A few hundred meters from Haneoka Girls' Academy, on a nearby street.
Two peculiarly dressed B-Class heroes were swatted away with a single slap, crashing into a fruit shop across the road.
"So weak."
The armored gorilla expressionlessly picked up a banana that had rolled out of the store.
After slowly finishing it, a mechanical voice rang out.
"Is this really the standard of the Hero Association's heroes?"
He casually tossed the banana peel onto the unconscious hero's face and continued heading toward Haneoka Girls' Academy.
...
Inside a milk tea shop.
The store owner was cleaning the counter, occasionally glancing helplessly toward a group of black-clad figures seated at the entrance.
Four men and two women.
At their center sat a beautiful woman in a black dress—clearly from a wealthy family by her appearance.
However, this group had been sitting there for over an hour since noon.
And they'd only ordered the cheapest lemon tea.
The owner had long given up on making money from them.
He just hoped they'd leave soon.
With such intimidating-looking men blocking his entrance, his business was suffering.
"Lady Fubuki, how much longer are we going to sit here?"
Lily whispered awkwardly, causing Fubuki to raise an eyebrow slightly.
"Another thirty minutes. Let's see if any missions pop up nearby."
She spoke indifferently. She still wanted to enjoy half an hour more of air conditioning.
If she went home, electricity bills would cost a fortune.
As the number one ranked B-Class hero, Fubuki wasn't short on money.
But she had a habit of splurging on luxury goods.
She believed only the finest things were worthy of someone of her status.
So, a large chunk of her income went into those purchases.
On top of that, maintaining the Fubuki Group's size required a constant flow of funds.
So Fubuki was extremely frugal when it came to expenses.
Just as she finished speaking, a sharp alarm suddenly blared.
At the same time, everyone in the Fubuki Group received an urgent mission on their communicators.
"Tiger-class monster!"
Fubuki's beautiful eyes lit up—she could already see a massive bonus check.
"Fubuki Group, move out! We can't let anyone steal this one!"
...
The sirens immediately plunged the already restless school into chaos.
Screams broke out everywhere.
The girls' emotional reactions turned the evacuation into a mess.
There wasn't any pushing or shoving—but they ran around like headless chickens, many of them even heading in the wrong direction.
If not for a few teachers yelling themselves hoarse to maintain order, half the students might not have even made it to the shelter before the monster arrived.
Kuzeha and Tomori Nao fell silent as they watched the scene.
"Kuze-kun, let's head to the underground shelter first."
Tomori said quickly, and she and Kuzeha—who was carrying Ayumi—entered the shelter.
There, she took out a communicator.
As Hoshinoumi Academy's student council president, she had certain privileges.
Aside from a salary, her position granted her a special device—one that connected directly to the Hero Association HQ.
In emergencies, A-Class heroes could be dispatched to assist her.
"Why am I always running into monster disasters lately..."
Tomori grumbled.
Kuzeha blinked.
"You've run into monsters before?"
She nodded, frustrated.
"A few days ago, I was investigating a dangerous ability user. I had just found the person when a monster showed up. Luckily, nothing happened..."
Then she froze.
That situation... was exactly the same as now.
Ayumi's Collapse ability was classified as dangerous and high-priority.
And once again, right after confirming her status as an ability user—a monster appeared.
This didn't feel like a coincidence anymore.
"Could there be a leak?"
Tomori's face grew serious.
"Takajo betrayed the academy?!"
A flash of suspicion passed through her mind.
The one who pinpointed special ability users wouldn't leak info—that would make no sense.
Which left only one suspect: fellow student council member Jojiro Takajo.
"But even if it's Takajo, how could he immediately identify Ayumi as the one with powers?"
Tomori bit her thumb, deep in thought.
That's when Kuzeha's voice interrupted her.
"Nao, don't fall into fixed assumptions. It's not just people who can leak information."
She looked up, locking eyes with him.
His gaze shifted toward the DV camcorder in her hand.
Tomori immediately realized.
"My DV... it was tampered with?!"
She always kept it recording during missions, hoping to catch clues she missed in the moment.
If someone had tampered with it, they could be receiving real-time data on ability users.
But now, the trail had gone cold.
Too many people could have touched that device.
Still, that didn't matter anymore.
Tomori looked at Ayumi in Kuzeha's arms with growing worry.
"Kuze-kun, the enemy is coming for Ayumi!"
She was about to switch off the DV when a thought struck her—and she made to run outside.
But Kuzeha grabbed her.
"Where are you going?"
She took a deep breath, voice urgent.
"If the DV has a tracker, the monster's heading straight here. I'm going to toss it away—"
She struggled, afraid of wasting even a second.
But then a warm hand stroked her head.
The boy's gentle yet firm voice entered her ears.
"Nao, have you forgotten the Kuzeha family rules?"
Tomori froze.
Looking into Kuzeha's deep black eyes, she was pulled back into a memory from years ago.
In front of a group of tiny girls stood a small boy—not much taller than them.
"What are the family rules?"
The little girls replied in unison, their voices crisp and sweet.
"Always rely on big brother!"
"If you can't do something, ask big brother. If you don't understand, ask big brother..."
"If there's danger, listen to big brother no matter what..."
It sounded like childish play, but Tomori knew better than anyone—those promises had all come true.
Girls who had lost their parents, who had nothing, lived happily under the protection of their "big brother."
Since becoming student council president at Hoshinoumi Academy, Tomori had handled everything on her own.
Even though she went home weekly, she'd become someone who never shared her troubles.
She wanted to be independent. To not rely on Kuzeha.
But now...
Looking into his eyes, she felt like that strong, capable girl shrank into the silver-haired little one she used to be.
In front of him, she could always return to being the little sister who relied on her big brother.
Tomori's panicked emotions gradually calmed.
She nodded slowly.
"I'll do whatever Kuze-kun says."
Hearing her soft reply, Kuzeha nodded in satisfaction.
Then he sighed.
"Back then, little Nao used to jump up and hug her big brother's neck when she got excited..."
"That was years ago, Kuze-kun..."
Tomori turned her head, flustered.
But in her blue eyes, a faint sadness flickered.
Sometimes, she envied Sora.
Sora could still demand love and affection like when they were kids, shameless and unrestrained.
Tomori... couldn't do that anymore.
She was afraid—afraid that the feelings she'd buried deep inside, feelings beyond just siblings, might be exposed.
"Kuze-kun... what about the DV?"
She looked up at him.
"Leave it for now."
"We just have to wait for them to come to us."
Kuzeha's voice turned cold.
The moment a predator reveals its intentions and movements—its role begins to shift.
Read advance chapters on: patre on.com/Bored_Mortal