Momotani Hanawa

The voice was accompanied by a girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a long-sleeved plain dress, and who appeared to be just entering adolescence.

She should be at an age where she looks innocent and cute, but her figure and appearance are surprisingly mature, completely inconsistent with her voice, making it impossible to judge her based on her age.

Even Uraraka Shige, who had grown up with Ochaco, who could also be considered a beauty, was momentarily stunned by the girl's stunning beauty when she saw her sneer and teasing him.

It was only the relentless hunger in his stomach that kept him conscious. The anger that had risen from her sneer and teasing, and the wariness he felt at her appearing nearby without his knowledge, gradually dissipated.

Of course, since it is said that much of it has dissipated, it means that it has not completely dissipated. Therefore, don't expect Uraraka Shige to have any goodwill towards her. She just won't speak ill of her, but her words, which are both a response and a test, still contain undisguised indifference.

"Whether I'm on guard or not is none of your concern. But who exactly are you? Why are you here? And why are you sneaking around near me?"

When Uraraka Shige asked her such a serious question, the beautiful girl, whose back seemed to be connected to the surrounding shadows by some kind of conduit or cable, gently covered her mouth and nose with one hand. Then, her pair of bright and clear eyes narrowed slightly, curving into crescent moons, as if she had heard something very funny.

Then, a gentle, melodious, yet slightly childlike female voice rang out again, this time in a cheerful tone.

"If you say it like that, you're wronging him! You're such a naughty little brother!"

The girl then lowered her hand, her expression returning to normal, but her tone of voice remained unchanged.

"I got here much earlier than you! I was watching from here long before those three scumbags were lurking around that poor girl~"

The girl said this, then pouted slightly and tilted her head, deliberately pretending to be thinking and acting cute, before adding another sentence.

"Speaking of which, you actually stole my prey, didn't you? After all, I went through a lot of trouble and was very careful in setting up this trap, and you beat me to it..."

When these words reached Uraraka Shige's ears, Uraraka Shige brows furrowed slightly.

First of all, the girl maintained a distance of about three meters from him from the very beginning and never got closer, which shows that this distance was probably a safe distance for her.

Secondly, although one could vaguely judge from details such as voice, clothing, and height that the girl's approximate age was not much older than one's own, her words and actions were always filled with an extremely strong sense of incongruity, giving Uraraka Shige the feeling that she was trying to appear younger than she was.

Most importantly, there are two points of doubt and a threatening message contained in the girl's words.

According to the girl, she had been hiding in this alley in the same spot where she had been hiding long ago. If what she said is true, then it means that the girl may have seen the whole process of the boy sneaking over, but the boy was not stopped by the girl. This is the first suspicious point.

Then, the girl pretended to be maliciously cute and reminded him that he had stolen her prey because she had already 'laboriously' set a trap here. However, he only noticed some snake-like things slowly wriggling around him after she made a sneer. This is the second suspicious point.

Meanwhile, these snake-like, slowly wriggling and spreading things became a clear threat after she mentioned that she had already laid traps in the vicinity... She had most likely just laid the traps.

Having grasped these key points, Uraraka Shige secretly began to examine his own 'Quirk,' inwardly blaming himself for not being vigilant enough, for not preparing by activating his 'Quirk' the moment he heard the girl's sneer. At the same time, he tried to extract more information from the girl, earnestly questioning her:

"You still haven't told me who you are, and after all you've said, what exactly do you want?"

"Huh!"

Upon hearing Uraraka Shige's response, the girl feigned surprise, her large, clear eyes widening and gleaming with a captivating light in the evening glow. She raised her hand again, covering her mouth, leaving Uraraka Shige momentarily bewildered.

"You didn't understand?! You seemed so cunning and treacherous when dealing with those three scumbags! You even knew to distract them with words first... but now you still don't understand what I mean?"

After the girl finished speaking, she remained silent for a moment, quietly observing Uraraka Shige's reaction. Although Uraraka Shige had roughly understood from these words why the girl had such a shocked expression, he still looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if he were truly an innocent and naive child who knew nothing.

So the girl had no choice but to continue her story.

"Well, never mind, since you didn't understand, I'll just make it clearer from the start."

The girl put her hands behind her back and leaned forward slightly, seemingly getting a little closer to Uraraka Shige, but in reality, her feet didn't move an inch, indicating that she was just pretending to be closer.

"What I mean is... we'll split it in half when we meet! You see, you stole my prey, so it's only fair that you give me some compensation, right?"

The girl's words then became much more direct. She changed her previous mocking tone and became somewhat playful, like a girl next door, or a friendly girl next door who could take a joke and make people feel close to her.

At this point, Uraraka Shige understood what the girl's purpose was: the money he had swindled from the three homeless men, and the reward from the woman he had saved.

However, Uraraka Shige is a selfish person.

Even in the past, he would never have given away what he already had, let alone now that he was a 'fugitive' juvenile criminal, and therefore could not return home. The few yen he had now would be his living expenses for a long time to come.

Therefore, Uraraka Shige naturally refused decisively.

"Sorry, I don't know you, and I'm not giving you any of this money! Forget about it!"

At the same time, the moment Uraraka Shige finished speaking, he activated his 'Quirk', using a technique he named 'Heavy Burden', which he combined with 'Fall', attempting to influence the activation of the girl's so-called trap.

However, the next moment, the girl did not set up any trap. Instead, she paused for a moment, as if Uraraka Shige's answer had taken her by surprise. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the girl suddenly revealed a bright and cheerful smile and said her name.

"Momotani Hanawa! You'd better remember this, little brother~ My name is Momotani Hanawa!"

The girl's sudden change in attitude and the beauty she unexpectedly revealed caused Uraraka Shige, who had been on guard against her setting a so-called 'trap,' to instinctively freeze for a moment due to the unexpected turn of events.

It was at this moment that a rope, which had appeared at his feet at some unknown time, suddenly rose vertically, snatched the money from his hand before he could put it in his pocket, and pulled it out of his hand in an instant.

The sudden disappearance of the object in his hand jolted Uraraka Shige out of his daze. After looking down and realizing that something had snatched the money from his hand, he subconsciously looked up at the girl's location, only to see a slender figure with several tentacle-like ropes, vaulting over the outer wall of a house in the alley and disappearing away.