The silence in the cold private room felt heavier than the pressure of any fight. On the table between me and Ryukyu lay a transparent evidence bag. Inside it were two objects that should never have been in the same place: a blue, spiral-shaped earring that I knew belonged to Nejire Hado, and a small scrap of black fabric with a hint of red accent—the exact same fabric as the uniform I knew from my dreams, Akame's uniform.
My mind spun, trying to process this impossible information. Momo Yaoyorozu. Akame. Both, somehow, connected to Nejire's disappearance. It didn't make sense. It was a painful paradox. Momo, with her kindness and immense sense of responsibility, would never be involved in a kidnapping. And Akame, though an assassin, was a professional who moved like a ghost. She would never leave such a careless trail.
"It's a setup," I said, my voice barely a whisper, breaking the suffocating silence. "Someone wants us to think this. Someone wants us to suspect each other."
Ryukyu looked at me, her golden eyes showing no emotion, but I could see a storm of analysis and doubt raging behind them. "Setup or not, the facts remain, Tatsumi-kun," she said in a controlled, cold voice. "The car is registered under one of the Yaoyorozu Group's shell companies. And this evidence... was found inside it. This is a lead we cannot ignore."
She was right. I knew she was right. But my heart, my instincts, and the echo of the warrior's soul within me refused to accept this obvious conclusion.
"Then what about this?" I reached into my pocket and carefully took out the piece of paper Akame had given me in the arena. I showed it to Ryukyu. "Before this, Akame gave me this. A warning about a group called 'Humarise' and this symbol. She didn't give me a clue about Yozakura. She didn't give me a clue about the next target. She gave me a warning about a completely new threat."
I looked at her earnestly. "Is this the act of someone who wants to frame me or my friends? This feels more like the act of a secret ally trying to help me in their own confusing way."
Ryukyu took the paper, studying the strange symbol. "Humarise," she muttered. "I've heard that name in some low-level intelligence reports. An anti-Quirk extremist cult, considered harmless." She looked at me again, and I could see her starting to connect the impossible dots. "A group that hates Quirks... kidnaps a student with one of the most powerful Quirks at U.A.... and simultaneously frames a mysterious assassin and the most influential conglomerate family in Japan." She leaned back in her chair. "This... this is much bigger than we thought."
Outside, in the crowded corridor of the arena, the students of Class 1-A who had passed were celebrating their victory. Their laughter and cheers were faintly audible from our room, a painful contrast to the tension inside.
"Yaoyorozu-san was amazing!" Mina Ashido exclaimed happily. "That cannon was a real lifesaver!"
Momo, standing in the midst of her friends, smiled sincerely. For the first time, she felt confident in her abilities, not just as an item maker, but as a hero who could make decisions under pressure. This victory felt sweet.
"We all made it, that's what's important," she said diplomatically.
Suddenly, Aizawa-sensei approached her, his grim expression immediately extinguishing the cheerful atmosphere around them. "Yaoyorozu," he said in a low voice. "Come with me. There's something important you need to see."
Momo, sensing the seriousness in her teacher's tone, nodded and followed without question. Her heart began to beat a little faster. She was led down a quiet corridor to a private meeting room. When the door opened, she saw Pro Hero Ryukyu and Tatsumi sitting inside, both with very serious expressions.
"Please have a seat, Yaoyorozu-san," Ryukyu said in a formal tone.
Momo sat down carefully, a sense of anxiety beginning to creep over her. Ryukyu pushed the evidence bag to the center of the table. "Can you explain this?"
Momo looked at its contents. Nejire's earring. A scrap of fabric she didn't recognize. And then, Ryukyu showed her the report on her tablet, highlighting the name of the shell company connected to the Yaoyorozu Group.
Momo's world seemed to collapse. The color drained from her face. "I... I don't understand," she whispered, her voice trembling. "That company... it is indeed one of our hundreds of subsidiaries, but it's an almost dormant entity. And this..." She pointed at the evidence. "This is impossible." The confidence she had just built up shattered into a million pieces, replaced by fear and confusion. Her family, her name, was now being dragged into a terrible conspiracy.
I couldn't stand to see her like that. "This isn't your fault, Yaoyorozu," I said firmly, making them both look at me. "This is a setup. Someone very powerful and very smart is trying to pit us all against each other."
I placed the paper from Akame on the table in front of Momo. "Look at this. This is the real clue."
For the next hour, the room turned into an emergency analysis center. I, Ryukyu, and Momo—three strategic minds from very different backgrounds—began to work together. Momo, after overcoming her initial shock, became an invaluable asset.
"I can access the company's internal database," she said, taking out a sophisticated laptop from her bag. "I can track all transactions and communications related to that shell company." Her fingers danced over the keyboard with incredible speed.
While she worked, Ryukyu and I formulated theories. "Humarise," Ryukyu said, looking at the symbol. "If they are the masterminds, then their motive is clear. They want to create chaos and distrust. By kidnapping Nejire, they eliminate one of the strongest young heroes. By framing the Yaoyorozu Group, they attack the economic and technological pillar of hero society. And by framing Akame..."
"...they get rid of the only person who might be actively hunting them in the underworld," I continued, finishing her sentence. "It's a brilliant chess move. Three pieces eliminated in one move."
"Found it!" Momo exclaimed suddenly. Her eyes were glued to her screen. "There was a very large fund transfer to that shell company six months ago. The source... is heavily encrypted. But I can trace its origin to an overseas server location." She continued typing. "And... oh my god. The company that rented that server has the same logo as the symbol on this paper."
We all leaned forward. Humarise. We had found our first connection.
"They must have an operating base in Japan," I said, my mind racing. "They couldn't have coordinated a kidnapping this complex from overseas."
"I can filter properties recently acquired by other companies connected to this server," Momo said, her fingers flying again.
That night, in that quiet room, the three of us worked tirelessly. We were a strange team: a legendary dragon hero, a rich girl who could create anything, and a boy with a secret from another world. But together, we were beginning to unravel a conspiracy far larger than we had ever imagined.
As I was staring at a digital map, trying to connect possible locations, I felt an overwhelming exhaustion hit me. The fight in the exam, the lack of sleep, and the mental stress were finally taking their toll. My head felt dizzy. I closed my eyes for a moment.
And then, I saw it.
Not a dream. Not a memory. It was a flash. A sharp, painful psychic vision, triggered by my exhaustion and my growing connection to Incursio. I saw a dark room made of metal. I saw Nejire, not tied up but lying weakly on a bed, as if her Quirk or her energy had been drained. On the wall behind her, I saw the Humarise symbol glowing faintly. And then, I heard a voice, a distorted whisper in my mind, the same voice from my dreams of the original Tatsumi.
...be careful... they are gathering... the Teigu users...
The vision vanished as quickly as it had come. I gasped, panting, and felt something warm trickle from my nose. Blood.
"Tatsumi-kun, are you okay?!" Momo exclaimed, rushing to my side. Ryukyu also looked at me with concern.
I wiped the blood from my nose, my mind racing to understand what I had just seen and heard. 'They are gathering the Teigu users?' Did that mean there were other Teigu in this world? Did that mean Humarise knew about me? And most importantly...
I looked at Ryukyu and Momo, my eyes widening with a new, terrifying realization.
"I know," I whispered, my voice trembling with urgency. "I know where she is."