--Saturday, May 30, 2172
[Sage! Don't stop! Copy everything you can!!]
Feeling so much pain he was dizzy, Kai sent a message to Sage, as she seemed to be hesitating. Hearing her master, the beautiful fairy bit her lip even harder and dedicated herself fully to making the copy. She had already failed her master once, and it had hurt so much that her heart couldn't bear doing it again.
Seconds passed, and Kai, squinting from the pain, watched the cracks around him grow larger. It seemed like space itself was collapsing, and if he didn't leave now, he might never be able to. After a few moments of hesitation, Kai thought of his family and, after taking a deep breath, sent a message to Sage.
[Sage, how far along are you?]
[65%, Master.] Sage quickly replied, a trace of hope in her voice. Kai immediately sent a message through the mental link as he announced out loud.
[That's enough.]
"[Magnetic Force] On! [Pussycats' base]!!"
Seeing the light envelop her master, Sage let out a sigh of relief, then showed a beautiful smile on her lovely face. With her eyes fixed on her master as he drifted away through the air, Sage continued dodging the spider's attacks, trying to scrape together every last bit of information she could before disappearing.
Soon, Sage vanished suddenly from the spider's head, which seemed to fully awaken and let out a powerful screech that made space itself tremble. But that only served to accelerate the collapse of space, which began folding in on itself.
Even though the spider screeched with all its might and unleashed all its power, it couldn't resist. It was soon torn in half, then kept breaking into smaller and smaller pieces, until everything condensed into a single point that imploded, erasing it from existence.
…
"[Magnetic Force] Cancel!!"
Seeing that Sage had reappeared by his side with a beautiful smile on her face, Kai did a quick mental calculation and soon conjured a Magnetic Force card to cancel the ability. As the sphere of light vanished, Kai began to fall from the sky but quickly kicked the air, managing to stabilize himself—at which point he focused his gaze on the sea.
Although the marked spiders had died long ago, Kai could still calculate that the island had been located there. But surprisingly, despite everything that had happened inside, the outside was clear, sunny, and peaceful, as if he had arrived in an entirely different world. Just then, Kai spotted a small bubble on the surface of the sea, along with a tiny flash of light that disappeared almost instantly.
"Was that it?" Kai asked in disbelief as he watched the scene unfold. Sage replied as she deactivated the mental link with her master, allowing his overloaded brain to rest.
"We were probably inside something like a pocket dimension, Master."
"Although I suspected it before, this pretty much confirms it." Kai remarked in a thoughtful voice. "But the question is, where did those aura script patterns come from? The monster woman didn't know anything. She just stumbled upon the place."
"It's highly likely those patterns came from the humanoid lizards we saw in the fragmented memories, Master." Sage responded as she reconnected with the satellites, which allowed her to 'see' that the Pussycats had returned home safely. Kai murmured in a reflective tone, completely lost in thought.
"You're right… but where did those guys come from? Their appearances were almost identical—could they be twins with the same quirk? And why did they abandon the place? The power of those spiders is more than enough to destroy the world. And what about that ancient city and the pyramids? Is it just a coincidence, or is there something more?"
"For now, it seems we have no way of knowing, Master." Sage said as her wings glowed in different colors in rapid succession. "I can't find any trace of that place—not even with En or Conqueror's Haki."
Upon hearing Sage, Kai quickly extended his [En] and activated his black-and-white vision, but indeed, he found nothing unusual. Feeling his headache becoming unbearable and a wave of exhaustion hitting him hard, Kai summoned the Magnetic Force card once more and spoke in a weary voice.
"… Let's go back. I'm tired; I want to rest. We'll figure out how to solve this mystery later. [Magnetic Force] On! [Pussycats' Base]!"
Soon, a sphere of light enveloped Kai and shot up into the sky, vanishing shortly after. Inside the sphere of light, Sage sat on her master's shoulder with a small smile, feeling happy and relieved that he had made it out of that dangerous place practically unharmed. She truly didn't want to feel the fear of losing him ever again.
…
…
…
When the sphere of light disappeared, Shino—who was holding the unconscious Ryukyu in her arms—turned to look at the sky with a worried expression. Tomoko and Ryuko linked their arms with Shino's in complete silence, also staring up at the sky. Not knowing anything about Kai and Chatora had their hearts in their throats.
Soon, a beam of light materialized in the sky, then descended at high speed, filling the trio of beautiful heroines with a surge of emotion. Once the light vanished, the girls saw Chatora a few meters away, holding the injured Edgeshot and Mirko in his arms. Although one of their worries was eased, their hearts still clenched, and they quickly ran toward Chatora.
"Chatora, are you okay? What happened to Kai?!" Ryuko asked urgently. Chatora replied with a voice full of concern as he turned to look at the sky.
"I'm fine, just a minor wound Kai took care of. But he stayed behind—I think to rescue All Might and Kamui Woods."
Upon hearing Chatora's words, the expressions of the three heroines darkened considerably, and they stood beside him, all gazing up at the sky with worry written across their faces. But after a few seconds, another beam of light materialized in the sky, filling the group of heroes with equal parts apprehension and hope.
The Pussycats watched with clenched fists as the light faded, but the moment they saw only a 'skinny' All Might holding Kamui Woods, their hearts sank. On the verge of tears, Ryuko quickly spoke as she activated her armor.
"I'm going after Kai!"
"Wait, Ryuko. Let's trust Kai." Shino said in a serious tone, though her lower lip was stained with blood—a sign of how hard she'd been biting it out of worry. Tomoko, with a smile, quickly added.
"Kai is the strongest of all, and we still have a date! He'll be back in no time!!"
Shino and Ryuko looked at Tomoko, who, despite her usual energetic voice and smiling face, was clenching her fists so tightly that even her armor creaked.
"You're right. Let's trust Kai. He'll come back..." Ryuko said, her voice heavy with concern as she tried to force a smile.
For his part, All Might looked around with a somewhat conflicted expression. Kai truly had all kinds of abilities—so many that it was almost terrifying. But at the same time, All Might felt like he was dreaming. The shock of completely losing the One for All, combined with the moment Kai had returned to save him, left him questioning whether any of it was real.
…
Seconds passed, and the worry in the Pussycats' hearts only grew stronger. But just as they were about to activate their armor and take off, a new beam of light materialized in the air—finally allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. With tears welling up in their eyes, the Pussycats watched as the light faded, revealing Kai in his black armor.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ryuko and Tomoko leapt forward to embrace him, clinging tightly to his chest. Seeing his beautiful girlfriends on the verge of tears, Kai held them close, wanting to give them reassurance. Then he spoke, looking toward Chatora and Shino, who were staring at the unconscious people in their arms with complicated expressions.
"Let's go inside. I'll heal them there."
After speaking, Kai walked into the agency. At that moment, Salem shrank down in size, letting her armor fall away, then leapt onto Kai's shoulder with an adorable meow. Inside, Tomoko and Ryuko exchanged glances for a few seconds, but upon seeing the almost pleading look on Ryuko's face, Tomoko let out a sigh and reluctantly released Kai before going off to find stretchers.
Meanwhile, Kai, having noticed the deep wounds on the Symbol of Peace's arms, walked over and activated his Mystical Palm to heal him. The Symbol of Peace watched the bluish glow surrounding Kai's hand with a hint of surprise—the light had changed. From a pale, soft blue, it had become a deep, electric blue. With a complex expression, All Might watched as small blue lightning bolts ran across his arms, closing his wounds at an astonishing speed.
"Thank you, Kai-shonen." All Might said as he clenched his fists. Kai waved his hand casually and replied.
"It's nothing."
At that moment, Tomoko finished unfolding the stretchers, so Chatora, All Might, and Shino laid Edgeshot, Mirko, Kamui Woods, and Ryukyu on them. Kai began healing the wounded. Meanwhile, Ryuko quickly tapped Kai's helmet a couple of times, causing it to open and reveal his tired face and sweat-drenched hair.
"What happened after you got us out of there, Kai-shonen?" All Might asked as he sat down on a sofa with a somewhat bitter smile. Without turning around, Kai replied as he healed both Mirko and Edgeshot at the same time.
"Not much. The place collapsed and vanished."
"Collapsed and vanished?"
Shino, who was walking with Tomoko to the kitchen to prepare something to drink, couldn't help but ask in confusion. Kai nodded and explained in a tired voice, while Ryuko—having grabbed a towel and a chair to stand on—began drying his damp hair.
"Yeah, that place was like a separate dimension or something. Spatial cracks appeared everywhere, and then it disappeared. I managed to record everything and already uploaded it to the server."
Upon hearing this, Shino quickly tapped the forearm of her armor, while Chatora, who had sat down next to All Might, began typing on a glass table in front of them. Soon, multiple holographic screens appeared in front of Shino and above the glass table, showing the footage Kai had referred to.
"What was that place…?" Chatora couldn't help but ask, filled with shock, his voice still sounding a bit strained. All Might added in a thoughtful tone.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to recover much useful information beyond that ancient city we saw… and those old labs."
Without even looking at the screens, Ryuko quickly tapped the glowing triangle on Kai's chest a couple of times from behind. Soon, Kai's armor began to retract into the triangle of light, revealing his clothes underneath—a fitted black athletic outfit. After detaching the triangle of light from Kai's chest and his belt, Ryuko tapped the triangle on her own armor, causing it to retract as well. She then began massaging Kai's shoulders with great care and focus.
All Might, choosing to ignore Ryuko's actions—and especially Tomoko's earlier comment that Kai was her husband—quickly began reflecting on how likely it was that those spiders had any connection to All for One. After all, they had multiple quirks, which in a way made them resemble the 'Nomus'. But after a few seconds, the Symbol of Peace shook his head. If All for One had those spiders, he would've conquered the world a long time ago.
"Well, at least we managed to stop the threat, so it's a victory." Chatora said in a calm tone, to which All Might could only nod.
"You're right, it is a victory. If those spiders had made it off the island, it would've been a disaster."
All Might replied in a deep voice, then added as he turned to look at Kai—who was healing the wounded while Ryuko massaged his shoulders from a chair, looking somewhat amusing in the process.
"But this victory is entirely thanks to Kai-shonen. If it weren't for him, it's possible none of us would've made it."
Upon hearing All Might's words, both Chatora and Ryuko couldn't help but smile with pride and affection. Even though they knew they had upset Kai, the fact that he had saved the day felt even more satisfying than if they had done it themselves.
Even though they knew he would never be a hero like them—and that they would probably end up arguing and upsetting him again—their love for him was real. They were heroes by choice, and while they would never stop hoping that Kai might choose to be one too, they were also able to see all his other virtues. And now, they had confirmed yet another: he wouldn't let someone die in front of him. Kai hadn't just saved them—he had saved the other heroes too. He hadn't left anyone behind.
"Thank you, Kai-shonen. You saved my life, and you saved the world. Thank you." All Might said sincerely as he stood up from his seat, then bowed at a 90-degree angle.
Seeing All Might bow, both Ryuko and Chatora couldn't help but open their eyes wide in shock. The Symbol of Peace—unshakable in the hearts of all—was bowing to thank the young man they loved.
Sensing All Might's gesture, Kai turned slightly to glance at him over his shoulder and spoke in a calm tone.
"You don't have to thank me. I may not be a hero, but that doesn't mean I'll just stand by if the whole world is in danger. I have a family to protect, after all."
Chatora and Ryuko's expressions grew incredibly warm, tears welling up in their eyes as they were deeply moved. Those words from Kai weren't just talk—he had proven them time and time again. He might not save everyone like All Might, but he would always save them… and do whatever it took to make them happy.
As for All Might, he couldn't help but smile with mild amusement as he straightened up. He looked at Kai and spoke in a much warmer voice.
"You know, Kai-shonen… this journey gave me an unexpected reward. I feel like I understand you a little better now. You're a tsundere."
"Take that back."
Kai turned to face All Might, speaking in a cold voice and with a dangerous glare, as small dark electric arcs crackled around him. All Might simply let out a laugh—one that felt far more genuine than his usual heroic chuckle—and then added.
"Definitely a tsundere."
Kai's eyelid twitched, and he quickly prepared to give the Symbol of Peace an impromptu lesson on why it's a bad idea to anger the strongest person in the room. But just then, Tomoko entered the room carrying a tray with a full glass pitcher and freshly made fries, announcing excitedly.
"Kai! I brought your strawberry shake and fries!"
"You're lucky I'm hungry." Kai muttered with annoyance, shooting a glare at the Symbol of Peace and letting out a huff—which only made All Might chuckle softly again as he sat back down.
"Is he always like this?"
As he watched Tomoko and Ryuko feed Kai while he continued healing Edgeshot and Mirko, All Might accepted the tea Shino offered him with a smile and asked. Shino looked at Kai with a warm, loving smile and replied in a gentle voice.
"More or less… though he's much sweeter with us."
"I see… he's a good man." All Might said in a reflective tone, then took a sip of his tea. Chatora spoke up after lowering his own cup from his lips.
"He is. It's just that, like everyone else, he's not perfect—and his personality tends to cause misunderstandings pretty easily."
All Might let the warm tea pass down his throat as he recalled what had happened on the island, along with all his interactions with Kai. The Symbol of Peace couldn't help but acknowledge it was true—but not solely because of Kai's personality. It was also due to his overwhelming power. No one could afford to take the words of someone like Kai lightly. A single careless action from him could result in hundreds of deaths.
"…Back to the serious stuff—how are we going to write the report about what happened?" While All Might was deep in thought, Shino sat down on a nearby sofa and asked as she took the last cup of tea from the tray she had brought.
"That part's tricky. Kai's powers will make a lot of people... 'cautious.'" All Might replied, remembering the words Kai had said to him on the island. If things weren't handled carefully, it really could lead to a disaster—especially now that he no longer had his strength.
"Do you think that, if we talk to the others, we could come to an agreement to keep things quiet?" Chatora asked tentatively, to which All Might responded in a serious tone.
"They're trustworthy heroes. But even they might feel uneasy about Kai's power—especially since he's not a hero."
"…What a complicated situation…"
Shino let out a heavy sigh and spoke. Although she knew it was only a matter of time before Kai's powers became public knowledge, she still wanted to delay it as much as possible—it would be troublesome. Even though her family had the connections and money to avoid many problems, it was a fact that their current way of life could change forever.
"I can come to an agreement with Mirko. And as for the others… well, sometimes people just don't manage to escape in time."
Kai said this in a calm tone, causing everyone to look at him with irritated expressions. At that moment, Tomoko shoved a handful of fries into his mouth to shut him up. As much as she loved him, that foul mouth of his could be seriously infuriating at times.
"It's comments like that that make people wary of you, Kai-shonen…" All Might sighed, speaking in a slightly bitter tone. Shino added in a calm voice.
"For now, all we can do is speculate. Let's focus on having Kai heal everyone first—then we'll figure out what to do."
"That might be for the best…"
Chatora said with a small sigh, to which All Might could only nod. At that moment, Kai finished eating the fries Tomoko had stuffed in his mouth. After giving her a venomous glare, he spoke out loud.
"The part about not escaping was referring to me. 'Saito' could have heroically sacrificed himself to save everyone. Even if it sounds suspicious and they don't fully believe it, it'll still serve to divert attention and reduce caution—especially among these heroes, since they're the ones who truly saw my power.
"The others can only speculate based on their testimonies, which will conflict with yours. That way, we can confuse them—forcing them to choose whether to believe three well-known heroes, or the Pussycats, Mirko, and the Symbol of Peace. This simple strategy would not only give us plenty of time to prepare, but also the initiative."
***
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