Chapter 225 - 224: Progress

Location: Naruhata Apartments - Makoto's Old Room

Time: 10 Minutes Ago

THUD.

Koichi dropped a heavy cardboard box onto the wooden floor.

"Why would change units," Koichi groaned. He rubbed his shoulders with both hands. "Isn't this room already perfect? I got a bad hangover two days ago. Where did Kaito even order his wine..."

Makoto zipped up her large duffel bag.

"Stop complaining," Kazuho told Koichi. She held a stack of folded blankets.

She looked over at Makoto. "What floor is the new unit on? I really hope you didn't pick the ground floor."

Tamao picked up a small bag of shoes. Iwao and his wife stood in the hallway holding a few loose items.

Makoto grabbed the handles of her bag.

"Just follow me," Makoto said.

They walked out of the room. Koichi carried the heavy box. They walked down the hallway and reached the stairwell. Makoto walked up the stairs.

They followed her. They reached the top floor of the Naruhata apartment building.

Koichi stopped walking. He looked around the empty hallway. Kaito's door was the only one on this level.

"Wait," Koichi said. He adjusted his grip on the cardboard box. "There are no empty units up here. Kaito occupied the entire top floor."

Makoto didn't answer. She walked directly to Kaito's door.

She reached into her pocket. She pulled out a silver key. She slid it into the lock.

CLICK.

She turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Makoto stepped inside and set her bag down on the entryway floor. She turned around and looked at her friends.

"Put the boxes in the living room," Makoto told them.

"..."

Koichi stared at her. His jaw dropped open.

Kazuho dropped the stack of blankets on the floor. Iwao's eyes went wide.

"You are moving in with the landlord?!" Kazuho yelled.

...

Time: Present (15 Minutes Later)

CLACK.

Kaito turned his key and pushed his front door open. He just finished a long shift at the agency of Wash.

He took his shoes off in the entryway.

He walked into the living room and stopped.

Cardboard boxes and bags leaned against the walls.

Koichi, Kazuho, Tamao, Iwao, and Iwao's wife sat in a circle on his living room rug. They were eating potato chips and drinking cans of soda.

Makoto sat on the couch. She was smiling, holding a cup of tea, completely comfortable.

The group on the rug turned their heads and stared directly at Kaito.

"You kept this a secret!" Kazuho yelled. She pointed a potato chip at him. "How long have you two been dating?"

Kaito looked at Makoto who just smiled at him.

He set his briefcase on the kitchen counter. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"We confirmed it a few days ago," Kaito answered casually.

Iwao laughed loudly. His deep voice echoed in the living room.

"Haha... It took you two years just to share an address," Iwao joked, slapping his knee. "Are we going to wait until I am eighty years old for a wedding?"

Iwao's wife hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"Leave them alone, Iwao," she scolded. "They can move at their own pace. I think it is wonderful."

Kaito walked over and sat down on the couch next to Makoto. He opened his water bottle and took a drink.

"You guys can hang out," Kaito told them. "But Koichi needs to help me move that heavy box out of the hallway later."

"I got it," Koichi agreed instantly. He grabbed another handful of chips. "But you have to tell us the story. Who confessed first?"

"She did," Kaito said.

Koichi gasped. He dropped a potato chip on his shirt. "She beat the Golden Manager in a negotiation?"

Makoto rolled her eyes. "It wasn't a business deal, Koichi."

Tamao leaned forward on the rug. "Where was the date? Was it romantic?"

Makoto smiled. She looked at Kaito.

"We went to the moon," Makoto said simply.

Iwao's wife smiled warmly. She clasped her hands together.

"Oh, that is such a sweet thing to say," Iwao's wife said. "He swept you off to the moon and back."

Makoto looked down at the rug. She looked right at Koichi, Kazuho, Tamao, and Iwao.

She gave them a very slow, deliberate wink.

"..."

The four of them froze completely.

They were the inner circle. They knew Kaito's secret. They knew he was Hero X.

They realized she wasn't using a metaphor. She meant the literal rock in space.

COUGH.

Koichi choked on his soda. He pounded his chest, coughing violently.

Iwao stared blankly at the wall, completely terrified by the casual use of reality-warping powers for a date.

"I want to go to the moon too.."

"Same... Same..."

Kazuho and Tamao looked at each other with hopeful eyes.

The only was that was kept in the dark was Iwao's wife.

Kaito just smiled, took another drink of his water, and enjoyed the quiet panic of his friends.

...

Location: Musutafu - Bakugo Residence

Time: Same Evening

SCRAPE. CLINK.

Katsuki Bakugo dragged his spoon across the bottom of his bowl. He scooped up a large pile of spicy curry and shoved it into his mouth.

Mitsuki Bakugo sat across the dining table. She watched her son eat.

"Slow down, Katsuki," Mitsuki told him. "You are going to choke."

"I know how to chew, old hag," Katsuki grumbled, his mouth completely full.

Mitsuki just rolled her eyes and took a sip of her water.

Three years ago, she would have yelled back and hit him on the back of the head.

Katsuki would have stormed off to the arcade to waste his money and pick fights with the neighborhood kids.

He completely stopped doing that.

For the past two years, he stuck to a strict routine.

He trained early morning. He went to school. He trained again.

Then this year spent his own allowance on classes at different Martial Arts Dojo.

He came home covered in bruises, ate dinner, took a shower, and studied in his room. He never yelled and bullied other kids outside anymore. She didn't even see him hanging out in the arcades.

Mitsuki was incredibly proud of him. She kept that thought to herself.

"There are fresh ice packs in the freezer," Mitsuki said casually. "Put one on your right shoulder. It looks swollen."

"Yeah, yeah," Katsuki muttered.

He swallowed his food. He stood up, grabbed his empty bowl, and walked to the kitchen counter. He washed the bowl in the sink, dried his hands, and walked down the hallway to his bedroom.

CLICK.

He closed his bedroom door.

Katsuki sat down on the edge of his bed. He pulled his phone from his pocket. He opened a video app and searched for civilian recordings of pro heroes.

He tapped on a video of the Rabbit Hero, Mirko, fighting a villain in Fukuoka.

Katsuki stared at the screen. He ignored the villain.

He watched Mirko's legs. He watched how she dropped her hips right before she launched a heavy kick that created a wind blade.

"Shit. How is that even possible... Is it because of her leg muscles?"

Them the video continued showing Mirko used some kind of martial arts like shooting her finger like a gun. Stepping and running on air. Even that high speed movement.

Then the video ended. The app auto-played the next clip in the queue.

The screen switched to the NHA News broadcast.

The reporter stood outside the Golden Bites headquarters, talking about Kaito Arisaka's massive birthday party.

"What useless event..." Katsuki frowned. He moved his thumb to skip the video.

The camera panned across the VIP event hall. It stopped on All Might. The Number One hero was laughing and waving at the camera.

"...Hmm?"

Katsuki stopped his thumb. His red eyes caught a flash of green in the background behind his idol.

He tapped the screen and paused the video.

He pinched his fingers on the glass, zooming in on the background.

Izuku Midoriya stood right there. He held a glass of water. He was talking to a blonde girl with glasses.

A black cat sat on the floor next to his leg. An older man in a nice suit stood next to the blonde girl.

"..."

Katsuki stared at the paused frame.

Deku.

He just stared at the screen.

"What's going with him? How can he join this type of events?"

He fought Deku last time in the beach. Deku beat him using pure street combat experience.

Katsuki accepted the loss. He trained his ass up and even enrolled in dojo to catch up. He knew Deku was strong.

This was completely different.

A quirkless kid from Musutafu was standing inside the most exclusive hero party in the world.

Katsuki pressed the side buttons on his phone.

SNAP.

He took a screenshot. He cropped the photo, focusing entirely on the older man standing next to Deku.

He opened his browser and ran a reverse image search.

The page loaded for two seconds. The search results filled his screen.

David Shield.

Katsuki tapped the top article. He read the credentials quickly. Lead scientist of I-Island. Corporate partner of Detnerat.

Katsuki looked down at his own wrists. His support gauntlets were manufactured by Detnerat.

He looked back at the phone and read the final line of the bio. David Shield was the former sidekick of All Might.

His chest tightened.

"Are you for real?"

He sat perfectly still on his mattress. The pieces clicked together in his head.

Deku had a direct connection to David Shield.

David Shield was All Might's former partner. Deku was standing ten feet away from All Might in the video.

Deku had a direct line to the Number One Pro Hero.

Katsuki gripped his phone tightly. His knuckles turned white.

He just stared at the screen with absolute, quiet intensity.

Bakugo didn't want to acknowledge that he felt a little jealous. Yes that's right, it's not jealousy at all. It's just looking at Deku having fun and wasting his time.

The gap between them was massive but he will surpass that bastard.

He stood up from his bed and grabbed his gear.

...

Location: Tokyo - Clean-Room Agency

Time: December 30 | Morning

HSSSSS.

Heavy steam vented from the side of the metal chamber.

Susugu Mitarai stepped out of the heavy-duty pressure tank. He wore a tight black compression shirt.

He was completely drenched in sweat. He braced his hands on his knees, gasping for air.

Kaito stood a few feet away, holding a digital stopwatch.

"Three minutes and forty seconds," Kaito read from the screen. He tapped a button. "Your lung capacity is up."

Ayumi stood at a monitoring desk nearby. She looked at a computer screen.

"The moisture in your soap is dropping," Ayumi reported. "Your pores are adapting to the dense foam technique."

Susugu stood up straight. He wiped his face with a towel.

"The engineering team is finishing the internal upgrades to your armor," Kaito said, handing him a bottle of water. "They kept the washing machine exterior just like Ayumi wanted. The inside is a lightweight tactical vest with upgraded air compressors. It will match your new lung capacity perfectly."

Glug. Glug.

Susugu drank the water quickly. He tossed the empty bottle into a plastic bin.

"Load the tank again," Susugu ordered. "Bump the pressure up."

Kaito smiled. He tapped his stopwatch and reset the timer.

...

Location: Shizuoka - Saki Residence

Time: December 31 | New Year's Eve

The dining table was packed with food.

A large bowl of Toshikoshi soba sat in the center. Small plates of tempura and grilled fish surrounded it.

Kaito sat on the left side of the table next to Makoto.

Grandma Saki sat across from them. Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi sat at the head of the table.

Naomasa wore a simple gray sweater. He picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a bite of the buckwheat noodles.

"This soba is excellent, Saki," Naomasa said.

"Makoto made the broth," Grandma Saki replied, smiling warmly. "She cooks better than Kaito now."

"I still hold the top spot in this kitchen," Kaito argued defensively. He took a bite of tempura.

Makoto laughed and bumped her shoulder against Kaito's arm.

The television played quietly in the background, showing a live countdown from a temple in Kyoto.

Naomasa finished his noodles. He set his chopsticks down. He picked up his cup of green tea.

He looked at Kaito. He looked at Makoto.

His face was completely serious. He looked exactly like he was giving a witness testimony at a police precinct.

"Statistically," Naomasa stated in a deadpan voice. "Couples who share a living space have a high rate of unexpected pregnancies. I advise you both to invest in family planning and buy proper protection."

ACK. COUGH.COUGH.

Makoto choked on her tea. She started coughing violently into a napkin. Her face turned completely red.

SMACK.

Grandma Saki reached across the table and hit Naomasa hard on the arm with a rolled-up magazine.

"Ow," Naomasa said. His expression didn't change at all.

"Shut up!" Grandma Saki scolded him loudly. She pointed the magazine at his face. "I want a great-grandchild right now! They don't need protection. They need a quiet weekend!"

"Hahaha..." Kaito leaned back in his chair and laughed uncontrollably. His chest hurt.

Makoto slammed her hands on the table.

"Both of you stop talking!" Makoto yelled at her brother and Grandma Saki.

Naomasa took a slow sip of his tea. He looked at Kaito and gave a tiny, almost invisible smirk.

"Let me fini-.. hahaha.." Kaito laughed harder, thoroughly enjoying the chaotic family dinner as the clock on the television counted down to midnight.

...

Location: Fukuoka - Commercial District

Time: January 25 | Afternoon

CRACK.

A massive chunk of concrete fell from the overpass.

The suspension cables snapped. The entire bridge groaned, tilting dangerously to the right.

A villain with a gigantification quirk stood in the middle of the intersection. He swung a massive steel beam, smashing another support pillar.

"HELP!"

"AGHH!"

"SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!!

Civilians screamed, trapped on the tilting bridge.

Three white vans skidded to a halt near the barricades.

Laundry Hero, Wash jumped out the back doors. He wore his upgraded washing machine armor.

"Three-Cell Deployment!" Susugu yelled.

"Roger!" Everyone.

The agency split instantly. The Aero-Evac Cell rushed under the bridge to catch falling civilians in float-bubbles.

The Ground-Sanitation Cell moved behind them to clear the rubble.

Susugu led the Vanguard Trap Cell straight toward the villain. Ayumi, Kenji, and Taro ran right behind him.

[Kaito,] Susugu spoke into his earpiece. [We are on site. I need the water grid.]

Kaito sat in the Clean-Room Agency control room.

[The transit executives pushed the treaty through the city government,] Kaito's voice came through the comms. [The grid is yours. Tap the street drain.]

Susugu ran forward. He planted his boots on a metal sewer grate. He aimed his arms at the ground.

"Zero-Traction Zone!" Susugu yelled.

A massive wave of clear, glossy fluid erupted from the underground pipes.

It flooded the entire intersection in a millimeter-thin layer.

The giant villain stepped forward to swing his steel beam.

His foot hit the fluid. The friction vanished instantly.

"Whoa!" the villain shouted.

His massive legs flew out from under him. He crashed hard onto his back, dropping the steel beam. He tried to stand up. His hands and feet kept slipping wildly on the pavement.

[Taro,] Susugu ordered. [Go.]

Taro activated his sliding quirk. He hit the frictionless fluid and shot forward.

SWIIISH.

He glided across the slick pavement, zooming up the tilted bridge. He grabbed three trapped civilians, spun around, and slid back down to safety.

CRUNCH.

The final support pillar gave out. The massive concrete bridge started falling directly toward Taro and the civilians.

Susugu stepped in front of them.

"Micro-Foam Armor!" Susugu shouted.

FLOP. FLOP. FLOP. FLOP.

He unleashed a thick, heavy torrent of dense white foam from his gauntlets.

It expanded rapidly, creating a massive, sticky mountain on the pavement.

The falling concrete bridge hit the foam.

BOING. BOING.

POP. POP. POP. POP. POP.

The foam compressed like a heavy sponge. It absorbed the entire kinetic impact of the falling structure.

The bridge stopped completely, resting safely on the dense cushion.

The villain finally rolled onto his stomach.

Susugu aimed his left arm. He fired a rapid barrage of dense foam directly onto the villain's back.

The foam hardened slightly, pinning the giant securely to the slippery ground.

BANG.

THUD.

The intersection went quiet. The civilians were safe.

"WOW!"

"IT'S THE LAUNDRY HERO!"

"I didn't know he could do that?"

"Is that his new technique? I heard he contracted the Golden Manager.."

Susugu lowered his arms. He took a slow breath.

HUFF-PUFF.

The upgraded compressors inside his suit handled the heavy output perfectly.

[Flawless victory,] Kaito praised over the comms. [Now finish hiii~.. I mean head back to the agency. We start the another training tomorrow.]

"Copy that," Susugu replied.

...

Location: Tokyo - Clean-Room Agency

Time: February 20 | Evening

Valentines day had passed six days ago. And what happened to Kaito was something else.

He was invited by several supposed female friends that day to have fun which made Makoto pout for an entire day. But he managed to salvage it in the evening. Ahem...

[A/n. 3000 words omitted xD.]

Now another week passed.

Susugu stood in the center of the training garage.

He closed his eyes. He regulated his breathing.

He raised his hands and released a slow, steady stream of thousands of microscopic bubbles.

They hovered in a static, perfect sphere around his entire body.

Ayumi threw a tennis ball at his back.

The ball hit a micro-bubble.

POP.

Susugu sensed the air displacement instantly. He spun around and caught the tennis ball before it touched him.

He opened his eyes and looked at Kaito.

"The radar works," Susugu confirmed.

Kaito checked his tablet. "Your sidekicks are running the patrol routes perfectly."

The garage door opened. Kenji walked in. He was dripping wet, holding a towel.

"I just boxed in a bank robber on 4th street," Kenji told them. "The deep-water pressure tactics shut him down before he even reached the vault."

Susugu tossed the tennis ball back to Ayumi. He looked at his hands. He felt entirely different. He had absolute control over his environment.

"We have two weeks left," Susugu said. "Let's drill my final ultimate Move."

...

Location: Tokyo - Clean-Room Agency Breakroom

Time: Early March

The three-month contract was officially over.

Kaito stood near the coffee machine in the breakroom.

Makoto stood next to him, holding a digital tablet.

She left the O'Clock agency two weeks ago with Iwao's full blessing. She was officially Kaito's permanent assistant now.

Their dynamic during work hours was professional. They just stood close together, sharing a quiet, comfortable warmth.

SLID.

The breakroom doors swung open.

Taro walked in carrying massive paper bags with the Golden Bites logo printed on the side.

Susugu, Ayumi, Kenji, and Shiro followed him.

"Food is here!" Taro announced loudly.

They dropped the bags on the large breakroom table. The smell of fresh french fries and grilled burgers filled the room.

Kaito and Makoto walked over. Everyone grabbed a burger and sat down.

"We checked the latest metric reports this morning," Ayumi said before taking a bite of her food. "Our rescue times dropped drastically. Property damage is practically zero."

Kenji laughed. "The boss is going to hit Rank Two next year."

Susugu shook his head. He pulled a fry from his bag. "Let's aim for the Top Fifteen first, Kenji."

Taro opened his burger wrapper. He looked across the table at Kaito.

"Hey, Arisaka-san," Taro said. "You own this franchise. Can you fix the ice cream machine at the Musutafu branch? They tell me it's broken every time I go there. It drives me crazy."

Kenji pointed a fry at Kaito. "And bring back the spicy chicken sandwich! The limited-time run was way too short."

Makoto typed quickly on her tablet. "I will add that to the corporate logistics meeting tomorrow. But it's not broken. You're just always late."

Kaito laughed. "I will yell at the regional managers. You will get your ice cream and your chicken."

They ate their food and joked about their patrols. The atmosphere was completely relaxed.

Susugu finished his burger. He wiped his hands with a napkin.

He stood up from his chair. He took off his white mascot helmet and set it on the table. He looked at Kaito with his tired, serious face.

He walked around the table and held out his right hand.

Kaito stood up and shook his hand.

"Thank you, Kaito," Susugu said. His voice was heavy with genuine gratitude. "When I came to you in December, I was really lost. I thought that was the end for me."

Susugu squeezed Kaito's hand.

"You got us the water grid access. You fixed the cell deployments. You made us a lot stronger," Susugu said.

Kaito smiled. He shook Wash's hand back.

"You guys spent three months locked in pressure chambers, Susugu," Kaito replied easily. "The transit treaties just gave you everything you hoped for. You're my client and it's my duty to help you to the best of my abilities."

"We will not let you down," Susugu promised.

Ayumi, Kenji, Taro, Shiro and the rest of the nine sidekicks all raised their soda cups from the table, toasting their boss and the manager.

"To Kaito!" Susugu.

"TO KAITO!!" Everyone.

Makoto watched them from the side, a proud smile on her face.

Kaito Arisaka just elevated another hero agency to the top of the Billboard charts.

...

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...

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