BNHA: I am Reiji Toga Chapter 20: Musutafu (3)

The air was colder than usual that morning. Musutafu had that kind of deceptive weather, where the sun was out but didn't provide much warmth. Reiji had already adjusted after weeks in the city; his body didn't react the sa way as everyone else's. His regeneration system corrected minor imbalances, keeping him stable without any visible effort.

Beside him, Himiko was the complete opposite.

She walked wrapped in layers. Two coats layered over each other, a thick scarf covering half her face, and gloves that were clearly not her size. The sleeves were too long for her, the collar was too big, but even so, she didn't seem uncomfortable.

Reiji walked with his hands in his pockets, in short sleeves, looking completely out of place by comparison.

"Are you sure you don't want to co with ?" Himiko asked after a few seconds of silence, turning her face slightly toward Reiji. Her smile had that tense edge that appeared when she tried to hide her nerves. "You could go unnoticed… Like one of those annoying assistants who just stand there watching from afar."

Reiji let out a brief laugh, more air than sound.

"I don't want to get kicked out before I even get in. Besides, you're the one taking the exam, not ."

Himiko pursed her lips in a slight gesture, not pressing the issue. She knew he was right. It wasn't a day for distractions. Not for her.

The walk continued in silence for a couple more blocks, until the U.A. building began to loom on the horizon. Even from a distance, the complex stood out for its size.

"I can't believe we got here so fast…" Himiko murmured, staring straight ahead without blinking much. "Ever since we moved… Everything's been so rushed. Training, studying… And now this."

Reiji watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"If it's because you want to be near …" he finally said, without changing his tone. "You should think twice before walking through those doors. The idea isn't for you to revolve around "

Himiko stopped dead in her tracks.

She turned completely toward Reiji, looking up to et his gaze head-on.

"I'm here because I want to be. Because I chose to be here. Because I want to prove I can do this on my own"

Reiji held her gaze for a few more seconds, reading beyond the words. He wasn't trying to convince her. Just to be sure.

"Then do it right."

When they resud walking, they were close enough for the stream of applicants to beco evident. Groups of students, so nervous, others confident, all heading toward the sa spot. The entrance to U.A. lood before them, clear, direct, without the need for exaggeration.

Himiko slowed down.

Reiji stopped with her.

"And you?" she asked without looking directly at him. "What are you going to do in the anti?"

Reiji looked away toward a more distant area, where the city resud its usual rhythm far from the bustle of the exam.

"Train," he replied. "Changing cities doesn't change what I have to do."

Himiko nodded slightly. She hadn't expected anything else.

She took a step closer. And wrapped her arms around Reiji, giving him a hug.

It was direct, firm, her forehead resting against his chest. It took Reiji barely a fraction of a second to react before returning the hug, placing a hand on her back without squeezing too tightly.

The difference in height was obvious. Despite being two years younger, Reiji was tall enough that the gesture felt natural, without any strain.

When they parted, Reiji leaned in slightly and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Good luck."

Himiko didn't respond right away.

She just smiled.

"See you later."

"Okay."

Himiko turned on her heel without looking back, weaving her way through the crowd of applicants with a more determined stride than before. She didn't disappear imdiately. Her figure still stood out enough for him to keep his eyes on her for a few more seconds.

Reiji watched her until she disappeared into the crowd.

Then he exhaled.

He turned on his heel and began walking in the opposite direction. He pulled an earpiece from his pocket and put it in with an automatic motion.

"Agent 087 here. Initiating tracking. Heading to the location of suspicious activity reported in recent days."

The response ca almost imdiately.

"Copy that. Proceed with caution."

"Roger."

Before walking away completely, his gaze drifted almost involuntarily toward the side of the academy. A figure had just crossed the gate with an energy that stood out from the rest. Blue hair in constant motion, a light, agile posture, and an open smile that didn't seem forced.

'Nejire Hado'

He recognized her instantly. She was one of the characters who had left the deepest impression on him while reading the work; perhaps her relentless curiosity and optimism had caught his attention. Or her undeniable beauty compared to the other characters.

He held his gaze for a mont, confirming her beauty with what his eyes were processing.

Until she seed to notice she was being watched. Then, without changing his expression, Reiji looked away.

***

"Nothing..."

Reiji's sigh was lost in the empty interior of the building, barely audible amid the faint creaking of charred wood beneath his footsteps. He was in a fast-food restaurant that had been closed weeks earlier following a fire in the kitchen. The official report cited a technical failure—a minor oversight that had spiraled out of control.

Since then, the building had been abandoned, with the windows boarded up, the main entrance sealed off, and a sign announcing reconstruction scheduled for the following week.

But that wasn't the reason he was there.

After narrowing down the area of activity for the criminal Reiji was searching for, he had established a certain periter.

And civilian reports regarding this building had increased recently: nightti activity, figures entering and exiting through the back, the local police had co to investigate and found nothing.

He hoped to find sothing different, but that wasn't the case.

Reiji had slipped in through the back entrance without difficulty, using just enough force to leave no visible marks. He had searched the entire place twice, from the kitchen to the dining area, passing through the bathrooms and the small storage room.

Everything was intact in its abandonnt.

The floor showed no recent signs of foot traffic, the dust accumulated on so surfaces remained undisturbed, and the remains of the fire were still where they should be: warped tal, blackened wood, structures weakened by the heat.

His steps took him a few more ters further inside, where light barely managed to filter through the cracks in the boards covering the windows. Fallen shelves, broken tables, chairs piled up haphazardly. Everything fit the scene of a forgotten place.

'I'm going around in circles...'

It was the first ti he had nothing to hold onto. His previous investigations always followed a thread, however faint.

Not here.

The three previous locations he had checked in Musutafu were the sa. Empty. Nothing. He only had the initial lead of a certain 'Whistle,' but he was beginning to think he had probably trusted a criminal too quickly.

And that was the worst part. To think he was at a dead end because of his own fault and inexperience.

Just as he was thinking of leaving, a faint sound caught his attention. It ca from outside the building and sounded like footsteps.

Reiji moved toward one of the blind spots in the area, hiding behind a collapsed structure that was still large enough to conceal his silhouette. His clothes were different from what he'd worn when he'd left Himiko.

Looser-fitting clothes, neutral colors, dark contact lenses that dulled the natural sparkle in his eyes, and temporary hair dye that broke any imdiate resemblance to his usual appearance.

The back door opened with a light push, and a boy followed him in.

He looked like a teenager. Slim, baggy clothes, a backpack slung over one shoulder. He walked with a relaxed confidence, like soone who had been there before. He didn't look around imdiately. He closed the door with his foot and took a few steps forward, setting the backpack on the floor.

Reiji watched him in silence.

The boy pulled a spray can from one of his backpack's zippers and turned toward a specific wall; just as he was about to do his thing, the corner of his eye caught sight of Reiji.

The boy froze.

"Shit!"

His reaction was imdiate; he took a step back as if he'd touched sothing hot. His eyes widened more than necessary, assessing the situation quickly—and poorly.

"I wasn't doing anything!" he blurted out, raising his hands with the spray can still in one of them. "I swear I wasn't going to paint anything. I'm not coming back, I promise!"

Reiji didn't move. He just stared at the boy and what was happening; there didn't seem to be anything strange beyond the graffiti he'd intended to spray.

The boy swallowed hard.

"I thought it was abandoned… I an, it is, but… You know… I'd been here before and nothing happened," he added nervously, vaguely gesturing toward the spot as if that explained anything. "I didn't know that… That you were watching or sothing like that, this ti"

Reiji took a step forward.

"Go away," he said in a low voice, as if he were an adult watching a child act on a whim. "And don't co back."

The boy nodded repeatedly right away, backing away toward his backpack.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I won't co back, I swear!"

He grabbed his backpack quickly, almost tripping over himself in his haste, and went out through the sa door he'd co in, pushing it carelessly until it was left ajar. The sharp thud echoed in the empty interior, and then everything fell silent again.

Reiji exhaled through his nose, not moving right away. His gaze shifted calmly toward the nearest wall… And his expression changed just a mont later.

'The walls are clean…'

The detail clicked too late.

He turned his head quickly, scanning the rest of the room with much closer attention than before. All the surfaces bore the marks of the fire: soot, cracks, areas blackened by the heat. But there wasn't a single line of paint, no dried residue, no overlapping layers, no failed attempts. Nothing.

The boy had spoken as if he'd been there before.

And yet…

There was no trace that he'd ever painted there.

"Shit."

The word ca out almost as a whisper.

Without wasting any more ti, he moved toward the back exit and pushed the door open hard, stepping outside in one continuous motion. The contrast in light hit him for a second, but he didn't slow down.

He looked both ways.

Nothing.

The alley was just as it had been before: dumpsters, a long wall with no imdiate visible exits, and the distant noise of the main traffic. There were no receding footsteps. There was no heavy breathing. There was nothing to indicate that soone had just run off.

He circled the building at the point where he knew the caras didn't fully cover the angle, moving toward the back corner from where he could get a better view of the possible escape routes.

If the boy had run… He should have been in one of those directions.

But he wasn't.

Reiji clenched his jaw slightly and continued, extending the search beyond the imdiate periter. He even stopped a couple of pedestrians passing through the area, asking simple, direct questions.

"Did you see anyone run out of there?"

"A boy with a backpack? A few seconds ago?"

No one had noticed anything.

After a few minutes of searching, he gave up. Whoever the boy was, he was exactly what he was looking for…

'Himiko will be out in an hour; I have to be there...'

Although he wanted to keep investigating, his sister was far more important than whatever was happening. He'd co back tomorrow and bring a can of pepper spray; he didn't know if it would work, but there must have been a reason the boy had pulled out the spray, even when he hadn't noticed Reiji.

***

Well, it's the start of a new week, and last week we reached 75 Power Stones. Thank you for your support of the story, and as a token of my appreciation, I'm bringing you a double chapter today.

I also want to set a power stone goal so I can publish more chapters.

So, starting now, for every 70 Power Stones, you'll get an extra chapter at the beginning of each week (a bit excessive for now, but it's to help keep up my own pace).

Every week I'll update the goal to see if it's too much or too little.

Also, if you want access to all the content published so far, you can support the project on Patreon for just $2 USD. → [p4tre0n.c0m/MisterCreator]

Anyway, thanks for reading and for your support. I appreciate it with all my heart.