The cafeteria was full of its usual noise at lunchtime. At their usual table, Momo's small group had gathered.
Komi leaned back in her chair, balancing on the two back legs.
"So," she said casually, "Momo is going to U.A. next year. What about you, Junsei? Where are you going?"
Junsei lifted his head from his plate. "I am going with Momo."
Komi's eyes widened so suddenly that she nearly tipped her chair back. "Really?!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know you wanted to be a hero!"
"I don't," Junsei replied flatly. "I am going to General Studies. I will never be a hero. I will never protect humans."
Momo turned to Komi. "What about you? Are you going to try to give U.A. a shot?"
Komi shook her head immediately. "Nah. U.A. is not for me. I know my limits." She straightened, a mischievous glint returning to her eyes. "But let's not change the subject."
Her gaze drifted back to Junsei. "So, do you have any idea what you want to be in the future?"
Junsei answered. "I will live peacefully in a forest."
Komi stared at him for a second, then sighed. "I don't know why I expected something more from you. Well, I suppose we should be grateful as long as you don't end up leading the animal kingdom in an uprising."
Momo sighed deeply. "You two are hopeless."
Komi chuckled, while Junsei returned his attention to his sweets, eating with quiet dedication. Leaning forward, Komi clapped her hands lightly. "Alright, new topic. Did you hear about the middle school basketball competition? Tomorrow is the final match, and it's against Somei Private Academy."
She lowered her voice slightly, as if sharing a grave secret. "I heard they're good at everything sport-related. They always win the yearly competitions. Our school lost to them in the finals for the last three years." She glanced between her friends. "So, will you come watch the match tomorrow?"
"No," Momo said immediately. "I'd rather spend my time studying. The term exams are approaching."
Komi turned expectantly to Junsei. He didn't even look up.
She sighed dramatically. "You two are no fun. I'll go pester Saji instead."
Just as she said it, a shadow fell across the table. Mr. Yajiro appeared beside them, arms crossed. He looked straight at Junsei. "Mori, I would…"
"No, I won't," Junsei said calmly, cutting him off.
Mr. Yajiro's eye twitched, his mouth still half-open from the unfinished sentence.
Momo frowned. "Mr. Yajiro, Junsei has refused to join the team for the last three years. Please respect his choice. Not to mention, we're about to graduate in a month."
Mr. Yajiro glanced at her briefly, then dismissed her entirely, focusing back on Junsei. "I've spoken with the principal and received his approval. If you join us and help us win the match tomorrow, we'll buy you every kind of sweet we can find in Japan." His voice grew intense. "A whole truck full of it."
For the first time, Junsei's head turned toward him, eyes full with interest.
"Mr. Yajiro!" Momo protested. "Are you bribing a student with sweets? How…"
"Ms. Yaoyorozu," Mr. Yajiro interrupted, his voice rising, "we've been losing to that damned school for years. Humiliated. Mocked. If bribing is what it takes to win, then so be it. Even our wise principal has grown tired of enduring their smug looks." He straightened. "If you have even an ounce of loyalty to this school, you'll support us in convincing your expressionless cousin to help, at any cost."
Momo and Komi stared at him in stunned silence. Nearby students had begun to watch openly, whispers rippling through the cafeteria.
Junsei finally spoke. "Okay, I will play," he said evenly, "if you give me a truck of sweets."
Momo turned to him, disappointment written clearly across her face. "Sweets all it took to change your opinion?"
Mr. Yajiro blinked. "Really? You agree?"
Junsei nodded. "I can bear humans for food."
Mr. Yajiro stood there, momentarily speechless, wondering why he hadn't thought of this solution years ago.
Komi cleared her throat. "Um… Mr. Yajiro. The match is tomorrow. Can you even put Junsei on the team at the last minute?"
Mr. Yajiro waved a hand dismissively. "He's been on the roster for the last three years," he said. "He just hasn't shown up to a single match."
Komi and Momo were left utterly speechless.
Junsei, meanwhile, had already lost interest in the conversation. His thoughts were elsewhere. It was on sweets, glorious and plentiful, the finest thing humans had ever produced.
——————
The next day and by the time the court filled with the audience on both sides, Junsei was already standing in place, observing the people and the noise they were generating. He wore his school's team uniform, surrounded by students whose names he did not know before yesterday. A few steps ahead of them stood Mr. Yajiro, clad in a training uniform bearing the school emblem.
"This year," Mr. Yajiro declared, clapping his hands once, "will be our victory. Remember, just throw the ball to Junsei like we trained yesterday and let him score. We will crush them."
The team nodded in unison, excitement flickering across their faces. Everyone nodded except Junsei, who remained as expressionless as ever.
Mr. Yajiro noticed. He strode over and placed a firm hand on Junsei's shoulder, then pointed toward the opposing team warming up nearby.
"Look at their smug looks," he said in a low, heated voice. "These are bad humans as you like to put it. When you look at them, don't you have the urge to destroy them?"
Junsei followed his gaze. After a moment, he replied slowly "Yes."
Mr. Yajiro blinked, surprised by the agreement, but there was no time to linger on it. His mouth twisted into a smile. "Good. Make them remember you as the worst thing that ever happened in their lives. Keep scoring until they lose the will to play."
Junsei nodded.
Soon, the two teams took their places on the court as the referee stepped into the center. Students, and even a few teachers, from both schools filled the seats on either side, cheers and chants rising in uneven waves.
The referee tossed the ball into the air, and the match began.
Somei Private Academy struck first. The ball was passed cleanly to one of their players, who charged down the left side with impressive speed. Junsei stood on the right, watching calmly as the player slipped past his teammates and scored three points almost effortlessly.
In that moment, Junsei understood: winning his sweets would not be easy. His team was not strong, at least, not compared to their opponents. If he wanted to win, he would have to put in effort.
He began moving back toward his team's hoop.
A teammate spotted him and, with little hesitation, threw the ball in his direction. Junsei turned, eyes settling on the opponent's hoop far across the court. The opposing players were already setting themselves, waiting to defend.
Without warning, Junsei lifted the ball with one arm and threw it.
The ball sailed through the air in a perfect arc and dropped cleanly through the hoop.
For a heartbeat, the entire court fell silent. Then Junsei's side erupted in cheers, voices colliding in disbelief and triumph. Across the court, students from Somei stared, dumbfounded. One boy with glasses, sitting among the bench players, sprang to his feet.
"How is this possible?!" he shouted. "They're cheating!"
No one paid him any attention. Most dismissed it as a fluke.
The match continued, with Somei pressing forward again. They charged hard, pushing through the middle of the court as Junsei's team scrambled to block them. The player at the center, trapped and out of options, passed the ball to a teammate on the right and froze.
A hand appeared between them, catching the ball mid-pass.
Junsei.
Before either player could react, Junsei threw the ball again, one-handed, from the center of the court. It flew in the same flawless arc and slipped through the hoop.
Silence crushed one side of the court. On the other, cheers exploded louder than before.
This time, Somei did not stay quiet. Accusing shouts erupted.
"He's cheating!"
"He's using a quirk!"
Even the referee frowned deeply at Junsei, eyes narrowing, but the whistle did not sound. Play resumed.
And within seconds, it happened again, Junsei intercepted the ball and landed another three points with impossible accuracy.
That was when the referee finally blew the whistle, raising his hand.
The match came to a halt.
The referee strode toward Junsei, his whistle clenched tightly in his hand and suspicion written plainly across his face.
"Scoring three times in a row like this," he said sharply, "is not a coincidence."
Junsei looked at him, unblinking. "Yes," he replied calmly. "It is not."
The referee's frown deepened. "So you admit cheating?"
Instead of answering, Junsei turned his head toward Mr. Yajiro and pointed at the referee, saying nothing at all.
The gesture drew an angry flush to the referee's face, and Mr. Yajiro felt a jolt of deja vu. For a fleeting moment, he was reminded of the first time he had ever seen Junsei, wasn't it similar to this back then? The same silence and annoying disregard. Yes, Junsei improved a little compared to then, but the disrespectful roots were still there.
Around them, the audience fractured into chaos. One side erupted into boos, shouting for punishment, demanding the "cheater" be thrown out of the match. The other side roared just as loudly, insisting it was unfair, claiming their player was simply better.
From the edge of the court, Somei's coach marched forward, his voice sharp with indignation. "I never expected you would sink so low as to cheat in a competition like this."
Mr. Yajiro turned on him at once. "That's exactly what a sore loser would say," he snapped. "Bring proof before accusing others."
Somei's coach scowled. "To lie so brazenly!" he shot back. "Do you think no one can prove he's cheating? Have you forgotten what my quirk is?"
Mr. Yajiro narrowed his eyes and gestured toward the referee. "My student didn't cheat, nor did he use a quirk. This man here can detect quirk usage within a certain distance. He will be the proof of my word."
Both the referee and Somei's coach looked taken aback by Yajiro's confidence. The referee glanced uncertainly at the opposing coach, who nodded once. "Fine," he said. "I can detect quirk usage within a thirty-meter radius."
He activated his quirk, and a glowing circle expanded from his body, spreading outward until it covered the entire court, and even reached the nearest rows of the audience.
Mr. Yajiro smirked. "Junsei," he called, "since we're doing this, we might as well do it like we trained. Why don't you show them a backward shot?"
Junsei nodded.
Confusion rippled through the court. Almost instantly, one of Junsei's teammates passed him the ball, as if he had been waiting for this exact moment. Junsei walked calmly to the center of the court, turned his back to the hoop, and without looking threw the ball behind him with both hands.
It soared in a flawless arc and dropped cleanly through the hoop.
Shock swept across the court.
"How is this possible?" Somei's coach gasped.
Mr. Yajiro smiled, pride gleaming in his eyes. "As long as the hoop is within his shooting range, he will succeed. This is not his quirk. Just pure talent."
Somei's coach opened his mouth, then closed it again. At last, he turned to the referee. "This is ridiculous."
The referee hesitated, then said, "If there is no quirk involved… then it is fair."
The match resumed, with Somei's coach keeping his quirk active for as long as he could. Yet no matter how closely he watched, he detected no quirk activation, no trace of cheating. Junsei, meanwhile, dominated the court. His speed, jump height, reaction time, and scoring skill far outmatched everyone else, and to make it worse, he showed no sign of tiring.
By the time the final whistle blew, the match had ended in a crushing, one-sided victory. Everyone knew it was because of a single tireless inhuman monster.
Mr. Yajiro felt relief and pride winning this damn competition at last, and couldn't wait to act all smug. As for him bribing Junsei with a truck full of sweets, it was just part of his ironclad strategy.