Chapter 173: Just blame All Might.

After putting some clothes on Kai, Keiko reached out and gently caressed the unconscious boy’s black hair, causing her to wrinkle her tiny nose a bit when she felt how rough and clearly dirty it was. She turned to look at Yumiko and remarked in a calm tone, having finally managed to settle down after the emotional turmoil brought on by that dangerous “dragon.”

“I’m going to take Kai to wash his hair.”

“All right, leave everything here to me. I’ll sort it all out.” Yumiko quickly replied with a serene smile, as though her face hadn’t been beet-red just moments before. Keiko nodded in response and proceeded to lift Kai.

But at that very moment, Nejire burst into the room, tears streaming down her face. She ran and hurled herself onto the bed, landing right beside Kai, then hugged him tightly as sobs full of pain and panic spilled out.

“Kai…”

“Nejire?!” Keiko couldn’t help but exclaim in alarm, swiftly followed by Yumiko, who quickly approached her daughter and asked anxiously.

“What happened, sweetie?!”

Before Nejire could say anything, Momo, Ryuko, and Tomoko ran into the room, tears running down their cheeks in a similar manner. They leaped onto the bed and gathered around the unconscious boy, clearly seized by panic and crying inconsolably. This prompted Keiko to ask in panic.

“What’s going on? Why are you all like this?”

“What did you see in Sage’s recording…?”

Yumiko asked apprehensively, but the girls were far too panicked to pay attention to them. The two mothers exchanged complicated glances, until after a few moments, Nemuri and Shino entered the room, looking equally sorrowful, though they were already wiping away their tears.

“What’s going on, Nemuri? Why are they like this?”

“…The video was too harsh… Kai basically fought until he used up his last bit of strength… accepting his own death and asking Sage to take care of us if, by some miracle, she somehow continued to exist after his death… it was just too much for us…”

Nemuri began to explain in a broken voice, but as she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks again. Her heart shattered into pieces just thinking about the despair and pain that the love of her life had endured at that moment—how alone he must have felt, how heartbreaking that experience had been. And yet, despite it all, the only thing on his mind was them—his family—a clear indication that, for Kai, they were more important than his own life.

Hearing Nemuri’s words made Keiko’s and Yumiko’s tears flow once again, as those simple words were more than enough for them to imagine how impactful the video must have been in reality. At the same time, it helped them understand the girls’ condition.

Meanwhile, Shino and Nemuri walked slowly to the bed, where Kai lay. Nejire was on his left side, with Yumiko a little farther behind, while Momo was lying on his chest and Keiko was seated on his right. Ryuko and Tomoko clung tightly to the unconscious boy’s legs, pressing their faces against them.

Fixing her gaze on Kai’s sleeping face, Nemuri sat on the right side of the bed near his head, then stretched out her hand and began gently stroking the boy’s forehead, paying special attention to the left side, moving her fingers in circular motions. Her expression was filled with pain.

After all, the scar he had carried for more than ten years was no longer there—something that for many might be seen as a good thing, but Nemuri knew that this was the price Kai had had to pay for his survival. He lost one of the memories he had chosen to keep on his body as an “indelible” reminder.

Meanwhile, Shino climbed onto the bed and settled on Kai’s left side, sitting next to Nejire. She then reached out to gently touch the cheek of the love of her life—the only man she had ever loved from the depths of her heart. A man who, despite his age, always seemed strong, confident, unbeatable. But seeing him so vulnerable now made her discover a new dimension of her love.

Although Kai was her pillar, the solid rock she leaned on to such an extent that she never even considered what would happen if he were gone—because in her mind, that scenario had practically never existed ever since they consummated their relationship—now Shino realized that the man she loved was not invincible. He could be defeated, and therefore, as his woman, she needed to step forward to support him and help him.

Amid sorrowful sobs, Shino lifted her gaze and focused on a distraught Yumiko and Keiko, which brought a bitter smile to her face. Seeing them in that state, she really couldn’t imagine them leaving and dismantling the family out of anger or disagreement over her relationship. Even if they might not have accepted it at first, their Kai was incredibly important to them—perhaps as much or even more than he was to her.

(Really… what were we so afraid of? We’re nothing but a bunch of fools, and this life is too unpredictable to keep up this farce, hiding from each other… If something had happened to Kai, my life would have ended with him, so what’s the point of continuing to hide and deprive ourselves of living our love…?)

Lost in her thoughts, Shino scanned all the women present, then bit her lip hesitantly, wanting to reveal everything and give free rein to her feelings without caring who saw. But at the same time, she didn’t want to make a unilateral decision without considering the others’ opinions—especially Kai’s, who would be upset not to be there for the confession.

After a few seconds, Shino sighed, wrestling with endless emotions. In the end, she gave in with resignation, reminding herself that they had already agreed to reveal everything when the first payment on Yumiko’s company debt was made, which would be quite soon. So, at the very least, she would wait until Kai woke up. Until then, she could only hold back.

…

About thirty minutes later, while the girls were still gathered around the unconscious boy as though seeking some kind of safety, Chatora entered the room. But upon seeing the scene, he could only smile softly, then lean against the door frame, lost in thought as he took in the scene.

Kai was really a strange boy—he was the sweetest and gentlest of all, yet also the bitterest, most selfish, and most aggressive, like an onion covered by layer upon layer of hostility. And yet, somehow, that boy had a staggering charisma that had the entire family revolving around him. And even though the girls tried to ignore it, it was obvious to him that the love they felt for him had long ago crossed any boundary of mere romance.

Although society would undoubtedly view something like that in an incredibly negative light, and they would surely face plenty of criticism, he had already been through a lot, suffering his own share of criticisms and comments. Because of this, a long time ago, he had stopped caring about other people’s opinions. The only thing that mattered to him was the happiness of the people he loved and cared for; the rest could go to hell with their comments.

So if the girls decided to go one step further with their latent feelings or if they chose to remain as they were, he would wholeheartedly support them. After all, Kai was truly a great man, always concerned about the whole family—supporting them and making sure everyone was safe—and the Accomplices and the vast array of support gadgets they had were fully funded and created by Kai, sometimes with Keiko’s help.

“Girls, the doctor’s here.”

A few minutes later, Chatora spoke in a calm tone that caught the girls’ attention. They turned to look at him with swollen eyes, then looked at one another and began to sit up on the bed, much calmer now. Keiko took that moment to speak, wiping away her tears.

“All right… let’s have him examine the boy first. The Medpod should have finished with his most serious injuries by now.”

“Okay, I’ll take him to the medical room.” Chatora nodded and replied in an even voice. Yumiko nodded and spoke in a choked voice.

“Thank you, Chatora, and sorry for putting you through so much trouble…”

Hearing Yumiko’s words, Chatora shook his head, wearing a warm smile as he responded in a more serious tone.

“Don’t worry. This is a difficult time, so let me handle these things for now. By the way, All Might is still downstairs. He decided to wait until the doctor gives his diagnosis on Kai. Also, we’re already discussing how to carry out a raid on those spiders. The problem is that we don’t know where the island is.

“The data Sage left points to the place All Might searched for Kai, but he says there was only calm sea in that location—nothing like what was shown in the video. And the satellite data of that area shows the same. Kai himself mentioned it before he left, and even [Sentinel] hasn’t found anything, so there must be an error or some missing key information.”

“…That’s really strange…” Nemuri commented in a husky yet thoughtful tone, now much calmer, at which point Ryuko added while seated beside Kai, with no intention whatsoever of moving.

“It’s possible that, halfway there, Kai noticed some change via the ability that resembles Tomoko’s quirk. And given how rushed the moment was, Sage couldn’t include all that information.”

“It could also be that they fell victim to some kind of spatial quirk or something like that without realizing it, and not even they know exactly where that place is…” Keiko commented softly while she and Momo tidied Kai’s clothes a bit. Nejire then spoke in a low voice, still clinging firmly to one of Kai’s arms.

“In the video, Kai left a mark on that place…”

“…”

Nejire’s words brought a deathly silence to the room. None of those present liked the idea of Kai returning to that hell, but at the same time, they understood the importance of dealing with those spiders. This left everyone in an awkward dilemma, until, after a few seconds, Shino spoke, letting out a small sigh.

“…For now, we can only wait for Kai to wake up. Sage said it would take him a few days, so for now, let’s let the authorities handle investigating. We’ll see what happens.”

“That’s best…” Nemuri agreed, sighing, much like Shino had done. At that point, Chatora added in a resigned tone.

“For the moment, I’ll go see the doctor and take him to Eva and her son.”

“We also need to talk to that woman. We don’t know anything about her, where she’s from, or how she ended up there…” Keiko remarked seriously, earning unanimous nods from everyone present. At that, Chatora added with the same seriousness.

“Plus, things seem a bit complicated given her situation because when I asked her earlier if she wanted to call someone, she said she’d think about it. That’s odd, considering everything she’s been through.”

“Argus, keep an eye on that woman’s every move. Let me know privately if she does anything suspicious.” Upon hearing Chatora’s comment, Keiko quickly ordered in a serious tone, to which the mechanical voice of the virtual assistant promptly replied.

[Understood.]

“Is that really necessary? She’s here with her son…” Ryuko asked, slightly uncomfortable, to which Keiko responded in a firm tone.

“Yes, we don’t know who she is or where she’s from. Even though Kai saved her, we can’t let our guard down.”

“…Keiko’s right about that, but don't make it too obvious; be subtle. Besides, there’s also the matter of the authorities. We have to explain why we suddenly have an undocumented foreigner in our home.” Yumiko added seriously, prompting bitter smiles from the adults—indeed, it would be problematic. Shino then gently suggested.

“We could say that we—the Pussycats—rescued her. It would be much easier to handle it that way.”

“That might be, but you guys specialize in mountain and forest rescues. It wouldn’t make sense for you to have saved her at sea or someplace like that. That might raise even more suspicion.” Nemuri quickly pointed out in a serious tone, and the others nodded. At last, Tomoko, who had been uncharacteristically silent—still lying with her head resting on Kai’s thigh, showing no intention of moving and keeping her eyes closed—spoke in an oddly calm tone.

“Let’s just blame All Might. He doesn’t have a specific specialty, and saves people in all kinds of places and situations. Also, no one would dare ask him too many questions, so they wouldn’t suspect him.”

“…That seems like the best option…” Keiko replied in an odd tone, eyeing the comfortable-looking Tomoko as though wanting to say something but ultimately deciding to remain silent. Chatora then spoke, his tone serious.

“Well, then, I’ll go fetch the doctor. I don’t want to keep him waiting any longer.”

***

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