression, then added while looking directly at Yumiko.

"Tanaka Ryoichi, Tanaka Aiko’s older brother, disappeared two weeks ago on his way home, and we were assigned the investigation."

"What does Kai have to do with any of that? Two weeks ago we were all on I-Island." Upon hearing the explanation, Keiko narrowed her eyes and quickly asked in a cold voice. At that moment, Yumiko let out a snort of disdain and commented.

"What else could it be? Some pathetic lowlife must have made up ridiculous nonsense." Yumiko turned to look at the woman in the tactical suit and asked coldly.

"Isn’t that right?"

"We’re only looking to ask a few questions. Professor Tanaka Ryoichi was Saito-san’s homeroom teacher during his first year of middle school, so he could provide us valuable information." Iron Warrant replied in a serious, formal tone, at which point Kai called out in a calm voice.

"Salem."

At the sudden call, everyone turned to look at him, only to find him glaring exasperatedly to his left. Looking in that direction, everyone could see—near the stairs—Junpei with a nervous smile and his hands in front of his chest while a huge blue-eyed panther stared intently at him from mere centimeters away, as if poised to devour him.

"I just wanted some tea."

Junpei commented with a nervous laugh, which caused everyone in the room to look at him with disdain. At the same time, Iron Warrant let out a small sigh and bowed respectfully.

"My apologies for his behavior."

"Just ask your questions, and let’s be done with this."

Kai commented in an annoyed voice as Salem nudged the nervous Junpei back toward the living room with her snout. At that moment, Mrs. Yoshiko approached with two teapots and cups, and after a bow, began to serve, relaxing the atmosphere, which Iron Warrant took advantage of to start asking her questions.

While Kai answered typical questions about Ryoichi Tanaka and where he had been, Junpei couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when he noticed that he was being served tea from a second teapot the older woman was carrying—a teapot from which she had only served Kai and Keiko. Upon tasting the tea, Junpei couldn’t help but look at Kai with a hint of surprise, to which the young man responded by nodding with a casual smile.

"This Gyokuro tea is truly special... Thank you very much, Saito-san."

Junpei commented in a calm tone, which led Iron Warrant to look at him in surprise and then at Kai. Although she wasn’t an expert, she could easily recognize the name of one of the most expensive teas. But quickly, the experienced hero regained her composure and, wanting to take advantage of the fact that they hadn’t thrown Junpei out, asked in a serious tone.

"Any questions, Shiraki?"

"Mm, well, just one." Junpei commented in a calm tone before taking a sip of the exclusive tea, then looked directly at Kai and asked in a calm voice.

"Did you kidnap Ryoichi Tanaka, Saito-san?"

"No."

Kai replied coolly and then drank his tea. Junpei nodded casually and went back to drinking his tea in silence, leaving the others looking at each other, visibly confused. After a few seconds, Iron Warrant couldn’t help but ask, somewhat exasperated.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, after drinking this marvelous tea, we can leave."

Junpei replied casually and then focused again on enjoying his tea. Iron Warrant couldn’t help but massage her temples while letting out an exasperated sigh, then looked at Kai and commented in a calm tone.

"Then I’ll ask him a few more questions."

...

After a while, Iron Warrant and Junpei left the Saito mansion in silence, got into their car, and left the property without saying anything to each other. Soon, Iron Warrant, the driver, took a main road, at which point she looked at Junpei in the passenger seat and asked in a calm voice.

"Well? What do you have to say?"

"About what?" Junpei, who seemed lost in his thoughts, turned to look at the woman beside him and asked, confused. As a vein nearly popped on her forehead, Iron Warrant asked, visibly exasperated.

"About Saito Kai. Do you think he has something to do with the kidnapping, as Hado Haruto claims?"

"He might have done it; I’m not sure. At the very least, those beautiful women think it’s possible he did it." Junpei replied in a casual tone as he turned to look out the window. Iron Warrant’s eyes sharpened considerably, and she murmured reflectively.

"Then it’s worth taking a closer look... But to deal with such powerful people, it’s better to have a good ’shield’... Who could serve...?"

"Don’t bother." Junpei interrupted Iron Warrant’s thoughts in a calm voice, which caused her to turn and look at him, visibly confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that. It’s not worth it. If Saito Kai did it, the Yaoyorozu Group will move heaven and earth to close the case and will crush whoever gets in their way. It’s better to rule out all the suspects before trying anything against him." Junpei explained in a calm, reflective voice, which caused Iron Warrant to ask with a frown.

"What’s wrong with you? Normally you’d love a case like this..."

"Oh, but I really do like this case, just in a different way..." Junpei looked at Iron Warrant and commented in a mysterious voice. With a frown, Iron Warrant asked in a voice full of dissatisfaction.

"Don’t play mysterious with me. What the hell do you want to do?"

"All in due time..." Junpei only replied in the same tone, refusing to elaborate, which only served to exasperate the hero even further.

...

...

...

"Kai... Did you do it?"

In Kai’s room, the largest in the house, Nemuri asked in a serious tone as she stared at Kai sitting in front of her. The other girls, seated in a semicircle in front of Kai, crossed their arms and stared at him fixedly, exuding the determination to get to the bottom of the matter at any cost.

"Didn’t you hear I have a perfect alibi?" Kai replied in a calm voice, which caused all the girls to frown at the same time. At that moment, Momo spoke in a serious tone.

"You went into your room on the plane unusually early, and then Sage sent us a message for us to come in..."

"Reconfirming his alibi..." Shino added in a serious tone, leading Ryuko to ask in a heavy voice.

"Why did you do it, darling?"

Kai wanted to speak, but before he could, Keiko—who had remained at the door—entered the room and sat on his armrest, then commented in a firm tone.

"That’s enough of this pointless interrogation. Kai doesn’t do things on a whim; he will tell us everything in due time."

Seeing Keiko jump to the opposing side, the girls couldn’t help but frown. But at that moment, Kai pulled Keiko onto his lap and hugged her, then explained in a calm but serious tone.

"Just as you imagine, I did it. I have serious indications that Ryoichi Tanaka is part of the organization that has been targeting me, so I want to extract information from him before letting him go."

"You’re going to let him go?" Keiko looked at Kai and asked, visibly surprised, while Nemuri asked with the same seriousness.

"Serious indications?"

"Yes and yes." Kai nodded, then explained while calmly stroking Keiko’s thigh, who smiled like a teenager in love while several girls frowned.

"The indications are several. Firstly, all those videos he took of the students ended up on ghost servers that were very well protected and practically vanished without a trace. Not just anyone can do that. Also, part of his history is strange—for example, his studies. Although he appears as a graduate in the databases of prestigious universities, there isn’t a single record of his presence in the vicinity during the time he claims to have studied there.

"There are also several cases of people’s disappearances related to him that never went anywhere, and some were even deleted from state servers. I was barely able to recover some fragments, but most of it was lost forever. So basically, someone quite powerful is sponsoring him for some reason, and it turns out the guy is connected to the sniper attack I suffered.

"The only strange person who was in contact with Haruto Hado before that attack was precisely Ryoichi Tanaka, and I’ve already confirmed that the sniper is part of that organization, so it was very likely that he was part of it. But besides that, when I captured him, the guy displayed a much stronger and more versatile quirk than what was on record—a quirk strangely similar to that of the light woman who attacked us at camp."

"..." Upon hearing Kai, the girls fell into a reflective silence, at which point Keiko, clinging to Kai’s neck, asked in a serious tone.

"Then why do you want to release him? Wouldn’t it be dangerous to do so?"

"I want to release him for two reasons. Foremost, that Shiraki Junpei is dangerous, too observant, and strangely close to the government. It’s better to be cautious with him, and letting Tanaka free removes any excuse for him to lurk around here. But more important than that, the similarity between Ryoichi’s and that woman’s quirk has me thinking. It’s likely we’ll gain more by releasing him than by keeping him captive."

"You want to put a bell on the rat...?" Yumiko asked in a serious tone, to which Kai nodded with a smile.

"Exactly."

"Kai... Should we change therapists?" At that moment, Shino asked cautiously, which led the girls to look at him with concern. Kai shook his head and replied with a smile.

"It’s better to continue as we are; let’s finish the 3 sessions we agreed on. If the guy really is just a nosy therapist, it’s better not to draw too much of his attention, and if he’s something more, it’s better to keep him close."

"And how are you going to keep Tanaka from talking about you?" Tomoko asked, somewhat uncomfortable. Kai smiled gently and explained seriously.

"Simple—from start to finish, the guy will never know it was me; only we will know. Therefore, avoid coming into contact with the therapist. His cold reading is so good it almost seems like he reads minds, and Secrets Keeper can’t block that."

Upon hearing Kai, the girls couldn’t help but look at each other a bit apprehensively, but the solemn atmosphere was abruptly broken when Nejire jumped toward Kai while commenting with a jealous pout on her face.

"You can’t monopolize him, Aunt Keiko..."

"Fufu, good deeds receive their well-deserved reward." Keiko replied in a playful tone as she opened up space for Nejire on Kai’s lap. Nejire’s pout twisted into guilt, a feeling shared among the girls, at which point Ryuko commented, visibly embarrassed.

"Sorry for interrogating you like that, darling..."

"We got a little worked up and acted without thinking..." Momo added, also embarrassed, at which point Nemuri got up from her place and advanced toward her Kai, swaying her hips like a seductive serpent, and commented in a suggestive voice.

"I’m very sorry, dear... What punishment do I deserve for my sins...?"

At the question, Kai smiled playfully, but before he could respond, a head of blue hair got in his way, and wise lips joined with his. At that moment, Nejire commented in a playful and somewhat lustful voice as she watched Yumiko kiss Kai.

"Fufu, how daring..."

"... Earlier they interrupted us and left us wanting more."

After the kiss, Yumiko commented with a small pout as she glanced at the blushing Momo out of the corner of her eye. But gathering her courage, Momo soon moved forward to take advantage of the space left by Yumiko, and right in front of Keiko, she kissed her beloved tenderly, expressing her sincere feelings. At that moment, Tomoko opened a couple of buttons on her shirt while commenting with a mischievous little smile.

"It’s getting hot..."

"Stop right there!"

But at that moment, Keiko announced loudly as she held up her open palm to Tomoko, who stopped in her tracks. Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Keiko soon spoke in a serious tone while glancing at Momo out of the corner of her eye.

"We have to draw certain lines, girls. We all have our own preferences, and it’s not good for intimacy to always be like this, or friction will only be a matter of time."

"That’s true..."

Ryuko whispered in a reflective tone, to which all the girls nodded while discreetly looking at Momo, the official wife. But at that moment, Momo, in her beloved’s arms, looked at the girls and commented in a calm and firm voice, somehow exuding authority.

"Girls, actually, I’ve been thinking for a while that we need a schedule. That way we can organize ourselves more easily and explore our intimacy in ways that make us feel comfortable and, why not, explore other facets."

"""A schedule?"""

Upon hearing Momo, everyone, even Keiko and Kai, couldn’t help but murmur somewhat confused while looking at Momo, who smiled confidently and stood up before beginning to speak, full of confidence.

"Let me explain what I have in mind..."

***

You can support me on p*tr*on.com/lordanl and get up to 25 advanced Chapters.