Chapter 106: Why do you love him so much?

"Time’s up!! The second round, the cavalry battle, is over!!" Present Mic announced loudly as the timer hit zero, bringing the entire battle to an abrupt halt and causing a great ovation from the stands.

"The four teams that have advanced to the final round are: In first place, Team Yaoyorozu!!!" Present Mic declared tensely while the cameras focused on the black-haired pair casually walking toward the exit, the girl happily holding onto the boy’s arm, who carried a cat on his shoulder.

"In second place, Team Todoroki!!!" With Present Mic’s announcement, the cameras shifted to focus on that team, allowing the spectators to see Todoroki’s dark expression. However, the hero kept talking.

"In third place, Team Midoriya!!!"

The cameras turned to the green-haired boy’s team, composed of Uraraka, a young man with a bird’s head, and, lastly, one of the nuisances of Class 1-A according to Kai—the poor imitation of an aristocratic blonde with a laser quirk—then Present Mic announced the last team.

"In fourth place, Team Bakugo!!!"

With that announcement, the cameras focused on Bakugo and his team, who, unlike their leader, looked rather cheerful. Meanwhile, the rebellious blonde youth wore a face filled with hatred, as if he were about to kill someone, darting his gaze between the green-haired boy and the black-haired boy, as though deciding whom he hated more.

"These are the four teams that will advance to the final round!!!!" Present Mic spoke with great excitement, prompting a strong ovation from the audience, before adding in a calmer tone.

"Now we’ll take a one-hour lunch break before the afternoon’s activities! See you then!"

With Present Mic’s last announcement, both the students and the audience left the stadium, leading to a small gathering of Class 1-A at the exit, where everyone began exchanging their opinions. It was at that moment that Kai quickly said goodbye to Momo.

"See you later, Momo."

"Alright, see you a bit later." Momo said her farewells casually before approaching Mina, who was standing off to the side near the security rails, her face looking sad.

"Sorry, I knew Saito wouldn’t like me teaming up with Bakugo, but I really wanted the chance to move on to the next round and stand out…" As soon as Momo reached her, Mina spoke in a low voice, sounding somewhat guilty and keeping her head down.

"Don’t worry about that. You have every right to team up with whoever you want and to think about what’s best for your career. Don’t worry about what others think." Momo replied with a small smile, placing one of her hands on Mina’s shoulder. Mina raised her head and spoke softly.

"Yeah, I know, but I still feel a bit bad. You see, I like Saito, even though he’s grumpy and sometimes a bit scary. He’s a good guy; he makes me laugh. I have a lot of fun when we eat together in his workshop, and his advice helped me a lot…"

"Fufufu, it’s good that you think so highly of Kai. And don’t worry about him. Although he can be a bit childish and grumpy at times, especially in class, it’s not like he’s really angry that you teamed up with Bakugo. He might not have liked it, but it’s not that serious." Momo said playfully as she looked at the worried Mina, who couldn’t help but ask in surprise.

"Are you serious? He’s really not mad? Then why did you start fighting with him?"

"Ah, that’s because he’s very vindictive and might have made you guys suffer a bit for teaming up with someone he doesn’t like. Like making you ‘train’ with Salem or something like that. And Salem, while very cute in his small form, doesn’t know how to hold back, so fighting against him is quite painful." Momo answered with amusement, watching Mina’s surprised expression, who quickly asked.

"Then why did he leave like that?"

"Because I told him I wanted to eat with all the girls to console them for not making it through, so he went to the workshop." Momo commented with a smile as she leaned on a fence next to Mina, who asked curiously.

"Why not eat in the workshop like always?"

"Well, Kai is extremely protective of his workshop, and since I want a private moment just for the girls, it’s better to do it in the cafeteria." Momo explained casually, to which Mina asked curiously.

"What do you mean by ‘extremely protective’?"

"Mmm, well, to Kai, his workshops are very special places, and he takes care of them as best he can, so he would never agree if I asked to use them without him. He even banned me from entering the workshop at home once." Momo explained casually, surprising Mina a bit. Mina couldn’t help asking.

"He banned you from entering?"

"Yes, on one occasion I accidentally broke a Galileo compass that Kai had in his home workshop, and he prohibited me from entering for almost a year. And even after he let me back in, he wouldn’t take his eyes off me, and that lasted a couple of years until he got over it." Momo recounted, half amused, half nostalgic about that event. Although she felt bad at the time, now it was just a funny anecdote to her.

"Now I understand what ‘extremely protective’ means…" Mina muttered quietly. Shortly after, she asked, looking a little uncomfortable.

"But if he’s like that with you, why do you love him so much, Yao Momo?"

"Mm?" Momo turned to look at Mina, a bit confused, but seeing her expression, she realized Mina was serious. So Momo decided to express a bit of her feelings.

"Well, although Kai certainly isn’t perfect and has several ‘oddities’ that can be quite exasperating at times, the truth is that his virtues far outweigh them. Also, if we set aside his boundaries, like his workshop and a few other things, he’s always there for me when I need him. He’s like my older brother: he spoils me, teaches me, protects me, takes care of me. In short, don’t you have siblings, Ashido-san?"

"Well, I have an older brother, but I don’t see him that way…" Mina answered, feeling a bit awkward, causing Momo to chuckle softly and ask with a knowing smile.

"You never saw him that way? Not even once?"

"Well… when I was little, I did have the idea of marrying my older brother, but at that time I didn’t understand how relationships worked, and the idea of being with my brother for life sounded great. But when I learned what that actually implied, that idea died off." Mina explained more seriously, making Momo nod in understanding.

"That’s exactly what I went through. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to always be with Kai and have him be my husband, since I always saw him as my greatest ally and my personal hero. But unlike you, I didn’t have any ethical, biological, or moral problems. Kai isn’t my brother, so I allowed myself to explore my emotions, and over time I realized that what I felt was truly love, and that I want to start a family with him."

"Yao Momo, and are you really sure that Saito feels the same way about you?" Mina asked in a more serious tone, causing Momo to sigh and then speak in a more subdued tone.

"To tell the truth, until just a few hours ago, I had never questioned it. For me, being with Kai was so natural that I thought that when we graduated, we would naturally get married. I’d work as a hero for a good while, fulfill my dream, and then retire to have our children…"

"…You’ve got your life pretty planned out…" Mina commented with a complicated tone, feeling strange for some reason. Momo responded in a soft tone filled with affection.

"You have no idea how much. Even Mrs. Yoshiko has been secretly teaching me how to cook and do household chores, and little by little I’ve been taking care of Kai’s things. For example, yesterday I was ironing his shirts just how he likes them, with starched collars and cuffs and neatly pressed folds…"

"But you guys are really rich, why would you have to do something like that…?" Mina couldn’t help asking, confused, as she looked at Momo, who returned her gaze with equal confusion, as if not understanding the question.

"What does money have to do with that? As his wife, how could I allow another woman to take care of Kai’s things, his intimacies, his secrets? That would be like giving away my place in his life…" Momo stated, sounding both puzzled and serious. But her expression quickly turned into a nostalgic smile, full of affection and devotion, as she added warmly.

"You know, I used to envy Mrs. Yoshiko a bit because Kai trusts her a lot and treats her very well. Not only does he pay her a fortune, but she also knew things about Kai that I didn’t, and that bothered me. Besides, it was thanks to her that he always looked ready for anything, always so handsome and elegant, which made me feel jealous, as if she were his greatest ally and not me.

But now that I’ve gradually been taking my place, I’ve started to learn little details about him that make me feel even closer, like we’re truly the perfect accomplices. It makes me think about our future life together: having his meal ready when he comes out of the workshop after building something that will make a lot of money, then going out to take a walk and watch a movie. And when the kids come along, we’d all play together in the garden with Mom and the girls…"

"And I suppose Saito didn’t know anything about these plans…" Mina murmured, leaning her elbows on the rail she was resting against and sneaking a glance at Momo, who couldn’t help but give a bitter smile as she softly replied.

"…You’re right, we made up a whole story without taking Kai’s opinion into account…"

"‘We’?" Mina asked, confused, as she looked at Momo. The beautiful black-haired girl let out a small laugh and answered with her typical elegant manner.

"Don’t worry about that. More importantly, I need to correct that mistake."

"Certainly, you have to talk to Saito and ask for his opinion, but…" Mina nodded seriously, though her expression was somewhat strange. She quickly recovered and asked.

"What will you do if he doesn’t agree?"

"…That’s a big question, and honestly, I don’t know. I don’t even want to think about it. That would be a devastating blow…" Momo replied, sounding worried as she lifted her head to look at the sky again.

"But what happened to all that confidence you had a while ago? Where did that ‘Saito would never leave you’ go?" Mina asked with a smile, trying to cheer her friend up. Momo couldn’t help but smile sweetly as she answered.

"It hasn’t gone anywhere. I know Kai loves me, well, he loves all of us, and he’d never abandon any of us for anything in the world…" Suddenly, Momo’s expression turned bitter as she added in a worried tone.

"But that’s more like family love. In my particular case, it’s as if I were his little sister."

"So now you’re afraid he might not love you romantically." Mina said in understanding. Momo nodded and commented worriedly.

"More than just that, but yes, now I’m afraid, and I don’t know what to do."

"But that’s something you can’t run away from. You have to face it." Mina answered seriously, and Momo could only nod with a sigh, then speak in a low voice while lowering her gaze.

"Yes, we have to talk seriously and confront Kai properly…"

Hearing Momo’s words, Mina couldn’t help looking at her strangely and confused. But just when she was about to ask, Jiro and what appeared to be a floating uniform arrived.

"We were looking for you. Where were you?" Jiro asked as she looked at Momo and Mina leaning against a security rail. At that moment, a melodious female voice was heard, seemingly coming from the ‘floating uniform’.

"Yes, when we left the stadium, we didn’t see you."

"Actually, we were waiting for you. Yao Momo wants to have a girls’ lunch." Mina said with a cheerful smile. Momo nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I wanted all the girls to eat together in the cafeteria."

"Oh, but I just saw Ochako-chan and Tsuyu-chan heading to the cafeteria with Iida and some of the other boys." the floating uniform commented happily, to which Momo replied with a small smile.

"Well, if that’s the case, we four could have lunch together."

"That’s fine by me. Tsuyu and Uraraka are pretty close to Midoriya and his group now, so they’ll probably have lunch with them." Jiro said casually. Momo smiled slightly and noted.

"They certainly are quite close now, but let’s leave that aside. Let’s head to the cafeteria, and you can tell me how you felt during the cavalry battle."

"Well, it wasn’t bad. Actually, it went pretty well. My speakers worked quite effectively, but Midoriya’s, Todoroki’s, and Bakugo’s teams were too strong…" Jiro said seriously, prompting Mina to add, somewhat uncomfortably.

"In my case, I didn’t feel like I contributed much to the team. Most of it was Bakugo flying here and there with his explosions."

"I had a lot of fun, though in the end they took my headband before I realized it, and we got disqualified."

Amid this cheerful conversation—where they exchanged their experiences from the cavalry battle, some gossip, and a few scattered giggles—the girls walked toward the cafeteria, drawing looks and sighs wherever they passed. All the while, Momo wore a happy smile on her face. After all, for the first time in her life, she had friends her own age apart from Nejire.