Time Leaping Forward

The newly opened aquarium Terumi Genga had mentioned was actually quite large, so the group saw plenty of living creatures they rarely got to see. Uraraka Shige was annoyed that the delay to his training had caused his sense of urgency to grow a little stronger again, though he didn't show it. The other three-Ochaco, Terumi Genga, and the brawny coach-all had a great time.

Seeing this, Uraraka Shige even grumbled to himself, Does this brawny coach have a surprisingly girlish, childlike heart...? No, maybe it isn't so surprising after all...

Uraraka Shige remembered something he had once read online in his previous life: "Every tough man has a delicate, gorgeous, crystal-clear girlish heart"... or something like that.

And so, they spent most of the rest of that day out having fun. The next few months passed in the same uneventful routine.

During those months, however, Uraraka Shige's body transformed and grew tougher. Because he so often applied his "heavy Quirk" to his body, he had grown mostly accustomed to gravity nearly twice as strong as normal. His muscles and bones, and even the connections between his cells, had all become stronger and tighter.

At the same time, with many of his body's limitations broken through, his Quirk had also grown considerably. He could now use "Rise" while dividing his attention to use "Level" and glide through the air, without having to reduce the gravity of either one. Put simply, he no longer had to bend a single "line" into the shape of a less-than sign to use "Rise" and "Level" at once; he could now manipulate multiple "lines" simultaneously.

The one thing that really bothered Uraraka Shige was that, because he had spent so long in the high-gravity environment created by his Quirk, his body seemed to be growing a little more slowly than other people's. In other words, for the next few years, until he reached his full height, he would probably grow a little more slowly than everyone else.

Ochaco and Terumi Genga had also made considerable progress. Although Ochaco's improvement and physical development weren't much compared to Uraraka Shige's, they could at least be described as "average," couldn't they?

With Terumi Genga's help in particular, although they hadn't yet managed to develop the "heavily armed loli" Uraraka Shige had envisioned, Ochaco could at least use her Quirk and a special slingshot to fire compressed marbles at her targets. Her aim was surprisingly good, and her attacks seemed quite powerful. At least, if Ochaco canceled her Quirk just before a compressed marble hit its target, the resulting attack could pierce a plywood board two fingers thick.

Although Terumi Genga's own physical abilities hadn't improved all that much, on Uraraka Shige's advice he had developed Quirk techniques that made him look like a cat, a dog, or a little bird that could only fly at low altitudes... Since his actual size didn't change, they weren't worth a damn, but his real growth lay in his attitude and personality. At least he was no longer as shy and wary of strangers as he had been when he first transferred schools, and he had made a few ordinary friends at school.

The uneventful days continued until today, about three and a half months after their visit to the new aquarium.

Several wanted notices had suddenly appeared on noticeboards around the neighborhood. They said, roughly, that a molester had appeared in the area and the parents of a molested child had reported him to the police. But because so little time had passed, he hadn't yet been caught, so people in the area should keep an eye on their children, and so on...

Uraraka Shige had thought there was no way he would happen to run into something like that, but...

"Let him go!"

Uraraka Shige stared coldly at the figure in the alley ahead.

They had been walking home from school, passing an alley between houses not far from the school that led straight to the park, when Terumi Genga, who had been beside them, suddenly cried out and disappeared.

When Uraraka Shige and Ochaco turned to look, they saw a guy in ragged clothes and matted hair, looking like a homeless man, running madly toward the park with Terumi Genga tucked under his arm. The two immediately chased after him.

But after they had pursued him deep into the alley, Uraraka Shige realized they were far from the crowds. Only he, Ochaco, Terumi Genga, and the homeless-looking man were there. By then, the man had stopped and taken Terumi Genga hostage.

"What? Just two brats..."

The homeless-looking man turned around, holding Terumi Genga hostage, but found no adults close behind him-only two kids who looked about seven or eight. He couldn't help relaxing and casually taunted them.

"Hey, you two brats, don't tell me you're trying to play the hero and save the beauty?"

As he spoke, the man holding Terumi Genga hostage took advantage of the light in the alley, which was still fairly bright before evening, to look the two kids over. Then he laughed again.

"Oh! My luck's pretty good today, huh? I just couldn't hold back anymore and figured I'd grab someone at random, but I didn't expect him to be such a catch. And there's a pretty cute little one following me, too. Is this a 'one more bottle' prize, or buy one, get one free?"

Uraraka Shige studied the man holding Terumi Genga hostage and saw that his eyes were filled with nothing but madness and desire. The man was also staring straight at Ochaco beside him, and Uraraka Shige immediately grew very angry.

"I see. You're that molester, aren't you? And you even dared to take a hostage? Are you trying to become a 'villain'? Let him go!"

Only after hearing Uraraka Shige's voice did the molester finally, reluctantly, turn his gaze on him. Uraraka Shige felt a powerful malice in the man's eyes. Although the desire in them had faded considerably when he looked at him, he still felt as though he had been stripped naked, making him even angrier.

Judging by how he felt now, when the man had looked at Ochaco beside him with an even more lustful gaze, hadn't he practically been eye-raping his sister? And doing it openly, right in front of him? The thought naturally made Uraraka Shige's anger blaze.

"Tch, you disgusting bastard. Even if I can't kill you, I'll break all four of your limbs and gouge out your eyes! I'll make you prostrate yourself and apologize to my sister and my friend!"