The old door swung open smoothly.
Kirishima turned at the doorway, casually dressed with a duffel bag over his shoulder.
Familiar faces greeted him: Yui and Ooyama.
"Thank you for everything. I learned so much from you, Coach. And Yui was adorable too," one said.
"Haha. I think the two of us owed you more. I learned plenty while teaching you—and not to mention, you kept Yui safe," replied the other.
"Right! Ever since I met you, big brother, I feel like I've changed completely. I even made some friends—plus, Mio and I became really close. You looked out for me too," Yui added.
Seeing Yui clench her fists and meet his eyes, Kirishima smiled softly. In truth, a cute child was always a delight.
"You're charming and kind, so you'd have made friends on your own in no time. And as far as protecting you goes—let’s just call that a job well done. I think I did pretty well myself. Haha."
"No, I'm not cute! Besides, before, I couldn’t even bring myself to make friends," Yui protested.
"When you’ve got both the looks and the warm personality, people naturally gravitate toward you. Sure, you tended to keep away from the other kids, but eventually, you'll find your circle. And yes—you truly are adorable. Claiming otherwise would be downright misleading," Kirishima teased.
Gently ruffling Yui's hair, Kirishima chuckled.
Yui’s cheeks flushed a deep red as she fidgeted with her hands.
After a moment’s hesitation—as if gathering her thoughts—she finally spoke.
"Um... big brother, could you stay with me a bit longer?"
"Nope. I've already postponed my schedule by a day. Even though I built some extra time into this trip, everything’s planned out, so I really can’t linger. Believe me, I’d love to stay longer if I could." Kirishima said firmly.
Yui was endearing, Ooyama was a good person, and learning karate had been enjoyable—but this trip had been meticulously planned for him to expand his martial arts foundation.
In fact, he had even set aside an extra day to take Yui to Disneyland, since she was so cute and had never experienced an amusement park before.
He simply couldn’t afford to waste any more time in Tokyo.
Kirishima smiled at Yui’s downcast expression.
"Come on now—why the long face? It’s not as if I’m sending you off forever. Like I mentioned, my place is in Chiba—just next door. I’ll be stopping by all the time, so there’s no need for that gloomy look."
"Really? You’ll be here a lot? But why?"
At the sight of Yui brightening up, Kirishima stifled a laugh. After spending a week together, he’d noticed that although she ate well, her height hadn’t budged much—she looked hardly older than ten.
Moreover, her perpetually youthful face made it all the more amusing to see her shift from gloomy to radiant in an instant.
Kirishima planned to visit often, even after his trip ended and he returned home.
"Because you're cute," he said with a grin.
"Eh?" Yui’s ears turned bright red at his teasing.
Whenever she felt embarrassed or had done something wrong, her ears always flushed red. And truly, there was no denying her cuteness.
"I'm just kidding. But hey, you're cute, and you learned boxing from me, right? Since you don’t have another place to study it, you better come by more often. I can’t see you every day cause of school, but I'll make sure to check in as often as possible."
"Oh. So you're going to keep teaching me boxing?"
"Of course. Just five days of training isn’t enough to master my style. I mix in a little karate with my own techniques, so I can progress pretty quickly. You, on the other hand, have to rebuild your entire style from scratch. I have my studies too, so I can’t meet you daily, but I’ll come around whenever I can."
Kirishima was determined to truly mentor Yui.
He had taught kids like Midoriya, Bakugo, and Ashido various things from a young age, yet Yui was different from them. Midoriya and Bakugo were so far away that he only helped by setting up workout plans and checking in on their progress—never actually instructing them in martial arts. In that sense, he felt he was more like a strength and conditioning coach for them. Even though he wasn’t their full-time mentor, it still felt incomplete.
With Ashido, he had taught a few martial arts moves gradually, but her focus was always on her own Quirk, which was exceedingly powerful. To prevent her from accidentally harming others—and to boost her offense when facing tougher opponents—she needed to concentrate on her Quirk.
Yui, however, was much like Kirishima. "I may be young, but I consider you my mentor," he declared. "I have a responsibility to guide you—to help you become stronger and steer you away from the wrong path. I never took teaching boxing lightly, no matter what you might think."
"I'm... your disciple?" Yui asked in wonder.
"Yes. And if you’re okay with it, then so be it."
"No! I like it! I want to be your disciple!"
For Yui, whose Quirk relied solely on physical prowess, martial arts were essential. Compared to Kirishima’s [Hardening], it wasn’t yet clear how to best develop her techniques. Ultimately, Yui had to commit everything to her training, just as Kirishima had committed his life to martial arts because of his own Quirk.
This shared path deepened the bond between them. Besides being kind and diligent, Yui carried her own principles with a confidence rare for her age—qualities that made her utterly endearing in Kirishima’s eyes.
In the end, Kirishima resolved to consider Yui not just as a student, but as the first disciple he had ever taken, combining his past and present lives.
While patting Yui’s head as she hugged him, he mused that he was beginning to grasp the meaning of the third joy of a true gentleman.
"Whoa there—you’re way too light. I might have to feed you more. And it looks like I ended up snatching your disciple right from under you, Coach," he joked.
"Mm! I’m going to eat a lot!" Yui exclaimed.
"If it were some random kid, I'd be worried. But with you, I know you've got it together. Watching you these past few days, I've seen you're more capable than I expected. Genius types usually struggle when it comes to teaching, but you're different. Have you taught before?"
"Well, I did teach a friend from childhood—but nothing in-depth," he admitted.
"Is that so? You really do have a knack for teaching. You seem to have it all," observed the other.
"Haha. Even if I have a lot, there's always room for improvement. Oh, now that I think of it… Yui, would you like to come to my place during winter break? Of course, I'll have to get Coach's permission first."
Kirishima figured that since he had been indebted to Yui and her coach over the summer, inviting her over in winter wasn’t such a bad idea. He would need his parents’ approval, but they’d often said that his maturity made raising him less fun—so they might actually be pleased. They even mentioned how nice it would be to have a daughter, so a cute, kind girl like Yui would surely be welcome.
"Really? I can go to your house? Dad, is that okay?" Yui asked.
"If it's Kirishima's house, then sure—but wouldn't that be a bit much?" her dad responded.
"It'll be fine. One little kid staying over won't be a burden," she insisted.
"I'm not a little kid..."
Kirishima patted Yui's head as she protested.
"Well, since there are still about five months left, we'll talk about that later. For now, I have to be off."
"Alright. Just be careful out there. I hope this trip turns out to be everything you want it to be," she said.
"Big brother, please come back safely. Don’t get hurt!"
"Got it. If time permits on the return trip, I'll drop by. So practice hard like I showed you, and don’t forget to send me your videos every day."
"Okay. I’ll work hard!"
"Alright, I'm really off now. Sorry for the long goodbye. Haha."
Kirishima bid farewell to both of them and stepped out through the old door.
The familiar alley greeted him warmly.
With plenty of time before his scheduled train, Kirishima strolled leisurely.
After a few steps, his phone buzzed with a new LINE message.
It was Ashido.
"Eijiro! My dad showed me an online news article this morning—it's so weird. There’s someone who looks exactly like you and even shares your name!"
Kirishima couldn’t tell if she was teasing him or not. Ashido wasn’t a foolish girl, so it was probably the former.
"If someone looks exactly like me and has the same name, then it must be me. I can guess what you saw," he replied.
No sooner had he sent his message than Ashido called him.
"You idiot, Eijiro! What on earth were you doing? You said you were going to learn martial arts—and now you're out there fighting a villain? And why did you go to Disneyland by yourself? You said no when I asked to come along last time!"
"Could you ask one thing at a time? First, fighting that villain was unavoidable—I had someone to protect. And as for going to Disneyland, I didn’t go alone. I went with the coach’s daughter."
"The coach’s daughter?"
Not entirely sure whether to be irritated by the edge in Ashido’s voice or not, Kirishima replied calmly.
"Yeah. Yui—the twelve-year-old kid. She’d never been to Disneyland before, so I went there with her friend and her friend’s mom. Everything else is just as you saw in the article."
"Really? So it’s okay? Or maybe not? I mean, a three-year difference sounds a bit risky."
"What are you even saying? You dummy," he chided.
Kirishima playfully scolded Ashido for her nonsense.
The two bickered for a while before Ashido finally admitted how worried she had been.
"You have no idea how shocked I was when I saw that news this morning. It reminded me of our trip when you got hurt at five. You even promised your mom you'd avoid danger—what a liar!"
"I do feel bad about Mom, but what could I do? It was unavoidable. And I didn’t even get a scratch, so don’t worry," Kirishima reassured her as he continued walking.
After steering the conversation away from sensitive topics, he listened as Ashido filled him in on her recent life—complaining about disliking studies, grumbling about how hot training was, and such. In his past life, he might have been deeply affected by such complaints, but after over ten years, they no longer bothered him as much.
After a long conversation and walk, Kirishima soon found himself in front of Tokyo Station.
"I’ve arrived at Tokyo Station. Let’s catch up later," he messaged.
"Okay. Eijiro, from now on, just stay away from anything dangerous and have a good trip," Ashido advised.
"Yeah," he replied.
After hanging up, Kirishima glanced at his watch. There were still three hours before his train arrived.
Having purposely come early, he considered popping into a café to pass the time.
Just then, he sensed someone approaching from behind.
"Oh? Ms. Sumire. Hello," a voice greeted.
"Fancy meeting you here, Kirishima. It’s nice to see you," came the reply from Sumire, who still wore that inscrutable expression and sharp suit.
"Are you here on assignment again? I mean, since you're at the station," he inquired.
"Hmm. I’m not catching a train. Where are you headed, Kirishima?" she asked.
"I’m off to Shizuoka today. I found out my train isn’t for another three hours, so I’m just musing over what to do with the time."
"I see," Sumire murmured, her face clouding with thought.
Kirishima found it odd to see the typically ice-cold Sumire looking so troubled, but he waited quietly. Usually, there was no need to break the silence first; after all, he himself disliked interruptions when deep in thought.
"Then, Kirishima, could you spare maybe thirty minutes to an hour?" she asked.
"I’ve got time, but what is it about?" he replied, half-wondering if she was trying to seduce him.
Sumire’s face remained as unreadable as ever.
*'No way. She’s not the type to go after a minor—even if I am rather handsome,'* Kirishima thought. The absurdity of his own musings made him smile inwardly. He knew he was attractive, but hardly in a way that enchanted every onlooker. When it came to physical prowess, he had no rival, however.
"Kirishima, last time you mentioned you wanted to be a Hero, right?" she asked.
"Yes. Honestly, almost everyone my age dreams of being a Hero," he admitted.
"But you’re not like those kids who only vaguely fantasize about it. Your physique says it all—and the way you fought that villain to protect others. I only saw it once, but you even helped me out last time even though it was a hassle," Sumire recalled.
*'That was just because he irritated me…'* Kirishima thought, a slight flush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks at the memory of his earlier irritation.
"I’m actually on my way to interview someone right now. Honestly, even if you came with me, there wouldn’t be much for you to do. I’m inviting you because I thought it might benefit you. It’s not far—a five-minute walk from the Yaesu exit," she explained.
"Who exactly are you going to see that you’d describe it like that?" he asked.
"That’s a bit hard to say right now. Even if I told you, you might not understand," Sumire replied evasively.
"Hmm..."
He paused, pondering the odd gravity with which this interview was being treated. The person she intended to meet was clearly no ordinary individual.
Noticing his contemplation, she continued, "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure it’s right to have you accompany me. Part of me wants to brush this off, wish you a good trip, and part ways immediately. I worry that what you hear might be harsh—even inducing anger or despair. So be prepared for whatever comes."
"If you put it that way, then of course I'll come along," Kirishima said.
"Huh?"
"I don't know who I'll be meeting or what I'll hear, but I'm the kind of person who believes every experience can contribute to who I am—so I really want to meet this person, Sumire."
She regarded him with a complex expression before setting her jaw. "Alright then. Let’s move out now."
"Yes," he replied.
Following Sumire as she led the way, Kirishima noted how her slight figure seemed to tremble—a heavy, almost burdensome companionship settling between them.
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