~Kotaro Hakari~
As I stepped inside the monitoring room, numerous faces greeted me in excitement while All Might himself looked uneasy. The most notable faces that approached me were Kirishima, Mina, Toga and Tsuyu.
They congratulated me on my victory and said things about what was expected. I appreciated their sentiments, but I wasn't all that stoked about a victory of pure chance. I didn't prove myself to be stronger than Bakugou exactly, just more experienced. After the rest gradually drifted away from me, Mina approached me with a guilty face.
"Hey Hakari-kun, sorry I wasn't able to help much in the fight."
I shook my head and patted the sad bubblegum-flavoured girl on the back.
"I wouldn't say that, Mina. If my teammate were someone whom I couldn't trust to guard the bomb, I couldn't have gone out as recklessly as I did."
That seemed to perk up Mina, and I was only half lying. I could have done the same thing with just about any teammate, but Mina was in the upper half of the teammate tier list, so I had an easier time.
"If you say so! But I won't be left a sitting duck next time, just so you know. And since I feel bad for leaving it all to you today, Hakari-kun, let's go out to eat ramen together with Toga-chan and Kirishima-kun, it's my treat!"
"Sure, thanks, Mina-chan."
Mina grinned and slapped my back with a light blush.
"No, thank you sticky stuff. Without you I wouldn't have gotten to hear Bakugou-kun eat cement. Serves him right!"
The Bakugou in question was currently receiving a stern glare and a shake of his head from All Might in the corner, which seemed to utterly decimate his spirit.
Speaking of Bakugou, there was the matter of his teammate that was gnawing on my mind.
"You go on ahead Mina, I got someone I gotta see."
Mina looked confused but obliged regardless. At the same time, I went towards the back of the room and found my target.
One Momo Yaoyorozu quietly sulking in the back of the room with her back against the wall.
I discreetly peered at the messages around Momo's feet, which painted a very vivid image of what she seemed to be feeling.
'Insecurity ahead, consolation needed.'
'Treasured co-operater, therefore help.'
'Sad :('
'Large Chest ahead, try double-wielding'
Hmm, I probably am not the best person to cheer up someone. I am definitely not the most emotionally sensitive person out there, but hey, nothing would be hurt by me trying, or maybe Momo's feelings would get hurt. Well, her feelings are already hurt, so not much to lose on that front.
I approached the girl while my hand slipped into my bag of holding stuffed into my pant pocket, and retrieved a can of Diet Coke that was called Super Fizz Bizz Soda Lite Edition, with the hero Fizz Bizz on the front of the can. I held a can towards her when she noticed my presence.
"Hakari-kun? Where did you get that? Did you pick it up on the way back?"
She curiously took the soda from my hands and inspected it, turning it around in her hands.
"I don't usually have many opportunities to drink something like this."
Momo curiously opened the can with the tab and took a sip while I answered her previous question.
"I used my bag of holding instead. See? It's an item my quirk gave me; it has more space on the inside. I keep quite a lot of stuff in there."
I pulled the gold-like cloth bag out of my pocket, making Momo's eyes widen. I handed the pouch over to her as she looked over it in undisguised curiosity.
"How wonderful, your quirk is remarkable as always, Hakari-kun. I cannot fathom how an inanimate object can work like that. I know of some of the wondrous U-Island inventions, but none compare to such an anomaly."
She handed the backpack back over to me, and I shoved it into my pocket before leaning on the wall next to her and opening my own can.
"Alright, since I answered your question, mind me asking my own? Why are you lookin' so down? I know losing the exercise can sting but I feel like 's not all."
Momo scratched her cheek rather meekly.
"Was it so obvious? I'm sorry if I showed you a disgraceful sight. It's just that... I was not able to do anything in the battle trial, yet my partner managed to almost win all on his own. He didn't even see it fit to include me in his plans. Claiming I was too useless."
Ah, classic Bakugou.
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, literally anyone else than me and Todoroki who would have physically fought him wouldn't have been able to cooperate with him. Trying to reach an agreement with him is like trying to convince a dynamite not to explode."
Despite my words, Momo did seem very convinced.
"The point still stands that I failed to adapt to my partner, which was a part of the exercise. And I also failed to achieve anything meaningful in the exercise, especially when you appeared in front of me and I froze up. I was too late to come up with anything to use against you, and I cannot help but think of what could have happened if that were a real scenario."
Oh yeah, that would definitely be a hit to your pride, especially when you are one of the few special recommendation students.
"That's why we are in school, aren't we? So that we can train to handle such situations in exercises like that, it'd hardly be a good lesson if you didn't learn anything."
"Maybe that's true, Hakari-kun. But looking at you and Bakugou-kun's performances, I cannot help but feel inadequate. I envy your ability to seamlessly use so many possible abilities so effectively. Switching your quirk is a conscious choice, yet you were able to use it so cleverly without hesitation."
"My quirk requires me to recall the exact structure of the object I am trying to create, so it hampers my ability to think in an emergency, but that is no excuse. Does that make sense to you?"
It felt a bit unfair for her to compare her plight to mine; unlike her, my ability to make split-second decisions was largely forged from years of practical experience. It was not really fair to her that I existed. And it was closer to me lifting a finger than Momo having to think of an atomic structure.
But at the same time, I could use this opportunity to get closer to her. Always pays off to be around rich and naive people.
"If that's the case, Momo-chan, you wanna train together?"
Her eyes brightened as she turned to me.
"Really, Hakari-kun? What are you thinking of?"
"You did just say you want to use your ability quickly like me, right? I thought I could teach you some tricks if we practised together. I have some ideas about how you could make better use of your abilities, so that you can deal with ambushes 'n stuff better, y'know?"
She moved a step closer to me and looked very excited, like a child being told they would be going to Jizneyland. Stars in her eyes and all.
"If it won't be a bother, I would really appreciate that!"
I had to crane my head back and avert my eyes from Momo's chest bouncing very generously with her excitement. Thankfully, everyone else was watching the screens instead of paying attention to us, except for Toga who gave a cheshire grin at the sight that gave me polarising vibes.
"'Course not, you'd never be a bother, Momo-chan. When do you wanna do this?"
She blushed lightly and took a step back, realising how close she was, but she still looked visibly brighter.
"Thank you very much, Hakari-kun, you are a true friend! Would it be possible for you to come to my parents' mansion on Saturday at 9 AM? If you could, we could train together until the afternoon, and we could um... hang out together if you would like? I rarely have guests over."
Taking a moment to examine my rather barren schedule in my mental calender I gave Momo a thumbs upç
"Sure thing, Momo-chan, you sure your parents would be okay with having me around though?"
"Of course! I don't see why they wouldn't, Hakari-kun. Do you know where to find the mansion? It's the Yaoyorozu Mansion in the Bespin prefecture. Once you arrive, the guards should let you in!"
Man, imagine being the type of rich that you don't even need to give someone an address, just tell them it's THE mansion in said prefecture.
"Sure Momo-chan, I'll be there."
"I'm glad to hear that Hakari-kun! Now then, excuse me, I plan to watch the rest of the trials. If you would like to join me, feel free to."
I waved her off as she walked away while I stood in place. I looked at the screen to see Electricity Man and Jiro fighting against Sugar Man and Tsuyu. Currently Jiro was performing reconnaissance but I wasn't particularly interested; instead, I opted to test out my new ability. I slotted in Piercing Eyes and knew how to use my ability. I looked at the wall and poured energy into my eyes.
The wall started turning transparent, revealing the circuitry beneath. I looked past that too as it vanished, now I looked into the dirt. I decided to turn my gaze upwards and looked through the ceiling, and then another, and then another, and then another until I saw the sky from the basement of the multi-story building.
But I had to say it was pretty damn uncomfortable to look through so many things. The more material I wanted to see, the more strain it put on my eyes, like looking into progressively brighter and brighter light. It also had an energy drain but compared to Candy Paramecia, it was practically nothing.
Now then, time for the fine-tune test.
I averted my gaze to Ochako and turned on Piercing Eyes, and I saw her bones, yuck. It took a bit of fine-tuning for me to be able to stop looking into her pulsing organs and musculature until I was finally able to fine-tune the ability to see through only her Hero Costume, and boy, it was worth it.
Hmm? I am wasting the gift of the gacha by using it for such paltry things like peeking at girls?
Pal, I already wasted my life on debauchery; this is far less egregious.
I took a moment to admire her curvy and shapely body. She wasn't as athletic as a girl like Tsuyu or Mina, but that was definitely fine with me. Variety is the spice of life, and damn did I like some spicy food.
Speaking of variety, I turned my head to the most unique-looking girl in the class. Or the one who didn't look like anything at all. I look at the floating pair of gloves and the pair of boots. Could I use my ability to see through her? Maybe. Depending on how her quirk worked.
I never did read the series long enough to see what she looked like.
My gaze locked onto her body, and I immediately saw promise. I could see her organs. That meant she was not transparent but instead probably bent light around herself, some sort of field maybe. Slowly, I slowly zoomed out the piercing effect of the ability until...
"Whoa..."
Revealed to me was quite possibly one of the cutest girls I have ever seen, and that list included Toga and my classmates. She had yellow-green hair that looked like a gradient with pink parts of it; it was really pretty. She had bushy eyelashes the same colour as her hair, and her big eyes were almost mystical; they had a similar gradient to her hair, but more colourful, with an inner yellow layer that faded to a green outer layer.
And her body was excellent, like a model, perfectly proportioned, not very athletic, but enough to complement her shape very well. But even I was too busy admiring her eyes to take a good look at her model-like body.
It was a crime that such a beauty was hidden from the world.
"?"
As if noticing something was off, or experiencing the sensation of someone properly staring at her, Toru turned to me with a confused expression on her beautiful face. She blinked a few times, and then we made eye contact.
"!?"
Her face was overtaken by surprise, and I quickly averted my eyes, not knowing what to do, which, yeah, probably gave her confirmation as to the fact that I actually looked at her.
Oh boy, what to do now?
A/N: Date with Momo set! Cute, sexy sheltered girls are cute and sexy, Hakari may not think he does, but he is actually pretty good at talking to people. It will definitely be fun to write their sparring date when it happens. I have some good ideas for Momo.
Speaking of ideas, Hakari actually got a roll that lets him see Hagakure, which is very lucky. Now then, how will he handle a very attention-seeking girl starved for proper human contact? I guess we will find out in the next chapter.
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