Chapter 137 - Tartarus

Make sure to check out the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG if you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead of shedule.

*

A warning costs nothing.

Katsuki suddenly raised her head and immediately lowered it to avoid breaking my 'vow of chastity'.

- Ochaco? No, she's the one who saved me at the camp. Without her, I wouldn't have made it to school before it was too late. She had no reason to help me if it was her.

I shifted in my seat, trying to figure out the best way to convince him without arousing his suspicions that I really knew what I was talking about.

- I don't know, I replied. But there is something about her that I don't like.

Katsuki smiled.

- Since when are you the kind of guy to have hunches?

He started to eat again, more relaxed.

I don't like that.

- It's not a hunch, it's just...

...that I fucking know.

-.... that her behavior is strange. She's the one who found Kaminari dea... out of it in his hospital room, right?

On the morning of the break-in at Yuei and the theft of the Aizawa card, Uraraka was the only one to leave class.

- Monoma was also there to see him, Katsuki countered. It's not secret information, everyone knows about it.

- Remember in the desert ? She screamed three times because of a bug

A bug I remembered perfectly well calling invisible - shit, how could she get me like that ?

- And then Kaminari blew up every camera and microphone in the oasis. Odd coincidence.

- What, you think she and Kaminari were in cahoots and she got rid of him?

I opened my mouth and closed it again, all my attention focused on Katsuki.

I was surprised to see that Katsuki rejected each of my suggestions without giving them a second thought.

He had no problem believing my flimsy theory about a potential spy in the oasis even before Aizawa confirmed anything...

- ... I've been seeing you with Uraraka a lot lately

- Yeah, so ?

The defensive tone gave me a bad feeling.

- I was just making an observation

He rolled his eyes.

- Don't think I'm biased or anything, but your arguments are completely wrong. Because she went to see Kaminari in his room - as did 90% of the class - that makes her a traitor ? I also don't see anything wrong with yelling at a mosquito, whether it's 3 times or 5 times (he smiled). You'd probably yell just as much if someone threw a dirty towel at you.

He's right.

- Okay, I said, shaking my hand. Forget about it.

- What would be her motives ?, Katsuki insisted?

Money.

I blinked for a second, feverish, hands shaking, puzzle pieces rattling together.

Holy shit, it's fucking money !

- See ? It doesn't make any sense. If you'd said Kaminari alone, it would have made more sense...

I frantically smoothed the folds of my pants, forcing myself to keep the excitement out of my voice.

- You're right, I said. It's just that I find it strange that despite the whole camp fiasco, the principal hasn't managed to catch anyone. It makes me a little paranoid.

- Yeah, totally get ut. I never imagined that high school would be like... this

And he waved his hand vaguely to encompass whatever 'this' was supposed to be.

- Life is hard

I nodded, surprisingly sincerely.

- And we're only sixteen, he added.

- Tell me about it

In my previous life I died when I was barely twenty, not even old enough to know what 'living' meant. That life was so strange that even though I was mentally over thirty, I didn't even feel eighteen.

I figured that was why all those old people liked to say that age was just a number and that they felt as young as ever inside.

I started to eat again, whereas Katsuki continued to shovel everything like a black hole.

The comfortable silence, the sound of conversations, the clatter of cutlery against plates and the smell of freshly cooked spicy noodles blended into a strangely soothing whole.

When the dishes were nearly empty, I sat back and pulled my mask over my nose.

- Hey, say...

Katsuki looked up at me.

- Yeah?

His red eyes swept me from side to side, attentive.

I hesitated for a second.

I took the easy way out:

- Your parents don't feed you ?

- Haha, very funny

He reached into the unopened bag of Takoyaki at the end of the table.

I pulled out the kraft paper bag.

- Don't touch

- I only want one, he said, leaning forward.

I pulled the bag back.

- Finish your plate.

He rolled his eyes.

- You sound like the old hag

The hostess came back with a new bill.

I slid it over to Katsuki.

He frowned.

- You're the one who invites, you're the one who pays

- You're the one who ordered the extras when I had already paid.

- I don't have any money with me

I blinked, suddenly remembering an expression I'd heard repeated several times by the students in the class.

- You're a rat

I slammed the bank card down on the bill.

Katsuki smiled triumphantly, took a sip of his coke, looked distractedly at the card and then coughed violently, almost choking on his own stupidity.

- Eat slowly, idiot.

The last thing he needs is to die because he's too happy to get a free meal.

Since I had paid for his meal, would I be responsible for manslaughter ?

I almost smiled at the thought of my one way ticket to Tartarus because no one had ever taught Katchan how to chew.

That would be really anticlimactic.

- You have a fucking black card ?

- Hmm ? Yeah I do. What's the point ?

Katsuki, his eyes shining, quickly tucked in his coat, threw his scarf over his shoulder, walked past the hostess who lifted the payment terminal, swiped the contactless card and left without looking back.

What's wrong with him ?

I followed him at a brisk pace, holding the bag of takoyaki in one hand and turning the collar of my jacket around with the other.

The bell rang behind me and I caught up with Katsuki on the street.

He didn't even look up at me, holding the card in both hands as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

- What's the limit on it ?

- I'm not sure. A lot. Care to share why you ran away like that ?

- Man, you know what you can do with that?

- Buy stuff ?

Katsuki stopped and I pivoted slightly to avoid bumping into him.

He shook his head.

- Buy stuff ? You don't buy things with that kind of money, you live experiences

I was skeptical.

- What kind of experience do you have in mind?

- You told me you had a fight with your old man, didn't you? And he's the one who gave you this card?

I nodded.

Katsuki held up three fingers.

- First experiment: find the limit of this card. Second experiment : Blow the limit of this card.

Katsuki smiled and showed his sharp teeth.

- Third experiment : avoid being killed by your old man

I smiled, feeling my blood boiling with excitement.

- Where shall we start ?

*

Bonus 1 :

Standing on the roof of one of the city's tallest skyscrapers, Katsuki and I watched the city below, the pedestrians wrapped in layers of clothing to withstand the bitter cold.

I exhaled a cloud of steam and turned to Katsuki, who, like me, was at the height of excitement.

- If we provoke an accident, I'll say it was you who got me into this

Katsuki pointed at the pile of luxury bags, jewelry boxes, ribboned new consoles, laptops, high-end phones, board games, and a whole lot of other useless stuff we'd bought.

- We paid for all this stuff with your card. If we get caught, I'll just say you forced my hand.

I picked up a dozen bags and Katsuki imitated me.

- Hey !

I turned to him.

- We're not going to cause an accident by throwing a PS5 at a driver's windshield, are we ?

- Let's throw the soft stuff and drop the big stuff on different street corners.

Katsuki nodded and tucked the straps of the bags into his mouth.

- Ready to go?

He nodded and with a geyser of flames we took off into the sky, raining Valentino and Prada on Mustafu.

Bonus 2 :

- It's Christmas before time in Mustafu, as an anonymous Santa Claus seems to have decided to spoil the town's inhabitants. We're not talking about sweets or board games, but gifts such as luxury watches, designer clothes and real top-of-the-line cars, which the lucky ones have been able to collect from garages.

The anchor's eyes lit up when he mentioned the expensive cars.

- Mr Shingeki here was one of the lucky ones to receive a gift that literally fell from the sky. Mr. Shingeki, can you tell us what happened?

The presenter turned to an old man in a beret and pointed the foam microphone at his mouth.

- Yes, so I was walking home when suddenly a bag fell in front of me, right at my feet.

He picked up the bag and showed the contents to the camera.

Inside was a black crocodile skin bag, a watch with shiny stones in a silk pouch, and a wad of cash.

- I'm told, said the anchorman, that the bag in question appears to be one of the famous Birkin 25s, which don't sell for less than a million and a half yen

Suddenly, a PS5 fell from the sky directly on the old man's head, splattering him like a starfish on a public highway.

The camera zoomed in on the upside-down luxury bag, and then on the old man, his mouth agape, stunned.

- Mr. Shingeki ? Mr. Shingeki !

Bonus 3:

Enji, on the phone with his banker, blinked stupidly.

- He spent how much ?

*

Author's note :

The cover you now see is the last one I will ever make.

This is the limit of my capabilities, I can't do better nor more coherent with the story than that (I am also not the genius graphic designer I thought I was, sadly).

Concerning webnovel readers : starting from this week-end and from monday onwards, I will unpublish all of the chapters of this story on webnovel to publish them in bulk and get way more attraction (yeah yeah, I don't know why I wrote 'traction' last chapter).

You'll still be able to get the new updates but for that you'll have to check one of the following websites : scribblehub, royal road, ao3, fanfiction.net, spacebattle or sufficient velocity. I believe you're present on at least one of these websites and if not, nice opportunity for you to discover new stories.

Anyway, if you want to read ahead of schedule (and see what Shoto's 'last' bad deed is) then go check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

Otherwise see you in the next update everyone !