"Momo Yaoyorozu? It's not locked."
Arthur answered.
Click.
The door opened gently.
Momo Yaoyorozu, who usually had her hair tied up in a ponytail, was now wearing it down. Compared to her usual look, she came off as more intellectual.
"Something wrong?"
Arthur asked, glancing back.
Sitting at the bar table on the balcony, he summoned [The World] to pour himself a glass of whiskey on the rocks and pulled out the chair across from him, gesturing for her to sit.
Momo Yaoyorozu pressed her lips together, then sat down across from Arthur Pendragon. After a long pause, she furrowed her brows and asked, "Hey, um… did we… commit a crime?"
"If you're talking about the Quirk regulation laws, then yeah, we did."
Arthur said it like it was nothing.
"I… I kind of knew."
Momo Yaoyorozu folded her hands together, holding them against her chest with a worried look, her brows knit tight. "I checked earlier in the study. Based on how many times I've used my Quirk without permission and hurt people over the past few months… it counts as severe Quirk misuse. That's at least a year in juvenile detention…"
Arthur shrugged with a smirk. "Did you check my charges too?"
Momo Yaoyorozu looked up, staring at him. She bit her lip. "Um, well… based on what you've done… it should be five years or more."
"Pretty terrifying, huh."
Arthur leaned back in his chair, looking completely unconcerned.
"You're… not scared?"
Momo Yaoyorozu's voice started to shake a little.
For a good student like her, someone aiming to be a hero, the idea of committing a crime was basically unthinkable.
Back when she was with Arthur, she'd completely forgotten about any consequences.
It wasn't until Naomasa Tsukauchi and All Might showed up today that she finally snapped back to reality.
"All I know is I've never done anything I regret."
Arthur's tone was rock solid.
He was only chasing greater power. The reason he didn't just go full villain and fight against heroes like Giran had suggested was because he still wanted to live in the sun, not turn into some rat like All For One, hiding in a dark basement.
But if one day the heroes came for him over all this, he wouldn't lose sleep over it.
He made his choice.
"What, having regrets? Or you gonna turn yourself in? Turn yourself in and maybe you get a lighter sentence."
Arthur leaned forward, his teasing grin getting closer to Momo Yaoyorozu's face.
Momo Yaoyorozu's heart started pounding hard. She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head firmly. "No… I don't regret it either."
It's safe to say her mindset had changed.
Even if her personality and ideals hadn't really shifted, the way she thought about things had.
Without power, you couldn't become a hero. She was just targeting people who were dangerous to society.
She hadn't done anything terrible to them. At worst, she was just taking on a hero's responsibilities a little early.
Why call that a "crime"?
Momo Yaoyorozu kept trying to convince herself.
To put it bluntly, she was "quibbling."
But honestly, most people spend a good chunk of their lives doing exactly that.
It was just because she'd spent so much time around Arthur that her thinking had changed this much.
Momo Yaoyorozu from a few months ago never would've thought like this.
Arthur watched her, clearly conflicted and trying hard to justify it to herself.
He suddenly found her pretty amusing. "Relax. My crimes are worse than yours. From now on, we're partners in crime."
"Partners in crime?"
Momo Yaoyorozu looked up, startled, staring at him in confusion.
"Everyone lives to get past fear and anxiety and find some peace of mind. Whether you want to be a hero, or become a hero, it's all for peace of mind. You wanting to be a hero is for peace of mind. All Might protecting the peace is for peace of mind."
Arthur held out his right hand to Momo Yaoyorozu, his smile full of confidence and some strange charm that was hard to describe. "By my side, you don't have to worry about anything. You'll always have peace of mind."
Momo Yaoyorozu just stared blankly at Arthur.
Slowly, she reached out her hand and took his.
Maybe it was the suspension bridge effect?
The soft warmth of her breath made Arthur's face tingle. He leaned in closer, closing the uncomfortable distance.
....
The first rays of morning sunlight fell into the very girlish room.
Just like Arthur, Momo Yaoyorozu naturally woke up once the sun was above the horizon.
Just thinking about last night made her face flush so red it felt like it could boil water.
Thankfully they hadn't gone all the way, so she was safe… Momo patted her chest, then shook her head hard and scolded herself inwardly.
What did she mean "thankfully"?
That guy had stolen her first kiss.
And he even used tongue.
Momo Yaoyorozu threw her down pillow hard, pretending it was a certain someone.
After an unknown amount of time, the maid's voice came from outside the door.
"Miss? Are you not ready yet? Should I bring breakfast to your room today?"
The thought of running into Arthur downstairs immediately crossed her mind.
Momo Yaoyorozu originally wanted to avoid him.
But thinking it over, wouldn't that just make her look scared of him?
Plus they were living in the same mansion now. Unless Arthur Pendragon got kicked out or she locked herself in her room forever, she couldn't avoid seeing him.
After going back and forth in her head, Momo Yaoyorozu finally made up her mind, got dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast like normal.
But at the table, she couldn't bring herself to look up at Arthur Pendragon.
Seeing her daughter acting off, Momo's mother blinked, picking up on the strange atmosphere.
She glanced at her husband. Momo's father cleared his throat and started the conversation. "Uh… Arthur-kun, Momo, are you two heading out to train like usual today?"
"No."
Arthur swallowed a bite of pancake. "We're done with that. I'm planning to rest a bit before starting at UA."
"Oh?"
Momo's father looked surprised.
Ever since Arthur moved in, he'd thought of him as a training maniac.
He never expected to hear the word "rest" from him.
"Then I'll head out."
Arthur put down his knife and fork and stood up.
"Wait, wait, Arthur-kun!"
Momo's mother put her hands on her daughter's shoulders from behind and smiled. "Momo hasn't rested in a long time either. Why don't you two go out together? You're the same age, and you'll be classmates soon. That's perfect, isn't it?"
"Mom!"
Momo Yaoyorozu let out a small shout, a blush flashing across her face.
After what happened last night, going out with him today…
Her heart started racing.
"Alright."
Arthur nodded.
Seeing how calm he looked, Momo Yaoyorozu felt a flash of annoyance again.
This guy did that to her last night and now he was acting like nothing happened?
The driver took them from the Yaoyorozu family's private estate to the public shopping street, and the two got out of the car.
If they'd walked, it would've taken over twenty minutes just to get off the family grounds.
The moment the driver drove away,
Momo Yaoyorozu suddenly felt an arm wrap around her right shoulder, and then Arthur's voice in her ear. "Let's go."
It was natural, casual, like he was so used to doing this that it didn't even faze him.
"This guy… has he done this so much he's completely used to it?"
Seeing Arthur's composed face, Momo couldn't help letting these little thoughts creep in.
A bit of that typical teenage jealousy bubbled up too.
Just like guys want to be a girl's first, girls feel the same way.
Of course, that's more true when you're still young and a little naive.
Feeling him next to her, Momo Yaoyorozu was completely lost.
She just let Arthur lead her around, not even noticing the usual department stores she always liked.
Dessert shops, movie theaters, the seaside path.
When to hold her hand, when to let go.
Arthur was definitely way too smooth.
It made Momo Yaoyorozu feel both embarrassed and annoyed, but it also sparked that jealous thought in her.
This guy had definitely done this with a bunch of other girls before, hadn't he?
Before they realized it, it was almost four in the afternoon, around when students get out of school.
They'd just left the movie theater, where plenty of liberties had been taken.
Momo Yaoyorozu didn't notice that about fifty meters away, a few students in Aldera Junior High uniforms were staring at them with a mix of wariness and envy.
The durian-haired one at the front didn't look jealous or wary. He just looked furious, like he was about to explode.
"Hey, look, isn't that Arthur Pendragon?"
"That guy's already got a spot at UA, so he doesn't even have to go to school. Lucky bastard."
"He's with another girl? Damn! Look at her chest, it's huge!"
"You think you can just act like that because you have a strong Quirk? Getting into UA and landing a girl like that?"
Just as the group of nameless extras were showing their bitter faces,
the enraged durian-head roared, "Shut up! You idiots!"
Looking ahead, he saw Arthur had already turned to look at them.
With a smug smirk on his face, one arm still around Momo Yaoyorozu, his other hand gave them a thumbs up… then pointed it straight down.
"Damn it!!!"
Katsuki Bakugo immediately tried to charge forward but got held back by the students behind him.
It wasn't the same two from before. He never really lacked followers anyway.
"Katsuki! There are cameras here!"
"If you do anything, you'll break the Quirk regulation laws, and getting into UA will be way harder!"
Hearing that, Katsuki Bakugo stopped in his tracks and cooled off instantly.
When he looked ahead again, Arthur Pendragon had already led Momo Yaoyorozu away.
"You bastard, enjoy it while you can. Once we're at UA, I'm gonna kill you!"
Katsuki Bakugo yelled in the direction Arthur had left.
But he had no idea that just yesterday, Arthur had been going through training on a level he couldn't even imagine.
...
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GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.