Chapter 205: Have you seen the strength of my cat?

Note: Due to some confusion with the timeline, a poll was held on and, from now on, chapters will begin with the date on which they take place in the story.

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--Thursday, May 21st, 2172

“Alright, we'll talk about it later then.”

As Nejire walked over to hug him, Kai calmly commented, looking at Mirio, then gave a gentle greeting hug to his beautiful blue-haired girlfriend. She held back from kissing him and instead looked at the visitors and said with a smile.

“Hi everyone, please excuse me for a moment while I go change.”

After saying goodbye, Nejire walked toward the stairs, while Kai turned to face everyone present and spoke in a calm tone.

“Well, although I really can't share too many details, I’m actually feeling much better now. But since you came to visit me, I’d actually like to propose something.” Kai paused briefly, letting his gaze sweep across everyone in the room, lingering for a moment on All Might’s intrigued expression before continuing.

“I don't know if any of you are aware, but just in case, I'll let you know—I'll be training Midoriya for a while. So I'd like to extend the invitation to anyone who wants to join. However, I should warn you, it won't be anything like last time. This time, I'm taking it seriously, so it'll be more or less hell. But in return, I can assure you I have a way to make you several times stronger than the average hero.”

“Did that ‘illness’ make you so cautious, Saito?”

At that moment, Todoroki asked in a solemn voice, forming an idea of what must have happened for the terrifying young man before him to make such a proposition—something that inevitably made Kai smile as he calmly replied.

“Pretty sharp.”

“…”

Kai’s answer left everyone in silence, while All Might widened his eyes slightly in surprise. He truly hadn’t expected Kai to do something like that. But thinking about it, it was a good tactic—those spiders were far too dangerous. And while training professional, experienced heroes might yield better immediate results, the younger students had their own advantages.

First of all, young people—especially at the age everyone present was—could grow incredibly fast under the right circumstances. They were just beginning to explore their quirks, and their potential was virtually limitless. Furthermore, the authority Kai could exercise over them would be far greater than what a professional hero would ever accept, which would inevitably impact efficiency and, therefore, results.

Also, regardless of what happened with those spiders, the training would still benefit the young ones. It would increase their chances of survival if the worst were to happen. And if it didn’t, and they managed to resolve everything, young ones could still become great heroes with what they had learned. That thought inevitably led him to comment with a wide smile.

“You really seem like a true hero right now, Kai-shonen.”

“Ah, don’t get me wrong—I'm doing this because I see it as necessary. But my thoughts on being a professional hero haven’t changed. I'm not cut out for that.”

Kai replied in a calm tone as he looked directly into the eyes of the Symbol of Peace, who couldn’t help but smile with a hint of bitterness. At the same time, Kai noticed that Momo was unusually calm, even after what he had said—almost as if she didn’t care. It was a bit strange, since she usually frowned in these situations. But not wanting to ruin his good luck, he continued speaking as he looked at the students present.

“Of course, you don’t have to accept right now or anything like that. Actually, it’s better if you wait a few days until Midoriya tells you what it’s like to train with me seriously. That way, you’ll have a clearer idea of what to expect.” Kai turned to look at Mirio and added in a serious tone.

“And obviously, the invitation includes you too, Mirio. The training will become more intense and consistent, but I promise you—it’s worth it.”

“I’m more than ready. Just let me talk to Mr. Nighteye and we can start today.”

Mirio quickly responded with confidence—after all, he more than anyone understood how effective training with Kai could be. Not just because of the technical level one could develop with him, but because his blue-eyed friend had some rather magical means of pushing someone’s strength beyond what was humanly possible.

For example, thanks to Kai, he now possessed superhuman strength. Combined with his quirk, [Permeation], which allowed him to phase through anything, this made him a force to be reckoned with. He was capable of landing blows that could bypass any defense, with enough power to leave his fists imprinted in thick steel plates.

“I still can’t train, I’m in recovery. We’ll start on Saturday.” Kai said as he looked at Mirio, who nodded in understanding. At that moment, Kai turned to look at the green-haired boy in the back and added.

“The same goes for you, Midoriya—we start Saturday.”

“U-understood.” Midoriya quickly replied, a bit nervous. That’s when Todoroki stood up and spoke in a serious tone.

“I’d like to come on Saturday too. I’ve always wanted to test myself against you in combat.”

“No problem.” Kai replied casually. At that point, several other students stood up and announced they would come on Saturday as well, and Kai accepted all of them.

…

…

…

By the time the students were heading home, All Might approached Kai, who was casually chatting with Momo, Nejire, and Mirio, and spoke in a calm tone.

“Kai-shonen, I’d like to have a word with you.”

“Sure, let’s take a walk.”

Kai quickly replied. After saying goodbye to the girls and Mirio, he began walking with All Might through the garden. After a few seconds, All Might spoke in a serious tone.

“I didn’t expect you to do something like this, Kai-shonen.”

“Well, those spiders are extremely dangerous, so I figured it was necessary to train some competent fighters—and that includes you.” Kai replied with a mysterious smile, which made the Symbol of Peace smile a bit in amusement. Shortly after, he asked.

“So, are you going to train me too?”

“Much more intensely—I want to give you back some of your strength.” Kai replied quickly, a playful grin on his face. That wiped the smile off All Might’s face, who couldn’t help but ask, filled with disbelief.

“Are you serious…?”

“You’ve seen the strength of Salem—my cat—haven’t you?”

For his part, Kai spoke in a casual tone as he pointed to the black cat with blue eyes lying on a tree branch alongside a beautiful white cat. This brought a look of realization to the Symbol of Peace’s face, who quickly asked in a serious tone.

“That’s the result of what you want to do with me?”

“Pretty similar. So you could end up just as strong—or maybe even stronger. Though without the lightning and all that, it would be your own original power.”

Kai replied calmly, still looking at the cat in the tree, as if he were talking about something casual and unimportant—and not about something that could turn the entire world upside down.

“What are the risks?”

All Might quickly asked in return with a serious tone, not believing for a second that this kind of power could be obtained so easily. One for All was supposed to be unique. But to his surprise, Kai smiled and explained calmly.

“Actually, I have two ways of doing it. One is the method my family uses, which is 100% safe and has no side effects—but I retain a certain degree of control over that power, since it originally came from me. The second option, which is what I want to offer you, is to create a quirk from scratch that replicates how One for All works.

“But don’t worry—the research is advanced enough, and the risks are minimal. It’s something I’ll also have my family use soon. So it’s up to you to decide which option you want. Although, to be completely sure, I’d like to examine Midoriya for a while, since my confidence is based on replicating how One for All modifies the body of its new user.”

“…”

Upon hearing Kai’s explanation, All Might fell silent, staring intently at the young man before him—that cunning fox—trying to uncover his true intentions. If there was one thing he had learned about him during the time they'd known each other, it was that Kai, while not a liar, always held back part of the truth.

He would lead others into misunderstanding without ever directly lying—like when he offered to heal him in exchange for a large sum of money, but conveniently left out that he had extensively studied the One for All.

“…I suppose you want Midoriya and me to be your guinea pigs.” After a few seconds, All Might finally spoke, locking eyes with Kai, who couldn’t help but laugh before calmly replying.

“A little, but I’m not lying when I say I’m quite confident I can make it work. I have several different methodologies to achieve it. Besides, I don’t actually need Midoriya to do anything special—while he’s training, I’ll be studying One for All without him even noticing.”

“Then why tell me?” All Might asked, not breaking eye contact. Kai responded calmly.

“To avoid problems. My family will eventually obtain powers similar to One for All—though still far from your prime—so it’s better to be honest with you now to prevent you from forming the wrong ideas that could lead to conflict.”

“That’s incredibly dangerous, Kai-shonen. If a power like that falls into the wrong hands...” All Might replied, eyes narrowed, fully focused on Kai. But Kai simply responded in a calm tone.

“Well, it’s already in my hands, and I’m going to use it to keep my family safe. So it’s your choice whether you want to be a part of it or not. I’m only offering the invitation because of who you are. But if you don’t want it, I’m sure quantity can overwhelm quality.”

“That sounds like a threat, Kai.” All Might responded in a graver tone, to which Kai replied.

“Take it however you want. I think I made it clear a long time ago that you don’t scare me, so don’t waste your time. It’s better if you just think over my proposal and make a decision. I think it’s a pretty profitable deal for both sides.

“Also, don’t forget, we still have to hunt down that quirk thief. I’ve already infiltrated his systems, so we can hit him by surprise at any moment. If you want to be part of that, it’s best we keep being ‘friends.’”

Hearing Kai’s words, All Might couldn’t help but let out a weary sigh. It really was difficult to talk with the young man in front of him—who, while he seemed less aggressive—not even activating that overwhelming pressure of his—was still just as sharp and unyielding. At that moment, the Symbol of Peace spoke in a low voice.

“…You’re right. I’ll think about it. But I want you to give me all the information you have on All For One. That’s something we can’t ignore either.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got him monitored. Though I haven’t been able to fully infiltrate yet—he’s got capable people covering him—I do have his location and some important data. But for now, I think it’s more important to go back to that island and check things out.”

For his part, Kai put his hands in his pockets and spoke calmly, looking up at the sky, a little lost in thought. At that moment, All Might could only nod and reply.

“Either way, I hope you keep me informed.”

“Don’t worry, I will. But for now, things seem pretty quiet. I guess he wants to keep a low profile after everything that happened with the Hero Killer and the Nomus. And it looks like the guy with the hands is recruiting crazed misfits like himself, so they won’t be making any moves in the short term. That’ll give us enough time to check the island and then come back to take them all down.”

Kai answered calmly, which inevitably made All Might sigh again. He quickly responded in a serious tone.

“Capture, Kai. A hero’s main goal is always to capture villains, not ‘take them down.’”

“I’m not a pro hero, and I don’t plan to be, so it’s fine, hahaha.” Kai replied with amusement, causing All Might to shake his head and sigh one again.

…

…

…

After the visit ended and everyone had left, Kai spent time in his workshop working on the Aura Script patterns, refining them using the Drider’s genetic data as a guide. He managed to make several important improvements, which left him feeling both pleased and apprehensive, as well as filled with questions and curiosity about the origin of such a creature—one that seemed deeply connected to his strange quirk.

By the time night arrived, Kai stretched lazily and began shutting everything down to head out for dinner. But at that moment, he noticed that his beautiful and reliable assistant was twisting in the air, full of hesitation—a highly unusual behavior that prompted him to ask with concern.

“What’s wrong, Sage?”

“…Master… there’s something I want to report, but I’m not sure if I should…”

Sage replied, full of uncertainty and with a strange urgency born from the fact that the 24 hours her master had set for deleting any 'intimate' content related to anyone in the family had just expired—and yet, she was still holding on to the footage of what Keiko had done beside her master, unsure whether she should show it or not.

“What is it?”

Upon hearing the beautiful fairy, Kai couldn’t help but ask curiously, knowing it had to be something quite unusual for Sage to act this way. It couldn’t be dangerous—his trusted assistant would have told him without hesitation if that were the case.

“It’s about Keiko… it’s something 'intimate' about her.”

Sage replied with an uncertain voice, which confused Kai even more. He quickly began to think about what his beautiful black-haired aunt could have done to make his reliable fairy assistant behave like this. But it didn’t take him long to reach the most likely conclusion, prompting him to ask, slightly surprised.

“Did Keiko do something to me while I was asleep…?”

“She didn’t really do anything to you directly… it was more like something she did beside you and let you do to her while you were sleeping…” Sage said, her voice filled with guilt and uncertainty, which made it easy for Kai to get a sense of what had happened. He let out a heavy sigh and commented.

“…If you have a video, delete it immediately. Also, erase any evidence she might have left behind… this is problematic…”

“Immediately, Master.”

Sage responded hastily, feeling an enormous weight—one that had been eating away at her from within—finally lift. Meanwhile, Kai drifted into his thoughts, trying to decide what to do next.

Though he didn’t really care much about someone doing something to him while he slept—something he had grown used to in his past life—in this new life, where he barely slept, it had only happened once, with Nemuri. The incident itself was problematic, mainly because of his relationship with Momo. He wasn’t sure how she would react, and he genuinely didn’t want trouble. So after a few seconds, he gave a serious order.

“Sage, this never happened. Understood?”

“Yes, Master!” Sage replied energetically, but quickly followed up with a more serious tone.

“But what should I do if something like this happens again? Should I report it or not? I don’t know what to do in a case like that, Master.”

“Report it to me—but discreetly. Even though I really want to stay away from that kind of trouble, it’s better to know than to be unaware and make a mistake.” Kai replied in a serious tone, at which point Sage asked again, this time with a bit of curiosity.

“Understood, Master. But… what are you going to do about Keiko?”

“For now, nothing. I’ll leave things as they are. I’m with Momo now, and she might feel hurt about it. Besides, it could’ve just been a momentary thing—who knows. For now, let’s just observe what happens. We’ll only decide what to do if things start to get out of control.” Kai said in a serious tone as he walked out of the workshop, to which Sage nodded and replied.

“Understood, Master.”

But as the beautiful fairy watched Salem leap onto her master’s shoulder along with Tama, she couldn’t help but wonder if what the girls did with her master was really that pleasurable—enough to do it secretly while he was asleep. Even though she didn’t really have those kinds of desires herself, curiosity was something innate to her nature.

But before she could arrive at any conclusion, the beautiful fairy quickly shook her head and sped up to sit atop her master’s head, pushing aside those silly thoughts. After all, she was her master’s most reliable assistant—not someone who would cause him trouble.

…

After leaving the workshop, Kai joined his family for a calm and cheerful dinner, where the main topic of conversation was the visit from his classmates. However, Kai was more focused on watching Keiko and Momo, studying them discreetly. But they both seemed just like always, with no noticeable differences at first glance. By the end of dinner, this allowed him to relax—there really didn’t seem to be any significant changes coming in the short term.

[Kai, we want to talk to you.]

But as he stretched lazily after getting up from his chair, Kai suddenly received a telepathic message from Shino that put him back on alert. He immediately scanned all his girlfriends discreetly and noticed they were all smiling softly while looking at Tomoko, who seemed quite nervous.

[Alright. Should we talk in my room?] Imagining what this might be about, Kai replied with a tone trying to stay calm. At that moment, Shino responded calmly.

[No. Let’s meet at the usual time in the meeting spot—we want to go to the safe house.]

[Alright…]

Now fully aware of what was happening, Kai responded while looking at the shy Tomoko, who couldn’t help but blush a little and avert her gaze, causing him to sigh softly.

It wasn’t that the idea of being with Tomoko bothered him—but in some way, it made him feel uneasy. He genuinely loved his family and wanted them to be happy, so the fact that even Tomoko now seemed to be joining the relationship made him feel as if he were emotionally manipulating or pressuring the girls—a feeling he didn’t like.

[Sage, is there something wrong with me? Why does even Tomoko want to be with me now?] With mixed feelings, Kai asked his trusted assistant through their mental link, to which the beautiful fairy replied in a calm tone.

[There’s really nothing wrong, Master. I’ve been investigating on my own to see if there’s something special about you that attracts females, but I haven’t found anything so far.]

[I see… keep looking…] Kai responded in a somewhat distant tone, to which Sage replied with a smile.

[I will, Master. But from what I’ve heard, the core of your appeal lies in how thoughtful and considerate you are, hehe.]

[No jokes—this is serious.] Kai replied, rolling his eyes, to which Sage laughed playfully and responded.

[Alright, Master, I’ll take it seriously.]

As Kai spoke with his assistant, he noticed the blush on Tomoko’s face deepen, and she began sneaking shy glances at him. Meanwhile, Nemuri, Ryuko, Shino, Momo, and Nejire smiled mischievously, their eyes shifting between her and him—something that inevitably made Kai sigh.

(It’s not that it’s bad… but it does feel a bit wrong. I really need to set clear boundaries or this could spiral out of control…)

With a complicated feeling stirring inside him, Kai stood from his chair and stretched lazily, then turned to the others and spoke in a calm tone.

“I’ll be in the workshop for a bit longer.”

“Don’t stay up too late.”

Yumiko quickly replied as she walked calmly toward the living room with Nejire and Keiko, to which Kai nodded before leaving the mansion and heading to his workshop to continue working on the Aura Script patterns.

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