The Viking Stranger: Love the gender equality MMA there. Also exploring the physical nuance of the people of MHA.

Re: Isekai stories like KonoSuba helped me fall back in love with the Isekai sub-genre after the 2013 boom where you couldn't tell most of them apart anymore.
As for the physical nuance you mentioned, yes, Sports Club Kobold was always going to be used to explore that. That whole "Mutant War" mini-arc in MHA… it came in really, really late so it was hard to feel like there was any kind of buildup. The closest we ever got was Izuku being discriminated against for being Quirkless, and I stick by the assertion that it's only as-bad as it was for him because they were right in the shadow of Yuuei Academy. Having Takei be adopted by a house full of Heteromorphs, and the later plan for he himself becoming one, was always to touch up on a bit of worldbuilding we rarely get to see.
In most MHA stories I've read with an OC or just giving Izuku a Quirk, the lead almost always has an Emitter or Transformation Quirk. It's rare to see a protagonist with a Mutant Quirk, hence why here, and in Vigorous Vitality before it, the MCs have Mutant-Type Quirks; [Lombax] in the case of Takehiko Tokei, and [Cockroach] in the case of Gokiburi Genki.

To LoamyCoffee, yes, for true Gender Equality, that means taking the bad along with the good. You can't claim to say you treat women "equally" and then a second later turn right back around and say you won't punch a woman in a sparring ring "because they're a girl". Not to mention, a woman abusing a man instead of the other way around, is still Domestic Violence!
As for Monster Musume, something that always bugged the hell out of me was that it'd been "three years" since the bubble burst, yet there were still so many systemic failures in the program. I did have an idea ruminating for a Gate – Thus the JSDF Fought There! crossover in mind where the guy that gets shot with the arrow during the attack on the Capital becomes the first Interspecies Host after the Diet Meeting (you know the one) prompts the Liminals on Earth to come out of hiding, though if I ever did make that story, I'd either have to re-contextualize all of the characters from the Monster Musume Canon, or just go with a "problem children" kind of vibe.
But yes, before I made the previous chapter, I got around to watching that off-shot of DBZA, and that reference felt too good to pass up.
More than anything, my favorite part was the contrast I established between Sports Club Kobold of Monster Musume and the Silverman Gym in
How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, in relation to the My Hero Academia world. Because once again, it's more fun for me to write Cameos and Crossovers than it is to flood a story with one-note OCs as "jobbers". Help the world feel a little more lived-in, you know?

In response to Harleking31's commentary, yes, Satou Kazuma is an inspiration to all proponents of "true gender equality", and as someone who's watched and read KonoSuba IRL, of course my self-insert would make that reference. Even though it's implied to be the 22XXs in My Hero Academia, people still gave Bakugou a hard time for "beating up a girl"; for the sake of argument, the identity of the girl he beat isn't important.
As for Polt, she isn't a good girl. She is BEST girl! And Takei getting head pats from her is also lots of fun to write because she has a very fun-loving, nurturing nature to her, and Takei like many Isekai Protagonists is a magnet from romantic and non-romantic attention.
As for retconning Tio into being a former Sukeban (Delinquent Girl), the idea was actually inspired by the character of Yuki Takamiya from 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. I thought it'd add a bit of depth to her character to have her not always be a mountain of cuddles & sunshine. Sorta like how for Zombina, her Quirk had a "Posthumous Quirk Activation Threshold" as opposed to her waking up one day "as a zombie".
As for Uma Musume, it wasn't intended to be a diss at the anime in general as it was a jab at how mangaka and studios will make anything "into a pretty girl". I mean seriously, there's anime that've turned Soda Cans into pretty girls, and Battleships into pretty girls, and Game Consoles into pretty girls, and Guns into pretty girls, and... and... and... Looks, it's a long list, and I'm sure for every one instance I can find online, there's a dozen more buried so deep in the internet or obscure pop culture in general, that I'd never be able to find them but someone IRL still knows about it.
As for the Silverman Gym, while it's one thing to see it portrayed in a standalone format, I just can't help but imagine that in the world of My Hero Academia, there'd be a bit of "exclusivity" in the intervening decades as Quirks continued to proliferate. Anything and everything can "tarnish" with the passage of time.

*AHA*

Whether by sheer coincidence or quote/unquote "divine providence", Hikage Kuromi and Usui Shiori lived right next door to one another. Kuromi for her part hadn't thought anything of it until the extent of Shiori's meta-awareness came to light, and while she was paranoid about their living arrangements being preordained by "Author-sama" (as Shiori jokingly put it), Shiori herself didn't seem to mind. Apart from being able to hang out whenever they wanted to read "Retro Manga" even when Takei wasn't around, they could also vent to one another whenever the weight of the world and their place in it got to be too much for them.

Both the girls' parents, more than once overhearing their meta-commentary, assumed they were run-of-the-mill "Chuuni delusions" that all kids their age felt.

Neither girl sought to correct their parents' view because stronger men literally cracked under the pressure; at least according to the legit Isekai Protagonist in their midst.

"You ever wonder what our life would be like if we never met Takei-kun?" Shiori asked.

"Probably a lot more boring… and with one less person who really understood us," Kuromi hummed.

"So how've you been spending your Golden Week?"

"Manga, light novels, more of the same. My memories don't 'cut out' or anything, so our lives do keep going even when we don't have any screen time."

"Oh okay, good. I was worried about you for a second," the 2D girl hummed as she stared down into her tablet.

"You've been looking down pretty intensely. That old manga that good?" Kuromi asked.

"No. Just reading up so I can close a loop. Or 'reading down' as it were, heh heh heh~"

"Well that isn't ominous at all…" the Shadow Girl hummed, choosing not to pry.

*AHA*

The following morning after Sports Club Kobold, Takei was crossing town to meet up with Shiori and Kuromi to compare notes for their unofficial "Retro Manga Appreciation Club". The three of them treated it as more of an extension of the "going home club" because, if too many outsiders got involved, they wouldn't be able to talk to one another about the heavy stuff. Also, very few people really appreciated the retro stuff in the Historical Manga & Light Novel Preservation Archive, so it wasn't like they had members lining up around the courtyard anyway.

*Br-r-r*Br-r-r*

*Br-r-r*Br-r-r*

*Breen*

"Moshi moshi?" he hummed after his Metal Gear Codec-style ringtone chimed.

The IP might've been super-inert by this point, but the series got referenced to hell and back, so the ringtone was still alive.

"Takei-kun! Moshi moshi!"

"Shiori, I'm on the way for our meeting right now. Need me to pick anything up?"

"Actually, we'll need to rain check. Kuromi-chan's sick as a dog and, well… She doesn't want you to see her looking worse than she normally does."

"Yeah? Well fuck you too," Kuromi's muffled voice chimed from the side, sounding like she were just pinching her own nose shut.

"Hey, Kuromi-chan's plenty cute!" the blond said back into the line.

"Well, she's either blushing or her fever's gotten worse," Shiori hummed. "Anyway, sorry to flake, but we'll meet up another time, ne~?"

"Yeah. Sure, that's fine," he replied. "At least it's a lovely day out."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you won't be without company for very long~"

"Hm?"

"Um, gottagobye!"

" . . . She knows something I don't, but then again, her meta-awareness is stronger than mine…"

Jostling his shoulder bag to feel the familiar weight of his armaments, which he was reluctant to leave the house without, just as he was about to turn off the street and head into town, out of nowhere he heard a cry for-

"HEEELP!"

"Oh crap, what now?"

"S-somebody! Please save me!"

Snapping his head over his shoulder, Takei saw a pretty pink-haired girl in a gothic Lolita dress astride a runaway wheelchair rolling down the adjacent hill.

"My wheelchair's brakes aren't working! I can't stop! Someone…!"

"HOLD ON!"

Vaulting over the railing and throwing himself in front of her path, the Lombax-like teen shot out his hands and squared his stance.

A moment later the runaway chair hit him, pain shooting up his arms and shoe leather squealing. While he'd definitely eaten up some of the girl's momentum...

"AHHHH!"

*CRASH!*

*Roll*Roll*Roll*Roll*

"Urg…" Takei groaned as his head throbbed, the wheels of the girl's overturned chair spinning absently off to the side.

"Oh my gosh! A-Are you alright?! Should I call an ambulance?!" the pinkette asked from her place above him, borderline straddling him once she lifted her budding bosom from his own.

"No… I'm fine… Totally used to stuff like this…"

*AHA*

"I'm so sorry, good sir, my brake just failed out of nowhere! Thank you ever so much for saving me," the young woman beamed prettily once I'd helped her back into her chair, and I was able to get a good look at her now that the immediate crisis had passed.

She was an attractive, modestly-endowed young woman with fair skin, blue eyes the color of the sea, and long light-pink hair separated into four strands curled into drills at the ends; two in front of her shoulders and two behind. Her attire comprised of a black goth-Loli dress with lots of frilly white trim, the skirt long, a white corset around her waist, and a black ribbon barrette with frilly white lace and seashell designs atop her head. What made her distinctive from other pink-haired goth-Lolis however, were her Heteromorphic traits; a powerful-looking fish-like tail with pink scales and yellow fins with pink edges, the webbing between her fingers and her fin-like ears also the same color.

She'd probably been bunching herself up in anticipation of a potential crash, which was why I didn't see it before.

"It's fine… It's fine… I've been hit harder," I groaned, checking the back of my head for blood.

Huh. None. Maybe some of that "Lombax Durability" is kicking in?

That or the "side-effects" of Elma's soup...

"Pardon me for not introducing myself. My name is Lorelai Meroune, but please, call me Mero," the young lady said giving a seated curtsey.

"Takehiko Tokei," I returned. "I'm sure you probably know this, but please try to avoid any hills until you get that brake fixed."

"Oh, but of course," the goth Lolita mermaid beamed prettily.

"Well… See you later."

" . . . Ah! Wait, please!" she insisted as she wheeled herself after me. "I… I'm not used to the area, and my parents' minders are so suffocating. If it wouldn't be too much trouble…"

"You want me to take you somewhere? A guy you just met?"

"If it isn't too much of an imposition," the girl blushed prettily, webbed fingers tented before her face. "And you seem like the trustworthy sort. I truly am grateful that you saved me."

" . . . Alright, fine. My plans for the day didn't pan out anyway," I shrugged. "So, Mero, where're you from?"

"Oh, you know… Out by the sea."

"Not like that narrows it down much, but okay."

Considering Japan was an archipelago, that could mean just about anywhere in the country…

*AHA*

Wheeling onto a bus and then into town proper, Mero with her merfolk features and gothic Lolita attire was certainly eye-catching, even in a town with a higher concenrtation of Heteromorphs than average. Doubly-so after people started realizing the boy wheeling her around was the local celebrity who only just the other day bested a Villain who had felled countless Heroes before.

It was also a bit disconcerting that people were still bickering in the streets about what did or didn't constitute as "gender equality" in regard to punching out a female Villain. Was it sexist to punch a Villainess, or was "more sexist" not to punch them because of their gender?

One would think that with an additional 200 years, people would've reached a consensus and gotten over it, but... nope. No progress made whatsoverer.

Truly, people could waste the oxygen God gave them on such stupid nonsense.

"Oh my, you seem to be quite famous, Takehiko-san."

"More like infamous…" I sighed as I pushed her along.

"Oh? For what?" she blinked at me with innocent eyes.

"Oh, all kinds of stuff…" I sighed, a cute gurgle leaving the girl's stomach. "Do you… want something to eat?"

"If it isn't too much of an imposition," she blushed prettily.

A few minutes later I pulled into a McDonalds at her behest, and those that had been in line before us were strangely conciliatory. Whether it was because of the fish tail and/or the cute goth-Loli attire and/or the wheelchair, I wasn't sure, but I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Turned out there was some decency left in the world after all.

It wasn't much, but it still existed in places.

"Wow, you're… really into those, aren't you?"

"It's the perfect comfort food~" Mero hummed as she ate another fish sandwich.

"Fair enough."

I did too, but only because they were a quote/unquote "healthier" alternative to the "Chemical Burgers".

Not throwing shame at anyone who worked fast food, but the cheapest burgers with the biggest mark-ups had so-many chemicals in them that if even the ants wouldn't touch them…

And at least Mero offered to pay since she was technically imposing on me. Especially with how-many she was throwing back.

"So what's your whole spiel? Are you some kind of 'Ojou-sama'?"

"My family… lives comfortably," she replied bashfully.

"Ojou-sama, got it."

"Please, call me 'Mero'," she insisted with tented fingers. "So, tell me a bit about yourself."

"You don't know about me already? Well that's certainly refreshing."

*AHA*

A while later and an abridged life story later…

"Well now, it seems like you've lived a truly full life," Mero hummed once we left.

"Sure. If you can call it living."

Always having a part of your hind-brain paranoid and turned toward the next Villain attack when it happens; "when", not "if", could be taxing in its own way. Only reason I had the ability not to freak out, was because I'd reincarnated. And no way would I've stayed as cool as I had against that ghoul-looking motherfucker if I wasn't.

"I suppose that's fair. I've had people after me too," she admitted.

Part of me wanted to note that she wasn't the first person I'd known to have people come after her, but Momo's problems were Momo's problems. No need to spread them around.

"Ah! Here! Please turn here!" Mero suddenly whispered in a hushed tone.

Pulling into the alley, a moment later hurried footfalls sounded behind us.

"That's a negative on the park."

"Sorry, no luck."

"Let's broaden our search."

"Roger."

"So… 'minders', huh?" I asked as the Men in Black-looking guys passed us by.

Either this alley was darker than I thought, or these guys just really sucked at their job.

A minute after the gaggle of bodyguards passed, Mero spoke up again.

"I'm truly sorry about this," Mero apologized sweetly over her shoulder, fingers tented.

"It's fine. This is honestly one of the more laid-back days," I returned. "So… Where to next?"

"If it isn't too much trouble, could I see your school? I never got to go to a normal one. For me it was always tutors and home study."

" . . . I don't see why not," I admitted after a while.

*AHA*

"Oh my, so this is what a land school looks like~"

"Land school?"

"I-I mean… in the mainland," Mero amended.

"Hm."

Looking at Damoto Chugakko from beyond the gate, it seemed like the front door as well as the shoe lockers had already been replaced. Obviously, if a company could use Quirks to help cut costs, they would, hence the speedy repairs. Of course, I was unsure if the full of the interior would be repaired by the time school started again, but hopefully no-one else would try to "at me" while I was still on school grounds. Retired Hero or not, rumors that there was "a Hero" on-premises should hopefully act as a deterrent. Maybe not a nuclear deterrent, but maybe the association with Yuuei would make my school one of the rare "safe spaces" to be found.

"Takehiko-san, are you okay?" Mero asked worriedly.

"Ah, sorry. When I think serious thoughts sometimes my face gets like this."

"Well, I don't mind too much. Your contemplative look is kind of… cute~" she giggled prettily. "I somehow doubt a penny for your thoughts would be fair market price."

"Penny, not yen?"

"Oh, we use all sorts of currency back home," Mero hummed. "Still… To think that two Villains would attack you where you're supposed to be at your safest…"

"Yes, well, we're all learning to course correct, so I do feel safer."

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"WE'VE FOUND YOU!"

"KYAAAAAAAH!"

"STRANGER DANGER!" Mero and I cried out as two Heteromorphs, who were basically human-sized bass and flounder with human limbs, clad in black suits suddenly jumped out at us.

*HSSSSSS!*

"AHHHHH! MY EYES!"

"AND ALSO MY EYES!"

"RUN AWAY! RUN AWAAAY! RUN AWAAAAAY!" I screamed as if the Rabbit of Caerbannog were on mine and Mero's collective ass.

*AHA*

"T-Takehiko-san, what… did you spray those two with?" Mero asked worriedly once we had gotten well away.

"I hit them with Turbo-Mace; the good shit they use on bears. And also on Villains down in Tartarus."

"O-Oh, I see…"

"Hm? Something I should know?" I asked at her conflicted expression.

"Er, um, no, not presently," she deflected refusing to meet my gaze.

"If you say so…" I asked looking around. "Gimme a sec to get my bearings, cause I am… so lost."

"Maybe I can help with that?" a deep booming voice hummed from a chest the size of a mini-van. Looking over our shoulders, Mero and I soon came face to face with a massive Heteromorphic bull-man, practically a Minotaur, that stood nearly two stories tall and packing a metric shit-ton of pure muscle. The horns on the sides of his head adding to the menace of his silhouette and a brass ring hanging from his snout, he was clad in a tight-fitting black shirt that may as well have been painted on, and massive military cargo pants revealing hooved feet that left cracks in the asphalt.

"Mero, stay behind me…" I whispered, turning to face the potential threat as he rounded the corner.

"I must say, it's quite fortunate you were able to lose your minders. I wouldn't be able to get to you otherwise," the massive minotaur-like man chuckled. "And look at this. An added bonus on the side~"

"Huh. So this is what it feels like to be a side dish instead of the whole meal," I hummed as the man's eyes fell on me.

"Now then…"

The next moment with deceptive speed, the man's massive hand clamped around my body.

"T-Takehiko-san!" Mero cried as I was lifted from the ground like a child holding an action figure, my weapon bag pressing painfully into my side.

"D-Damn!" I swore trying to slide out, the arms that I raised away from his fingers at the last moment completely useless.

"Don't worry. This'll only hurt for a second~"

"Gr! Crap!" I swore as I felt his one hand tighten around my body like a vise, my adrenaline gland secreting as the other went for Mero.

"I-IYAAAAAH!" the pretty mermaid girl cried as she tried to get away, only for his other hand to wrap around the back of her chair.

"D-DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" I shouted leveling my wrist at his face.

*SCHWIP-PLAT!*

"GAH! MY EYE!" he roared as the hook of my Grappling Watch caught him in the left, his off-hand abandoning Mero's chair to get at the line.

"I DON'T THINK SO!"

Whipping the line with a *THWIP!*, with the *SPLAT* of overripe fruit splitting my grappling hook split his bovine eye wide open, a bellowing- "MROOOOOOOO!" -sounding as I fell free from his opening hand, the massive appendages going to his face.

"MERO! HOLD ON!" I shouted getting behind her chair and pushing for all I was worth, a hand going to my comm. bracelet before I shouted- "ACTIVATE S.O.S.!" -, a red holographic chevron reading [Distress Beacon: ACTIVATED] circling it.

"MROOOO! YOU BITCH!" the Minotaur Villain roared as he galloped after us on all fours, left eyelid clamped shut. My muscles straining as I rounded a corner, the would-be kidnapper overshot, giving me a moment's breathing room to practically inhale Elma's fishy broth for all the good it'd do me.

Cue Tiger & Bunny OST – You are the HERO!

"IT'S TIME FOR THIS TIGER… TO LET OUT… A WILD ROAR!"

My heartbeat exploding against my ribcage as I pumped myself up, adrenaline flooding my bloodstream as I threw my thermos aside, I "went beyond", running faster than I'd ever run in my life, Mero's wheelchair squealing in protest as I propelled us away.

"T-TAKE-SAN! LEAVE ME BEHIND! I'M THE ONE HE WANTS!"

"NOT HAPPENING! I HID YOU FROM YOUR MINDERS! THAT MAKES YOUR SAFTEY MY RESPONSIBILITY!"

"AWWWW! THAT'S FUCKING ADORABLLLLE!"

The Minotaur Villain stampeding towards us, there was no way in Hell I could rip open the gap he was closing on my own, so I did something "so stupid it might just work".

Shooting my grappling hook over Mero's shoulder, bracing my body against her chair, I reeled us in at max speed like out of Just Cause. And by some miracle, the crazy stunt actually worked, the two of us escaping the Villain's frenzied swipe as we shot forward. However, with how my Grappling Watch was squealing in protest, I only had so-many of these left in me before it failed entirely.

"MERO! WE'RE MAKING FOR THE RIVER!"

"TH-THE RIVER?!"

"I'LL FOLLOW THIS PAYDAY TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH! AND I'LL TAKE MY BUSTED EYE OUT ON YOUUUU!"

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU FUCKING TRY!" I shouted as I fired my grapple again, my internal compass finally orienting itself to where the hell I was.

The next minute or so dragged on for an eternity. That or the next five evaporated in a flash. But my desperate efforts to keep Mero safe were rewarded as the sound of running water met my lengthened ears right as my Grappling Watch failed, the micro-winch torn away from the frame.

Unfortunately, though we had enough inertia for the last little stretch, the river was especially shallow in the immediate area.

"FUCK! SHIT!"

"KYAAAAAH!"

A fresh wave of adrenaline coursing through my body as we sailed over the crest of the hill and toward the rocky stream below, I conjured the image of a Nitrous Oxide trigger before my mind's eye. The edges of my vision depolarizing into red and blue as my [Tactical Time Dilation] took hold, the world slowing to a crawl around us, faster than I ever moved before I crawled around Mero's chair mid-flight, muscles burning like napalm as I scooped her up in my arms and abandoned ship. The aluminum frame of the chair mangling itself in a mad tumble, as we flew through the air, I whipped out my Walloper and fired it at the hill ahead of us. The boxing glove planting itself in grass and dirt, the metal arm of the punching gun squealed and buckled before failing entirety. With the last fumes of my TTD, I angled my body into the hillside, Mero letting out a terrified cry as she went rigid against me, clumps of dirt and grass churning around us.

"Mero… *Cough* You alright…?"

"T-Take-san! You're bleeding!" Mero cried, webbed hands going to my face as red met pink-edged yellow.

"I WAS GONNA TAKE YOU HOSTAGE, BUT NOW, I'MMA KILL YOU FOR FREE, MON BRAT!"

The Minotaur Villain sailing over the shallow valley and churning up river rocks in his wake, in the time it took him to catch his breath I'd already forced myself to my feet. Back raw and exploding with pain as I lifted Mero into my arms and absconded in a Princess Carry, right as I crested what little of the hill I hadn't dug a trench through, the Villain was already on our tails once again.

"IYAAAAAH!" Mero cried as the Villain loomed over us.

"YOU STUPID BRAAAAAAT!"

"GET SOOOOOOME!" I shouted ripping my P90 from my shoulder bag and emptied it at the Villain, 28mm shells peppering his forearms in a torrent of lead as he shielded his face. Blood running down in rivulets from pock marks, I threw the gun at him and made a limping run for it, the Villain's hand coming down atop the weapon mid-throw and smashing it to pieces against the asphalt.

"DIIIIIIIE!" the Minotaur Villain roared as he lunged, right horn set to skewer me.

"LUNA METEOR!"

The next moment an albino silhouette struck with the force of an ICBM, the deafening- *POWWWWWW!* -of foot smacking flesh as the Rabbit Hero: Mirko took to the scene with a dynamic entry.

"YES! WE'RE SAVED!" I cried as the Minotaur Villain was sent careening into the side of a parked truck, his horn catching the metal as he tried to pull free.

"Oh no you don't! LUNA ARC!"

Her subsequent forward axe-kick splitting the Villain's right horn in half with a *CRACK!* of shattering bone and keratin, I couldn't help the excited whoop that fled my lips as the Villain was sent flying as he over-corrected.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH, MIRKOOOO!"

"DRY THOSE TEARS AND KEEP RUNNING! YOU'RE A MAN AREN'T YOU!?"

"H-HAI!"

*AHA*

When Usagiyama Rumi swung by Asaka-shi to visit an old friend from her Academy days, she hadn't expected the authenticated Distress Beacon that went out through the HeroNet.

She'd almost contemplated letting someone else handle it since it'd been so-long, but the moment the ID came up, her friend had let out a cry and almost bolted out the door herself.

It'd taken a firm word and narrowed eyes to convince her friend to stay put, but once she had, the Rabbit Hero took off on an intercept course, the kid whose face she passingly recognized from last year hauling ass like there was no tomorrow.

So, color Rumi surprised when she not only witnessed the Mon Squad's young ward leaping off a flying wheelchair and using a boxing glove gun to slow his fall before tanking a hillside to the back in the distance, all with a girl in his arms, but that the two of them were being pursued by the B-Rank Villain "Megataur"; a bull-like Heteromorph with a splash of [Gigantification] on the side with a recent APB put out on him.

"YOU STUPID BRAAAAAAT!"

"GET SOOOOOOME!"

The kid emptying a full clip from a P90 into the guy only for him to shield his face and then smash the thrown SMG a second later, with a shout of- "DIIIIIIIE!" -the minotaur-like Villain leveled his horn and threatened to skewer the kid alive in a fatal lunge.

Cue My Hero Academia OST – 三位一体 (by Yuki Hayashi)

The Rabbit Hero feeling the cold fire of her rage explode inside of her as the grown man went after a child, her thighs bulged with powerful muscle before she shot forward like an ICBM, a shout of- "LUNA METEOR!" -leaving her lips as she caught Megataur in the face with a deafening *POWWWWWW!*

"YES! WE'RE SAVED!" the young ward whooped happily, her kick sending Megataur careening into the side of a parked truck.

"Oh no you don't!" Mirko growled as the Villain tried to pull his horn free. "LUNA ARC!"

A powerful axe-kick splitting the Villain's horn in half with a *CRACK*, Megataur was sent flying away with his entire weight behind himself.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH, MIRKOOOO!" the young ward, battered and bloody and exhausted, cried happily as relieved tears poured down his and the mermaid girl's faces.

"DRY THOSE TEARS AND KEEP RUNNING! YOU'RE A MAN AREN'T YOU!?"

"H-HAI!" he nodded, the sheer gratitude pouring out of him filling her chest with warmth as he tightened his hold on the mermaid girl and ran off.

"My horn…? MY HOOOORN! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT, YOU RABBIT BITCH!"

"Heh! I'd like to see you try!" Mirko smirked, the Villain's attention fixed solely on her as Takei and his fish-tailed friend vanished around a corner. "COME AT ME, BRO!"

"MROOOOOOOO!" Megataur roared as he ran at her, head lowered in challenge.

Mirko, executing a series of armless front flips to build momentum, leapt over her opponent's charge with a shout of- "LUNA FALL!" -, driving her foot downward onto her opponent's head and smashing his chin straight into the ground, car alarms going off in the *BOOM!* that followed.

"TH-TH-THIS WON'T STOP MEEEEEE!" Megataur roared as he slammed his palms into the ground, cracking the concrete as he bucked his head and sent her wheeling through the air before he rushed forward and swung out with his arm.

"LUNA WHIP!" Mirko shouted as she snapped her leg out in a powerful mid-air kick, snapping his middle finger back and pulverising the joint causing the man to yowl as he fell back. Looking for another weak point and finding it pouring down the left side of his face- "HEY MEGATAUR, YOU DON'T LOOK SO GOOD! MAYBE YOU SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR!"

"MRRRR! MRRRR! MRMRMRMRMRMRMRMROOOOOOOOOOH!" Megataur bellowed with veins throbbing across his body before he grabbed a nearby car, ripped it in half, and then smashed them together making giant metal boxing gloves.

"Oh? Well eyyyye didn't see that coming!"

"DIIIIIIIE!" Megataur roared as he lunged at her with a powerful double axe-handle, the albino blur zipping between his legs and whirling as the metal-clad fists created a fanning fissure out in front of him that shattered nearby windows.

"LUNA RISE!"

The bull-man's scrotum making a sickening *SQUELCH* as her rising kick caught him in the undercarriage, Megataur's legs quivered and a pained squeal left his bovine face, wreckage-clad hands trying in vain to cup his abused testicles as he fell face-first into the ground with a *THUD!*

"NEXT TIME, DON'T TOUCH KIDS!" Mirko shouted as she executed another series of handless front flips up his hulking body and up to his head before shouting- "LUNA BOMB!" -, driving his already downed head farther into the ground with a powerful- *POW-WOW-WOW-WOW-WOW-WOW!*

*AHA*

The battle sufficiently ended, indicative of the man's [Gigantification] wearing off, once the police and other Heroes arrived to help process the guy and his Iron Maiden was secure, Mirko ran off for the follow-up.

Normally she wouldn't have cared, but remembering how he said he'd look forward to seeing her get into the Top 10 someday, juxtaposed by the tears of gratitude falling down his face as someone finally arrived in time to "save him"… That on top of her fitness nut of a friend gushing endlessly over him like a doting mother had compelled her to stay behind for a while.

Cue My Hero Academia OST – Here

It didn't take long to find them, a police cordon holding the crowds back and away from the battlefield. The ambulance having yet to arrive, Takei and the girl he himself had been trying to save left on the ground to wait, covered in blood and dirt and grass, as soon as she was noticed people started calling out her name, trying to push their way through in earnest, but she ignored all of it.

Walking up to the sobbing teens, the pink fish-girl fretting over him, Takehiko's face gushed with a renewed waterfall of tears, the repeated mutterings of- "Than you…!" -intermingled with his sobs the instant he spotted her.

The next moment Mirko dropped to her knees and held the two close, the once-excited crowd completely dumbstruck by the show of tenderness from the brash, hot-blooded Heroine whom they'd always known as running from one fight to the next like a Sukeban. Things grew so quiet that even someone without rabbit ears could've heard a pin drop.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're going to be okay," she said soothingly as she shielded them from the world around them. The next instant like a burst dam the cat-eared boy's emotions poured from him in a torrent, his arms wrapping around her midsection as he sobbed into her chest.

"I…! I…! I WAS SO SCAAAAARED…!" he wailed.

"Weh... WAAAAAAAH!" the fish-girl beside him cried, tail trembling as the crowd began to weep in sympathy.

"It's okay, boya," Mirko said soothingly as the fish-girl held onto them both. "The bad man's not going anywhere for a long, long time. You can let it out now. No need to dry those tears."

Camera phones snapping incessantly in the background if not filming the whole thing, Mirko didn't care, but instead held the two tighter as they poured out all of their fear and gratitude into her, the Rabbit Hero shielding them from the spectators who pretended they sympathized.

*AHA*

"Thank you… *sniff* Thank you so much… Mirko…!" Takehiko Tokei sniffled once paramedics arrived to clean his wounds, most of his fear and sadness wrung out of him.

"Hey, it's what Heroes do," Mirko said giving him a winning smile as she fondly ruffled his hair, ignoring the camera snaps in the background. "You did good holding out as long as you did."

"No…" the boy sniffled as men in black suits surrounded the second ambulance where the pink mermaid-like girl was being treated. "If… If I hadn't tried to play tour guide, she never would've been so exposed. That Villain wouldn't have…"

"What ifs don't mean a thing," Mirko brushed off. "What's important is you held out. You 'went beyond', Plus Ultra-style, and gave me all the time I needed so I could make it to you two in time."

"Th-That sounds so corny…~" the pre-teen sniffled, wincing as the medic picked another sliver of rock out of his back.

" . . . You going to be okay on your own?" Mirko asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," the cat-eared blond said wiping his eyes one last time.

"Alright. You try and stay out of trouble, you hear~?" she said shooting him another fierce grin.

"Heh, no promises!" he returned matching her fierce grin with his own, another few camera lenses snapping before the Rabbit Hero bolted off with a wave, the cameras following her departure.

*AHA*

Once the main Hero in the day's show had departed and the press got their pictures of "Megataur" being carted away, the crowds were swift to depart once the police began chasing them off in earnest. It was one thing to photograph children alongside a Hero, but children by themselves was a whole other issue.

Well, not to say that it was only the police chasing them off, as it was also the dour-faced men in black suits and matching sunglasses alongside-

"MEROUNE-OHIMESAMAAAAAA!" two very familiar man-fishes cried out, tears pouring from blood-shot eyes down scaly faces from something other than the 'Turbo-Mace'.

"Himesama…?" I blinked as the bass and flounder-men fretted incessantly over her, a legit doctor shooing the paramedics away as she tended to the minor cuts that Mero had endured.

"Sebasstian, Flounnder, please, calm down! I'm alright! There's barely a scratch on me!" she said calling them by name, trying to calm them down.

"You shouldn't have been scratched at all!"

"If it weren't for that rapscallion absconding with-!"

"Takehiko-san risked his life to save me. I owe him my everything, and you'll give him the respect he's owed," the pretty pink 'ojou-sama' I'd spent the day with said coldly in a suddenly glacial tone. A glacial tone so-cold that all the adults around her froze before her imperious gaze, the two men-fish suddenly prostrating themselves before her.

"Ah! Of course, Meroune-ohimesama!"

"Please, forgive our trespass, ohimesama!" the two begged.

" . . . It is alright. If anything, I'm mostly at fault for slipping from my minders in the first place," Mero returned, her expression softening after a long pause before her eyes fell on me, her cheeks flushing anew at how I'd seen all that before she bashfully tented her hands in front of her face. "I… suppose I have some explaining to do?"

"An explanation would be nice, yes-"

"HATCHLIIIIING!"

Suddenly and out of nowhere, my OL Dragon Mama plowed through police barricades and uniformd officers to get to me, none able to bar her path as she ran up to me and smothered me with her 'flame sacks', sobbing uncontrollably.

"E-ELMA! COMPORT YOURSELF!" I cried as she hugged me for all she was worth, Mero giggling as I flailed for oxygen.

*AHA*

After almost getting the life squeezed out of me by my OL Dragon Mama, Kuroyama made his way over to take mine and Mero's statements regarding all that had gone on. To his amazement, it wasn't me that the B-Rank Villain "Megataur" had originally come for, but Mero herself. When it came time for Mero to divulge her identity in full however…

"So you're a princess? As in a princess-princess?" I repeated for clarification once her ID, a diplomatic visa, was placed on the table in the tent the police had hastily erected.

"Yes indeed!" Sebasstian said striking a very kabuki-like pose to Mero's left.

"She may appear to be a simple goth-Loli beauty, but this is merely a cunning disguise!" Flounnder said striking a mirroring pose on Mero's right. "She is in fact the one true heir to the throne of Neptunia! Her highness, Meroune Lourelai du Neptune!"

"AH! Urk! Lourelai-sama! Please, forgive my discourtesy!" the mustachioed police chief pleaded as he dropped to a knee and bowed his head low.

"You! Child! Show some respect to one above your station!" the bass-like Heteromorph then demanded of me.

"Says the guy that let a pink-haired, fish-tailed goth-Loli in a freaking wheelchair slip the net!" I snapped back. "No offense."

"None taken, it's a common term of phrase," Mero said soothingly; whereas Sebasstian and Flounnder took grave exception to my words. "And please, call me 'Mero' as you always have. I insist."

"Alright then, Mero."

"Takehiko-san… There's something I wish to apologize for."

"Oh?"

"When I introduced myself to you… it was under false pretenses…" she admitted with an ashamed tone, hiding her face behind tented fingers. "You see, when I had asked for your name… I was already aware of your identity. While I was up on the surface, I actually wished to meet you in-person."

"So wait, did you fake your brakes being out and just hoped I'd catch you?"

"Oh no, that was quite real!" Mero squeaked. "You see, I slipped away from my minders because I wanted you to be completely candid with me, and our talk would be a bit disingenuous if the butlers and bodyguards made you slant your words."

"Not to sound ungrateful for all the attention or anything, Villain attack notwithstanding, but I can't be so-famous that a legit princess wants to spend a day on the town with me."

That no-one tried info-dumping about this "Neptunia" place, even after Kuroyama-san took to a knee and bowed his head like this were Medieval Europe, implied that it was "common knowledge" for this world I should've already known by myself.

If it came up that I didn't know, I could always use my trusty fallback excuse about "dain bramage". Any internet search could attest to that.

"Well, you see… You and I actually have a mutual friend here on the surface," Mero explained placing her hands in her lap. "Momo-chan's family and mine… We have a history spanning nearly two centuries. Most of the time it's just business between Neptunia and the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate, and she and I only meet in person about once a year or so, but when she emailed me how she'd started making true friends, how much she sung your praises, I had to meet you in person and figured Golden Week would be a good opportunity."

"Momo hasn't exactly mentioned any dealings with royalty. Could I perhaps trouble you to elaborate?" I asked, cleaning up my speech if only so the two fish-men would ease up on the glowering.

"Oh, but of course," Mero nodded prettily. "You see, back when Mutant-type Quirks began proliferating en masse, my ancestor had a daughter whose Quirk made her somewhat… fish-like. When the people around her began to shun her for her appearance, my ancestor, a man of great wealth and means, established an underwater colony away from the rest of the world so they and like-minded people could live in peace away from the growing turmoil of the surface world."

Right, because of course someone back then had that kind of money.

"The meta-materials needed to make long-term housing and facilities below the waves, as you might suspect, were produced by the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate, as they were the only company that wanted to deal with 'mutant freaks'," Mero continued, her expression growing a bit despondent. "In the early days of the Paranormal Age, practically all aquatic Heteromorphs faced one form of discrimination or another, and many risked life and limb to flee to the fledgling nation that people know today as Neptunia. We were largely self-sufficient, drawing power from geothermal vents and solar arrays, harvesting flora and fauna from the seas around us for sustenance; but what truly allowed our nation to flourish all the way to the modern era, was our unprecedented access to the oceanic nodes of rare-earth metals we could harvest with minimal overhead cost."

Ah, and theeeere it is.

"So basically, Neptunia began its life as a tech-based 'City of Atlantis', fueled by money instead of magic?" I groused, revealing some level of ignorance to the topic, but showing just-enough understanding so as not to be seen as completely uneducated.

"Admittedly, yes, though that explanation does take some of the romance out of it," Mero admitted bashfully.

"Why would the cashflow of Neptunia be a bad thing?" I asked with a raised brow. "Aquatic Heteromorphs would obviously be uniquely suited to harvesting the bounty that the sea can provide," I hummed approvingly, Elma coughing awkwardly to the side since she too made her money off the 'bounty of the sea'. "That you can harvest the rare-earth metals the world needs to keep on spinning with minimal impact on the environment is just a bonus in my book. People that could run fast were athletes, people that were beautiful modeled clothes, people that were smart did math, so there's nothing wrong with people who have gills striking it rich below the seas."

"Harumph. I'm glad to see you are not completely ignorant," Sebasstian harumphed.

"Most land-walkers would criticize us for 'taking jobs from hard-working land-folk' and whatnot, so your enlightened interpretation of international commerce between land and sea is actually quite refreshing," Flounnder added with an approving tone.

"Well, you know how it is. A person is smart; people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals. Seventeen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Seven hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat. Two hundred years ago, people knew that superpowers were works of fiction."

"Hm. Indeed," Sebasstian nodded, seemingly impressed.

"As for the monarchy of the du Neptune family…" Mero said looking for a way to explain it.

"Purely decorative like the Queen of England, I take it?" I asked, her eyes lighting up that I did understand it.

"It varies from decade to decade, though currently, my mother and father have taken a renewed interest in global policy," Mero answered.

"So I take it the 'royal capital' or whatnot is in the seas surrounding Japan?"

"Admittedly, the 'royal capital' is wherever the du Neptune family chooses to reside. Originally it was located off the shores of California, then for a while after that off the waters of Hawaii. For a while after that in the Coral Sea off the northeastern coast of Australia. In some generations the capital would bounce between locations in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, the North Sea; wherever was most contusive for international policy. As of this generation, the capital of Neptunia is off the shore in Tokyo, given our people's long-standing… altercations, with the Federation of Chinese Nations."

"Because of their 'Super-Functionary' programs? Or the fact that Neptunia 'stole' their monopoly on rare-earth metals?"

"While it's politically insensitive to say it's because of any one thing…" Mero said tenting her hands in front of her face.

Oh, okay, so it was the both of them.

"So is everything below the waves the sovereign territory of Neptunia?"

Like how in some interpretations of DC Comics, Atlantis' "borders" were the entire world's oceans.

"Neptunia isn't a singular location, nor all of the world's oceans, but more the collective of all our 'colonies' scattered across the globe. Some Heteromorphs are better-suited for living closer to the poles, others for tropical regions, and then there are those who can live wherever we so choose," Mero answered.

*AHA*

Mero then entered "Lecture Mode", excitedly talking about Neptunia with a zeal only possible from a crown princess that deeply loved her nation and its people.

First topic for discussion was Neptunia's colonies. Some were hyper-focused towards a single specialty, while others were multi-purpose. It all depended on the climate, the terrain, and the ambient resources; just like on dry land.

Some were largely residential; self-sustaining colonies that did limited trade with the surface world to bring in a little spending money. Some specialized in farming native plants or fish, if not protecting native wildlife including but not limited to endangered species. The ones that made the most money were obviously the forward operating bases for Neptunia's rare-earth mining interests; the most-dangerous job even for aquatic Heteromorphs, but the one with the biggest payoff. In recent decades, undersea research outposts that had once been decommissioned, were seeing new life after retrofits into underwater hotels and even resorts, creating once-in-a-lifetime adventures the likes of which weren't possible pre-Paranormality.

That last one reminded me of that episode from the original Ben 10 with the underwater resort, just with extra steps.

Populations could range from a few dozen to a few thousand, with larger population centers actually having domed cities beneath the waves designed to accommodate aquatic and amphibious Heteromorphs alike. Instead of completely solid enclosures like was popular in science fiction, a mix of solid and grated panels were used to allow water to flow freely, which had an added benefit of minimizing impact on the environment. For smaller population centers, living arrangements were built to accommodate the needs of individual aquatic, amphibious, air-breathing, or mixed family units. The depths at which these colonies were placed depended on their specialty, some in clear-enough water that they could get by on natural light, while others got by using the light from geothermal vents or new strains of bioluminescent moss.

Neptunia's sum population, as of the most-recent census, was a little over half a million worldwide, putting it somewhere between the standing population of Maldives and Brunei.

Of course, as fantastical as this all was, obviously there was going to be some pushback; people in general had always had a distrust of those whose Quirks made them look "inhuman", the very impetus that drove aquatic and amphibious Heteromorphs into the sea in the first place. An irony since, as soon as Neptunia got the formula right and their quality of life improved, people wanted them back on land where eyes could be kept on them. Less-friendly countries would obviously be hostile toward Neptunia attempting to form new colonies in their waters, and places that wanted them there had extremely poor water quality but felt like they were owed the commerce and riches Neptunia could bring regardless.

What had allowed Neptunia to remain competitive on the global stage and stand the test of time, apart from the wealth that oceanic rare-earth deposits brought in, was the fact that the majority of its population had an unassailable terrain advantage against foreign invaders.

Human bodies in general could only scuba dive to depths of 130 feet, with some able to push those depths to 170 and even 350 feet, and even then, the majority of their strength and speed was utterly nullified; not including the fact that without gills, your oxygen supply was extremely limited, and no-one wanted to fight a fish-man on the end of an air hose. Anything deeper than that and submarines or other submersible vehicles would be required. While the gap between land-walkers and sea-dwellers could be narrowed by the use of current-generation Support Items, pound for pound, no-one had been able to create a powered suit that could truly match a trained Neptunian warrior, or even an adequately-competent aquatic Heteromorph, in their element.

Even All Might, arguably the strongest Hero on Earth, was incapable of fighting at full strength beneath the waves, and many aquatic Heteromorphs that lived on land were either originally from Neptunia, supportive-of, or just sympathetic-to depending on how-extensive their bodily mutations were; which of course was proportional to the amount of discrimination they faced every day.

While it was true that aquatic Villains were terrors on the seas as Quirks began to proliferate, in steadily rising numbers, aquatic Vigilantes and then Heroes rose up to fight their fellows, pirates, and illegal corporate interests to foster positive relations between land and sea. Thanks to Neptunia's enormous reach and evolutionary adaptations from generations of cross-breeding compatible aquatic-adaptive Quirks, illegal fishing and dumping operations (as well as general nautical piracy) had been on a continuous decline for the last century, with little to no signs of them ever climbing above current levels. Yet another reason the symbiosis between Neptunia and the surface world was nigh impossible to break, despite the efforts of a less-reputable sort.

Thanks to the work of centuries and many generations, Neptunia actually had seven representatives in the United Nations; one for each of the Seven Seas, each representing the sum colonies in the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans.

*AHA*

"And yet despite all of the good it's done, its influence and economic power, all of the history, we never talk about this in school…" I hum aloud, since something like this should definitely have come up in world history, if not history in general.

Hell, Neptunia was basically founded by Quirk users, for Quirk users. Society at large should've had a super-boner for this sort of thing. As in, a super-boner the length of a flagpole.

"Harumph. The surface world in general has always had an over-inflated opinion about itself," Sebasstian huffed.

"Because Neptunia is a collection of colonies instead of a single nation with borders on a map, people tend to treat us as though we're extensions of their sovereignty, even though we've never been annexed in our entire history," Flounnder huffed.

"Well, it's kinda hard to conquer a terrain where you have to bring your own oxygen," I deadpan. " . . . But none of that really explains why you put your life at risk just to meet me in secret. Nothing in my arsenal can take out an entire building, and it was only miracle after miracle that let me keep you safe long-enough for a Hero to actually arrive."

"Can't a princess have a fit of pique and whimsy every once in a while?" she asked cutely, tenting her fingers before her face.

"Pique and whimsy are one thing, but intentionally endangering yourself is a whole other kettle of fish. No offense."

"And yet, we're still offended," Sebasstian and Flounnder huffed.

"Is it wrong of me to want to know the character of the boy who's made Momo-chan so happy?" she asked looking up at me after tilting her chin down.

" . . . I can't win against this girl, can I?" I asked as she bat her eyelashes at me.

"No, you cannot," the two fish-butlers summarized, Mero hiding her blushing face behind webbed fingers.

*AHA*

After finally getting around to that police report, Asaka-shi's forensic investigators returned with evidence bags; one filled with the remains of my Walloper, the other holding the remains of-

"P-chan…" I whimpered like a kid whose puppy had been run over.

"Oh no!" Mero gasped, webbed hands going to her face.

"Why did you throw it?" Kuroyama asked, having also read Mirko's after-action report.

"I was protecting a fish-girl-out-of-water from a Villain the size of a small building. I needed to buy every second I could squeeze out," I answered frankly, cradling the remains of my beloved P90, my eyes watering before Mero dabbed at my face with a frilly lace handkerchief.

"Her sacrifice will not be forgotten," Mero said fondly.

"We'll make sure to reimburse you for the loss," Sebasstian huffed, Mero pouting cutely in the fish-butler's direction.

"I can't just… throw her away…!" I bit out, upending the bag's contents onto the table before deft fingers picked through the wreckage, putting what was a lost cause back in the bag while putting everything that was still intact off to the side.

By the end of the exercise… all that was really left were a few parts from the trigger assembly and some screws. Everything else that wasn't mangled beyond recognition had been completely flattened between the concrete and the hand of the minotaur that'd smashed it.

"I'm… sorry for your loss," Mero said consolingly as I held less than a handful of intact parts in my palm.

"Well, we were able to keep you safe. And I think P-chan would've wanted it that way."

"Ohimesama, are you quite… certain about your association with this young man?" Flounnder tried to whisper discretely to his charge.

"So I have a pet P90 instead of a pet rock, so what?"

"Erm, when you put it that way…" Sebasstian said awkwardly as he stroked his dorsal fin.

"So. What now?" Elma asked, practically glued to my side.

"Well, it might take some time to arrange a dedicated escort back home. If at all possible…" Mero said tenting her fingers in front of her face, something I only now realized she did when she was bashful, or just trying to be disarming in general.

"Isn't walking off with a strange boy what got you into this mess in the first place?" I deadpanned, the fish-butlers torn between chastising me for the tone I was taking with the crown princess and wanting to agree with my sentiment.

"The fact that I can't actually walk notwithstanding…" Mero said awkwardly, while at the same time seemingly relieved I could still be candid around her, "it genuinely will take time to arrange a proper transport back that meets 'royal standards'. Especially since there may be more men like that Villain on the prowl."

I guess where a diplomatic visa is concerned, you can't exactly hide an incursion from Neptunia. And there's always someone willing to take a bribe…

"I guess all that glitters isn't gold," I sigh. "So, where do you want to go? The mall? The arcade?"

"I was actually hoping to visit the home you were raised to be such an upstanding young man in," Mero answered sweetly, whereas off to the side her fish-butlers looked completely scandalized.

"Am I allowed to say 'no'?"

Mero in response put out her bottom lip and gave me watery "goldfish eyes" which, when combined with her thin eyebrows, ringlet-tipped hair, and goth-Loli attire, was all a combination I couldn't resist.

"Well damn…"

*AHA*

"Sebasstian, Flounnder, I am… so sorry about all this."

"All things considered, you've been quite amenable to Meroune-ohimesama's, er, 'whimsy'," Sebasstian hummed as we all rode to my place in a stretch limo complete with police escort, a replacement wheelchair in the trunk.

Which reminded me for whatever reason, I should probably get this out of the way before I forget.

"I want to apologize for spraying you in the eyes with bear repellant."

Which probably doubly sucked because based on how extensive their Mutant Quirks went, they might not've actually had eyelids.

"Er, given who you were, it was probably our fault for ambushing you the way we did…" Flounnder admitted, pouring a bottle of eyedrops into each eye.

At least they were big targets.

"Couldn't half of this trouble have been avoided if you just had this meeting at Momo's place?" Elma inquired with a tilt of her head. "I'm sure if she invited Takei over to tea, he'd have shown up with enough prior notice."

In response to this, Mero was unable to meet Sebasstian and Flounnder's eyes. Or even mine for that matter.

"So I'm genuinely going to spend the day with a mermaid princess," I hummed aloud. "Sure. Why not…?"

*AHA*

"What's this? You have a pseudo-legendary Water-Type now?"

"Sorahiko I swear to Kami, one of these days I'm going to beat you like a rented mule."

"Perhaps, but today, is not that day, heh heh heh!" Sorahiko chuckled once I wheeled Mero into our apartment, a collection of bodyguards left behind in the hallway.

"Forgive him. He's old and going senile."

"I'll let your irreverence for your elder slide because of that Pokémon comment," Flounnder huffed as he waddled into the apartment, his bulbous eyes taking everything in as he turned about the room, a few of the bodyguards taking position by the windows.

"So. This is it," I hummed as Mero wheeled herself into the living room and looked around.

"It feels… empty," she hummed somberly, eyes falling to the hallway of closed doors.

"Well, most-everyone is off in Naruhata fighting the good fight," I returned with a somber tone of my own, hoping that me breaking down in front of the media won't make them drop what they're doing.

Not that I thought they'd actually bail if they were in the middle of something important, but if Tio got a little too emotional, as the arguable "heart and soul" of the Mon Squad, the others might follow…

You know, cause power-wise she was far above their sum weight class. The most I'd ever seen her lift in person was a loaded vending machine, and even then she had enough skill to chuck it on an intercept path and get it to land on its bottom.

Given her implied history as a Sukeban… that one actually made a bit more sense…

"Takehiko-san-"

"You can call me 'Takei'. It's what my friends call me," I interjected, her eyes widening and a wide smile spreading behind her webbed hands before she nodded-

"Hai~!"

D-Did my heart just skip a beat again?

I hope this isn't part of a bigger medical problem

"So what does a normal teenager do at home?"

"Erm, how old are you exactly?"

"Thirteen."

Sorahiko's crack about me having a thing for "older women" was well within expected projections…

*AHA*

"So that's Wild Tiger," Mero hummed as we chilled on the sofa, her muscular tail resting on some folded blankets and pillows atop the coffee table as we watched archived Hero TV recordings. "Truly, an exemplary Hero~"

"Yep. Too bad people only started realizing how great he was after he retired," I deadpanned. That his [Hundred Power]'s uptime had gone all the way down to zero due in part to Ouroboros' machinations really curdled my cheese…

Still though, even Quirkless, Kotetsu would probably be more-capable than half the Heroes in today's over-saturated industry. At least as far as Japan was concerned.

Hell, with the way my opinion of most Heroes continued to sour, I'd probably be confident in saying he could out-perform three whole quarters of Japan's current Hero roster. With an hour-long "downtime" after a 5-minute burst of [Hundred Power], between feats of superhuman strength and speed, the guy was a low-key Captain America with how much he'd trained himself up.

"In a way, he's a lot like All Might."

"The Proto-All Might," I hummed aloud. "Of course, even for all his power, I kinda doubt All Might would've been all that successful in the Corporate Age."

"Hm. Yes, I don't really see him as the type to wait through a commercial break," Mero admitted, having already seen commercial breaks cut short by the fact that Kotetsu refused to wait out the clock when there was someone that needed saving during a live broadcast.

"I suppose that's one good thing that came from Hero-centric reality TV falling out of fashion."

Admittedly, modern Heroes still strutted their stuff for the cameras, but most of them had the decency to wait until after the fact to strut. No Hero in their right mind willfully neglected people in need just so their deeds could get caught on camera start-to-finish.

Not in the Commercial Age at least…

Those that did act negligent in their duties, and got caught, were kindly "advised" to take early retirement by the higher-ups. Assuming they didn't get caught and posted on YouTube first, which likely prompted the shift in policy away from sweeping all Hero-related scandals under the rug.

At least the HPSC was doing something right. Even if they did hand out Provisional Licenses to anyone with a pulse. Or no pulse in the case of the "living impaired" like Zombina.

*AHA*

"AHHHHHHH! WHAT'RE THEEESE?!" Mero squealed after her Avatar tumbled out of one of the SBC Glocken's cryo pods, the IRL fish-girl staring incredulously at the dainty feet and shapely legs occupying the space her fish tail once occupied.

"Those would be feet," I hummed giving her Avatar a once-over.

She was certainly very pretty in GGO, though compared to the real thing, her Avatar didn't compare. Apart from the fact that she had legs in GGO, her hair had also become blond, and her figure was a little more mature; not too surprising since eight-year-olds playing the game could sometimes pull Avatars built like Mr. Universe.

"Ah! Just like The Little Mermaid~" she swooned dreamily.

"Disney or source material?"

"Source~"

"Huh. Neat," I hum. "Wait, do fish-people actually have 'feet envy'?"

"Only those that want to come up on land. Some in Neptunia can spend their entire lives below the waves, or just never setting foot on dry land at all," she said staring down incredulously at her fingers, now bereft of webbing.

"A genuine shame they don't talk about this in school. I really enjoyed your lecture," I hummed offering her a hand up, the pretty girl interlacing her fingers with mine as she got up on shaky legs, looking down at them like it were the most-interesting thing in the world.

Clearly, there would be an adjustment period, but some people just played VR games to live out their various body fantasies, or even just the fantasy of having a set of working legs. Mero didn't have to participate in PvP or PvE to enjoy it, some just used it as a rendezvous because you could still get the taste of alcohol with none of the hangover, or to cut down on travel costs.

"D-Don't drop me!" she squeaked as she stood on shaky legs like a newborn fawn, our fingers interlocked.

"All things considered, you're doing surprisingly well," I admitted aloud.

"Well, my skirt did conceal the fact that I have pelvic fins instead of legs, so your confusion is understandable."

"Oh, so your mermaid tail doesn't replace your legs, it's just an extension of your spine. Noted," I nodded, fascinated by how perfectly-suited Mero's Quirk made her for life underwater.

Assuming she wasn't actually a legit mermaid from Elma's homeworld if not descended from one…

"Still, I'm beginning to understand why some in Neptunia lament the fact they weren't born with legs," Mero hummed as she continued getting used to her virtual morphology. "I'm moving so easily now that I don't have to use a chair~!" she smiled brightly like a kid on their first bike ride.

"Perhaps, but I think being able to move faster than an Olympic swimmer and breathe underwater would be a good tradeoff."

"50 kilometers per hour", or roughly 31 mph, might not've sounded impressive when compared to something like a moped, but compare that to the swimming speed of a pre-Paranormality gold medal athlete's paltry six, and suddenly that feat gets recontextualized to downright superhuman.

"Perhaps you're right," Mero said as she let go of my hands and attempted to stand on her own, a little wobbly and adorably holding out her arms like she were walking a tightrope instead of a normal floor. "Still, it isn't all bad. If it weren't for my chair, not only might we not've escaped that Vilain, I might not've gotten to experience the joy of being wheeled about by my beloved~" she swooned a little behind tented fingers, which gave off a completely different vibe now that they weren't webbed.

"Hah?" I blinked owlishly at her term of phrase.

"Ah! Er! Nothing! It was a slip of the tongue!" she blustered.

It totally wasn't, but maybe the word "beloved" just meant something different in Neptunia.

Plus, if Shiori and/or Kuromi, let alone any of the pervy boys from my class found out I had a legit mermaid princess potentially pining for me, there'd be no end to the "Isekai Harem Protag-kun" jokes I'd be on the receiving end of.

It wasn't my fault I was surrounded by so many cute girls!

*MHA*

After cycling Mero through the starting tutorials and getting her starter equipment, the first stop we made on our "virtu-date" was to the salon where she customized her Avatar's hair color as well as style, bringing it closer to what she had IRL. Once the mermaid princess was satisfied, the next stop was a boutique that specialized in Player-made fashions, allowing Mero to garb herself in her beloved goth-Loli fashion, these clothes bearing a military twist with a splash of futurepunk. Completing the look and my own contribution were a pair of fin-like "machine ear" accessories, which made me think of Chachamaru Karakuri's from Mahou Sensei Negima! the moment I saw them in the display case.

"How positively lovely~" Mero swooned prettily as she looked herself over in the mirror, seemingly more-enamored by what I had bought for her than the expensive clothes she'd purchased with her own money.

"Well, you wouldn't really be 'you' without your cute fin-like ears," I blushed at what was coming from my mouth, using a nearby console to customize the color to yellow with pink trim.

"I'll treasure them always~" Mero smiled prettily, store-goers around us stopping and staring like fish out of water.

This girl could get real popular online now that she'd customized her Avatar…

*AHA*

Later at one of the higher-end virtual sushi places at the apex of the SBC Glocken…

"You know, I'm quite surprised."

"By what?"

"That fact that you never questioned me about eating fish," she said indulging in another piece of sushi from our Kiwami Omakase-inspired course.

It wasn't anywhere near as expensive as the real deal even after Real Money Trade, but the amount of time and effort it took to program in the taste and mouthfeel definitely justified all the zeroes behind the Cr tag.

"Why would I question it? Humans eat beef and pork and even monkeys, so a fish-like person eating fish is basically the same thing, isn't it?"

"Ah, exactly! It's just that most land-walkers get so weird about it…"

"Mero, I watched a harpy girl slam a bucket of fried chicken. Trust me, watching you eat fish doesn't bother me in the slightest."

"My, my, such a gentleman," Mero beamed before taking a piece and holding it out to me. "Now, say 'ahhhhh'~"

Yup. Mero's going to be real popular online.

*AHA*

Eventually, however, our "play date" came to an end as the dedicated motorcade was assembled, making a bit of a spectacle in front of the Mon Apartments.

"I had a wonderful time, Takei-kun~" Mero smiled prettily.

"Yeah, I did too," I said scratching at my hair. "Sorry about the Villain attack."

"No need to apologize. It was more my fault than yours."

"Still though, if I hadn't kept you from your minders…"

"Takei-kun," she said reaching over and taking my hands with her own. "That was my decision to make, let me own up to that."

" . . . Alright."

"Erm, ohimesama…" Flounnder said toddling out of the armored limo with a handheld. "Your mother, the queen, is on the line."

"O-Oh dear…" Mero wilted, ear-fins drooping. "Mother? . . . Yes… Oh… I see… Yes, he is here," she nodded. "It's for you."

"Me?!" I squawked as Mero held out the phone, a spear of panic shooting through me at the thought of talking with someone equivalent to the Queen of England.

"You had best not keep her waiting, Takehiko-san," Sebasstian stated making a waving motion with his hands.

"Right, right…" I gulped, pressing the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Takehiko-kun, greetings. I am Seraphine Marina du Neptune," a regal woman who sounded like an older version of Mero offered greeting.

"Your majesty," I reply courteously.

"Sebasstian and Flounnder had much to say about you. Both before and after you saved my daughter from that Villain."

"I did apologize for spraying them with bear repellant."

"As was proper manners, though admittedly, they could've been a little more discrete than screaming 'there you are' at the top of their lungs like common louts."

"Hm. Indeed."

"As for the purpose of this dialogue, I would foremost like to offer my sincerest gratitude for safeguarding my daughter. Though hopefully now, she'll be mindful of the time and place to act like the 'rebellious princess' archetype. I'll have to properly chastise her when she returns home."

"I pray that the lesson takes root."

"Secondly, I would like to offer a boon in exchange for services rendered."

"A-A boon, you say...?"

"Indeed. I have business on the surface world, you see, so until I am freed up on the morrow, I would like to offer the amenities provided by the Marina Haven Hotel; to yourself, and as many friends and family as to whom you can gather on short notice."

"Is there an upper limit I should avoid exceeding? I ask for the sake of politeness."

"If it offers you some measure of comfort, you may bring as many as four dozen. For those with larger body types, special arrangements can also be made."

"May I inquire as to the time of departure?"

"From your place of residence, transport will arrive at seven in the morning. After that, the drivers will depart on your word. Transport home will be provided on a case-by-case basis, and you may even stay the night at our sister resort, which accommodates air-breathers."

"You are most generous, your majesty."

Neptunia having almost unrestricted access to the sea's bounty of rare-earth metals, it would likely be a grave insult to question what she could foot the bill for.

Like one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" kinda places.

"Indeed I am. I look forward to our meeting on the morrow. Until then, good day to you, young man."

And then the line hung up.

"Well…? What did my mother have to say?" Mero asked worriedly as I returned the phone.

"She… Her majesty invited me to the Marina Haven Hotel to receive a boon," I said letting the words roll off my tongue, the three Neptunia residents standing/sitting a little straighter. "Myself and as-many friends and family as I can gather together on short notice."

"Verily?!" Mero gasped, hands to her face.

"She didn't say as such out loud, but I think this is to help relations between land-walkers and sea-dwellers, given the recent attack on your person," I hummed aloud.

"So we might get to see Mirko-san?" Mero asked hopefully.

"If the HPSC pressures her into going, maybe," I shrug. "I don't actually have her contact information, but I think my handler in the HPSC could pull some strings on short notice."

"So then… I shall see you on the morrow?" Mero asked hopefully.

" . . . On one condition," I said after a moment. "I want you to promise, sincerely promise me, that you won't run away from your minders anymore. Agree to that, and not only will I answer your mother's summons, but I'll try to make as much time for you as I can when you're up on dry land. Assuming the place we meet up is defensible with adequate guards around and I'm given advance notice."

By the looks on Sebasstian and Flounnder's faces, they as her domestic servants were quite amenable to the idea. By the look that dawned on theirs and Mero's faces a moment after, they realized my words had an ultimatum hidden in there, and what it'd mean if one of them didn't capitulate.

"Ah, yes, of course…" Mero hummed in recognition, eyes downcast. "I... I shouldn't have run off in the first place. I should've realized... that real life isn't like a fairy tale..."

"As long as you recognize your folly. I hate to twist your arm like this, but-"

"No, no, I wholeheartedly understand where you're coming from," Mero said flailing her hands. "And you're right. If I hadn't acted so selfishly, neither yourself nor P-chan would've been hurt the way you have. If I'd simply arranged a meeting in the safety of the Yaoyorozu Estate as Joui-san had suggested… Momo wouldn't have even had to introduce me as 'du Neptune'; I could've been 'a family friend' and gotten the same result of the day's meeting."

I can't really hold it against her. Not when she's making a face like that.

"Takei-kun… Thank you for saving me. And thank you for opening my eyes just a little wider," she said bowing her head, Sebasstian and Flounnder, well, floundering between whether or not to chastise a crown princess on bowing her head to a commoner land-walker.

"It was my pleasure," I returned, taking hold of her wheelchair before walking up to the limo, stretching our time together as much as I was able. "May I?"

"Oh, but of course, good sir~" Mero nodded, her expression brightening as she reached up and embraced my neck, allowing me to scoop her up in my arms and climb inside the limo. As Flounnder took the driver's seat and Sebasstian put the wheelchair away, I buckled the mermaid princess into her seat. "I await our reunion on the morrow."

"And I as well," I replied before stepping out, closing the door behind Sebasstian as he climbed back in, the motorcade departing moments later.

"Well, there she goes," Sorahiko hummed as he hobbled up to me. "Your one shot at becoming a royal consort and getting your own harem."

"Sorahiko, I get that you want to vicariously relive your glory days of wooing the ladies through me, but eventually I'm going to have to draw a line on what you are and aren't allowed to say about me while I'm around."

"Perhaps, but today, is not that day. Heh heh heh heh."

"Ugh, seriously…"

I get that by a cosmic twist of fate I technically am an Isekai Protagonist, but there's no way an average guy like me would actually get a harem.

No matter how many boxes on some arbitrary list I check off.

*AHA*

For anyone who's ever read/watched the Manga/Light Novel/Anime for Daily Life with a Monster Girl, you should've known that eventually, I'd bring one of the top-tier Waifu into the fold.

And I mean, come on, a world with an 80% meta-human saturation, it's all too perfect that there'd be an underwater kingdom founded by aquatic Heteromorphs, for aquatic Heteromorphs. Creating a backstory for the Yaoyorozu family's wealth instead of having them be "rich for the sake of being rich" is something that I and a lot of writers like to put our own spin on, and as something I'd been planning for a long time, this was especially cathartic for me.

I keep using the H-Word because I assume "Mutant" is basically the "N-Word" for Heteromorphs; they're allowed to say it, but "normies" are not. The reason I/Takei use the H-Word, even in my own mind, is because I'd be real skeezy to call black people the "N-Word" in my own head; because then calling them black out loud would be completely disingenuous. And sure, he/I am a "Mutant" in this story, but I-personally don't like the negative connotation it comes with.

A little nonsensical piece of worldbuilding, sure; but it's my favorite part of writing fanfiction.

The only sorts of "discrimination" we ever saw in the Anime and Manga by extension, were against Quirkless people and those with "villainous" Quirks. If people with Mutant-type Quirks didn't mind being called "Mutants", which in of itself holds an implied segregatory connotation, Aizawa wouldn't have made the distinction. Really, until the "Mutant War" at the tail end of the "Final War Arc", there was almost zero indicator that those with Mutant Quirks were discriminated against by other meta-humans.

Hell, the Vigilantes spin-off did a better job of touching on that issue with the "Next-Level Villain" Kamachi Kirihito aka "Kamayan", but I digress.

Anywho, apart from the obvious prompt to display your top-tier MonMusu waifus in the Review section, I hope that Mirko making another appearance as well as the history of "Neptunia" will warrant some friendly dialogue in the Review section or my Discord channel, and I'll see you all in the next chapter which will be titled "A Beach Episode".

*Nudge*Nudge*Wink*