"I think we need to confirm who you're talking about, All Might."
Tsukauchi's voice was serious.
All Might blinked, then nodded. "Yeah… alright."
Two hours later, they were sitting in the main hall of the Yaoyorozu family mansion.
Momo's parents were across from Tsukauchi and All Might.
"Mr. Yaoyorozu, Mrs. Yaoyorozu, sorry for dropping in unannounced."
Tsukauchi shook hands with Momo's dad. They'd met before.
"Good to see you, Tsukauchi."
Momo's dad glanced at All Might, clearly a little starstruck. "I didn't expect you to come in person."
All Might was in his buff form, obviously.
Even though the Yaoyorozu family was one of the biggest business empires in the world, they still knew better than to brush off a hero like All Might. In a world full of Quirks, power basically was authority.
If Momo's dad had money, All Might had raw strength.
"So… what brings you two here?"
Momo's mom poured tea and asked with a smile.
"Do you know where Arthur Pendragon is? The one staying with you?"
Tsukauchi got straight to the point.
"Arthur? He left with Momo this morning."
Momo's dad answered without hesitation. He didn't seem to expect the question.
"With Yaoyorozu?"
Tsukauchi frowned instinctively.
"Yeah."
Momo's mom nodded. "Arthur-kun's been teaching her how to train for the past few months. She's improved a lot."
"Oh? I'd love to see how young Arthur trains her."
All Might flashed his signature grin. "What kind of training is it?"
There was something about All Might that made it hard to dodge his questions.
"We… don't really know. Momo never told us."
Momo's mom looked a little helpless.
"Do you want us to call them back?"
Momo's dad offered.
"No, we can wait."
Tsukauchi held up a hand. He didn't want to give away why they were really here.
---
Kanagawa. Some sketchy district.
Arthur leaned against a wall on the street.
Not far away, Momo was surrounded by four thugs.
She flicked her right hand and created a staff. Less than a second, way faster than the four or five seconds it used to take her. She blocked one guy's blade, twisted her wrist, and forced his dagger down.
Thud.
The staff slammed into his shoulder. He yelped and dropped to one knee.
The other three rushed in.
If this was Momo from a few months ago, she'd probably be panicking right now.
But she stayed calm.
She spun and chucked the staff, nailing one guy in the ankle. He cried out and hit the ground.
Then she bent low, slipped between the other two, and pressed her hands against her sides.
A soft pink glow. Two small pistols materialized in her palms.
She spun around.
The last two thugs froze with gun barrels pressed to the backs of their heads.
Seven seconds. Done.
"Uh… b-boss? We, uh, finished training with your girl. Can we go now?"
The two thugs were shaking, staring at Arthur by the street.
Momo's face went bright red instantly.
Arthur just waved his hand.
"Fuck off"
The thugs grabbed their buddies and bolted like their lives depended on it.
"You did good today. Took them out before they could even use their Quirks. That's pretty much everything I can teach you."
Arthur walked up to Momo and said it straight.
For some reason, Momo felt a little disappointed.
Did that mean they wouldn't train together anymore?
"Let's go."
Arthur turned and headed toward the station.
Momo hurried after him.
Somewhere along the way, she'd gotten used to walking behind him.
---
About an hour and a half later.
They got back to the Yaoyorozu estate.
"I'm home."
Momo called out automatically.
"Momo! Come in quick. All Might and Tsukauchi are here to see you and Arthur-kun."
Her mom's voice came from the living room.
"Huh?"
Momo froze mid-shoe-removal.
Arthur raised an eyebrow too. In his experience, cops showing up never meant anything good.
They sat down. Momo next to her mom, Arthur on a single sofa by himself.
"So. We're here about those weird combat incidents that've been happening across the country the past few months."
Tsukauchi pulled out photos, the same ones he'd shown All Might at U.A. "Every few weeks, we find huge traces of fighting. Over-the-top damage, super obvious. No one's reported anything, but the Hero Association and the police are keeping an eye on it."
Momo's heart started pounding.
Two of those photos showed scenes she recognized.
Oh crap.
Out of all the photos Tsukauchi laid out, Momo immediately recognized two scenes she'd been at.
Classic Arthur move: beat the targets within an inch of their lives and just walk off. The "training dummies" could still move, so obviously they booked it the first chance they got.
Maybe it was one of those "you are what you hang around" situations. After spending months with Arthur, Momo had somehow forgotten the Quirk regulation laws she used to know by heart.
Using your Quirk without a license or supervision, and actually hurting people with it? That's a pretty serious crime.
Even Bakugo, as much of a hothead as he is, understood that. No matter how much he hated Midoriya, he never actually used his Quirk on him. Just ran his mouth.
Thinking back on the "training" she and Arthur had been doing for months, Momo's back went cold. She stared at the floor, not saying anything, but her whole body was shaking slightly.
Right when Momo was too freaked out to speak, Arthur grabbed her hand, stood up, and turned to her mom. "Sorry, she looks kind of tired. Mind if she heads to her room?"
Tsukauchi and All Might both blinked.
With their experience, they obviously noticed something was off with Momo.
But they didn't expect Arthur to move before they could even ask anything.
Luckily, Momo's parents didn't seem to notice anything weird about their daughter. When Arthur said that and they saw she looked a bit off, they just told the maid to take her upstairs.
Tsukauchi wasn't there to interrogate a suspect anyway, so he couldn't exactly stop her from leaving.
At the same time, he couldn't help but be more suspicious of Arthur. The guy handled cops way too smoothly.
Didn't seem like a student at all.
Arthur spoke up first. "So these are battle traces? That's wild. Honestly, I'd say only heroes in the top 20 could pull something like this, right?"
"Not exactly, young Arthur."
All Might cut in. "This level of power would put someone in the top 15. Maybe higher."
"Really? That's scary."
Arthur had this casual smile on his face. "All Might, did you come to warn us to be careful outside? Don't worry. I'm not as strong as you, but I can take care of myself."
"Uh..."
All Might was at a loss.
Interrogation was not his strong suit.
"I heard your Quirk is pretty strong too, Arthur Pendragon. Do you think you could cause something like this?"
Tsukauchi asked, like it was just a casual question.
But that question made Momo's parents realize something was off.
"Well..."
Arthur dragged out the word, like he was thinking about it. "I don't know. I'm always trying to push my limits. If I can't do it today, maybe I can tomorrow."
An answer that said nothing.
Calling him a fifteen-year-old felt wrong. He was more like a sly fox.
No matter how Tsukauchi asked, Arthur didn't give him any opening.
In the end, without any evidence, Tsukauchi and All Might had to leave.
The high-priority criminals who could go toe-to-toe with Arthur were also really good at hiding. Otherwise the police would've caught them by now.
And with info from people like Giran, it was even harder to pin anything on Arthur.
---
On the way back to U.A., All Might was back in his skinny form.
He looked worried. "Tsukauchi, do you suspect young Arthur?"
"Being suspicious is part of the job."
Tsukauchi nodded, then asked, "After meeting him today, do you think he could be the one?"
All Might thought for a few seconds. "His muscles and the way he carries himself are completely different from a few months ago. He's definitely been through some intense training."
Training on the same level as Midoriya's, he added silently.
"So you think he's capable of it too."
Tsukauchi's voice was serious.
"Tsukauchi... what are you going to do?"
All Might's brow furrowed even more.
He didn't think Arthur was as focused on being a hero as Midoriya, but he was still someone worth nurturing. They shouldn't push him toward the wrong side.
"Relax. I've got a plan. But from now on, he needs to be watched."
All Might nodded. That was probably the best they could do.
'Don't go down the wrong path, young Arthur...' The car drove toward U.A. in the sunset, and All Might kept thinking.
---
Inside Arthur's room at the Yaoyorozu mansion.
"So there's less than two months until the U.A. entrance exam?"
Arthur flipped through a calendar, muttering to himself.
That cop was definitely suspicious of him.
Maybe he could take the next month or so as a vacation?
Once he got into U.A., with Class 1-A's natural ability to attract villains like a magnet, he wouldn't need to travel all over the country looking for "dummies."
They'd come to him.
Knock Knock
"Um... Arthur-kun? Are you... are you asleep?"
Just as Arthur was about to change into his pajamas, a knock came from the door, followed by Momo's voice.
...
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