For a while, the scene descended into complete chaos.
At first, it was only Bakugo and Kirishima splashing each other violently. Then it spread to others, until the entire hot spring turned into a full-scale water battlefield. Shouts, curses, laughter, and war cries overlapped nonstop.
Meanwhile, Masata quietly slipped to the corner of the hot spring, leaning back comfortably and relaxing his sore muscles while enjoying the show.
"Taking a hot spring after a long, exhausting day really is amazing…"
Just as he was about to close his eyes and savor the moment, a faint voice drifted in from behind the wooden wall.
Although this hot spring wasn't mixed bathing, the only thing separating the men's and women's sides was a thin wooden partition. With Masata's unusually sharp hearing, the laughter and chatter from the girls' side was crystal clear.
"Hm?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Masata suddenly noticed a figure wrapped in a bathrobe quietly sneaking toward the wooden wall while everyone else was distracted.
It was Mineta—unsurprisingly—who clearly had no intention of giving up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"The other side must be heaven… absolute heaven!" Mineta muttered excitedly.
"Even if it's not mixed bathing, I can't hold back anymore! Anyone would forgive me for this!"
"I won't forgive you."
Just as Mineta leaned in, ready to press his ear against the wooden wall, a massive shadow completely covered him.
"H-Haha… Masata?" Mineta laughed nervously, looking up at Masata's not-at-all-friendly smile.
"Is there… something you need?"
Mineta instinctively stepped backward, only to realize his back was already pressed against the wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.
"Talk," Masata said calmly.
"Do you want me to throw you out, or will you walk out yourself?"
"Uh—haha! What are you talking about?" Mineta forced a grin.
"I was just… uh… coming over here to rest!"
Without another word, Masata grabbed Mineta by the collar and casually hurled him back into the hot spring.
Unfortunately for Mineta, the chaos had reached its peak. Everyone was splashing wildly, and the water level churned violently—especially around Kaminari, whose physical endurance was the weakest among them.
By pure coincidence, Mineta's trajectory landed him directly above Kaminari's head.
Kaminari had just surfaced for air when he suddenly saw a pair of buttocks descending rapidly into his field of vision.
Then—
Splash!
For once, Mineta enjoyed an unusually soft landing.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
When Kaminari resurfaced, he let out a soul-piercing scream. The next moment, golden electricity erupted from his body.
In an instant, every boy in the hot spring—except Masata—felt as if they had been struck by electric batons. Their bodies stiffened, muscles twitching as paralysis spread through them.
"You bastard! I'll kill you!"
"Get him!"
"Teach him why flowers are red!"
To Kaminari's credit, he still had some control. The electricity only caused numbness rather than real harm. But that didn't stop the temporarily paralyzed boys from uniting against him the moment their bodies recovered.
"What—wait—no—stop!!!"
Watching Kaminari get mercilessly pinned down and beaten while begging for mercy, Masata couldn't help but feel a strange chill down his spine.
After the chaos finally settled, the boys left the hot spring one after another, heading back to the dormitory to rest. After everything that happened today, both physically and mentally, exhaustion had fully set in.
Because Midoriya had questions about movement techniques, Masata stayed behind a bit longer to explain things to him.
While the two talked, they walked through the hallway and happened to run into Mandalay Cat and North American Shorthair, who were also returning to their rooms.
"Hmph!"
Yuuta, who was holding Mandalay Cat's hand, immediately noticed the two of them. He snorted, shook off her hand, and ran straight into the room without looking back.
"Ah… sorry about that," Mandalay Cat said helplessly.
"He just…"
Masata waved it off calmly.
Midoriya, however, couldn't help asking, clearly troubled.
"Um… why does Yuuta have such a strong prejudice against Heroes?"
The Mandalay Cat froze slightly. After a brief silence, she sighed and began to explain.
"Actually… Yuuta has a very negative view of Heroes."
"What?" Midoriya and Masata both looked surprised.
Masata had assumed Yuuta simply disliked Heroes, but he hadn't expected resentment this deep. In a society built entirely around Heroes, such hatred was extremely rare.
With a bitter smile, Mandalay Cat continued.
"My cousin—Yuuta's parents—were both Heroes. They both died in the line of duty."
"Two years ago, they sacrificed themselves to protect civilians, dying under the claws of villains."
She paused, her gaze drifting toward the closed door, as if she could see Yuuta through it.
"For Heroes, it was a glorious end. A noble sacrifice.
But for a child who had just begun to understand the world… it was simply losing everything."
"To society, it's something to praise and celebrate. But to Yuuta, his parents were all he had."
"He doesn't hate us personally. But he has nowhere else to go, so he stays with us. To him, Heroes are nothing but something disgusting."
Midoriya fell silent.
Masata also said nothing.
People who had never experienced such loss could never truly understand that kind of pain. Masata had lived a fortunate life in both this world and the last—he couldn't even imagine what Yuuta must have felt.
Worried about her nephew, Mandalay Cat hurried back into the room. Midoriya and Masata exchanged a few words before heading back to their own rooms.
Still, Masata didn't agree with Yuuta's way of thinking.
Denying an entire group because of the actions—or sacrifices—of a few was foolish. There were corrupt Heroes, and there were villains who longed for the light.
But…
Yuuta was only five years old.
And for a child that young, Masata could understand.