Days later, Kai was in his workshop, quietly working on a small, uninteresting device, wearing a simple black work overalls. Suddenly, Sage informed him that it was lunchtime. He quickly put away the prototype he was working on and left the workshop, while Sage put all the tools back in their place and tidied up with the help of a couple of nen beasts, which were blue-eyed panthers.
Once in the living room of what he had now decided to call his office, Kai entered the workshop's elegant bathroom, took a quick shower, and put on his uniform again. He then sat on one of the comfortable sofas, so cozy that they had become Salem's favorite place to sleep while he worked.
After a while, Nemuri entered the workshop while stretching, but the moment she saw Kai, she jumped towards him with a mischievous smile, staying in a cowgirl position on her lover's lap. At which point, she gave him a deep and passionate kiss.
"Phew, my dose of Kaisium has been properly recharged." Nemuri remarked with a sly giggle after the kiss, still on top of Kai, who just laughed amused before commenting playfully.
"Hehehe, Momo and Nejire are less than ten meters away."
Hearing Kai, Nemuri quickly got off his lap and hastily fixed her appearance. She then sat across from Kai with a calm and serene expression, as if nothing had happened. Just then, Nejire opened the door and exclaimed with a smile.
"We're back!"
""Welcome back.""
For their part, Nemuri and Kai greeted in unison, while looking at the pair of girls accompanying Momo. One was Ashido Mina, who was now quite good friends with Momo and, therefore, came to the workshop quite often, while the other was the curious and strangely attractive frog-like girl from the class.
"Thank you very much for having me today, kero." Upon arriving at the place, the frog girl greeted with a slight respectful bow, to which Nemuri responded with a small smile.
"You're a very charming girl."
"Thank you very much, Midnight-sensei." The frog girl replied with a small smile and a slight respectful bow.
"Hi, Saito! Midnight!"
For her part, Mina entered greeting happily, then sat down on one of the sofas with familiarity. After All, she had realized that as long as they were not in the classroom, and she did not mention anything related to the heroes, Kai was not scary at all. He even joked, which surprised her quite a bit the first time.
"As cheerful as always, Ashido." Nemuri commented with a small smile, which made Mina giggle happily.
"Hehe."
"Kai, let me introduce you. This is Tsuyu Asui, our classmate." Momo, who was standing next to Tsuyu, introduced her with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Saito Kai." Kai responded casually, while Salem stretched lazily before jumping onto his master's lap.
"I know; Saito-chan is quite prominent in our class, although not always in a good way." Tsuyu commented with a small smile as she sat on one of the sofas Momo had pointed out, causing tense expressions on the other girls.
"You're quite direct." Kai remarked with a small smile, studying the frog-like girl intently. She nodded casually and explained without much concern.
"Well, I always say what's on my mind."
"That must have caused you quite a few problems." Kai said as he began to stroke the lazy Salem's back. Tsuyu nodded in agreement.
"Certainly, I've lost many friendships because of it, kero."
"I can imagine. But tell me, if I'm so 'prominent', what are you doing in my workshop?" Kai played along, asking as he looked directly at Tsuyu, who returned his gaze and replied.
"Well, even though you're quite intimidating, the truth is you're generally very calm and also very handsome—not to mention you have a lot of privileges at the academy and seem to know All Might personally. So I'm very curious about you; that's why I came."
"Hahaha, I like you."
Hearing Tsuyu, Kai couldn't help but laugh somewhat amused. Although her direct way of saying things could be a bit uncomfortable, he much preferred someone like that over a fawning bastard full of insidious plans who would end up stealing everything he'd worked for.
"That's a surprise; I thought you'd make me faint." Tsuyu commented genuinely surprised by the unexpected reaction of the terrifying blue-eyed boy, who commented with a small giggle.
"And yet, you still came? You're quite interesting, hehe"
"Well, Yaoyorozu-chan is here, and she can handle you quite well, so I didn't think anything bad would happen. Besides, Ashido-chan comes here quite often and nothing has happened to her so far." Tsuyu answered in a serious tone, causing an embarrassed smile on Momo's face. Kai responded amused.
"You're really something, but we'd better eat; the food is about to arrive."
For their part, Nejire, Momo and Nemuri looked at each other with curious expressions on their faces, feeling somewhat surprised by the conversation. But soon after, three people entered the workshop carrying carts full of food, which started a pleasant lunch where everyone chatted quietly among themselves. Although, Tsuyu was quite surprised to find out that Nemuri was the person who had raised Kai.
After lunch, Nemuri and Nejire said goodbye with small smiles, at which point the group of Momo, Tsuyu, Mina and Kai left for the classroom. When they all entered together, they inevitably attracted the attention of those present, to the point where several surrounded Tsuyu and began to ask her questions in low voices. But Aizawa soon entered the classroom, so everyone returned to their seats.
"For the fundamental heroic skill we'll study today, it has been decided that you will be supervised by a team of three: myself, All Might, and someone else." Aizawa explained in his typical tired voice once he reached his desk, greatly exciting the students.
"Sensei! What are we going to do?" Sero, the guy with tape on his elbows, asked while raising his hand, to which Aizawa responded while showing a card with the word 'rescue' on it.
"Be the hero everyone needs. It could be a flood or any other disaster—it's the rescue training!"
"Rescue training... sounds a bit tough this time." Kaminari commented while looking at Mina, who replied excitedly.
"Totally!!"
"Come on, dude, this is what being a hero is all about! I'm pumped!" Kirishima added energetically. Tsuyu chimed in with a small smile.
"If it's a flood, then that environment is my specialty, kerokero."
"Don't get ahead of yourselves. As I was saying, this time it's entirely up to each of you whether or not to use your costumes. After all, some of your suits might not be suited for the task at hand."
Aizawa explained as he raised his hand and pressed the button on a remote control, causing shelves with the students' hero costumes to pop out from the walls, at which point he added.
"The training area is quite far, so we'll go by bus. That's all—go get ready; I'll be waiting outside."
After speaking, Aizawa left the classroom, at which point the students ran out to grab their costumes, then headed to the locker room. Meanwhile, Momo approached Kai carrying the suitcase with her costume.
"See you outside, Kai."
"Alright, see you outside." Kai bid farewell with a smile to Momo, who smiled happily before leaving the room. At that moment, he began a conversation with Sage through their mental connection.
[Sage, is everything ready?]
[Yes, master. I'm actively monitoring the entire UA security system. The moment someone tampers with it, I'll know immediately.] The beautiful fairy, who had been in [In] mode from the beginning, quickly responded while displaying a hologram with the relevant information, also in [In] state.
[Perfect. Stay alert. Today's main objective is to discover the rats and mark the guy with the hands. The optional objective is to obtain all possible data on how the portals work.] Kai commented satisfactorily as he changed into his PE uniform. He then picked up Salem and spoke to her in a serious tone.
"Well, Salem, you'll be my 'arsenal,' so don't forget the training."
After Salem meowed in response, Kai took off the tie that the girls always put on him, then put it over his shoulder and left the room with a serious look, soon meeting Momo, who was wearing her hero costume.
"Kai, you're here, let's go!"
With a cheerful smile, Momo hugged one of Kai's arms and boarded the bus, where she sat beside him. The bus set off while the other students engaged in noisy chatter among themselves. However, a subtle reminder of Conqueror's Haki when they started shouting too loudly was more than enough to keep the volume at a moderate level.
...
"INCREDIBLE! IS THIS THE USJ OR SOMETHING?!"
Kirishima exclaimed loudly upon entering the place, full of excitement. He then glanced nervously at Kai, but strangely, the intimidating boy only had a serious expression as he looked around. At that moment, a hero in an astronaut suit explained in his synthetic voice.
[Accidents involving floods, landslides, fires, etc., etc. This is the practical training area I've created to simulate all kinds of accidents and disasters, and its name is the 'Ultimate Space for Jams'.]
"It's the space hero 'No. 13'! He's the chivalrous hero who does a phenomenal job helping with humanitarian aid!" Midoriya exclaimed loudly, filled with excitement, to which Uraraka added with a happy smile on her face.
"Wow, I've always liked No. 13!"
"I AM HERE!!"
Suddenly, All Might landed nearby, wearing his red Silver Age suit, greatly exciting the students. Shortly after, he confidently entered the facilities and spoke in a firm and confident tone.
"Sorry for the delay, young ones, but I had to resolve some issues on the way."
"It's good you've arrived; we were about to start." Aizawa commented in his tired tone while looking at the bothersome hero, who seemed to have a strange fascination with being late. All Might just smiled brightly before turning to the students.
"Today I'll be your support during the rescue training! I hope you give it your all, young heroes!"
"Yes!!" The students responded enthusiastically, their eyes shining.
"Wow, this just keeps getting better!" Mina exclaimed excitedly, raising her hands in the air—a sentiment shared by almost everyone present. At that moment, Aizawa spoke in his tired voice.
"It's good that All Might has arrived, but it's time to begin the training."
[Certainly, but before we start, just one more thing... or two... or three... or four...]
No. 13 nodded and began to speak, but suddenly started counting on his fingers as the numbers increased, leaving everyone present with blank stares. Quickly setting that aside, he continued explaining.
[I'm sure all of you are already aware, but... my quirk is called 'Black Hole'. No matter what kind of material gets sucked into the vortex, I'm afraid it ends up turning to dust.]
"That's a quirk that's perfect for removing debris and saving people trapped by disasters!" Midoriya commented cheerfully. No. 13 nodded and then explained, his tone sounding more serious despite being robotic.
[Indeed. However, it's also a power that could very easily be used to kill, and in that sense, it's no different from the quirks of everyone here. Naturally, in this superhuman society, quirks are strictly regulated, and therefore, the requirements for their legal use are enforced.
[That said, please don't forget that each of you possesses a quirk that can be twisted. One misstep is all it takes to accidentally kill someone. During Aizawa's physical strength test, you learned the true potential of the power each of you possesses. And during All Might's battle test, I believe you experienced the real sense of danger that comes with using those powers against each other.
[This lesson will serve as a refreshing start. Let's begin studying how to wield these quirks for the sake of human life. The existence of your quirks isn't emphasized to hurt others. Please — leave this exercise having fully understood that your quirks exist to help people! That's all! You all have my gratitude for listening attentively and patiently!]
No. 13 finished his monologue with an elegant bow, as if he were some kind of performer. Several students began to applaud excitedly, especially the trio of Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida, who lately seemed very close.
"That was amazing!" Uraraka exclaimed, full of excitement, while Iida loudly congratulated and applauded vigorously.
"Bravo! Bravo!"
But just as the excitement for the interesting training filled the students, a dark blot suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the training field. It immediately caught the attention of Aizawa, All Might, and Kai. The blot soon expanded, becoming a kind of black portal from which emerged an ugly face wearing a hand-shaped mask.