The One I'm Looking For...

Three days have passed.

Location: Tottori Prefecture.

A small, gray-black private car was parked on the side of the road. The back door was opened from the inside with a click, and a middle-aged man in casual clothes got out of the car. Then, a young boy got out of the car.

That's Uraraka Shige.

The story of why Uraraka Shige would appear in such a private car is a long one, but if we had to condense it to a few words, it would be something like...

Three days ago, after Uraraka Shige successfully escaped from the Discipline Prison, he found himself surrounded by a dense Kamui Woods, which quickly made him lose his way.

Afterwards, they encountered dangers such as poisonous snakes and wild boars repeatedly in the mountains, constantly running for their lives. Eventually, they unknowingly crossed several mountains and arrived at a sparsely populated village.

In that village, most of the inhabitants were elderly people, and there were almost no young people. So he lied and said that he had gotten lost in the mountains and forests and had gone through many twists and turns before finally arriving at this village.

Thanks to his previous exhausting experience, his clothes were constantly torn by branches and thorns, almost turning them into strips of cloth. In addition, the sap from the flowers, grass and leaves stained his clothes in various colors, making them unrecognizable.

This allowed him to successfully conceal his identity as a person under supervision.

Of course, this might also be related to the fact that the eyesight of the elderly people in the village isn't very good...

Regardless, he had at least successfully created a usable false identity for himself, thereby gaining the sympathy of the elderly people in the village who had no children to accompany them all year round. He not only got a set of old but very clean clothes, but also ate a delicious hot meal to fill his hungry stomach.

They even used some lies to obtain a small amount of yen, and after walking along the road for several hours, they finally managed to get into a private car heading to Tottori Prefecture with those yen.

As for those lies and deceptions... those are indeed very wrong... but Uraraka Shige is a selfish guy, so doing this achieves his goal without making him feel too guilty...

Hmm... I think this doesn't need further explanation...

In short, this is the cause and effect of this scene.

Now, after Uraraka Shige out of the car, the middle-aged man who had opened the door sat back in the back seat and closed the door behind him. Uraraka Shige then took two steps forward, away from the car that had given him a ride, and began to look around at the streets and buildings.

Incidentally, the driver was the middle-aged man's wife, a proper female driver.

"Buzz~"

The engine roared to life again, and then, like the other vehicles that could be seen occasionally on the road, the car continued its journey along the road leading into Tottori City.

"Um..."

After surveying his surroundings for a while, Uraraka Shige's expression turned slightly bitter. He began to wonder if it was because he had talked too much with the cute little girl in the car that the car owner had ended up dropping him off in such a suburban area.

There are many ordinary houses all around, while tall buildings are quite rare. These houses are mostly located at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by vast fields. The tall buildings can only be seen further away. Behind them is a large, continuous green mountain range. Although the view in front is gradually occupied by buildings, it still feels like a plain.

"... The suburbs... How can I find out where that clever kid's sister is...? Should I go to the city center? Or should I just inquire around here in the suburbs first..."

After some unnecessary deliberation, Uraraka Shige decided to continue heading towards the city center, asking passersby for information about the younger sister of the clever boy named Qu Zhi.

After all, that smart kid had indeed helped him. Without that smart kid's help, he might not have been able to escape from that Discipline Prison temporarily. Therefore, he always felt that he owed that smart kid a favor. Although in terms of the degree, it was not as serious as the life-saving grace he received from the policewoman and All Might, in his view, the nature of it was only slightly different.

These are the kinds of favors that you feel uneasy if you don't repay them... Even if you do repay them, they might not even know it, but at least Uraraka Shige will feel much better... The reason he wants to repay these favors is entirely for his own benefit; he's just that kind of selfish guy.

"Qu Zhi... I don't recall. You won't get an answer from us by asking like this. If you really want to find someone, you can go to the owner of that bookstore over there. He used to run a newsstand, and he's always been very well-informed. You can basically find out information about anyone who has lived in Tottori City for more than five years from him!"

Near the city center, a bulging-looking passerby, after asking Uraraka Shige, couldn't give him the answer he needed, but he did offer what seemed like a decent suggestion.

Thank you, sorry to bother you.

Uraraka Shige in thanks, then stopped bothering the passerby and headed toward the bookstore the passerby had pointed out.

The bookstore seemed rather small, but it was located on a street corner. When Uraraka Shige opened the door, a clear Uravity wind chime rang out, telling the bookstore owner that someone had entered.

... After all, Uraraka Shige wasn't a customer, so saying that a customer had come in felt somewhat inappropriate.

"Hello, is anyone there? Is the bookstore owner home?"

As Uraraka Shige finished speaking, an aged voice rang out from about a meter above Uraraka Shige's head.

"Hmm? Are you here to buy books?"

The aged voice sounded somewhat shaky and weak.

Uraraka Shige and looked in the direction from which the voice came. Only then did she realize that this bookstore actually had a small second floor! And the person who had spoken the old voice was looking down at her from up there.

"... I'm sorry, but I'm not here to buy books. I'm here to see someone. I've heard you're very well-informed, so..."

Uraraka Shige didn't finish her sentence; instead, she drew out the words, making a suggestive implication.

The elderly man on the second floor, leaning on his cane, stood up shakily, then gripped the second-floor handrail, breathing heavily, and looked at Uraraka Shige to ask further:

"Looking for someone... Okay, I knew you weren't here to buy books... I'm used to it... So who are you looking for? Just so you know, I might not have any information here."

Uraraka Shige ignored the old man's words about the bookstore owner and, after the old man asked, directly revealed the identity of the person he was looking for.

"What I'm looking for... is Qu Zhi's younger sister."