BNHA: I am Reiji Toga Chapter 24: Suspect (1)

The rain had finally stopped in the early hours of the morning.

Friday dawned cold, damp, and strangely quiet after the chaos of the previous night. Small drops were still trickling down from the eaves, and the streets of Musutafu remained shrouded in gray shadows beneath the cloudy sky.

Inside the Toga house, however, the atmosphere was warm. The constant sizzle of cooking oil and the aroma of toasted bread slowly filled the kitchen as the dim light of dawn filtered through the curtains.

Reiji had been awake since before six. After the previous day's episode and his extre exhaustion, he had fallen asleep a few minutes after the scene.

His regeneration had completely stabilized the physical wear and tear he'd been carrying since the mall incident, but now it demanded more organic food; the blood had been fine for his recovery, but blood alone clearly wasn't enough anymore.

That's why he was cooking.

To fill the gaping hole in his stomach.

In front of him, several dishes were already set on the table as he finished frying eggs and arranging toast with almost exaggerated precision. His school uniform was already properly on, covered only by an apron to keep it clean, his hair neat, and his expression relaxed.

From the second floor, hurried footsteps could be heard before his mother finally appeared in the kitchen, still finishing up her hair while checking sothing on her phone.

"Did you wake up early again?" she asked as soon as she saw him.

"More or less."

She looked at the set table and let out a small, tired smile.

"You're getting better and better at cooking. You're making look bad as a mother."

Reiji let out a small nasal sigh as she turned off the stove.

"I'm just making sure you don't leave the house without eating; it's not healthy for anyone."

His father appeared shortly after, adjusting his tie while yawning slightly. Both of them had co ho very late the night before.

Since moving to Musutafu, their jobs seed to be taking up more and more of their ti. Their promotions had significantly improved the family's financial situation, but they also kept them constantly busy.

"Is Himiko still asleep?" her father asked as he took a seat.

"Probably."

Her mother sighed softly as she began pouring herself so coffee.

"That girl is going to end up collapsing if she keeps pushing herself so hard at U.A. Let her rest as much as possible, but make sure she doesn't get late."

Reiji didn't answer. He just nodded slowly.

Breakfast went relatively normally. Short conversations about work, schedules, and minor daily complaints filled the kitchen for several minutes until both parents finally began getting ready to leave.

Before leaving, his mother walked over to Reiji and absentmindedly adjusted the collar of his uniform.

"You should sleep more."

The comnt made Reiji tense his back slightly.

"I'm fine. My regeneration heals everything. Rember?"

She watched him for just a few more seconds before sighing.

"But not your mind. You're growing up too fast, and it's not supposed to be like that. I'm your mother; I have to worry."

"Thanks."

The front door closed shortly after, and the house fell silent once more.

A silence that felt much heavier now.

Reiji slowly exhaled the air trapped in his lungs as he began clearing so plates from the table. His mind was still racing. Every ti he stopped getting distracted, he automatically rembered Himiko's warmth against him the night before, the taste of blood, and the sickening clarity that coursed through his entire body after tasting it.

He clenched his jaw slightly.

'Don't think about that again.'

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs interrupted his thoughts.

Himiko slowly appeared from the hallway, still finishing adjusting her U.A. uniform jacket. Unlike other days, she seed strangely quiet. Even shy.

Her eyes imdiately t Reiji's in the kitchen.

And the tension returned all at once.

She looked away first.

"Did Mom and Dad leave already?"

"A minute ago."

Himiko nodded barely before slowly approaching the table. Her movents were much less natural than usual. Even the way she avoided looking directly at him felt awkward.

Reiji pretended not to notice as he set a bowl in front of her.

"Are you eating breakfast here or should I pack it for you? It's still early."

"I'll stay…"

Himiko's voice ca out much lower than usual.

Reiji took a seat across from her and began to calmly eat his third bowl. He acted as if everything that had happened yesterday, and everything new that Himiko had learned about him, hadn't happened at all.

But Himiko couldn't act the sa way.

Her eyes kept rising constantly toward Reiji.She kept searching for so kind of reaction. So sign that would confirm to her that Reiji was also thinking about what had happened.

Because she certainly was.

So much.

She had truly lost control; her mind wanted so many other things, and she felt so close to achieving them that the abrupt end to it all was confusing and, later, very painful.

And most importantly, the realization that she probably didn't know her brother as well as she thought. How had he fought a villain of this magnitude and survived? She had read that even professional heroes had been seriously injured after what happened yesterday.

Was that what Reiji was like normally? Why had he never told her?

That was what hurt her the most—the distance she hadn't known existed between Reiji and her.

"How was your first official week at U.A.?" Reiji finally asked as he checked his phone.

The change of subject was so natural it was almost annoying.

"...Fine."

"Your classmates?"

"Normal."

"Interesting classes?"

"Yeah."

Silence returned imdiately afterward.

Reiji continued eating his breakfast calmly.

Too calmly.

Himiko squeezed the spoon slightly between her fingers as she watched him again.

"And you?" she finally asked. "How was your day yesterday?"

Reiji barely looked up.

"Normal."

That made Himiko frown slightly.

"Normal?" she repeated slowly. "Even though you almost ended up dead in the middle of a villain attack?"

Reiji kept looking at her for a few seconds before tilting his head slightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Himiko froze, feeling her brow furrow slightly.

"Reiji."

"I wasn't near any attack."

"I saw you."

"You saw a blurry recording."

Himiko slowly set the spoon down on the table.

"I recognized you imdiately."

"That doesn't an it was ."

Reiji's calm tone began to irritate her more with every word. Because he wasn't denying it nervously. He didn't seem embarrassed or worried.

He was simply pretending that nothing had happened.

As if she were stupid.

"So last night didn't happen either?" she asked suddenly.

Reiji didn't even react; in fact, he looked at Himiko with a raised eyebrow. As if he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Are you going to pretend I imagined it all?" Her voice began to harden slowly. "Are you really going to act like it doesn't matter? What's going on here…?"

Before Himiko could finish her outburst, Reiji interrupted her.

"What are you talking about?"

Just hearing that, Himiko fell silent instantly. His expression, tone, gestures, gaze, and breathing—everything indicated that Reiji was genuinely asking that in earnest, that nothing had really happened... Not anything he could rember.

"You... Is that you?"

This question caught Reiji sowhat off guard; his eye tensed slightly, and he kept his gaze fixed. It was sothing he'd been wondering since he was born: if he were Reiji, then he wouldn't be tornted by Ethan's mories, but if he were Ethan, then he wouldn't be able to enjoy his new life as Reiji.

He didn't doubt his present, but he did doubt who he was and what he was becoming.

"Yeah… I don't think you need to worry." Anyway, Himiko didn't understand the depth of his question and answered casually.

"Of course I need to worry!"

The response ca out much louder than she expected. Her breathing quickened slightly as she finally looked away in frustration.

"Yesterday… Yesterday I realized I don't really know you. All those tis you'd go out in the morning, in the afternoon, or even at night—I always thought it was for your scholarship, but… Is that really the case?"

She looked at him again, a look of desperation shining behind her eyes, needing a clear and concise answer from Reiji.

"Of course it is. You've seen it, haven't you?"

Himiko, upon hearing the answer, simply clenched her fists, feeling her frustration begin to build.

Himiko waited a few more seconds, but it never ca.

The frustration slowly turned into anger.

She jumped up from the table, barely pushing the chair back.

"I thought you'd at least be honest with ."

Reiji barely looked up.

"Himiko—"

"You don't have to explain anything to , do you?" Her voice sounded much colder now.

She grabbed her bag without even finishing breakfast.

"Himiko."

She paused just in front of the door, but when silence fell behind her again, she simply pressed her lips together tightly.

"Forget it."

And she left the house without saying goodbye. The door slamd shut, making her stance clear to Reiji.

The silence that followed was unbearably heavy.

Reiji remained seated at the table for several more seconds without moving. Himiko's breakfast was still practically untouched. His wasn't finished either.

Slowly, he ran a hand through his hair, in an attempt to clear his head, then let out a weary sigh and closed his eyes for just a mont.

'...Am I doing this right?'

He looked at his phone in an attempt to distract himself; the first thing he saw were ssages from Hawks.

"Man, because of what happened yesterday, take so ti off. You haven't been identified anywhere, and your fingerprints were washed away by the rain, but a break wouldn't hurt. Good job finding the dealer."

More bad news—he'd been taken off the case, for the very sa reason he'd fought with Himiko.

Could things get any worse?

***

The faint bluish glow of several lit screens broke the suffocating blackness of the place, casting distorted shadows on walls covered with tal filing cabinets, test tubes, and shelves cramd with old docunts.

The air slled of chemicals, rusty tal, and aged paper. It didn't look like a modern laboratory, but rather the hideout of soone who had spent too many years working far from any human supervision.

In the midst of that gloom, an elderly man sat at a desk piled high with handwritten notes. His completely white hair fell in disarray around a face hollowed by age and deep dark circles. The lab coat he wore was clean but old; too worn for soone who clearly had access to advanced technology. His long, slender fingers held a notebook as he wrote, with obsessive slowness, every visible detail on the screens in front of him.

To his right, a television played over and over the footage of the incident that had occurred in the rain the previous afternoon in Musutafu.

A hooded figure stood out in the video; he had stopped a falling billboard with sheer brute force to save a mother and her child, then had taken direct punches from the creature, which possessed brutal strength, and not only had he survived, he walked away through the alleys as if nothing had happened.

The image froze with the boy barely turning his face back as he walked away in the torrential rain. His clothes were torn. His wet black hair partially covered his face. And a single bright brown eye reflected briefly before the recording cut off.

"That boy…" The distorted voice erged from one of the monitors in the room, low, deep, and unnatural. "Give everything you've got."

The old man didn't respond imdiately. He rely lowered his gaze to the notes scattered across the desk before slowly settling back against the chair's backrest.

"There are no records…" His voice sounded dry and weary. "No biotric records match him. There is no viable facial identification. Nor are there clear fingerprints, sufficient biological residue, or movent patterns associated with known heroes. He used urban blind spots and avoided all major surveillance routes after the incident. The police assud he was a minor vigilante or so civilian accidentally involved."

One of the screens automatically switched images, displaying multiple enlarged photographs of the boy from various angles.

"However…" the man continued as he adjusted his glasses. "The physical capabilities he displayed far exceed the norm. There are clear signs of advanced regeneration. Visible injuries disappear between consecutive recordings."

The monitor remained silent.

"Subject K-01 reacted abnormally," he explained, watching the creature that had caused all the chaos on the screen. "The compound was functioning correctly. The evolution began as expected. Muscular adaptation, bone expansion, neural growth, and spontaneous defensive mutation…" His eyes narrowed slowly behind his glasses. "But the subsequent behavior was incorrect."

The screen now showed images of the creature shifting its attention entirely to the hooded figure in the rain.

"At that stage of evolution, the subject should prioritize basic survival. For that very reason, it attempts to destroy everything around it without knowing what the real threat is." He slowly lowered his hand and looked again at the frozen image of the boy. "And yet… it reacted specifically to him."

The old man opened another folder, much older than the rest. The docunts inside were yellowed, so even stained by the passage of ti. dical diagrams. Partially destroyed photographs. Biological reports.

And a single word repeated multiple tis.

'Project Origin'

"The biological reaction is too similar..." He murmured, almost to himself. "The creature detected his blood as if it were the stabilizing serum." His fingers tensed slightly over the docunts. "Exactly as intended by the original project"

The old man slowly looked up at the main screen.

"That's why this doesn't make sense."

The screen remained still for several more seconds before the voice erged again.

"Your conclusion?"

The old man slowly leaned back against the chair's backrest. His tired eyes remained fixed on the boy's frozen figure.

"I don't believe in coincidences of this magnitude; that boy has sothing that could help us quite a bit in the investigation."

The room fell completely silent after that. Only the hum of the monitors continued to fill the dark laboratory.

Finally, the distorted voice spoke one last ti.

"He'll show up again."

There was a brief pause.

"He wasn't there by chance." The screen emitted a slight static before continuing. "He was investigating the lead that leaked the other day in Tokyo; it must be related."

The old man nodded slowly.

"Then all we can do is wait."

The monitor began to fade out slowly.

"Find him."

Darkness swallowed the room once more.

The last thing left illuminated was the frozen image of the boy, his face barely turned toward the storm, that single brown eye glowing faintly amid the rain and shadows.

***

Today's chapter is late because I'm finishing up so university assignnts and exams, but after this week I'll be free to continue writing and finish translating the remaining chapters.

I hope you enjoyed it. If so, so delicious power stones are coming your way, and I'll see you next ti.