"Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty.Wow, I'm honestly surprised that, after everything you went through, none of you ended up injured," Detective Naomasa said, letting out a relieved sigh as he checked off the last name on his list.
Behind him, near the USJ exit, you could see a long line of low-level villains. Some walked with their hands cuffed, others were being dragged by police officers or heroes, and a few couldn't even stay conscious.
Once the teachers confirmed there was no longer any danger, the tension finally loosened.The students began talking among themselves, swapping stories, exaggerating a few parts, laughing nervously about others. The usual reaction after going through something traumatic.
I just breathed.I wanted silence.After everything I'd done… and everything I'd prevented… the last thing I needed was attention.
At least, that's what I thought—until someone tapped my shoulder.
"I'm glad you're okay, Riku."
I turned around.It was Mina, smiling brightly—genuinely. Even after everything that happened, her smile refused to fade.
I smiled under my mask. She couldn't see it, but I hoped it came through in my voice.
"Same here," I said. "I'm really glad you're okay too."
Before I could add anything else, another voice came from my left.
"Can you not disappear like that next time?"
Jirou was to my left, arms crossed and brow furrowed.
She wasn't angry.
She was... relieved. And she was doing a terrible job of hiding it.
"You really can be an idiot when you want to be, you know that?" she muttered, tapping my arm with a jack. Not hard, just... enough. "But... I'm glad you're all right."
Yaoyorozu, beside her, clasped her hands in front of her chest, taking a deep breath, as if the stress was only just now catching up with her.
"I agree," she added gently. "What you did was very risky... but also very noble. Aizawa-sensei could have..."
She didn't finish the sentence, but everyone understood.
Mina blinked, surprised.
"Huh? What? What did Riku do?"
Jirou looked at me before answering, as if checking whether I was okay with her saying it.
"He went straight into the central zone to pull Aizawa-sensei out."
Mina's eyes went huge.
"…YOU did that? Riku! Are you insane?! They could've turned you into a smear on the floor!"
I raised my hands, uncomfortable.
"It wasn't that big of a deal…"
"It was exactly that big of a deal," Jirou corrected me, pointing at me again. "But… you did what had to be done. So… good job, I guess."
Mina gave me a friendly shove on the shoulder.
"If you ever do something like that again without warning us, I'm pulling your ears," she said, wagging her finger. "But… I'm really happy you're safe."
The three of them looked at me in different ways…concern, relief, a bit of scolding…but all of it sincere.
I didn't know what to say.
Midoriya and Tsuyu walked over before I could think of a clever reply — or even a halfway decent one — for the girls.
Midoriya looked tense.Tsuyu, as always, seemed calm… at least on the outside.
Midoriya spoke the moment he stopped in front of me.
"Riku," he began, his voice still a little tight but without the extreme stutter he usually had when he was really nervous. "I saw what you did. Saving Aizawa-sensei… and distracting the villains too. It was… really impressive."
He paused for a second, searching for the exact words.
"I don't know if I… would've been able to stay that calm," he admitted, glancing at the ground before looking back up. "So… thank you. Really."
I swallowed, feeling more uncomfortable than proud.
"I just did what I had to do," I muttered.
But even I didn't fully believe that.Because the truth — the real one — was a lot less heroic… and much colder.
To be honest, I only saved him because it was necessary.
Aizawa would become one of the key pieces that gave the heroes an advantage against Shigaraki. If he died today, everything I knew about the future would spiral into something much worse. If it weren't for that… I wasn't completely sure I would've taken the risk.
I didn't like seeing people die in front of me. I wasn't a monster.But that didn't mean I was willing to sacrifice myself for them.
If I hadn't come prepared for this situation — if I hadn't calculated escape routes, timing, factors — I probably wouldn't have done anything. That simple. That blunt.
So hearing all these compliments felt… undeserved.Like they were thanking a version of me that didn't exist.
Still… that didn't mean I couldn't use it.
Earning the class's trust was valuable.
Tsuyu nodded and gave me a short compliment… but then she asked the one thing I wished they'd ignored.
"Riku, how did you make those illusions?" she asked, her tone calm but the curiosity way too direct.
My stomach tightened.I knew that question was coming eventually.
The problem was the timing.Revealing my hand with the Sports Festival so close was a terrible idea.But lying or hiding everything didn't feel right either.
It made sense.Everyone who had seen the distraction I used on the villains was curious.Even more because they already knew about another one of my tricks.
During combat training, he had used a fake bomb: a cheap hologram as a decoy.
And it was clear that today's incident was completely different.
Back then, from the control room and from the camera angles, they immediately noticed the bomb was flat, with obvious defects if you looked at it for more than a few seconds. If Jirou hadn't been standing directly in front of the hologram, it probably wouldn't have worked so well.
But today…
Today was different. Much better.If the Nomu hadn't created those air blasts with its huge movements, dispersing the smoke and shifting my drones… they wouldn't have realized the images were projections.And if the Nomu's massive body hadn't blocked Shigaraki's line of sight, he would've noticed the illusion too.
Mental note: improve wind resistance and cover more angles. Urgent.
I took a deep breath.Mina, Momo, Jirou, Tsuyu, and Midoriya were all standing in front of me.Mina hadn't seen what happened, so she was listening with wide eyes, learning everything for the first time.
They all knew I didn't have a quirk.That everything I did was pure technology.And that's exactly why the question was inevitable.
I couldn't tell them everything.But I couldn't lie straight to their faces either.
So I chose a middle ground.
"Well…" I started, rubbing the back of my neck. "Let's just say those illusions weren't 'out of nowhere.' I used drones, projectors, and an upgraded image generator. A lot more refined than the one from training."
Tsuyu blinked, clearly interested.Midoriya leaned forward without even noticing, like he was trying to soak up every word.
"I've been working on it for a while," I continued. "The combat training showed me all the flaws in the old model… so I updated it. Sharper projections, better lighting, perspective correction. Nothing crazy."
Momo opened her mouth, probably to ask something very technical — because of course she would — but she never got the chance.
A familiar voice interrupted her.
"Have the students return to their classrooms," Detective Naomasa ordered, speaking to another officer as he approached. "We won't be questioning them right now."
We all turned toward him.
Tsuyu reacted first, taking a quick step forward.
"Excuse me, detective," she said softly. "How is Aizawa-sensei?"
Naomasa paused, lowered the notepad in his hand slightly, and answered with seriousness, but not harshness.
"He's stable. He has several fractures, some of them severe… but it could have been worse. The doctors say he's not in danger."
Tsuyu let out the breath she'd been holding.She wasn't the only one; even Jirou's shoulders relaxed a bit.
Mina raised her hand immediately, impatient.
"And Thirteen? Are they okay too?"
The detective nodded.
"Yes. The damage to their suit made the injury look worse than it was. They suffered internal harm, but they're out of danger. They'll need rest… but they'll be fine."
After finishing with the officer, the order came for us to return to school.After all the chaos, the smoke, the noise, the fear… the simple act of going back to the locker room and changing into our uniforms felt surreal.Like nothing at the USJ had actually happened.
But the exhaustion… that part was real.
When we regrouped as a class and headed toward the classrooms, the hallway was unusually quiet.
We approached our homeroom door… and there she was.
A girl with pink hair, standing right in front of the entrance, like she'd been waiting for something — or someone.
"Who's she?" someone whispered behind me.
"Maybe she got the wrong class?" another suggested.
And then, inevitably:
"S-she's really voluptuous—"
THWACK!
A small pained yelp made it clear someone had shut Mineta up with a well-deserved hit.Probably Tsuyu or Jirou. Rightfully deserved.
But I couldn't stop staring at the girl.I recognized her instantly.
Mei Hatsume.
She turned around when she heard the group murmur. Her strained smile instantly transformed into a radiant expression... but not because she recognized us all.
No. It was because she saw me.
"ASSISTANT!" she shouted with suicidal enthusiasm.
And before I could even raise an arm to protect myself, she pounced on me.
"What—? Hatsume, wait!"
Too late.
Her hands moved all over my body without any shame, groping, pushing, lifting, examining me as if I were a machine fresh off the assembly line.
And I... I was too tired to react in time.
The entire class froze.
"T-This is..." Yaoyorozu stammered, completely red.
"Stop it right now! It's inappropriate! It's—!" Lida advanced with his hand outstretched, but Mei turned and he missed miserably.
Mina's mouth was open in an "O" shape.
Jirou's headphones were stiff with shock.
Tsuyu blinked as if trying to understand exactly what she was seeing.
And Mineta... Mineta... Well, Mineta fainted because his nose wasn't designed to handle that much blood.
"Hatsume…" I managed to say, leaning back, but she grabbed my waist like she was tightening a loose part.
"Assistant, I nearly had a heart attack when you called for help!" she exclaimed, as unconcerned about her proximity as ever. "Luckily, I called for backup… though it took me a while. Did you know the administration office is three buildings away? There was a meeting of hero teachers happening right then. Anyway… I'm glad you're all right; can you imagine how frustrating it would have been for our babies if you'd broken something?"
"Your what?" Mina whispered, horrified.
"What the hell is she talking about?!" Jirou shouted.
Mei didn't hear anyone.
She never listens to anyone.
She should know that by now.
"But you're fine, perfect!" she continued, slapping me on the back, which bent me forward slightly. "And that means we can make more babies together."
I swallowed hard.
"Shit."