"Hey! Kazuho!"
The group of Iwao Oguro, Tamao Oguro, Kazuho Haneyama, and… Melissa Shield paused, turning around to look at the person who had shouted over the roar of the massive crowd.
It was a very beautiful, richly dressed woman, seemingly in her mid-thirties.
"… Ms. Tsukauchi?" Kazuho remembered, shocked.
With that, even Iwao and his daughter, Tamao, recalled the woman.
Makoto Tsukauchi was the younger sister of the famous detective, Naomasa Tsukauchi. During their Naruhata Vigilante days, she had helped the trio of Knuckleduster, Crawler, and Pop*Step a lot, especially with her Quirk, Polygraph.
Using Polygraph, Makoto could monitor the physiological signals of any person she touched, allowing her to determine whether or not someone was lying.
And the moment they acutely recalled her Quirk, Iwao and Kazuho's gazes shifted, landing on Melissa.
Ms. Tsukauchi couldn't have picked a worse time to catch up, it seemed.
The four of them had just left UA's premises after attending the most dazzling and weirdest Awards Ceremony of the century.
The Ceremony had begun with the wildest and loudest roars.
Soon, it had turned into a booing competition, with many people openly cursing UA for disqualifying one of the Battle Royale's greatest contenders — Luke.
And for what?
Just using some high-tech lenses and earpieces?!
Somehow, All Might managed to scramble his way through the Awards Ceremony, making awkward jokes here and there.
Now, it was late at night.
Surrounded by thousands of people, Iwao and Kazuho hadn't bothered to take even more precautions to hide Melissa.
Moreover, as far as Tamao was concerned, Melissa was just a friend of Kazuho's from her college.
But, remembering Makoto's personality… they might very well have to pay for their lies.
Meanwhile, the woman came to a stop next to the four. "Whoa…" she exclaimed, looking at a grown Kazuho and Tamao. "… you guys look almost grown up!"
Kazuho smiled wryly. "That's what happens when you disappear from a place and reappear after years," she said. "Last time I heard of you, from Koichi, you had left Captain Celebrity's Agency."
"Ugh…" Makoto let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't remind me of that stupid brute! But, yeah… I needed a break. Was hopping between obscure coastal regions for the last year…"
"Sounds like a midlife crisis to me…"
"Dad!" Tamao elbowed Iwao's side.
Makoto, taking the comment with a smirk, looked at the huge man. "Someone's not happy to see me," she remarked, tiptoeing on her heels and putting a finger on Iwao's chest. "So… what are you trying to hide this time, Mr. … Knuckleduster?"
"…"
Tamao, Kazuho, and Melissa blushed, with many people stopping and staring at the scene as well.
Meanwhile, Iwao, flustered to the extreme, stumbled a few steps back, barely remembering to maintain the faux pressure on his broken leg using his cane.
Even then, Makoto's eyes narrowed.
This woman… the Cryptologist cursed within. There's no way she just happened to be here. There's no way she just happened to run into us. Either she knows something, or she wants to delve deeper into something using our help. Again!
If Iwao remembered her right, then Makoto was indeed a kind and pleasant woman.
However, she had somewhat of a Vigilante-virus inside her, too.
Makoto knew how to get her way around something and wasn't afraid to use some slightly underhanded methods to achieve it. She also had a manipulative and rebellious personality, with a disposition to challenge the rules and authorities, although never to the point of doing anything illegal.
And if that was still true, then she wasn't sent to them by her detective brother, at least, Iwao decrypted.
As the Beyonder kept decrypting the reasons behind Makoto's presence, she let out a mischievous laugh, her gaze finally landing on the third girl.
Black hair, black eyes, and beautiful.
Yet, Makoto's eyes narrowed at her. "And who might you be?"
"Just a friend from college," Kazuho said offhandedly. "We had an extra ticket, so…"
Makoto suddenly took a step forward, stretching out her hand. "Hello," she said, smiling at the girl. "Makoto Tsukauchi. And you are?"
Iwao and Kazuho's hearts skipped a beat.
They hadn't gotten even a moment to tell Melissa about Makoto's Quirk.
The moment Melissa opened her mouth to give a false name, Polygraph would tell Makoto that she was lying, meaning… something was definitely up! Otherwise, why lie about such a simple matter, to begin with?!
And to think that Makoto wouldn't use her Quirk so selfishly was a foolish thought.
She would one hundred percent use her Quirk on Melissa and then would lie about using it.
As if that wasn't enough, Melissa, smiling innocently, reached out and grabbed Makoto's hand.
"Hello," the Clown replied. "I am Mel. Kazuho's friend. Nice to meet you, Ms. Tsukauchi."
"…"
"…"
Makoto continued to stare into Melissa's eyes.
From the sides, Iwao and Kazuho continued to stare at the two of them.
"Is it only me…" Tamao scratched her eyepatch, "… or is there something more going on here than it seems?"
"Haha!" Makoto let go of Melissa's hand, bursting out with laughter. "For a moment there, I thought I had seen Mel before somewhere. She looks incredibly similar to that kidnapped girl… Melissa Shield."
"…"
"…"
"Why are you here?" Iwao bluntly asked. "Don't involve my daughter and the kid in something else again…"
This was the best way to misdirect Makoto's thoughts, the Cryptologist believed.
Use his position as a father to act defensively, while simultaneously making the woman remember what had happened the last time.
Sure enough, the ever-present smile on Makoto's face flickered.
"… No… Haha…" Makoto said, forcing out a laugh. "To be honest, I returned to look into this entire Apostles of Mr. Fool business."
There it was!
Both Iwao and Kazuho went on high alert.
"Well, you wouldn't be the first," Tamao said casually, smiling. "People are going crazy for this Mr. Fool."
"Crazy… yes…" Makoto said. "… but, are they going crazy enough to… kill?"
Huh?!
"What do you mean?" Iwao asked.
"Say…" Makoto took out a newspaper from her purse and showed it to them. "Have any of you heard of the Crazy Adventurer — Gehrman Sparrow?"