Pre-Festival Bustle

"Please give me a serving of takoyaki."

The owner of the takoyaki shop looked up and exclaimed with delight, "Isn't this the Mount Lady? I didn't expect you guys to come to the Sports Festival!"

"I don't want seaweed." The Mount Lady smiled and made a peace sign.

"Okay." The shop owner quickly got to work. "One serving, right? 500 yen."

The Mount Lady was taken aback. She clearly recognized me, yet she's still asking me for money!?

The Mount Lady, dressed in a tight-fitting combat suit, feigned distress, "Um... I don't have any cash on me..."

"You lecherous bastard!" The shop owner instantly abandoned his principles, his eyes blazing with anger, but he put on a magnanimous act, "Since that's the case, I'll give you a free meal!"

"Thanks!"

"Mmm, mmm~"

Seeing the Mount Lady strolling around while eating steaming hot takoyaki, Kamui Woods couldn't help but speak up, "Hey, we've taken on a mission to protect the school. Is it really okay for you to wander around like a normal tourist? And you're even taking things from the shopkeeper for free!"

"My firm's finances aren't great, so we'll save as much as we can." Mount Lady turned to look at Kamui Woods, and said with a relaxed smile, "Relax. This time, Pro Hero from all over the country will be here to watch and select the talents they value. Nothing serious will happen. Besides, even if something does happen, do you think my Quirk can be used in such a crowded environment?"

"Ugh." Kamui Woods was choked and speechless.

"Ahem." Death Arms, with his enormous fists, coughed twice to ease the awkwardness. "We originally wanted to find talent, but since we've taken on this job, there's no way around it." He pointed to the name tags on the three men's chests. "This time, we're largely just a deterrent, but we still have to fulfill our responsibilities."

"Hisako, I've explained it so many times, I didn't put any drugs in the food!"

"Don't call me Hisako. Are we that close? Call me by my surname, Arato!"

The Mount Lady pointed with a toothpick towards the source of the commotion and asked the two, "It seems there's been a dispute over there. Should we go check it out?"

"Finally, something to do!" Kamui Woods stepped forward first, squeezing into the center of the incident, which was surrounded by passersby. He asked the two people embroiled in the dispute, "I'm Pro Hero hired by the school to maintain order. Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

The red-haired boy spoke first, "You must be Kamui Woods. I'm the owner of this stall. I'm just selling food normally, but the disciplinary committee members keep giving me trouble and won't let me work!"

"Hmph." The girl with short, scarlet hair grumbled. "I'm the disciplinary committee member in charge of this area. I suspect this guy drugged the food; my colleagues are all poisoned. I'm just doing my job!"

Poisoning? Kamui Woods looked towards the back of the stall and saw two girls sitting on the ground leaning against the refrigerator, their eyes glazed over and their faces flushed. They were embracing each other, gazing deeply into each other's eyes, as if they were about to kiss at any moment.

"Stop!" The girl named Hisako spread her arms, blocking Kamui Woods. Her face flushed, she gestured to the girls with armbands on their shoulders who were following her, "Take those two back quickly, their mission is complete!"

Hisako looked at Kamui Woods: "Look, those two suddenly became like this because they ate the food this guy sells! I'm going to take down this guy's stall; I can't let him harm other people anymore!"

The red-haired man complained, "You only asked me to move my stall back at first, but didn't I already explain to you that my tools take up too much space and can't be moved any further? Besides, their flushed faces are because I added onions to the food to prevent them from losing their minds. It just shows they already had that urge!"

The boy was selling something that shouldn't be there: two whole cows, which he was using to make steaks. To keep the ingredients fresh, he had brought in two refrigerators to keep them refrigerated, and with the table and chairs already in place for preparing the food, there was really no room to move them any further.

"Kamui Woods, you're someone the school hired to help maintain order. Do you think his act of poisoning food is acceptable?!"

"Kamui Woods, you are Pro Hero, you are the embodiment of fairness, and your words have legal effect!"

Hearing the two of them ask him the same question in unison, Kamui Woods felt a headache coming on. He shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess.

"In that case... can I try it for free?" The Mount Lady stood in front of the stall, propping her chin up with her middle finger, tilting her head and drooling over the steak sizzling on the hot plate.

"You're Mount Lady!" The boy's eyes lit up, and he readily agreed, "No problem, as long as you can clear my name, I'll eat as many pieces as I want!"

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." The Mount Lady nodded slightly, took the paper bowl handed to her by the boy, and ate the steak cut into small pieces.

Everyone was staring at her. She chewed a few times, then smiled at the boy, "No problem, it's delicious!"

"I apologize for the poor hospitality!" The red-haired boy smiled broadly, turning to Hisako. "See? I told you my cooking was fine. You must have been fooled by those two!"

"Damn it, this means the young lady's mission won't be completed..." Hisako gritted her teeth and glared at the boy, thinking to herself.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd exclaimed, "Look everyone, the Mount Lady... it's her!"

Kamui Woods quickly looked towards the Mount Lady and found that her face had become very rosy, and every move she made carried a seductive aura.

She walked up to Kamui Woods with cat-like steps, hooked her hand under his chin, brought her face close to his, and said in a questioning voice, "Hmm, I suddenly realize you're actually quite good-looking. Tonight..."

Before she could finish speaking, Kamui Woods jumped up and knocked her unconscious, preventing her from continuing.

"What's there to say now? You really did poison your food!"

"It wasn't me! I didn't! Don't talk nonsense!" The boy denied it three times in a row, not believing it was his fault.

However, when the boy looked to Kamui Woods for help, he saw that Shenwei nodded slightly and several people were approaching him with their hands clenched. He threw off the towel on his head and ran away instantly.

"Grab him!" Hisako gave the order, then went to Kamui Woods and bowed deeply. "Thank you for your help."

She bowed like a lady from a noble family, but when she straightened up, her demeanor changed completely, transforming her into a capable disciplinary committee member, directing her subordinates to help move the items away.

Looking at the Mount Lady who had been knocked unconscious in his arms, Kamui Woods finally realized what he had done, and the color of his brown, wooden face suddenly deepened.

"So even wood can blush..." Death Arms thought silently to himself as he looked at Kamui Woods.