Chapter 118: That’s suspicious.

“What happened here?!! How did Yaoyorozu win?!!” Present Mic asked, filled with surprise and confusion—something shared by a large part of the audience—prompting Aizawa to respond in his typical tired tone.

“She took advantage of the moment she grabbed Iida’s leg to stick a device onto him, which she activated with the controller in her hand. Her quirk is truly flexible, and she just gave us a live demonstration of that.”

Upon hearing Aizawa’s explanation, the stadium’s cameras quickly focused on the leg of the unconscious Iida, which indeed had a sort of small metallic disc latched onto his skin. Present Mic then commented excitedly.

“Wow, what a way to win! I didn’t notice at all!! It really shows why she was admitted by recommendation!!!”

Meanwhile, Nemuri quickly checked on Iida, who remained unconscious and appeared to have a fractured rib and possibly damage to his hip. She immediately called the medical team, who took the young man out on a stretcher, while Momo left the stadium, where she found Kai waiting for her with a smile.

“Is it just my imagination, or were you pretty ruthless with ‘Four-Eyes’?” Kai asked playfully as he looked at Momo, who was clinging to his arm. She answered with an innocent smile without pausing her steps.

“His name is Iida, Kai. Stop giving people nicknames. And honestly, I don’t think I was particularly ‘ruthless’ or anything like that. It was just a duel where we had to show our abilities. Since he comes from a hero family, I overestimated him a bit and ended up hitting him a little too hard, but that’s all. Recovery Girl will have him as good as new.”

“If you say so…” Kai remarked with a slightly mocking tone, which made Momo laugh. She then added calmly.

“Fufufu, It’s the truth. Besides, why do you think I’d have to be ‘ruthless’ with Iida-san? Did he do something?” Momo turned and looked Kai in the eyes with a small smile, making him laugh. He nodded and replied with amusement.

“Hehe, you’re absolutely right. There’s no reason for you to be ruthless with the guy.”

…

…

…

“Now we have before us the first battle of the semifinals!!” Present Mic announced excitedly, sparking a wild ovation from the crowd. At that moment, the introductions of the combatants began.

“The immovable pillar of the first year, from the hero course—Kirishima Eijiro!!!”

With the announcement, Kirishima entered the stadium wearing an incredibly serious and focused expression. He didn’t even wave to the stands; instead, he walked straight to the platform in complete silence, where he stood firmly, staring intently at the stadium’s other entrance.

“Versus!! The invincible Demon King of the hero course—Saito Kai!!!”

Seeing Kai enter the stadium casually with his hands in his pockets made Kirishima’s skin crawl, and his mind filled with dread to the point he nearly went blank. But he quickly hardened his body, then slapped his cheeks with enough force to produce a metallic sound that echoed throughout the stadium. Only then did he lock eyes with the blue-eyed young man who stood casually on the combat platform.

“Ready?!!!... Start!!!”

With Present Mic’s announcement, a brutal pressure slammed into Kirishima. He immediately bit his tongue so hard that it bled, but thanks to the pain and his determination to fight the terrifying young man in front of him, he was able to resist the intimidation for the first time. He then commented with a defiant grin, his smile covered in blood.

“You’ll have to do more than that to beat me, Saito!!”

“Hehe, you’re really interesting. Ten points for you.” Kai remarked with amusement as he removed his hands from his pockets. He then looked at the curious Salem on his shoulder and spoke casually.

“Wait for me in a corner—this one’s mine.”

Following its master’s order, Salem quickly jumped down to the floor and walked casually to a corner of the platform. Meanwhile, Kai suddenly appeared in front of Kirishima and delivered a strong punch to his face, which dragged the young redhead more than a meter. However, Kirishima immediately destroyed his own shoes with his feet, which had hardened into sharp claws. He dug them into the ground, leaving a trail on the platform until he finally stopped.

“Hehehe, this is gonna be a fight between men!!!” Kirishima exclaimed loudly once he stopped, staring defiantly at Kai, who couldn’t help but laugh in amusement before asking with a wicked grin.

“A fight to the death with knives, then?”

“…I meant a clean fistfight…” Kirishima muttered with a flat expression, eyeing Kai suspiciously. Kai merely responded with a playful tone.

“That also sounds good, hahaha.”

Quickly, the two contenders closed in on each other. Kirishima hardened his arms, chest, and face as much as he could, then adopted a guard similar to Kai’s—feet shoulder-width apart and slightly bent. Kai initiated the engagement by throwing a punch at Kirishima’s face.

Kai's punch felt like a block of metal slamming into his face, to the point where Kirishima felt the whole world spin around him. However, gritting his teeth tightly, he quickly recovered and threw a punch with all his strength and hardening at Kai's face, who barely flinched.

“You’ve improved a lot.” Kai remarked casually as Kirishima withdrew his fist from Kai’s face, revealing that he hadn’t left so much as a mark on him.

“It’s a test of endurance between the immovable pillar and the Demon King!!! Which one will hold out till the end?!!”

Present Mic announced enthusiastically, watching as the pair began exchanging blows at increasing speed. Their powerful hits soon started making the ground tremble and the platform crack, astonishing the audience, who kept cheering wildly.

“That’s… isn’t that…?”

In the stands, a man dressed like a cowboy asked, his face full of surprise and longing. Another man—a tall, robust figure wearing what looked like a gray military uniform—replied, equally excited.

“It has to be!! It’s Iron Palm’s [Fortress Force]. The kid has already reached that level!!!”

“What a monster!! Super strength, super speed, and now the strongest defense. He’s definitely going to surpass his father!!” Another man, dressed in what appeared to be an elegant black business suit, added with excitement.

…

“That’s a bit scary, don’t you think? He’ll be a real threat once he loses control, and I don’t think that’s too far off given that attitude.”

In a more secluded area, a young man dressed similarly to a starting character from an adventure game spoke quietly to a woman wearing a revealing violet qipao, who nodded in agreement before commenting arrogantly.

“You’re absolutely right. It’d be better to get rid of that ticking time bomb by putting him in Tartarus for good.”

“I think locking up unconscious lunatics in Tartarus for life is a great idea, don’t you think, Mandalay?” An enraged Ryuko snarled, shooting murderous glares at the pair not far from them. Shino then spoke with a bloodthirsty smile in a cold, emotionless tone that sent shivers down the couple’s spines.

“That would be an excellent solution, especially for certain heroes who judge and despise innocent victims.”

“Doesn’t it seem suspicious for someone to say something like that? I think we should launch a full investigation into heroes who might be hiding dirty secrets.”

An uncharacteristically serious and cold Tomoko chimed in as she gazed predatorily at the couple, who appeared completely pale and trembling. That was when Chatora delivered the final blow, reading through the files presented before his eyes, courtesy of Sentinel, wearing a faintly sadistic grin on his face.

“You’re right, Ragdoll. We should start by investigating a pair of heroes known as Trailblazer and Violet Viper, who strangely seem to solve their cases much faster right after traveling abroad.”

Upon hearing Chatora’s words, the pair of heroes visibly trembled, their pallor worsening dramatically. They stood up from their seats and hurried out, under the Pussycats’ watchful gaze.

“That’s suspicious…” Tomoko muttered quietly as she watched the pair of heroes disappear into the entryway of the stands. The rest couldn’t help nodding seriously.

“Certainly…” Shino concurred gravely, then turned to Chatora and asked in a firm tone, fully stepping into her role as leader.

“Tiger, did Sentinel give you that information?”

“Yes, I asked it to identify the couple and look for suspicious patterns, and that almost periodic increase in case resolution speed immediately stood out. The thing is, the trips abroad were just a bluff, as they’ve only officially made a few. I just said it for the sake of saying it...” Chatora replied seriously as Sentinel sent the information to the other girls. At that moment, Ryuko quietly commented.

“Looks like we stumbled onto something...”

[Sentinel, open an investigation on Trailblazer and Violet Viper. Also look for more heroes who show a similar case-solving pattern.] Shino commanded her virtual assistant using telepathy, something Kai had developed for her some time ago. It worked by reading her unique brain waves—or something like that, as her love had explained it.

[Understood.]

Sentinel promptly replied affirmatively with its synthetic voice, transmitting directly into her ears via vibrations. At the same time, screens detailing its next steps appeared before everyone, visible thanks to special visors Kai had created for them.

[We might be dealing with something big, so we should handle it very carefully.] Shino informed everyone using her telepathy, and they responded in unison through the mental connection that had been established.

[[[Understood]]]

“And the immovable tower has reached his limit first!! The Demon King remains unbeatable!!”

Just then, the Pussycats heard Present Mic’s excited announcement and promptly turned to look at the arena. They saw Kai casually walking toward the exit, while on the now-destroyed platform lay the unconscious red-haired youth, his body covered in bruises, with Nemuri summoning the medical team.

“Crap! We missed the fight!!!” Tomoko bemoaned, heartbroken, as she dramatically raised her cat-paw-gloved fists to the sky in indignation.

“Because of those idiots!” Ryuko snapped, kicking the ground in frustration, causing Shino to snort in annoyance while crossing her arms under her ample chest, mentally adding a few more points of hatred toward the pair of heroes.

“Guess we’ll just have to watch the replay at home…” Chatora added, visibly disappointed, and the girls could only nod in shared frustration.

Yet, their disappointment didn’t last long because after a short break, an imposing Momo stood on the combat platform, staring at her opponent with a serious expression. Facing her was the son of the number two hero, sporting a dark and rather terrifying look. The feline hero group swiftly pulled out their handmade banners and began cheering with all their might.

““““Go, Momo! You’re the best!!!!””””

The Pussycats shouted at the top of their lungs as they energetically waved banners bearing Momo’s name. One banner Tomoko had made even featured a photo of the beautiful black-haired girl smiling brightly, which inevitably made Kai smile in amusement as he watched from the Class 1-A stands.

“Todoroki-san, I recommend you give it your all. I won’t go easy on you.”

While removing her PE uniform jacket—revealing a tight black tank top that left her back exposed similarly to her hero costume—Momo spoke in a serious tone. She then pulled up the boots of her tracksuit to her knees, exposing her legs. The half-and-half-haired teen responded in a dark tone.

“I only need my ice to be the best.”

“Hehehe, if a man without an arm told me that all you need is one arm to be the best, I’d believe him. But someone who ties one arm behind his back while claiming that? Please. Not in a million years. You can’t even beat me with all of your power, let alone just half of it.” Momo retorted with a slightly condescending smile, causing Todoroki’s expression to worsen noticeably. He responded in an almost guttural tone.

“We’ll see about that.”

“Ready?!!… Start!!!”

***

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