Chapter 115: That can’t be.

“AHHHH!!!!!”

Determined not to fail the expectations of his idol—the one who had given him the opportunity to inherit his power and continue his legacy—Midoriya screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to activate One for All by any means possible. At that moment, as though responding to his call, eight shadowy figures suddenly appeared in his vision, which somehow cleared his mind, causing One for All to activate throughout his entire right arm.

“Smash!!!!”

Without a single second’s hesitation, Midoriya hurled a punch with all his strength toward Kai, who wore a look of surprise on his face, unleashing a brutal shockwave shaped like a massive compressed-air cannon that shot toward the blue-eyed boy.

Meanwhile, Kai was shaken by what he felt from those strange presences, as they had suddenly become much stronger and more vivid. At the same time, he could briefly sense that in some way they were “rejecting” his intimidation. Without delay, he communicated with his reliable assistant, at the same time he raised his hand to take hold of the sword that had begun forming from Salem’s fur.

[Sage, do you have the data?]

[Yes, Master, I have everything. This will be incredibly useful for our research. I'm recording in real-time how the green-haired boy's 'voice' is synchronizing with the others.] With her hand still on Midoriya, Sage replied in an excited tone, to which Kai quickly responded with similar enthusiasm.

[Perfect!]

Simultaneous with his response, Kai brought his hand down at high speed, cutting the cataclysmic air cannon in half. As a result, two completely different parts of the stadium were struck by enormous masses of compressed air, though these were much weaker than the original, so they caused no damage but greatly surprised both the audience and the commentators. Present Mic seized this moment to comment with excitement.

“What a shocking display of raw power!!! The young Midoriya just showed an incredible power he’d been keeping hidden until now, but it seems it wasn’t enough to dethrone the Demon King!!!”

Once the impact from the exchange of blows subsided, what remained on the combat platform was an imposing Kai standing tall with a beautiful jet-black Jian sword in his hand, etched with designs that appeared to be a blend of electrical circuits and tribal runes. He seemed to be looking down at a badly injured Midoriya, whose arm had shattered from the attack.

“That was impressive, though you’re still considerably weaker than All Might. I guess your Quirk put its own limit on you, so you couldn’t use more of your power, or else you’d be left without an arm.” Kai commented casually, wanting to see if that strange event in which the presences had manifested so strongly might happen again. Midoriya responded in a voice full of pain.

“I haven't given up yet!!”

As he spoke, Midoriya activated One for All throughout his body, then charged at high speed toward Kai, intending to strike with the only good arm he had left. He pushed through the fierce pain surging in his broken arm, only to miss once again because the terrifying blue-eyed young man dodged with maddening ease. However, unwilling to give up, Midoriya continued his assault.

“This is incredible!!! What are they feeding kids these days?! We’re witnessing a martial arts masterclass from none other than the Demon King, Saito Kai and incredible resistance and tenacity from Midoriya Izuku!!!”

Present Mic commented excitedly as he watched Kai dodge the continuous attacks with the bare minimum of movement, prompting Aizawa to add in a serious tone—one that couldn’t conceal a hint of what seemed like pride.

“It’s definitely something worth watching. Nowadays, very few heroes possess such a high level of martial arts mastery. The last time I saw something like this was many years ago, and I think we’ve just found a worthy successor…”

While evading Midoriya’s desperate attacks, Kai carefully studied his “voice”, quickly noticing something that disappointed him greatly. This was soon confirmed by Sage via their mental link.

[Master, the synchronization has stopped.]

[Thought so. Oh well, we'll have more chances in the future. For now, let's finish this.]

Kai commented in a calmer tone, at the same time tilting his head to one side, letting Midoriya’s attack pass by. He immediately followed up with a diagonal upward slash across the young man’s chest, taking him by surprise and sending him crashing against the stadium walls at high speed, causing a small crash.

“Winner, Saito Kai!!”

Immediately, Midnight announced it in a firm tone, though she did not forget to give Kai a little smile before rushing to check on the green-haired boy. Meanwhile, Present Mic’s excitement-filled voice echoed throughout the stadium.

“What a great match, what an incredible demonstration of power, determination, and technique! Midoriya gave it his all, but he still came up short against the invincible Demon King!!!!”

While the crowd roared wildly, Kai walked out of the stadium. At that moment, Midnight reached Midoriya’s side and quickly examined his condition, immediately noticing that the slash on the young man’s chest had not penetrated more than a couple of millimeters into his skin. It wouldn’t even require stitches, let alone leave a scar.

Although she had known this ever since she saw Kai make the cut as she’d watched him train for years and could tell a killer cut from a blunt one. Confirming it with her own eyes still filled the gorgeous heroine with pride. She quickly began thinking of ways to reward her beloved while calling in medical support, a feeling shared by a pair of heroines with robotic cat ears in the stands.

As the unconscious Midoriya was being carried away on a stretcher, Kai arrived at the hallway leading out of the stadium, where Momo was waiting for him with a smile. She instantly took hold of one of his arms quite intimately, then spoke in a cheerful tone.

“Congratulations, Kai, and thank you.”

“The kid is pretty weak, so it was nothing, really. But why are you thanking me?” Kai asked, a bit curious, as he walked back to the stands with Momo, who answered with a proud smile.

“Because you let him show a good fight and practically didn’t injure him at all. The injuries he has, he caused himself.”

“There’s no need to thank me for something so trivial. Even though I don’t like him, it’s not like I’m going to kill him at the first opportunity, especially with so many witnesses around. Besides, I did play around with him for a while because I was interested in his Quirk, that’s all.” Kai responded with a slight smile, prompting Momo to press his arm more tightly between her ample chest, then speak in a tender tone.

“Even if that’s the case, the truth is I’ve been wanting to thank you for everything you’ve done for me during this time. I know I’ve been a bit of a handful and went overboard a couple of times because I got caught up in the excitement of making Class A the best in this festival, so at the same time, I wanted to apologize.”

“And where is this sudden attack of self-criticism coming from?” Kai couldn’t help but ask, half amused and half curious, to which Momo replied in a more serious tone as she stopped walking, turning to look him straight in the eyes.

“Well, the truth is, I’ve known from the start and wanted to talk to you about it when all this was over. But watching you fight Midoriya, I found myself surprised you didn’t destroy him in a single blow. It only took me a second to realize that for my sake, you’ve been doing a lot of things you normally wouldn’t do.

“The idea of leaving my mark in the academy blinded me, and like a horse with blinders, I kept pushing ahead, ignoring everything else. And while I’m very aware of the amazing results we achieved—Class A dominated the festival and monopolized the finals—I never thanked you even once for it. So I decided to apologize and thank you now. Really, thank you, Kai. Without you, none of this would have been possible.”

“Hahaha, don’t worry about it. I just had to put up with them for a couple of weeks, it wasn’t anything extreme. Besides, it’s not thanks to me. All I did was rough them up a bit and build a few support items, nothing special. You’re the one who really trained them and helped them with their martial arts, tactics, physical conditioning, and so on. You’re the best class representative those guys could’ve had. No one but you could have achieved such an impressive result.”

While hugging Momo, Kai spoke in a warm, affectionate tone, sending a wave of warmth through the beautiful girl’s heart. She couldn’t help but sob quietly, hiding her face in his chest as he gently stroked her back. After a while, she gathered her courage to speak in a firm voice while looking straight into his blue eyes.

“Kai, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Kai answered with a small smile as he gently wiped away Momo’s tears. She replied in a resolute tone.

“I don’t mean that kind of love. I mean that I’m in love with you and want to marry you.”

Hearing Momo’s words, Kai couldn’t help letting out a sigh, somewhat disappointed that the moment had arrived so quickly. But he truly loved the girl who had been like a little sister to him throughout his new life. Therefore, he decided to be honest with her to avoid any problems or misunderstandings, even if it made the other girls angry with him. After all, it was the least Momo deserved.

“Momo, I need to be honest with you: I’m already in a relationship, so that won’t be possible.” Kai spoke in a serious tone, looking Momo directly in the eyes, which allowed him to see her expression shift from serious to utterly astonished before she asked in an incredulous voice.

“Are you telling me the truth?”

“Yes, it’s true.” Kai responded solemnly, which inevitably caused Momo’s face to darken noticeably. She then spoke in a soft tone.

“Is it that girl from the support course?”

“No, not at all. I’ve barely talked to her a couple of times.” Kai replied, somewhat puzzled by the strange connection, which only further confused Momo, prompting her to ask quickly.

“Then who is it? I don’t know any girl you’re close to.”

“Well… for now, I can’t tell you, but soon I will.” Kai answered, looking visibly uncomfortable, which both surprised and intrigued Momo in equal measure. She immediately began making guesses out loud while cupping Kai’s face in her hands and staring into his eyes.

“It’s not Nejire or Tomoko, that’s for sure, and if it’s not that girl, then it must be someone in the family because you never go out alone… which explains why you can’t say it so easily. It can’t be Mom, or I’d already know. Aunt Yumiko is tangled in problems, and you didn’t know them at first, so it can’t be her. That only leaves Shino, Ryuko, and Onee-chan.

“And now that I think about it, those three have seemed happier lately and have been buying loads of clothes and makeup I never see them wear. But that’s the case for all three of them, so who could it be…?” As she spoke, Momo couldn’t help but notice a slight twitch in Kai’s expression, which made her eyes fly open, filled with disbelief as she exclaimed in shock.

“Wait… that can’t be… all three of them?!”