Chapter 157: A Damaged Reputation is Unavoidable
When Momo Yaoyorozu reappeared, she was followed by a team of chefs. Each held a tray. After a few trips back and forth, they had placed a dish in front of everyone. After Momo said, "Everyone, please, let's eat," and picked up her knife and fork, the others followed her lead.
"Oh, dear," Momo said. For some reason, a sudden pain shot through her wrist, and she dropped her cutlery. The crisp sound of the silverware hitting the solid wood table echoed through the room.
Is this also part of the table manners?
With the exception of Kaminari and Kira, all the other students simultaneously dropped their own cutlery and let out a synchronized, "Oh, dear!"
"..."
Seeing the stunned look on Momo's face, Toru Hagakure giggled and poked Kira's arm. "Kira, how was that? My reaction was pretty fast, wasn't it?"
Kira unceremoniously picked up a spoon and tapped her on the head with it. "Are you an idiot? I didn't tell you to copy that part."
Momo rubbed her suddenly numb wrist. "Did all of your wrists suddenly hurt too?" she asked, curious.
Kira glanced around at the group of students who had all silently lowered their heads and, with a straight face, said, "...Yes. It's probably because the air conditioning is too cold."
"I see," Momo nodded. She turned to Ueno. "Miss Ueno, could you please help us turn up the temperature?"
"No problem!" Ueno, whose knife and fork were clattering nonstop as she stuffed piece after piece of meat into her seemingly bottomless stomach, said with her mouth full, complaining at Kira, "You're such a pain, you pervert."
After her complaint, the hair on the back of her head suddenly stood on end. As if it had a mind of its own, it stretched out and pressed a few buttons on the air conditioner in the corner.
Having made fools of themselves, the rest of the group learned their lesson. Like parrots, they first watched what Momo did, and then they watched how Kira copied her.
And so, a bizarre, looping scene began to play out: Kira would glance at Momo as if he were using her hands to eat, then lower his head to continue his own meal. Momo, feeling his gaze, would blush and keep her head down. And the others would stare at Momo with sparkling eyes, then stare at Kira, and when Kira looked up at Momo, they would quickly lower their heads and shovel a few bites of food into their mouths.
In short, the meal concluded in this awkward atmosphere.
After the meal, the girls followed Momo to see her bedroom, while the boys stayed in the room to rest.
While Sero and Ojiro were napping on the table, Kaminari sneakily crept over to Kira, who was sitting on a sofa in the corner, charging his phone. "Hey, Kira," he whispered excitedly, "this is the reward I've carefully selected for you. You have to keep it safe."
"Didn't I tell you I don't need those pornographic magazines of yours?" Kira said, looking up. "You can just keep that stuff for yourself."
"Just take a look, Kira! This is my prized collection! It definitely won't disappoint you!"
Faced with Kaminari's strange confidence, Kira took the magazine with the pink heart on the cover. He had only flipped through a few pages when he slammed it shut, looking at Kaminari with an expression of shock and disbelief.
"Kaminari, do you have a death wish!? If the people in here found out, you might not even be able to become a Pro Hero!"
The magazine Kaminari had given Kira was filled with pictures of female Pro Heroes in battle. Midnight, Uwabami, Mt. Lady... not a single hero who wore a relatively sexy costume had been spared. Many of the photos were extremely high-resolution and revealing, enough to make any normal young man blush.
"It's fine as long as they don't find out, right? How about it, Kira? Pretty exciting, huh? I had to beg Mineta for a long time to borrow this! I'm lending it to you now... as 'spellcasting material'!" Kaminari said smugly. "Don't be polite! We're friends!"
Kira, his face expressionless, slapped the magazine onto Kaminari's face. "No thanks. I don't want to be caught looking at this kind of photo book and have my social life ruined."
"Eh? You don't like it, Kira?" Kaminari took the magazine and scratched his head, confused. "Don't tell me you prefer more... normal stuff?"
"This topic is not worth discussing. You should be thinking about how you're going to pass the exams," Kira said, scrolling through the news on his phone. "According to the senpai from last year, the final practical exam is a fight against the same kind of robots from the entrance exam. I don't know what it will be like for our year, but it probably won't be that different. After all, gathering intelligence is also a part of a hero's job."
"If it's just robots, then I have nothing to worry about," Kaminari said with a confident smile. "I still can't control my power level when it comes to people, but with robots, I can just let loose with my electricity!"
"Is being unable to control your Quirk something to be proud of?" Kira sighed. "Kaminari, don't you spend all day just thinking about 'generating your own electricity' with these magazines and not making any progress? Don't forget, Midoriya couldn't control his Quirk at the beginning either, and now he can go toe-to-toe with the Hero Killer. Don't you think you should reflect on that a little?"
"...You have a point. I need to work harder!" Kaminari was silent for a few seconds, a look of determination in his eyes. "It's all that Grape Juice's fault! He's always making me look at this stuff! That's why I've been so lazy!"
Kira looked at him coldly. "No. Don't pass the buck. It's your own fault."
"Everyone, we're back! Yaomomo's room has so many books! No wonder she's number one in the class!" Mina Ashido shouted as she ran into the room. Seeing Ojiro and Sero sleeping, she lowered her voice and, with her eyes sparkling, walked over to Kira's corner. The first thing she saw was the upside-down magazine on the coffee table.
"What's this? Let me see!"
The moment Mina grabbed the magazine, Kaminari instinctively grabbed it as well. "No! You can't look!"
Mina was just curious. Seeing Kaminari's strong reaction, she was puzzled. "Why can't I look? Is it something private?"
"You just can't!" Kaminari said, shaking his head firmly.
Mina's eyes gradually grew suspicious. "Don't tell me... this is..."
Kaminari, seeing Jiro, Momo, and Hagakure approaching, instantly went pale.
I just said no one would find out! If these girls see this, I'll definitely get the same treatment as Grape Juice! And the Pro Heroes in here are all people they've had contact with!
"That's right. This is the answer key for the practice problems," Yoshikage Kira said, taking the magazine and calmly closing it. "Kaminari was just asking me for the answers for this afternoon's session so he could finish early and then laugh at you all."
Seeing Kira's calm expression, Mina instantly believed him. "Kaminari, you cheat!" she said angrily. "Even if you can laugh at us now, you'll still fail the final exam!"
"You wanted to cheat on the answers, Kaminari? You really are a blockhead. You've probably fried your brain from overusing your electricity," Jiro said with disdain.
Momo said seriously, "Kaminari-san, looking at the answers won't help you learn anything. And this isn't even the final exam."
After a roller-coaster of emotions, Kaminari was stunned for two seconds, then immediately got into character, slapping his own forehead in regret. "Oh no! I didn't think of that! I'm so stupid! You're right to scold me, Ashido!"
"Eh? Um, I..." Seeing Kaminari's rare moment of submission, Mina was at a loss.
"In any case, to prevent anyone else from getting any ideas about looking at the answers, I'll just burn this answer key completely," Kira said flatly. A golden ripple of Hamon wrapped around his hand, then quickly turned a dark red, and in an instant, the magazine burst into flames.
Denki Kaminari breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, Kira had saved him at a critical moment. He looked at him with a grateful gaze—Kira-kun, you're my savior! I'll be your loyal servant in my next life to repay you!
Kira hadn't just helped Kaminari out of the goodness of his heart. If that "All For One" was really DIO and was after his body, then the students of Class 1-A were Kira's team to fight him. He would help them when he could.
Just as everyone thought Kira had done this to stop Kaminari from cheating, Toru Hagakure lunged at him. "Kira-kun! Be careful you don't burn your fingers!"
Caught off guard, Hagakure's elbow slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. The dark red Hamon instantly vanished, and the half-burned magazine fell to the floor.
"Kira-kun, are you okay!? I didn't mean to!" While Hagakure was frantically patting Kira down, Momo picked up the magazine. Curious to see the "answer key" Kira had been talking about, she opened it. Her face instantly turned bright red—
Thump.
The open magazine fell to the floor.
(End of Chapter)
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