Chapter 303: It was my little secret.

--Friday, July 24, 2172

“Help? What do you mean?”

Hearing Nejire’s question, Kai couldn’t help but turn to look at her, asking with a hint of surprise. Nejire met Kai’s gaze with determination and responded seriously, a stark contrast to her usual cheerful demeanor.

“I want to help you with the things you do when everyone’s asleep.”

“…”

Kai couldn’t help but widen his eyes in disbelief. At that moment, Nejire took his cheeks in her hands and leaned in until their noses touched. Staring directly into Kai’s eyes, she spoke in a serious tone.

“I’ve known for a long time that you sneak out at night when everyone’s asleep. You’ve been doing it for years, ever since we were kids. When you slept with me and Momo, you’d always wait until we were asleep to slip away and come back just before we woke up. You did it every day, without fail, and you always came back exhausted.

“But a few years ago, something changed. You didn’t come back exhausted anymore; you came back serious, thoughtful, quiet. Then in the morning, you’d either lock yourself in your workshop or put on a smile so no one would suspect anything. But I knew… For a long time, you’ve been doing things you can’t tell anyone about to get stronger, to make us stronger, to make us happy… But I want you to be happy too, Kai-chan.

“For a long time, I’ve wanted to help you, but I knew you’d refuse. You’d never let me dirty my hands like you do, so I waited. I waited until my strength could help you, and I waited until we became one, because I knew then you couldn’t run away, Kai-chan… You could stop your ‘sister’ from getting her hands dirty, but not your woman… That’s the kind of person you are, Kai-chan…”

“How…? You were always completely asleep… I checked.”

Shocked, Kai could only ask while staring into Nejire’s blue eyes, finding a depth in them he had never seen before. Nejire smiled calmly and whispered in a soft voice.

“Because even when I’m asleep, I can sense what’s happening around me. I even know what Nemuri and the Pussycats did to you last night after Nemuri put me to sleep with her scent.”

“!!!”

Hearing Nejire’s words, Kai couldn’t help but widen his eyes in absolute disbelief and glance slightly to his right, where Sage was looking at Nejire with the same expression, her jaw nearly hitting the floor. At that moment, Kai and Sage exchanged a look and nodded silently before starting to move.

With a single thought, Kai activated his black-and-white vision and placed his hands on Nejire’s head, while Sage did something similar, activating her Absolute Perception field. At the same time, Kai looked into Nejire’s eyes and asked in a more serious tone.

“How long have you been able to do this? Do you have any idea how it works?”

Seeing Kai’s complete shift and the seriousness on his face, Nejire smiled and commented in a calm, cheerful voice.

“I’ve been able to do it since I was 9. Back then, I started dreaming about my room, though everything was very blurry. But after seeing in my dream how Mom came into my room and left a stuffed animal and then finding it when I woke up, I realized what it was. Since then, I always have lucid dreams, so I can dream whatever I want, but if something changes in my surroundings, I can see it within my dream.”

“Does it only happen while you’re asleep?” Kai asked while closely studying Nejire’s brain activity and silhouette in his black-and-white vision. Nejire nodded with a smile.

“Yes, only when I’m asleep.”

“What’s the maximum distance at which you can detect changes?” Frowning, Kai asked as his eyes began to glow subtly. Nejire brought her index finger to her chin and, after thinking for a few seconds, answered.

“Maybe about 30 meters in all directions.”

“30-meter radius…” Kai couldn’t help but murmur in disbelief before looking at Sage, who seemed just as incredulous as he was. He asked seriously through their mental connection.

[Any ideas?]

[None, master. There’s absolutely nothing out of place. Brain activity is normal, the quirk factor shows no changes, and I’ve checked the database of periodic medical checkups, but I found nothing. Even the Accomplice has no record of this ability.]

[Could it be non-physical, but ‘spiritual’…? Something like my Haki?] Kai asked, somewhat unsure. Sage nodded, equally uncertain, and replied.

[It’s possible, master. We need to explore it in depth.]

“Why did you never tell me about this ability?” Kai asked, looking at Nejire, who smiled sweetly and replied.

“Because it was my little secret, and aside from preventing night ambushes, it’s not very useful. But now that we’re husband and wife, we can’t have secrets between us, right?”

“You’re a sneaky one.” Kai couldn’t help but comment with an odd expression. Nejire grinned playfully and asked sweetly.

“Can I help you?”

“… Let’s talk about it later. Shino figured it out too, and I promised to come clean with everyone.” Kai said with a small sigh. But to his surprise, Nejire looked into his eyes and spoke in a serious tone.

“It can’t be today! Tonight is Momo’s night! First, let’s deal with the intruder, and then we can talk more calmly after Momo becomes a woman!”

“…”

Kai couldn’t help but reflect deeply while extending his Observation Haki to its fullest, which already allowed him to cover much of the artificial island. It let him notice that the sniper had met up with someone else. At that moment, Nejire commented with a huge smile.

“Don’t overthink it, Kai-chan; let’s go!”

“For now, let’s just observe…” Kai let out a sigh and said, which brought a huge smile to Nejire’s face. Soon, she asked in a mischievous voice.

“Is it safe to go out now?”

“Yes, there’s no one nearby. We can head out.” Kai nodded, and soon he left the bathroom with the cheerful Nejire, heading toward the sniper.

…

Before long, Kai and Nejire sat on the balcony of a café on the third floor, which offered a direct view of a distant building over 200 stories tall. Meanwhile, Nejire looked at a real-time image through her AR lenses, where figures could be seen sitting across from each other, discussing something.

“So, this is how you see the world with your quirk, Kai-chan…” Looking at the images, Nejire commented in a soft voice while holding Kai’s hand under the table. Kai nodded and explained, still focused on the sniper’s actions.

“More or less. What you’re seeing is a recreation made by Sage, since it’s not a good idea to try hacking into I-Island’s systems. We’ve detected various intrusion alarm systems, and there are likely more, so it’s not wise to make a move until we’re sure we can go undetected.”

“Fufu, this is exciting. I feel like a super spy.”

“The excitement will wear off in a bit if nothing happens. The guy can teleport over long distances, so it’s possible he’s here for something very specific and will flee immediately.” Kai spoke calmly, confident that no one nearby could overhear him. Nejire looked at Kai and asked with a smile.

“Why do you think he came?”

“To kill someone or pick something up. The guy is pretty weak, but his teleportation ability is quite useful, and it seems he’s a good shot…” Kai began to explain in a calm voice but suddenly raised an eyebrow and commented with a smirk.

“Looks like he came to pick something up.”

“What’s that box?”

Nejire commented as she saw through her lenses a group of four people exiting an elevator with some kind of box or briefcase on a floor where only the sniper and the other person were present. Kai smiled and remarked with a sly grin.

“No idea, but I’m about to find out.”

Along with Kai’s voice, Nejire could see through her lenses several swords and ghostly copies of Salem shooting toward the building at high speed, then passing through the walls as if they were ghosts. Surprised, Nejire couldn’t help but look at Kai and ask with shining eyes.

“You can create ghosts?!”

“Something like that. I’ve improved a lot recently, so making them able to pass through walls has become relatively easy.” Kai replied with a smile while preparing to make a move with Sage.

Soon, the group of four advanced through a hallway where the Nen beasts and swords waited in [In] state. At that moment, Sage disappeared from her spot to appear beside a sword, already wearing her full-body armor. She activated Conqueror’s Haki at full power while four swords positioned themselves over the heads of the four individuals.

Like puppets whose strings were cut, the four people collapsed to the floor, and the briefcase fell with them. Without wasting time, Sage conjured a card with the image of a golden warehouse door. While the Nen beasts unleashed an ultrasonic roar capable of disabling any microphones and the swords created electromagnetic interference, Sage announced loudly.

“[Sealing Vault] On!”

The card soon transformed into a stream of light that enveloped the briefcase, making it disappear and leaving behind a card with a simplified image of it. With a satisfied smile, Kai stood up from his chair and left the café with the excited Nejire.

“How do we get the card back, Kai-chan?” With visible excitement on her face, Nejire asked in a low voice as they walked down a street. Kai smiled calmly and replied.

“Don’t worry, it’ll come to us. First, let’s meet up with Momo and the others.”

“Let’s go!”

With her eyes shining like stars, Nejire nodded excitedly and tightly hugged Kai’s firm arm while he tracked the movements on the floor with his black-and-white vision.

On the floor, the sniper seemed to notice something and looked toward the hallway. At the same time, the other person appeared to communicate with someone, and soon more than a dozen people entered the hallway, only to find the unconscious men and no trace of the briefcase. Sensing danger, the sniper quickly fled and soon after disappeared into a bathroom.

[Do you think they’ll make a fuss over what we stole, Sage?]

Seeing Momo with Mina and the others in the distance, Kai raised his right hand in a greeting while communicating with his trusted assistant. Sage’s voice soon echoed in Kai’s mind as Momo approached him with a smile.

[We’ll just have to wait and see, master. If it was a clandestine transaction like we think, it’ll be hard for them to cause a scene, but if what we stole is too important, they might still make a fuss to get it back.]

[You’re right… For now, keep the card at a safe distance and out of sight. It’s too soon to try retrieving it.] Kai replied in a calm voice. Sage soon appeared above Kai in [In] state and responded with a smile.

[Don’t worry, master. I’ve hidden it, and I can retrieve it at any time with Manipulation from a kilometer away.]

[Perfect.]

…

“Did you have fun?” Upon reaching Kai, Momo asked in a teasing tone while hugging his free arm. Nejire soon replied with a huge smile full of almost childlike excitement.

“So much!”

Momo couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Nejire’s excitement, knowing that while intimacy with Kai left Nejire happy and thrilled, this felt a little different. But before she could dwell on it further, alarms started blaring everywhere, and the streets were suddenly overtaken by robots.

Seeing the robots emerge from the ground in large numbers and the alarms echoing all around, Kai and Nejire exchanged small, knowing smiles, and Nejire clung even tighter to Kai’s arm. Meanwhile, Momo couldn’t help but raise a suspicious eyebrow at the subtle exchange, realizing they had something to do with the commotion.

[A Level 3 alarm has been activated, and a curfew has been declared. Please, everyone, return to your residences as soon as possible.]

“What’s going on?!”

As the message repeated over and over and the robots surrounded them, Mina couldn’t help but exclaim loudly. Melissa, visibly surprised, quickly pulled out a portable terminal and began investigating hurriedly while explaining.

“I don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve seen a Level 3 alarm. It’s supposed to happen only when there’s unauthorized access to I-Island. I’ll try to find out what’s going on.”

“I don’t think these robots will give us much time…” Todoroki, who had approached the group, commented in a serious tone. Jiro nodded with a stern expression and remarked.

“They look like they’re about to attack. Seems like the best thing to do is head to the hotel…”

“Melissa-san, come with us to the hotel. Going on your own right now could be dangerous. Your father must be with All Might, so he should be safe.” Momo said to Melissa in a serious tone. Melissa nodded and soon attempted to make a call, but her expression darkened, and she commented worriedly.

“I just lost access to the network… There’s no phone signal or internet… We’re isolated.”

“Let’s start moving. My family is about 600 meters from here, and I can sense All Might nearby with someone else. I don’t know your father, so I can’t confirm it’s him, but the odds are high.” Kai said in a calm voice, to which Melissa could only nod nervously.

“Then I’ll be in your care, Kai-san.”

“Let’s get moving. We’ll meet up with the others before heading back to the hotel. If a robot gets in the way, destroy it. I’ll cover the bill.” Kai soon ordered in a calm tone, to which everyone nodded with serious expressions, clenching their fists tightly.

***

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