Due to several U.A. teachers and students being injured, classes were suspended for a week.
Since Allen had free time, he decided to spend it focusing more on being a vigilante, gaining even more fame like Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman.
On the third day, Allen decided to change his routine and went to visit Koichi, which somehow ended up turning into Spartan training at a garbage dump.
....
"I can't take it anymore!"
Koichi fell flat on his back, sweating and panting as if he had been walking through the Sahara Desert for days.
"At this rate, you won't become a competent vigilante, Koichi-kun, also, the ground is dirty." Allen mocked him while eating a peanut from a bag.
"Ugh, I know," Koichi clenched his teeth and tried to get up. "Last time... I barely managed to use repulsion out of sheer luck. I don't think I can pull it off again."
The bag of peanuts disappeared from Allen's hands.
"Let me show you how you're supposed to do it," Allen smiled before summoning a gray card in his hand. Koichi felt a bad premonition and tried to back away, but he tripped.
"No!"
The card shattered into fragments of light. Soon, the air around Allen changed. His light gray eyes turned blue. His hair, which had been white with a slightly gray tint, became completely white.
Allen raised his index and middle fingers, aligning them in front of him.
"In short, what I want you to do is this."
Koichi got up and tried to run when he saw a small red sphere forming above Allen's fingers.
"Cursed Technique Reversal... Red."
It was too late.
The sphere exploded, generating a repulsive force that destroyed everything in its path. Mountains of trash were blown into the air.
"What?!"
Koichi felt like he was witnessing the end of the world as thousands of tons of garbage flew skyward.
Allen laughed, teleported, and grabbed Koichi by the collar, reappearing standing in the sky with him.
"What are you doing?!"
"Your Quirk allows you to attract and repel. It's similar to the convergence and divergence of Limitless... that's what I'm trying to show you!"
Allen smiled broadly and extended his hand.
"Cursed Technique Lapse... Blue!"
This time, a blue sphere of energy formed in Allen's hand, creating a massive attraction that gathered all the airborne trash, concentrating and compressing it into a single point.
Once Allen was done, he threw it into the sky.
"This part might not be possible with your Quirk, but I'll show it to you anyway..."
Allen brought his hands together, and two spheres—one blue and one red—appeared behind him.
Koichi backed away, using his Quirk to slide through the air, without taking his eyes off Allen.
"By making both infinite forces collide, I can create an imaginary mass... Hollow Technique: Purple."
"What?!"
Koichi was thrown back by a shockwave as he watched a massive purple sphere fly toward the sphere of trash. The moment it made contact, the trash disintegrated instantly.
Koichi turned pale. "Something like that is extremely dangerous!"
"It's nostalgic..." Allen smiled.
What could be considered his first step into the world had been that fight against Doomsday, and it had all been thanks to Gojo Satoru. Without him, Allen would never have understood Limitless—and he would have died.
That was also the moment Allen stopped thinking of his journey as a game and realized he was gambling with his life.
"It's a shame..." he murmured.
The Jujutsu Kaisen world Allen had encountered had already concluded its main story. It was a world where Gojo had died, making it impossible to meet him alive—a world where Sukuna had also died, meaning he couldn't take revenge on that bastard.
Even if he went to that world, there would be nothing he could do to repay Gojo, unless he broke his rule and altered the past, or the world was reset by external forces (Lucifer), but even then, would it be the same Gojo he had known?
Of course, Allen had summoned Gojo and his students to Record of Ragnarok, so at least in the form of a soul, he had been able to see him.
....
"Ahh!"
Koichi, who still wasn't very good at flying, lost control and began to fall.
The young man felt his heart leap into his throat as the ground rushed closer and closer, but at the last moment, his fall stopped. When he opened his eyes, he saw hard concrete an inch from his nose.
"Were you planning to die?" Allen tossed Koichi onto the ground.
"Ouch! You're the one who dragged me into the sky in the first place!" Koichi snapped. Despite his passive and unassertive personality, he couldn't help getting angry.
Allen shook his head. "When you're in mortal danger, it's easier to break your limits. It's common sense."
"This isn't a shonen manga!"
"..."
"I seriously thought I was going to die."
"Koichi, didn't you say you're a fan of All Might?"
"I am! I have all his figures, his limited-edition jacket collection... except one, I have—"
"Then why do you keep placing limits on yourself?"
"...!"
"Koichi, do you know what happened three days ago?"
"You mean the villain attacks all over the city? Yeah, I know."
"Then why do you think All Might, the number one hero, didn't participate? Was he a coward? Did he run away from his responsibility?"
"Never!" Koichi snapped. He could tolerate any insult except one aimed at his idol. In that sense, he was just like Deku. "He had to be somewhere fighting!"
Allen smiled mysteriously...
"Fighting... yes, that happened. But it was more than just facing a villain."
Allen proceeded to tell him what had happened at U.A. With every word, Koichi's eyes widened more and more. At one point, he even slammed his fist into the ground when he learned that All Might had nearly been killed. Allen also revealed All Might's current condition.
Koichi fell silent, fists clenched.
"And yet, despite everything—despite his broken body—he never gave up." Allen walked up to the kneeling Koichi. "In this world, there are many kinds of heroes, and none of them are wrong. In the end, someone who works as a hero just to earn a living and an idealist can save the same lives."
"However, when things get tough—when your own life is at risk, when there's truly an insurmountable wall ahead, when only pain awaits—that's when a hero's true essence is revealed."
"Koichi, what kind of vigilante... what kind of hero do you want to be?"
"I..."
Koichi helped people with simple things like assisting elderly women across the street, picking up trash, and other tasks that could be considered volunteer work. But deep down, he had always wanted to be a hero. Unfortunately, he had convinced himself that wasn't his destiny and had settled for being a "nice guy."
Allen watched him silently before turning away.
"When you have your answer, I'll help you train again."
"Wait, Allen-san!" Koichi stood up, his gaze resolute.
Allen smiled faintly before turning back.
"What?"
"If my Quirk were to evolve, would I be able to do the same things you do?"
"Yeah. Infinity and Purple might not be possible with your Quirk, but Red and Blue are essentially similar—it's just the difference between a candle and a wildfire..." Allen narrowed his eyes. "It depends on you, Koichi Haimawari. Are you willing to gamble your life to become a wildfire?"
"I am!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Allen laughed and released a massive amount of cursed energy, slamming Koichi against the concrete wall behind him.
"Argh!"
Koichi felt his chest being crushed, unable to breathe. His body began to sink into the wall as it cracked and broke.
"Ahh!"
Koichi screamed as he received the same treatment Hanami had from Gojo. Luckily, the garbage dump was empty—otherwise, people would have panicked.
"Come on, Koichi. You have to repel my cursed energy, or you'll die!"
Allen showed no mercy and took another step forward, crushing Koichi further against the wall using nothing but his cursed energy.
"What happened to PLUS ULTRA?!" Allen smiled sadistically.
Koichi turned pale. He had seen Allen do things that defied common sense before, but this time was different—because he wasn't standing beside Allen. He was facing him.
"What's wrong, Sky Crawler?! Are you just going to stay there and die?!" Allen released killing intent as he mocked him. "If this is All Might's number two fan, then he's pathetic trash!"
"Ah!"
Koichi felt his blood boil at Allen's words. Combined with his survival instinct, something within his Quirk began to change—or perhaps awaken would be a better word.
"It's true... I wanted to be a hero!"
'Just a little more...' Allen thought.
"You know, Koichi, All For One said he wouldn't just kill All Might—he'd display his head as a trophy so no one would ever challenge him again. What do you think about that?"
Koichi, already bleeding from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, barely heard Allen's words—but when they sank in, a surge of rage erupted within him.
"I won't!... I WON'T LET IT HAPPEN!!"
A blue circle, like a ring, formed in front of Koichi and began repelling Allen's cursed energy. But it didn't stop there. When Koichi opened his eyes, the repulsive force intensified, pushing Allen's energy back toward him.
Allen's smile faltered with a slight surprise. Before an explosion could occur, as expected, people noticed the disturbance and quickly called the police.
As the dust cleared, Koichi appeared on the ground in front of Allen, who kept his expression calm.
"Oh..."
As expected, Allen was unharmed. But when he turned around, the mountains of trash behind him had been destroyed—or rather, they had been pierced through with circular cuts.
Allen looked at Koichi one last time before smiling. Sirens could be heard in the distance, so Allen grabbed him by the collar and teleported away.
....
(Some time later)
Allen landed on the rooftop of the place where Koichi lived, with him slung over his shoulder.
Before going inside, Allen sensed a presence within, so he switched to the Superman template to use his X-ray vision. Upon seeing the intruder, he shook his head and kicked the door open.
"Hey, old man, breaking and entering is illegal!"
"Uwa!" Knuckleduster panicked and dropped the instant noodles he had been stealing from the refrigerator.
"Kid, don't scare me like that!"
"Says the guy committing a crime?"
Allen set Koichi down on the floor and walked toward Knuckleduster. The man thought Allen wanted to fight, so he grinned wildly and took a stance—but Allen ignored him, walked past, opened the fridge, grabbed a soda, popped it open, and took a drink.
"You're doing the same thing!" Knuckleduster complained angrily.
Allen shrugged.
"In my case, it's different. After the favor I did for Koichi, he shouldn't complain even if I ate his entire life savings' worth of groceries."
"Then I'm the same. I'm his mentor."
"Yeah, sure. A mentor who doesn't teach his disciple anything."
While the two were arguing, someone knocked on the door.
They exchanged looks, and Allen went to open it.
Kazuho was standing there. She was dressed discreetly, wearing a dress and a hat. She looked nothing like her succubus-like image as Pop Step.
"...!"
When she saw Allen, she froze. Panic quickly set in, and she turned and ran.
...
Kazuho rushed down the stairs, even though she could have jumped straight from the upper floors.
"Why is he here?!"
Kazuho didn't know why she had run the moment she saw Allen.
When she reached the bottom, she opened the door but collided with someone and fell backward. The bag she was carrying opened, revealing a jacket similar to the ones Koichi wore.
"Ouch... watch where you're going... huh?!"
Pop lowered her head and, seeing the bag on the ground, quickly picked it up, trying to hide it. Her face went pale, and for some reason, panic overtook her.
"What's wrong? Did you see a ghost?"
"I... I... no"
Seeing her reaction, Allen smiled mysteriously.
"Want me to treat you to some ice cream?"
"Huh?"
Allen didn't let her refuse. He picked her up in his arms and flew off into the distance.
"Ah!"
....
At the ice cream shop, Kazuho stared at the cup in front of her but didn't touch it. Instead, she looked at Allen, who was eating carefree right in front of her.
She bit her lip.
Seeing that he wasn't saying anything, she finally spoke.
"You're not going to ask?"
"Ask what?"
Kazuho looked away.
"About Koichi's jacket."
Allen laughed. "Should I?"
Kazuho's eyes welled up as if she were about to cry. Seeing this, Allen set his ice cream aside and gently patted her head.
"Alright, you win. Just talk. I promise I'll listen until the end without judging or jumping to conclusions."
Kazuho blinked, then calmed down. She took off her glasses, wiped her eyes with her sleeves, blew her nose with a napkin, and once she was done, she looked at Allen seriously.
"I..."
In the past, Koichi had saved Kazuho when she fell into a river.
Koichi himself might have already forgotten about it, but Kazuho hadn't. Since that day, she had admired him and hoped to return his jacket someday. However, over the past month, they had run into each other a few times, and she took those chances to see if he remembered her. During one of those conversations, she learned that Koichi had missed the U.A. entrance exam because he was saving her.
From that day on, Kazuho felt guilty—but at the same time, her admiration for Koichi only grew stronger.
Allen nodded, then raised an eyebrow. "I see. But I don't understand your reaction earlier."
Kazuho blushed. "I don't know... when I saw you there... I panicked... maybe... maybe I was afraid there'd be some kind of misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
"I..."
Kazuho didn't know how to answer. On one hand, there was her admiration and respect for Koichi. On the other hand, the boy was sitting in front of her—the one who hadn't left her thoughts for the past month.
"..."
She lowered her head. "I'm sorry."
Allen chuckled softly. "Don't apologize. You're still young. You can doubt, make mistakes, believe, follow your heart—or ignore it. That's all part of growing up."
"Aren't you seventeen? You're only two years older than me." Kazuho puffed up her cheeks, blushing.
"That's true." Allen smiled as he looked out the window.
Kazuho found herself entranced by Allen's profile. If it weren't for the fact that he always wore that look and smile of a shameless bastard, he could probably make women faint just by smiling.
She looked down as her hands grew sweaty. It was true—she had panicked at the thought that Allen might misunderstand her visit to Koichi. But she was also confused. She had admired Koichi for years, and then suddenly this guy appeared and, in just one month, broke through almost all her defenses.
Kazuho was scared... scared of making a mistake and losing her relationship with Allen. But she also couldn't forget what had motivated her all this time.
"What would happen if I ended up liking Koichi?" she asked weakly.
Allen turned to her with a calm expression.
The moment the words left her mouth, Kazuho panicked. She didn't know why she had asked something like that, didn't know how to take it back, and didn't want to hear the answer. She stood up, about to flee—but before she could escape, Allen spoke.
"It depends. I'm not the best person to judge others over divided feelings, but a long time ago I decided what kind of man I'd be." Allen also stood up, took two steps forward, stopped in front of Kazuho, removed her glasses, and looked her in the eyes with a confident, shameless smile.
"I'd respect your feelings. But if I ended up liking you, I'd probably do my best to steal you—because I'm a bastard. I'm greedy and selfish. I'd rather be labeled that way than give up on a woman."
Kazuho's face was so red it looked like a tomato. She wasn't the only one—the ice cream shop employees were the same. In a culture as reserved as Japan's, the shameless womanizing of Allen Walker was as rare as a four-leaf clover.
Seeing that Kazuho's mind seemed to have completely shut down, Allen leaned his face closer.
"So? Do you like Koichi? Or... do you like me?"
"A—shut up! I was just joking! You didn't have to take it so seriously!" Kazuho snapped back, regaining her outgoing Pop Step personality.
"Mmm..." Allen looked at her coldly. "Do you think joking about things like that is funny?"
Allen picked Pop up in a princess carry.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to punish you..."
"Huh?!"
At first, Kazuho didn't understand Allen's words, but when she replayed them in her mind, a wave of embarrassment paralyzed her. She tried to struggle free, but when she saw Allen's gaze, she fell silent and just covered her face.
Allen stored the jacket in his inventory and walked over to the waitress.
"Miss, how much do I owe you?"
The brown-haired waitress snapped out of her daze, clasped her hands together, and her eyes turned into hearts.
"It's nothing! It's on the house! But sir, would you mind—"
"What are you doing, bitch?!" Another waitress with black hair yanked the first one's hair, then smiled flirtatiously while showing off her cleavage. "Master, if you'd like, I can show you the special service—"
"Ouch! What are you doing?!"
The first waitress grabbed her by the neck, and the two started fighting.
"Allen-sama, allow me to kill these annoying insects."
Albedo appeared on Allen's shoulder with a murderous look. Allen shook his head. He knew this would happen. That's why his girlfriends prevented him from acting that way, or his harem would grow out of control.
"You can't, but I'll give you a reward later."
"Yay~"
Seeing several girls starting to stand up and stare at him like hungry hyenas, Allen left the shop with Pop Step in his arms.
....
In Kazuho's apartment, a scream echoed loudly enough for all the neighbors to hear.
"So THIS is what you meant by punishment?!"
Kazuho could barely endure the embarrassment. She was wearing a maid outfit with cat ears—who knows where Allen had gotten it.
"Yeah. Or were you expecting something else?" Allen said as he snapped a photo with his phone.
"Huh?! No, it's not like that! And delete that!"
"I don't want to. It's a memory. Besides, you look cute." Allen laughed as Kazuho tried—unsuccessfully—to snatch the phone away, dying of embarrassment.
"You dress like a succubus every day, isn't that even more embarrassing?
"The one who dresses like that is Pop Step, and it's Kazuho who's embarrassed right now!" replied the girl as she tried to snatch the phone away from him.
"I see."
This continued until she collapsed from exhaustion.
Allen laid Pop down on her bed, then left the room and headed home.
He had a lot of fun that day, though he knew U.A.'s break wouldn't last long and he'd have to return soon.
On top of that, he had to move in with Kaina. It felt strange having to do so, but he couldn't avoid it—he'd been doing things like this for years. He could only get used to it.
Now that he knew who his second mentor was, he still had two more to identify.
....
Elsewhere in Japan, near the coast, a woman with rabbit ears smiled as she looked at a photograph hanging on the wall inside her hero agency.
It showed her smiling and hugging a thirteen-year-old Allen with an expressionless face, still wearing a birthday hat.
"I wonder if that little monster is doing well. Has he already grown into a proper man?~"
She smiled amusedly, even though only six months had passed since the last time she saw him.
"Maybe I should visit him as a surprise. Come to think of it, it should be that woman's turn now... tsk."
The woman's red eyes flashed coldly at the thought of Kaina.
"I hope she's not teaching Allen anything bad..."
===
A/N:🗿
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