Chapter 17 - Explaining a Magic Trick to Two Excited Girls

(Nero POV)

After winning the Heroes and Villains trial, Todoroki was taken to the infirmary by transport robots while Cassandra finished unwinding Momo's capture tape.

"Is it over?" Cassandra asked with sign language.

"Yes, we won, Cass," I said with a smile, deactivating the "infinity" that was starting to fatigue my body.

Upon hearing my words, she tilted her head to the side while moving her hands.

"Cass?!"

"A nickname, since it makes you even cuter and shortens your name. Can I call you that?"

For a few seconds, Cassandra seemed surprised when I indirectly called her cute, but her focus quickly returned. She nodded affirmatively, allowing me to call her by her nickname.

While we were "talking," Momo approached us with slight difficulty.

"Momo, shouldn't you go to the infirmary?" I asked with concern.

"It's not necessary; I just slightly injured my leg." A faint, sad smile appeared on her beautiful face.

Apparently, losing affected her a lot.

"But leaving that aside, I would like to thank you for saving me, thank you very much, Fujiwara... Nero." Her sad smile was replaced by a grateful one, although there was a slight tinge of sadness in her eyes.

Her sadness probably stemmed from the fact that her partner had ignored her in his attack and that if it hadn't been for me, she would have been severely injured.

Unfortunately, there was nothing I could say at that moment. Trying to comfort her might hurt her pride, so the only thing I could say was:

"You're welcome, Momo," I said with a smile. "By the way, we better go to where All Might is," I added, and the girls nodded in agreement.

••• ••• •••

(Ochaco POV)

The moment Nero stepped into the observation room, he was greeted by silence and the stares of our classmates.

The silence was due to his absurd "fight" against Todoroki, who, as the son of hero number 3, was considered one of 1-A's elite.

Seeing one of the strongest students in 1-A being completely defeated without being able to do anything was quite surprising for them. Not for Gwen and me, though; we already expected this result.

Speaking of Gwen, she had a proud and precise smile on her lips, as if she were saying, "I told you so."

I could say he overreacted, but that would be a lie, as I knew Nero was holding back during the entire "fight." But let's not get into that topic for now.

Meanwhile, Bakugou clenched his fists tightly; his expression at this moment was dark and tense.

It seemed like he was about to explode at any moment.

His massive ego had been shaken by seeing someone stronger than him.

Surprisingly, the first to break the silence was not me or Gwen, but Eijiro.

"Man, you were incredible." Eijiro raised his hand, giving Nero an excited smile, which caught him by surprise.

"T-thank you."

In a cute way, Nero didn't know how to react, so he just said thank you and approached Gwen and me.

"You're quite a show-off, you know?" Gwen exclaimed, raising her fist.

"That's one of my best qualities," Nero said, bumping his fist with hers.

In just a year, the two had become very close, to the point where I couldn't be jealous, although sometimes Gwen did make me feel a twinge of jealousy.

To make things more complicated, Nero was unconsciously charming. He didn't even realize how easily he attracted people of the opposite gender.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, he was oblivious to his womanizing ways. But for now, let's leave that aside.

"Those can't be called qualities," I said happily, looking at him kindly.

"Hmm! So what would be my greatest charm?" he asked, resting his hand on his chin.

"Hehehe! I wouldn't say being a show-off is your greatest charm, but I won't say what your greatest charm is," I said, giving a slight laugh.

My Nero had several charms; he is a gentleman with women (thanks to his mother), handsome, polite, and has haughty behavior. He rarely loses his temper and isn't dense about other people's feelings...

If I continue, this might take a few minutes.

I thought, cutting off my train of thought before my face got any redder.

Fortunately, before Nero could realize this, All Might's voice was heard.

"Ahem! Well, congratulations, young Cain and young Nero, you two were perfect. The only advice I can give you is to learn to hold back. Of course, the best of the match was Nero," All Might exclaimed, giving a big smile and showing all his teeth.

"Yes, sir, and thank you very much," Nero exclaimed as Cassandra nodded.

Little did All Might know that Nero was already holding back.

After saying that, he turned to Momo-chan, who had her head down.

"Young Yaoyorozu, you tried your best, but you didn't make good use of your quirk. However, don't be sad; it's normal for us to make mistakes," All Might exclaimed with a comforting smile.

"Yes, All Might," Momo said clearly, with a forced smile.

Perhaps what made her saddest was that her partner had abandoned her, and her opponents had to save her.

Abandoning someone? I couldn't imagine Nero doing that.

For better or worse, Nero would never abandon the person he loves. This is part of his possessive personality.

"Well then, now it's young Midoriya and young Eijiro's turn as heroes against young Bakugou and young Iida as villains."

Midoriya seemed to freeze for a few seconds upon hearing the words, but then he clenched his hand tightly.

Meanwhile, Bakugou looked at Midoriya with a murderous glare.

These two seem to have some kind of toxic relationship.

With that thought, the four left, while Eijiro declared that this would be a battle between men.

"He really likes men," Gwen exclaimed.

"Y'know, your sentence can be interpreted in another way," Nero said, resting his hand on my head, not caring at all about making intimate contact with me.

…

My face turned red at his scent and warmth, which was enough to make me excited.

When did I become such a perverted girl?!

I thought, looking down, hiding my red face.

••• ••• •••

(Nero POV)

As I rested my hand on Ochaco's hair, I looked at the screens showing Midoriya and Eiji entering the building through a window.

"Isn't it simpler to walk in through the front door?" I said, a little confused.

"Not everyone is you," Gwen exclaimed with a smile.

"I don't understand." I tilted my head to the side.

"Oh! You are so cute when you're dense." Gwen raised her arm and patted my head.

Am I being treated like a child?

While I was being patted on the head, a girl suddenly approached me.

"Hello, Nero!" A cheerful and playful voice sounded next to me.

I turned my eyes to the side, only to find a charming girl.

The girl in question was a young woman of medium height with a voluptuous body, especially her thighs. Her skin was a beautiful light shade of pink, and her eyes were somewhat square, with black sclerae, yellow irises, and notably long eyelashes below and around her eyes.

Her face was framed by short, unruly pink hair, a little darker than her skin. She also had two thin, light yellow horns protruding from her head, curved at right angles and tilted diagonally to opposite sides, which appeared to be slightly flexible. On her feet, she wore sturdy-looking boots.

She was a very beautiful girl who even vaguely resembled an alien—a pink and fluffy alien.

Removing my arm from Ochaco's head as Gwen stopped patting me, I said:

"Hello..." At the beginning of my sentence, I realized I had no idea who she was.

"My name is Mina Ashido," Ashido said excitedly.

"Nice to meet you; I'm Nero Fujiwara." Now that I was paying more attention, I realized I had seen this girl before. "Wouldn't you be that girl who was being crushed by a Villain Bot?"

"Exactly!" She exclaimed with a goofy smile as she pointed her fingers at me. "By the way, thank you for saving me at that moment." Ashido moved her hand, placing it behind her waist.

"You're welcome, Ashido-san."

"Please call me Mina."

"Of course, Mina."

"So, Nero, I wanted to ask you a question."

As Mina was a few centimeters shorter than me, she had to raise her neck a little to look into my eyes.

"No problem," I said, noticing that all eyes were on us again.

"Nero, can you explain how that power of yours works that prevents anything from touching you?"

Normally, this kind of question would be extremely invasive, but from the look in Mina's eyes, there was only genuine curiosity.

"I don't mind." I raised my arm, opening my hand. "Mina, can you touch my hand?" I asked, activating [Infinity].

Upon hearing my question, Mina raised her arm with her hand open towards mine.

Before touching my hand, Mina's hand stopped in midair.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, forcing her hand forward but unable to move it any closer.

As she did so, another charming figure approached us.

"I want to try it too," said a voice even more excited than Mina's, echoing through the room.

The owner of the voice was a girl of medium height, about 1.71 m (5'7"), with brown skin and beautiful brown eyes. Her hair was the same color as her eyes, and her features suggested she might be of Muslim origin.

She wore a blue tunic with a yellow lightning bolt running down her torso, red sleeves, and pants that complemented the tunic. Around her neck, she wore a long red scarf and a necklace that resembled lightning. On her left wrist, she wore a golden armband, and she had a blue mask covering her eyes.

"Hi, no problem, but who are you?" I asked, a little surprised.

(Kamala Khan image)

"My name is Kamala Khan," Kamala said excitedly.

"Nice to meet you; I'm Nero Fujiwara," I said, raising my other hand.

Instantly, Kamala thrust her right hand towards mine, stopping in midair just like Mina's.

"This is so cool. I can't touch it; my hand stops before touching it." Kamala's expression was pure amusement. It was as if she was watching a magic trick.

The two girls were looking at me with stars in their eyes.

"What you are both touching is [Infinity]," I said. Everyone was listening to my explanation, even All Might, who seemed to be torn between watching Midoriya and listening to me.

"[Infinity]!?" Kamala exclaimed.

"Yes, [Infinity] slows down everything that comes close to me. This is because my technique takes the finite amount of space between us and divides it an infinite number of times. So your hands are not necessarily still; they are infinitely approaching my hand."

Hearing my summary explanation of my ability, the girl's eyes lit up even more.

Hehehe! They really think they're at a magic show.

"But for me, touching them is different," I said, bringing my hand closer to theirs, making the tips of our fingers touch. "See! I can touch you."

Both of their cheeks blushed for some reason.

"This is amazing," Ashido exclaimed excitedly, the blush on her face contrasting with her pink skin.

"Wow! You are quite talented, Nero." Kamala seemed more reserved, and her flushed cheeks provided a nice contrast against her brown skin.

"I appreciate having two beautiful ladies listen to my explanation; it's my honor," I said, making their blush deepen even more as I withdrew my hand.

"You do this on purpose, right?" Gwen, who was next to me, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do what?" I asked, blinking my golden eyes.

"Seriously?!" Gwen looked at Ochaco with a disbelieving expression.

"Seriously, he's like that. The worst part of all is that it's not his fault. After all, he was raised like that."

"Raised?!"

"His mother had the same behavior."

"How so?"

"Well, the first time my mother and Nero's mother met, Nero's mother made my mother blush like a maiden."

I scratched my head and didn't understand what she was talking about.

Isn't it common sense to be polite and compliment a beautiful woman?

While I was thinking about this, suddenly All Might shouted.

"THE HERO TEAM WON."

Wait, it's already over?

I thought, turning my eyes and seeing Eiji touching the bomb, while Midoriya was a mess.

His hero costume, especially the mask on his face, was scorched as if it had been in an explosion.

Midoriya had his hand on his face, while his arm was raised.

And from the direction of his arm, there were several holes in the ceiling leading up to the top floors of the building, likely made by his fist.

Hahaha! That guy imitated me.

I mentally exclaimed with amusement.

After Midoriya went to the infirmary, the next pair was Kamala Khan and Mina Ashido as heroes against Gwen and Ochaco as villains.

Oh! This looks like it's going to be quite a battle.

I thought with an excited smile.