Chapter 262: I love you!

--Friday, July 3, 2172

“Kai! We did it!”

With his uniform torn in several places and quite battered, Kai landed in the middle of a shattered city alongside the equally roughed-up Salem. At that moment, a melodious voice filled with happiness and excitement echoed from the air. Kai looked up, only to find Momo hovering above, shedding her armor, and launching herself toward him with a beautiful smile on her flushed face.

With a small smile, Kai dropped his daggers and stretched out his arms to catch Momo and begin spinning with her. In that instant, the excited girl cupped his cheeks with her hands and initiated a passionate kiss. At that moment, All Might, whose suit was torn with several bloody cuts, commented in a somewhat awkward voice while wiping blood from a gash on his cheek.

“Such displays of affection aren’t something to do in public, especially for a hero. Maintaining your image is very important.”

“Understood!”

Momo pulled her lips away from Kai’s and responded with a gorgeous smile while clinging to her lover’s neck with no intention of letting go. All Might could only smile somewhat helplessly at the young woman’s actions before turning to Kai and speaking in a more serious tone.

“But thanks to this ‘sparring,’ I’ve noticed something, Kai-shonen. I get tired now.”

“You get tired?” Kai, gently squeezing Momo’s slender waist, turned to look at the Symbol of Peace and asked seriously. All Might nodded and explained.

“Yes, when I had the All for One, I could fight for days without barely getting tired, as if I had infinite energy. But now, even though I don’t feel physically exhausted, mentally I feel a bit worn out, like I’ve slept less. It’s nothing serious, and I could easily keep fighting for several hours, but I thought it was important for you to know since I only started feeling this after passing on the One for All.”

Hearing All Might’s words, Kai quickly activated his black-and-white vision and focused on All Might’s ‘silhouette,’ but he didn’t notice anything strange. His silhouette was practically the same as it had been since he used [Asauchi] to nourish it. At that very moment, Sage’s voice echoed in his mind while several holographic screens in [In] mode appeared in front of him.

[Master, the fluctuations in All Might’s ‘silhouette’ have dropped by 9% compared to the start of the battle.]

As he reviewed the comparative data on a timeline presented by Sage, Kai fell silent and brought a hand to his chin, deep in thought. The matter was serious since he had planned to use [Asauchi] to nourish the spirits of everyone in the family, including Salem, to strengthen them. He needed to study every aspect of its effects, no matter how minor.

While Kai reflected in silence, Momo stayed quiet and created a small towel from her exposed skin, which she used to gently wipe Kai’s sweaty hair, aiming to care for him without distracting him. Meanwhile, All Might watched the interaction between the young couple with a calm expression, though somewhere deep in his mind, something known as loneliness stirred.

“…Thanks for telling me. I’ll do a quick check of your body to rule out any physical issues.” After a couple of minutes, Kai had formed several hypotheses in his mind, so he spoke while Momo finished wiping his face with a soft cloth.

“Go ahead.” All Might nodded calmly and took a step toward Kai, who extended his right hand to touch the hero’s shoulder. After a few seconds, Kai withdrew his hand and commented in a steady voice.

“…Aside from the superficial cuts and some minor bruises, you’re in perfect condition. For now, rest a bit and report any changes. I have some ideas about the cause, but I’d rather wait to see how things progress before commenting.”

“Now you’re talking like a doctor, haha. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated on everything.” All Might chuckled in amusement before walking away calmly. Kai nodded, and as Salem jumped onto his shoulder, he offered his arm to Momo.

“Shall we go?”

“Let’s go!” Momo hooked her arm around his and pressed it tightly between her large breasts while responding with a wide smile.

…

…

…

--Saturday, July 4, 2172

“Saito is really ruthless…”

Sitting on one of the comfortable sofas in the living room of the Saito mansion, Mina, holding a cold lemonade in her hand, couldn’t help but comment as she watched Kirishima, Sero, Ojiro, and Kaminari being treated like toys by Salem and Mirio in the distant forest, while Jiro tried to escape from Nejire. Momo, seated across from Mina, commented with a smile.

“Fufu, even so, everyone is training seriously.”

“Seeing Midoriya, even I was tempted to give it a try… but I’ll leave it for next week!”

Mina replied with a sheepish, nervous smile, which only made Momo laugh. At that moment, Kai entered the room holding a black metal briefcase, which he placed on the table in front of Momo while commenting casually.

“What you asked for. It might need minor adjustments, but it’s fully functional.”

Hearing Kai, Momo quickly opened the briefcase, revealing an elegant pale blue bodysuit with different panels on the shoulders, chest, and forearms. Knowing what it was, Momo turned to look at Kai, who was walking calmly toward the kitchen, her eyes full of love as she announced loudly.

“Thanks, Kai! I love you!!!”

“I know.”

Kai replied in a playful tone without even turning around, which made Momo laugh as she caught the reference perfectly. At that moment, Mina looked at the suit, confused, before asking curiously.

“Are you changing your costume, Yao-Momo?”

“No, it’s not for me.” Momo shook her head as she stored the suit back in the briefcase and added with a smile.

“It’s for Hagakure-san. Due to the incident at the sports festival, she feels very uncomfortable around Kai and has even been isolating herself a bit from us, to the point she hasn’t even come to train. So I asked Kai to create a suit for her that can turn invisible with her and prevent him from ‘seeing’ her.”

Hearing Momo, Mina’s eyes widened in surprise before she glanced toward the kitchen and commented in a soft voice filled with countless emotions.

“Saito really spoils you, Yao-Momo… Not even UA could make a suit like that for her…”

“Fufu, he’s the love of my life, the best man in the world.” Momo replied with a proud smile as she placed the briefcase beside her.

…

In the kitchen, Kai opened the fridge and took out a pitcher of strawberry juice to pour himself a glass, which he began to drink with a calm and thoughtful expression. When he finished the glass, Kai poured another and continued thinking, but at that moment, Nejire entered the kitchen with a bouncy step and a cheerful smile on her face.

Seeing Kai in the kitchen, Nejire’s smile widened a little and turned somewhat mischievous. She took a step back to glance around before quickly approaching her beloved. Noticing Nejire’s actions, Kai raised an eyebrow suspiciously, just as his beautiful girlfriend leapt onto his neck and initiated a passionate kiss.

“…Kai, tomorrow I want you to come with me to buy swimsuits. I want to get a few that you’ll like for our trip.” After pulling her lips away from Kai’s, Nejire looked into his eyes and commented with a smile. Kai wrapped his arms around Nejire’s waist and nodded casually.

“Sure. Do you want just the two of us to go, or should we bring the others?”

“We’ll see what happens!”

Nejire replied cheerfully before starting another kiss, after which she pulled away from Kai’s lips but didn’t step back, simply gazing at him for a few seconds, completely captivated. After a moment, Nejire gave Kai a quick peck on the lips and spoke in a soft, almost lost voice.

“I love you…” Nejire kissed Kai on the cheek and repeated the same phrase, initiating a shower of kisses combined with a relentless declaration of love.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“Did something happen?” Kai tightened his grip on Nejire’s waist a bit and asked, somewhat confused. Nejire shook her head before kissing him on the nose and replying with a beautiful smile.

“Nothing, I just love you so much, and I’m so happy that we’re finally together.”

“How romantic… I love you too.” Kai commented with a warm smile before giving Nejire a tender kiss on the lips. Pulling away, Nejire replied cheerfully.

“It’s just that I love you so much, but you’d better go get ready. Mom and Aunt Keiko are waiting for you, right?”

“Yeah, they’re sorting some things out, and we’ll meet up to head to the company together. Want to come?” Kai nodded and spoke as he loosened his grip on Nejire’s waist. She shook her head and replied cheerfully.

“I want to keep training the 'younger ones,' but take Momo.”

“I already invited her, but she didn’t want to go either. She’s completely focused with Ashido on arranging the flights and everything for the trip to I-Island. Since she literally invited the whole class, getting flights and a hotel seems to be quite a challenge. She even sent the others home right after regular training to sort things out at home.” Kai replied, somewhat amused, which made Nejire tilt her head slightly and ask in confusion, looking quite adorable.

“Flights and hotel? Is it that hard?”

“She didn’t want Keiko, Yumiko, or me to help, and she didn’t even want to use the planes, so yeah, it’s pretty complicated to get flights and a hotel for the dates we’re traveling with just money. According to her, since she invited everyone, she’s taking full responsibility.” Kai replied, amused, which also made Nejire laugh. She then asked in an almost rhetorical tone with a mischievous, knowing smile.

“You’ve got a Plan B ready, don’t you?”

“Actually, I recently bought a hotel on I-Island. It’s a shame the grand opening had to be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances… such a pity to miss such a good date for business, hehe.”

Kai replied in a playful tone as he started walking toward the exit. Nejire let out a melodic laugh before kissing Kai on the cheek and commenting in a happy, singsong voice as she ran out of the kitchen.

“I love you! You’re the best!”

…

…

…

With the phone to her ear, calling another airline to try to secure enough seats for I-Island for the year’s biggest event, Mina casually swung her feet on the sofa while watching Momo argue on the phone in front of her. But as hold music played in one ear, Mina couldn’t help but get lost in her thoughts, especially when that metal briefcase entered her field of vision.

She, too, wanted someone in her life who was immensely capable, who would love and spoil her the way Kai did with Momo. Just imagining a scene where ‘that person,’ who stood above everyone, treated her as special made her heart race and her mind fill with an almost existential doubt.

How must Momo feel when the man who could fight head-to-head with All Might and build anything he desired, the same man everyone feared and respected, treated her like a princess and fulfilled her every whim? How must she feel when all the other women looked at her with envy?

But the answer to those questions was too obvious. Momo must feel like the most valuable woman in the world, above all others, because that was exactly what Mina felt in her fantasies. For that reason, every time Mina saw Momo, she felt a mix of envy, longing, and guilt she couldn’t suppress.

Though she genuinely appreciated Momo for how sweet, compassionate, cheerful, and oddly 'down-to-earth' she was, to the point that she could say Momo was the closest thing to a best friend she’d ever had. Almost inevitably, she ended up falling hopelessly in love with the man who had been Momo’s even before she met her—a fact that filled her with envy. An envy that made her feel like she was betraying a woman as good as Momo, which in turn made her feel immensely guilty.

[Hello, this is…]

In the midst of her erratic thoughts, Mina suddenly heard a voice on the phone, snapping her back to reality. Letting out a small sigh, Mina shifted the phone to her other ear and prepared to speak. But just at that moment, out of the corner of her eye, Mina saw Kai coming down the stairs, dressed elegantly, looking at least ten times more handsome than she’d ever seen him.

Without even glancing at her, Kai descended the stairs with his shiny black hair subtly styled, wearing a black business suit, white shirt, tie, and matching leather shoes and belt. But to Mina, every step he took seemed to synchronize with the pounding of her heart, making it thunder loudly, just as a subtle scent of cologne filled her nostrils, completely captivating her.

As Kai’s figure seemed to glow with infinite charm in her mind, Mina inevitably short-circuited, left completely frozen, her mouth slightly open as the phone fell onto the sofa. But her strange behavior caught Momo’s attention, who looked at her with slight confusion before turning to the stairs, where she saw Kai walking toward her while quickly checking his phone.

Seeing her beloved, Momo, instead of smiling as usual, wore a serious and thoughtful expression as her eyes darted to Mina, focusing especially on her cheeks. Despite Mina’s pink skin, Momo easily noticed a faint blush. At that moment, Kai finally reached her side, kissed her on the head, and continued walking while commenting in a calm voice.

“See you later. Want me to bring you anything?”

“No… Mom’s already bringing some desserts I wanted…”

Momo replied in a steady voice while looking at Mina with slightly narrowed eyes. Mina finally snapped out of it, glancing at Momo with a hint of panic as she picked up the phone. Her heart was beating so fast she feared Momo or Kai might hear it. Meanwhile, Kai, without stopping, replied as he left the mansion with a calm stride.

“Alright, see you then. Bye, Ashido.”

“Bye…” Mina responded in a low voice, nervously bringing the phone back to her ear.

***

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