Buying My Way Through the Multiverse

Now that the ”Final” boss had gotten away with Kurogiri, Gray and the pro heroes started rounding up the remaining villains scattered throughout the facility. Nearby, All Might found a secluded spot out of sight and reverted back to his skinny, deflated form.

With the threat neutralized, Gray finally went to check on the students. A few of them were still clearly in shock, but he was relieved to see they were all fine overall. The moment Eri saw Gray walk over, her face lit up, and she instantly ran straight towards him. Gray scooped her up smoothly and hoisted her onto his shoulders.

”How are you doing, Eri?” he asked gently.

”I was scared, but... I’m fine now,” she replied, gripping his hair for balance.

”That’s good.”

Just then, Gray spotted Mirko finally walking out of the central USJ plaza. Wanting to avoid a confrontation, he tried his best to stay off her radar. He was about to fly straight back to his dormitory when a firm hand clamped down on his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

”And where do you think you’re going?” Mirko asked. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and she wore a dangerous smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

”Haha...” Gray laughed nervously, scratching his cheek. ”I was just, you know... I wanted to take Eri back. It’s been a really long day and all.”

”Aha.” Mirko crossed her arms under her chest, refusing to let him off the hook. ”You know we’re going to have a talk eventually, right?”

”I know, I know,” Gray conceded, his tone turning a bit more serious. ”I just need to clear some things out of my head first. I’m just... not entirely sure how much I should say.”

As he looked at her, Gray’s mind started racing. He genuinely wanted to tell Mirko the truth about himself and his powers. But the sudden weight of uncertainty hit him hard...if she rejected him after hearing it, he honestly didn’t know what he would do. Besides, how could he even begin to explain his existence to a normal person?

’Hi, I’m a Saiyan, an alien warrior race that gets stronger the more we fight, and biologically, I’m instinctively attracted to incredibly strong women.’

Yeah... no. There was no way he could just drop that on her out of nowhere.

Sighing once more, he looked Mirko dead in the eyes. ”Tomorrow. We can have a talk tomorrow,” he continued, keeping his voice steady. ”We need to deal with all this mess first, but I promise that tomorrow I can explain everything to you.”

He finally conceded in his mind. He was going to be honest with her. Besides, if she actually accepted his explanation, who knows? Maybe she’d be interested in some multiversal travel down the line. She would get to fight incredibly strong opponents, Gray would gain a reliable companion, and besides... he looked down at the little girl on his shoulders. Eri needed a maternal figure in her life, right?

Checking on Aizawa next, Gray noticed the underground hero had racked up quite a few bruises from the brawl. He reached into his inventory, intending to hand him a Senzu Bean, but Aizawa immediately waved it away.

”I don’t like taking those,” Aizawa muttered, leaning heavily on his capture scarf. ”They’re great, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t enjoy my meals afterward. I still feel full for days on end.”

Gray let out a loud laugh. ”No worries.” Shifting his gaze back toward the resting students, he asked, ”So... what’s going to happen now?”

Aizawa already looked like he had a massive headache coming on. After letting out a long, exhausted sigh, he spoke. ”The kids will have tomorrow off while we teachers get together to figure out exactly how this breach happened. We might even have to investigate everyone to check for a potential spy.”

”Oh,” Gray noted, raising an eyebrow. ”Do I need to be a part of that discussion?” He asked mostly because he really didn’t want to sit in a locked room with a bunch of paranoid heroes, especially when he already knew what had happened behind the security failure.

”Of course you do,” Aizawa said, narrowing his eyes into suspicious slits. ”Unless... you already know how it happened?”

”Mmm.” Gray thought about it for a few seconds, weighing his options before deciding to let Aizawa in on the secret. ”Actually, yeah. I do know how it happened.”

Aizawa instantly started massaging his temples in frustration. ”Of course you do,” he muttered. After sighing once more, he continued, ”So? How did it happen?”

”Well...” Gray paused, carefully lowering Eri from his shoulders and putting her down on the ground so she could stand beside him. ”You remember how some reporters rushed the front gates last week?” Before Aizawa could interrupt, Gray pressed on. ”Well, the guy with the weird hands all over his body, the leader who appeared today, he was the one who destroyed the security gate back then. He used the chaos to let the media rush the school, while he and that shadow-looking warp villain slipped inside and stole the class schedule.”

”I see,” Aizawa said, his posture stiffening as the pieces fell into place. ”So you knew about all of that, and you still just stood by and let it happen?”

Gray shrugged, completely unbothered by the judgment. ”I’m not a hero, remember? As long as Eri is safe, I don’t really care what happens to the rest of the world. I’m already doing more than enough by making your students significantly stronger than they’re supposed to be at this stage.” Gray gave a casual wave. ”Besides... nobody actually got hurt today, did they?”

”You’re not rational enough,” Aizawa retorted, clearly wanting to press further.

But Gray immediately held up a hand, cutting him off. ”I know you want to continue questioning me and all, but I have far more important matters to attend to right now,” Gray said smoothly, scooping Eri right back up into his arms.

”Like what?” Aizawa asked, deadpan.

”Food. I’m starving,” Gray said with a cheeky smile.

But before he could even think about flying off, Mirko materialized out of nowhere and stepped right into his personal space.

”So, you plan on leaving me behind to ride back with the kids on a cramped school bus?” she asked, her hands resting on her hips. ”Take me with you. I want to shower and take a nap.”

”Sure,” Gray agreed.

Mirko wasted no time, moving fluidly to climb onto his back and locking her arms around his neck. Making sure Eri was secure in his grip, Gray instantly took off into the sky, rocketing straight back toward the UA dormitories.

Before they made it back to UA, Gray called out over the rushing wind, ”Do you want me to drop you off at your house, or somewhere else?”

”Hmmm...” Mirko thought about it for a second, her arms still securely wrapped around his shoulders. ”You said you were making some food, right?”

”Yeah, I was thinking white rice with stir-fried vegetables and some meat,” Gray told her, laying out his meal plan.

”That sounds good...” Mirko finally made up her mind, a grin appearing on her face. ”Take me to my house first. I’ll grab a change of clothes and just shower at your place. I definitely wouldn’t say no to your food.”

”Okay,” Gray replied.

He seamlessly changed course, banked hard to the left, and headed toward Mirko’s house instead of straight to the UA campus. Once they landed, Mirko bolted inside and quickly grabbed a bag filled with her things. Gray scooped her and Eri back up, took off into the skies once again, and blurred through the clouds until they made it back to his private dormitory.

The moment they stepped inside, Mirko headed straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Gray, meanwhile, immediately got to work in the kitchen. He pulled an absurd amount of ingredients from his inventory space, starting with a massive supply of white rice. Next, he selected a colorful variety of fresh vegetables to begin stir-frying. For the protein, he decided to cook a feast utilizing the unique meat trees growing in his personal home garden. To have plenty of options on the table, he also grabbed a large selection of fresh fish and chicken.

Mirko stepped out of the bathroom about twenty minutes later, feeling refreshed, and Eri immediately headed in to take her own bath. Gray kept cooking, completely locked in. He was so focused on the meal that he didn’t notice anything else happening in the room.

Mirko sat down at the counter, resting her chin in her hands as she quietly watched him cook. It honestly looked like an art form. The fluid way he handled the different cooking utensils, the perfect timing of his movements, and the meticulous care he took to ensure nothing was overcooked was mesmerizing. To make things even more impressive, every time he finished a dish, he instantly stored it in his inventory to keep it piping hot.

Mirko found herself salivating as the rich, savory aromas continuously hit her nose. But as she watched him move around the kitchen, her thoughts drifted back to the way Gray had looked at her earlier; her mind kept wandering into completely unfamiliar territory she never thought possible for herself.

’Am I...?’ she thought, her cheeks flushing slightly. She quickly shook her head to snap out of it. ’No, focus. I’ll just see what he has to say tomorrow...’

By the time Eri left the bathroom, Gray had already laid out a fresh change of clothes for her. Once she got dressed, the little girl happily trotted over and sat down at the dining table.

It took Gray about an hour to fully finish all the meals. Because of his massive Saiyan appetite, he had cooked enough food to easily feed fifteen ordinary people. He wasn’t worried about waste, though; if it turned out to be too much, he could always store the leftovers back in his inventory and pull them out when he got hungry again.

Sitting down together, Mirko, Eri, and Gray happily tore into the massive feast. To any outsider looking through the window, it would have looked exactly like a normal family of three enjoying a quiet dinner together after a long day.

Once they had thoroughly cleared the table, Mirko stood up and began saying her goodbyes. Before she stepped out the front door, she paused and turned back to face him. ”Thanks for the meal,” she said. But before Gray could even open his mouth to reply, she smirked and continued, ”I will come back tomorrow for our talk. Say... 4 PM is fine with you?”

Gray nearly choked on his own drink, coughing slightly as he tried to regain his composure. ”Yeah... yeah, that’s fine.”

”Good.” Mirko chuckled, then knelt down to be at eye level with the little girl. ”Okay, Eri-chan. I’ll come back to visit tomorrow, okay?”

”Mmm!” Eri nodded happily, stepping forward to wrap her small arms around Mirko in a warm embrace.

The moment the front door clicked shut, Gray let out a massive, heavy sigh. He had tried his best to ignore Mirko while he cooked, but he couldn’t stop himself from stealing quick glances whenever he could. The intense, focused way she’d stared at him all evening made him feel things he wasn’t used to, and he felt his face heat up all over again.

Desperate to keep his racing mind occupied, he set up the living room and decided to watch movies with Eri until she finally fell asleep. Once she was safely tucked in, Gray went to his own room and tried to sleep, but failed catastrophically. He tossed and turned in bed, completely restless. The images of Mirko’s match against the Nomu kept replaying in his mind on a loop, and naturally, the split-second moment when he had dashed in to save her kept replaying right along with it.

Finally having had enough of staring at the ceiling, Gray kicked off his blankets, left his dormitory, and flew high up into the quiet night sky. Suspended in the cool, silent air, he simply floated there, looking up at the glowing moon as he tried to clear his head for the conversation ahead.