ShuraZero
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Chapter 85: Public Duties, Private Intentions
🕑 Added 2025-10-03 16:33:25 +0000 UTCThe morning sun streamed through the suite's enormous windows, tracing golden rectangles of light on the carpet. The air smelled of freshly brewed coffee and a professional calm that felt almost unnatural. Momo, already perfectly dressed in her Hero Burger uniform, sat in an armchair with her back straight, reviewing a holographic map of the city on her tablet.
"The logistics of crowd control for an event of this caliber are fascinating," she murmured to herself. "The arrangement of the barriers creates deliberate bottlenecks to facilitate hero intervention in case of a panic. It's brilliant."
"What's brilliant is that they managed to make these shirts less itchy than yesterday's," Ochako complained, adjusting hers with a nervous grimace.
Toru, standing before a full-length mirror, was practicing her smile. It wasn't her usual playful, chaotic grin, but a more contained, polished version. A smile for the cameras.
"How's this one?" she asked, turning. "Do I look 'charming and accessible' enough? I feel like if I smile any harder, I'll get a cramp in my cheek."
Izuku stretched in the center of the room with a loud yawn, his muscles protesting the accumulated tension of the last few days. Sleep and anxiety were fighting a silent battle within him. Just then, the door to the main bedroom opened. Yu Takeyama emerged, already in full Mt. Lady mode. Her makeup was impeccable, her smile radiant, and her energy seemed fueled by sheer willpower.
"Good morning, my stars!" she chirped, her voice full of a charisma that could sell ice to an Eskimo. "Ready to dazzle the masses? Remember: smile like you're getting paid for it, because, technically, you are. Now let's go sell some burgers!"
Upon arriving at "Hero Burger," the scene was an auditory and visual hell.
"This is insane!" Toru shouted, trying to be heard over the roar. "There are more people here than at the sports festival!"
"Mt. Lady, over here! A word for the Daily Hero!" a reporter yelled, shoving his microphone forward.
"I love you, Mt. Lady! Sign my face!" a fan screamed from behind a barrier.
Ochako instinctively shrank back.
"I feel like if I blink, I'll be crushed."
Izuku scanned the scene, his analytical eyes searching for patterns in the chaos. He saw Death Arms, the local hero assigned to crowd control, his jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might shatter his teeth.
"Poor Death Arms-san," he muttered to Momo. "He looks like he'd rather be fighting a kaiju than this horde of journalists."
Yu, in her element, slid through the crowd like a shark in water, smiling, waving, shaking hands.
"Of course, sweetie! Thanks for coming!" she'd say to a fan while dodging a microphone. "You're all wonderful!"
She climbed onto the small stage, took the microphone, and the chaos turned into an expectant silence.
"Hello, my dear Hosu!" her voice boomed, warm and magnetic. "They say the heart of a city is measured by the smiles of its people, and seeing your faces today, I know I'm in the greatest city in Japan! We're here to celebrate more than just a hamburger. We're celebrating community, hard work, and the indomitable spirit that makes Hosu such a special place! So let's eat, let's celebrate, and let's show the world that the future is bright, delicious, and giga-sized!"
The crowd roared. With a theatrical gesture, she cut a red ribbon with a pair of giant golden scissors. Immediately, she was besieged.
"Mt. Lady! Any comment on the growing threat of the Hero Killer?" a reporter shouted.
"There's only one threat today, and it's that we might run out of their delicious new special sauce," she replied with a dazzling smile, dodging the question with the grace of a dancer.
After the ceremony, the real torture began: an hour of photos and autographs.
"My son adores you! Can you sign his shirt?" an excited mother asked.
"Of course, sweetie!" Yu would answer, her smile never faltering.
"Mt. Lady, you're the best! We love you!"
"And I love you all! Thank you for your support!"
Izuku and the team watched her from the VIP area, feeling like part of the scenery. With every flash, with every signature, they saw a small part of her energy drain away. The smile, though professional, was starting to tense at the edges. When there was finally a break, they saw her stagger toward them, her shoulders slumped.
Izuku stood watching the crowd intently, a point of stability in the chaos. Yu came up behind him and, without a word, leaned against his back, letting her head fall between his shoulder blades with an exhausted sigh.
"God… I need a break," she murmured, her voice a barely audible thread. "Don't move, prodigy. You're structurally sound."
Izuku went completely rigid. He felt her weight, the warmth of her body against his. His brain short-circuited.
First Toru-san, now Yu-san… Has my Quirk developed a secret secondary ability? «Human Pillow for Heroines»? Is this my true purpose in life? Don't move, Midoriya! Act normal! You're a wall! A comfortable, supportive wall!
Meanwhile, in the streets of Hosu, the midday sun cast hard, long shadows in the alleyways. Iida walked beside Manual, his posture so rigid he looked like a robot. His helmet hid his eyes, but the tension in his jaw was visible.
"...and that's why we always patrol in pairs, maintaining a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree visual perimeter," Manual explained patiently. "A hero's first duty on patrol is general environmental observation, not obsessive searching. If you don't focus, you'll be a danger to—"
Manual cut himself off. Iida had stopped dead in his tracks. Across the street, a lone figure was emerging from a convenience store: Shoto Todoroki, in his hero costume.
Iida's voice was a tense, almost inaudible whisper.
"Todoroki-kun. What are you doing in Hosu?"
Todoroki's tone was as cold as ever, but with a hint of disdain that didn't go unnoticed.
"My father. He's hunting a high-profile target. He insisted I accompany him as 'backup'."
Iida's face hardened under his helmet. His voice was a venom-laced whisper.
"The Hero Killer."
It wasn't a question.
"Yes," Todoroki confirmed.
A heavy silence formed between them. Iida turned to his mentor, his tone shifting to a formal and calculating one, using logic as a weapon.
"Manual-sensei, with all due respect. Endeavor's agency has requested tactical support for a high-priority case. Given that Todoroki-kun and I established effective combat synergy during the sports festival, it would be the most logical and efficient course of action for me to assist him directly. It would maximize our chances of success and ensure better inter-agency coordination."
Manual sighed, a sound of defeat. He knew it was an excuse, a manipulation as transparent as it was dangerous, but the logic was impeccable. He couldn't refute it without directly accusing Iida of his intentions.
"Understood. But keep your comms open at all times. And don't do anything reckless, Iida-kun."
Iida gave a sharp nod and crossed the street to join Todoroki. The two walked away together, two legacies marching in silence toward an inevitable confrontation.
Back in the hotel suite, the team was sprawled across the living room, completely exhausted. Yu had taken off her heels and was lying face-down on the couch, her face buried in a cushion.
"I can't feel my face," she mumbled into the fabric. "I think my smile is stuck like this."
After a few minutes of silence, she pushed herself up, revitalized by the short rest. She went to her purse, pulled out a wallet, and from it, a thick wad of ten-thousand-yen bills. She approached the group and handed several bills to each of them.
"Consider this a bonus for media… combat. And an apology for the hamburger torture."
She smiled.
"You're free. You have the rest of the day to explore Hosu, buy whatever you want, do what teenagers do. I need some retail therapy. The number of fake smiles I've used today requires an urgent restock of sexy clothes."
Toru's face lit up.
"I'm going with you, Yu-san! Now that people can see me, I need a whole new wardrobe! I can't live in just uniforms!"
Ochako and Momo exchanged a look and decided to go find a famous local bookstore they had read about in a guidebook.
Just as Izuku, feeling liberated, was about to slip away to find a hero merch store, a hand landed firmly on his shoulder. He turned robotically to see Yu with a raised eyebrow.
"And where do you think you're going, Midoriya? A gentleman always carries his woman's bags."
Izuku blushed violently.
"B-but you're not my woman, Yu-san!"
