Chapter 18: Lord Yaoyorozu
"Ta-da, ta-da... hmm-hmm-hmm~" Yuga Aoyama walked with his arms held straight at his sides, his feet performing little taps on the ground. He hummed a tune, looking as relaxed as if he were on a picnic, seemingly not taking the training exercise seriously at all.
"Aoyama-san, could we please be a little more serious!?" Momo Yaoyorozu, who had been walking beside him and watching with a cold stare, finally couldn't take it anymore. "We are in an earthquake zone! According to the scenario, an aftershock could occur at any moment! And we are charged with a search and rescue mission...!"
"Yaoyorozu, what do you think..." Yuga Aoyama didn't answer her directly. He simply turned his head, his glasses glinting with an all-knowing look. "...of our Class Rep, Kira?"
"Eeeh!?" Momo was completely unprepared for Aoyama to bring this up now. Caught off guard, all she could manage was, "He's a good class president... very responsible and reliable. Although he isn't here today, I'm sure he has his reasons..."
"That's not what I'm asking about," Aoyama said, shaking his head with a gentle smile. "What I'm saying is, you like him, don't you?"
Momo's face turned beet red as she stammered, "N-N-No, of course not... I don't like anyone. We're still young, we can't be thinking about things like that..."
Although Momo Yaoyorozu wore a hero costume that would give Mineta a nosebleed on sight, she was, at heart, a proper and innocent young lady. No one had ever spoken to her about such things before, and she was rather dense in this area...
"Heehee..." Aoyama let out a light laugh. He twisted his body as he walked forward, saying in a profound tone, "If there's anything you'd like to know, I can help you, you know."
Liking someone... It was a question she had never even considered, and now Aoyama had just laid it bare. She stood frozen in place, her face burning as her thoughts devolved into a tangled mess.
"Yaoyorozu-san, I've found a survivor!" From a distance, Yuga Aoyama was waving frantically at her.
"Ah, I'm coming!" Her thoughts were instantly interrupted. Without giving it much more consideration, Momo collected herself and ran towards Aoyama.
The person Aoyama had found was Mina Ashido. At that moment, she was on the third floor of a building, cupping her face in her hands as she stared melancholically out the window toward the distant Flood Zone. "Ah, when will my Prince Charming come to rescue me...?"
"Ashido, the Prince Charming you're looking for is right here!" Yuga Aoyama adjusted his glasses with one hand and flicked his cape with the other, saying confidently, "I have come to rescue you!"
"You..." Mina Ashido looked at him for a second, then rolled her eyes. "Go find a corner and cool off."
"You...!" Aoyama pointed at her, his voice trembling slightly. His eyes welled up as he turned his head away stiffly. "Hmph! I won't lower myself to your level!"
"Ashido-san, we're here to rescue you!" At that moment, Momo arrived, calling up to the third floor.
Mina's face instantly changed. She waved a handkerchief she was holding, gave Momo a wink, and said with an overly eager smile, "Well, if it isn't the handsome Lord Yaoyorozu! What brings you to my humble abode today?"
Eh? Momo froze for a second, then quickly understood. She dredged up the source of the reference from her vast reserves of knowledge. Is Mina-san referencing some old historical drama? Casting me as a dashing nobleman?
But in Momo's honest opinion, Mina's posture and tone didn't quite capture the elegance of a classic damsel in distress. It was more like... the gossipy matchmaker from those old plays...
"Ahem..." Momo shook off the impolite thoughts and shouted, "Do you need us to come up and get you?"
"Ah, no need for that," Mina said, dropping the act and scratching her head with a laugh. "The stairs leading to this floor have collapsed..."
"Collapsed? Then how did you get up there?" Momo asked, confused.
"Oh, that... hahaha..." Mina averted her gaze awkwardly and gave a dry laugh. "After I got up here, I wanted to create a more realistic predicament, so I used my acid to corrode part of the stairs. I only meant to melt a little bit, but then I heard an explosion outside, and I accidentally spilled a little extra..."
Was it Bakugo's explosion that startled her...? Momo thought, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. She called out, "In that case, Ashido-san, I'll create an airbag down here! How about you jump down?"
"As expected of Yaomomo! So reliable!" Mina's eyes lit up, and she immediately prepared to jump.
Momo quickly stopped her. "Wait! I haven't made it yet!"
After a short wait, a rainbow-colored mosaic appeared, obscuring the view of Momo's chest. A moment later, a round, yellow airbag with a two-meter radius slid onto the ground.
"Wait, I've always wanted to ask! Why does that mosaic appear whenever you create something, Yaomomo? That's not very scientific!" Mina's eyes went wide as she couldn't help but ask.
"You mean the mosaic on my chest?" Momo looked down at her own body, where she could see nothing but her own cleavage. She gave a helpless laugh. "This was a gift from my mother. It's a support item called a 'Mosaic Generator.' As long as I'm wearing it anywhere on my body, it will generate a patch of mosaic whenever I use my Quirk, so that my body can't be seen."
Mina whispered with envy, "That's amazing... If I had something like that..."
She shook her head vigorously, as if to clear it of an errant thought, and waved her hands. "Alright, I'm coming down!"
She stood on the windowsill, held her arms out straight, and fell forward with her eyes closed. Then—a forward two-and-a-half somersault with one-and-a-half twists in the pike position. Her head landed on the airbag, and she bounced up, her body naturally extending. She spun once in the air, landed lightly on her feet, and gave a small bow to her two-person audience with a smile.
Clap, clap, clap...
Momo applauded sincerely. "That series of moves would be more than enough to qualify you as a national-level diver," she said in admiration, stepping forward to steady her.
"Yaomomo, I'm a little dizzy..."
Mina, still holding her arms out, swayed unsteadily and bumped into Momo. Her body then naturally twisted, and she wrapped her arms around Momo as they both tumbled onto the airbag.
Momo was pinned to the airbag, her ponytail coming undone as her hair splayed out around her. Although everything, both in front of and behind her, was soft and bouncy—especially the two peaks pressing against her own ample chest—she was still a bit embarrassed. "Ashido-san," she whispered, her face red, "could you please get off of me...?"
"Heeheehee..." Mina, who had been momentarily stunned, felt her own pink cheeks flush red. She then giggled. "I'll never let go of my handsome Lord..."
Yuga Aoyama, who had been watching the entire scene with a hand over his mouth and a mischievous smile, had no intention of helping Momo. But when he heard Mina's words, he froze.
He, too, had seen those old dramas. He knew what a "handsome lord" implied. If Momo was the handsome lord and Mina was the damsel, then who was he? The comedic sidekick who witnessed their secret affair? Or the gossiping courtier who runs off to tell the king? No matter how he framed it, neither role was elegant enough for him!
"Hello, hello, can you all hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?" A voice suddenly boomed through the area, interrupting the brief moment of peace.
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