Chapter 78: King NemuNemu ①

When I came back from university, my house was gone.

It had been leveled.
Some rubble was piled up, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe that was once my home.

The area was cordoned off, with several police cars and fire trucks stationed nearby.

Just in case, I rubbed my eyes, as if to check whether this was some kind of hallucination.

Not in his Flux form but in his human form, Mio suddenly appeared beside me and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

“This is reality, sadly…”

“Whose fault do you think this is? I feel like it’s mine.”

“Don’t make such a miserable bet.”

Well… what can I say? I guess days like this happen.

A cramped house stuffed with villains could have collapsed at any time.
Still, for it to actually happen like this… No, honestly, I’d been somewhat prepared.

But apparently my resolve wasn’t nearly enough. The shock hit harder than I’d imagined.

What am I supposed to do now? For a while, I just stood there in a daze.

While spacing out, I noticed a familiar hero suit among the police officers rushing around.
He was speaking casually with one of them.
Whether he was being questioned or cooperating with the police, I wasn’t sure—but I hoped it was the latter.

Seems he noticed me too.

I gave him a small wave.
And in the blink of an eye, Raiden appeared right in front of me.

“Perfect timing. Raiden, let’s hug.”

“What!? W–what!?”

At my proposal, Raiden took a few steps back.
Guess that was a no.

“Then Mio it is.”

When I turned toward Mio instead, Raiden chopped his way in between us.

“Please wait.”

“Polite all of a sudden.”

Mio smiled and opened his arms wide.

“Then how about I hug both you and Raiden?♡”

“Don’t leave me out! I’m the one who suggested it!”

“Seriously, what is happening!?”

Ignoring Raiden’s bewilderment, I stomped my foot twice and took a deep breath.

I glared at him with weary eyes.

“You’re so dense. Something heavy just happened and my heart’s at rock bottom. I’m at my limit here. There are plenty of studies proving hugs reduce stress—you must’ve read at least one.”

“Inori. Normal people—non-students—don’t read academic papers for fun. Especially not ones outside their field.”

“You’re kidding me.”

Let’s put aside the debate about whether psychology counts as outside a hero’s expertise.

Because Usuzumi… there’s no way she was just a normal person. She came from the medical world.
Jin too… villains aren’t really normal humans, are they?
And Sudama… wasn’t even human.

Most acquaintances without powers were students.
So of course, reading papers—arts or sciences alike—was normal.

Maybe because my social circle is so skewed, my sense of what “normal” is got twisted?

Realizing this, I faltered.

“Then… should I just give a lecture right here? I don’t have handouts, but I’ve got papers memorized…”

“Got it. For now, what you’re saying is that you’re very weakened.”

Raiden cut me off mid-sentence.
I blinked. Where did he hear the ‘weakened’ part in all that?

“Go ahead.”

As if he’d never been flustered at all, Raiden spread his arms confidently.

I didn’t get the logic, but the goal was within reach.

I didn’t hesitate—I threw myself into his arms.

Burying my face against his chest, I shouted with a muffled voice:

“My house is gone! My rental’s gone!!”

“…You lived here!?”

At last, Raiden seemed to grasp why I was so down.
Yeah, I lived here. Hard to believe, right? With nothing left, it’s hard to even believe there was a house here.

I pressed my head harder against him, desperate to vent the stress.
He didn’t budge an inch—solid core strength.
Chest and abs like stone. Damn, I’m jealous.

Still head-butting into his torso, I spoke:

“Aren’t heroes supposed to at least offer words of comfort to distressed citizens?”

“My deepest apologies. We will thoroughly investigate the cause and make every effort to prevent a recurrence.”

“A… press conference apology?”

At first I thought it was a joke, but no—that wasn’t the tone.

In other words… Raiden believed he had some reason to apologize to me.

If that’s the case, then I can already guess why.

With the hand I had wrapped around him, I gave his back a few pats.

“Don’t worry about it, Raiden. No matter whose fault this turns out to be, the result isn’t going to change.”

“I’m really sorry. Even though I’ve fought Ironclad so many times, it’s hard to minimize the damage against him.”

“Fuuu…”

…Actually, maybe the result could have been different.

Could it be that while I wasn’t looking, my house transformed and combined into a giant robot?
If that had happened while I was inside, I’d call it a cruel joke—but if it happened while I was outside, maybe I’d even want to see it.

Yeah, the house being gone is probably my fault.

With Jin living there, anyone could’ve predicted something like this.
I should just think of it as lasting longer than expected.

If they try to stick me with the bill, though, I’ll have to reconsider.
Ironclad is a villain, right? Maybe I can argue he broke in illegally.

I’m a broke student. There’s no way I can pay for a whole apartment building.
Anyway, I just hope no one got hurt.

I wonder if Sudama’s okay. Around this time, she’s probably off hitting the supermarket’s bargain sales.

“Apparently a bunch of villains escaped together, so I couldn’t handle everything at once.”

“Ahh.”

His weary muttering drifted down from above, and I gave a half-hearted response.

The facility where Public Security had been holding villains was destroyed, and several of the ones Raiden had captured had escaped.

No doubt it’s giving him a headache. Probably a stomachache too. Poor guy.

“I should’ve pushed myself a bit harder too.”

“Inori, what exactly were you planning to push yourself on?”

On rehabilitating villains, obviously.

If I’d managed to bring more of them over to our side, Raiden wouldn’t have had to chase the same ones down again.

Introducing the psychometry guy second—that was the mistake.
He’s guaranteed to wear me down. I should’ve gone with someone easier first.

Was that whole “recruit in order of who you want the most, not who’s easiest” really true?
Or was that Blood Thread’s ploy to keep me from bringing in too many cooperative villains?

Well, no use thinking about it.
A man who can sway Japanese politics? I’ll never figure out what’s in his head.

“You’re not doing anything dangerous, right?”

Raiden’s suspicious tone made me defer judgment to someone else.

“What do you think, Mio?”

“I think she is.”

I was betrayed instantly.

Maybe Mio was just getting back at me for that time I stuck my nose into Public Security where his reach didn’t extend.

“Inori, let’s talk. Now.”

“And what about that story of you being too busy with the mass villain escape?”

“Ghh…!”

Raiden flinched. Way too weak at verbal sparring.

Must be tough, living sincerely.

Me? I just go with the flow—I don’t bother managing public opinion.
Don’t care if people think I’m a bad person. Which is why I’ve got no hesitation in tripping someone up on their words.

“Alright, I’m feeling way better now. Thanks, Raiden.”

I stopped clinging to him and gave a thumbs-up.

Raiden casually returned the gesture with one of his own.

“Well, I’m a hero. If I’ve been able to help, that’s what matters.”

“I’ll repay you with my body.”

“Huh!?”

—Oops. Sometimes I still completely forget that I’m a cute girl now.

That line was bound to be taken in a dirty way.

If some middle-aged man had said it, it would’ve just been a dumb joke to brush off.

I cleared my throat and rephrased.

“If you’re ever feeling overwhelmed, I’ll give you a hug. Come to me anytime. I’ll hold you with the utmost cleverness.”

“Oh, that’s what you meant. I mean, I’ve no idea what it means to hug someone ‘cleverly,’ but okay.”

“Want me to show you right now?”

I didn’t know either—so it’d be improvisation.

Raiden just shrugged.

“Next time.”

“Sure. Just don’t die before then.”

“You too!”

With that, Raiden dashed off at lightning speed.

Even after seeing my regeneration ability countless times, Raiden still said things like that. It was kind of funny.

Well, according to Naname-san, I can die, apparently.

So I decided to take Raiden’s words at face value.