December 31 - Day 19

A tall sharp-dressed man stood still and motionless, facing the huge glass window behind his office, his hands clasped behind him as he gazed upon the bustling night time Tokyo City below - specifically at a certain parking lot. It's already a few minutes past 10 pm and currently there's quite a sizeable crowd of people present at that particular area, all seemingly watching the preparation of the upcoming New Year's celebration fireworks display. But as for him, it's a far different story.

'3… 2… 1…'

His cybernetic right eye swiveled to the right and immediately zoomed in towards a deliberately unlit alleyway directly next to an oversized wooden box stashed with fireworks, fully expecting some people to be there. And indeed there are now two hooded figures there, sneaking silently towards the stash and stanced as if planning to do something to it to cause a ruckus. He observed the pair for a good while as they sneaked closer and closer to their target.

'Go ahead. Why the hesitation? No one will see you two…' Kazaguruma's mind automatically made up a thought as he watched the pair seemingly hesitating to-

The two figures he's intently watching suddenly turned their hooded heads towards his direction, at the same time held out joking thumbs-up gestures. Once could almost imagine them also snickering to themselves.

The man could only let out a sigh and shake his head in response, before holding up his right hand and doing a unique swinging gesture with it. Almost right afterwards, despite the literal absurd distance between him and them, the pair nodded in response prior to turning their attention back to the fireworks stash just up front of them and continuing to sneak further. Upon them reaching striking distance, one of them then took out a lighter, which is then used to ignite not the fireworks, but the suspiciously long coiling rope that eventually leads to said stash.

'Good. A sudden fireworks explosion will occur in approximately ten minutes…' he thought to himself, but before he could lower his right hand, he used his cybernetic eye first to zoom in once again, this time specifically towards the path of the long coiling rope. Upon seeing that the small fire trail is sufficiently covered by boxes and other miscellaneous New Year's-related props that it's basically impossible to be noticed by the average civilian spectator, he then nodded his head. Job well done. Almost immediately he noticed some costumed heroes nearby now starting to casually walk away, as if they clearly knew what's about to happen within ten minutes – job well done indeed. Everything went so well.

Kazaguruma finally lowered his right hand, doing a unique gesture along the way to summon his floating cuboid VECTRE phone (that's just been floating nearby) to him. "Good job, now make your way here. We need to discuss your findings on the PLF," he immediately spoke out upon the device getting within certain range of him. He followed it closely with some more hand gestures, which made it send out a message comprising of the words he just said. "Alright, Group M? Get ready, you're on in ten minutes," he added alongside another hand gesture, a bit different from the previous one, causing the VECTRE to once more send out another message, although to a different group this time.

'Alright... now with that settled…' Kazaguruma slowly turned around, away from the huge glass window and towards the wooden desk just right behind him, his gaze eventually setting onto a particular copy of the newest edition of the Meta Liberation War book neatly placed right in the center.

It's the one Hawks gave to him in one of his multiple 'loyalty missions' for the PLF. Around two days ago.

The man could only sigh at the sight. He hasn't technically read it seriously, and could only give it some quick scans since he's been far too busy in the past few days, especially now that there's been quite the significant improvements in his overall plan. But still, he picked it up again and started scanning through the pages once more, hoping that this time around he would pick up something interesting from it that could be connected to the all the strangeness involving Kizuki-

Kazaguruma suddenly found himself narrowing his eyes upon the paragraphs of the book as he scanned its pages. He noticed something quite unusual in it: The contents are very well-written, as if it's the work of a veteran author. The wordcrafting alone is literally spectacular, a total whole new level. There's nothing wrong with it…

And yet the MLW books are completely recalled back in December 12 supposedly because of having too many grammatical errors…

Strange…

…

Things are once again not adding up. 'I see no grammatical errors here…' he thought as he scanned around some more. 'Why are the books recalled in the first place? Could this be another mystery that's tied to Kizuki? I wonder if Skeptic has something to do with it?'

After thinking for a few minutes, he eventually decided to just put it down for now. In the end there's really not much sense in trying to make a full analysis yet since he's currently lacking additional details – which he's about to acquire right about now.

There's a sudden series of knocks, arranged in some sort of code coming from the wooden door on the right side of the room. It continued on for a few more seconds before eventually stopping. After a bit of silence, it then opened, revealing both Hawks and Stain, the two of them dressed in dark tattered hooded jackets. "Hey Pops!" Hawks immediately greeted him with a wave as he entered the office. "Did we do good? The fireworks should be exploding any minute now! Is Group M ready to go?"

Kazaguruma nodded. "Indeed, I have informed Group M of their upcoming task. And as for the two of you: Both of you took too long for such a simple mission. But don't fret, it's still accomplished and that's all that matters. It may not be the best performance, but it's enough," he said with a warm smile. "Now with that settled, let's move on to the truly important matters. And by that I mean I need you to discuss to me your findings on the PLF. All of them. I believe I'm going to need them now." He then turned his head towards Stain, all while clasping his hands on his back. "Stain, you're dismissed."

Stain merely responded with a quick nod before leaving. No more questions asked.

"Now's time for some discussions eh? Took a while…" Hawks chuckled and shrugged, afterwards taking off his tattered hooded jacket and just slinging it over on his shoulder, leaving behind only his casual wear. "Did Tsutsumi report anything yet?"

"The only thing Pavlichenko reported that she deemed necessary for me to immediately know of, is that the PLF is supposedly planning to launch a massive full-scale attack in four months. Is that true?"

Hawks paused a bit, and then nodded. "Yeah that's pretty much the only important thing there is to report… Because nothing much really happened anyways. Nothing too serious. Nothing to be really worried about and lose sleep over. We're in the clear."

"Son…" Kazaguruma lightly shook his head. "I didn't call you here to give me the general status of the PLF, I already know that. I called you in here specifically because I require some details aside from that. You see, tonight will be the night I will finally receive the confirmation of whether Kizuki is what me and Nezu are expecting her to be, and I'd like to hear more information about the faction she originally came from, so in the event that more odd curiosities arise from her, I would at least have some puzzle pieces available in my mind to try and formulate an answer on the spot... Minimizing confusion is my top priority here."

"Okay… if you say so… I guess?" Hawks shrugged. "You know, I still don't get this whole 'Preserving Curious' thing. Is she really that important to us? If so, then how? Why is she even residing in Kaina's private island anyway? And why is she even getting five-star meals everyday when all she really does is cry and sob in her room all day?" The young hero shook his head and crossed his arms, casually walking over closer to the desk." I just don't get it… why this so much effort just for someone like her?"

"Son… After tonight, I promise I'll tell you what's this all about."

"Why not now? It's been a few days now ever since Curious got here."

"I prefer to minimize information leakage, especially this early, or else it could possibly pique some people's interest to a ridiculous degree, only to get disappointed in the end. And I'd rather have those people not disappointed." Kazaguruma nodded, as to which Hawks did the same – looking as if he now understood the case. "Now, let's not waste any more time. Tell me all about the PLF that you knew so far. It doesn't have to be Curious-related, just general PLF information."

"Er… would it be okay if it's only negatives? Because I can't really say anything positive about the PLF."

The man lightly shrugged, doing one hand gesture to keep his VECTRE floating close to his right shoulder. "I guess that's fine. I just need some details after all." He then adjusted something in his cybernetic right eye. "Proceed."

"Alright here we go!" Hawks made an exaggerated arm stretching gesture. "Okay, first off, the PLF Gunga troops don't seem to be training at all in the few days I'm there. Plus they also don't seem to have any Quirk-enhancing drugs either, nor any sort of support equipment at all. You'd think Detnerat already supplied them with even basic gear at this point? But no! Apparently only Re-Destro supposedly had a cool powersuit – which somehow got destroyed by Shigaraki supposedly, while the rest gets pretty much nothing! Now while yeah the high-ranking lieutenants get to have cheap garbage, but the rest of the army literally has NONE!" Hawks laughed, slamming a fist onto Kazaguruma's wooden desk along the way. "Such laughable morons! But hey it doesn't even stop there! The underground section is barely lit and doesn't even have any air conditioning nor proper ventilation! Man it really stinks down there! Hell, there's also barely any seats at all! But you know what's the best part? Re-Destro doesn't even speak with a megaphone every time he lectures everyone down there! Its like those bozos don't even have any money to buy anything!"

Kazaguruma could only shake his head, but not because he thinks that Hawks is acting very unprofessional and going on a nonsensical rant, but because he knew that what the winged hero is saying is actually true.

That's why he placed the MLA as part of Operation: Grand Circus in the first place. Because that's just what the group is, nothing but pathetic clowns. If they were a serious threat, then he would have them wiped out the moment the villainous organization got detected. But since that's not the case, he refused. The MLA definitely has what it takes to be useful idiots.

Very much just like the League of Villains.

"I'll just confirm that with Pavlichenko later. Although I have to say, overreacted rants aside, what you said is quite interesting." Kazaguruma raised a hand, stopping Hawks from launching his next round of verbal trashing. "Alright next, tell me about the PLF in general in regards to Shigaraki's leadership."

"Tomura huh? Well everyone there is just a mindless zombie obeying his every whim. That's the complete summary. Hell, they're literally all just fine holing themselves up in a villa just because Shigaraki apparently told them so! It's insane, I tell you!" Hawks paused a bit, his face now looking curious. "Although Tsutsumi does somehow always manages to get outside for some reason even though it's technically not allowed but nah that's not the point! The point is that no one just questions anything there! And Re-Destro is just a massive kiss-ass!" Hawks then laughed for a good while. "I really don't even know why the hell are they even following that pathetic- Oh wait… did Kaina already send you the footage of the video of how the MLA supposedly lost? It's very wild. She said Skeptic's ordered by Shigaraki to show the footage of the destruction of Deika."

"Yes I have watched it, just recently actually. I barely get any free time these days. Anyways it only added to my confusion of how they even lost in the first place…"

"Pops… Honestly at this point I don't think you should even be confused. I've seen what they are, and I can safely say that the MLA just lost against the LoV, out of all people, just because they're so bad. They have ridiculously useless Quirks, ridiculously useless tech… hell, even their coffee is bad! An entire group of morons! And then there's Trumpet, Skeptic, and Curious with extremely equally pathetic Quirks and yet they're high-ranking lieutenants! If I were to solo the entire army? Pfft, I'll beat their asses within seconds, I tell you!"

"I am not doubting that." Kazaguruma nodded again, now with a warm smile on his face. He fully well knew how powerful Hawks is in contrast to the MLA. If he were to send out an order for the young hero to incapacitate them, he would easily succeed in doing so within seconds, just like what he said.

But that's not the point. Erasing them from existence is not the way to go. That would just be too wasteful-

"Hey Pops, you're thinking too hard again! Come on, ease your mind! You're just needlessly confusing yourself! The MLA just got beat by the League! It's literally just that simple! While yes it's almost unimaginable in basically every way, but yeah it happened. They just lost… that's pretty much it. That moronic cult is so bad that even a group of six extremely idiotic individuals can utterly stomp them to dust!" Hawks suddenly spoke out, before pausing a bit and clearing his throat. "Although I wouldn't say all six of them are bad, I think Twice is-"

"Keigo, tone down the dismissive language." Kazaguruma interrupted. "Even though what you said about them is technically correct, but in my position, thinking and looking at a situation in every angle is of utmost importance. Especially if that situation could have potential massive effects on the country. Dismissing should only be done sparingly."

"Well yeah but does it really even make sense at this point to even analyze how they lost? Look, I'm being serious here… It's like analyzing how a dog playing around managed to topple over a house of cards…" Hawks shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "The MLA lost just because they suck, that's it. It's just unimportant."

"..."

"Pops, they're just a bunch of pathetic scumbags! That's just what the MLA is, and that's just what every single one of their members are!" The winged hero paused a bit, as if being annoyed that the man in front of him is not understanding what he's trying to say. But as he's about to continue, he instead just took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright… I'll stop… anyways so what more do you like to hear about them?"

"The Meta Liberation War book. What happened to it?"

"Ah yes! The book!" Hawks once more stretched his arms again. "The book is history. Kaput. It's straight-up gone. No seriously, for a cult with a heavy emphasis on the MLW, the only times I spotted a book there is when I received four for a Liberation loyalty mission, and I think Re-Destro is also holding onto one when I reported back from said mission… and that's it. Those are the only times I had my eyes on a book. It's like it literally disappeared along with Curious."

'The MLW books disappeared alongside Curious… interesting…' Kazaguruma's eyes widened in thought. He definitely needs to confirm this with Nagant as well later on. "Now, elaborate on that loyalty mission you did."

"Well for starters it's just a simple loyalty mission Skeptic gave me, with a goal of sneakily spreading Liberation principles across the country using my fame. And you know what I did? I just flew around the country and did nothing of that sort! And you know what's the best part? Skeptic literally planted trackers all over my feathers, but when I got back and told them nothing but lies, he still ate it all up!" Hawks couldn't help but chuckle, finding the supposed absolute patheticness of the MLA/PLF very amusing. "You said me and Nagant should investigate Skeptic more. right? Well he's just as moronic as the rest of them. Not a trace of a brain inside his head! In fact he's literally and currently kidnapped by Shigaraki and turned to his mouthpiece! Although that reminds me… I still need to find that Decay Guy..." Hawks glanced around a bit, realizing he still has an additional mission. But after just a few seconds, he shook his head, his demeanor going back to the same as earlier. "As for Skeptic again… Yes he might have acted odd in regards to Kizuki's current weird state plus he also supposedly tried to assassinate her as well, but I guess it's really time to just disregard that as just in-fighting within the cult. If anything it just shows how willing they are to kill each other over an ounce of power. Such fools…"

"Hmm… You do have a point... I actually never thought of an in-fighting theory…" Kazaguruma's voice trailed off, thinking that Skeptic killing off Curious could just be some in-fighting and not some grand mystery he needs to solve. "I think I might just be overthinking some things. In the end it's probably just a power struggle."

"I know right? The MLA is a cult after all! Things there can get really cult-y at times! But anyways, the good part here is that nothing is terribly wrong! Our enemies are just being idiots and stuffing themselves in their own little anthill!" Hawks chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, now with all that information, what should I do next? Shall I wipe them all out in a blaze of glory? I'd prefer it televised of course."

"Hmm… perhaps you should-" Kazaguruma abruptly paused, a brilliant idea suddenly appearing in his mind. "Wait… you said there will be a massive full-scale assault within four months, yes? That's… that's oddly convenient all things considered… That means… that means… I guess this is now the perfect time… for…" Kazaguruma went blank, thoughts continuing to flood inside his head. "Of course…"

"Now's the perfect time for what?"

"…"

"What is it?"

"Yamato."

"Yamato- wait what?" Hawks's eyes widened as he took a few steps back in surprise. "Y-you can't be serious on that! Isn't that just supposed to be some kind of 'crack theory'? Didn't you say it's just a part of a hypothetical scenario sort-of-thing?"

"Keigo, listen. I know Yamato only started off as a unusual tangent in one of my plans. But with the impending PLF assault, now is the perfect time for it…" Kazaguruma's eyes went off towards a nearby wooden filing cabinet and reached over, pulling the topmost section. He then took out a folder with an unusually high amount of papers stuffed within it. "Complete restructuring, centralization, efficiency… With Yamato in place, everything will turn out for the betterment of the country."

"Well yeah but the path to its completion is not really that much… it's not really very… favorable. Are you really sure on Yamato?"

"It does look very promising in these times..." Kazaguruma opened the folder, inspecting its contents. "Also, if it makes you feel any better, I'll make massive adjustments in it to make everything less… unfavorable… to you. How does that sound?"

"Well yeah but… seriously… Yamato?"

"Think about it. With four months, there's more than enough time to set things up."

"I'm not sure… are there any lesser alternatives instead of just going full-Yamato?"

"There are quite a number of alternatives, although Yamato is the one that will yield the most results. It may look like it has bad intentions, but what'll be there at the finish line is definitely worth it." Kazaguruma cleared his throat. "The ends justify the means."

"I don't know..."

Kazaguruma cleared his throat. "I'll contact the rest of them to begin discussing it. If the majority disagrees, then Yamato will be scrapped-

A loud explosion is suddenly heard outside, shortly followed by a whole barrage of fireworks shooting up into the night sky and illuminating it with a vast array of colors. What comes further are sounds of objects hitting metal, smashing sounds, concrete breaking, and a slew of cheering civilians.

The 'villain attack' conducted by 'Group M' is already underway. Just as planned.

"Keigo, head out there and join the others. Celebrate New Year's. Have fun, I'll handle things from here on out."

"So uh… could I say anything to them about Yamato?"

"You could, but only to a few select people, like Stain or Compress or Ragdoll… I'd rather you just stay silent for the time being. I'm going to need some time to discuss the operation, and whether it's viable enough to proceed."

Hawks, face still blank, just merely nodded before heading towards the door on the right side of the room where he first entered, and exiting through it.

…

'Yamato…' Kazaguruma's attention went back to the folder he's been holding onto all this time. After a short while, he then began flipping through some of its contents, only stopping upon reaching a certain paper containing a rough sketch of UA being an impenetrable bastion, heavily-bolstered with defensive turrets all over. 'The time has come. For years the circumstances never aligned to have a chance of execution. But now? Just four months away from a massive villain attack? It's perfect. Quite possibly even more than perfect! It couldn't get any better than this...'

The man smirked as he closed the folder.

"VECTRE, update Pavlichenko on my visitation," he ordered his floating cuboid device as he put down the folder on his desk, before moving off towards the elevator connected to his room, closing the lights along the way. Upon reaching his destination, he set the elevator to go upwards towards the rooftop - the location of the HPSC VIP helipad.

The VECTRE device soon beeped in some sort of code, indicating that Lady Nagant has already checked the message he sent.

'Hopefully she won't do anything stupid again once Yamato is in place.' A random thought appeared in his mind, making him raise his right hand and place a few fingers on his cybernetic right eye, remembering that one event that happened eight months ago that took the original one. He instinctively let out a low groan, but in the end he eventually brushed the thoughts off.

After a few more moments, the elevator door opened. He's immediately greeted with a sight of a parked helicopter. Overall it looks like some sort of military aircraft, complete with insignias, dark green camo paint, and with an open middle section as if meant for rapid deployment of troops, among other things.

'I'll definitely be there before New Year's…' Kazaguruma thought to himself as he checked the time on his VECTRE, before proceeding over to stand near the middle empty section of the helicopter. Afterwards he swung his right hand forward, stopping it in mid-air in a manner as if he's about to open an invisible car door on thin air, and then pulled back. indeed it opened into something – an insanely furnished aircraft interior that looked nothing like the outside appearance, with not even the dimensions aligning.

That's because the army helicopter is no more than just a mirage, a mere phantom placed there to fool the public eye. There's actually another aircraft in its place, its airframe just cloaked and invisible. And now while yes the helipad is on the topmost part of a tall building and not usually seen at all, but he preferred the illusion to still be there just in case. After all, the public should not know such an aircraft exists in Japan, yet.

Kazaguruma then entered into it, sitting on the right side of the lavish seat prior to setting his eyes upon the empty cockpit up front. "Pavlichenko," he spoke into it.

A small speaker behind the pilot's seat emitted a beep, a slightly different tone from how the VECTRE (that's still floating beside him) does, before automatically activating its engines and lifting off. Compared to the distinctive sound of spinning rotor blades a helicopter would have made, this particular aircraft's take off sounded like the consistent whirring of jet thrusters. Soon after, a series of symbols appeared on a small rectangular screen attached to the ceiling facing the back seats, signaling that it's time for passengers to wear seatbelts, in which Kazaguruma immediately did.

"VECTRE, tell them I'll be visiting Nagant for a while," he ordered the floating device as he held onto it securely. While he knew he already told them beforehand that he'll be visiting Nagant this coming New Year's eve, but it's still better to remind everyone, just in case.

The device's screen soon displayed a small animated series of icons to confirm that it's done its task. Nodding in acknowledgement, Kazaguruma's attention then went towards the nearby circular window to his left, noticing that the aircraft is now lifting up ever so higher and higher. Upon reaching a certain height, it then began speeding forward, accelerating at a growing pace at a slightly upward angle until it's soaring across the night sky, above the clouds, at 800 miles per hour.

After a few minutes, as it's being illuminated under the moonlight, there's suddenly a unique sound heard from all over it. The aircraft finally deactivated its cloaking systems, revealing its true form – a sleek crimson-colored futuristic jet powered by two massive turbofan engines on its either side. It lacked anything that even remotely resembled the wings of a conventional plane, and yet it can still fly as normal and keep turbulence at a minimum. A true marvel in engineering.

'It's almost amazing how fast technology marches onwards…' Kazaguruma turned to look at his VECTRE device. 'It feels like it's just yesterday when the first Stratonite-infused powersuits are made, and the first cloning tanks, and the first Dreadnoughts…'

Soon, after a while of flight, the aircraft then began slowly decreasing its altitude, eventually going below the clouds. Immediately visible up front is a relatively small elongated island. There are multiple warehouse-looking structures built along its airstrip (in which the aircraft is headed into), a gigantic mansion on the farthest end, a whole row of superyachts docked on one side, and finally an entire forest of wind turbines on the other…

Nagant's private island.

Kazaguruma, amidst his observations, abruptly heard a series of beeping sounds from the small speaker behind the pilot seat, followed closely by the jet's twin turbofan engines swiveling downwards into VTOL mode in preparation for landing. It took a few moments, and a whole lot of dust being blown onto all directions, but the futuristic aircraft eventually reached solid ground - its landing gear automatically deploying as it did so. A few seconds later, the door nearest to the only passenger clicked and unlocked all on its own, before opening. Detaching the seatbelt from himself, said only passenger immediately exited with his VECTRE, along the way triggering the automatic door-closing mechanism of the aircraft.

The outside is fairly peaceful, with the relatively quiet night time atmosphere filled with nothing but the relaxing sound of crickets chirping about, and the ocean waves crashing upon the shore. The complete lack of crowds, combined with the total absence of city noise, and the semi-clouded night sky, also definitely contributed to the overall tranquil feel as well. It's truly serene.

Upon feeling the brief chill of the winter wind, Kazaguruma then turned to his right and walked around the landed aircraft towards the other side, fully expecting someone to be there. And indeed there's Kaina Tsutsimi, clad in winter clothing and still with her metal crutch and fiberglass casts on, standing silently in front of a huge off-road jeep-like vehicle. The woman bowed almost instantly the moment she's illuminated by the faint red glow of his cybernetic eye.

"How is Curious?" Kazaguruma asked as he walked closer, gesturing along the way for Nagant to start the drive, in which the heroine quickly obeyed and clambered up the vehicle to the best she can manage despite her injuries. "Is she giving you any trouble?"

"Kizuki is fine. She still won't go out of her room though. She also hasn't been eating very well." Kaina started the car, holding onto the steering wheel with only her left arm. She waited for the man to get on the back seats before driving off into the dirt path ahead. "It seems that the reveal took a far heavier toll than expected."

"It really seems to be the case." Kazaguruma, one hand securely holding his VECTRE, noticed in the rear-view mirror that Nagant apparently still won't directly look to his eyes, but that's not important for now. "But why is she that much affected?" he added, shaking his head. "I don't understand it. Surely a 46 year-old woman can easily handle such news... I just didn't expect this at all. But still, has she talked yet? Even just a mumble? Anything?"

"Kizuki hasn't spoken anything since I got her here."

"Hmm… So how's her injuries?"

"Her face is still swollen... Looks like it's stung by a hundred bees."

"Still swollen? That's new… it must be because of the anesthetics…" Kazaguruma turned his head to the right, his gaze happening to land upon the rows of colossal wind turbines lining one side of the island. "So… about the PLF… Keigo told me that the MLW books are gone? Is that true?"

"I can't say for certain that they're truly gone, but I haven't really seen a single book after whatever happened in Deika …" Kaina's voice trailed off as she continued driving, her thoughts going back to the strange (and highly unbelievable) video that Shigaraki supposedly tasked Skeptic to play out in regards to how the League single-handedly took down the MLA. "As for Skeptic, I investigated him as well, asked a few questions here and there, and he just seems to be just like the rest of them. Aside from being kidnapped and used by Shigaraki as a mouthpiece for his plans, he's not really different from the average MLA member... And as for his oddities regarding Curious? I think that's just some MLA-related in-fighting."

"Yes, I've already considered that... And also another thing: Hawks told me earlier about how the PLF are somehow not doing any training, nor possessing any support gear nor Quirk drugs whatsoever. Are those true as well?"

"Yes. There's just no sign of them training, nor possessing any advantageous items. Have you asked Giran about it too?"

"Not yet, but I'll keep that in mind." Kazaguruma nodded. "One last thing… Hawks also told me about how no one's allowed to leave the Gunga mansion, correct?"

"Yes. It's Shigaraki's order too apparently."

"And yet you can?"

"Yes… for some reason." Nagant took a few seconds before continuing. "Apparently the no-exit rule's already implemented for quite some time now and I just didn't notice it since no one's ever stopped or blocked my constant exits. They just keep letting me in and out with no problems at all. I don't know why. And they don't seem to be tracking me either…"

"Indeed." Kazaguruma nodded again, fully knowing of the multiple systems the HPSC has that jams and scrambles any form of tracking, whether Quirk-related or not. If Nagant is being tracked without her knowledge, then whenever she enters into the main building (which is relatively frequently), then they should automatically activate and disconnect said trackers, alongside sending out notifications to the tech team. But so far there's none.

And as for Nagant getting a free pass on exiting… he already has an idea as to why that is…

'Superyachts…' the man's gaze landed on a row of docked superyachts on the other side of Nagant's private island, easily visible from where he is due to the sheer size of some of them. One trait that's equally shared across all of them is that none of them were ever purchased by the Rifle Heroine herself – all those ships are just given to her as they are by various rich folk, in a competition with each other just to get an ounce of her attention. It's almost absurd to observe, and Kazaguruma has witnessed such desperation many times. In fact superyachts are such a common gift Nagant receives that she basically just gives them away at times.

It's simply ridiculous. Even the entire island itself is literally just a gift as well… and the wind turbines too, as well as the vehicle she's currently driving…

Kazaguruma could just shake his head at it all. Nagant is really just that disproportionately popular. He figured that it's quite possibly because of, aside from her general attractiveness of course, her overall exoticness and rarity - as since she's half-Russian and an underground heroine, meaning she's not under camera lights for the vast majority of the time. On top of all that she also doesn't do any glamour photoshoots or anything similar, which further boosts her overall appeal.

The one fact that her being half-asleep and wearing sleepwear still managed to level with actual pin-up photos to be included in a calendar… is really something he still couldn't believe up to this day. And yet it happened.

At this point it doesn't really take a genius to figure out how Nagant just gets a pass in exiting the Gunga mansion. In fact it would probably be much more unbelievable if she doesn't. "I think I already know how can you get in and out of Gunga, and yes, I'm sure you already know that too."

Nagant didn't respond and just kept on driving on the dirt path that leads all the way towards the other side of the island, where her mansion resides.

Kazaguruma himself didn't push any further.

…

After a bit more of driving, the vehicle eventually reached a large metal gate adorned with multiple decorative ornaments. Said gate automatically opened backwads, letting them into a wide grassy area filled with trees and various plants arranged in such a pattern that made their flowers bloom like a pre-arranged boquet. The whole area is technically already part of the mansion grounds, just not on the actual courtyard yet. Nagant drove the vehicle further and parked it under a particular lamp post before exiting.

"There's a lot more greenery here than I last remember…" Kazaguruma exited the vehicle as well, turning his VECTRE back into handheld phone-mode along the way and stashing it in his pocket. But as he's about to turn his attention back to the trees, he happened to notice a bunch of sticks with white flags on them all over the nearby beach, each of them separated around 5 meters away from each other, with the majority them planted out onto the ocean waters itself. "What's with those?"

"Those are markers. I'm making an artificial reef with concrete reef balls. I haven't really gotten corals to grow on them yet, but the local fish already seemed to have taken a liking for it." Kaina is about to randomly add some Russian words to her sentence but stopped herself at the very last moment.

"Indeed…" Kazaguruma paused a bit, before tapping his foot down onto the dirt path in some sort of code. Almost immediately, a soft beep is heard from a concealed speaker somewhere before a nearby circular patch of grass to his left opened up as if it's just a hatch, and out came a six-barreled anti-air gun battery which rose from the hole, already aimed at the skies. He instantly noticed how free of dust it is. "Your maintenance of these guns are impressive, Pavlichenko."

Nagant simply did a mere nod.

"Alright, now that I have checked-" the man abruptly stopped, only now noticing two enormous towering structures on either sides of the metal gate they just entered a while ago. Upon closer inspection, they seem to be gigantic tesla coils. And basing off of their bases, it appears that they also just spontaneously sprouted from underground in the same manner as the anti-air gun. "What are those supposed to be?"

Nagant cleared her throat in such a way that conveyed nervousness. "I uh… I just figured that since Tartarus's defensive bots aren't really needed anymore since years ago, I'll have a few scrapped-up to be turned into additional defenses…" she muttered, her head down and her left hand grasping upon the cast of the right.

"Hmmm… calm down Pavlichenko. You didn't cross any line here. In fact what you did here is actually quite a resourceful and interesting way of recycling them. I'm initially just planning to break them down back into chunks of metal but… I have to say, your project here looks promising. You know what? That reminds me, I received reports that someone hacked into Tartarus just a while ago, but nevermind I'll just have a look at it later…" Kazaguruma looked upon the tesla coils again. "Do they work?"

"The people who built them told me yes. But I haven't gotten around to testing them myself yet."

"Hmm… just inform me whether they work. They're powered by those wind turbines, yes?"

Nagant nodded, her head still facing down.

"Alright, that's settled. Although next time do inform me first on whatever projects you're planning that involves government resources, yes?" Kazaguruma nodded to the woman before gesturing towards the main gates of her mansion. "Now let's go back on track. Lead the way. You know where to go." He then waited for a bit for Nagant to start walking to it before just following along behind her. Around this time, the static defenses already retreated back underground. "Also, on the topic of Kizuki… I'm thinking… once we get her up and running, I'd like her to join your team. I also want her to reside here in your island for the time being until I can get her own private quarters up."

"W-what?" Nagant stammered, eyes widening as well, but she just kept on walking onwards. The gates of her mansion automatically opened once she got within certain distance from it. "I-uh… I-"

"I have decided that I want two of my four bioweapons near each other at all times, and preferably under one roof so they could get to know one another better and potentially become a cohesive team. Plus it also makes things a whole lot more efficient on my side. Do you have any questions, Pavlichenko?" he sternly asked, heavily emphasizing his last word.

"N-no sir…"

"Good. And now while yes I'm fully aware that I haven't gotten any real confirmation on Kizuki's possible true form yet. But I'd rather set things up beforehand. At least I already have a layout or two I could follow along if she turns out as expected." Kazaguruma turned his eyes towards the massive elegant modern-style mansion just right up ahead, with its intricate architecture certainly worthy of praise. "Anyways, do be nice to Kizuki from here on out. So where is she anyways?"

"Over there," Nagant muttered in a low tone as she pointed over to a particular building behind a dragon-themed fountain, surrounded by topiaries and flowering plants neatly arranged around it. There were a few people tending to the plants even at this close to midnight. "Please don't mind my crew, they're just preparing for a New Year's celebration."

Kazaguruma nodded and began walking towards it. "Pavlichenko? I can handle this from here on out. I'll just give you a call once I'm done. This won't take long."

Nagant merely did a quick bow before walking off as well. In a matter of seconds, she's entirely disappeared from the scene.

'A few minutes remaining…' The man pulled out his VECTRE phone as he continued walking to his destination building to check if there are any messages he might have received already. So far there appears to be none yet, so instead he just stashed it back and proceeded onwards, not minding some of Nagant's gardeners greeting him along the way. Upon reaching the particular building, he immediately opened the door. It's completely unlocked, as expected.

The interior of the building is very much like its posh exterior – stylish and classy, and painted in an appealing contrast of color themes. It's also eerily silent, as if there's no one there except the person he's expecting. And indeed, Kizuki is currently the only one present in the entire building (aside from him of course), who's currently in the bedroom – which is coincidentally the only room with the lights still on, visible shining through the edges of the closed door.

Kazaguruma kept his footsteps light as he approached the particular room, making sure to not make any unnecessary noise that could disturb the only inhabitant of the building – if she's still awake that is.

After a few more moments he eventually reached it. As with the main building itself, the door to the bedroom is also unlocked, in which he wasted no more time in entering, all while still keeping quiet. And there she is, Chitose Kizuki, lying on the bed, half-covered with a blanket, with her back turned to him, and seemingly unmoving. But whether she's sleeping or not, it really doesn't matter in the big picture, he just wanted to visit and check on her, especially around this time when he's about to receive very important news regarding her in just a few minutes.

"Kizuki?" he quietly called out, making his voice as gentle as possible, alongside pulling out his phone again and checking for messages. But upon seeing that there's still nothing there, he decided to walk in a bit further and sit on the bed for a while, in such a manner like what a father would do to console an upset daughter. "Kizuki?" he called out again, this time softly placing a hand on the young woman's shoulder.

The gesture got no response at all, but he just kept his hand there. He then glanced down to her face, only now noticing how heavily-swollen Kizuki's face is, as if the anesthetics used to treat her face wounds just made everything far worse. Horrible is the only word to describe it.

'Why did Hawks just have to go in with a baseball bat and hit her? In Christmas no less?' Kazaguruma shook his head, finding the young hero's antics back then extremely nonsensical. He could only sigh at it all. 'Perhaps Recovery Girl can fix this up better. Her Quirk makes use of the body's natural healing properties after all. I'll just give her a call soon.'

As he finished his thoughts, he happened to notice the tear-drenched pillow upon Kizuki's head, as if she has indeed done nothing but cry herself to sleep all this time (as exactly what Hawks told him earlier). He eventually looked up, quickly noticing another thing, a tray of barely-eaten gourmet meals just beside the bed itself, in the direction Kizuki's facing.

"They're wrong for abandoning you just like that." Words automatically came out of his mouth. He felt like he has to say something at least to make things more authentic and perhaps sway Kizuki to forget the past and completely join their cause. But with the planned reveal of information on how everyone thought of her not going the way he expected, plus Hawks's baseball antics, things just only got tougher.

'I need to have a chat with Hawks after this…' He thought to himself as he began browsing the internet using his phone, looking for some more possible comfort words to say – anything just for Kizuki to lighten up. Literally anything. While yes it's also possible that the young woman is just sleeping and wouldn't hear him anyways, but it's still better than nothing. "You're only human, with real thoughts and feelings, it's very inconsiderate of them to just toss you out like that. But don't worry, we're here for you."

Kazaguruma searched some more enlightening words, his right hand now gently tapping Kizuki's shoulder. "You're safe with us, we won't throw you out like what your former comrades did. We're all family here."

He heard a very faint groan from Kizuki, yet she didn't move.

"We got each other's backs…" he said, feeling slight cringe on what he just said considering Chitose's swollen and bruised face is literally because of Hawks – a hero who's part of said family.

"And we won't-"

He heard a series of light beeping that came from his VECTRE phone, instantly taking his attention away from Curious and into his device. His eyes widened upon seeing that he just received a message from Yokumiru Mera.

This is it. It has to be.

"Kizuki, I just received a message, I'll be right back here in a few minutes. Just so you know, you won't be spending this New Year's eve alone," he quickly said before standing up and heading outside the door, pressing some buttons along the way to reveal the message. He's expecting a whole video call of some sort, or maybe just a simple message, but instead he received a vast compilation of various photos of papers containing paragraphs upon paragraphs of text: all the non-MLA-related information his team managed to dig up on Kizuki so far. Overall it's quite a lengthy list, and indeed it took him quite a while of scanning through all of them and eventually getting to the end.

The final photo is significantly larger than the rest, with the image file requiring a bit more megabytes to properly load. It's of a unique blue-colored paper with various charts and graphs filled to the brim with a wide variety of scientific jargons, drastically different from the information seen on the earlier papers. But what really caught his eye in it is what's printed on the bottommost part of said unique paper.

It's just one line, not highlighted nor anything, but it instantly made his eyes widen further and his jaw drop.

'Vat J specimen. Chitose Kizuki. Confirmed.'

…

Kazaguruma could only chuckle to himself. "Happy New Year indeed."