All Might banged the desk enthusiastically.
"Young Yaoyorozu, that was splendid! Taking the initiative, adapting your allies, using the terrain... excellent tactics and execution!"
Momo's eyes shone for a second. She bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Professor."
Reiji stood back, not seeking attention, but her eyes eventually fell on him.
"And you, Reiji?" Kirishima said with a smile. "You don't seem too excited."
"I just followed the plan," he replied with a shrug. "All the credit goes to her."
Momo turned her face slightly, as if that statement weighed more than any praise. She said nothing, but her gaze lowered for a moment, just like a faint smile she struggled to contain.
Todoroki and Melissa approached from the side. He walked calmly, she with her jaw slightly clenched.
Todoroki said nothing, analyzing why they had lost and convincing himself that he was still too weak to accomplish his goals.
Melissa just nodded, glancing sideways at the screens showing replays of the drones, pulses, smoke, and traps. "You didn't give us any room to improvise, Momo. It was brilliant."
"So... when did they play the tapes?" Todoroki asked, intrigued by the vital part of their confrontation.
Momo tilted her head slightly. "When Reiji pushed you with Melissa at the end. The shock was enough. And you, Melissa... right before the bar strike."
Melissa raised an eyebrow. "I didn't notice."
"That was part of the point," Momo replied simply.
Ashido whistled from the back. "Okay, I'm officially scared of you two."
"And you didn't even use your full power!" Sero said, pointing at Reiji. "It was just pure coordination."
Reiji didn't respond. He just glanced briefly at Momo… and then at the screen, where the words "VILLAINS WIN" were still flashing.
***
The dining room terrace was half-empty, bathed in a gentle breeze that relieved the heat of the day. Reiji ate in silence, as was his custom, his gaze lost among the trees in the courtyard below. Himiko was at his side, leaning with an elbow on the table as she cut her food with a relaxed smile.
"So you won?" she asked between bites, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Yes," Reiji said without looking up. "My partner planned a good strategy; we destroyed the opponent."
Himiko squinted at Reiji; almost every time he didn't specifically mention gender, it was a woman. Her own obsessions surfaced, but they weren't in the right place to confront him.
Even so, she gently nudged his leg with hers.
"Hey! What's that?"
"Idiot..." Himiko muttered with a snort.
"Ah, here they are!" A cheerful voice interrupted the small scene. Nejire Hado appeared at the top of the terrace stairs, waving as she approached with her tray of food. Her blue hair fluttered in the breeze, as did her constant energy.
"Himiko! I've been looking for you. How come you don't let me know when you're coming up here?" He sat down next to her with complete confidence, barely sparing Reiji a knowing glance.
"Hi, Reiji~"
"Hi," he replied calmly, putting another bite in his mouth without any expression.
"Am I not bothering you?" Nejire asked, looking at them both with genuine joy.
Himiko shook her head. "Always annoying, but you're good at it."
"I knew you loved me!" Nejire replied, laughing as she took a juice from her tray and popped a croquette into her mouth, all the while talking.
"Did you see what Kamari did in class today? She almost made the teacher faint with that floating move of hers! I swear even she doesn't know how she does it."
Himiko laughed, nodding. "Yeah, it looked like a horror scene... Though I must admit it was pretty accurate."
"And then she tried to apologize by floating another chair as an offering!" Nejire raised her arms as if mimicking a levitating chair. "Who apologizes with flying furniture?!"
Reiji ate in silence, his fork stopping occasionally as the laughter touched his ears.
"And you, Himiko, did you do anything weird today?" Nejire asked with a sly smile.
"I never do weird things," she replied, tilting her head in mock innocence.
"Oh no? And steal the instructor's card while explaining to Saito that you're not allowed to bite your classmates?"
"It was a strategic accident," Himiko defended herself. "I was... training in stealth."
Reiji glanced at her. "Covert training, of course."
Nejire took a long sip of her juice and looked at Reiji, her eyes narrowed, assessing him with her typical brimming enthusiasm.
"Hey, are you always this quiet? Or are you plotting something while eating?"
Reiji looked up expressionlessly. "What would I have to be plotting with dry rice?"
"Evasive!" Nejire exclaimed, poking him with her chopsticks. "That sounds to me like you have something interesting you're not going to tell us..."
Himiko chimed in, her tone firm but casual. "Reiji is always like this. Don't expect him to talk unless you ask him three times and perform a ritual dance with offerings."
"Perfect! I have a bribe croquette," Nejire joked, waving it in the air. "Now you're talking?"
"That depends," Reiji muttered, not taking the bait.
"Aha! See! You're a mystery on legs. A puzzle with a bad temper."
Himiko laughed and leaned back. "You're giving him too much attention. It'll get to his ego, and we won't be able to handle it."
"Impossible! I want to see what happens if you throw him off his routine!" Nejire replied, fidgeting in her seat.
Reiji let out a slight exhalation, almost an imperceptible laugh. But it was enough for both of them to notice.
"I made him laugh! That counts as a bonus, right?"
"Depends," Himiko muttered. "Are you falling for him?"
"What?! No! He just intrigues me! He has the face of a guy who hides an entire novel behind every yawn."
"That may be true," Himiko said, digging her fork into her plate. "But he's not for everyone."
Nejire looked at her with a raised eyebrow... and then smiled broadly, giving her a friendly little punch on the arm.
"Relax, Himi. I'm not going to steal this from your little brother. I like mysteries, but not impossible ones."
The conversation soon shifted to their classes, leaving the moment with Reiji behind, but not before Nejire looked at him once more with that spark of restless curiosity that wasn't easily extinguished.
***
The support workshop was filled with the smell of welding and overheated electrical components. Amidst dangling wires, half-assembled parts, and prototypes with handwritten labels, Reiji walked calmly, closing the door behind him with a soft click.
"Mei?" he called.
"In the back! If something's following you with its eyes, don't stare at it!" her voice answered from a steamy corner.
Reiji paused for a second when he saw a rotating mechanical sphere on a shelf. He kept walking.
He found her adjusting a half-built hydraulic stand, a protective mask pulled up to her forehead. When she saw him, she smiled as if she'd just seen a spark jump in the right place.
"Look who's here! Did you drop a piece? Or did you come to tell me that your suit is now the best baby I've ever created?"
"Neither," he replied. "I just need to make a few adjustments. The belt tends to slide back when I use the second mode. And the boot reinforcement feels stiffer on the left heel."
Mei wiped her hands on her apron, leaving grease stains everywhere, and approached without warning, surrounding Reiji with an analytical gaze.
"Are you putting it on correctly?" she asked with a crooked smile. "Or are you growing so fast that nothing fits anymore?"
"I'm not growing. I'm just telling you how it feels under prolonged use."
"Uh-huh..." she murmured, with a barely suppressed laugh. "Always so practical, blood-boy. But don't worry, I like my things to adapt to the wearer. Although I didn't expect you to come back so soon."
"It's better to correct it before it fails."
Mei walked away with a small turn, walking backwards to a table full of tools. "You know, sometimes you seem like a difficult customer. Cold, quiet, and meticulous. But when I see you arrive without saying anything and leave your body for me to inspect, I feel like we have a kind of technical intimacy."
Reiji looked at her without changing his expression. "We don't."
"Not yet!" She replied with a laugh. "But let me calibrate your belt again and we'll talk."
"Just make sure it doesn't move."
Mei nodded as she took her test notebook and began to scribble.
"Do you want anything else while I'm at it? Another hidden compartment? A hook? Gloves to help you stick to surfaces?"
"Not necessary. I do most of those things with my Quirk... Although the gloves sound good."
"Also, hesitant."
Reiji ignored the provocation and looked at the bench where Mei already had an earlier version of her support belt. She worked quickly, precisely, but without losing that childlike enthusiasm that always made her seem on the verge of inventing something catastrophic.
"Come back tomorrow and I'll have it ready for you. And if you're up for it, we could try a new alloy that improves shock absorption. Although it might leave you with a slight tingling in your hip if you're hit too hard."
"That sounds like something you'd do on purpose."
"Maybe." She smiled as she adjusted a strap with her special screwdriver. "But it also sounds like something that would make you come back to me."
Mei spun around to put the tool away, but as she stepped on one of the loose wires on the floor, she slipped with a short, unbalanced cry.
"Wah—!"
Reiji reacted instinctively. He caught her arm before she fell completely, stopping her with his body slightly leaning toward her. One of his arms was holding her waist; the other had accidentally ended up right between her navel and her hip, firm and tight.
Mei froze for a moment at the contact. Her face, normally full of energy, tinged with a slight red as she looked at him from a few inches away. She could feel his breathing and see his beautiful features perfectly.
"I think that's exactly the area of the buzzing sound you were talking about," Reiji commented, his eyebrow slightly raised as he tightened his grip a little without any ulterior motive.
Mei opened her mouth as if to retort, but only an awkward cough came out. She tried to regain her posture with dignity, though her hands were still trembling slightly as she let go.
"That was an unscheduled reflex test!" she said, returning to her usual energy but still blushing.
"Uh-huh."
"Don't write that down in the report!"
"There's no report."
"Then... don't forget that either."
Reiji looked at her calmly as he picked up his jacket from the back of a chair.
"See you tomorrow."
And he left, leaving her with her cheeks still flushed and a screwdriver slowly turning between her fingers.
Meanwhile, Reiji looked at his own hand with a small smile. The feeling he had with Mei was different from the intimate moments he had with Himiko... That was obvious, because of the only sudden difference: they weren't siblings.
"Maybe... No, you have to focus on securing the world first."
===
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