Chapter 7

Chapter 7

…Well, now, that's unexpected.

It looks like a textbook cylindrical helix.

Rather, the whole place is like a chimney—narrow but endless both ways. When I say "big," I mean the gap between floors is huge, like it's made for giants.

The staircase hugs the chimney wall in tight coils, with turns so sharp they block your view—climbing multiple floors in one go might make you dizzy.

The center is open, like a bottomless well.

...Can a spell really create something like this? She reached out, touched the rusted railing, then held her hand up to the light.

—Just as I thought, blood mixed in.

I thought this was just another maze, but it's turning out more complicated.

With no clue how to "pack this thing up and bring it back" like the organization said, Kirisame decided to walk through the place first and see what to do.

She ended up walking for hours.

The mottled marks kept changing, but by the feel of it, she was going in a single direction the whole time. Faint murmurs and low sobbing echoed all around her, but she never saw a thing.

"...Like a giant haunted house—the one that scared Leo so bad his prosthetic eye went haywire." Leo was already passed out from exhaustion, and the rest of Libra who were free crowded around the screen to watch Kirisame's livestream. Zapp, staring at the screen, commented.

"I remember someone who was even more scared than Leo... clinging to the boss's leg, all snot and tears, refusing to let go." The black-haired werewolf Jean sneered.

"You wanna fight, you mutt?!!"

Despite the long trip, spotting a marker she'd left earlier, Kirisame finally confirmed one thing—

"Sir! This staircase goes in a circle!!"

The moment she said that, something black shot toward her with a whoosh.

Kirisame didn't move.

The seal flew past her face—close enough to have pierced her skull—and stuck into the wall.

"...That's awfully rude, Mr. Hero. If I were just some random person who stumbled in here, I'd be scared out of my wits."

Two figures emerged from the darkness ahead.

"Someone who accidentally wandered in wouldn't be this quiet."

One of them, Sir Nighteye—the former assistant to All Might—shielded Mirio Togata, who had just caught up, behind him and clicked on a flashlight.

Then he froze.

Kirisame sized them up. One was just handsome, nothing weird—looked like a regular office worker. The other...

[Wait, is this from The Adventures of Tintin?! That's so creepy!!]

Then came something even more shocking.

"Didn't expect to run into someone from Libra here."

[Eep!!!!!]

[Is Libra this famous now?! What happened to being a secret society urban legend?!!]

"Li…bra?" The girl looked totally clueless, with a huge "I don't know what you're talking about" written on her face.

The blond kid who looked just like Tintin, Mirio Togata, behind Nighteye, had the same expression. The two formed a matching look of confusion across Nighteye.

Nighteye was also surprised by Kirisame's desperate attempt to play dumb. The tall man remained expressionless, his sharp eyes hidden behind clear lenses, reflecting his unwavering attitude.

After five minutes of awkward silence, Kirisame realized she had no talent for espionage. The girl sighed and cautiously asked:

"Can I know where I went wrong?"

The man opposite seemed to smile faintly.

"You didn't go wrong anywhere."

Seeing the girl's wide eyes, Nighteye added, "I've seen you before."

"..."

…Huh?

At this, Kirisame vaguely remembered. This man, with his hair meticulously combed and buttons done up all the way, she had indeed met several years ago.

Back then, she had just grown enough to swing a tachi, and her first freelance job brought her to him. He seemed cold and bad-tempered, but in reality, he was a rich and kind person... Kirisame didn't recall the details; she only remembered helping him with a small favor and receiving a generous reward. At the end, he even fed her snacks.

She never saw him again. She heard from her boss that he had come to HL seeking medical treatment, but didn't know if he ever got what he wanted.

"Mr. Nighteye...?"

She received a reserved nod.

"Now can you take out the hand you were hiding?"

Kirisame put on an innocent expression and casually lowered her hand.

"This is..." Nighteye looked around, "a Libra mission?"

"Yes." Kirisame looked at him and the blond youth behind him. "Is this a Hero mission?"

Nighteye nodded.

He had gotten information about abnormalities in this area a few days ago, but only today confirmed the exact location, using up today's Quirk activation time. Otherwise, he would have noticed Kirisame the moment she entered.

He was sure they had entered earlier than Kirisame. Mirio, using his Quirk "Permeation" for convenience, had scoured the entire staircase but reached almost the same conclusion as Kirisame at the same time—

She really had grown a lot stronger since their first meeting.

But—

"Then I assume you know that, according to regulations, minors cannot use their Quirks without guardian permission?" Without any pleasantries, the man adjusted his glasses, revealing a grim expression. Paired with his flat tone, a strange sarcastic aura wafted toward her.

But Kirisame had been waiting for him to say that. She quickly fished a piece of paper from her pocket, unfolded it, stood on tiptoe, and waved it right in front of Nighteye's face.

One look at the paper, and Nighteye knew who it was from.

...Never was there a hero less particular about appearances.

The paper was dirty, as if torn from somewhere random, but the handwriting was good—a temporary permit issued by Eraser Hero "Eraser Head."

I've got proper permission, you know." The girl smiled and shook the temporary permit in her hand.

She'd thought Teacher Aizawa probably didn't think highly of her, but when she actually needed a favor, that man turned out bolder than most people. After all, if she used this permit to commit murder, the responsibility would be on Shota Aizawa's head.

"Did Klaus send you to UA?"

"..."

After all this time, at their first meeting, Kirisame felt completely seen through and nodded numbly.

"Eh? Then I'll be your senior from now on! I'm Mirio Togata. If you don't understand anything at school, feel free to come ask me!"

The blond boy who'd been standing behind Nighteye hopped out with a smile to greet her. "He's pretty amazing, right?"

Kirisame glanced at Nighteye, who stood still, his sharp eyes softening slightly.

"Hello, Senior. I'm Aizawa Kirisame. I'll be attending UA next year. Nice to meet you!"

No pressure at all—if she failed the entrance exam, she'd just go back—not seeing him meant no embarrassment.

"Oh, Aizawa? Are you related to Teacher Aizawa...?"

"Distant relative~" Kirisame replied with a cheerful smile, looking very sincere.

The atmosphere relaxed, and the blond boy, who had been curious from the start, finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

"How did Little Kirisame know we were heroes so early on?"

[Well, because who else would be wandering around in bright-colored skin-tight suits and a cape at this hour.]

"...Maybe it was the sense of justice radiating from you, Senior?"

Mirio Togata: "..."

Nighteye: ...She's got a sense of humor.

"This place is strange. My Quirk is 'Permeation,' but from what we've tried, I can only pass through the stairs. Getting out through the walls is impossible." Now past the conflict alert, the group conducted a second exploration.

"This space is built with spells. It's very likely this ring-shaped wall isn't solid either. We feel like we're going straight up and down, but actually we're going in a big circle."

The girl tapped her chin with her finger a couple of times. "This whole hamster-wheel design... gives me a weird sense of déjà vu."

"So you two can't get out?" Kirisame turned to ask them.

The blond boy nodded, not looking worried at all. "Don't be scared—we'll definitely find a way!"

"...I'll get you out. You shouldn't have been bothered with this in the first place. A few sorcerers from HL have already come and couldn't get back. It's probably not just meant to trap us. You don't have to take the risk," Kirisame squirmed out from under the blond boy's hand patting her head and looked at Nighteye. "You get that, right?"

To be fair, the girl wasn't wrong. If something from HL flows out, it's great if Libra is willing to handle it. But judging by how long they'd been in here, they hadn't landed a single effective attack on this "thing." Even the "Foresight" he used earlier only showed a blurry image. They were completely clueless.

But—

"How could we leave you here alone?" The blond boy's face, which had been smiling and looking a bit goofy since they met, now showed a look of disapproval.

"Huh? But it's so dark here, and look at that railing—it's covered in blood. Aren't you scared, Senior?"

"Not one bit!" The boy raised his voice a little to reassure the little girl. "So don't worry. I may still be a bit confused, but I won't leave you alone."

[...I can see your hand still trembling.]

Kirisame sighed and suddenly lunged.

Togata wasn't slow either. The boy's body instantly phased, dodging the blade that came straight at his face, disappearing from the girl's sight. The next moment, a fist abruptly emerged from the air, heading toward Kirisame's shoulder.

Then froze in place.

The blade rested horizontally across his neck, while his hand was on Kirisame's shoulder. Both of them stopped moving.

"A hero's duty is to help the weak. See, I'm very strong, and this is my job anyway. Senior, don't worry about me." The girl pulled back her hand, and the katana vanished from her grasp.

"Let's go, Mr. Nighteye."

Nighteye gave a faint smile.

"A hero doesn't discriminate based on the strength of the person they're helping."

Kirisame turned. The young hero's eyes were small and round, kind of cute, but they shone brilliantly when filled with light.

"Even though you say that, we've been in here this long, and Little Kirisame still has no idea what might happen, right? Since we don't know what dangers there will be, no matter how strong you are, it's hard to feel at ease leaving you alone?"

The senior, who looked like something straight out of a children's comic, grinned at Kirisame, showing his white teeth.

"A hero helps those who need help. Even if it were All Might here today, I'd still stay to help him!"

"..."

In the darkness and silence, the straightforward sincerity from someone who wasn't even a companion echoed heavily through the space.

So there are people like that sometimes.

Kirisame stared wide-eyed at the person in front of her, not knowing what to say.

After a long moment, the little girl slowly blinked and stiffly turned her head. "...It wasn't me."

"Huh?"

...Mirio Togata, a man whose clothes blow off when he uses his Quirk in a hurry.

The reliable senior, now standing in just his underwear, blinked at his vanished clothes and said something astonishing while still wearing that upright smile he had just used for his heroic speech.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! That's what happens when I use my Quirk!"

"But at least my ding-dong isn't showing—that's a relief!"

...

...So there are people like that sometimes.

The environment had clearly changed. The distances between the stairs were narrowing, bloodstains on the walls were becoming more frequent, and the same light source lit a smaller and smaller area.

"You said earlier that you used your 'Foresight' Quirk but saw nothing?"

Nighteye nodded. "Probably because this isn't from 'this world,' so my foresight got weaker."

The explanation was reasonable, but Kirisame felt something was off. Having grown up in HL, surviving on her own until her boss picked her up for Libra—almost a miracle—Kirisame had a "danger sense." And at that moment, her intuition asked: Is that really the case?

"Huh? Isn't that Mr. Nighteye?! What did I just miss?!"

The remote broadcast of Libra, which had been temporarily disconnected due to Kirisame facing the enemy, was reconnected, and Leo's surprised voice came through the micro-earpiece.

"Not an enemy?" Jane asked her.

Kirisame nodded slightly.

"Waha, then I'm relieved! Speaking of which, that other blond with the blue eyes looks way more normal... Hey wait, is that Ding-ding?! That's Ding-ding, right?! Pwahahaha—"

A chill shot up her spine in an instant.

Ignoring the puzzled look from Ding-ding himself beside her, Kirisame raised her voice and asked Zapp, speaking each word deliberately.

"You just said, blue eyes? Both of them have blue eyes?"

"Yeah." Zapp looked totally confused.

"...Eh? That muscle guy on the big poster just now, didn't he have red eyes?" Leo asked.

This is bad news.

The scattered pieces clicked together in an instant, and a foreboding sense that something bad was about to happen shot up from her spine straight to the top of her head.

The future that couldn't be seen, the red that optics couldn't pick up, the whispers, the bloodstains, the hamster in its cage...

...No record of active attacks, chance trigger, stowaway.

Gritting her teeth silently to make her voice sound normal, Kirisame spoke softly to Leo who was several worlds away:

"Lend me your eyes for a sec."

"Huh? But this distance is too far, you won't be able to bear it—"

"This is way beyond that, just lend them to me quickly!"

The flickering black flame blade pattern in her eyes suddenly solidified, and a gear-shaped blue screen materialized and came into focus before Kirisame's eyes. God's Eye's visual link fell on the center of that 'dry well'.

In the pitch darkness, a scarlet light like wings rushed toward her from below, radiating immense malice.

Kirisame finally realized what kind of place she'd walked into.

It wasn't smuggled entertainment goods or the family collection of an otherworldly resident. It wasn't even a criminal tool as the Sorcerers' Association had thought.

—It was a prison cell.

What's worse, the prisoner had, I'm afraid, almost turned the tables and become the jailer.