151: Growth

Chapter 151: Growth

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'Even though I don't like her, this is great.' Kimi couldn't help but smile as she walked behind Neko.

She was present at the fight with the White Tiger , so she knew how strong and dangerous these 'Mythical' beasts were. But if Neji and Kurai's fusion could defeat a creature of a similar level in a minute, she might as well have a solid chance against that Dragon.

As Kimi stepped into the borders of the monster village, she noted that the villagers had surrounded the centre's residence, wielding weapons in their hands.

Mursha was in the lead, standing on the door as she nervously glared inside the house.

"Reveal your identities! Who are you?!"

She was clearly talking to Nejire and Momo, and she along with her people looked pretty anxious that there were two human-looking creatures within their King's house.

There was a solid chance that those two were high humans too, and on top of that they might as well be enemies since Neji himself was nowhere to be seen and they even saw their Queen being blown out of the village.

Meanwhile some of the monsters were running to the spot where Kimi was thrown, therefore they came face to face with Neko and stopped on their tracks.

"A-another Demi?!"

An orc cried, grabbing his weapon.

"Guys, be careful! She attacked the Queen! She must be an enemy!"

The few ogres and orcs wielded their weapons, preparing to face Neko who was walking towards them, but they simply stayed on their spots as Neko walked past them.

"Ah…"

They stood dumbfounded and Kimi also walked past them with an awkward smile. 

"Don't worry, she's not an enemy."

They kept standing there while the two Demis soon reached the center's residence and Neko finally stopped tossing the red orb in the air, and instead opted to put it in her inventory.

"Oi Mursha, make way."

Neko spoke, her voice calm but it was demanding. Mursha immediately turned to face her and flinched back the moment her eyes came into contact with the slit, cat-like purple eyes.

"Who are you-"

"I told you to make way."

Mursha couldn't finish her words before a dome of Mana burst out of Neko to loom over the whole village like a hungry titan.

Mursha's eyes rolled backward, along with everyone else present—except for Kimi and the girls inside the house—as they immediately fell on their knees in front of the sheer pressure.

"W-what is with this mana?!"

The monsters cried, but Neko simply stayed on her spot, her hands in her pockets as she looked down on them.

"Um," it was Kimi who pulled her by the sleeves softly. "They're your people you know, I don't think you should treat them like this."

Neko gave her a stare and scoffed, releasing the pressure instantly.

Of course, Neko wasn't a fool. She wouldn't do anything that'd make things difficult for either Neji or Kurai, as she was them in the end. She acted like this just to demonstrate her Mana, which the monsters will assume came from Neji after she reveals her identity. After all, they've been thinking Neji has a great amount of mana, enough that they can’t even sense it. But he has never actually shown any mana technique they were familiar with. One day, they might get suspicious, but today's demonstration would push that date a bit further.

"Whatever." Neko shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, I guess it's time for me to go. Neji should handle what to do with the Phoenix's drop himself, I can’t bother it with myself."

Saying so, she deliberately unfused in front of the monsters, showing them who 'she' actually was as their eyes widened. They had an 'ah!' moment as they realised who the originator of that mana was.

The dust cleared and they saw Neji with Kurai on top of his head, sitting on her paws and looking down on the world.

Some could guess, some could not. But it was mostly clear that the divine cat had merged with Neji to create that 'cat-demi'.

"My liege, I see you have attained yet another unknown technique… But I must ask, who are those two girls?" Mursha asked, looking over to Momo and Nejire who were inside the room, with Nejire standing strong and Momo hiding behind her. 

Neji nodded.

"One of them is my sister, another is my girlfriend… Girlfriend is kind of like a Fiancèe, if you know what that means. Just treat them like my wives.” 

Mursha nodded at his words, surprised. That surprise didn’t last long though since she was familiar with incest in the ancient human royal families, and polygamy existed even in this Great Forest. The strong monsters took anybody they wanted as their wives.

Neji noted her understanding and made a point clear, “But keep in mind, there is no hierarchy between them and Kimi, treat them all similarly."

"You know I am fine with being the concubine-"

"Keep your mouth shut."

Neji cut Kimi midway, turning and glaring at her, just as she started to giggle, looking amused.

"Oh well, not like this poor maid can defy the master's will."

Neji deadpanned and looked at Mursha again. "Anyway, clear up please. Don't come here unless I call for you, those two inside look pretty shocked and confused right now."

Mursha nodded. "Understood."

With that, she quickly dragged everyone away. Andrius wasn't here, she went back to her cave for a while, so only a few other wolves were present here currently. Along with them, as the orcs and ogres left, the house's surroundings were clear as Neji and Kimi walked inside.

"Hey, Neji! What're those monsters??" Nejire jumped from her spot, leaping up and landing on his chest. "They looked like monsters from video games! What up with that?!"

"Aaaa…" Neji trailed off, his hands on her waist. "Well, you see this gate dimension is different from the usual ones I encounter. This opens up a gate to another world… Are you familiar with the mediaeval fantasy genre? The sword and magic world with princes and princesses. This place is pretty much that."

The mediaeval fantasy genre is a very old genre for the current time. There are barely any fictional works from that genre these days, and the ones present aren't so popular. Though there was recently a popular work rising in Japan of that genre…

Something Kimi first found out and later, Momo was forced to read by Neji.

"Wait, so…" Momo stepped up. "This place is kind of like the Slime Manga's world?"

"Kind of." Neji nodded.

"So those monsters, from what I understood from your interaction, they're serving under you…?" Neji nodded as Momo's lips trembled. "A-are you doing the same things that slime did? Are you making an army and then killing other people for your army's growth? Neji?"

Momo stepped up, looking at Neji with a hint of betrayal in her eyes. "Why? Why are you doing this? T-this isn't heroic!"

"I am not heroic, Momo." Neji replied, but this time he didn't show any anger. "I am just a simple guy who wants to live a long life with my loved ones, and for that, there are barely any things that I would not do."

Momo’s eyes were wide and trembling as she seemed to fall into a crisis. After a long moment where she opened and closed her mouth, Momo slowly looked down on the ground as a light of contemplation flashed in her eyes.

'He's doing it for us… for me. Is it really okay for me to judge him?' Momo couldn't help but ask.

Is it really a villainous act if he's doing it for her?

…Maybe it is to the other party, the monsters that are being killed. But to the people under Neji, and even Momo herself, isn’t he a Hero?

A Hero and a Villain are subjective, she understood that much by now. 

A Hero is the same as a villain to a thief who was put in jail by the Hero, along with the family of the thief who would starve without the food he used to bring after stealing. In such a case, where Momo got a practical demonstration of Neji’s version of Heroism, where he swiftly saved her and ran from the red-haired villain, should Momo really be an ungrateful bitch and question him? Judge him, even.

Is this really right?

'I- I don't know…'

Momo's eyes started to tear up and she raised her head to look into Neji's eyes.

She's never been pushed into a corner like this… never in her life. She never felt so helpless, even though this was a situation that didn't harm her or her loved ones in any way. Why should she feel like this way for a bunch of people, a bunch of monsters in this unknown world…?

"Neji…" Momo sniffled, spreading her arms. "Hug me."

Neji stared at her softly before he handed Kurai over to Kimi. Then he slowly brought Momo to a tight embrace.

—★—

Hours went by and the girls were now on the second floor, sitting on the bed with Neji.

Momo was still hugging Neji, she had fallen asleep while doing so. The other two girls were looking around the room and chatting in lowered voices, making sure they didn't accidentally wake Momo up.

Kurai went out a while ago since this place was too cramped, also since she felt like she didn't belong to the room at this moment, like a 'third-wheel', or maybe a 'fifth-wheel'. Kurai didn't know, neither did she care so she took her leave.

"Mmmm…"

Momo finally seemed to be walking up, her eyelids trembling softly for a moment before they slowly lifted upwards.

"Mmhm… Mommy?" She rubbed her eyes, looking around. "Where is this-"

She couldn't finish her words before she noticed where she was lying down. Entirely on top of Neji, who was lying on the bed. His face was below her and he was smiling at her.

"Your mom's not here, unfortunately. But… your daddy is.”

"Uh…" Momo blinked as the memories from before emerged. She ignored his bad joke and smiled. "Oh, Neji. Sorry about before… I must have seemed so childish."

"Everyone has a child within them, don't push it down. There's no need to force yourself to act mature, Momo." Neji said, reaching out a hand to ruffle her hair. "I accept whoever you are, so please don't force it."

Momo's lips thinned but she smiled soon after. "Alright, thanks. Then I would like to apologise for acting like a moron when I first woke up. I believe this 'Hero Syndrome' of mine, as you speak of, really is a sickness, strong enough to make me question the man I love, the person who's trying so hard to keep me safe. I… I am really sorry."

Her lips shivered again, but this time she didn't cry. She simply looked sorry, ashamed and guilty.

She questioned him when he killed the villains in USJ, even though it clearly was a thing he needed to do if he wanted to live, if he wanted her to stay safe.

From there, she questioned if he really was a hero or not so many times. Even going as far as judging him after he saved her from certain death. 

But she only realised now that… Did it really matter if he was a hero or not? Was her 'love' just for a 'hero'? Did she only love Neji because someday, she assumed, he will be a strong capable hero?

No, that's not right. She loved Neji because he was Neji, not because of his quirk, nor because of his strength. She wouldn't say she loved his personality… she couldn't say she loved his looks… No, because she didn't love only a single thing about him, she loved everything that made Neji… Neji.

Him not being a Hero didn't matter, and being a hero shouldn't matter to her either. She's a person of her own, so she should dream to protect the ones that mattered to her, not some people she never met in her life.

That's why… for acting like a stupid bitch before…

"Words might not mean much but… I am really really sorry."

To someone like Neji, her background wasn't special, neither was her powers. Meaning he loved her because she was Momo, or he would have never apologised after acting like a douche a few hours ago, even though he was right and she was in the wrong. So Momo promised herself to at least match that resolution because she didn't want to lose him, she didn’t want him to leave her.

Momo could notice the two other girls looking at her from behind, and she again thanked her luck that they were who they were. They wouldn't make fun of her or insult her for what she did. After all, they weren't like that at all .

"It's fine, Yaomomo." Neji shook his head, pushing her hair strands from her face and tucking them behind her ears. "It was my fault for being so harsh, I understand. The Yaoyorozu princess most certainly never got yelled at like that in her life, so it must have been shocking to you."

"H-hey, that's not true-"

She couldn't finish her words before Neji pulled her head down. His other hand flung over her back, pulling her waist, as he stole her lips swiftly.

Momo didn't resist.

For some reason, she expected this.

Neji's left hand went under her school shirt, running down her back and going to clip her bra. His right hand went under her skirt, grabbing her butt and softly squeezing it.

"AHEM!!"

Right then, Nejire cleared her throat in a deliberately loud voice.

Neji released Momo's lips, which separated with a 'plop' as they both turned to Nejire.

"It's good to see you're breaking out of your 'Hero Syndrome', but I don't assume you're about to ignore everything happening outside right?" Nejire said, frowning. "Japan is under attack, and our parents and friends are out there in danger!"

"Oh," Neji blinked. "Actually, both our and Momo's parents are inside my personal dimension, meaning they're safe. About our friends… yes, I guess you have a point.”

They were within Kurai’s inventory, but Neji shifted them to his when they were fused to form ‘Neko’.

Nejire and Momo looked pleasantly surprised at the news and immediately started to ask Neji questions. 

Neji answered and kept thinking.

By 'friends' Neji was referring to Rumi and Ryukyu. Though he was aware that Nejire was talking about others, like Mirio and Tamaki.

That… was a problem too. Neji needed to plan how he should handle Nejire after stealing Mirio's quirks, which might as well make him brain dead like many other All for One’s targets, Neji wasn’t sure.

"I was the one who saved them, by the way." Kimi meddled in, looking a bit unhappy. "Also, you've grown real soft, huh young master. Remember when I first apologised? You said, 'Kimi, wanna talk after we are done fucking?' Look at you now, so lovey dovey.”

She didn't look jealous, just playful, though she did look a bit grumpy. Which was rare. But Neji just shrugged.

"Or maybe I just like bullying you, who knows." He said and pushed Momo to the side, sitting up.

"Anyway, yes, my onee-sama indeed proposes a good point. I also think it's time for us to leave." He said, slipping his hand in the air and taking out a red shining orb and a bean-sized red stone. "Which is why I have this, a Phoenix [Evolution Orb] and a [Life Stone]."

Neji had a perfect candidate for both of these.

The evolution stone would help Momo the most, who needed some strong attack powers. So <Phoenix Flames> would help a lot, as he just got to see how powerful it was just a few hours ago.

On top… the Life Stone may as well allow her to finally create organic things using her Quirk.

Softly he handed them over to Momo who took them reluctantly. He was about to explain things to her before Kimi jumped in, starting to tell Momo the things she needed to do to consume them. Meanwhile, Nejire pouted and turned around.

"Hmph, so you bought things for her and Kimi. Looks like your sister doesn't matter to you, huh." She said, crossing her arms under her breasts and throwing her nose in the air.

"How’s that possible? My sister is the most precious thing in the world, remember?" Neji walked to her, trying to kiss her but she moved her face away. "Okay, fine, I have something for you too."

He slipped his hands in the inventory and took out the [Special Tier Potion] that Izuku’s dead body dropped.

Nejire's eyes shone before she looked away again. "Just that? Hmph. I want something new."

"Oh, this will give you something new, don't worry," Neji said, pushing it onto her hands. "This one is special, so this will do something special to you. Don’t you believe me?"

He actually wasn’t sure what made this thing special… So he was a bit nervous, but he didn’t show it on his face.

Nejire looked at him suspiciously before swiftly accepting it, her lips stretching to a smile. "Oh well, sure I will take the leftovers."

She didn't wait even a second before opening the bottle and throwing the contents inside her mouth, and on the back, Momo also had put the evolution orb inside her mouth, having already done so with the life stone.

Bzzt~

Immediately, there was a burst of magical energy from both girls and…

Some things truly seemed to have changed within both of them.

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Author’s Note: Long chapter today since I don’t think this will come good if split.