[Junya Mori POV]
As Jun walked out of the testing area, he casually waved goodbye to Itsuka Kendo as they naturally split off toward their respective locker rooms.
From behind him, #1 asked, "So? Who's your new friend?"
Jun jolted, turning around to find #1 looking at him, unimpressed, one hand braced against his ribs.
"#1!" Jun said, his voice a little higher than normal. "Hey, how'd you do?"
#1 tilted his head, looking past Jun toward where Kendo had gone. Jun followed his gaze.
"Three points after resplit," #1 said. "And probably one broken rib. You?"
Jun looked back at him, eyes dropping to how #1 held his side. "A one-pointer after we split."
#1 nodded. "I guess that's not all you got."
Jun let out a half-laugh. "Huh. Yeah, I guess you're right."
#1 held his hand out. "I'll learn about her when we remerge."
Jun clasped his hand.
As #1 folded into Jun, a brief hot flash of memory caused his head to spin.
Clutching his side, he sucked air between his teeth. "Motherf-!"
The pain faded almost immediately, and Jun let the tension in his body ease.
That's the first major damage we've taken. It hurts, but it's just a memory.
Jun stretched his side and rolled his shoulder, testing to see if any pain lingered.
Nothing.
"All right."
Then he quickly sifted through #1's memories from after the split, adding #1's estimated score to his own before nodding. "Yeah, I think we'll be accepted."
He smirked, then headed toward the locker room.
Inside, Jun quickly changed back into his casual clothes.
As he came out of the locker room, one of the examiners looked over at him. "You can head on home now. The exam is over."
Jun nodded, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he walked out.
As he rounded a corner, he spotted a familiar set of floating clothes.
His pace quickened to catch up with her while he switched Biological Blueprint into an active slot. Once he reached her, he tapped her shoulder.
"Hey, Hagakure-chan."
She turned around. "Oh, hi, Jun!"
I know she gets into 1-A, but her villain score or rescue score can't be too much, right? Maybe I'm just underestimating her.
Jun asked with a smile, "You do good on the exam?"
"I think I did pretty well," Hagakure said. "I was super nervous, but then I remembered what you said, and, well... I wanted to prove you right."
Jun nodded. "I'm glad. I think I did pretty well too."
As they reached the entrance to the school, Jun slowed, then came to a stop.
Toru looked back a second later. "Jun?"
"Oh, I have to stop here. I'm waiting for people. We arrived here together."
"Oh, okay," Hagakure said, her clothes moving as she waved at him.
Jun matched her wave. "I'll definitely see you in class, right, Hagakure-chan?"
"Definitely. Bye, Jun!" she called as Jun watched her skip off.
From behind him, Himiko's voice called out, "Who was that, Jun?"
Before turning around, Jun closed his eyes.
What's with people today sneaking up on me?
He turned around with an awkward smile, waving as Himiko got closer. "Hey. How'd your exam go?"
Himiko pushed his hand aside and looked up at him with a pout.
"It went fine. It didn't feel like the exam really showcased how my quirk could work, though." She tilted her head. "How about yours?"
"Same as yours. I had to use my brain a lot while running around. I might have to take a shower when we get home." Jun smiled. "But I'm glad you were okay. I was worried."
Himiko gave him a side-eye. "Charmer."
The corner of her mouth twitched as she tried to fight a smile.
From behind her, Mina cut in. "You're not gonna ask us?"
Jun looked over at Mina. "Oh, you guys were here?"
Mina stared at him in obvious mock offense. "Excuse me?"
Kirishima's brows shot up as he took half a step back. "Oh, man."
As Jun took in the group, he noticed Jiro with them.
"Oh, so you're hanging out with us?"
Jiro looked between all of them with a raised brow. "I don't know if I should now."
Jun gave a light wave of his hand. "Hey, we're all heading the same way, so we might as well, right?"
"Jun, don't ignore me."
Jun turned and started walking. "Okay, let's go."
"Jun!"
Mina jogged after him.
*[Later That Evening...]*
Jun walked into his room, noticing that #2 and #3 were still at work.
#2 sat at the computer, continuing to check through multiple sites, while #3 had his feet kicked up on Jun's bed, scrolling through one of his old phones and chuckling to himself.
Jun rolled his eyes at #3 before creating #1.
#1 immediately checked his side. "No damage."
"That's good," Jun said.
#2 looked over. "You guys find something?"
"Damage doesn't stay when we remerge into Prime," #1 said. "And it's still gone when we're remade."
#3 looked up from the phone. "Yo, that's sick."
#1 sat down in one of the room's spare chairs, reaching beside Jun's desk for the sticks. He checked them over before twirling one around his hand, catching it, and continuing to practice the movement.
Jun joined #3 on the bed as #3 pulled his legs up.
"So, what have you guys been doing since we've been gone?"
"Well, I've been checking the gambling sites and keeping a low profile across the board," #2 said. "I think we finally made enough to go back to the den."
"I've been using the phone you gave me to check hero news." #3 held up the phone, showing a hero news post hyping up one of the pro heroes. "It's basically politics, but with fame."
"They're celebrities," #1 said. "They have to manage their image while also having the power to change the landscape. That's what a hero is here."
#3 rolled his eyes. "I know, but seriously, this is so much more than what we knew."
He continued scrolling through the phone.
"Well, I'm pretty confident about the written exam," Jun said.
#2 looked back at Jun over his shoulder. "Yeah, you should be. You made us all study like madmen."
"That's so Naruto," #3 said, continuing to look through his phone.
"And then there was the practical exam," Jun continued.
"Big robots, right?" #3 asked. "How'd you take on the zero-pointer?"
"We avoided it as best we could," #1 said.
"Ah, cowards."
Jun, #1, and #2 looked at #3 like he was an idiot.
#3 looked up from the phone. "What? We could take it."
Jun opened his mouth, but no words came out.
After a few seconds, he finally managed, "How are you me?"
"Well, it'd be boring if all of us were the same, right?" #3 said. "Ask #1 or #2. They're different too."
"Yeah. I guess the differences between you guys have gotten more noticeable."
"It's more efficient if we can each be told apart instead of just being three identical voices," #2 said.
"Agreed," #1 said.
Jun looked off and nodded.
"Yeah, and Prime here met another girl," #1 said.
"That tracks," #2 said.
"Oh, is she pretty?" #3 asked.
Jun looked at him. "Is that important?"
"Yup," all three clones said.
"Yeah, it's Kendo from 1-B."
#3 cocked his head. "That's the class president, right? Girl with the big hands?"
"Yep."
"And then there was Hagakure. Can't forget Jiro on the way to the exam," #1 said.
#2 looked between them. "No guys?"
"Well, we do know Kirishima," #3 said.
"Just Kirishima," #1 added.
"Okay, why am I being crucified? You guys are me."
"Because it's funny," #2 said.
"So, how did Himiko take this Kendo girl?" #3 asked.
"She doesn't know about Kendo," #1 said. "But she did 'see' Hagakure."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it's not like we don't know what you're doing," #3 said. "You're trying to build goodwill. And with teenage girls, goodwill is basically flirting."
#1 tossed one of the sticks into the air and caught it. "#3 isn't wrong."
"I know." Jun paused. "I know."
"Yeah, but we should probably stick to the mission," #2 said.
#1 nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but we're teenagers," #3 said. "We might as well act like it, right?"
Jun sighed and lay back across the foot of his bed, closing his eyes.
I dated a bit in my previous life, but dating here feels like focusing on individual trees while trying to protect the whole forest. But dating also feels inevitable.
"Come on, guys." #3 set the phone down. "Dating here is basically perfect. There are multiple versions of us. There will always be one of us around. And we have Himiko as a childhood friend."
"And then there's Mina, if we want to count her as one too," #2 said.
#1 hummed, crossing the sticks over his lap. "Didn't everyone think she might end up with Kirishima?"
#3 scoffed. "Pfft. So what? We exist. We're already changing a whole bunch of stuff just by doing that."
#2 crossed his arms and nodded along. "#3 has a point. We exist, and we're using the chaos to change things how we like it."
Jun sat back up. "Guys, are we really talking about dating affecting the overall plan of potentially saving Japan, and maybe even the world, depending on how the story goes?"
All three clones looked at him.
"Yeah," #3 said.
#2 sighed and turned back toward the computer, while #1 looked down and focused on the equipment again.
#3 sat up and moved next to Jun, leaning closer. "So, who are you after? I know who you're after, but do you know?"
Jun looked at him like, Really?
#3 rolled his eyes. "You know they all like you. Or at least enough."
Jun planted a hand against #3's face and pushed him away.
#3 laughed, patting Jun on the back before getting up. "Yeah, you're right. Why should you be the one to confess first, huh?"
He picked his phone back up, pressing a finger to his lips like he was keeping a secret.
Looking back through the social media feed, #3 chuckled before flashing Jun a post showing one of Midnight's promos.
Jun shook his head.
#2 looked over, glaring at #3. "Immature."
#1 glanced up. "Agreed."
[The Week Progressed...]
Jun left home carrying a duffel bag and headed toward a park restroom.
Once inside, Jun created #2 and handed him the bag. #2 put on the wig, mask, and sunglasses before changing into Jasper's clothes.
I'm close enough to Dad in height and build to fill out Jasper's clothes, and the disguise hides most of my age. They already treat Jasper as a regular, so as long as #2 keeps the performance consistent and doesn't draw attention, nobody should look too closely.
A short time later, #2 walked out dressed as Jasper, the duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
"I'll see you at seven," Jasper said.
"Yeah. I'll be on my jog by then. I'll stop by here."
#2 smirked, his voice dropping into Jasper's deeper, cooler register. "Call me Jasper."
Then he walked off.
Jun headed back home, avoiding any suspicion from the rest of the house.
The next morning, Jun met Jasper during his jog. Inside the restroom, #2 packed Jasper's clothes, wig, mask, and sunglasses back into the duffel bag before remerging with Jun.
As #2 folded into him, the memories of the night settled in.
Huh. So we met Jin again.
Jasper had spent part of the night gambling alongside Jin, occasionally giving him small pieces of advice.
"You show too much on your face," Jasper had told him.
Jun carried the duffel bag to the side of the house and tossed it toward his bedroom window.
#1 caught it and pulled the bag of money inside.
Jun resumed his jogging route.
The days passed quickly after that. Gym sessions, jogging, combat training, and hanging out with everyone continued as normal.
Still, there was always a subtle tension underneath it all.
Jun knew where almost everyone would end up.
Everyone except himself and Himiko.
Then the mail finally arrived at the Mori household.