Allen flew through the sky with Kazuho in his arms.
"Where are we going?"
Once Kazuho accepted her fate, she observed the scenery, even though she had no idea where Allen was taking her.
"To look for the other two."
"The other two? You mean they also used Trigger?!"
"It's the most likely possibility. Still, I'm intrigued. I can understand them attacking Knuckleduster — he's a vigilante who must have made more than a few enemies. And as for Koichi, he could be targeted out of personal resentment. But what reason would they have to attack you?"
Kazuho trembled, feeling scared. There was nothing about her that should attract villains; she was just a normal girl who, at most, had committed a couple of minor offenses.
Allen smiled. "Don't worry, I'll take care of this."
"Hmph." Kazuho looked away. She kept telling herself over and over that she would never like a guy like this, yet for some reason, knowing he cared about her safety made her feel happy.
"Although..." Allen narrowed his eyes, "more than attacking you, it felt like he was trying to capture you."
"Capture me?! Why?!"
After thinking for a moment, Allen smirked. "Could it be… because of me?"
"Don't tell me they know your identity?!"
"I don't think so. Maybe they're targeting you because of our relationship..."
"W-we don't have a relationship!" Kazuho blushed.
"Don't we?" Allen said with a mischievous smile. "We're close enough to have intimate contact and all."
"I'll bite you!!" Kazuho bared her fangs.
"Haha, just kidding. Still, it's not the first time I've helped you or stayed close to you, whether as Allen Walker or as some vigilante."
Kazuho knew Allen was Shazam because she had seen it herself. Allen had also taken the initiative to reveal that he was Superman too, although she had already suspected it since his flying Quirk was very similar to Superman's. So at least a few times, Kazuho had been seen near some of those mysterious vigilantes.
"There's also the possibility that Allen Walker himself is drawing attention."
On the other hand, Allen had gone out with Kazuho several times after her concerts — to eat, to the park, or to karaoke — always just as friends. Of course, many people had seen them together.
Naturally, he accompanied the girl behind the mask, Kazuho, and not Pop Step. After all, idol fans are very jealous, and Kazuho didn't want rumors spreading that could affect her popularity.
At this point, Kazuho was nervous. Would villains start targeting her from now on?
Sensing her concern, Allen made a pendant appear in Kazuho's hands.
"What?"
"It's just a small trick, don't worry," Allen said with a mysterious smile. "That pendant works as a protective charm. It can also alert me if you're in danger. Just wear it, and I'll come help you."
Kazuho opened her eyes in disbelief. Was it really necessary for him to worry this much about her?
They got along well, but it was more like a light friendship. There was no reason for Allen to do so much for her.
"Thank you..." the girl said without daring to look at him, though she also felt conflicted, because that warm feeling should have been meant for someone else.
Allen used his super hearing to locate Koichi.
....
....
Koichi was fleeing from Soga, though he looked completely exhausted.
"That's enough!"
With a shout, Soga released all of his spikes in every direction, right in the middle of the street.
"No!" Koichi yelled, but not for his own safety — it was because this would hurt the people around them.
Soga snapped out of his rage when he realized what he had done. He might be a delinquent thug, but he wasn't crazy enough to want to kill so many people.
Screams erupted. Koichi slid forward at high speed, placing himself in front of a mother and her daughter, the closest potential victims.
Koichi closed his eyes, bracing for the pain — but it never came. When he opened them, he saw the spikes floating in front of him.
"What?!" Soga exclaimed as he stared at all his spikes suspended in the air, surrounded by a green aura.
"I really was far too kind to you..."
Allen's voice echoed with an icy coldness that made the temperature drop.
When Koichi looked up, his eyes widened. There was Allen, surrounded by a green aura; even his hair and eyes had taken on an emerald tint.
[Template: Tatsumaki "Tornado of Terror"
QG 3: (Very Good) – 14:50]
Allen snapped his fingers, and the spikes were annihilated.
Soga instinctively took a step back, but his body was suddenly slammed and crushed against the ground by an overwhelming force.
His body had been strengthened, yet he still felt several of his bones break. He couldn't even scream because of the pressure crushing him.
Just before he lost consciousness, the pressure vanished.
Soga coughed inside the crater where he lay, pain-filled sounds escaping his mouth.
Allen slowly descended using his psychokinesis, while Pop Step landed on her own not too far away.
Koichi snapped out of his shock. That incredible power had left him breathless, yet he didn't feel envy — on the contrary, he was grateful that Allen wasn't a villain, because that would have been terrifying.
Once on the ground, Allen walked over to Soga and crouched beside him. They exchanged a few words that no one else could hear.
When Allen stood up, his brow was furrowed. From what he had heard, this attack had been ordered by a terrifying villain whose identity Soga didn't know.
The objective was to capture Knuckleduster, The Crawler, and Pop Step.
Allen turned toward Koichi. "The Crawler."
"Huh?"
Koichi hadn't expected to be called by his alias, but when he realized there were many people around, he understood why.
He quickly stood up and walked over to Allen.
"What do you need... young-kun?"
"Can you keep an eye on this villain? I need to help Knuckleduster."
"Huh?! Sensei is in danger?!"
"Well, it's hard to say whether he's the one in danger… or if they are."
Koichi looked for understanding and nodded. "Leave it to me."
Allen nodded back and began to float. He still had plenty of time left to use this telekinesis.
Before leaving, he smiled at Kazuho. At the same time, she received a message. It's unknown what it said, but she blushed and cursed Allen the moment she read it.
Allen hurried toward where Knuckleduster was. However, when he arrived, he was met with a big surprise.
"Yo, kid" Knuckleduster was leaning against a wall, smoking.
"Old man..."
"Tsk, I'm not that old"
"And I'm not a kid."
His clothes were torn and he had several wounds, yet he had won. As for the two villains, they were unconscious.
"You're one tough guy..." Allen hadn't forgotten that this uncle had no Quirk and still fought two Trigger-enhanced villains.
"Tsk... unfortunately, I got some help."
Knuckleduster grumbled while pointing in a direction. There stood a man with dark circles under his eyes, silently observing Allen.
[Shota Aizawa
Erasure Hero: "Eraser Head"
Quirk: Erasure]
'That nostalgic look...'
It wasn't the first time Allen had felt that inquisitive gaze. So far, most heroes he had seen were simple, for better or worse, but this man was analytical — someone who doubted everything and thought before acting.
"A student and a vigilante are friends?"
"Is there something wrong with that?" Allen questioned.
"No. After all, that man doesn't have a Quirk, so technically he isn't an illegal vigilante." Aizawa shook his head and turned around. "I'll just pretend I didn't see anything to save myself extra work, so get going."
Allen slightly widened his eyes. Was this man really just too lazy to get involved and that's why he didn't ask more questions?
Since Allen had no reason to refuse, he approached Knuckleduster and helped him up, then floated away with him.
Aizawa watched Allen's back. "What a troublesome kid… classes haven't even started yet and he's already gotten into so much trouble. Luckily, he won't be my problem..."
Despite the man's complaints, Allen took Knuckleduster to the hospital. Later, he contacted Koichi, who went to take care of his mentor while he recovered.
Allen warned them to be careful — something told him that a dangerous villain was moving earlier than expected and would likely come looking for trouble once again.
When Allen arrived at his apartment, he found Nemuri curled up on his bed. Since he was too lazy to sleep somewhere else, he lay down beside her and fell asleep. He would tell her about his adventures later.
....
(Two days later)
Allen was sitting on his couch with chibi Nokotan curled up on his lap like a cat. He yawned lazily while switching channels, and on one of them, he saw a commercial featuring Mt. Lady advertising a skin cream.
At first, he hadn't liked the idea of superheroes being so… commercial, mostly because it reminded him of the world of The Boys. Over time, however, Allen came to acknowledge that at least in this world the heroes genuinely tried to do their job, so he didn't see anything wrong with them doing interviews or appearing in advertisements.
"Nemuri is going to get jealous if she finds out Mt. Lady is gaining popularity so fast."
When talking about beautiful female superheroes, Midnight's name could never be left out. With her natural, seductive charm, she was impossible to ignore.
There was also Ryuko Tatsuma, the Dragoon Hero "Ryukyu." A beautiful heroine with short blonde hair held back by a dragon-claw-shaped headband. Her eyes were amber-colored and her skin was fair. She usually carried an aura that made people feel at ease. As for her personality, she was kind, calm, and humble, well known for helping others without expecting anything in return.
Another beautiful superheroine who was always mentioned was Rumi Usagiyama, also known as the Rabbit Hero: Mirko.
She was a beautiful woman with long white hair, wearing a headband shaped like rabbit ears. Her eyes were red and always reflected her fiery, positive personality. She had tanned skin and an athletic body with well-defined abs.
She was a woman with a strong and straightforward character, never holding back and never fearing any villain. It was known that since she was young, she had faced many villains in her middle school days.
On more than one occasion, Allen had mentioned these heroines in passing, but Nemuri's reaction had been hostile, even dismissive. Because of that, Allen avoided bringing them up. Now, another beautiful heroine had appeared, making Allen feel that Nemuri really needed to learn to control her hostility toward other attractive heroines.
Little did Allen know that there was a deeper reason behind Nemuri's hostility toward Ryukyu and Mirko.
Allen turned his attention back to the TV.
– "The origin of the emerald giant is still unknown, but rumors say he is not a villain, rather an antihero who has taken the name Hulk. Despite his popularity among more rebellious youth, the danger he represents has placed him under the scrutiny of the Hero Public Safety Commission." –
Three days had passed since the incident, and the news was still headlining Hulk. His fight against three top-ranked professional heroes had been no small matter.
Hulk had been classified as a threat despite not having harmed anyone. It was understandable, since his version of Hulk did not have a pleasant appearance — he was intimidating and terrifying, with monstrous strength and seemingly invincible.
Someone like that, even if not a villain, was not someone who could be ignored.
"It seems that in every universe, Hulk is hunted. How sad."
[Host, I remind you that you dragged the number two hero across the ground. It's already a miracle you're not on the most-wanted list.]
Allen snorted mockingly. "And I'd do it again. That guy has zero respect for others."
Allen turned off the television and went to have breakfast. He didn't forget to prepare something for each of his dolls, who had to take turns appearing one by one. This made breakfast last about an hour, but Allen didn't mind — this was a thousand times better than not being able to see these girls at all, like in HOTD.
Allen laughed when he saw Anemone trying to smoke, since the cigarette, compared to her current size, was like a baseball bat.
"Stop laughing and help me!" Anemone summoned a gun and pointed it at Allen.
Apparently, she could always summon all kinds of modern weapons, including explosives, but she couldn't use that ability in the world of HOTD. It was curious, since Anemone came from a fantasy world, which made that ability strange — or rather, something you would normally expect from an isekai protagonist.
Speaking of isekai, Allen was surprised that despite the obscene number of such worlds that existed, he had never ended up in one.
"Maybe that's for the best..." Allen muttered.
KNOCK KNOCK
Interrupting his quality time with his dolls, someone knocked on the door. He left Anemone grumbling and went to check. When he opened it, there was no one there, but a letter had been left in the mailbox.
"This is from U.A... I guess the time has come."
"System, start a transmission."
[Understood.]
As the chat began to fill in, Allen showed them the letter from U.A.
"Hey, anyone interested in watching how I get admitted into high school for the umpteenth time?"
Allen could only laugh at the situation. Somehow, no matter how much his real age increased, he always found himself forced to return to adolescence.
Wade – At this rate, you'll have to pay child support before you even graduate, haha.
"Ha ha… very funny. Maybe a one-week ban will help you reflect."
Wade – No— (Banned)
Allen didn't waste time listening to the teasing and opened the U.A. letter.
There was no paper inside, only a small circular device. Allen examined it for a moment before walking over to the living room table and placing it there. A hologram projected from it.
"Sometimes I forget we're in the 23rd century."
On the holographic screen appeared All Might, wearing a golden suit.
"Ha ha ha! Allow me to congratulate you, Allen Walker-kun!"
"Thank you?"
"During the exam, you demonstrated not only incomparable strength and outstanding skill… but more importantly, you chose to help others instead of simply accumulating points."
"What can I say, I have a heart of gold," Allen shrugged.
All Might smiled. "I observed your performance. At the start of the test, you evaluated the number of villains available and chose to defeat only those necessary to enter Class 1-A, even though you could have defeated them all and stood out by breaking previous records. That consideration for your peers, that humility… is something U.A. values more than raw power!"
"That's a bit of an exaggeration..."
"No! My eyes don't deceive me!"
"..."
A staff member whispered to All Might, urging him to hurry.
Allen chuckled under his breath. If this kind of presentation were personal for every student, All Might would have to repeat the same speech countless times.
All Might cleared his throat, then his smile widened as a screen lit up. Allen's name appeared in first place with only 33 points. However, there was a second column labeled Rescue Points, where Allen had earned 150 points.
"Young Walker, you have passed the exam in a truly magnificent way, and I am proud to welcome you to U.A.! Never forget to go beyond — PLUS ULTRA!"
The hologram ended, and Allen remained silent for a moment before smiling.
From the beginning, he had felt some dissatisfaction with the battle simulation. Allen didn't believe that measuring someone's strength alone should define the requirements to be a hero. However, from the very start, they had been evaluating something else in secret.
"Maybe I underestimated U.A."
Even so, Allen looked again at the frozen hologram and noticed Bakugo had also passed with 45 points, but without a single rescue point.
"Interesting. They accept both selfish people, those who only love to fight, as well as those who seek justice or pursue an ideal. U.A. doesn't discriminate and gives everyone a chance to grow..."
Allen had no further opinion and simply looked out the window, hoping that his life at U.A. would be just as interesting as his life as a vigilante.
....
A few days later, Allen left Nemuri's apartment, heading toward his first day of classes at U.A.
"Let's see what interesting things will happen..." Allen said before flying off from his balcony, leaving behind a gust of wind.
====
A/N: In the future, it will be funny that with a dozen children, Allen still has to go back to high school. XD