Saturday arrived.
The good news: Mother had left the city.
The bad news: My body felt like it had been run over by a truck. Then reversed over. Then the truck driver got out and kicked me.
I woke up at 7:00 AM.
I tried to stretch.
A popping sound echoed in the room.
YN: "That didn't sound healthy."
I rolled out of bed.
I checked my phone.
Marin: Location pin sent. Be there at 10! Don't be late or I'll cry!
Yagi: Rest morning. Eat chicken. Beach at sunset. Rain predicted. Bring a raincoat.
Two bosses. Two different worlds.
I went downstairs.
Yukino was sitting in the living room.
She was actually relaxing.
She was wearing casual clothes. A long skirt and a sweater.
Pan-san was on her lap.
She looked up when I entered.
Yukino: "You are moving like a rusty robot."
YN: "I'm fine. Just... stiff."
Yukino: "Did you sleep well? Mother left at dawn."
YN: "I slept like a rock. Until my alarm attacked me."
Yukino: "I am going to the library today. To... decompress."
YN: "Good idea. Read something trashy. No literature."
Yukino: "I do not read trash."
YN: "Live a little, Yukino."
I grabbed an apple.
I walked out the door.
The air was humid. Rain was coming.
Perfect weather for lifting garbage later.
But first, I had to survive Marin Kitagawa.
The location was a rental studio in Ikebukuro.
It was a sketchy-looking building.
Graffiti on the walls. Broken elevator.
I walked up three flights of stairs.
My quads burned.
I opened the door to Room 303.
It was a different world inside.
White walls. Fancy lights. Gothic furniture.
Marin was standing in the middle of the room.
She was dressed as Shizuku-tan.
Black gothic dress. Purple wig. Chains.
She looked incredible.
Like she stepped out of the game.
Marin: "YN-chi! You made it!"
She tried to run over, but the chains on her dress weighed her down.
She stumbled.
Gojo dove to catch her.
He was wearing a black apron and holding a makeup brush.
Gojo: "Kitagawa-san! Please be careful! The hem is delicate!"
Marin: "I'm okay! Look, YN! Isn't Gojo-kun a genius?"
I looked at the dress.
The details were insane.
Every ruffle. Every stitch.
Gojo wasn't just a student. He was a craftsman.
YN: "It looks pro, Gojo. You should charge for this."
Gojo: "N-No! I'm still learning! The lace isn't perfectly symmetrical!"
YN: "Nobody looks at the lace symmetry, man. They look at the whole picture."
Marin: "Exactly! Now, YN-chi, I need a favor!"
YN: "I knew it. I'm the pack mule."
Marin: "No! You're the lighting assistant! hold this!"
She handed me a reflector board.
It was huge. Silver.
She handed me a portable LED light.
She pointed to a spot.
Marin: "Stand there. Bounce the light onto my face. Make me sparkle!"
YN: "Sparkle. Got it."
I stood there.
I held the reflector.
It wasn't heavy compared to a fridge.
But holding it steady for an hour? That was torture.
My shoulders started to shake.
Yagi's training kicked in.
Clench the core. Stabilize the stance.
I stood like a statue.
Gojo: "Yukinoshita-san, are you okay? You're sweating."
YN: "I'm fine. This is... isometric training."
Marin: "He's so intense! Look at that focus! Like a bodyguard!"
We shot photos for two hours.
Flash. Pose. Adjust light. Flash.
Marin was a natural.
She switched from bubbly high school girl to dark gothic heroine in a second.
Gojo was in the zone.
He was directing her.
"Chin down. Eyes up. Turn the shoulder."
I watched them.
They were passionate.
They had found their "thing."
I looked at my shaking hands.
My "thing" was eating hair and fighting monsters in secret.
Life was weird.
1:00 PM.
Marin: "Break time! I'm starving!"
She flopped onto a sofa.
She was careful with the wig.
Marin: "I want fried chicken! And bubble tea!"
Gojo: "We should eat something healthy..."
Marin: "Chicken is protein! YN said athletes need protein!"
YN: "Don't drag me into your diet choices."
Marin: "YN-chi, be a pal? There's a convenience store down the street. The good one."
She flashed the puppy eyes.
Specifically, the Shizuku-tan purple contact lens puppy eyes.
It was super effective.
YN: "Fine. Cash only."
Marin: "Yay! Get the spicy kind!"
I left the studio.
I needed the walk anyway.
To loosen up the muscles.
I walked down the street.
Ikebukuro was crowded.
I saw all kinds of people.
Otaku carrying merch bags. Couples. Students.
I scanned the crowd.
Habit.
Yagi and Aizawa had made me paranoid.
Every person in a hoodie looked suspicious.
Every alleyway looked like a crime scene waiting to happen.
I entered the convenience store.
The AC blasted me.
It felt nice.
I walked to the hot food section.
I grabbed the last three spicy chickens.
Victory.
Voice: "Unbelievable. They are out."
I heard a familiar voice.
I turned around.
Standing near the coffee machine was Kaguya Shinomiya.
She was wearing a disguise.
Sunglasses. A hat. A trench coat.
She looked like a spy from a bad movie.
She was staring at the coffee machine like it was an alien spaceship.
YN: "Shinomiya?"
She jumped.
She spun around.
Her sunglasses slipped.
Kaguya: "I... I do not know who you are talking about! I am just a normal citizen!"
YN: "You're wearing a trench coat in summer. You look like you're about to flash someone."
She pulled the coat tighter.
Her face turned red.
Kaguya: "Yukinoshita! Keep your voice down!"
YN: "What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?"
Kaguya: "I... I wanted to experience commoner coffee. The President drinks it. I wanted to understand the taste."
YN: "It tastes like burnt beans and sugar. It's not deep."
Kaguya: "I must try it! But this machine... it asks for buttons. There are too many buttons!"
I looked at the machine.
It was a standard digital touch screen.
YN: "Just press 'Black Coffee'. Then 'Medium'."
Kaguya: "I don't have a card! Does it take gold bars?"
YN: "No, it does not take gold bars. Move over."
I stepped in.
I tapped the screen.
I paid with my IC card.
The machine whirred. It poured the coffee.
I handed her the cup.
YN: "Careful. It's hot."
She took it with two hands.
She looked at it like it was the Holy Grail.
Kaguya: "Thank you. I will... reimburse you."
YN: "It was 100 yen. Don't worry about it."
Kaguya: "I cannot accept charity! I will have my butler wire you the money."
YN: "Wire me 100 yen? The transaction fee costs more than the coffee."
She took a sip.
Her face twisted in disgust.
Kaguya: "It's... bitter."
YN: "Yep. That's the taste of high school stress."
Kaguya: "The President drinks this every day? Poor thing."
Suddenly, the automatic doors slid open.
A man walked in.
He wasn't a customer.
He was wearing a ski mask.
In July.
He walked straight to the counter.
He pulled out a knife.
A long, jagged kitchen knife.
Robber: "Put the money in the bag! Now!"
The cashier, a teenager, froze.
The other customers gasped.
Kaguya stiffened.
Her bodyguard wasn't here. She was sneaking out.
Kaguya: "Is this... a robbery?"
YN: "Looks like it. Stay behind me."
I stepped in front of her.
My heart started pounding.
Not from fear.
Well, a little fear.
But mostly adrenaline.
This was a villain event.
A low-level one.
No quirks visible. just a knife.
I looked at the robber.
He was shaking. Desperate.
Robber: "Hurry up! I'll cut you!"
He waved the knife.
He knocked over a display of gum.
I looked at his hands.
Wait.
His fingers.
They were glowing slightly.
Faint blue light.
A weak quirk? Or just a mutation?
Either way, he was dangerous.
I needed to act.
But I couldn't use One For All. I didn't have it yet.
And I couldn't fight him like a pro.
I was just a gym rat who lifted trash.
I looked around.
I saw a can of hairspray on the shelf next to me.
I saw the hot coffee in Kaguya's hand.
YN: "Shinomiya. Do you trust me?"
Kaguya: "What? No. Why would I?"
YN: "Good point. Give me the coffee."
Kaguya: "But I just took a sip..."
YN: "Give it!"
I snatched the cup.
I grabbed the hairspray.
The robber turned to face us.
Robber: "Hey! You two! Wallets! Now!"
He lunged.
He was fast.
But I had been dodging Yagi's punches for a week.
Yagi was faster.
I ducked under the knife.
I threw the hot coffee in his face.
Robber: "ARGH!"
He screamed. The liquid blinded him.
He flailed the knife blindly.
I stepped in.
I didn't punch him.
I didn't have the technique.
I just tackled him.
I used the tackle Yagi taught me for moving fridges.
Get low. Drive the shoulder. Push through.
I hit him in the stomach.
The air left his lungs.
We crashed into the magazine rack.
Manga flew everywhere.
I pinned his knife arm down with my knee.
I sprayed the hairspray in his eyes for good measure.
Robber: "MY EYES! IT STINGS!"
YN: "That's 'Extra Hold'. It lasts 24 hours."
The cashier pressed the panic button.
I held the guy down.
He was strong, but I was heavier.
My muscle mass had increased.
I felt his struggle weaken.
Kaguya: "Incredible..."
She was staring at me.
Her eyes were wide.
I realized I was sitting on a criminal in the middle of a Lawson.
This wasn't background character behavior.
YN: "He slipped. On the gum."
Kaguya: "He did not slip. You took him down."
YN: "Lucky tackle. I played rugby once. In middle school."
Kaguya: "You are... surprisingly violent, Yukinoshita."
YN: "I prefer 'decisive'."
The police sirens wailed outside.
I stood up.
I kicked the knife away.
I looked at the robber.
His fingers stopped glowing.
Stress-induced activation?
The police rushed in.
I didn't want to be interviewed.
I didn't want my name in the paper. Mother would see it.
YN: "Shinomiya. We need to go."
Kaguya: "But the police..."
YN: "Do you want your family to know you were here? In a trench coat? Without security?"
Her face paled.
Kaguya: "We must leave immediately."
We slipped out the back door while the police were yelling at the robber.
We ran down the alley.
We stopped two blocks away.
Kaguya was panting.
She wasn't used to running.
Kaguya: "That was... terrifying."
YN: "Yeah. Welcome to the real world."
Kaguya: "But also... exhilarating."
She looked at me. A strange glint in her eyes.
She adjusted her hat.
Kaguya: "You saved me. Technically."
YN: "I saved the coffee machine. You were just bystanders."
Kaguya: "I owe you a debt. The Shinomiya family always pays its debts."
YN: "Just don't tell anyone. Especially my sister. She thinks I'm carrying boxes."
Kaguya: "Your secret is safe. But next time... teach me how to tackle someone."
YN: "Let's stick to teaching you how to buy coffee first."
She actually smiled.
A real smile. Not the creepy fake one.
Then she turned and walked away, pulling out her phone to call her retrieval team.
I looked down at my shirt.
It had a coffee stain.
And I forgot the spicy chicken.
YN: "Marin is going to kill me."
I went back to the studio.
I bought more chicken from a different store.
I apologized for being late.
I said there was a long line.
Marin didn't care. She was just happy to eat.
We finished the shoot at 5:00 PM.
My body was done.
But my day wasn't.
I took the train to the beach.
It started to rain.
A cold, miserable drizzle.
I arrived at the beach park.
Yagi was there.
He was holding a large umbrella.
He looked dry.
I was instantly soaked.
Yagi: "Perfect weather!"
YN: "For ducks maybe. Why are we here?"
Yagi: "Wet sand is heavier! It creates more resistance!"
YN: "You are a sadist. You know that?"
Yagi: "I am a teacher! Now, today we clean the eastern sector! The electronics pile!"
He pointed to a mound of old TVs, computers, and microwaves.
It was huge.
Yagi: "But before that..."
He reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a newspaper.
It was the evening edition.
He pointed to a small article in the corner.
"Attempted Robbery Foiled by Mystery Student."
Yagi: "You were busy today."
YN: "I just... reacted. He had a knife."
Yagi: "And you didn't use your power. Because you don't have it yet. You used your head. And your body."
He lowered the paper.
He looked at me with pride.
Yagi: "You controlled the situation. You protected the civilians. And you didn't stick around for the glory."
YN: "I ran away because I didn't want to answer questions."
Yagi: "That is what underground heroes do. We do the job. We vanish."
He tossed me a pair of heavy work gloves.
Yagi: "You are progressing faster than I thought. Your instincts are sharpening."
YN: "Does that mean I can skip training tonight?"
Yagi: "Hahaha! No! It means we double the load! Move those microwaves!"
YN: "I hate this job."
I walked toward the pile of trash.
The rain poured down.
My clothes were soaked.
My muscles ached.
But I felt a grin on my face.
I took down a villain today.
Me. The background character.
I grabbed a microwave.
It felt light.
YN: "PLUS ULTRA!"
I threw it onto the truck.
CRASH.
Yagi: "Gently! We are recycling, not destroying!"
YN: "Sorry!"
The journey continued.
And somewhere in the dark city, the real villains were watching.
But for now, it was just me and the trash.